WORD of the Day

Are you observing Lent this year?

Not belonging to a denomination that observes Lent, I’ve never really understood it until a few years ago.  But since then, every year, I’ve asked The Lord what He would like for me to do to participate in these special 40 days.  For those of you who are like me, and aren’t too informed about Lent, here is some information I found helpful:

The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning [Jennifer here – like “Spring Cleaning of the Heart Posts 1, 2, and 3]: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him. Thus it is fitting that the season of Lent begin with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes mixed with oil on one’s head or forehead. However, we must remember that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately transform our entire person: body, soul, and spirit.

In praying about being transformed body, soul, and spirit, I felt The Lord lead me to something different for Lent last year.  Instead of giving up something (like chocolate, shopping, facebook, etc – of which, unfortunately, my fleshly self would find a quick replacement), The Lord led me to ADD something to my life – as unto Him – for His glory in my body, soul, and spirit.  He called me to commit to add a few healthy habits and to exercise my body on a consistent level – for Him.  Not so that I would look better in my clothes or feel better about myself.  But just For Him.  For His purposes in and through my life.  It was a sweet time, a true blessing to add as unto the Lord.

But this year the Lord is leading me to a fast again. A denial of indulgence in the overage.  In all areas.  Over eating, over time-wasting, over spending, over sleeping, over speaking…  A silent moment by moment surrender of the overage to The Lord for His use to do with as He pleases.  I’m not capable of this kind of gift.  He must do it through me.  And I must love Him by obeying and staying consistently close to Jesus, depending upon His strength to restrain and refrain when my mind, body, and mouth want to continue on full speed ahead.  It will not be easy.  But it will be good.

Ashes mixed with oil.  Death to self empowered by the Holy Spirit. Shaped by the Grace of God and the Cross of Jesus Christ.

I say out loud that I love Him with my all. 

Now it’s time to fully live like it.

“Make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed.

We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”  Romans 13:11-14 MSG

 “God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life.

This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.”  Titus 2:11-14 MSG

Energetic in goodness…  Energetic in Godliness… turning our backs on indulgence… not squandering these precious daylight hours. 

Lent.

Happy new week to you!  Isn’t the Lord so good to us?  I love Him more and more every day.  He rescues us from the death-trap of sin, He makes living on this earth just a breath compared to the blessed eternity we will spend with Him, and He is with us in every situation, every step, and every moment.  Jesus not only meets our immediate needs, but provides the grace and redemption we crave as we look behind us, and the peace of mind and heart as we look ahead.  But more than that, He’s given us the gift – the present– of the present, and every ounce of the strength, help, and provision we need to not only survive, but to live this day with a deep-down-no-matter-what-joy that can be found in Him alone.  I’m so grateful for that!  Aren’t you?

I’ve been in a busy season of studying lately and have so many new things to share with you… soon.  But this morning, I felt the Lord nudge me to re-post this truth He gave me several years ago.  It saved my life.  Truly.  I was drowning in fear.  Fear over every imaginable thing.  I would think up possible scenarios, imagine the worst that could happen, and be in a near state of grief within just a few moments.  I spent most of my life like that.  Until God.  Until God spoke through His Word and I decided to obey them instead of just know them.  In fact, only months after God helped me escape to real freedom, one of the very things I had feared would happen did happen… but thanks be to Jesus ~  I had the keys to make sure I wasn’t locked in the prison cell of fear through the entire ordeal.  As a result, we saw the Lord at every turn, and could do nothing but trust and praise Him through the pain as we walked it out in PEACE, carried by the Prince of Peace.

If  you are stricken with panic or fear then this posting is for you, and it’s no “coincidence” that the Lord had me re-post it today.  You really don’t have to live this way.  By the grace of God, I’ve been free from living in this fear-prison for almost 3 years. I never want to go back!  Dear friends, I’m praying for your release today~

For 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.”   2 Timothy 1:7 (Amp)

~ written in 2009, re-posted several times since then… always fresh and needed truth to me!

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Keys to Escape the Prison of Fear

I have found this to be very true for me. More than any other stage of my life thus far, I have consistently fought the battle between faith and sight, hope and fear. (Some days I’ve won, and some days I haven’t.)

As the calendar ticks by and we remain without employment (and have no inkling of an idea of where or what our future will hold) faith verses sight, and hope verses fear. As I watch our children grow and mature, and I begin that process of thinking about releasing them, faith verses sight and hope verses fear. Sometimes, I’ll be doing nothing but driving or riding down the road and notice another vehicle, and faith verses sight and hope verses fear.

If I’m not careful, my mind will work up any number of disastrous scenarios that will be so life-like, I’ll end up actually crying just thinking about it. This SHOULD NOT BE! I don’t have to be this way. None of us do.

The Lord has shown me that He has given us the keys to release the handcuffs and chains of sight and fear so that we can fully live in faith and hope.

Our enemy would have us focus on fear, vain imaginations, foolish reasonings, and stupid speculations – which he knows will tie us up in knots and entrap us.

From these verses, we can find the keys to unlock the entanglement of our minds:

1. Honor and Glorify God – make an immediate choice to honor Him with your thoughts. Start calling out names of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If you can’t think of any of those at the moment, just simply say “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…” until His beautiful name and presence starts to overpower the thoughts of sight and fear.

2. Give God thanks – start thanking God for His love, His protection, His provision, His promises, His Word…

3. Throw aside the weight of those senseless thoughts – those vain imaginations, foolish reasonings and stupid speculations. This requires some action and choice on your part. Absolutely REFUSE to let them darken your mind.{Always, I shake my head strongly when I’m throwing these thoughts aside.  Sometimes, I’ll actually visualize them  and use my arms and hands to push them from my mind.}

4. Look to Jesus – determine to keep your mind and thoughts focused on Him. When you do this, Hebrews 12:2 tells us that He will actually finish and complete FOR YOU the faith you lack in the battle of your minds and thoughts.

Abraham is a beautiful example to me of hope and faith. Romans 4:18-21 tells us how he kept faith and hope in God all of those years…especially when the promise of God became physically, humanly impossible to fulfill. I want this to be my testimony, too!

We can be empowered by faith as we give praise and glory to God, throw aside the dark thoughts of sight and fear, and look to Jesus – who is fully ABLE and MIGHTY to keep His Word and do what He has promised.

That’s what I want to do. How about you? I’m holding on to the keys that will release me from the next lock-up the enemy has planned. In fact, in my mind, they are on a beautiful silver Brighton Key ring. Who says that spiritual power and a little “bling” can’t go together? 🙂

“And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.” Romans 5:2b

“O Lord of Hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning on and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving.]” Psalm 84:12 (Amp)

Hi friends ~You have been on my heart & mind a lot lately. Although I’m out of the loop on what’s going on in your lives, I’m assured that when God brings you to mind, He knows the details. And as I pray for you, He knows exactly how to interpret those prayers according to His amazing love for you & His glorious will.

A while ago, I started a new page in my prayer/QT journal. I call it my “Nothing is Too Hard for God” page. On the top of the page, I have some wonderful Scriptural truths about God’s Power and our need to never give up as we pray. Verses like Jeremiah 32:17-19, Luke 18:1, Luke 1:37…

Then, underneath those verses, I listed those situations in and around my life and in the lives of those I love where unless God intervenes, there is no human hope. I listed dear friends fighting cancer, the salvation of a few “stubborn, but good” people, the restoration of some marriages that had previously glorified the Lord, the profitable sale of our Nashville house, some “difficult” people God has placed in our paths, a family of children who experienced a terrible tragedy & trauma that would seem impossible to ever recover from …

I LOVE this page in my journal! It gives me great joy to turn to it and to pray about the impossible situations listed before the Lord! One of these days, He will work the “impossible” in these lives. He may not answer in the way I think He should, but He will answer. And when He does, I’ll get to do my most favorite part of my prayer journaling: putting a big, fat X right in the blank I drew before I ever wrote the request.

Do you have some “impossible” needs before you today? Are they weighing you down with worry or fear? If so, I encourage you to write them down, and give them to The Lord.

“For with God, nothing is impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.” (Luke 1:37)

If you know you are praying in line with God’s Word and God’s will, don’t give up! Nothing is too hard or too wonderful for God! (From Jer. 32:17-19)

I love each one of you, and pray for God to strengthen, encourage, & guide you through those “impossible” situations. Our Lord knows your needs and is Great in Counsel and Mighty in Deeds! Seek Him in His Word, obey Him and Trust Him. He IS the God of the impossible!

With much love ~
Jennifer

Have a great day in The Lord! He loves you so!