Tag: #fmf

I’m not sure how I would have reacted if I were there that day.

Rushing in anticipation of seeing Jesus while slowed by a heavy load. The men shared in their friend’s burden as they carried him. But no one passes up the chance to see Jesus.

I can’t imagine their defeat as they saw the crowd spilling from their destination. Full beyond capacity.

There was no way to get in the door. This was before fire code regulations, so you know the people were crammed in tight.

Access denied.

I’d probably try to wait it out. Surely someone would have to leave and make room for others to come in.

His friends didn’t waver, however.

The door may have been blocked, but there had to be another way.

Somehow, someway, they maneuvered themselves and the stretcher safely up onto the roof. They began to dismantle the host’s home. They were willing to do whatever it took for their sick friend to get his healing that day.

The crowd must’ve been speechless as they saw a stretcher being lowered right down in front of Jesus.

All that mattered in that moment was that they got in.

It was unconventionally creative. It wasn’t even through the door.

But they got in.

And Jesus, being so awesome, didn’t miss a beat.

He didn’t berate the men for damaging property. He didn’t ask the paralytic man to take a number and wait in line. Jesus forgave the man and then healed him right away.

Am I desperate to connect with Jesus that I’d be willing to do whatever it takes? Would I dismantle this part of my life or disrupt that part of my life to get close to Him?

May we not get distracted by the crowds and the seemingly closed doors. Let’s do whatever we must to connect with Jesus.

For our forgiveness and our healing.

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It’s Friday and I’m linking up with Kate and the five-minute Friday community. The door is always open there. I’m also linking up in a second place today, with Deb over at Counting My Blessings.

 

It had become familiar to hide. To shy away from various people and places. Like the front of a camera lens, especially any full-bodied shots. Selfies aren’t overcrowding my Instagram feed at all. Shopping? I was fine in a grocery store. My fellow shoppers are too busy minding their own carts and lists to notice me. However, one’s the risk of being noticed is higher at the mall, so I didn’t go there often. When I did, it wasn’t to shop for myself.

The hiding slowly crept its way into other aspects of my life. For example, I preferred to play the piano at church or to speak from behind the pulpit. Anything with a huge obstacle to grant me partial coverage and leave me less exposed.

I didn’t like how I looked. Mistakenly, I believed that if I wasn’t comfortable with myself, then neither were others. So, why not keep a low profile.

This was not how God intended for me to live for Him.

^“ Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:14-16, msg)

What a reality check from the Word!

In my attempts to remain unnoticed, I was blocking my God-given light. This light helps others to see better through the dimness of life. My life, my story, is a testimony of the goodness of God. When I hide, I’m hiding Him from others. It’s hard to point others to God when you’re living as a potential stumbling block.

I pray often for the strength and the courage to quit hiding. God is faithful. He is always finding ways to encourage me to trust Him more.

Is there something that you’re struggling to keep hidden? How can I pray for you?

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I’m linking up with Kate & the five-minute Friday community.

I’ll admit that I don’t treat my tomorrows with the utmost care. I tend to presume that they’ll faithfully appear each morning so that what I planned (read: delayed from the previous day/days) will finally take place. Some things get done, yet many don’t. This isn’t an ideal way of living. It leaves me dissatisfied, most often with myself. And if I keep it real: others around me are affected too. Uh oh!

As I like to do when I get stuck, I look to Christ for motivation.

He was intentional about His today so that He was able to make the most out of His tomorrow. When the disciples asked how to pray, He didn’t complain of weariness and urge them to come back the following day. Jesus never put off spending quality, quiet time with His heavenly Father. When He called Zacchaeus down from His perch, it was with plea that ‘I must be a guest in your home today!’ (Luke 19:5, nlt). There are many examples throughout the Word where Christ is intentional in His current situation. He understood that His days were literally numbered and that time was precious. Every moment counted in His mission to save the lost.

The danger of always relying heavily on tomorrow is that it’s easy to keep pushing things back. I trick myself into believing that I have time; that if I don’t want to do it today, then tomorrow will work just as well. I need to change my thinking.  Time is precious and I do not have a contract with God as to how many more tomorrows are guaranteed. Every moment counts because every person in my path matters to Him.

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It’s your turn. What would you pen/type about the prompt ‘tomorrow’? You can see more at Kate’s place. In case you haven’t yet heard, she’s sharing details for the first ever Five Minute Friday retreat. It’s coming up this August.

I was trying to be quick. Dinner guests were coming the following day and I finally remembered to dust the china cabinet. My plan was to wipe at the dust on the shelves, around the candle holders. No need to move them, I thought. Before I knew it, my hand bumped one of the holders and it tipped over.

It broke.

With an annoyed sigh, I cleaned up the shards of glass and moved the other holders to safety while I wiped the now clear shelf. I was sad that my candle holder set was now incomplete, but even more annoyed with myself. The breaking was avoidable, had I done the chore properly from the start.

Our hearts are like those fragile candle holders. When we aren’t careful, hearts can break. A careless word here; a thoughtless action there. Even unintentionally, we may ‘bump’ another person and cause heartbreak.

Unlike my unsalvageable candle holders, there is hope for the heart.

God restores.

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. (Psalm 51:10,12 NLT)

If your heart is currently broken or if you’re the one breaking hearts, God can give you a new heart. The beauty in that is that God always gives His best. He won’t just patch up your heart, but give you something completely brand new. He also promises to restore us.

He’s the Ultimate Repairer.

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I’m linking up with Kate at her Five Minute Friday community. You’re welcome to check it out. There are some fun things happening over here.

In case you missed it earlier this week, I was invited to guest post over at Club31Women. You’re invited to read more about what I shared there: 3 Things to Do If You’re Ready for a Real Change.

He was supposed to be a free man. Instead, he was trapped in a dark prison, with no chance of parole. Things had been grim for some time. All because of a lie against him.

Then a couple of his fellow cell mates had dreams. Within three days, things were about to change drastically for them all. His sole request was that a good recommendation be given to Pharaoh.

I imagine Joseph watched the chief cup-bearer and the chief baker with great anticipation as they left the dungeon. It meant that in a few moments, he would also be leaving, exchanging captivity for liberty. Every approaching footstep might have sent his pulse racing. He probably kept his eye on the door all day, wondering when his turn would come.

It never came when he expected it.

In fact, it was a full two years before the chief cup-bearer had remembered his promise to Joseph and delivered the promised word to Pharoah.

What should have taken only a minutes, maybe hours at most, took years.

And then Joseph’s life changed.

Our lives have many of these similar moments. Various circumstances may land us in unexpected places, for a length of time. Just when we think things will change, they may not. And then we’re stuck. Still.

How do we handle the in-between?

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I’m linking up with Kate & the five-minute Friday community. Simply use the prompt and write freely for the next five (or so) minutes. You can learn more here.

 

Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!” Nobody said a word; nobody made a move. (I Kings 18:21, Message)

I can be a slow decision maker, particularly with high-priced or valuable items. If I need to purchase an appliance or home school curriculum, for example, I will spend time perusing the internet for feedback. I need to hear experiences from real users in similar situations to know if or not this product or item may be suitable for my needs. I’m trying to avoid buyer’s regret by taking all these steps.

Things were getting overly corrupt in and around the Israelites…again. Elijah challenged the people to make a choice. They’d been weighing the matter long enough. Time was up. Were they going to choose the real God or the false Baal?

God had proven himself repeatedly to the world. He’d shown His glory and majesty and sovereignty in miraculous ways. Yet, too many still opted to turn a blind eye to God and His impeccable record. They preferred to flirt with a false, unproven God than to have faith in One who was also the Creator. Sadly, no one responded to Elijah’s call.

So they went on to have a demonstration between the various believers. The Baal worshippers spent hours beseeching for their cries to be heard. They exhausted themselves to no avail. Then Elijah stepped up, saturated his altar with water, and received a response from God within a matter of moments. When the people witnessed God’s amazing reply to Elijah’s call, they immediately began to acknowledge Him. Finally.

But it was too late by then. They had waited too long and the Baal prophets had their lives cut short that very day.

When I have all necessary information in front of me, why drag out the decision?

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Linking up with Kate and her five minute Friday community today.

I had started writing an entirely different post. I had a cute story and lesson that I was about to share. Hearing the text message chime, I paused the writing. My husband was out and I needed to see if it was him. The message turned out to be from a dear friend. Choosing not to hold back, my friend sent me a quick message though the hour was late.

We had a brief chat, where she testified of what God is doing in her life and how He is providing. She’s learning new things at this stage of life and is working to find a healthy balance. One of those new elements is that she’s a new mom.

‘I don’t know how you do it with 4!’ she respectfully exclaimed.

Usually when I hear this comment, I tend to hold back. Not wanting to overwhelm a new parent with the brutal honesty of parenting—and four times over!– I do the ‘smile & nod’ routine, giving some pat reply. Those scripted replies can be void of most true feelings.

But not today. With the prompt of ‘hold’ sitting at the front of my mind, I let go.

I openly encouraged this new mom who is alongside me in the trenches of parenthood. I told her that my kids came one at a time and that I gained my experience one moment at a time. There are days when the devil messes with your head, making you question your very existence and wonder if you’re just wasting your life away.

But the rest of the time? We can hear God’s voice and see His almighty hand as He reassures us that we’re doing our best with the precious gift He’s entrusted to us.

Had I held back tonight, I would have missed offering my friend some needed support and encouragement. And I would have missed out on sharing about God and what He’s doing in my life.

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You can join Kate and other at the five-Minute Friday community found here.

Hands poised over the keyboard, I was ready to write my five-minute post last night. I had spent some time in my ‘brainstorm room’ (aka: shower stall) and came up with something decent to start from. But when I sat to write it out, I was interrupted by my 3-year and her urgent need.

After helping her, I was no longer prepared to write anything. What little energy I’d had left was used rushing her to the bathroom…changing my own pants. I set my alarm before bed, intending to be up early and ready to write.

The kids awoke before the alarm, shaking up my plans yet again. Even now as I attempt to type this up, I’m being stopped by my mini-mes for all manner of reasons. None urgent, but just enough to derail me.

In my head, I had everything planned out. My graphic was ready to go. I was going to post, link up on social media and share a word of encouragement. Sounds like a beautifully layered salad. Except that the bowl was flipped up in the air and all the layers started mixing together changing from the artistic layered look to the organized jumble of a tossed salad. All the elements are there, but in a different order now.

And perhaps this was my lesson? So often I think I’m ready for things. I make seemingly good plans and have fantasized about my intentions and my reach. In my mind’s eye, I visualize a certain path.

Reality, however, is a different story. One of the definitions for ready is ‘willing’. My own willingness is only one part. I need to be willing to yield to God.

My thoughts, my ways, my plans…my, my, my. They’re all limited. Me & my flawed self do not know it all. While my intentions are usually good, I cannot predict the outcome. However, God knows. He knows all! When I’m ready to trust Him, to let Him steer, He will use it for His glory AND will even bless me in the process. Because He’s gracious like that.

I always want to be ready for more of His grace.

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I’m linking up with Kate and the five-minute Friday community today. The rules are simple. Just write, freely, uninhibitedly for five minute. No editing required/allowed/needed.