Bedtime Bread

compressed_hands-tearing-bread-homemade-large I remember well a story Pastor Adrian Rogers shared a couple of decades ago in a series on the Lord’s Prayer. Back during World War II, several war orphans were taken in who’d survived unthinkable atrocities; hunger and living in wreckage on the streets had become a way of life in their once-secure world. Their caregivers were grieved at how the nighttime was the worst for these children, many of whom would wake up screaming in the middle of the night or were unable to sleep at all.

Finally, an idea came to one of those adults. He went over to a shaking child in the bed and slipped a piece of bread into the child’s hand, who immediately stopped his fitfulness and drifted into a peaceful sleep. From that time on, all the children were allowed to go to bed with a simple piece of bread in their hands: an assurance that they could actually enjoy having a full belly that night without fear of waking the next day to starvation and uncertainty.

Most of us have never known what it’s like to have experienced so great a lack; and yet, spiritually we can go through life just as petrified with fear that tomorrow will bring problems which cannot be solved. If we are new to the faith, or just not in a deep relationship with God, we may not have learned to fully trust in His Fatherly love and provision.

Begin to go to bed at night having spent time in the Word, and let thoughts of His faithfulness be the last thing on your mind as you close your eyes. Whatever issues you’re dealing with, if you’ll begin to compile and recite Scriptures which reiterate the Lord’s promises never to leave or forsake you, you can be as David who wrote, “When I go to bed, I sleep in peace, because, Lord, you keep me safe.” (Psalm 4:8) Having spent time with Him and feasting on His nourishing supply, you can have assurance that He will not leave you orphaned from His presence. From my childhood on, I’ve found great comfort in sleeping with a Bible under my pillow; and just like those war-traumatized children, I need only to slip my hand under the pillowcase and feel my daily bread waiting on me for when I wake up hungry again.

We are never to lose our hunger for God; but His will is that we be totally delivered from the FEAR of Him not being there to fill that hunger! You can trust Him to always take care of you…

Thorn-Proof Determination

“…I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 1 Cor. 12:6-10 NLT

I think often of the Apostle Paul and the “thorn” (2 Cor 12) that remains a mystery to us all to this day. Perhaps it was meant to be an unnamed source of contention, so that we could identify it with our own thorns. Interesting, isn’t it, that Paul didn’t refer to an entire thicket of entanglement…just one lone irritating thorn; like a splinter that is stubbornly embedded, or an itch in the middle of your back that you can’t quite reach. You’ve dealt with all the rest and there’s this one that you haven’t been able to conquer yet. Am I getting warm here? Does this sound like any area of your life where you’ve not yet succeeded in getting permanent victory from struggle?

I could be wrong, but I like to think that instead of a chronic or recurring physical illness, Paul’s thorn was–and ours is– a personal ‪#‎struggle‬ on the battle front of the mind. All of us have our areas which need work; and if you don’t, I sure do. I won’t bore you with the details, but there are areas of my life that require more spot-checks and maintenance than others. There are areas which, if I don’t renew my mind daily to the Word, will cause me to start reverting back to previous wrong mindsets. What’s your thorn? Is it disappointment in yourself or others…unforgiveness…a nagging temptation to do something that you know is wrong…a terrible feeling of inferiority that sabotages your best attempts for success…an old wound from someone who should have loved you but didn’t, and it robs you of peace? The enemy has convinced many of us that sickness and disease is our thorn, and that God wants us to stay sick to teach us some kind of lesson. What a load of garbage! No, I don’t think the “thorn” represents sickness at all–but I do think, however, that the thorn in our mind can interfere with us receiving the physical, spiritual, and mental healing God has already provided, if we allow it to dwarf our faith with a cloud of unbelief. Where you see sickness manifest, however, there’s quite possibly also the presence of the thorn. Whatever your thorn might be, it operates as a distraction, an annoyance, an attempt to divert your focus from the truth. And yes, the thorn can fling you headlong into ‪#‎depression‬ when it digs in long and hard enough. The thorn whispers and taunts, “God doesn’t care about you. If He did, why would you be having this problem? You’re just a reject, a castoff. I don’t know why He even puts up with you!”

Your answer from ‪#‎God‬ is the same as the answer He gave Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you.” God didn’t tell Paul He would never remove the thorn; but He did tell Paul that His grace would cover those times when the thorn seemed to get the best of him. Who’s to say that God didn’t remove the thorn before Paul died? We only know from his writing that Paul apparently quit asking after the third time. Maybe at some point, Paul was so confident in God’s ability to keep him that the thorn no longer mattered. The most important take-away of this passage is, God never lifted the grace that covered Paul’s weaknesses; He never left him to the wolves. If that thorn were endangering Paul’s soul or the heavy calling on his life, I believe God would’ve wiped it out the moment Paul were in imminent danger. Paul concluded that as long as he continually had to lean on the Lord and not his own strength, it kept him reliant on God; and it prevented Paul from believing himself to be somehow superior to the people with whom he shared the Gospel. Most of all, we see that Paul grew at peace in the fact that God loved him, thorn or no thorn. The thorn was not Paul’s identity; and you must not let the thorn become YOUR identity, either! God LOVES you!

Take this walk with ‪#‎Jesus‬ a day at a time. You may be high-fiving one day and needing pulled out of the ditch the next day. Maturity in the Word does help minimize the severity or number of times when you’re “the ditch person,” so be encouraged that you’re going to be having increasing good days as you gain strength and momentum. When you are in need of a helping hand, however, for heaven’s sake don’t isolate yourself out of shame. Your brothers and sisters have dealt with their own thorns that are just as embarrassing and tormenting as the one you’ve encountered. Let them help you. Let God help you. Keep a list of the Scriptures that pertain to your struggle somewhere that you can access at all times, and don’t just read them–speak the Word OUT LOUD over your circumstances. The demonic forces assigned against you can’t hear you reading silently, but they sure hate when you read and speak the Word into the atmosphere, where they have to hear it and tremble!

I suspect that if you’re reading this post, you’re having a low day. My friend, God has not left you, and He isn’t orchestrating some cosmic ‘pick-on-YOU’ party for his amusement. Our Father doesn’t work like that; Satan, however, is very much amused by your struggles and failures. God wants you to WIN. Stop beating yourself up today over the fact that you’re there, again, in that big hole where you’ve wound up numerous times before. God isn’t beating you up. No, if you’ll look closely, He is assembling angel armies around you to stand guard while you dust yourself back off. He is sending prayer warriors to intercede on your behalf. And He has already provided a finished work in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The same grace that saved you is the same grace that will cover you while you get back on your feet. It isn’t our excuse for courting a sinful lifestyle or for giving less than our best; it’s the mortar that holds our pieces together and makes up for what we cannot, even on our best days, give. Let His grace cover you now. Feel God’s love and forgiveness and yes–even understanding–scrubbing away all those hateful things the enemy is trying to write about you in your mind. Let it go. Receive God’s help. And whether the process is instantaneous or takes a little while to complete, it’s ok…God’s got your back. If you’re depressed as you read this, remind yourself, “This is a temporary state and I’m already in healing and recovery mode. I can trust God while I wait to “get over the hump” and back to my normal self again.”

Pray with me: “Father, I’m hurting today. The enemy has launched another attack on a vulnerable spot, and I’m in need of Your mercy. You told Paul that Your grace was all he needed when “the thorn” pressed in and caused him pain. You didn’t love Paul any more than You love me. You’re not comparing the many amazing things Paul did and wrote against the small life I live. You’re willing to give me JUST AS MUCH grace as You gave Paul because the thorn in my life is important to You too. You’re just as much in favor of my being victorious. I release this wounded-ness to You today, and I surrender the fight to handle it my way. Whether it’s an addiction, an attitude, or a hurdle I can’t seem to get beyond no matter how hard I try, I am encouraging myself in You today and reminding myself of Your promise NEVER to leave or forsake me. It’s not Your will that I be destitute, sick, defeated, walking in lack, depressed, feeling inferior or walking under any kind of cloud. I submit myself to You, as Your Word has instructed, and then I resist the devil…and he MUST flee from me. I don’t care if he tries to come back again and again, I will fight him until You say, “Enough!” I plead the blood of Jesus now over my life, and I draw the bloodline around myself. I receive Your grace and I wrap myself in it, like a big protective bubble. The shield of faith deflects every piercing weapon the enemy tries to injure me with. Even those bruises and scratches and wounds I’ve already encountered are being healed by the Balm of Gilead! Thank You, Father, because Your Word is enabling me to see myself as YOU see me. I’m NOT a reject! I’m that earthen vessel in which You choose to house Your precious treasures. You are using this imperfect me–yes! And You are getting glory for the miracles You perform through me in spite of the fact that I’m not yet where I WILL BE when You’ve finished with me! I will walk holy before You and trust You to carry me across the terrain that’s too rugged for my own feet to navigate.”

I say, “Devil, you cannot have me. I belong to God. You can’t even have me in my mind. I believe God’s Word and He is even helping me with any areas of unbelief…so be gone, in Jesus’ name! In Jesus’ name, I break your assignment against me today, all of you evil spirits who are trying to take me down. You WILL NOT wreck my day and you WILL NOT get my soul. God already knows my weaknesses and His grace is holding me together in spite of them. You don’t win in the court of Heaven today because I’m already forgiven. You have no authority over me. You are under my feet. I’m not listening to your lies. If you want to bring accusation, talk to the hand—the nail-scarred hand!”

Letting Go of the Past…Three Times

fishnet “Peter, do you love Me?”

“Yes, Lord, You know I love You.”

“Feed My sheep.”

That conversation was deeper than we realize. Peter had messed up in a moment of panic, fear, and haste. He had denied the Lord 3 times, cursed, and swore with an oath to hide his identity and save his own skin. And then he had to make eye contact with the very person he had betrayed, and have the realization hit him…everything Jesus said would happen, did happen. Jesus knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. There was nothing left for Peter now. The crowing of the rooster may as well have been a bugle sounding Taps over Peter’s dying ministry. He just fled the painful scene, wept bitterly, and separated himself from his band of brothers and any association with what it meant to be a follower of Christ.

Go back to what you did before, Peter. Go get the boat. Launch out there in the deep, where you don’t have to talk to anyone, look anyone in the eye, feel others looking at YOU, judging. You didn’t mess up with the boat…it was YOUR boat. Even though…you were catching nothing that day until Jesus told you where to toss that net!

Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me” three times. I like to think He did so because He was giving Peter a VERBAL chance three times to undo those three denials. Peter, normally the loudest mouth of the twelve, couldn’t bring himself to say “I love You” on his own, not after what he had done. The outspoken one, overcome in his guilt and deep shame, now needed help from the Master just to say what was bursting in his heart. How could those mere words ever undo what he had done? So, Jesus, Who knew exactly what Peter was wrestling with, showed him where to lower the nets once more. Jesus proved to Peter that He could forgive without humiliating and ostracizing. He could restore him without putting him on probation, without demoting him, without dismissing all those times when Peter was part of the inner circle of His circle. And that command, “Feed my sheep?” He was saying, “You don’t belong back in the fishing business, Peter. Your heart is to serve Me. I can see right through your weaknesses, and I know that in your heart, you would rather be close to Me than anything in this world. Come back. There’s still very much a place for you here. You belong in ministry. You belong to me. I forgive you. Let’s turn a page and finish this thing better than the chapter we’re on now.”

Have you made some mistakes that make you feel as if you are unworthy to receive Jesus’ forgiveness? Do you feel disqualified to follow Him, or specifically, disqualified to lead others to Him? Jesus is asking YOU today, “Do you love Me? Oh, I already know the answer, but I want YOU to think long and hard, past the guilt, past the self-loathing and regrets. You KNOW you love Me, and I know you love Me. Let’s turn a page. I’m far from finished with what I am going to do through you, and I want you to know that you are NOT damaged goods. You are not going to be left on the reject pile, forgiven but left broken. I am fixing you and I want you walking close to Me again, as My friend, as My confidante, as someone that I TRUST (yes, I TRUST you!) to love others like I’ve loved you!”

Pray with me: “Father, I’m putting aside my own feelings and the urge to run away. There is no place else I’m at peace but in Your presence. I can’t even go back to life as before and do it the way I did before I knew You. I need You! Forgive my sins, my mistakes, blot out anything that stepped between us. Fix me and if You want to use me, I’m here. Lord, You really DO know my heart. You know I’ve always loved You even when I let my flesh do the decision-making. Help me rise above my own will. Cleanse me and help me say no to whatever causes distance between us. I don’t want to feel like I can’t come near You anymore. I receive Your forgiveness and I am going to have a good finish–like Peter! In Jesus’ name.” Amen.

Prayer for the Unsung Heroes: Caregivers

Prayer focus today: Please pray for those in your circle who are caregivers. Unless you’ve ever had to do it, it’s impossible to fathom the physical, emotional, and even spiritual depletion that can happen when you give care to a loved one round-the-clock. It’s most certainly a labor of love. Pray not just for the sick person, but for the person(s) unselfishly looking after him or her. And when you can offer help, a meal, an encouraging word, be a blessing to that person!

Father, we come before You today on behalf of caregivers everywhere. Lord, the caregivers would tell us to focus our prayers on the sick and infirm being taken care of, and we do that too; but today, we pray for the caregivers themselves.

We declare over these today a special Psalm 67 blessing. Thank You for being gracious, for making Your face to shine upon them, and for blessing them. When it seems as if they’re in a dark, unfamiliar place, cause that light to shine through the fog, bringing them hope and courage all over again. Calm their fears, Father. It’s a scary realm to navigate, especially when those dependent upon them are suffering from mental compromise. When they feel terribly inadequate or overwhelmed, surround them with encouragers. When they feel exhausted, send helpers to come alongside. When they see no possible opportunity for a break, Father, make possible times of respite. When they feel unappreciated by fellow family members, cause others to become more sensitive to their needs…and send a network of people into their lives who express needed appreciation. Remind them often, Father, that they are not alone. You have a heart for the helpless, Lord, but You are also well-pleased with and aware of the people who are caregivers, rescuers, nurses, and helpers of those who are helpless! You keep a record of those acts of kindness, so these who are in positions of caring for the helpless are under Your watchful eye. Even when others aren’t aware of all they must do in a day’s (and night’s) time, You are there and You know. Bless them indeed; bless them a lot!

We ask You to help caregivers embrace offered help, to not try and do everything on their own. If siblings are not rising to the occasion, send friends that “sticketh closer than a brother” to help shoulder the load. Cause strength to rise as they wait upon You and upon those who need their help. Strength like eagles, Lord. Running and not weary. Walking and not fainting. Renewed strength. We ask that every opportunity for sleep brings refreshment of double that time! No troubling dreams, no tossing and turning, no inability to relax. Remind them that as they rest, You are watching over those in their care. Thank you for protecting their own health. Healing flows in their adrenal glands so that they don’t feel exhaustion setting in!

We rebuke tormenting spirits, in the name of Jesus, that would create unrest in the atmosphere of the place where the care is being given. In situations where caregivers are wearing thin to the point of losing compassion for those in their care, we ask You to intervene. Don’t allow any of our precious caregivers to be stressed to the breaking point where they might be unkind or abusive, even unintentionally. We invite the spirit of peace, the dove of the Holy Spirit, to rest and find habitation in this caregiving place. Bring peace and calm to the patients, but Lord, bring that same peace and calm to the caregivers. When the devil tries to inject guilt, depression, a feeling of inadequacy, feelings of bitterness or frustration or anger, or feelings of despair and temptation to give up, Lord, we raise the banner of Jehovah Nissi and we say, this territory is occupied by the Lord! Shalom has taken this territory and there is no room for enemies that would disrupt the environment. Thank You for causing caregivers to be creative and able to hear Your direction…when right music, conversation, interaction, even games help their wards to be calmer, Lord reveal clever ways to caregivers to keep these in their care occupied and happy.

You are near those who are of a broken heart, Lord. Many of our caregivers’ hearts are broken because of the injured, sick, fragile, or even terminal state of their loved ones. Comfort them. Bring many opportunities for humor and laughter even in times when they feel overwhelmed. Let laughter flow as freely as tears, and when the Holy Spirit needs to numb the pain, we ask You to send that comfort too. Peace that passes all understanding…peace when it seems illogical that there should be peace. Your Word also says that one act of pure and undefiled religion is to care for the widows (and orphans), and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. We pray you will send salvation to the caregivers who have not received You…but Lord, for even the ones who don’t yet have a relationship with you, we ask for very obvious blessings upon them for compassionate caring for the widow, the helpless, the infirm. Let them know that it is You who sends these blessings, and may they see this as proof of Your great love and mercy. We also pray that You will send financial blessing on them, so that they do not have additional pressures over money issues. Bring wisdom for financial management for themselves and those who are their wards.

And Father, for those who’ve done all they can and are struggling with the issue of having to recruit hospice, respite care, home health nurses, volunteer helpers, assisted living, or even a nursing home for their loved one, help them to be strong enough to let go and allow others to help. Especially in the case where the caregivers’ health is declining, sometimes it’s just not possible to continue as before; and for many, the guilt over not being able to continue to take care of one’s spouse, parent, or child is unbearable. When the cared-for person is too frail for home care, in need of full-time medical experience the caregiver doesn’t have, has wandering or self-endangerment issues, help the caregiver to be strong enough to turn the reins over and let others come alongside to help. There is no shame in allowing a better solution for the patient to be had; so help those who must give up being a caregiver not to blame themselves when they’ve reached the end of their ability to do so. Help them to not feel as if they are abandoning their loved ones if they cannot continue in the role of caregiver. Sometimes we need medical professionals or just a few more hands involved; and guilt or pride won’t let us admit that we can’t do it alone. When it’s YOUR time for more people to be involved in the care process, I pray that You will whisper a confirmation into the caregivers’ ears that it is OK; then heal their aching hearts as they make the hard decisions of life.

Finally, we confess Psalm 46:1-3 over them (and over ourselves) to affirm that we know You are with them and us:

“God is our shelter and our strength. When troubles seem near, God is nearer, and He’s ready to help. So why run and hide? No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails. When the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless.When mountains crumble and the waters run wild, we are sure and fearless. Even in heavy winds and huge waves,or as mountains shake, we are sure and fearless.”(Ps 46:1-3 The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.)

We confess Your Word and we ask these things in the name of Jesus…gratefully, effectually, fervently, and with FAITH that You watch over Your Word to perform it! And, as You reveal ways to us to be more proactive in ministering to and assisting caregivers, we will rise to the occasion!

Guilt-Zilla: No More Sequels

THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. (Romans 8:1 | AMP)

One of the hardest revelations about my shortcomings has the potential to become one of my greatest victory testimonies, if I can succeed in letting it shape me into a better person! The Lord revealed to me, on what was pretty-much a sleepless night, that one of the biggest taskmasters and tormentors I have is Guilt…and that He wants me to do something about it. This big Guilt-Zilla monster has chased most of the other motivators off the block and kept me all to its gnarly, ugly, hellish self. I’m just being transparent with you, friends…allowing you to see the very human side of me that occasionally needs an attitude adjustment! All of us are in desperate need of God’s grace.

So, why on earth, you may ask, are you plagued by guilt, Lisa? I feel guilty because:

I work all the time and have provided for myself a virtually nonexistent family life.
When I actually am working, I get interrupted countless times and then I sit there in a daze trying to get my concentration back; therefore time is wasted and I then feel like a bad employee. I have less to show for my work than I believe I should.
I need to spend more time in God’s presence than I do on His payroll. The to-do list isn’t getting me any closer to Him and it therefore keeps getting bigger and more out of balance. I’m sorry, Papa. You and I both know there are days when I’m running on fumes and You’re not the one to blame.
I get zero exercise and very little recreation, which means I’m not a good steward of my body; but when I’m out walking or taking a break or doing something I enjoy, I worry that people think I’m wasting time when I should be working. Two-sided guilt. Ouch.
I am in considerable need of weight loss which means I need to move more and worry about what other people think a whole lot less. I know I’m cheating myself and my husband by not taking responsibility for my body. So yeah, guilty.
I find myself bitter and resentful that the only time I truly have to myself is when I’m asleep; so I dread checking answering machines and emails because I know there’s stuff in there that will further cut into time I don’t have. I also resent the worry that robs me of said only time I have to myself–my sleep.
My house stays a mess; and without a plan to keep it from getting that way, it isn’t going to change. Even though I work long hours, I feel I should be more on top of this and therefore–you guessed it–guilty.
I have done a less-than stellar job of managing my own finances. Someone with an IQ of 137 should be debt-free with a sizable chunk in savings. Someone with that IQ should also have more to show for her accomplishments than a year and a half of college education. Achievement quotient: not impressive. Guilty.
I never feel as if I’ve done enough. I can’t please everybody. I can’t please myself and I wonder sometimes if I’m actually pleasing God or if I’m just trying to appease the guilt monster within.
I am burned out, and in this moment I want with all my heart to disconnect from my job, the ministry, and life in general. I am empty and so dissatisfied with my messy, substandard life. I am the poster child of imbalance and I feel guilty about that too.

Ok, so I have been painfully transparent with you. I have been drowning in a sea of my own making, held under the water by Guilt-Zilla and allowed to surface every few seconds to take a deep, desperate gasp of breath.

So am I a hypocrite and a fraud? No, not really. I’m just in a state of chaos and in need of the grace of my Savior. My greatest sin in all of this is allowing that little pet tadpole of guilt to grow and take over my life, until he is bigger even that my dreams.

So today Lord, I crawl up into Your lap and humbly ask You to take me through a Romans 8:1 refresher course. Matter of fact, erase what I actually think I know and start from scratch. I need You to show me how to put Guilt-Zilla out of my misery.

Help me to find room for both career and family, where I don’t feel like either is trespassing on the other. I need some safe compartments and boundaries.
Help me multitask less and focus more. The guilt monster has very little to feed on when I am doing whatever I’m doing (one thing at a time) with my whole heart and not on autopilot.
Help me to draw some realistic separation between working for Your church and really having relationship with You. I keep forgetting that You don’t expect me to be on the clock 7 days a week just to prove that I love You. You’d rather we just hang out together, job or no job.
Help me to regain control in the area of personal discipline, and to actually value the body You gave me. Help me do more than just think about taking care of myself; I need to go there in more than just my wishes. Help me to make better food choices and to get to whatever weight You know is my healthiest.
Help me to be a better steward of my house and my finances, so that the Proverbs 31 Woman doesn’t look like a lady I really despise for all her efficiency and um-attainability.
Help me to find some quality time beyond a few hours’ sleep each night. Sleep shouldn’t count as my “me time.” You wired me to be a deep thinker and I need silence to do that. Help me also to have time to be creative. Help me to find a little fun too. I don’t have much of that these days, not like I should. Help me to stop “working even when I’m not working.” Help me to add the word NO to my vocabulary.
Help me to just get back to enjoying Your presence. I’ve been Martha so long and I really miss getting to be Mary. I’m way too careful and troubled about many things; help me to choose the better part that won’t be taken away from me.
Help me to feel a separation from what I’m not involved in at the moment, so that all my responsibilities have their own respective places. I want to feel once more as if my job, my family, my ministry, and the people around me are truly gifts and not one more straw on the camel’s back. Teach me to decompress by meditation in Your Word.
Help me to actually like being me again.
Help me to put You—just You—first in my life again, and help me find somewhere appropriate on the list for me, too. I feel lost in the shuffle.
Help me to know when I’ve worked, served, given enough for one day, and to be at peace with enough being enough.

It’s a lot to ask, Father, but I believe You can help me to make sure that the Guilt-Zilla movie has no more sequels. I know it’s time to deal, and if You’ll help me, I know I can reclaim my peace! I ask all this in Jesus’ name…

Fruit Forthcoming

I was three years old when we moved to our little house in North Matewan. There was a young tree growing on the left side of our house that, for years, was just a trunk and branches and leaves. It was said that it was a chestnut tree; but yet, there was no fruit. When I was 10 or 11 years old, green burry-looking pods came out all over and that fall, the most beautiful, huge, sweet, crunchy chestnuts you ever saw were inside. I was thrilled and from that year forward, looked forward to picking them off the ground and taking them next door for Grandpa and me to peel and eat.

It took some time for those chestnuts to prove that the tree was indeed a chestnut tree, but you know something? It was still a chestnut tree. From the moment the first little green sprout popped through the ground up until the day my Dad cut it down. There were chestnut trees on the hillsides and in other parts of the neighborhood, but none had the quality of fruit that this lone little tree wound up bearing. Yep…the same tree whose identity seemed questionable for the greater part of my childhood.

My point? We spend way too much time analyzing one another and looking for fruit whose time has not yet come. Lighten up and love the people around you! Entrust them into God’s hands because whatever He created us to be, that potential is deep inside of all of us from conception. Pray, be patient, be a good example, and never make that person feel as if your approval is some unattainable goal; forcing it can stunt his or her growth and delay the fruit even longer!

We have the assurance in God’s Word that when we train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. I meditated on that yesterday and thought about this: it says, “when he is old.” Give those in-between years to God and pray a hedge of protection around your children. They may have several years in their lives when they are unproductive or even producing BAD fruit…but you just keep sowing into them. Keep being that example. Keep telling them how good they are and how pleased you are with them. Keep speaking truth in love, but never speak things over your children that declare something negative: you will get exactly what you speak. Keep pleading the blood of Jesus over them. One day, the pods will open and the fruit will be exactly what it was ordained to be.

Peace, love, and light to all of you on this Monday.

CALL THOSE THINGS: An Honest Talk About the Power of Prayer

I was still semiconscious lying in bed this morning when the thought, “I’d love to write a book if I had something important enough to say,” went through my mind. That thought jarred me awake, and I smiled. It was the answer I’d given people many times over the past few years who kept saying to me, “Why don’t you write a book…you should write a book!” Hey, I don’t have to give that excuse ever again, thanks to God!

A year ago I was still far away from having that book in me. Next week I’ll be on the one-year anniversary of a doctor slamming me with an announcement that I was diabetic. I was wrestling a host of other illnesses too: chronic fatigue that got worse with each passing year, unexplained nausea every single day, digestive issues, anxiety; plus, difficulty falling asleep, but then I slept too much and yet it was never enough, not to mention other nuisance and personal maladies. The fatigue and the wrecked concentration it caused was debilitating, but the diabetes diagnosis was the last straw. I got flaming mad every time I had to take that pill or stick my finger. The anger was legit, but it changed nothing…I was still sick, and being sick was at the forefront of my mind. Especially after that diagnosis! Every little twinge or blip on my radar from then on, I would imagine it was something else the diabetes was doing to destroy my body. I wanted to just stop feeling bad all the time, period–but I was frankly too tired to put up a fight. I would ask God to heal me every day; but other than that, I had no real prayer strategy because that required energy I didn’t feel I had.

I was in a thick fog, a trap of Satan. For the first time, I’m sharing with you that this also is a milestone of about a year back, when I gave our pastor notice of intent to leave employment if I didn’t have a major turnaround by the end of last year. My work was so compromised, I knew remaining would not be good for the church. He said, “We will just trust God!” and did not accept my offer to train someone to replace me.

A distress call from a friend, Peggy Scarborough, last April prompted me to seek Scriptures to pray in agreement with her for a sudden health crisis. Her need was so dire that I went into “grasping for straws” mode. A single prayer point evolved into about 8-9 pages of Scriptures to which I had attached prayer confessions–something over which she and several of us who were in prayer for her would be able to agree. When these prayers resulted in a turnaround for her, she encouraged me to research for other illnesses. I kept at it here and there, and then the Lord opened up an opportunity in June for me to lock away in a hotel room, alone and with no tv or distractions, and pen 12 more chapters that would complete CALL THOSE THINGS. The Lord has since then given me even more prayers to add to that list, which I publish as I get them here on my blog, https://callthosethings.wordpress.com/

When I uploaded the last of my manuscript to the publisher, I was still dealing with these issues but had newfound encouragement in what I had mined out of the Scriptures. I kept confessing these prayers over myself. By July 1 I had eliminated every prescription drug I was taking. No more Metformin, Zoloft, Zofran, Carafate, Zantac, and the over-the-counter sleeping pill. Long before summer was over, every symptom that plagued me (some for years) was gone. I was healed….I AM HEALED! The most difficult to release in faith was the anxiety medication; it had become a crutch in the transition into menopause with its anxiety and mood swings–but God was faithful and He remains faithful! Seven months later, I am still off all those medications and I feel like a different person altogether–no blood sugar roller coaster, no nausea, and I can get by many days on LESS than 8 hours sleep–not 10 or 12 or 14! GOD is the One who did this for me when His Words became my words and my confession. Absolutely no other explanation for it. A cool bonus: All the health issues that a doctor would blame on a need for weight loss got healed before a single pound came off. Yes, I’m still trusting for and working toward that goal too; but God let my healing come in advance, so that no one could say that I got well because I got rid of the excess weight! God didn’t gauge my level of healing on how much I deserved it or how good a steward I’d been with my body–He responded to faith in His Word, pure and simple. Now that I’m well, He’s teaching me to use vitamins, good nutrition, and natural remedies like essential oils to maximize my health…but none of these can claim the title of Healer! Jehovah Rapha (God my Healer) is the One Who stepped in and brought the healing that changed my life forever. And He loves you no less than He loves me!

I can’t and won’t tell you that if you buy my book you’ll be able to ditch all your meds and never again need to be under a doctor’s care. (I would recommend no such thing unless you feel prompted of the Lord to do so. Honestly, I laid my own meds aside because I felt the gentle assurance from God that it was time. It was time to put into practice what He had birthed in me during this investigative process. If I ever need a doctor’s care in the future, I have no qualms about seeking medical assistance. I’ll go.) What I CAN tell you, however, is that if you will dig your heels into the Word of God for yourself, there is life-affirming, health-giving substance that can transport you right out of the ditch you feel you’re trapped in with your body, soul, and spirit. At one point I felt it’d be better to just never wake up again than to have to keep trudging through day after day of feeling bad all the time. Oh, I don’t think I really wanted to die, necessarily; I was just so weary of being weary!

Also, I didn’t write CALL THOSE THINGS as a substitute so people wouldn’t have to pray on their own; but rather, as a teaching tool. I also wrote these prayers to help those who’ve exhausted all the knowledge they already have on how to pray for their healing. I know what it’s like to be so overwhelmed that you don’t know what to ask. I know what it’s like to have an emergency that leaves your mind too cluttered to pray more than, “Help me Jesus!” When Dana was beside himself in pain with kidney stones this past fall, I was so emotional that I wasn’t being very focused in my prayers for him…and I pulled up this book on my phone, right there in the emergency room, and began praying the prayers the Lord had given me months before. It felt so faith-bolstering to have all those kidney Scriptures already indexed. And God helped Dana as he lay there and agreed with each prayer point that I read over him.

One of the most satisfactory comments I’ve heard on several occasions goes like, “I didn’t know I could even ask for something like that!” God’s so much better than we credit Him. What a joyful revelation when at last we get that! It’s His WILL that we walk in health. He’s not sitting up there sprinkling “sick dust” on selective ones of us, to make us humble or teach us a lesson or punish us. Jesus didn’t endure those stripes on His back so that He could turn around and give us the diseases He suffered and bled to free us from. It’s my prayer that if you’re reading this, you are considering investing in this prayer manual. It’s not a read-once-and-pass-it-on kind of book. It’s a reference to go back to again and again for yourself, for your loved ones, and to keep yourself focused whenever you feel tempted to relent to the enemy’s attack on your body. You don’t have to just accept it! Know God’s will for your best life…and if you need help, consider ordering CALL THOSE THINGS for yourself.

Resisting the Spirit of Despair — A Prayer of Deliverance

push back “We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed…” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NET)

My prayer today is for those whose trials of life seem like more than you can endure. I understand fully what it is like to be stressed easily. I’m a quiet-natured person who tends to hold in my feelings to the boiling point. On the outside I am cool as a cucumber but inwardly, my cares and worries and stress can be chewing holes in my soul. Then, at the least convenient time possible, I’ve been known to show my vulnerability. Our mouths eventually betray us if we are focused on the negative or if our mentality is one of despair!

Our only defense is God’s Word, and our only righteous boldness is through the Holy Spirit. But that isn’t bad…that’s good in a FOOLPROOF way! When our defense is coming from God and not our own at-times weak abilities, we don’t have to wonder whether we are going to survive. God, our strength and the One Who goes before us in battle, will meet the enemy first and He will wave the victory banner right in Satan’s face. Take a deep breath, and pray with me. We are about to enter into a state of rest–spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally too.

Father, we come to You today asking You to throw up a shield that guards our speech from the ears of the enemy. We are hearing the taunts and suggestions and mockings of the devil, who would try to drown out Your voice…but Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and another they will not follow.” He didn’t say we would never hear other voices, but He did say that we would recognize and follow HIS. We magnify You today and tune our ears to listen for Your guidance. We are determined that our speech will not betray us and give the enemy a foothold. May only You hear our distress call and not the devourer…we know You stand ready to rescue Your children!

Help us to become glass-half-full people instead of glass-half-empty! Help us to crave Your Word and to dig in to its strength when we are hit headlong with bad circumstances. We realize that it takes no effort whatsoever to become obsessed with bitter, jaded, selfish, negative thoughts…but we are followers of Christ. Therefore, we have the MIND of Christ, and for that reason, we have a choice. We plead the blood of Jesus over our mind, will, and emotions.

When the devil shows us the bad, help us instead to focus on ways in which we are blessed. When he tells us that our circumstances are permanent and that we are trapped with no way to ever be happy again, remind us that to everything there is a season. We can even come to understand, as Paul, that what we are wrestling now are “light and momentary afflictions” in light of eternity. When we are physically feeling too weary and whipped to put up a fight, send Your ministering spirits to aid and strengthen us. We can trust You. Help us not to be angry and resentful for the season we find ourselves in at this time…and if anger and resentment must be felt, may we turn those emotions into prayer bombs launched against darkness. The origin of trouble is in the spirit realm; help us to stop warring against people, when these battles must be fought on a different battleground.

Father, help us to gird up our minds and to stop courting those things which invite depression and despair. Give us a distaste for movies, music, even news channels or foods that tamper with our state of well-being. Make us aware of what pushes our anxiety buttons, and give us the good sense to walk away from drama every time it tries to let itself into our lives. Curb our appetite for over-stimulation, and teach us to live in simplicity once again. May we value quiet time with You. May we learn to politely say NO to the world’s endless list of favors. Help us to learn from Solomon’s experience when he summed all that chasing after worthless things up to just that–worthless, meaningless pursuits. Help us to stick with fearing You and keeping Your commandments. Help us to stick to loving You first, wholeheartedly, then loving others as ourselves. There is no sorrow attached to the blessings You give us. Your blessings make us rich in ways money can and cannot buy.

Today we cast our burdens upon You, because You care for us. Remind us of that. When we are tempted to dig our burdens back out of the heap and take them home, rebuke us! Thank you for fresh mercy for today, for grace to cover our shame, and for Your Word which is the winning argument to every accusation of our enemy. Thank You for Your joy…the joy of our salvation, the joy which is our strength. Thank You for Your joy even on days we don’t particularly feel happy and satisfied! Thank You for a spirit of laughter to overtake us and wash away the heaviness in our hearts. Medicate us with laughter and lightheartedness as we stretch toward Your light and away from the darkness of our circumstances. Prepare that table for us in the presence of our enemies…so that the enemy is scratching his head saying, “Right in the middle of my worst attack, they’re having a joyous feast???”

We submit to You and in doing so, we make our lives a very inhospitable place for the enemy to camp out. Instead of running toward us, he runs away. The heat of having to hear us quote the Word is more than the spirits of wickedness want to expose themselves to. It reminds them of their own despair in the very near future!

Father, we lift our hands to heaven and receive Your strength. We are that tree in Psalm 1, deeply rooted by the river of water, bearing fruit, covered in leaves, strong, healthy, thriving, fixed, and stable. We do not stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful! We toss out sarcasm and carnality and instead we delight in You and what Your Word says. Our circumstances will NOT dictate our level of thankfulness and peace. When the circumstances are resistant or slow to change, You will work on our hearts instead…so that we can say that we are content no matter what state we’re in. When we can say that, nothing can move us out of our center of peace! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thankfulness–Breaker of Hope Deferred

Proverbs 13:12 tells us that postponed hope sickens the heart. How many people are suffering in their health–or even already gone to the grave–because of a state of hopelessness?

I want each of you to ponder this and begin to confess, “I choose to be happy NOW. Not later, when the right job, the right mate, the weight loss, the respect and the education and the money come. My contingency for happiness isn’t bound up in a lottery ticket mentality, where happiness might get to happen later IF per next-to-nothing chance, I get everything I hope for.”

One of Satan’s cruelest schemes is that of deferred hope, because it’s always in the future with no acquisition date stamped on it. In that setting, only fantasy occupies the mind–for anyone else’s life MUST be more interesting than one’s own, right?

Don’t let the evil one convince you that the ideal life is the one you aren’t in! He will keep you running from one relationship to another, one high to another, one futile pursuit and then another and another. You’ll live inside a fictitious story where you spend all your days, as Ecclesiastes says, chasing “vanities.” Even when you ARE running over with favor and blessing, you won’t see it because you’ll be still focused on what you don’t have yet. Without meaning to be–and without seeing it–you’ll become miserably self-centered, trapped inside the devil’s funhouse where every reflection of your life is distorted and perverted. Not good enough.

How on earth does one stop deferring hope? It is, after all, a choice! You break the cycle first by taking on the spirit of thanksgiving. As hypocritical as that might sound, you call the devil’s bluff even before you SEE your own life as a great place to be. You zero in on even the trivial, tiny things if necessary; and praise God for those instead of lamenting things which aren’t so wonderful at present. Believe me when I tell you, God knows your heart! He isn’t going to be insulted when you do this. He knows the difference between sarcasm and a true attempt to return to a spirit of thanksgiving. If your foot is hurting, thank Him that your ear isn’t.

Jesus lived in a human body too. It would’ve been much easier to live out His days as a normal, nondescript fellow with the biblical equivalent of the American Dream. The wife, kids, the dog, the picket fence. He also knew that the key to not becoming disillusioned with the burdens He bore was to remain in the place of thanksgiving. His prayers began with, “Father, I thank You that_____.”

From what many historians believe, Mary probably long outlived Joseph. As the oldest, the responsibility to support her and to raise younger siblings would have fallen to Jesus. He could’ve wrestled with “hope deferred” as He labored away, day in and day out, to put food on the table instead of being out there fulfilling His destiny. The human side of Him may have wondered, “Am I ever going to get beyond just helping my folks and on to REAL ministry?” But you know, the side of Him which connected to His Father knew that what He was doing in those preparatory days WAS real ministry! He learned compassion and selflessness while helping wipe noses and pack water. Time He spent poring over the law and the prophets, in prayer and meditation, and in the place of solitude, and in the place of serving His family well, were all investments for what would become a 3 1/2 year blitz of ministry that culminated in Him saying, “It is finished!” at the cross–not, “This is unfair, my life has been disappointing, it is UNFINISHED. I want to reinvent myself and be like the characters on my favorite TV show!”

There have been many times when, going through hard seasons, I dreamed of hopping on a plane with a new name and identity, and just starting all over again. There’ve been times when I felt like the biggest waste of potential EVER. I’ve known for some time now that when I catch myself drifting away to that place, my thankfulness is leaking out. I immediately try to switch gears and reassess. Have I listened to the world telling me all I’m not, or am I instead peering at my reflection in the Word to see me conforming to the image of Jesus?

When we say that our current state is not our IDEA of where we want to be, then we are in the place of hope deferred…and yes, it’s just an idea. Shake yourself with this hard but vital truth! If you get every part of your “idea” of what it takes to make you happy, you still won’t be happy unless you are already choosing to have a heart of gratitude in any state. Our mission statement may be more than “half a bubble off plumb” when placed against our actual MISSION. It’s time to take our minds off the “if only I were richer, thinner, younger, older, more educated, beautiful/handsome, then my life would be better” merry-go-round, and make today about what we actually have in our hands. Do as Jesus did concerning feeding the multitude. Ask, “what do I have in my hands?” and then hold it up, give thanks for it, bless it, and put it to use. You’re no more cheated for that allotment of resources you have than Jesus was, when He held up and gave thanks for five dinner rolls and a couple of sardines, right in front of the astonished people He was about to bless with the feast of a lifetime!

Remember–remain thankful even when it feels silly to be thankful for your little bit. It doesn’t matter what YOU have, it’s what HE has…but He will require you to present to Him what you have first. Trade your hope deferred for faith infused! He will bless you more for thankfully using what you have–your ordinary, ho-hum life in your average or below-average body, less-than-perfect teeth, short resume’, incomplete education, not-so-dream job, biological click-ticking self–than if you were to get to swap lives with any other person on earth. Bless and utilize what you have; because in so doing, you short-circuit the endless-loop of the accuser who says you have too little to ever be effective (or happy)! Stop comparing yourself to that other person who already has what you wish you did–you may think you really want IT, but mostly what you’re wanting is to shut off feeling as if you’re a disappointment. Stop it. That other person isn’t having things as perfect as you think…especially if he or she is still motivated by that same need for approval that you’re wrestling.

God will take your offering of what you have, pour the oil of anointing on it, set it ablaze with favor you couldn’t have possibly worked diligently enough to earn, and leave you speechless at what He has done with your tiny part! So, does a spirit of thankfulness REALLY do all that? Is it really the breaker of hope deferred? Yes! On the day you grasp this–take your eyes off yourself and place them upon God–you will poise yourself for the miraculous! Refocus every single day if you have to, because this is one of the most powerful tools of spiritual warfare you will ever pull out of your bag. Get this right and watch your life begin to change in a major way…and those things you don’t see changing will start mattering to you a whole lot less in light of what IS.

No Such Thing as a Lost Cause

Dana was watching a history show today on TV about a man named Hugh Glass, a frontiersman in early 1800’s South Dakota. I was in the next room, but the story caught my attention and I found myself listening in. Apparently, this man was attacked by a bear and mauled so badly that his traveling companions thought he couldn’t possibly have survived. They dug a shallow, open “grave” and just placed him inside, sure he was either dead or soon to die. Being pioneers who didn’t waste anything, they stripped him of his tools and personal effects and left him in that ditch. A couple of months later, people in a fort some distance away were shocked when a severely wounded and emaciated man crawled into their midst, claiming to be Hugh Glass. Many didn’t believe he was who he said he was. Others thought he was a dead man come back to life and it terrified them. The unpleasant details of how he managed to survive make up a story that is nothing short of miraculous.

How many of our loved ones are in such bad shape that we finally just give up on them? Physically, perhaps they’re very sick and we have lost any expectation of their recovery…or spiritually, perhaps they’ve been so mean, so addicted, so rebellious, or so detached from our families that we’ve written them off as hopeless cases? Or marriages in which we become just too tired to do the work of making them last? I’m writing this to urge you, if you’re tempted to give up on someone, DON’T! The Bible is full of lost causes! Jairus’ daughter. The demoniac of Gadara. Lazarus. Gomer, the estranged wife of the prophet Hosea. Peter, in prison. If you will persist in prayer, that person may be the next “dead man” to stagger into your midst, alive and set free from the clutches of Satan!

Who prayed for you? Now, for whom will you pray WITHOUT GIVING UP? “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 ESV)

Lord, raise up an army of lost causes, and may their testimonies of deliverance shake open the doors where others are held captive!