The Lord spoke to my heart about adjusting my perspective on my kids. He urged me to say yes as much as possible to my kids, without endangering their safety, integrity, or maturity.  At first, I did it SO begrudgingly. (Sigh.) Then it became such a joy to say yes!!  I have experienced a long-desired increase in intimacy with my teenage daughter through this adjustment. What do you know?  I have become a blessing to her by saying yes more. I have shown her that I respect her passions and her interests, and she has blossomed in confidence.

This morning, when I read a passage in 1 Corinthians 1, I realized that through this parenting adjustment, God was asking me to follow His example.  Check this out:

Do I (Paul)  plan according to the flesh like a worldly man, ready to say, “Yes, yes,” when it may mean, “No, no?”  As surely as God is trustworthy and faithful and means what He says, our speech and message to you (the people of Corinthian church) have not been a Yes that might mean No.  For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who has been preached among you by us, was not Yes and No; but in Him it is always the divine Yes. For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes in Him.  (1 Cor 1:17-20)

Did you catch that? With Jesus, it is always the divine YES! He loves to say yes to you. When you ask for something, He responds to the heart of your request. He sees the deep-seated need and meets it in the best way possible. The outcome of His yes may not look the way you expected, but it is a divine yes nonetheless.  It will be exactly what you need.

The other gold nugget in this passage is that when it comes to the promises of God, the answer is always yes. When you ask the Lord for something that is promised in scripture, know that the answer is already yes. Think and behave as if you know the answer is yes. Allow a joyful anticipation to overrule your fear or worry.

Open your heart to receive it in His timing and according to His will. The answer is yes!

Ever feel like it’s just one thing after another?

This morning I was feeling sorry for myself, and the Lord reminded me that what I am going through is NOT just about the moment. It’s more about my future. It’s transforming me now, and preparing me for later.

Now and later.

The circumstances He’s allowing, the inner stirring that forces us to deal with wounds and junk in our hearts, the conflicts of life, the disappointments… it’s all for good reason.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,

who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

You’ve probably heard this verse a million times. I looked up some of the words today. Did you know that the word “all” means everything individually, as well as collectively? Interesting. Sometimes we don’t know the value of something alone… but when God combines it with other things, collectively, He performs a wonderfully detailed work in our lives.

The phrase “work together” translates as the word “synergeo” in Greek. As you might have guessed, it’s the root of our word “synergy”. It means to partner in labor and to put forth power together. The circumstances and hardships of our lives work together with the blessings and God-provisions in order to transform us. The Holy Spirit puts forth power in all things to draw us closer to Him and to make us more like Jesus.

Romans 8:28 promises that all these things will work together for good. It’s the same word that James uses here:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17

As well as the same word that Jesus uses here:

Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things;

I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!  Matthew 25:21

He wants to give us good, and call us good. This is His goal. Whatever you face today… it’s for now and later. Chew on it, savor the sweetness (or bitter-sweetness) and rejoice!

This morning, I was emotional and grateful for a certain friendship He has provided in my life. I was thinking, “Lord, why are you so good to me? I don’t deserve it…”

Before I could really finish that pitiful thought, He spoke to my heart, “I do it because I LOVE you. I have walked with you and carried you for 40 years.”

Thanks for rounding up, God. My 40th birthday is not until next March! (These are the kinds of super-spiritual thoughts I have in the morning.)

Then, He pointed out to me that this summer marks the 40 yr anniversary of when my mom discovered she was pregnant with me. He HAS walked with me for 40 years! He has been present, guiding, loving, and providing for 40 years. What a milestone. What an amazing God. I am His, and He is mine.

Yet You are He Who took me out of the womb; You made me hope and trust when I was on my mother’s breasts.

I was cast upon You from my very birth; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

Psalm 22:9-10

How long has He walked with you? Celebrate the milestone!

My value comes from being created in His image.

Today, the Lord turned the lights on (so to speak) when I read verse 14 of the psalm. It states that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” If you’re like me, in the church for more than half your life, then you’ve heard this verse a gazillion times.

Before I could rush on to the next verse, the Holy Spirit nudged me to look closely at the verb phrase and its tense.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The tense of “am” speaks to an unbroken continuity. The tense of “made” speaks to completion. I have been fully made in a way that inspires awe, reverence, and wonder… and it is an ever-present state.

That struck me. This scriptural truth revealed that, down deep, I believe that I was once-upon-a-time created wonderfully, but the world and I have ruined me. Wrong.

God is telling me and you today that what He has made is wonderful. We are awe-inspiring evidence of His creative power.

Exchange your self-criticism and self-loathing for awe. He made you in His own image!

weight and appearance

intelligence and schooling

talents and accomplishments

success in marriage and parenting

faith and spiritual discipline

financial situation

This morning while I was reading Psalm 139, the Lord flooded me with truth.

 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;  you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.

He began to speak to my heart so clearly:

Before you could think, plan, respond, or resist, I created you. I planned a life for you. I chose you for a purpose. I did not find you in a desperate moment and take pity on you; I made you. I’ve always known you, in the deepest and truest sense. I have led you and carried you often.

I have never wondered for one moment “what to do with you”. I planned from the beginning of time to create you, to love  you, to empower you as my child. I have a clear purpose for your life. I want to use your hands and feet to make a difference in this lost and hurting world.

Beware, however, of thinking that your value comes from your gifts or your anointing. Someone with a less obvious anointing or dormant gifts is not less valuable. Using your gifts does not make your more valuable.

You are chosen, you are Mine. You were not chosen because of your “value”. You were created by Me. Your value comes from My breath in you. It comes from being made in My image.

You love your children because they came from you. You are bound to them. Your love does not come from their personality or performance, it comes from your attachment to them, your relationship to them. You loved them before they could ever love you back. You loved them even before you saw them.

That is how it is with you and I.

We took a moment to be silent and ask Him to reveal the veils that hide our hearts. God was undeniably clear with me. It is my fear of losing control over my life, loved ones, and circumstances that keeps me from being ever-close and abandoned to God.

The Lord has brought me a long way from the self-protecting, self-sufficient, controlling person that I became in my teenage years.  While I have learned to let God have more and more control, I have not managed to escape the fear that comes when I do yield to Him. I still have to wrestle quite a bit to get to the place of letting go. The enemy pushes my deep-rooted fear buttons and tries to convince me that giving up control is too dangerous.

This morning, God revealed a breakthrough truth to me:

Surrendering and yielding to God does not mean that I am powerless.

It does not mean that I am completely lacking control in the situation. It is MY choice to surrender to God. It is MY decision to let Him have control over my family, finances, and future. Surrender is not a place of weakness or powerlessness. I am choosing to put my trust in the One that makes the best decisions for me and the ones I love. The One that knows the perfect solution to my quandries. The One who has a full provision for all of my needs. I am choosing to rest in the embrace of the One who cannot be moved.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29

“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Heb 10:14 NIV

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Heb 10:14 NKJ

This verse speaks of one thing that is done and one thing that is ongoing. By one action, one death, one sacrifice, my sins are atoned for. That business is done. The word “perfected” means completed, finished, accomplished. The never-ending forgiveness of my sins has been accomplished.

While the issue of sin and forgiveness is done and settled, I am still being sanctified. That business is ongoing. I am still being set apart, consecrated, transformed. I am still being shaped into Christ’s image and being used by Him in increasingly effective ways.

The enemy wants me to get the truth of this scripture mixed up. He wants me to think that the process of my atonement is ongoing. I have to perform in order to be worthy and forgiven. I am setting aside these lies and standing confidently in the truth that I am forgiven. It is done. The sins that you and I will commit later today and tomorrow are already covered. Praise God!

This truth came alive as I read Psalm 139. Verse 5 says, “You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.” I looked up the word “hem” in the original language, and discovered that it’s more of a battle term than a sewing term.

It means to press in, to confine, to besiege.  In His great love and passion, the Lord presses in to communicate with us. To protect us. To influence us.  His desire is to confine us to His presence so that we are never alone. He literally besieges our hearts, wanting to invade every empty and broken place so that He can bring healing and transformation.

The enemy wants to besiege us as well, with his lies and accusations. He wants to confine us with shame and bitterness. He wants to lay siege to our hearts in order to destroy us. What comfort we receive in knowing that God presses in first and foremost. We hold to the truth that we “are from God and have overcome (evil), because the one who is in (us) is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

Pruning is necessary. Shriveled blooms must be removed to make room for new blossoms. Wayward branches must be trimmed back to keep the rose bush where it belongs. Diseased portions must be trimmed off to keep the plant healthy.

God has many reasons for pruning things out of my life.  He may see a relationship, job, ministry, locale, or habit as unhealthy, diseased, or beyond fruitfulness.

Pruning is painful.  As I trimmed off old blooms that were clearly dead, the green flesh of each stem was visible. The branches were still full of life! There was no “snap” heard when I cut off the dead flower because the stem was still tender. I was instantly reminded of times in my life when God’s pruning felt like a wound in the tender places of my heart.

God may trim something that seems perfectly healthy or fruitful. It may be very painful to let go. There may be serious grieving involved! In His wisdom, the Lord may remove something for no apparent reason than to make room for something else. We must trust His hands as the Master Gardener and let Him do the work.

I’m being pruned as we speak! I keep trying to talk the Lord into keeping this particular branch. I see life in it! This morning, He agreed with me that there was still some value in it. However, there is far more value in letting it go to make room for something new.

Bittersweet. The pain of letting go combined with the joy and anticipation of God’s faithful work in my life. He is worthy of my trust, so I will let go….

He has extended revolutionary love and grace to us.

“…when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”  Titus 3:4-7

It doesn’t take much for us to understand that we need to be like Jesus and extend love and grace to others. However, we completely miss the boat when it comes to extending grace to ourselves.

I’m not talking about making excuses or justifying our selfish behavior.  It’s time to stop listening to the lies running through our heads. I’m a failure. I’m worthless. I’m not as skinny as so-and-so. Why can’t I get it together? If people knew the real me, they’d be shocked. Lies.

It’s time to start forgiving ourselves the moment that God forgives us. It’s time to start giving ourselves the opportunity to make mistakes.

If you want to be like Jesus, then give yourself grace. Right now. Today, tomorrow, and every day. Give grace to yourself because God always does.