Just like every year Thanksgiving Day has come and gone... everyone took the day to reflect on and make mention of all the things that they are thankful for in their lives; but somehow it just seems like it should be more than that. Daily we are blessed by God in so many different areas of our lives, but yet sometimes (in the hustle and bustle of life) we may forget to take the time to give Him thanks for all that He has done for us. In Luke 17, we read the parable of the ten lepers who cried out to Jesus and were cleansed from their leprosy, but only one of the ten returned to Jesus and gave thanks. The Bible tells us that he turned back and glorified God with a loud voice, and because of his faithfulness and his willingness to express his gratitude he was not only cleansed from his disease but also made WHOLE! So, not only was he cured of his disease like the other nine lepers, but he probably also grew back any bodily extremities that he had lost because of his leprosy... all because he returned to Jesus to express his thankfulness.
As I reflected on Thanksgiving Day, this parable of the lepers, and all the scriptures that specifically tell us to give thanks, I began to think about all the things that I am thankful for in my life. God has bestowed so many blessing on me that it would be a very long (and probably boring) read for everyone, but here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for today and everyday:
1. God's grace and mercy. Titus 1:12-14 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Just as God was full of love, grace and mercy for Paul, he has provided us with the same love, grace, and mercy. Our God is a god of second chances and it is only by His mercy that we have been given the opportunity to commune and fellowship with Him. I have found that without this relationship with God first in my life, all other aspects of my life do not function as they should. I am thankful for His unconditional love, mercy, grace, and patience with me as I continue to grow in His will and walk in His way.
2. My husband. He is my best friend, constant companion, and the love of my life. He is a true blessing and I am thankful that God has placed him in my life. Although I may not express it often enough, I love him more and more each day and look forward to growing old by his side. I am thankful for our marriage (where we have been, where we are, and where we are going) and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for him (and us) as we continue to move forward in His will.
3. My family. I love them all dearly! They are my support system in every sense of the phrase. I am truly blessed to have been raised by God-loving parents, who have taught and trained me in the way that I should go. It is because of their continuous, loving guidance that I have become (and am still becoming) the person that God has called me to be. Through them (and God), I have been blessed with three amazing siblings who are the best friends any person could ever ask for. They are a steadfast source of encouragement and joy in my life; and without them and their significant others, my life simply would not be the same.
And because family is sometimes more than just blood relatives... My church family and "adopted" family (the friends who are more like family than just regular friends) are also such a blessing in my life. Without these people, life would be much harder to cope with on a daily basis. I am thankful for every member of my family (immediate, extended, church, and friend).
4. My life experiences. God teaches us so many things through our life experiences; and whether they are good or bad experiences, we can always learn something from them. It is our choice to learn from the experiences that God allows us to go through and then grow in Him because of them. We are also supposed to give thanks for those experiences. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So, regardless of the situation, I will try to give thanks and learn whatever lesson God wants to teach me from it.
There are so many other things that I am thankful for in my life and I could easily write about many more of them. Instead I will try to do as Colossians 3:15 says and BE THANKFUL every single day!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Taking It to the Rooftop...
"Keep pressing forward until you break through..."
Just recently a dear family friend and spiritual mentor pulled me aside after our Sunday morning church service and began to tell me that he felt God was asking him to share something with me. He opened up his Bible and read the parable in Mark 2 about the four friends who took their paralyzed friend to Jesus with faith that he would be healed. We then began to discuss how those four friends pressed forward with such determination and faith to reach Jesus because they knew He would be able to heal their friend. Their faith was so strong that they were willing to climb to the rooftop of the house in which Jesus was teaching and tear apart the roof to get to Him!
That Sunday morning my friend from church had no idea that I too have been pressing forward in hopes of a breakthrough... honestly, until our conversation that day, I am not even sure if I knew how to describe what I had been feeling. I knew my relationship with God had been changing and I knew my hunger to be closer to Him was growing; but it wasn't until that moment that I knew what I had been looking for was a breakthrough. For some time now, I have felt that I need a breakthrough in many different areas of my life; and it was then that I realized that with this hunger and desire to be more in God's word, will, and presence... that I am "pressing forward until I break through!"
I am so thankful that my friend listened to God's instruction to share with me that parable. After we read the passage from Mark, he turned to me and said, "Corbie, just keep pressing forward until you break through." Immediately I felt tears well up in my eyes (yeah... I'm a crier) because without me even realizing it, I had been feeling discouraged and tired of pressing forward in some areas. It's a daily struggle to press through all the chaos, confusion, and distractions of this life to break through to true communion and fellowship with our God. Thankfully we have the gift of the Holy Spirit with us at all times and we don't have to fight crowds of people, climb trees, and tear apart stranger's roofs to reach our Jesus. But nonetheless, we have to press through moments of wavering faith and past disappointments until we break through to unwavering trust and complete dependence on Him. We have to take our situations to the rooftop, tear it apart, then lay it all at His feet and trust that His will for us is best and will be done. It is then that He will meet all our needs unconditionally just like He did in the parable of the paralytic and his four faithful friends!
I WANT to be like those four friends... I want my faith to be so strong and my determination to be closer to my God to be so overwhelmingly present that I would do anything to be in His word, will, and presence! I mean... I'm talking... willing to tear apart a stranger's roof STRONG!!!
Just recently a dear family friend and spiritual mentor pulled me aside after our Sunday morning church service and began to tell me that he felt God was asking him to share something with me. He opened up his Bible and read the parable in Mark 2 about the four friends who took their paralyzed friend to Jesus with faith that he would be healed. We then began to discuss how those four friends pressed forward with such determination and faith to reach Jesus because they knew He would be able to heal their friend. Their faith was so strong that they were willing to climb to the rooftop of the house in which Jesus was teaching and tear apart the roof to get to Him!
That Sunday morning my friend from church had no idea that I too have been pressing forward in hopes of a breakthrough... honestly, until our conversation that day, I am not even sure if I knew how to describe what I had been feeling. I knew my relationship with God had been changing and I knew my hunger to be closer to Him was growing; but it wasn't until that moment that I knew what I had been looking for was a breakthrough. For some time now, I have felt that I need a breakthrough in many different areas of my life; and it was then that I realized that with this hunger and desire to be more in God's word, will, and presence... that I am "pressing forward until I break through!"
I am so thankful that my friend listened to God's instruction to share with me that parable. After we read the passage from Mark, he turned to me and said, "Corbie, just keep pressing forward until you break through." Immediately I felt tears well up in my eyes (yeah... I'm a crier) because without me even realizing it, I had been feeling discouraged and tired of pressing forward in some areas. It's a daily struggle to press through all the chaos, confusion, and distractions of this life to break through to true communion and fellowship with our God. Thankfully we have the gift of the Holy Spirit with us at all times and we don't have to fight crowds of people, climb trees, and tear apart stranger's roofs to reach our Jesus. But nonetheless, we have to press through moments of wavering faith and past disappointments until we break through to unwavering trust and complete dependence on Him. We have to take our situations to the rooftop, tear it apart, then lay it all at His feet and trust that His will for us is best and will be done. It is then that He will meet all our needs unconditionally just like He did in the parable of the paralytic and his four faithful friends!
I WANT to be like those four friends... I want my faith to be so strong and my determination to be closer to my God to be so overwhelmingly present that I would do anything to be in His word, will, and presence! I mean... I'm talking... willing to tear apart a stranger's roof STRONG!!!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Daily Pop Quizzes... on Obedience!
Every morning the Bible app that I have on my phone sends me a notification to read that day's verse and passage. It's pretty convienent and has really caused me to stay in the Word on a daily basis. I usually read the verse and passage that it has scheduled for that day and then try to keep that particular word in my mind and heart, and really focus on it as I go through my daily activities. The verse that comes up each morning is just an individual scripture that is randomly selected for that day; so... when I started using this app, I decided just to trust that God had picked that particular scripture for me for that day and go with it! Several times just during this week it really seemed to be that God was using that randomly selected verse to teach and test me on being obedient to His word and will.
On Monday, both my husband and I were struggling with trying to understand God's will for us and the fact that it may not match up with our wills at this time. My verse for that day... Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on you own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. When I read that verse on Monday morning I couldn't help but let out a little giggle and say, "Thank you God! Thank you for reminding me that You are in control and all I have to do is trust in You!" And as I went throughout my day, every time I felt myself falling back into discouragement and questioning "why?" I would pull that scripture back up and read over it again. Then... God impressed me to text that verse to my husband. I was like, "ummm.. okay God... he is gonna think I'm weird just texting him a Bible verse randomly!" But I trusted Him and did it anyways, and that night when we were getting settled for the night my husband asked me if I had picked that verse especially for him or if it really was my random verse for the day. I explained that it was just my random scripture and all said was "hhhmmm... .okay!" That was enough confirmation for me! I knew just by the tone in his "hmmm" and the look on his face that it was the perfect scripture for him at that time. So... not only did Monday's little pop quiz on trust and obedience lift my spirits and reassure me that God is in control; but it also encouraged and ministered to my husband. That's pretty amazing!!!
Tuesday's pop quiz, on the other hand, was a little bit tougher! Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Now when I read this on Tuesday morning, I was like "oh yeah... I got this one! I don't talk corrupting talk!" Ummm WRONG!!! I should have known that if Eph 4:29 was my scripture for the day... I was going to be tested on it. As soon as I got to work on Tuesday, it seemed like everything thing that could have gone wrong...DID go wrong. It was a stressful day, I was in a bad mood, and EVERYONE around me was talking corrupting talk! Nothing good for building up of anything or anyone and definitely no grace at all! I was overwhelmed with the negativity and felt myself falling into the complaining and murmuring that was going on around me. And then I realized what was going on ... I started repeating the verse over and over and OVER again to myself. I think I probably looked back at that verse 15-20 times throughout the day and asking God to help me control my thoughts and my mouth! And then He did... all of the sudden, in the midst of everyone else complaining, I said: "my scripture for today said for me not to let any corrupting or bad talk come out of my mouth. So I'm not talking about this!" I thought to myself, "wow... did I just really say that out loud!" and all the others around me just kind of stopped and stared at me for a minute. I didn't even really care that they may have thought I was weird. All I know is that I was obeying God and they stopped talking negatively about everything (at least around me anyways)! But wheewwww... what a test!!!
So now every morning when I read my randomly selected scripture, I realize it isn't really random at all! It is God's little pop quiz for me on how well I am going to obey Him that day... and I like it! I feel like He is training me and preparing me for bigger and more life-impacting situations that may come along in the future. So I'll keep taking these pop quizzes on a daily basis and pray that God teaches me unconditional trust and obedience through them!!!
On Monday, both my husband and I were struggling with trying to understand God's will for us and the fact that it may not match up with our wills at this time. My verse for that day... Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on you own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. When I read that verse on Monday morning I couldn't help but let out a little giggle and say, "Thank you God! Thank you for reminding me that You are in control and all I have to do is trust in You!" And as I went throughout my day, every time I felt myself falling back into discouragement and questioning "why?" I would pull that scripture back up and read over it again. Then... God impressed me to text that verse to my husband. I was like, "ummm.. okay God... he is gonna think I'm weird just texting him a Bible verse randomly!" But I trusted Him and did it anyways, and that night when we were getting settled for the night my husband asked me if I had picked that verse especially for him or if it really was my random verse for the day. I explained that it was just my random scripture and all said was "hhhmmm... .okay!" That was enough confirmation for me! I knew just by the tone in his "hmmm" and the look on his face that it was the perfect scripture for him at that time. So... not only did Monday's little pop quiz on trust and obedience lift my spirits and reassure me that God is in control; but it also encouraged and ministered to my husband. That's pretty amazing!!!
Tuesday's pop quiz, on the other hand, was a little bit tougher! Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Now when I read this on Tuesday morning, I was like "oh yeah... I got this one! I don't talk corrupting talk!" Ummm WRONG!!! I should have known that if Eph 4:29 was my scripture for the day... I was going to be tested on it. As soon as I got to work on Tuesday, it seemed like everything thing that could have gone wrong...DID go wrong. It was a stressful day, I was in a bad mood, and EVERYONE around me was talking corrupting talk! Nothing good for building up of anything or anyone and definitely no grace at all! I was overwhelmed with the negativity and felt myself falling into the complaining and murmuring that was going on around me. And then I realized what was going on ... I started repeating the verse over and over and OVER again to myself. I think I probably looked back at that verse 15-20 times throughout the day and asking God to help me control my thoughts and my mouth! And then He did... all of the sudden, in the midst of everyone else complaining, I said: "my scripture for today said for me not to let any corrupting or bad talk come out of my mouth. So I'm not talking about this!" I thought to myself, "wow... did I just really say that out loud!" and all the others around me just kind of stopped and stared at me for a minute. I didn't even really care that they may have thought I was weird. All I know is that I was obeying God and they stopped talking negatively about everything (at least around me anyways)! But wheewwww... what a test!!!
So now every morning when I read my randomly selected scripture, I realize it isn't really random at all! It is God's little pop quiz for me on how well I am going to obey Him that day... and I like it! I feel like He is training me and preparing me for bigger and more life-impacting situations that may come along in the future. So I'll keep taking these pop quizzes on a daily basis and pray that God teaches me unconditional trust and obedience through them!!!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Being Still...on the go!
Psalms 46:10 Be still and know that I am God...
This is perhaps the most well know Bible verse where God is telling us to be still and if you go back and read the entire chapter before we get to this verse, you will see that there is quite a variety of chaotic circumstances going on that would cause anything but "stillness." Yet He says "be still and know that I am God." He tries to remind them that He is in the midst of all the chaos AND He is still in charge of all things.
Our lives are so often full of chaos and clutter that, like in Psalms, we forget who is in charge of it all. God wants to remind us that He is in the midst of all things and He will be our help and place of refuge if we will just allow Him to do so. I know, I know... being still in this day and age is so hard. Between work, daily tasks, and maintaining personal relationships with those around us... who has time to be still? We are constantly on the go. But somehow we have to find a way to still ourselves... our inner selves, our minds, hearts, and spirits. We need give God an opportunity to be our help and our place of refuge.
Recently, I have found that it is in the moments when I am doing my most routine, daily activities that I am able to still myself, my mind, and my heart. Now while this could never take the place of truly being completely still in mind, heart, and body, it is during these basic daily tasks that I am able to tune in to God and listen to Him, converse with Him, and worship Him. I may still be physically on the go (getting ready for work, driving to and from work, fixing supper), but I am still. The routineness of those activities allows me to tune out every other thought and know that He is my God, He is in control of my every situation, and He will be my help and place of refuge if I will only realize that He is in the midst of it all. AND... guess what... He says that once we are still and know that He is God... the rest of the world will also begin to know that He is God! They will notice a change in us. He says that He "will be exalted among the heathen." Imagine that... there are a lot of great things that could come from us just taking the time and making a conscious effort to Be Still...even when we are on the go!
This is perhaps the most well know Bible verse where God is telling us to be still and if you go back and read the entire chapter before we get to this verse, you will see that there is quite a variety of chaotic circumstances going on that would cause anything but "stillness." Yet He says "be still and know that I am God." He tries to remind them that He is in the midst of all the chaos AND He is still in charge of all things.
Our lives are so often full of chaos and clutter that, like in Psalms, we forget who is in charge of it all. God wants to remind us that He is in the midst of all things and He will be our help and place of refuge if we will just allow Him to do so. I know, I know... being still in this day and age is so hard. Between work, daily tasks, and maintaining personal relationships with those around us... who has time to be still? We are constantly on the go. But somehow we have to find a way to still ourselves... our inner selves, our minds, hearts, and spirits. We need give God an opportunity to be our help and our place of refuge.
Recently, I have found that it is in the moments when I am doing my most routine, daily activities that I am able to still myself, my mind, and my heart. Now while this could never take the place of truly being completely still in mind, heart, and body, it is during these basic daily tasks that I am able to tune in to God and listen to Him, converse with Him, and worship Him. I may still be physically on the go (getting ready for work, driving to and from work, fixing supper), but I am still. The routineness of those activities allows me to tune out every other thought and know that He is my God, He is in control of my every situation, and He will be my help and place of refuge if I will only realize that He is in the midst of it all. AND... guess what... He says that once we are still and know that He is God... the rest of the world will also begin to know that He is God! They will notice a change in us. He says that He "will be exalted among the heathen." Imagine that... there are a lot of great things that could come from us just taking the time and making a conscious effort to Be Still...even when we are on the go!
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