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Thw Bible says that there are seasons for mourning. September 11 marks the most significant time of national mourning since my birth. It was so sudden and jarring, and for my family, very close to home. There are times, and this was one of them, that comfort cannot be found. There were no words to make us feel better, we simply had to mourn.
We had to feel the shock, and pain and vulnerability. We had to cry. We had to get angry at injustice. We had to hold onto each other and be held by God. I remember that part so well; holding on. In times like those, everything that we know is sort of up in the air, there is nothing we can do and our only recourse is to be. We just have to be in pain and be together and as we cry out to God we find that He is not expecting anything more of us and is perfectly willing to just be with us too.
When we can just be with Him, something changes. The circumstances don’t, but somehow, eventually, the edges are softened, our hearts are calmed and at some point we start to hear that still, small, voice once again and we gain strength for the next moment. Mourning is a slow and tedious process but if we give in to the process, we find that the process works. It is the vehicle we have been given to bring us from shock and despair to celebrating life again.
Today we remember what happened and the people we lost but we are not mourning in the same way. Other times of mourning will come. They always do. In the mean time, we need to enjoy the seasons we are in and always spend time just being with God so that we know instictively where to go when we are blinded by pain.
Psalm 56:8:
8 You keep track of all my sorrows.[a]
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
Today I am really thankful to be home with nothing pressing to do at the moment except to press into God and the moment. I love to go and do but in my heart of hearts I am more of a “be-er” than a “do-er” and there is no place I’d rather be than in the presence of the Lord. Besides, it is in these quiet moments that I finally get to engage in my other passion; writing.
I love having this time to reflect and share what God has been doing. Most of you know that my healing is coming at a more rapid pace now. Once I got to the gym and saw how much healing had taken place since the last time I’d worked out, I really almost couldn’t believe it myself! I knew this was the time to focus on my healing like never before because it was no longer something to pray would manifest. It was already happening in a visible way and time to pray into what we were seeing.
I know from experience how effective healing prayer is, especially in a situation like mine so I tried to gather some people to “soak” me in prayer. It just was not coming together, but I kept trying and kept going to the gym and watching the healing progress.
On Tuesday I went to the gym and was blown away again at the rapid progress. Tuesday night I did an interview for the In My Pajamas Show (you can listen to that interview at www.Blogtalkradio.com/inmypajamasshow) and shared what has happened and what is happening. It’s always fun to give God glory for what He is doing! He’s hard to keep up with, though, because He is always doing something new and it seems that the more we praise Him the more He gives us something to praise about!
I got home after the interview and got into bed when I got an unexpected phone call from a neighbor who I haven’t heard from in about a year. She seemed really excited and was a little hard to follow but she mentioned that she was with Dennis Brown. He runs the Healing Rooms in Charlotte and I am very familiar with him and I love the work he does, so I was starting to clue in. Ten my neighbor asked if she could come pray for me. I was thrilled! This is exactly what I’d been needing and God had it all set up! So I told her to come on over, thinking it was she and her husband.
Well, it was she an her husband and about eight other people plus Dennis! Apparently, Dennis was teaching a class on healing prayer and praying for the sick and the entire class came and I became the object lesson. How cool is that? I had been asking for soaking prayer and there was a whole class meeting in my neighborhood just itching to lay hands on the sick and the Holy Spirit put me on their hearts at just the right time. Of course God honored their prayers with His presence and I am certain we will get to see the results when I get back to the gym.
This is happening so rapidly that I bought a little video recorder to take to the gym so I can start posting the results on YouTube. Stay tuned…
Matthew 4:24 (Whole Chapter)
So the report of Him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all who were sick, those afflicted with various diseases and torments, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, and paralyzed people, and He healed them.
I think one of the biggest temptations in the season we are in right now is fear. I think too often we don’t even regard living in fear as sin. It almost feels mean in our culture to think of fear as a temptation. We tend to have a lot more mercy on someone who is being tempted by or in the grip of fear than someone, say tempted by lust, greed, or anger.
I have a sense that we don’t as easily see the destructive power of fear as readily as we do some other sins. What if we could see right away on our faithometer the effects of fear? What if we could see the door opening and the enemy getting a foothold when we give in to worry?
For me, fear is a sign of two things; I’ve lost my focus and/or there is something in my life I need to surrender to the Lord. Look at Moses as an example. He had to have been terrified to go speak to Pharaoh, but he surrendered his life to God even to the point of death (Pharaoh could have easily accomplished that) and he kept his eye on the Lord.
Hebrews 11:27
It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.
Our enemy is the master terrorist. If he can get you in fear, and your eyes off the Lord then he can turn your faith to unbelief and he will have won. The way to counter his attacks is to refuse the temptation, focus on who God is and what He has promised and realize that no matter how bad things look, the enemy loses when we continue to put our trust in the Lord and love and obey Him. The enemy simply cannot understand that kind of loyalty and he cannot overcome that kind of faith.
So we can say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper,so I will have no fear.What can mere people do to me?” [ Ps 118:6.]
Passage 2 Timothy 1:7:
7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.
I read a story this morning that gripped my heart. Conjoined twins who were born to a teenager in England had to be separated on Christmas day. The twins were named Faith and Hope. Tragically, only one of the babies survived. Hope died. Hope’s lungs were not strong enough to support her. The doctor put it like this, “The lungs of Faith were somehow supporting Hope.”
Tears came to my eyes as I realized the message in the lives of these precious babies. We live in days and times that are causing people to search for hope. People look in all kinds of places for it. The fact is, though, that faith and hope are conjoined twins. There is no hope outside faith in Jesus Christ. It just can’t survive the traumas of this world. It is faith that breathes life into hope.
I am struck by God’s amazing ways. He sent a beautiful baby at Christmas that was destined to die in order to bring a message of hope. I pray that the family of Hope truly know what a miraculous little messenger they were blessed to behold.
My first book is now available for purchase! Its official release date is not unitl December 16, but it can be purchased directly from the publisher at:
I am excited and scared all at the same time. My prayer is simply that my readers encounter God in a profound way as they read this book. I want them to experience Him as their hope, courage, strength, and most of all, friend. If any of you want to let me know your response to the book, please comment on this blog, or check my website www.livingthecall.com for other ways to reach me. I’ve spent a long time trying to say what I thought the Lord would have me say and now I’m really ready to hear from you! Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for me and the book.
When I was a kid a loved reading His Mysterious Ways, a monthly article in a magazine that came to our house each month. I loved hearing about real life stories of people who had experienced for themselves the supernatural power and presence of God. I think it was, and is, comforting to know that God really is bigger than us and not bound by this realm that we see.
It satisfies something deep inside to know that God really is the same yesterday, today and forever and that although some of His most magnificent work is done on a macro scale for all of humanity, many of His miracles were and are reserved for individuals and reflect His love of intimacy. These stories build faith and the only thing better than reading them is living them. I lived one yesterday.
My seven year old was in day camp, my daughter and I had an appointment and so I asked my son to pick his brother up from camp. Alexa and I had just left the appointment and were driving when I heard my cell phone ring. The ring tone was the one I have set for members of the family. I told Alexa to find the phone. She couldn’t find it in any of the obvious places. ”I can’t find it, Mom. I didn’t even hear it ring. Are you sure you brought it?”
“I’m certain because it just rang. It’s Josh. I probably need to go get Josiah. Look under the seat. I really need to call Josh and let him know not to worry about Josiah.” Alexa proceeded to climb all over the car and I headed toward the day camp. Meanwhile, Josh had had a minor fender bender and was desparately trying to reach me and tell me to get Josiah.
I got to the camp and asked Alexa to go in and ask if Josiah had been picked up yet. Just as she started to protest on grounds of my questionable sanity since she had never found a phone that could have rung, Josiah came bouncing out. We headed home and on our way passed Josh who then met us in the driveway.
Josh and I were busy exchanging stories of what had happened. I was just explaining how I heard the phone ring and knew it was him and knew that I needed to get Josiah when Alexa came out of the house with my cell phone. It had been in my bedroom the whole time!
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Romans 11:5)
13And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
I was driving with my six-year-old in the car yesterday. He talks non-stop and at times it’s all I can do to stay focused. Just as I was enjoying a rare moment of silence he , “God has a collection.”
He had my attention now. “Really,” I asked knowing He had more to say.
“Yeah,” He continued, “He has a collection of people on the earth who worship Him.” He paused and added, “We are that people.”
I waited quietly. I knew He was speaking from the Spirit. I knew he was speaking about the remnant that has always remained on the earth worshipping God. Then he said, ”That’s why God doesn’t like killing. It takes away from His collection and He gets angry.”
In both of the scriptures above, remnant is referring to the believers left after prophets were killed. Somehow before, that fact had escaped me. I wondered why God was speaking to me about this now, especially through a little child.
I opened my e-mail this morning and there was a letter from Voice of the Martyrs. I read about our persecuted brothers and sisters, and thought about the many who give their lives for Jesus all over the world. Josiah’s words reverberated in my spirit. “We are that people.” We are the only beings on this planet called to worship Jesus and and share His love with a hopeless generation. We are the only ones who can bring Him glory on the earth. The only way to be a part of the remnant is to lay down our lives- even unto death.
There is no other way and no other people. We are God’s collection. We are that people.
Psalm 27:13
13[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!
What would have happened indeed?! I know what would NOT have happened. I would not have had the peace and joy of the Lord through the many trials I have experienced. I would not have my son, Josiah and the multitude of testimonies that I now have.
What about you? What kind of blessings has the Lord poured out on you in this Earth? What are you still waiting and believing for?
One of the biggest lies the enemy has convinced Christians to buy into is that they have to wait until they get to Heaven to experience God’s goodness. If something is taking too long in human terms the lies start circulating in our heads. “Well, maybe God meant we’d see that miracle in heaven.” Then we become convinced of the lie and stop believing for what God has promised us here.
There are no miracles in Heaven. Heaven doesn’t need miracles because Jesus reigns there. This is where we need miracles; in the land of the living! How many miraculous stories have you heard about God providing food for people when there was none? Heidi Baker, a missonary in Africa, tells one such story. They had one pot of beans and over two hundred orphans to feed. Can you imagine her telling the hungry children, “Kids, don’t worry. You will be fed plenty in Heaven. Just be patient until then.”
That would be crazy! No, they believed God for a miracle and He showed His goodness right then! God wants to show you His goodness today. He wants you to have faith for that and more. He wants you to have faith for others, too. His heart is to pour out on the hurting and the lost and show Himself mighty through you as well as to you!
There is more goodness than we can imagine waiting to be poured out on us. He is the answer to every cry of our heart and everything that we need. When you believe it, you will see it in the land of the living!
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6:5
This was the first commandment, and according to Jesus it summed up all ten. That simplifies it, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Jesus preached a simple gospel that is most difficult to accept. He said leave it all behind and follow me. He said die to yourself and live for me. He said the world will hate you as it hates me. He said love your enemy, reach out to the outcasts, become of no reputation. It wasn’t a complicated messege, but it was hard to swallow.
That’s why we’re always trying to add to it or take away from it. We add rules here and there so we can feel like we’re doing rather than having to feel like we’re dying. We want to be noticed instead of being of no reputation. Our flesh resists the cross at all costs, but if we’ll just listen to His voice of love, we’ll count the cost and realize that the reward of knowing Him is more than worth the price we pay.
We have to continually examine our hearts. Are we really loving God with everything in us or are we flirting with the world on the side? Are we trying to impress “the right people” to get our way or on the flipside are we trying to shut people out in an attempt to protect our wounded hearts? Are we happy with our cliques or do we open our hearts to others? It’s really not so much about what we’re doing, but how we’re dying.
James minced no words when he said in chapter 4 4″You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” He stuck with Jesus’s method and made it simple, not easy. We can be a friend of the world, or a friend of God, but we can’t be both. We have to choose our enemy.
Loving God with all our heart, soul and mind means that those who love the world with all their hearts, souls and minds are going to hate us and persecute us. Jesus didn’t teach a course on How to Win Friends and Influence People. He said follow me. You’ll make enemies doing it. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. And He also said that if we choose Him, He would call us His friend. It doesn’t get any better than that.
And thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart…
2 Chronicles 29:36
And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
The “suddenlies” of God are fascinating. They are not to be confused with anything happening fast. It’s not like McDonald’s, where quality is exchanged for expedience. No. There is nothing fast about suddenlies. Take a look at these suddenlies that were a long time in coming.
Luke 2:13
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Acts 1:2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting
Both of these “suddenlies” were fulfillment of ancient prophecies that took centuries of preparation. Sometimes the years of preparation and waiting seem like delay, or even denial of God’s promise, but that is not the case. God is patient to get us ready and everyone around us ready, because if He doesn’t we will not have the maturity to hear, obey, and move into the flow of His sudden actions.
We are in a season of suddenlies. We must prepare ourselves to hear His still, small voice amongst the clamour. We need to be sensitive to His touch while everything is pressing in on us. Most importantly, we must be ready to move quickly when He does. This is a season of suddenlies. These are days of rapid change, and those who have waited before Him will be thankful that God has prepared them.
The end of the year is always packed for me. My daughter’s birthday is right around (some years on) Thanksgiving. Two weeks after Thanksgiving is my son’s birthday. Two weeks later is my anniversary. Five days later is Christmas, followed by the new year and my husband’s and my birthdays all in the same week!
This year has had even more events and stresses than usual, but one thing I’ve learned to do is to keep living, I mean really experiencing Zoe Life, in the midst of the stressors and busyness. (Even as I write my six year old is screaming for his sister because he decided to hang from the bannister and got scared!) I’ve learned that no matter what is going on around me, I’ve got to find and remain in the secret place with the Lord and just keep doing what He has called me to do.
The apostle Paul likened we as Christ followers to soldiers. He reminded us that soldiers do not entangle themselves in civilian activities. We are here for the purpose of The Kingdom. Everything else is secondary, at best.
This week Ryan and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. Selah.
We went out to eat. Alone. I didn’t want to think about anything else. We finished our meal and Ryan asked if I was ready to go. “No,” I said. “I think God is speaking to me.”
“Tell me,” he said enthusiastically. “It’s not for us. It’s for the man behind me,” I explained. “Oh,” he sounded as nervous as I felt.
I prayed quickly, half hoping the sense I was getting would go away, but it only got stronger. So, I did the only thing left to do. I wheeled over to the stratnger and his wife and proceeded to tell them what the Lord wanted them to hear. They were very gracious. I went back to my table. As Ryan and I left we passed the strangers. It was a little awkward. We got outside and I was really hoping I had done the right thing when the woman came out to thank me and tell me the story behind the word I had gotten for them.
Wow! God is so merciful! I didn’t have to wonder if I had acted out of obebience or on a whim! It was like God’s anniverary gift to us. Twenty years ago, all we asked was that God get glory out of our marriage. It’s all from Him and for Him and He honors our smallest efforts! We just have to remeber what it (life, marriage, everything) is all about, and He makes it happen. So, I’m thankful that God interrupts our lives, in big ways and in small ones, because it helps me remember why I’m here and who is in charge. So whatever your doing and however crazy it gets, expect, look for and welcome God’s interruptions.
I read this yesterday. I love it! I want to live it.
“LIFE ISN’T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO END; IT’S ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN.”
I love November! The air is crisp and the trees are really starting to show off here in North Carolina. The leaves are having their last hurrah before they die and fall to the ground.
God loves seasons and changes. He’s seems to always be doing a new thing. He blesses, things grow, and if tended to, they flourish and become beautiful. Eventually they die, fall off, and there is a waiting season before the new thing emerges. It is essential for us to be in tune with the times and seasons of God. If not, we are likely to waste a lot time trying to hold onto something that was truly of God but whose season has past, or fretting and despairing in the winter season because we don’t recognize it for what it is; something that will pass. There is even danger that if we don’t understand seasons that we will come to expect eternal springtime or get so caught up in the joys of summer that we don’t use that time to prepare for winter.
Each season has its own beauty. I lived in Ohio for a few years. The winters there are exceptionally long and are, at times, hard to endure. I remember one time, though, that the barren trees were sparkling with the ice that had covered them the night before. I felt that the Lord was speaking to me through His beautiful creation that even in the most barren seasons of our lives He makes things beautiful when we make room for Him to work.
As the seasons are changing in the natural, take time to discern what season God has you in spiritually. Sometimes just knowing the season you are in brings peace and a deeper understanding of your circumstances. Most importantly, remember that God is in control of all seasons and times. The seasons may change often, but He remains steadfast in His character.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Whole Chapter)
He has made everything beautiful in its time…
Today I was off to physical therapy and my gas tank was on empty. Ryan had to get the kids to school, so I had to trust God to find someone to pump my gas. I drove down the road to the nearest town. There are three gas stations in a row there. The first place I drove up to had gas pumps from the 1970’s and I wasn’t quite sure they were still in operation. Just down the road was another gas station. I drove through, but thought I might have better luck at the next one. After realizing the pumps were closer to the door at station number two, I went back there, thinking that the people who run the store would be more likely to hear me honk if I couldn’t nab someone at the pumps. Once I got there, though, I realized that the music was so loud that no one would ever hear me honking! I started to become really annoyed with the loud, hip-hop music pounding, but thought it better to focus on getting help from someone at the pump.
I pulled in behind a lady who looked nice, and I thought for a moment that she would be my target, but she looked dressed for work and I thought she might be in a hurry. So, the guy with the big, red pick-up became the target. I watched him for a moment and then decided to make my move. I pulled around to an angle and trapped him. I rolled down the window and asked as politely as I could if I could ask a favor of him. Because of the blaring music, he didn’t hear me, but he waved kindly and started to get into his truck.
Desperarte, I forgot about being polite and yelled. Realizing that I was asking for some kind of help, the man walked closer to the car. I explained my predicament and asked him if he would pump my gas.
“Well, bless your heart,” he answered in true Southern as he agreed to help. I thanked him and circled back to the gas pump. I parked the car and handed the man my debit card. I’m telling you, I really have to walk by faith! The kind man looked at the card and then he looked at me and said, “I’ve never paid for gas at the pump before. I’m not sure I even know how to do it!”
Well, he figured it out, and just as he was beginning to pump the gas, I realized the song blasting over the loud speaker was the Christian song “I can Only Imagine”! After he pumped my gas for me he invited me to visit his church. I drove away with a tear in my eyes. This man had truly pumped my gas unto the the Lord and had truly reached out to me in His name. What an honor to have been able to receive a cup of water, or tank of gas, as the case may be, in the Name of the Lord. I was humbled and touched and blessed and got my need met all at once!
In our culture, we don’t often like to receive from or depend on others. Sometimes, though, it is a beautiful thing to give someone the opportunity and a reason to worship God by reaching out. So it leads to the question; who is actually the giver, the one providing for the need, or the one providing an opportunity to give?
I’ve never been invited to the First Baptist Church of Waxhaw, but now I may just have to stop by sometime and get to know the folks this real follower of Christ worships with.
Acts 20:35
I have shown you all things, how that by so laboring ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, `It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
- John 3:28 (Whole Chapter)
You yourselves are my witnesses [you personally bear me out] that I stated, I am not the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), but I have [only] been sent before Him [in advance of Him, to be His appointed forerunner, His messenger, His announcer]. [Mal 3:1 ]
John the Baptist could have just as easily been called John the Forerunner. Forerunners are those God appoints in the Body of Christ to announce to the rest of us some way in which God is about to show up or something God is about to do. Often forerunners actually experience these things first. Sometimes, as in the case of John, forerunners are looked at strangely because they are speaking prophetically, by faith, things that obviously have not yet occurred.
My cousin, Karen, is a prophetic forerunner. When she heard me declare that I would someday run a marathon, she started training so she could run with me! (See “Running Together” August) She’s been running, and telling everyone who would listen, that I’ll be running too. Every time she runs, she uses it as intercession for me. How cool is that! It gets even better!
Yesterday, she ran her first marathon! CONGRATULATIONS KAREN! 
Medicine Park
The race was held in the Wichita Mountains (a place we frequented as children) in a place called Medicine Park. The race was run in the wildlife refuge amongst the buffalo. She was actually told that if she wore her IPOD, the park would not be responsible if she got run over by a buffalo! Medicine Park was named after Medicine Creek. The Commanche Indians believed the creek had healing powers.
Karen is half Commanche Indian. I can’t help but believe that God used this Commanche Indian to run in the same place as her ancestors declaring by her actions of faith the True Source of all healing. Only He can put these incredible circumstances together and he can only do it as we give Him the opportunitiy by saying “Yes!” to Him!
Passage Revelation 22:17:
17The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need [a]of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.(A)
The voices of the Bride and the Bridegroom are echoing loudly and often. In the churches and gatherings of believers I hear the cry. It’s being voiced in songs and prayers, declarations and sobs. There is such a longing for Jesus to come, not just in some future and celestial sort of way, but immediately and into the circumstances of Earth. His Bride is longing for His touch, His words, His comfort and His justice. The Bride says, “Come!”
At the same time His voice can be heard just as clearly calling to those who are thirsty. To those who are in love with Him, He says, “Come!” and to those who don’t yet know Him, but are aware of their need, he says. “Come!”
Everywhere I look it seems that people are in situations that cause them to be painfully aware of their need to be supported and strengthened. If you are in that catagory, I have good news for you! You qualify to drink freely of the Water of Life! Jesus is saying to you, the same thing you are saying to Him. “Come!”
If you are satisfied with where you are, and you don’t see any real need for Jesus to come and invade your life with His presence, I pray that your situation changes. If you’ve become comfortable in your spiritual life, I pray for holy dissatisfaction to grip your soul until you cry out for more of God in your life. If you think everthing is just fine the way it is, and you feel like you are somewhat in control of things, I pray that your eyes are opened and you see that you are poor and naked and needy of the only One who is in control.
May we all cry out together, “Maranatha!”
