Soon

Lately, I have been dealing with a rushing spirit. I've been working on releasing anxiety and anger while I am driving. This morning I got in the slowest lane ever (southerners really take their time making turns :p). But I was just having an amazing time with the Lord, singing and listening to the radio…intentionally unperturbed about the traffic situation!

F…I…N…A…L…L…Y, I turned the corner to get on the freeway and there it was!!!! The most beautiful sunrise!!! Great big, fluffy, colorful clouds with sun beams gleaming through! It lit up the whole eastern sky! An absolute brilliant piece of art. It took my breath away! The Lord spoke His word, “Soon” over me once again.

Sometimes is seems we will never get through this season. It drags and drags. He wants to teach us wonderful things while it seems nothing is happening. When we have finally learned to trust and rest, grasping the truth He has been trying to teach us, we turn the corner and voila!! A beautiful sunrise! A gift from His hand!

The sunrise wouldn’t have been there an hour earlier; the beautiful cloud formation with rays of light wouldn’t have been there 5 minutes earlier or later. I had to go through the slow traffic to be able to receive the perfect gift at the perfect time...His perfect timing!  A gift I didn’t even know was waiting at the next turn!!

We need to learn the things He wants to teach us in this season and not be anxious about the next. It will arrive!  And it will be a perfect work of art!!

And a great road will go through that once deserted land.

It will be named the Highway of Holiness.

Evil-minded people will never travel on it

It will be only for those who walk in God's ways;

Fools will never walk there.

Lions will not lurk along its course,

nor any other ferocious beasts.

There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.

Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.

They will enter Jerusalem singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.

Sorrow and mourning will disappear,

and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

Isaiah 35:8-10

Stripped and Shoved Into a Pit

I felt like I was thrown into a pit 5 years ago when my husband, after years of ministry and 22 years of marriage, left me and our kids.

The air in that pit felt so thick and so black. There was no way of escape. I felt emotionally and spiritually like the only thing I could do was just cling for my life to Jesus…I hid behind Him, my arms wrapped tightly around His waist, my head pressed up against His back and my eyes squeezed shut. So afraid to take a step, feeling like I would plummet even deeper to my death in that horrible pit.

Almost a year later, I felt the Lord take my hand and lead me out of the pit where I could breathe once again.  He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delights in me. 2 Sam 22:20

Right before Joseph’s brothers hurled him into the pit, they tore off his beautiful robe. Again, he got his cloak ripped right off him by Potiphar’s wife before he got thrown into prison (which was also an underground pit)!

When we are hurt and betrayed by people we love or thrown into a pit by uncontrollable circumstances, it can feel like we’ve been stripped of our “beautiful robe”…robbed of our innocence, our dreams, our dignity.  It feels as though we have been left exposed and naked in a dark, cruel world, vulnerable for attack.

Jesus was also stripped of His clothing and His dignity as He hung naked on the cross and died for us. He knows exactly how we feel!

A few years ago while touring Israel, we went down into the pit where they threw Jesus the night before they murdered Him and we sang, “Amazing Love.” I began weeping uncontrollably! Jesus had been literally thrown into the same pit I had been emotionally thrown into.  Jesus was with me in my pit, but He was all alone, chained, beaten and bloody in His. My heart broke for my sweet Jesus to pay such a painful price for me…I didn’t deserve such sacrifice.

The next day we had another worship service at the Garden Tomb and the Lord gave me a new picture of Him and me in the pit. This time it wasn’t so dark and smothering and I wasn’t clinging to His back. I was comforting Jesus and saw myself giving Him a drink of water. I was ministering to Him. My first thought was, “This is NOT right!! Jesus ministers to me!” But then He said, “When you do it to the least of these, you’ve done it unto Me.”

We can and we must look beyond ourselves in our dark times!

God’s desire is to give us a new robe! One that can never be stolen!!

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God!

He has clothed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.

I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels.

Is. 61:10

                               My son put this great video together for me! "Amazing Love"

I Found the Cure for Stress!

Stress makes us sick and can actually kill us!!! Fortunately, there is an antidote!

On each end of our 46 chromosomes are telomeres which keep our chromosomes from fraying. As we age, telomeres begin to thin and our chromosomes become vulnerable causing illness and death!  Stress has the exact same effect on telomeres!! 

As I was watching this fascinating PBS documentary (attached at the bottom of the page), I could barely wait for the brilliant scientist to tell me what drug I could take that would rebuild my damaged telomeres. I’ve been told I’m a hypochondriac, but in this case I’m pretty sure mine are damaged!! :/   

I was so shocked to find out the cure…compassion and caring for others!!!!!! When we give of ourselves to others, an enzyme is released that stimulates the healing of damaged telomeres! Serving others keeps our cells rejuvenated and promotes longevity!! Wow!! It took millions of dollars and decades of high-tech scientific study to find out what the Bible has been saying for thousands of years!!

Do you feel like there is no way out of your stressful situation? Have you been thrown into a pit of despair or locked in a prison of stress?

Joseph was literally thrown into a pit by the people he loved and trusted the most…his very own family!! And then as a slave, Joseph was thrown into prison by his master after being completely loyal and faithful to him, bringing him great wealth and prosperity.

So often we think God would never allow His children to suffer or to be thrown into prison, especially when we are perfectly innocent! It can feel as though God has abandoned us. God’s word says, “But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him His faithful love.” Gen. 39:21 NLT

The prison/pit times can be the most intimate times with our Savior!

Joseph did not curl up into fetal position in the corner of his cell and become self absorbed. Instead, he diligently served his masters in these dark places. He did not allow bitterness to set in. He was humble and ready when his name was called to go before the king!

It turned out to be a season of preparation for the great and mighty task God had in store for him!!!

We have two choices. We can wallow in self-pity, expecting others to meet our needs and to comfort us. Or, finding our needs met in Christ, we can be the ones to go out and minister to others! Even during our dark times!

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.  Is. 58:10-12

Does your family seem completely dysfunctional? Does it almost seem hopeless?

Watch this amazing video! In just one generation, this baboon troop’s dynamic is completely changed from aggression and cruelty to healthy, nurturing relationships. I believe God is using this illustration in the animal kingdom to show us what is possible in our families through battle in the spiritual realm.

There is hope in Christ for healthy families! The cycle can be broken and it starts in this generation!! It starts with ME!!!!

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor. 3-5