Tag Archives: hope

Declaration & Praise: Day 6

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26
“Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” – John 11:40

Today I will believe You for what looks impossible to me.

I believe You for relational restoration.

I believe You for the renewal of minds.

I believe You for hope.

I believe You for flames to be fanned, for eyes to open, for hearts to turn.

I believe You for the healing of every wound.

I believe You for the revival of dry bones.

I believe You for the breaking of strongholds.

I believe that Your Truth will overtake and demolish every lie.

I believe You for unity in Your Church and in my home.

I believe You for holiness in Your Church, and in my heart.

I believe You for justice and revival to sweep across our land.

I believe that You can awaken us, bring us to our feet with a fresh breath of Your Spirit, and set fire to lukewarm hearts. That You can bring forth an army from a valley of dry bones.

Today, I believe You for impossible things, because You are the God of the impossible.

Today, I believe You, and I will see Your glory.

Declaration & Praise: Day 3

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” – Ephesians 1:1
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” – 1 John 3:1

I abound in grace, am lavished with love, and have been given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. You are able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask of You. You have supply for my every need, more than enough strength for my weakness, and peace for my troubled heart.

You give hope when I feel hopeless, and courage when I feel afraid. When the way in front of me looks dark, You give Your Word to light up my steps. And when I was utterly lost, You gave Your Son for my salvation. You are the giver of every good thing.

You give me the power to walk where You have called me, and boldness to keep walking it out even in the face of opposition. You have equipped me for every battle, and every victory comes from You.

You are an open handed God, and Your every promise is yes and amen.

Today, I will refuse to believe that You withhold from me, or that You are anything but generously good to me. I will refuse to allow fear and anxiety over my future rule my heart today, for You have given me my days, and will provide for each one.

Today, I will live an open handed life. I will not cling to what is mine, but will give out from the abundance I have been given. I will not withhold love, mercy, or time. I will not invest in myself more than I invest in others. I will be a lavish giver of all You have given to me.

You are a good, good Father, and I will seek to ever praise You with the way that I live my life.

it was just two cents but it moved His heart

widow_mite_5664.thumb“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

Oh woman, did you even know that your two cents mattered?

Once again Jesus has all but stopped my heart with who He is.  He sat down to watch and then with His crazy, upside down kind of love He showed her off to His disciples.  Showed off the one who gave the least, while others were giving the most. God made much of a poor woman and her pennies.

We all feel poor with no more than pennies, really.

(But if grace were pennies we could buy the world.)

And here is what I want to know. When she opened her hand and let her pennies fall, did she know it mattered?

And it led me to the real question hidden in my heart.

do-i-matter

And so for days this widow with her pennies has been following me around until I finally saw what He wanted me to see. I saw Him sit down to watch, and I saw that it was the giving of all she had that moved His heart.

And I knew my heart had been asking the wrong question. It is not ‘do I matter?’.

What matters to You?

It is the giving of everything, everything I have to live on.  That matters to Him. That moves Him. When all I have is two pennies of hope at the moment, I can give it away and move the heart of God.

Because I get poor in hope sometimes, don’t you?

I can be so very poverty stricken in patience, in love.  “…but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Every drop we pour out from our places of poverty matters to Him.

Every word written in the middle of the night because all we have are these words. Words that leave us vulnerable and exposed, and when we are done it feels like all we’ve given is two cents, buried under the wealth that others have given. But because it was all we had and we offered it up, it mattered to Him.

(I have to believe the words matter to Him, or they don’t matter at all.)

I may not move you. And if I matter to you, believe me I am grateful. But I have to wrestle that need to the ground and pin it tight.

Because what matters to Him has to matter more. Moving His heart must consume me more than moving yours.

Her pennies made no difference in anyone’s life, but they were all she had so she gave them up and it moved Jesus.

And it reminds me of another woman.

jesus_woman_washes_feet“A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

…Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss,but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown.” Luke 7:37-48

Tears and perfume. Her love and her worship. It made no difference to anyone there, but it was all she had to give, so she gave it, and it moved His heart.

More than I want to matter, I want to move His heart.

Sometimes that’s all we have to give, isn’t it? Our love and our worship, coming out of imperfect, messy lives. Lives that matter to Him. Lives that make a difference because He is with us in the offering of our poverty. Whether we see it or not, feel it or not, our lives do matter. We matter. The enemy may tell us otherwise, but he is lying and he knows it. Because he was there that day.

He knows Jesus didn’t die for something that didn’t matter.

 

rememberings and flames and a sovereign God

“Word of God speak”. With that request and a cup of coffee nearby, I open my bible and it falls open to the worn, ink marked pages of Matthew. I flip to the Psalms. Then to Samuel. Quiet. Unlike my anxious thoughts and wonderings of late. Little fears murmuring away in my heart.

So I settle back into Matthew. Into familiar, beloved words, thinking surely I will not hear Him speak from here, the book I have studied more than any other. Oh the foolishness of me.

Mary is pregnant. God’s promised plan of redemption is full on in motion. But  Joseph is planning a divorce. So God sent a dream. To fulfill a prophecy.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife…All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:20-23)

Redemption is born and Magi want to worship. And a king wants to kill. So God sent a dream. To fulfill a prophecy.

“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt’…And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” (Matthew 2:13-15)

An evil king dies and the Redeemer returns to Israel. Because God sent a dream. To fulfill a prophecy.

“Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets” “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22-23)

Redemption birthed. Prophecy fulfilled. And with my eyes, I hear God speak.

Sovereign.

“What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”    (Isaiah 46:11)

And in my heart a flame flickers…

as I remember whispered words. Promises made by the Promise Keeper.  My fingers rush past Matthew and the flame glows and moves with the breath coming from the page.

“The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Corinthians 1:8)

“…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever…” (Psalm 138:8)

Sovereign. Still. Yet. Continually. Until finally.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:1-5)

The flame burns. Murmuring fears and nagging doubts cringe from the heat. As I remember.

The Word of God speaks, and God keeps that Word.

 And what of you? What has God spoken over your life? Does it seem long ago and far away? Have you forgotten? Remember! Hold fast to God! What He has spoken, He will surely bring about; what He has planned for you, He will surely do!

come to rest

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

An invitation.  To the Jews it was an invitation to come out from under the weight of the law, and the rules imposed by the religious leaders.  An invitation to come to grace.  As I read this scripture today, even as a follower of Christ, I still hear an invitation.

To the one frantically trying to make life work…Come to Me.

To the one trying so hard to be good enough…Come to Me.

To the one who feels the weight of failed expectations…Come to Me.

To the one tired of hoping…Come to Me.

To the weary, the scared, the disappointed, the hurting…Come to Me.

Come, join Me. Discover that I am not harsh, that I carry no whip. Discover that my only motivation is love.  My intentions are not to work you harder, but to give you rest. 

Rest, because as I live life in you, life works.  Rest, because I have already made you good enough. Rest. Let Me be the expectation of your life. I will not fail.

Come to Me, and cease your frantic striving.  Throw off the yoke of performance and join the One who loves who you are, not what you do. You think you are managing your fear. You aren’t. Your fear is managing you.  “There is no fear in love”. Come to Me.  Let Me love you. Fear will leave.

Here, with Me, you will have a different view. You will see your life, even the disappointing parts, in the light of your Father’s perfect plan.  Your hope has had many homes, and the disappointment has been heavy. So much disappointment has left your heart wounded. Make your home here, next to Me. Let Me be your hope. You will not be disappointed.  Your heart will heal.

The invitation is still there. Every day. For me. Come to Me. Come back to grace. Rest.