Jamaica 2011

It has been FOREVER since i have last posted a devotion and i am truly sorry!  my life has been chaos lately.  not without a ton of God things...one included a mission trip with 17 other incredible people including my hubby and kiddo's!  huge success and we loved it...

the next week will be spent in Jamaica on another mission trip with 35 of us!  28 kids!  super excited...God has done amazing things in all of our hearts this past year and we are pumped to go!  some prayer requests are to please pray for safety, team unity, God to be able to use us whenever and whereever...the hearts of the jamaicans as well as our hearts!  also...several of us woke up SICK today!  so pray for super natural healing!!

the goal is to update this blog every day...GOAL....it may happen...might not!  depends on the internet and if the kids want to help ;)  might be me up typing at 11 while everyone is asleep (yeah right;))

so keep watching this week!!!  pray hard too! 

thanks!
in HIM
Tina <><
Joshua 1:9

Stuck Food

STUCK FOOD

    I do not have a dishwasher. I know, I know, many of you can hardly believe it. Trust me, I can hardly believe it. The pace of our life is so fast, a dishwasher, seriously, would make my house 10 x's cleaner. That is not even an exaggeration! What seems to happen all too often is that we eat and leave. The dishes usually make their way off of the table, but not into the dish water until the next morning. I wake many days to a pile of plates and pans with food hardened into place.

I have 3 kids, so I know that some of you are telling me to put them to work. There is one little problem to that equation: I am an extremely picky washer. I cannot stand even a speck of food left on any plate or in between a fork prong or in a pan. I wash and wash and then run my hand over the utensil until I am confident all the grease, grime and food are gone! It, at times, can take me forever! I have washcloths with a special scrubbing side, I have special sponges, I have special degreaser and special soap. You can just say that my dishes are special. Just kidding. But I use all of those things so that they will be clean and completely ready for use the next time. You may think that I am over the top on this, but not one of you would eat off of a plate that was still dirty, or use a fork that still had last nights lasagna on it. I'm right aren't I?

Why is it that every single one of us would not put a plate away until it was clean, would continue to soak it if the food wouldn't come off and even go as far as using extra soap to help with the cleaning process? We would take that pan and, with perseverance, make it sparkle. We wouldn't throw it away just because it took extra work, nor would we leave it sit on the counter for 2 more weeks. We would immediately get to work on it.

Why are we satisfied walking around with "stuff" stuck to ourselves then? Why does a plate or spoon get more of our energy and attention than our spiritual lives do? I know that it is a weird analogy, but if you think about it, it is so true! We will leave pride plastered in place, or ignore the big chunk of selfishness that is there! We seem to not care that our hearts are getting hardened by sin every day! We leave it sit "on the counter" and not really take any special care to make sure we completely wash it away. We become mean, unloving, unforgiving and refuse to give grace when grace is needed! Read that last sentence again…does that sound like someone whose heart is loving Jesus? It actually sounds like someone who has never met Him! But how many of us find ourselves with at least one of those traits stuck firmly in place?

In Hebrews 3, it states this:

13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

 

Sin will deceive us and if we do not take care of it today, you will become hardened. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Are they willing to help you remove what is hardened in place? You have to remember that sometimes, it takes more than just one thing to get all the "junk" off! You need several to get the job completely done! Friends, The Bible, prayer, church, etc….don't think that you can do this yourself!

Don't be stubborn, and don't get comfortable in your sin! Get the soap out, degreaser, sponge and whatever else it takes! You will not ever be fully used unless you are completely clean! Plunge into that water and start washing!

Who Am I?

Who Am I?

 

I was struck with something on my way home from church today.

God is so big and we are merely nothing. But too often, we act like we are so big and God is nothing. How did things get so messed up?

Have you ever had an experience with a person who tried to tell you how to do your job and had no clue what they were talking about? How did you or would you react? Being the insensitive person that I am, I'd be afraid that I would laugh in their face. You may be someone who would patiently listen, then when they left, do it the right way anyhow.

How do you think God reacts? I personally have felt Him get frustrated at me. Don't get me wrong, He is so patient! The frustration usually comes after I repeatedly insist that I know what I know, and that what I know is right. I just wonder if I ever just make Him laugh out loud and shake His head!

I found this passage tucked in an amazing book. (yeah the Bible J)

 

Job 38:4-21

¶ "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—

7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,

11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

12 ¶ "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,

13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

16 "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

19 "What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?

20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

 

At what point did you start feeling pretty small? If it didn't hit you at the beginning or the middle, the last verse surely smacked you across the face!

How have we become so enthralled in ourselves and our own lives that we have forgotten how mighty and powerful He is? Right now, if you are saying that you haven't forgotten, then let me ask you another question: when was the last time you were worried sick over something? Or when was the last time that you made a decision by yourself? I think that I could ask a million "when was the last time" questions. The reality is that we all forget at times our position. We all forget that the God, who did everything described in Job 38, is the same God that is there for us too. We think that we can handle things on our own. One of the most horrible mistakes that I have ever made was thinking that I could fix a problem by myself, and in my own power. That mindset got me stuck in a pit so deep, I am sure that God's arm had to be completely extended to help me climb out! But you know what? His Hand was there the instant I asked for help! That of course does not mean that I decided to hold on to it until I got to the top. When I would let go, there, thankfully, were ledges in the pit that I fell onto; I never fell all the way back to the bottom. But only when I surrendered to the fact that I am nothing, and only God could fix me, did I get fixed! I am talking years of trying to do it on my own! It took God only a couple months with me completely surrendered and I could again see the light of day instead of the dingy walls that had become all too familiar to me!

Don't take God for granted! He is there and always will be, but we need to not live our lives with Him on the back burner; ready to use Him when we are desperate!

Every day He wakes us with the sun. We expect it, and He comes through. Every night, it gets dark. We expect it, and He comes through. Every promise that He has ever made, He has come through on! What about that kind of God makes us want to forget Him when we wake? Forget to thank Him for the food that He provides? Go days without talking to Him at all? I am going to ask the question again: How did things get so messed up? Why is God not on the pedestal that we put our "things" on? Why are "things" more important than God who simply has to speak and the winds stop?

We are crazy, we are confused, and we are messed up!

There is a praise song that is called "Great are You" by Downhere

The Chorus goes:

"Because I'll never hold the picture

Of the whole horizon in my view

Because I'll never rip the night in two

It makes me wonder

Who am I, Who am I, Who am I

And great are you

 

How I love Your Word

My God, My King

How I love Your Word

My God, My King"

 

We are nothing, but amazingly the creator of the whole universe, wants to have a relationship with us! I shake my head in wonder at how amazing He truly is! He not only wants to have a relationship with us but He pursues a relationship with us! What are we doing?! We have got to get things straightened out and put things in the right order! God first and EVERYTHING else second! If we can get that right, then our minds will finely be without any arrogance about whom we really are and who God really is!

 

 

 

Random Question

Random Question?

Our lives are pretty crazy. Many of you probably can "amen" that statement, can't you? We each have our tightly packed schedules that we keep, even if my schedule is chaos. I have a friend who color coordinates her calendar! Each of them gets a different color so she can remember who goes where. I have another one that does nothing but chauffeurs, sometimes having 3 games in one night! She can recite exactly when, where, and what she is doing each day of the week! Then you have some people like me, who can't make plans because her calendar is not in front of her, and she can't remember what is going on the next day without looking at it. Are you relating? All of these add up to one truth…life is b-u-s-y!

Is there anything in your schedule right now that you could imagine cutting out or cutting short? … NO???... I am thinking that many of you could not imagine getting rid of anything. Each one is just "too important". Is this true? So here is a random question: What if someone offered you a million dollars, would you take it? Wait…it does come with a couple of strings attached (of course). You have to, for 2 weeks, fit into your day 20 minutes of reading about their products on the internet. Could you do it? OF COURSE YOU WOULD! For a million dollars, there isn't much that we wouldn't do. I believe that almost every single one of us would, without hesitation, be able to find the time to get that done!

So here comes the big question: Are you willing to do the same thing for God?

1 Timothy 6:9-11 " People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (Who would sign up for that??)

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.(NO THANKS!)

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

 

Could it be that money is not everything? Is it true that it will not solve all our problems? We spend so much of our time and energy running after something that promises us happiness, security, and comfort. It's true isn't it? We just determined that we would, most likely, be able to change our crazy schedules around to have those green pieces of paper, even knowing that we can't take any of it with us! Do you realize that even if we are rich, we still die? Money tempts us into thinking that just a little more and you will be happy, or that you won't have worries anymore, or that you will finally be able to relax! The truth is: money is deceitful. And we could put anything into that little equation. Sports for instance. Sports are NOT going to make you happy forever! You will eventually have to quit playing them, with probably a worn out body, in which you will have to spend all your money on anyhow! But yet thousands of us devote all our time and energy trying to get better! We spend countless hours pouring all we have into a game that will be over in a few short years. Then what?

 

What are you building your foundation on? And another very important question, what are you teaching others to build their houses on? You can build it on the foundation of money, sports, friends, etc… you can! For a while it will do really well for you…maybe even years! You will be standing tall and you will feel like everything is perfect and life is just awesome! But what happens when that storm hits (because it will!). What happens when you get that dreaded phone call that there has been an accident or that someone (maybe even you) are sick…really sick. What about a basketball game, or a million dollars, or cards with your friends, could EVER get you through a time like that? A million dollars would NEVER bring a loved one back to life…trust me…I know! Just one more game of basketball will never cure cancer! All the money in the world, can't repair a sports injury completely…I have lived it, it's true!

 

There is only one thing that can ever keep you from sinking…JESUS!

 

It's time for an inventory check. What are you making a god in your life?

 

There is only one true God that will hold you now and embrace you later. Only one true God will NEVER leave you (that means when you die too!). Are you running hard after Him? Or are you stuck in the rut of running hard after something that ends? God is clear…where you place your treasure, there your heart will be. Is your heart with Him?

 

Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

 

20/20 Vision

When I was young, I constantly heard "20/20" every time I visited the eye doctor. My brother and I were both blessed with great vision while my 2 sisters couldn't go a single day without putting on their glasses or contacts.

My perfectness didn't last forever though (I know…you all are shocked that I am not perfectJ). The difference was so gradual that I became accustomed to seeing a little bit fogger and fogger. I first noticed things were getting a bit worse when I would have to squint a little bit to see things farther away. At night, when the darkness closed in, was my worst, but still not bad enough for me to want to go and get glasses! I could still see pretty well, and even at my worst, I could pass my driver's test without any help. I probably still would be without glasses, except I gradually began to develop headaches. Not just normal headaches, but ones that wouldn't go away with a couple ibuprofen. I call them my "eye headaches".

This was enough to make me see a doctor. I found out that I had what they call a stigmatism: an irregular eye curvature. To correct it, I would need to wear glasses. As I was trying to get myself to be o.k. with this, the doctor began to put different lenses in front of my eyes. My reaction was one that I will never forget. "Oh my word, I can see clearly!" I couldn't believe how accustomed I had gotten to seeing blurry. It had happened so slowly that I didn't even know what clarity looked like anymore! But all of the sudden, there it was! Perfect vision again.

Since that first visit to the eye doctor, the pattern has repeated itself. I wear my glasses for a couple of years, and not realize that my vision is getting a little blurrier and blurrier. All of the sudden, my headaches start, and I know it is time to clear things up a bit. I get my new glasses and have the same reaction. I simply can't believe that things can look so clear and crisp!

I have noticed the same thing happening to Christians across America. When we are little kids, we want to love Jesus and get to Heaven. Throw in a slumber party here and there and we are good to go. As we enter into our teen years, that pretty much flips. Our life is more about us and our fun and desires, and less about loving and pleasing God. When we finally get out of this stage, we have a "stigmatism" of sorts on our perspective. We now become driven more by what we want to see get done, and the steps that are "normal" to take, and less about seeking out what God's plan is for each and every one of us. God is an afterthought of sorts and is invited to tag along as long as He lets us do what we want. Our worship consists of going to church for an hour or two every Sunday (maybe), possibly Wednesday night service, you know…going through the motions. We know what we are supposed to do, and we, for the most part, stick to the rules. But there is a sense of the world creeping into our hearts. It is something that has happened little by little, that we aren't even aware that our "vision" is cloudy. It is just the way things are and too many of us are fine that way. We don't see a need for spiritual glasses.

But I am very aware of a headache that is starting. God wants to get our attention! We need to wake up and grab our Bibles. There is an urgency about this situation. I whole heartedly feel that we are becoming lukewarm in our beliefs and in our faith. Even worse, I feel that we are spreading it around to others. If you have ever been around someone who is passionate, you feel something contagious about them. It is the same way with someone who has no passion at all. We are influencing others to just be normal, plain Jane kind of Christians. We are setting the bar so ridiculously low, that people are content in a place where the goal is to put in the "time" at church and check it off their lists. No one feels the need or want to do anything else.

Blurred vision is not so bad…when you don't realize what you are missing. But I am here to tell you that you are missing a lot! Don't settle for every day ordinary life. God is so much bigger and has so much more planned for you! He wants you to step up and step out. Our call as Christians is to bring glory to His Name, not ours! This life is all about Him not you or me! We should be living to make Him famous!

Are you beginning to realize that your way may not match up to His way? I hope that you can get a fire started and motivate yourself to want more. Expect more! Raise that bar and challenge yourself to get to know a God who wants more for you than you yourself do!

3 Meals

3 Meals

How many times have we been told to never skip a meal? And further, the meals we do choose have to be balanced and nutritious; not just a fly by kind of meal. You can't just grab the first thing you see and consider it good, Snickers and Tootsie rolls just don't count! If you know that your eating habits aren't the best, you will probably agree with me when I give you the symptoms of what will happen to you if you don't listen to what you've been taught all your life. Weight gain, feelings of being bloated, crabby moods, no energy, etc. Sounds great doesn't it? There is nothing about missing your daily fill that sounds appealing.

Why is it that many of us would never skip our food, but daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly, we skip out on feeding our spiritual lives? How many of you would tell me that there is NO way that you can "fill up" spiritually 3 times a day? A lot of you may not even find it possible to do it once! There may be some that are reading this and will confirm that they checked Bible study off of their list today. But my question to all of you is that when you sit down to a "meal", is it meat, vegi's and fruit that you are eating, or is it candy and junk food? Do you really get fed or are you just getting by?

We all know what happens to our physical bodies when we don't eat right, what you may not have thought about before is what exactly happens to us spiritually when we don't.

Jesus says:

John 6:35 "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty."

How many of you feel that hunger ache all the time? I am not talking about your physical bodies, I am talking about that ache that you just aren't satisified with life but yet you just don't know how to be. You find yourself looking and searching for "the answer". But everything new you buy, or weight you accomplish, or friend that you make, or promotion you get, etc…just doesn't seem to cut it. You, sooner than later, find yourself dissatisfied and hungry once again.

So are you ready to stop searching? Want me to tell you the secret you have been dying to hear? Go back up to John 6:35…see it mixed in between those words? Yep… there it is…JESUS. Amazing how He seems to be the answer for everything huh? Now imagine for a minute filling up on Jesus 3 times a day! Not just open your Bible and read something quickly without digesting it kind of Jesus. I am talking about real conversation, pouring your heart out, hands wide open, surrender kind of time with Jesus. Imagine taking every single care, worry, and problem of your day and laying it at His Feet! Not just once a month…I am talking about all during the day.

Jesus says that HE is the bread of life. He is not just another bread of life…He is THE one and only. He says that if anyone comes to Him and believes in Him, they will not be hungry or thirsty! But there is a catch in that verse that we can't overlook. The word COME. You have to COME to Him!! It is not enough to just believe (even the demons believe). NO!! You have to come to Him to receive the bread!

I don't know about you, but I am feeling hungry! Want to stop searching for other avenues to walk down and walk down the path that leads to Him? I'll go with you…let's go fill our plates!

I'm Yours Lord…take me, shape me, fill me…I'm done running and I'm done searching! You are it for me!

Wet Waders

Wet Waders

Many of you have heard the story of my husband and his little swim last weekend. We can joke a little about it now, but at the time, I assure you, it wasn't anything to laugh about. The reality is it changed our lives forever! Our perspective has been slammed into place and not anytime soon will I take for granted just how powerful and in charge MY GOD is!

I will recap a little bit for you…

Luke was stranded in the middle of a lake in December (we are in Indiana…which equals...FREEZING!)!

Luke was wearing waders. Not just hip waders but rather chest waders with boots. He has assured me that even when they are dry on land, the waders are super hard to get off; being wet while still in the water, the waders became impossible to remove!

While simply sitting in the boat, the waders aren't extremely heavy. I mean, they obviously add more weight and are bulkier, but nothing unbearable. It became quickly obvious though, that when submerged in water, the waders became a huge problem. The problem didn't occur at first. The problem occurred the longer he sat in the water. As they began to slowly hold more and more water, the waders became so heavy, Luke new that eventually they would pull him under. Even with a lifejacket on, he felt sure that the waders would be what caused him to drown if he did not secure another way to stay afloat. Praise the Lord (I do not say that lightly!) that he was able to swim 40 yards and grab a couple bags of duck decoys. The decoys were able to hold his weight and keep him afloat until help arrived!

I was struck with the similarities between this story and the story that every one of us face when we deal with sin. It really isn't that different!

Just go with me a moment as a draw a mental picture. Imagine that sin is like those waders. You fall into sin and choose not to get rid of it. You "put" sin on like Luke put on those waders. They may seem funny to walk around with at first, but after a while, they get comfortable. You may even forget that they are heavy. This is exactly where satan wants you! He wants you to think that it is no big deal and that you can handle holding onto whatever is actually weighing you down! But it doesn't stop there. Eventually the weight of sin will increase. As you get more and more tired, the "waders" become heavier and heavier. Sin will be so sneaky just like this. It won't just drown you instantly; it will be a slow fade. Sometimes so slow that you won't even notice it until you are at the point of drowning. You may think that you have things in place to help you out. You put your "lifejackets" on and feel a false sense of security. You bank on the fact that you won't drown because you can handle it! The truth of it is: you need a savior. Luke would not have survived if he was not rescued and to be honest we are the same way!

Listen to me carefully…you cannot get yourself to shore when satan has his claws around you! The
only way to freedom is by accepting help from Jesus!

What is weighing you down? Do you have something that you are hiding in hopes that you can just ignore it and that no one will ever find out? Do not be the fool who thinks that they will be fine no matter what. Sin will eventually take you under. And if you have walked around with it for any amount of time, I am sure you will understand completely the weight that I describe. Aren't you sick of it? Don't you just want to strip it off and "run with perseverance the race marked out for you?"

It teaches us in Hebrews 12:1-2

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw of everything that hinders and sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS…"

This is a loaded verse! We have people watching…your life can either be one where people watch you drown or they will watch you run to Jesus. Each one will powerfully affect others and possibly lead them down the same path that you choose!

So what are you going to choose? Are you sick of treading water yet? Are you sick of feeling that heaviness on your chest? Doesn't solid ground sound good about now? Then fix your eyes on Jesus…the author and perfector of our faith! The answer is simple and it will never change…if you want freedom, if you want to rid yourself of the heaviness that is weighing you down then you have to make a choice…life or death?

It's time…Reach out your hand and take His!