Absolute Surrender

I have a confession to make. For some of you this may not come as a surprise. I like to be in charge when I am driving my car. Apart from that I do not struggle with wanting to be in charge.  Maybe somewhere along the way I realized that I didn’t need to be in charge  because I am the third child in my family and I married a man who is an outstanding and loving leader.   Maybe that is why when I get behind the drivers wheel I want to be in charge; it is the only place I can  be. Who knows? But I can tell you this. The thrill of driving has never left me over the years.  Here is the funny thing. My friends are not thrilled to let me drive. I think it is because I scare them. I don’t have a great sense of direction and sometimes I drive too fast or I get so involved in the conversation I get distracted. Frankly most of my friends simply offer to drive when we go somewhere together.

Control

For some people letting go of control is not a non- issue; it is a huge issue. Being in charge gives a sense of self worth, drives away fear, or keeps order in an otherwise disorderly stress-filled life. Perhaps life is so out of control that the need to be in control becomes great. Jesus understood our need to be in charge. He knew that we would want to be in the drivers’ seat of our lives and that if we were in charge of our lives we might end up going down a one way street the wrong way.

Mary Had to Let Go

Mary, the mother of Jesus had to let go of control of her son, Jesus. Francis Frangipane, writes “In the Days of His Presence”: Mary proved to be a bondslave of the Lord. Here was this remarkable woman, humbled and broken…. what she wanted in the beginning, she obtained: deep intimacy with Christ. Yet she reached her goal not by striving or trying to control Jesus but by surrendering to Him. In the richest way, through the Holy Spirit, Mary again had Jesus living inside her. She learned the secret of being a follower and not a controller. 

Dear friend, have you learned the secret of intimacy with Jesus? What is it that you need to surrender to Him, so that striving will cease and you can follow His lead? He promises that if you allow Him to lead, He will take you to still waters and restore your soul. For many of us that is just what we need.

 

Developing Character through Suffering

Excerpt taken from, Drawing Near to God, A 365 Day Devotional

Developing Character through Suffering

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3-5

True peace, joy, and hope come from being reconciled to God the Father through Jesus Christ. We gain access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. (v.2) Paul concludes that the grace of God poured over us enables us to stand against the storms of life and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. He continues to underscore that suffering will produce Christ-like character in us and calls us to persevere and to grab hold of the hope that God pours into our lives. Paul helps us understand how we are able to celebrate in the midst of suffering. He shows us the steady progression of the Christian life: patience to character and from character to hope.

As I meditate on these verses, I am reminded of how the Lord gave me hope and assurance in the midst of storms in my life. No matter what circumstances have placed you in turbulent waters, the Lord will set your course to provide you a way to safety in His arms. All the while He is growing in you a hope in Him, and He will see you back safely to the shore.

What circumstances seem beyond your control at the moment? Cry out to God and He will pour His love into your heart, giving you a hope that will never disappoint. (v.5)

Heavenly Father, I am pressed in on all sides, stressed with daily life and circumstances that I face. I pray that during this season of trial I will develop perseverance, character, and hope. Your hope never disappoints—Your love never fails to free my soul.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

 

The More You Seek God The More You Find Him

This is one of my favorite songs! Have you spent time with God today?

Rise Up Women of God

This Sunday is Mother’s day so this blog is dedicated to mothers– both maternal mothers and spiritual mothers. Some of you reading this may never have had children of your own, but you have been a mother to many. I have three children, one beautiful Goddaughter who lost her mother at a young age,  and 10 grandchildren that I have had the privilege of mothering. As women, we have the unique ability to nurture, care for, and deposit destiny into the lives of our children. Today I am making a plea: Women of God rise up. 

Proverbs 31 Women

Have any of you read Proverbs 31 recently? If not, stop reading this and read verses 10-31. It will either make you cry (who in the world does all of that??) or it will motivate you to rise up to your full potential as a woman. Now for those of you that are like me don’t panic over the part about the woman who sews cloths. I can’t go there because I don’t even sew on buttons. The idea behind this proverb is that the virtuous woman is busy working from a place of wanting to please God. The Message translation says two things that are worthy of noting: She senses the worth of her work…. and she lives in the fear of the Lord. In this sense, fear means she has a reverence and respect for the Lord and lives for Him. Her contentment and significance are found in her relationship with God. She works from a place of rest in God.

Women Rise Up

Women  have been told that you can do it all, have it all, and be self confident. All of these things are admirable, but as Christian women we have a different standard; we are called to “do all things as unto Him”. In our workplace, in our marriages, and in our child raising, we find our significance and value in serving the Lord. Over the years I have found that the more time I spend with God, the more I value the call to be a mother, a wife, a daughter, and a friend. This morning I am doing several radio interviews and I was talking to the Lord about what he wanted me to stress in terms of helping busy Moms. What struck me as I prayed, were all the years the Lord had deposited His Word in me in the midst of chid raising, and now grandparenting. He never left my side. The more I sought Him, the more He met me on the road of struggle, disappointment, and the challenges of being a woman. He has been faithful.

Jesus Reminds Us…

Jesus gave the key to his disciples: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added. Dear women, we must rise up to the call to seek Jesus. His Holy Spirit does not want to stay on the sidelines of our lives. He wants to come alongside us and lead, direct, and help us in our challenges as mothers. This Mother’s day, ask for the gift of time. Tell your children and husband that you would rather have time to spend with the Lord each day and have them help you make space for that. Perhaps the children could have a list of chores to do that could give you an extra few minutes to pray and spend time in the Word. This will not only fill your spiritual tank, but it will enable you to model to your children the priority of seeking God first. So why not give it a try?

Draw Near to God and He will draw near to You. (james 4:8). Women of God rise up!

Searching for Signficance

We all want our lives to count for something. We want our lives to be significant and for us as Christians, our significance is hidden in our relationship with Christ.  Last week I spoke to a group of ladies who live on one of our beautiful islands in Charleston. The women were from all over the country and they were God seekers, excited to be in the journey of growing in their faith. One precious young woman came up to me afterwards and shared her story. She is a housekeeper for people on the island and she glowed from ear to ear. I instantly felt a connection with her as she shared her love for Christ, her family, and her job. And by the way, she referred to her job of cleaning homes as her ministry. I have been thinking about her all week. She touched my heart.

Signficance

Brother Lawrence, a monk, wrote a book describing his job as a dish washer. He said that his job was not just an ordinary job, but that the Lord was with him and every day as he worked He was working for the Lord. He integrated His love for Christ in his every day life and he found joy in everything he did no matter how menial the task. He had found his significance in life in His relationship to the Lord. As I thought about the young woman I met last week, I realized that she too had the key to feeling valued; her life is hidden in Christ and everything she does, she does for the love of Christ.

Searching for Signficance

The one thing I hear consistently when I speak to groups is the question: “What is my call”?  Dear friends, our call is to love Christ and love our neighbor as ourselves. There is no higher call. Naturally each of us will fulfill our call in our unique way depending on the gifts and interests that God has given us. The question should not be: ” What is my call” ? Instead the question should be:  ”How can I uniquely fulfill my call?” My new friend taught me a valuable lesson. Significance can only be found in our relationship to Christ and pursuing Him is our highest call. Amazing how discovering this simple but profound truth will cause us to be still and know God and our search for significance will end. Simple daily life can turn into an exciting adventure with God.

The Secret Place

I have been thinking lately a lot about the life of Moses. Today I spent some time looking at the passage in Exodus 33 where Moses talks to God about his assignment. It wasn’t any ordinary assignment, but a God given directive to lead God’s people out of Egypt. God’s chosen people, the Israelites, had been in captivity as slaves for 400 years and God heard their cry for freedom. So he chose Moses to lead them out. The amazing thing is Moses could easily have missed the call. The call came in a very unusual way. Moses was minding his own business, tending to his flock of sheep and suddenly he saw a flaming bush. As he approached the bush, he recognized that the bush was not burning up. Here is where he could have missed it. He approached the bush. He did not turn back. He did not run away in fear. Could it be that he was a man that had become accustomed to God encounters? We don’t know for sure but there are some clues that He was a man of God and he had a history with God. Perhaps, in light of that, he expected God to show up in unusual ways. He turned towards the bush and the angel told him to take off his sandals; to approach the holiness of God he must remove symbolically the dirt of life. And he did and God spoke.

Moses’ Assignment

When Moses approached the burning bush that wasn’t really burning up,  God spoke to him. First point; when you expect God to show up in your ordinary life in extraordinary ways, go towards him and listen. God told Moses that he was to lead the Israelites out. And then began a series of fear induced conversations where Moses questioned God if he was the one for the task. Sound familiar? Moses told God that he was not an eloquent speaker. How could he lead if he wasn’t a great orator? He asked God how the Israelites would believe that God has spoken to him telling him to lead them out. And then we get to the core of Moses’ fear: ” Who will go with me?” In one of the most powerful passages in Scripture, God tells Moses that His Presence will go with him; that His Presence is His glory; His character, His goodness.

Cleft of the Rock

I believe that all of Moses’ fears in that moment were overtaken by the fact that His God would be with him on this assignment. God told Moses to stand in the cleft of the rock and His Presence, His glory, would pass by. He told Moses to go into the secret place, the place of only wanting God’s Presence and all he needed would be given to him. Dear friends, if you are struggling with a God assignment, whether it is related to your job, a relationship, parenting, etc. go to the secret place with God and hide in His Presence. Give God space in your life to take over your fears. Pay attention to the burning bushes in your ordinary life. If God calls, He will not only provide what you need to accomplish the task, He will go with you. But before you step out…… step in to the cleft, the secret place with Him and He will be there.

 

Phone Relationships

No I have not gone off the deep end. When you read the title to this blog you may think so though. How can you have a relationship with a phone? It all started with a dream that I had. I had so many people I needed to communicate with and in the dream I only communicated through texting. I remember typing the messages and thinking: ” This is efficient”. I was able to get all of my messages out in no time at all. Then I heard the Lord say: ” But Joanne, I write my messages on your heart.” I awoke from the dream pondering if God was trying to send me a message and His message was not by text; His message pierced my heart.

Isolation

Isn’t it ironic that we have more means than ever to communicate with people but we feel more isolated than ever? We have e-mails, voice mails, and cell phones. We can even Skype our friends in order to communicate with them. Recently I did an interview for Fox Online News. The interview was one of the most difficult ones I have ever done because I had to stare at a blank computer. The interviewer could see me but I couldn’t see her. It was difficult because the human component of interaction was reduced through the mechanism of the computer. Let’s face it for some of us relationships are easy; for others they are difficult. But nonetheless we all need connections with other people. We all have a need not to be left alone or in isolation.

Relationships

My husband and I each have an office on opposite ends of our home and on separate floors. We are unable to easily go back and forth if we need to communicate something to each other. So we text, we e-mail and sometimes we put our phones on intercom mode to talk to each other. Ok now you are thinking I have gone off the deep end. But before you go there ask yourself, have you too fallen prey to the communication age of technology? Maybe not. Then would you please come help me over here?

Jesus Had Friends

Jesus invested in people. He had his 12 disciples whom He called His friends. He had his inner circle of three friends, Peter, James and John.  He was friends with Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus. He even stayed at their homes. We know He connected with them at a deep level because when Lazarus died He wept. He was a full fledged relationship person. He didn’t just converse about the weather either. He had deep, meaningful conversations like with the women at the well. She was a Samaritan, rejected by the Jews, who went to the well when no one was around to taunt her. Talk about being isolated! Can anyone relate? Jesus immediately struck up a conversation, and not like we sometimes do when we meet a stranger asking them where they are from or if they have any children, or what they do for a living. When he asked her for a drink of water and she seemed shocked because Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans, Jesus said this: If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Now that was not a superficial conversation. That was deep. Jesus invested in relationships and He always went to the heart of the matter.

Friendships

Authentic relationships begin and end with spending time together. Technology is helpful to stay connected but it is not a substitute for being with a friend. And believe me I know how difficult it can be with our fast paced lives. But keep in mind Jesus was never in a hurry. He stopped along the way of life and took the time to meet with people. He did not have the distractions of technology. What He did have and still has is a message He wants to write on our hearts. He wants to be our friend: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  (John 15:15)

Taking a Risk

Seems to me I am in a season of my life where I could easily choose to take easy street if you know what I mean. My life is fairly stable ( I say fairly– whose life is perfect right?), my children are grown and leading productive lives, my ministry is growing. So all is well in Disneyland right? The problem is that if we choose to live with good, we will never experience great. I was looking through some of my old cards the other day and came across one that said: The person who risks nothing, has nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and grow and love and live. It might be easier to stay in the safe zone but the God zone always involves risk.

Faith

Faith is spelled: R-I-S-K. Faith defined in Scripture is: being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Is there something that you have dared to hope for? Is there something that you cannot yet see but you sense that God is calling? We grow our faith muscles when we step out in faith doing the things that God calls us to do. We may only see the path for today, but each step of faith insures a new path ahead and spiritual growth. Each step taken in letting go of control of your life makes life an adventure.

My Risk

Last week I had to do a live interview for Fox news. I had done one before and felt that it did not go too well. But I knew God was calling…. I sometimes wish though that he didn’t know my number or that my number was unlisted. I prayed about it and remembered  that  on more than one occasion I had promised God that when He called I would obey. So I set myself up for this one. The good news is that I did it and the risk was worth it. I learned yet again that  if I choose to risk nothing, I will miss the adventure of growing from the experience. I will miss the beauty of seeing God use me for His glory. I could choose to live a safe life. But safety isn’t the goal of the  Christian life. The goal is to be transformed to be more like Jesus.

More Adventure

Perhaps you thought my going to the Alligator Farm was adventurous (read my last blog). Today proved to be another adventure only this time I was chasing a lizard inside my house. Now let me explain. I was not doing this to amuse myself. I was absolutely terrified that this little critter had found his way into my house. What is more, I was dedicated to returning him back to nature. The problem was that he was running scared and every time I thought I had him trapped he slipped away. I considered giving up and pretending that he wasn’t there but the thought of him showing up unexpectedly somewhere…. well let’s just say it was not an attractive alternative. So I chose to continue the game of trying to catch him.

The Sound of Nature

In the book of Genesis we are told that mankind was given dominion over the animals. In light of that truth, I opened my windows in my kitchen and tried to command the critter to go back outside where he belonged. That didn’t work either. But then I noticed something amazing. The birds were loudly squawking outside, the breeze was gently blowing, and my new little friend kept going back to the window. Could it be that he heard familiar sounds and longed to go back to his home? In a moment of desperation I tried talking to him and telling him that he had a choice: either climb up the wall to freedom or I would have to trap him in a plastic container (until my husband came home and picked him up- no way I was going to do that). He never made it out the window so I trapped him. Good news is that when my husband came home he took him out of his confinement and put him outside. I could just hear him telling his friends about his adventure– how this crazy lady chased him around and commanded him to go to freedom and…. well you can only imagine.

Sounds of Heaven

Dear friends, as Christians,  we were never made for this earth. Our bodies are temporary and earth is our temporary home. Our home is heaven. While on earth we, like my lizard friend, hear the sounds of our eternal home; the sounds of heaven and we long to go home.  We know that our sufferings of this earthly life and mortal body are temporary. So next time  you feel a longing in your heart, a sense that there is something more, remember that it is the sound of heaven that draws you home.

The Alligator Farm

My husband is the most interesting person you will ever meet.  By profession he is a physician (his day job) but on the weekends he becomes Mr. Adventure. I have no problem with him being adventurous until it involves me. And it often does. So this weekend we are going to the Alligator Farm in Florida. Now I know that some of you are already so excited thinking about this you can hardly stand it. But for me it conjures up images of the time we went to the Serpentarium. Totally different except with the same theme of adventure. My friend from Germany went with us to the Serpentarium (which by the way is a place that houses snakes). My husband knew he had a fear of snakes and for some sick reason he wanted to take us there. Poor Otto. We went to one of the snake shows where the handler offered to let anyone in the audience hold a snake. I think my husband shamed our friend into holding one. Afterwards the trainer said that he will always be able to tell that snake from the others because the mark my friend made on the snake from squeezing him so hard. Nice right? So back to Mr. Adventure who wants to take pictures of alligators. And yes, I am going with him.

Run zigzag

Once my husband gave me a lesson about running from alligators (we were on another adventure). He told me that when they chase you they are pretty fast (for crying out loud do I need to know that– wouldn’t it be better to just stay away from them??). The safest thing to do is to run zigzag. Can’t wait to take pictures with him and try to remember that.

Our Lives

Knowing Jesus can be the most thrilling adventure of our lives. It is high risk at times when we have to surrender those things that separate us from him like bitterness or unforgiveness, or greed, or pride– the list is endless. But a life lived in Christ is a life filled with thrill. Each day is new and offers us a fresh beginning. In the morning I can hardly wait to open the Scriptures and hear Him talk to me. I ask lots of questions as I read and I read expecting Him to speak. Do you do that? Do you wake up every morning looking forward to being with Jesus? Expecting Him to lead you in your day? I don’t always but when I do, He always surprises me with some sort of adventure. That is adventure enough for me. But apparently I still need to go to the Alligator Farm. Anyone want to take my place?