Jesus died that we might live, be fully ALIVE,  through Him. He holds out a new way, a resurrected way to live our daily lives. It could seem like it’s pie in the sky spiritual talk, but it’s a feet to the ground reality. What does resurrected living look like?

I like the way my friend Matt describes this kind of living, ” It’s living like Jesus would if he were in my place”. That helps me understand. But, to know the real meaning of what Jesus would do, I have to know a little more about Jesus. So Today I want to focus on just one thing that Jesus said about how he moved about this life…

“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” John 5:30

“I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me;he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” John 8:18

Clearly he was humble. Certainly he lived to please God above all else. Commonly he lived among the people, human flesh walking about the dirt paths with everyone else. Common living created a need to seek to hear God in this real “earth life”… learning from Him. And in humility seeking to live to please His Father he ended up living an uncommon life. He died but his body left the burial tomb. He rose so that we could  live past the Easter services, brunches and celebrations. His resurrection power is alive in those who believe…on Monday. It will be with us, working in us, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday too.

Jesus prayed before his death,

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:24-26

He asked that He himself would live on… in us.

Living in us, in you, in me…right here, right now.

Think about that today.

Celebrate! Christ in you!

Make it a Monday of humble praise!

Debbie

Jesus did not sacrifice his life to make bad people good or even a little better. He went to the cross and died to bring spiritually dead people to life. This is the Easter message in simple form. Over 2000 years later the Easter story as related in the gospels continues to be told. Rather than the 15 minutes of fame that we are familiar with today, this story is the drama of history repeated, reenacted and re-lived every year since.

There were no reporters, no magazine covers with the picture of Jesus on the cross. But there was a woman who said with pure conviction ” I have seen the Lord!” It was personal. Some assumed she was hysterical, but quickly others could confirm her story. Different versions surfaced and Mary Magdalene’s story could not be suppressed because it was true. It was God’s story to save mankind from the dead lives of religious lists and duties, freeing them to know a personal relationship with a living God. It was God’s timing; it was the turn of history.

Easter is Personal

We have been invited to share in His resurrection through spiritual re-birth. Jesus Himself has invited us to be adopted as sons and daughters. As his children, he did not leave us as orphans but left an inheritance for us to claim in our lives today. To know God as our “Abba Father”, is to cease believing he is some fickle God that is out to bless us or get us based on our performance. He has used His power to taste and overcome death on our behalf. He left a last will and testament in which he named us as family members. By this will he brought us into His family, through His lavish love. To those who are His heirs he is now a Papa in whose house we can be sure we belong and are loved.

As God’s heirs we are loved and accepted, forgiven, redeemed, washed, sanctified, justified, blessed with every spiritual blessing, chosen, adopted. We are His workmanship, fellow citizens of His kingdom and fellow partakers with Jesus of His promises. We are a fragrant aroma to Him, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, holy brethren, His very own people. In Him we have been made complete. ( see Colossians 2:10)

He has so much more for you than a “divine to-do” list. God has given us a divine gift and resource list through Jesus Christ. God’s will provides us with the resources we need to live the lives, have the families, raise the children, do the ministry, that would “speak well of” Him. It is personal.

This Easter season the world again contemplates the sacrifice of Jesus. And as we attend another service in the local church on Easter morning, may the good news not just be old news, but may the truth that he lives be personal. May we all grow closer to the Savior and declare in our own personal stories ” I have seen the Lord!”  May this Easter by your personal resurrection into a relationship of Trusting God. May it be the point in your history where you know you have laid your “stuff” at the foot of the cross, believing that Jesus died for every last detail of it. Easter is not for the masses, He died for you…It’s personal.

Many blessings as you celebrate,

Debbie

If you are not a Christian and would like to become one, let today be your day. It is not joining a club or following rules. It is coming to God and asking Him to take your life and make it what He intended it to be. It is receiving the gift of Jesus Christ, by faith. If you have never prayed, it’s simply talking to God. Ask Him to forgive your sins, help your unbelief, and take your life and graft it into His own. It’s Personal.

“To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13

I didn’t like it at the time. I cried, tried to hold on to the old, resenting the new. None of it did me much good, because the old was gone and the new was going to come whether I liked it or not. So my childhood home was demolished before my eyes. That’s how it is with us sometimes too. In order for our lives to be empty, clean and ready for something new…things get shaken up, demolished before our eyes, or pruned to the nubs. The pruning process is painful and not something we want to embrace, but it is part and parcel of what must happen to make room for something new in our lives.

Today I want to focus on the positive part of the “clearing away of the old”  in our lives. It’s easy to focus on the negative, but there is a flip side to the negative and I believe that God would like us to learn ( and yes, it’s a learned position) to live under His Promises rather than settle for living under the pain of our problems. Part of the clearing away that must happen for all of us, is when God begins to expose our pockets of flesh. The flesh being the part of us that is still functioning according to our self power rather than the indwelling power of God’s Spirit. Scripture talks about the flesh as being our un-surrendered sin nature. All of us have parts of us that are not surrendered to God’s Spirit. Often we don’t even realize the areas that are not surrendered until the Lord, in His love for us, allows a circumstance to happen that begins to brush up against our flesh. It is these areas that God clears away little by little. But even the littlest rock being removed from the garden of flesh, is noticeably painful because we have emotional attachments to the way WE have done things, what we have thought about things,and how we have learned to process things.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean says:

“A person without the indwelling Spirit of Jesus is all flesh in this sense. The person in whom Jesus has housed Himself and taken up residence has pockets of flesh still active. Like sleeper cells, they are activated by certain cues form the outside, but until activated, flesh might stay hidden. Hidden or disguised flesh is wreaking havoc inside like undetected cancer cells, free to destroy unchallenged.” From  Altar’d, Experience the Power of the Resurrection, by Jennifer Kennedy Dean.

If we all have sleeper cells of flesh, we must be aware that God would desire to clear those away so that we can be truly spiritually alive in our daily lives and interaction with others. The clearing away hurts, just like cancer treatment causes pain and sickness. But, in this spiritual clearing away our hope must be anchored in God’s promises of a better outcome.To live within in the promises we must be in the Word of God to know what some of those promises are.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” John 15:16

Our life is NOT our own. The God who created us had plans in mind for us. Those plans include spiritual fruitfulness, and in order to be fruit bearing, we must be cleared away of “self-life” in order to be built up in the “spirit life” This is done through pruning/ trials, hardships/ endings/changes…whatever it takes to clear away the old stuff.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ” John 15:1-2

It is positive, the promise is EVEN MORE FRUIT!

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance.” Heb 12:1

What old thing is hanging on to you and robbing your spiritual life? Is it an attitude, unwillingness to yield to God, not ready to hear His Word and embrace it, living according to the flesh and refusing the spirit’s power and life?

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2

Our trials, as much as we hate them, are again…Producing Something.

The promise is…God finishing his work in a certain area, creating perseverance in us so we can run the race he has for us…taking hold of the fruit that HE has appointed us for. Trials are good, clearing away of the old structure in our lives and minds is good, pruning is painful but the cutting away makes way for something new, beautiful and better.

Today think on this Biblical perspective in light of your own life. What is God trying to clear away? Is it painful? Are you fighting it? What would it look like if you surrendered it to God, entrusting His goodness with your path?

Do you have sleeper cells that have been activated by a current relationship or circumstance lately?

Thank God today that he is clearing away the parts of you that are directed and led by your old nature. This clearing away makes room for rebuilding and recreating within you by the Power of God’s Spirit.

“For the sinful nature ( flesh) desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature ( flesh). They are in conflict with one another.” Galatians 5:17

If you are in an internal wrestling match, step back and think about what God’s word is saying here….there is a conflict going. Pay attention.

Back to the beach house…we moved from our home, packing up all our memories. God had something better waiting for us. We never looked back. I am reminded today to find hope in the truth that God always is working for the better our lives. May we have the courage to trust Him and not look back!

One day at a time,

Debbie

I can look at the mess and think of the process as negative from start to finish. For the record, I am good at focusing on the mess, how about you? But, what would happen if we learned to focus on the promises of God rather than on the problems in front of us? Well, I am about to tell you what happens, and it’s not my experience alone, it has been documented for thousands of years in the Bible.

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isa 26:3

What is a steadfast mind? It is a mind that is fixed, firm and unchanging. It is a mind that is fixed on trusting God in the middle of every bad thing. And, the promise that is attached to this fixed mind is….PEACE! For the past several weeks I have been experiencing this peace. I can only explain it as a neutral place. My problems seem to have neutralized before my very eyes. Don’t get me wrong, they are still there, but the effect they have had on me is neutralized, or in other words, I have the peace of God in the middle of the remodel! I think I finally got so sick of the mess that I waved the white flag of surrender and began agreeing with God’s Word that He is sovereignly at work within my life..and I began praising Him for the promises. Every time a stab would come to my heart, I would stop and redirect my focus. Sometimes this meant apologizing to someone if I over-reacted in a circumstance out of hurt…but if quickly redirected the peace comes flooding back. I have not felt this good in years. And, believe me, it’s not because of my circumstances! Yet, peace is at home in me as long as I am fixed on God’s rule in my life.

PEACE…it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

I am quite skilled at getting myself trapped under the rubble of a real-life construction zone. I get pinned down by the weight of my circumstance and can barely breathe. Like most, I just figured as long as I still love Jesus, then he understands and this is about the best I can do. The trouble is, while pinned down under my problems, I am no longer free to move about and do my Father’s business. Instead I am gasping for breath and just trying to survive until help comes to take the load off of me…or simply put…I wait for the problem to end, THEN, I once again go about my Father’s business. Though natural to me, it is backwards scripturally.

I am going to be blogging about living within the promises for awhile. So let’s start today.

Jesus said, ” Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:2

Are you being cut, pruned, hurt by a circumstance? Well you can gripe and complain endlessly because the cutting really does hurt…OR…you can hang on to the promise that you will be EVEN MORE FRUITFUL! You can also receive the compliment that you were already bearing good fruit and that is why the God who loves you is allowing you to once again be pruned. He knows that in order to get more he has to take from us all that could be holding the production of more and better fruit back. Taking away hurts. We take it personal. We live under it rather than choosing to live under the promises of God’s Ways, which in the end takes us up and over our problems…creating peace, neutralization of the problem, inner safety, hope and yes….JOY.

Here are some promises to live under today:

• You will be even more fruitful when God is finished with this season in your life John 15:2
• The Holy Spirit lives inside you today, working in you always John 14:17
• The Father has made a home inside of you, respect His presence by trusting Him John 14:23
• The Holy Spirit will teach you all things during this process, listen up. John 14:25
• The Spirit of Truth is your counselor. Bare your soul and be healed. John 14:15
• God chose you, appointing you to bear fruit, this is his plan John 15:16
• In order to bear good fruit, you must be pruned from time to time John 15:2

It’s all good, because God is good.

Now, what is being cut away at in your life? Are you in a crummy circumstance? Could God be trying to get to the interior of you to do some healing, changing, pruning? Ask the Holy Spirit, who was given to us to lead us into all truth and counsel us in all things, to begin making the way clear for you, so that you can quickly submit to God the area He is working in. Don’t be afraid. You have a Good Shepherd.

Psa 23… The Lord is My Shepherd! He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.

He loves you and he is leading you and restoring you. I believe this for me too.

Let’s believe together and become steadfast minds that God can use for his Glory and Purpose.

Trusting,

Debbie

The first “One another’s” is how not to treat people:

• Don’t bite and devour one another ( Galatians 5:15)
• Don’t lie to one another ( Colossians 3:9)
• Don’t speak evil of one another ( James 4:11)
• Don’t grumble against one another ( James 5:9)
• Don’t judge one another ( Romans 14:3)

If we go against these “one another’s” someone gets hurt.

The second set of “One Another’s” leads us into helping others:

• Accept one another ( Romans 15:7)
• Bear one another’s burdens ( Galatians 6:2)
• Bear with one another, with all humility, gentleness, and patience ( Ephesians 4:2)
• Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another ( Ephesians 4:32)
• Confess your sins to one another, pray for one another ( James 5:16)

If we choose these “One Another’s” someone gets helped.

The third set describes interactions with Christians that build them up

• Pursue what makes for peace and the building up of one another ( Romans 14:19)
• Have the same kind of care for one another ( 1 Cor 12:25)
• Admonish ( gently warn) one another ( Romans 15:14)
• Be devoted to one another, prefer one another when it comes to giving credit ( Romans 12:10)
• Serve one another ( Galatians 5:13)
• Submit to one another ( Ephesians 5:21)
• Regard one another as more important than yourself ( Phil 2:3)
• Be hospitable to one another ( 1 Peter 4:9)

Remember: If the action is positive towards one another, both parties benefit. If the action is negative, both parties lose.

Finally…Drum Roll….

Love One Another

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12

Praying God’s Word speaks to you today regarding how you live towards others.

Humbly convicted,

Debbie

Without this spiritual perspective we tend to look at our situations and either worry, complain or just power through, without paying any attention to what God might want to be teaching us in the middle of the hardship.

Today I am encouraging you, as God has encouraged me this week, to pay attention.

• What is going on in your life that is frustrating you?
• Why is it frustrating?
• Could God be trying to get your attention for the purpose of doing something deeper within you?
• Could it be that you are being tested, pruned, trained, disciplined or shaped in order to become more of His tool in this life?
• Are you turning over your frustration, hurt, pain and worry to Him?
• Have you tried thanking him in the middle of the pain?

Earlier this week I blogged on “What’s Love Got to Do with it?” And, this morning I want you to hear me loud and clear….God’s love for you has everything to do with the shaping, changing and pruning that is happening in the middle of your daily stuff. Look up today and take in the promise of God’s love for you. Because of His love, He is always and ever at work in us.

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…for it is God who works in you to will and to do according to his good purpose.” Philippians 1:6. 2:13

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ” Romans 8:18

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…submit to the Father of our spirits and live! God disciplines for our good, that we might share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:4-7,9b,10-12

The word discipline found here in Hebrews is the Greek, paideia, which refers to two things:

1. Whatever in children educates mind and morals.
2. Whatever in adults cultivates the soul by correcting mistakes and curbing passions ( blue letter bible)

Today, in your current struggle, no matter how large or small, God is cultivating your soul.Try saying Thank You!

thanking God in the middle of my stuff,

Debbie

Don’t get me wrong…I love a good holiday. I like themes. And, I am one of those holiday crazed women who has hearts and love signs up at my house for the February decor theme. But, at the end of the day I can tell you what I have found out….

Human love, as good as it can be, is nothing in comparison to the love of God towards us. People will disappoint us. Our expectations will get us in trouble. But, the one we can put all our hope and expectations in, is the God who created us. The God who thinks about us day and night. The God who loves us when we are good, when we are not so good, and in all the in-between times.

Sadly words of God’s love often sound more like fairy dust than hope. Let’s face it, it is often hard for people to experience the love of God because circumstances crowd out the reality of a loving God. And, so that is my wish for you today…to take in, believe, internalize, and think on the following truths: ( taken from Psalm 139)

• You are Known by God
• You are Protected by God
• You have been Created by God and For His Purposes
• You are individually Significant and of Value to God

Life can be a lot like a roller coaster ride. There are ups, downs, curves, sharp dips and unexpected  drops. The most troublesome drops come when you are in the middle of a hard situation, or trying to accept something you have no control over, or grieving a transition or loss. I affectionately call these periods between a problem and it’s resolution…the meantime. And though that is my affection verbage, there is nothing warm and fuzzy about these times. In fact, the meantime often feels MEAN!

The meantime has these consistent themes:

1. Not good timing…the meantime never is
2. Inconvenient…the meantime always is
3. Exhausting…the meantime takes us out of our emotional and physical comfort zone and that can really wear us out.

The dictionary defines the word “meantime” as the interval between things. And, one thing I have discovered about myself is that I do fairly well as a faith girl when life is cruising along and I am enjoying the smooth ride. But I don’t do too well when hairpin curves are introduced into the route. But, just today I was once again touched by the words of Oswald Chambers when he said,

“The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult.Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. Our difficulties, our trials and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him.”

Though we don’t like ups and downs, problems or pain…perhaps they serve as interval training in the spiritual sense.To get spiritually fit, we all need some interval training, the stuff that living in the meantime is all about.If the bottom never dropped out we would never have a reason to draw close and tight to God. We might draw close in good times, but just ask someone who is grieving and they will tell you that they don’t just cry out to God, they climb right up into his lap…because it is there they find comfort.

When we go to an amusement park and take on one of those triple thriller rides the first thing we do is get seated, the next thing we do is get securely strapped in place. Well, back up…for me, the first thing I do just looking at one of those rides is get scared to death! And, if I get talked into getting on board, I make sure that I am fastened securely. On the sacred journey of relationship with Christ, getting seated correctly is sitting in God’s Word, and the strap that securely fastens us is defined by the Apostle Paul as rejoicing.

“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Philippians 3:1

Rejoicing is a SAFEGUARD.

So the next time you feel like you are up, down and all around…stop. Ask yourself these questions:

• Have I committed my problem to God?
• Do I believe God himself is capable of guiding the path during this trial? Why am I up and down, what are my options? (try to control, surrender to God, scream, fret or ask for more faith…)
• Why as I choosing to stay here? ( I want to scream and control, but will choose surrender as I look to Christ)

If you don’t believe me, then just look at the words of Jesus in the gospel of John:

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Jesus was being “real” about life in this world. He was letting his hearers know that as long as they were in this world, they would have troubles. Troubles are part and parcel of human life. Interesting that he said they would have PEACE in knowing that. He didn’t tell them to scare them, he told them to give them peace. Interesting.

Like most things in the gospels, what Jesus taught always seems upside down to what we are comfortable with. We live in a world that encourages us to grab the best, be happy at all costs, look out for #1 etc…. But Jesus taught that we would go through hard times, troubling times and that His death has overcome the pain and suffering of this world. I guess for me….my mind isn’t always focused enough on the bigger picture, the eternal reality that Jesus Christ has overcome the things of this world, and that someday I will be with him.  Instead I focus on hurt feelings, aches and pains, financial struggle….you know, those real things that make up the month. Thoughts of eternity often seem cliche, out of reach and unable to touch my current reality. I wonder why the truth of living as ones who overcome, ones who live with eternal focus, has gotten so watered down?

Are you going through any troubling things right now?

Remember, focus is a key to how you will live until your problem is resolved. We want to be happy but in the meantime, we must learn to turn our cares over to the one who cares.

Problems are inevitable. Living overwhelmed is optional. Walking around in defeat is a choice we make. That’s right, if you are overwhelmed don’t blame your problem, step back and realize that you have chosen to be overwhelmed because Jesus gives us the option of trusting Him and finding real-life peace.To have peace we must be intentional about our focal point. Much like a woman in labor has a focal point to help her deal with the pain, we must have a focal point as we walk through the pain of trials in our own lives. Scripture teaches that Jesus, His faithfulness, His will, His power, His love for us…is to be our focal point.

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all hose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the LORD always, for the Lord God is the eternal ROCK. Isa 26: 3-4 NLT

“Depend on GOD and keep at it, because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.” Isa 26:4 The Message

True confession: I have been living overwhelmed. I am not proud of it, it’s just been my reality. I have to face the fact that it’s been my choice…ouch…that sounds so icky, so not faith-like. But I am humbly coming to grips with the truth that if I continue to live upset by my circumstances, I have chosen that discouragement and that path. So today as God’s word confronts my heart and  penetrates my mind, I once again make a new choice to agree with Scripture that sometimes life is hard, and problems are inevitable….but living overwhelmed is optional! I can be an overcomer in Christ Jesus and so can you!

Jesus is calling us out of our flesh comfort zone into a place of living as those who overcome because of HIM. So let’s put on those big girl panties of faith and love, and march on into all that God has for us today.

Take on the day, focused on Jesus.

In Him,

Debbie

groups who are using this month to daily look for things to be thankful for. It has ranged from being thankful for the health of our children to loving comfort fall foods like homemade Mac and Cheese. I am sure that those participating in a month of Thanks-Living are also noticing a very subtle, yet very real, attitude and focus shift as they have chosen to look for good things to remember and dwell on.

Being grateful opens up a new way of life for us. Anyone can complain and be ugly about things. All of us can spin in our emotional selves. But a woman who Thanks God, a woman who looks for good…that woman can expect something very different.

Philippians 4:8..”if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things…and the God of peace will be with you.” But, before this Paul said in Philippians 3:1 ” Finally, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Obviously Paul knew something that we need to remember…rejoicing, being thankful, practicing looking for the good, is a safeguard for our mental and spiritual health.

But, what IF thanking God is hard or doesn’t come naturally? What if the problem at hand looks larger than anything else in sight? Well, for most of us,remaining thankful when life if less than perfect, is not our natural default. But praising God can be our new default system over time. We can change. Through Jesus we can develop a mindset of seeing God in all things, trusting Him in all things and learning to be thankful no matter what the day brings. Look at what we find in the book of Hebrews:

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:15-16

The word sacrifice means: to give up, or to count as a loss.

For me this means that to live a life of Thanks, I will have to many times count as a “loss” or sacrifice my feelings and emotions on the altar of trusting God with my life and details. When I do this, I can then by faith, through Jesus, begin thanking God in all things. Only then does it make sense, as only then is my focus on something bigger and grander than self or feelings.

So today, think about this idea of offering continual thanks to God. What keeps you from doing that? What might look different if you did? What have you experienced when you have had seasons of thankfulness?

Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of Praise!

Today is day #14, and I thank God for the health to go to Zumba class, the opportunity to share Christ with others, for my family and for pumpkin muffins! As I move through the day, I will continue to thank Him for thing after thing as I acknowledge all that is excellent and good in my path.