Love Myself and Others
Over the next month I will not be writing for the blog. I will be vacationing, relaxing, and enjoying the plans that my family and I have been making over the past two years! So, as we conclude with CHG # 4, I want to leave you with some SW questions to ponder upon. I would like you to consider some common possible traps that maybe have had an impact on how you have loved yourself and others.
1. Has the trap been about “people pleasing” and saying “yes” over and over so as to feel loved and accepted?
2. Has the trap been anger because your “people pleasing” has backfired on you, and it now causes you to feel resentful because you said “yes” so much?
3. Has the trap been a need to control, where you think that it has to be your way or the highway in order to feel important?
4. Has the trap been unworthiness where you see yourself as a mess and you question who could ever love you?
5. Has the trap been of perfectionism where you tell yourself, “If I can’t do it perfectly, I won’t do it at all?” 6. Has the trap been about self righteousness so that you see yourself as being better or more “godly” than someone else?
Here is how I want to respond to these questions of entrapment. God loves us and He wants us to love ourselves and each other. God’s heart and love is mirrored in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus died to save you from you, from Satan, and from the clutter of your sins. When you ask Jesus in to your heart, you are made clean, right, and justified from your sin through Jesus Christ and Him only. It is not dependent upon how good you are or all the good you have done or will do. You are declared not guilty through Christ. You come to the end of focusing on yourself and you begin to put your focus on God. When you love Jesus and obey God you are reflecting Jesus, His righteousness, His light and His love. Our example turns many to Christ and that results in others being righteous through Christ as well.
There is a big differentiation between the righteousness of God and self righteousness. Self righteousness is void of love. It is all about me and my agenda. The focus is on the law verses the love. Look at the Pharisees who were full of zeal. The problem was that their zeal was about religiosity and not relationship. Do you want religion or do you want a relationship with God?
Remember when I suggested that you cut out a red heart and then write on it the message of love that God wanted you to hear? Do you recall what yours said? If you don’t remember, then go back and look at it. Put it on display for your eyes to see so that your heart can absorb its full meaning.
Years ago, when I was on one of my walks praying about all the different relationships in my life this acronym came to me:
S
H
E
It is reflective of what you need to ask yourself and answer in regards to your relationships being less cluttered.
Is it SAFE?
Is it HEALTHY?
Is it EDIFYING?
Am I being safe, healthy, and edifying in what I am doing to myself or with myself?
Am I being safe, healthy, and edifying in what I am doing to others or with others?
Are my relationships or circumstances safe, healthy, and edifying?
How often we have thought that lust was love or looked for love in all the wrong places.
Many of you have not had relationships that were safe, healthy or edifying. It has not been safe because you have not been protected, you were put in harm’s way, or there was no sense of boundaries. It has not been healthy because your well being has been compromised at every level. It has not been edifying because you have been put down so much that you have lacked a sense of value and worth.
Some of you have been abused, wounded, broken, and destroyed for so long that you believe you deserve to be abused, wounded, broken, and destroyed. Someone else may have done these things to you, and now you believe that you must do them to yourself. This kind of thinking is a lie! God wants to replace that lie with the truth of His Word. He wants to give you a new way to love yourself and others.
I want to close with these words from 1Corinthians 13:4.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never looses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
This Scripture is filled with God’s wisdom about loving me and others. You could literally spend days, weeks, and months reflecting and meditating on just this one Scripture. During the next month, speak this Scripture over and over to yourself and see how God lovingly sheds His light on your hidden story so that you can experience His healing, hope, love, and truth.
September 20, 2012
September 13, 2012
Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #4, Part Two
Love Myself and Others
How would you describe what took place inside of you this past week as you focused on letting go of the condemning thoughts and memories that you have been holding onto, and then replaced them with the heart message of love that God spoke to you through His Word and Holy Spirit?
“This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.” This Scripture from John 15:12 kept echoing into my ears all week, especially when I wanted to lash out at the lack of follow though with a number of service people, or when someone saw their way to be better than my way! It can be very challenging to apply CHG #1, which tells me to slow down. For me, this often means to slow down enough to still the words that want to come out of my mouth, so that I can move to CHG # 4 and tell myself to love and speak to others the way I appreciate being spoken to, particularly in the heat of the moment. In other words, love those who irritate you in the same way that you love those who are easy to love, and love them in the same way that God has demonstrated His love for me.
When I asked the Lord for the heart message of love that He wanted me to hear, I heard these simple words, “You are a star of wisdom.” God was taking the Scripture reference that I shared with you from last week in Daniel 12:3 and he was affirming the kind of star He had created me to be. Wisdom comes from the Lord, and the only way I can be that star of wisdom is because I seek the Lord’s face. Upon hearing this message, I was taken back to August 2010 and the memories that were connected to God planting that seed of wisdom that would bear fruit in August 2011 and would become this blog – Red Wednesday’s Wisdom. I recently got an e-mail response to the blog posting from a friend. It read, “You are a star. You turn others to righteousness.” I was humbled by the love of God and Him using my friend to speak the same heart message that He had given me. Our God is a God of reinforcement.
Yesterday I was driving down interstate 65 South and listening to the words of a song that I had not heard before. I was moved by this one refrain, “Father, give me the grace to forgive them.” At the same time, I looked up towards an over pass. In the middle of this over pass was a man boldly and proudly waving our American flag from a flag pole. It was 9/11. To hear this refrain and then see this visual was such a tribute to what happened 11 years ago on September 11th, and here was the heart message that God wanted reinforced, Love your neighbor. Your neighbor is anyone outside of you, including those who attacked the United States. I lessen the clutter of anger, bitterness, hatred, and revenge when I do not condemn but love. Oh my, how hard that is. Forgiveness. This message of forgiveness is so important, that even as I am typing these words for the blog, the same song I just mentioned above just came on the radio! I now know that it is called “Losing” by Tenth Avenue North. I am just in awe of our Lord’s presence in everything. These lyrics just blow me away as I think about that man on the bridge and it being 9/11 and how God orchestrated all of this for me to share with you, and all of it in relation to loving and yes, even loving when we need to forgive! I am honored.
Your SW this week? Reflect on this song, 9/11, our flag, and the recent loss this week for our country with the death of three Americans and our Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.
I can't believe what she said
Oh Father won't you forgive them
They don't know what they've been doin'
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
I feel like I've been losing
How would you describe what took place inside of you this past week as you focused on letting go of the condemning thoughts and memories that you have been holding onto, and then replaced them with the heart message of love that God spoke to you through His Word and Holy Spirit?
“This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.” This Scripture from John 15:12 kept echoing into my ears all week, especially when I wanted to lash out at the lack of follow though with a number of service people, or when someone saw their way to be better than my way! It can be very challenging to apply CHG #1, which tells me to slow down. For me, this often means to slow down enough to still the words that want to come out of my mouth, so that I can move to CHG # 4 and tell myself to love and speak to others the way I appreciate being spoken to, particularly in the heat of the moment. In other words, love those who irritate you in the same way that you love those who are easy to love, and love them in the same way that God has demonstrated His love for me.
When I asked the Lord for the heart message of love that He wanted me to hear, I heard these simple words, “You are a star of wisdom.” God was taking the Scripture reference that I shared with you from last week in Daniel 12:3 and he was affirming the kind of star He had created me to be. Wisdom comes from the Lord, and the only way I can be that star of wisdom is because I seek the Lord’s face. Upon hearing this message, I was taken back to August 2010 and the memories that were connected to God planting that seed of wisdom that would bear fruit in August 2011 and would become this blog – Red Wednesday’s Wisdom. I recently got an e-mail response to the blog posting from a friend. It read, “You are a star. You turn others to righteousness.” I was humbled by the love of God and Him using my friend to speak the same heart message that He had given me. Our God is a God of reinforcement.
Yesterday I was driving down interstate 65 South and listening to the words of a song that I had not heard before. I was moved by this one refrain, “Father, give me the grace to forgive them.” At the same time, I looked up towards an over pass. In the middle of this over pass was a man boldly and proudly waving our American flag from a flag pole. It was 9/11. To hear this refrain and then see this visual was such a tribute to what happened 11 years ago on September 11th, and here was the heart message that God wanted reinforced, Love your neighbor. Your neighbor is anyone outside of you, including those who attacked the United States. I lessen the clutter of anger, bitterness, hatred, and revenge when I do not condemn but love. Oh my, how hard that is. Forgiveness. This message of forgiveness is so important, that even as I am typing these words for the blog, the same song I just mentioned above just came on the radio! I now know that it is called “Losing” by Tenth Avenue North. I am just in awe of our Lord’s presence in everything. These lyrics just blow me away as I think about that man on the bridge and it being 9/11 and how God orchestrated all of this for me to share with you, and all of it in relation to loving and yes, even loving when we need to forgive! I am honored.
Your SW this week? Reflect on this song, 9/11, our flag, and the recent loss this week for our country with the death of three Americans and our Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.
Losing - Tenth Avenue North
I can't believe what she said
I can't believe what he did
Oh, don't they know it's wrong
Don't they know it's wrong
Maybe there's something I missed
But how could they treat me like this
It's wearing out my heart
The way they disregard
Don't they know it's wrong
Maybe there's something I missed
But how could they treat me like this
It's wearing out my heart
The way they disregard
This is love or this is hate
We all have a choice to make
We all have a choice to make
Oh, Father won't You forgive them
They don't know what they've been doin'
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
They don't know what they've been doin'
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
Well it's only the dead that can live
But still I wrestle with this
To lose the pain that's mine
Seventy times seven times
Lord it doesn't feel right
For me to turn a blind eye
Though I guess it's not that much
When I think of what You've done
But still I wrestle with this
To lose the pain that's mine
Seventy times seven times
Lord it doesn't feel right
For me to turn a blind eye
Though I guess it's not that much
When I think of what You've done
This is love or this is hate
We gotta choice to make
We gotta choice to make
Oh Father won't You forgive them
They don't know what they've been doin'
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
They don't know what they've been doin'
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
Why do we think that hate's gonna change their heart
We're up in arms over wars that don't need to be fought
Pride wont let us lay our weapons on the ground
We build our bridges up but it's just to burn them down
We think pain is own apologies and get them to stop
Well truth be told it doesn't matter if they're sorry or not
Cause freedom comes when we surrender to the sound
Of mercy and Your grace, Father, send Your angels down
We're up in arms over wars that don't need to be fought
Pride wont let us lay our weapons on the ground
We build our bridges up but it's just to burn them down
We think pain is own apologies and get them to stop
Well truth be told it doesn't matter if they're sorry or not
Cause freedom comes when we surrender to the sound
Of mercy and Your grace, Father, send Your angels down
Oh Father won't you forgive them
They don't know what they've been doin'
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
I feel like I've been losing
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
I feel like I've been losing
Cause I feel like the one losin'
I feel like I've been losing
Oh Father, give me grace to forgive them
Cause I feel like the one losin'
Cause I feel like the one losin'
September 5, 2012
Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #4, Part One
Love Myself and Others
Our SW from last week was to review the one seed that each of us wanted to plant and focus on (Hope, Love, Truth, or Healing) and to look at the personal Scripture that went along with planting that seed. We were to then look up our Scripture in the Bible so we could take in some of the others verses that came before and after our one verse. Healing was the seed that I planted, and the Scripture that has helped me to grow this seed of healing into my life is Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah tells me that God knows the plans He has for me, and they are plans that give me a hope and future. When I went to my Bible to see some of the verses that surrounded Jeremiah 29:11, I was reminded that through Jeremiah, the prophet, God had spoken these words to the Israelites when they were in Babylonian exile for 70 years! I can only imagine the encouragement that these words gave the Israelites who had been taken out of their homeland of Jerusalem. I have not been exiled, but I have been moved, and in that move I have already seen the future and hope that God has provided me with. I am surrounded by the love of my family, and I am feeling less cluttered by the demands of home ownership. I am living with greater simplicity because I have less.
What story came to life for you as you reviewed your SW with respect to CHG# 3?
CHG # 4 tells me to love myself and others.
What does CHG # 4 imply as being the root cause of my clutter?
♥ My clutter builds up when I do not love myself.
♥ My clutter builds up when I do not love others.
Therefore, when I learn to love myself and others I lessen my clutter and this brings healing to me.
The Scripture to support CHG # 4 is from Matthew: 22:39, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
What does Matthew 22:39 imply as being the root cause of my clutter? It reinforces that my clutter builds up when I do not love myself and do not love my neighbor, in otherwords, do not love others. Therefore, when I love myself and others according to God’s Word, I lessen my clutter and this brings healing to me.
CHG # 4 is very dependent upon CHG # 2, which tells us to love the Lord. We learn to love ourselves and eachother by learning how God loves us and calls us to love Him.
It is through God’s Word that we learn to love the way God created us and intended us to love. In my desire to love God’s way, I am constantly asking Him to heal the clutter of how I have loved with wrong thinking and wrong actions and to love through His eyes rather than mine. I actually feel God’s intimate love and presence when I hear what He has to say and how He sees me in Daniel 12:3. God sees me as wise and a bright light in the sky and then He tells me that because I turn others to righteousness I will shine like a star forever. My bright light will help others to see the light of God!
We live in a world that focuses on entertainment and wants to cut throat. It is a world that craves for individual stardom and does not understand why we are here on this earth. We are here on this earth to love! We are born out of God’s love for us and our clutter will be lessened when learn to love ourselves and others through God’s eyes and not man’s eyes. In God’s kingdom we all can become stars. We are His stars forever.
This week’s SW is about you learning to see yourself the way God sees you, not with condemnation but with love. Cut out a red heart for yourself and then apply CHG # 3 by asking God to speak His message of love to you. Write down that message on your heart and be touched by the Spirit of God’s love.
Our SW from last week was to review the one seed that each of us wanted to plant and focus on (Hope, Love, Truth, or Healing) and to look at the personal Scripture that went along with planting that seed. We were to then look up our Scripture in the Bible so we could take in some of the others verses that came before and after our one verse. Healing was the seed that I planted, and the Scripture that has helped me to grow this seed of healing into my life is Jeremiah 29:11. Jeremiah tells me that God knows the plans He has for me, and they are plans that give me a hope and future. When I went to my Bible to see some of the verses that surrounded Jeremiah 29:11, I was reminded that through Jeremiah, the prophet, God had spoken these words to the Israelites when they were in Babylonian exile for 70 years! I can only imagine the encouragement that these words gave the Israelites who had been taken out of their homeland of Jerusalem. I have not been exiled, but I have been moved, and in that move I have already seen the future and hope that God has provided me with. I am surrounded by the love of my family, and I am feeling less cluttered by the demands of home ownership. I am living with greater simplicity because I have less.
What story came to life for you as you reviewed your SW with respect to CHG# 3?
CHG # 4 tells me to love myself and others.
What does CHG # 4 imply as being the root cause of my clutter?
♥ My clutter builds up when I do not love myself.
♥ My clutter builds up when I do not love others.
Therefore, when I learn to love myself and others I lessen my clutter and this brings healing to me.
The Scripture to support CHG # 4 is from Matthew: 22:39, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
What does Matthew 22:39 imply as being the root cause of my clutter? It reinforces that my clutter builds up when I do not love myself and do not love my neighbor, in otherwords, do not love others. Therefore, when I love myself and others according to God’s Word, I lessen my clutter and this brings healing to me.
CHG # 4 is very dependent upon CHG # 2, which tells us to love the Lord. We learn to love ourselves and eachother by learning how God loves us and calls us to love Him.
It is through God’s Word that we learn to love the way God created us and intended us to love. In my desire to love God’s way, I am constantly asking Him to heal the clutter of how I have loved with wrong thinking and wrong actions and to love through His eyes rather than mine. I actually feel God’s intimate love and presence when I hear what He has to say and how He sees me in Daniel 12:3. God sees me as wise and a bright light in the sky and then He tells me that because I turn others to righteousness I will shine like a star forever. My bright light will help others to see the light of God!
We live in a world that focuses on entertainment and wants to cut throat. It is a world that craves for individual stardom and does not understand why we are here on this earth. We are here on this earth to love! We are born out of God’s love for us and our clutter will be lessened when learn to love ourselves and others through God’s eyes and not man’s eyes. In God’s kingdom we all can become stars. We are His stars forever.
This week’s SW is about you learning to see yourself the way God sees you, not with condemnation but with love. Cut out a red heart for yourself and then apply CHG # 3 by asking God to speak His message of love to you. Write down that message on your heart and be touched by the Spirit of God’s love.
August 29, 2012
Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #3, Part Three
Ask for Help, Ask Question, and Pray
I had hoped to write last week, but with packing up the moving truck, cleaning the house, and then driving five hours, all done in one day, and then unloading the truck at two different locations, the following day, I am sure you can appreciate why I did some reprioritizing. Consequently, I took a very much needed break from doing the blog. And I can tell you that within two days I felt planted, settled, and at peace in my new place!
Looking back over the past two weeks and thinking about the SW that related to Jesus knocking at our doors, I can say with certainty that the only way this entire moving process took place so quickly for me within less than 2 months and with a broken ankle, is because of the decision I made 18 years ago to open my door to asking Jesus to come into my heart and life. And as I share this with you, I have to mention that I was taken back to CHG #2, which tells me that my clutter will lessen as a result of loving the Lord. One of the symbols that the Lord has consistently used with me in regards to CHG # 2 is a cluster of green grapes along with these words from John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” I know that the only way I was able to do what I did with the selling of my home and the move, was because of my dependence and connection to Jesus as that vine who feeds me and gives me the power and strength I would never have had on my own.
Even though our focus has been on CHG # 3, I hope that by expressing this thought with you about CHG # 2, you will begin to see how the CHG’S have been separated out, one by one, for simplicity’s sake, but in reality they are intricately intertwined with one another.
Your SW from the last posting also had to do with taking time to consider what God looks like to you as your Father. I know there are so many of you who have had a very difficult time with thinking of God as your Father because of the memories you have had of your earthly fathers who were not devoted, loving, caring, and present in your lives. This is relational clutter that is very common, and I can assure you that if you ask the Lord to bring you the insight and healing that you need with respect to your earthly father, you will discover the devotion, love, care and compassion that God has for you as your Heavenly Father, Daddy, or Papa.
In my teaching I have recommended the Life Recovery Bible, but regardless of which Bible you choose to use, going to God’s Word is where you will find the help, insight, healing, and guidance that God has for you about anything that is cluttering your life. God’s Word is a collection of written love letters and prayers that are just for you.
God’s Word is a 24/7 telecommunication prayer line: You pick up the phone. You make the call. You ask a question. You get an answer. You make a connection. You now have a direct and intimate communication line to God. God is never too busy to answer your call. There is never a message that says I can not talk right now. God will always answer your call. God will always have something to share with you.
So as we draw to a conclusion with CHG # 3, I want to emphasize how simplified, organized, and nurturing your lives will become when you:
♥ Keep on asking the Lord for His direction so you know the path He wants you to take.
♥ Keep on looking to Him so you know what it is He wants you to see.
♥ Keep on knocking till the door He wants opened for you opens.
Your SW this week is to review the seed you wanted to plant and your personal Scripture that goes along with that seed. Look at them in relationship to CHG # 3 and see how they are speaking to you. Go to your Bible and look up your personal Scripture to see what added insights you gain as you see the other verses that surround the verse you have chosen.
I had hoped to write last week, but with packing up the moving truck, cleaning the house, and then driving five hours, all done in one day, and then unloading the truck at two different locations, the following day, I am sure you can appreciate why I did some reprioritizing. Consequently, I took a very much needed break from doing the blog. And I can tell you that within two days I felt planted, settled, and at peace in my new place!
Looking back over the past two weeks and thinking about the SW that related to Jesus knocking at our doors, I can say with certainty that the only way this entire moving process took place so quickly for me within less than 2 months and with a broken ankle, is because of the decision I made 18 years ago to open my door to asking Jesus to come into my heart and life. And as I share this with you, I have to mention that I was taken back to CHG #2, which tells me that my clutter will lessen as a result of loving the Lord. One of the symbols that the Lord has consistently used with me in regards to CHG # 2 is a cluster of green grapes along with these words from John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” I know that the only way I was able to do what I did with the selling of my home and the move, was because of my dependence and connection to Jesus as that vine who feeds me and gives me the power and strength I would never have had on my own.
Even though our focus has been on CHG # 3, I hope that by expressing this thought with you about CHG # 2, you will begin to see how the CHG’S have been separated out, one by one, for simplicity’s sake, but in reality they are intricately intertwined with one another.
Your SW from the last posting also had to do with taking time to consider what God looks like to you as your Father. I know there are so many of you who have had a very difficult time with thinking of God as your Father because of the memories you have had of your earthly fathers who were not devoted, loving, caring, and present in your lives. This is relational clutter that is very common, and I can assure you that if you ask the Lord to bring you the insight and healing that you need with respect to your earthly father, you will discover the devotion, love, care and compassion that God has for you as your Heavenly Father, Daddy, or Papa.
In my teaching I have recommended the Life Recovery Bible, but regardless of which Bible you choose to use, going to God’s Word is where you will find the help, insight, healing, and guidance that God has for you about anything that is cluttering your life. God’s Word is a collection of written love letters and prayers that are just for you.
God’s Word is a 24/7 telecommunication prayer line: You pick up the phone. You make the call. You ask a question. You get an answer. You make a connection. You now have a direct and intimate communication line to God. God is never too busy to answer your call. There is never a message that says I can not talk right now. God will always answer your call. God will always have something to share with you.
So as we draw to a conclusion with CHG # 3, I want to emphasize how simplified, organized, and nurturing your lives will become when you:
♥ Keep on asking the Lord for His direction so you know the path He wants you to take.
♥ Keep on looking to Him so you know what it is He wants you to see.
♥ Keep on knocking till the door He wants opened for you opens.
Your SW this week is to review the seed you wanted to plant and your personal Scripture that goes along with that seed. Look at them in relationship to CHG # 3 and see how they are speaking to you. Go to your Bible and look up your personal Scripture to see what added insights you gain as you see the other verses that surround the verse you have chosen.
August 15, 2012
Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #3, Part Two
Ask for Help, Ask Questions, and Pray
In this past week, I am certainly much more aware of the questions that I have had to ask and the help that I have needed and requested. As I prepare to move out of state next, after living in Cincinnati for 41 years, I am realizing just how much I have had to apply CHG # 3, when it comes to asking questions and asking for help.
One example of this has been with my email address. Until the end of last week, it never occurred to me that my email address would have to change since it goes through a local server. Consequently, all kinds of questions began to run through my head. How do I get a new address? How do I get the address book transferred? How do I get all the information downloaded to my Blackberry? Talk about the questions themselves that can cause you to feel overwhelmed because they build up or pile up. But as those questions were bombarding me, I had to constantly “fight” them off by telling my self to slow down so that I could address each question one at a time. To do this it meant that I had to ask the bigger question of who could help me and guide me through each question that I had. Some of the questions were answered by the help of my local phone company, while others were through friends and family. The bottom line became this, no matter what starts to build up or pile up in my life, I am always being called to slow down so that I can break down the pile up into the smaller steps. That slowing down is critical to not getting overwhelmed and out of balance, and the only way I could slow myself down enough was to be in constant prayer with God. I was constantly asking Him, “How do I address this question? Who do I need for You to put on my heart so I can ask them for help? Ultimately it is God Who guides me and directs me in knowing what I need to ask and who I need to call.
There have been many phone calls to make in the midst of all the packing - technical support, utilities, insurance, postal service, finances, calendar scheduling, the list goes on. But here is the one thing that I have consistently heard from the people I have spoken to, “You are covered.” Or, “I think I found a simple solution for you!” This entire move has been an example of God’s grace, light, and safety in my life.
People said to me this morning, “I can not believe that you are doing the blog since your move is happening in just days!” Here is why I am doing it. In my quiet time, I asked the Lord if I was to do it. In my spirit I heard, “Thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.” This is from what is called The Lord’s Prayer or The Our Father. It is the prayer that Jesus prayed when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Since CHG # 3 is about prayer, I knew I was being lead to do the blog today. Here is the other affirmation that I just received as I am writing this post to you. I was on the phone with my daughter, and I was in shock at what I read in front of me. I Googled the title of the artwork mentioned above, and one of the "random" sites that I was brought to had an image of the painting and then below it was the editor’s note. It said that the picture was in a “1994 exhibition catalogued by Dr. David Morgan, Department of Art, Valparaiso University.” I am moving to Valparaiso, and until my daughter moved there, I had never even heard of this town! This made it even more clear to me that the Lord’s will was on my move to Valparaiso and that I was also to be indeed writing for the blog this morning, all because I first asked the Lord in prayer what He wanted. It brought me to tears.
In this past week, I am certainly much more aware of the questions that I have had to ask and the help that I have needed and requested. As I prepare to move out of state next, after living in Cincinnati for 41 years, I am realizing just how much I have had to apply CHG # 3, when it comes to asking questions and asking for help.
One example of this has been with my email address. Until the end of last week, it never occurred to me that my email address would have to change since it goes through a local server. Consequently, all kinds of questions began to run through my head. How do I get a new address? How do I get the address book transferred? How do I get all the information downloaded to my Blackberry? Talk about the questions themselves that can cause you to feel overwhelmed because they build up or pile up. But as those questions were bombarding me, I had to constantly “fight” them off by telling my self to slow down so that I could address each question one at a time. To do this it meant that I had to ask the bigger question of who could help me and guide me through each question that I had. Some of the questions were answered by the help of my local phone company, while others were through friends and family. The bottom line became this, no matter what starts to build up or pile up in my life, I am always being called to slow down so that I can break down the pile up into the smaller steps. That slowing down is critical to not getting overwhelmed and out of balance, and the only way I could slow myself down enough was to be in constant prayer with God. I was constantly asking Him, “How do I address this question? Who do I need for You to put on my heart so I can ask them for help? Ultimately it is God Who guides me and directs me in knowing what I need to ask and who I need to call.
There have been many phone calls to make in the midst of all the packing - technical support, utilities, insurance, postal service, finances, calendar scheduling, the list goes on. But here is the one thing that I have consistently heard from the people I have spoken to, “You are covered.” Or, “I think I found a simple solution for you!” This entire move has been an example of God’s grace, light, and safety in my life.
Growing up, I always admired this picture shown above that hung on the dining room wall of my Grandparent’s home. It adorned our family gatherings. My Mother inherited it and eventually she passed it on to me. I have carefully wrapped it up so that it attends me in my move. The picture is titled, Christ at Heart’s Door, and the artist is Warner Sallman. It is such a beautiful depiction of how God tells us in Luke 11:9 (the Scripture that backs up CHG # 3) to keep on knocking and the door will be opened. That is exactly what Jesus does with each one of us. He keeps on knocking, and knocking, and knocking, hoping that we will answer His call and open the door to let Him into our hearts and into our lives.
Reading this editor’s note, took me back to another story to share with you about my new home town of Valparaiso. During my home inspection, the oven was making a very loud noise when it was turned on. We discovered that the fan needed to be replaced. When my daughter looked for the model number on the old fan, in tiny, barely readable letters, it said “made in Valparaiso, IN!” I have lived in this home for 16 years never knowing that God’s handprint was on my oven fan to tell me that someday I would move to Valparaiso. That someday has arrived. I have learned that sometimes God is silent and sometimes He makes a lot of noise. And when asking Him first about what we should be doing with our lives; where does He want us to be living, what jobs does He want us to be employed in, etc., He answers, and sometimes in what we would call unusual or funny ways, even by using an oven fan!
This week, see how the Holy Spirit speaks to you through your SW. What does He want to tell you about His Son, Jesus, who is knocking at your door? If you examine the picture, you will note that there is no door knob on the outside of the door. It is only on the inside, the inside of you. It is up to you to decide if you will let Jesus in. He will not force Himself upon you. It is your choice. This week, I ask you to reflect on The Lord’s Prayer and consider what it means to think of God as your Father. He is the God of simplicity and order and there is a pattern to everything He touches and weaves.
August 8, 2012
Red Wednesdsay's Wisdom - CHG #3, Part One
Ask for Help, Ask Questions, and Pray
As I reflect on the past two CHG’S, the first CHG tells me to slow down, and from a Biblical perspective, this CHG is about slowing down enough to really come to know God. The second CHG tells me to love the Lord that I am getting to know. CHG # 3 will lessen and heal your clutter as you learn to ask for help, ask questions, and pray. The order of asking for help and asking questions is to always go to God first before going to others. The SW that you have been doing is an example of how to pray and ask God for His help and to seek answers to the questions that we have. There are times when it will only be God who can give you the help and answers that you need.
My clutter builds up when I do not ask for help, ask questions, and pray. Therefore, when I ask for help, ask questions, and pray, this lessens my clutter and brings healing to me.
Asking for help teaches me about trust and it limits the load that I have to carry. It lessens my need to control and teaches me to delegate, while humbling me. Asking questions invites communication in. It lessens the temptation to advise and assume. You practiced this CHG last week when you implemented the SW that asked you to reflect on the traps that have kept you from growing in your knowledge and love for God.
The Scripture to support CHG # 3 is from Luke 11:9, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.”
So what does Luke 11:9 imply as being the root cause of my clutter? My clutter builds up when I do not keep on asking to then receive, keep on looking to then find, and keep on knocking to have the door opened. Therefore, when I keep on asking to receive, looking to find, and knocking for the door to open, I lessen my clutter and this brings healing to me.
This coming week, I am praying that God will help you become more aware of what you need to ask for help with from Him, and also from others, so that you can lessen the load that you think only you can carry. I also ask that God help you to know the questions to ask of Him and others so that you are less confused and have more clarity and wisdom.
One of my favorite songs is “The Prayer” sung by Andre Bocelli and Celine Dion. See how God uses this song to speak to your own prayer life so that you gain wisdom and know how to experience His grace, light, and safety in your life.
As I reflect on the past two CHG’S, the first CHG tells me to slow down, and from a Biblical perspective, this CHG is about slowing down enough to really come to know God. The second CHG tells me to love the Lord that I am getting to know. CHG # 3 will lessen and heal your clutter as you learn to ask for help, ask questions, and pray. The order of asking for help and asking questions is to always go to God first before going to others. The SW that you have been doing is an example of how to pray and ask God for His help and to seek answers to the questions that we have. There are times when it will only be God who can give you the help and answers that you need.
My clutter builds up when I do not ask for help, ask questions, and pray. Therefore, when I ask for help, ask questions, and pray, this lessens my clutter and brings healing to me.
Asking for help teaches me about trust and it limits the load that I have to carry. It lessens my need to control and teaches me to delegate, while humbling me. Asking questions invites communication in. It lessens the temptation to advise and assume. You practiced this CHG last week when you implemented the SW that asked you to reflect on the traps that have kept you from growing in your knowledge and love for God.
The Scripture to support CHG # 3 is from Luke 11:9, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.”
So what does Luke 11:9 imply as being the root cause of my clutter? My clutter builds up when I do not keep on asking to then receive, keep on looking to then find, and keep on knocking to have the door opened. Therefore, when I keep on asking to receive, looking to find, and knocking for the door to open, I lessen my clutter and this brings healing to me.
This coming week, I am praying that God will help you become more aware of what you need to ask for help with from Him, and also from others, so that you can lessen the load that you think only you can carry. I also ask that God help you to know the questions to ask of Him and others so that you are less confused and have more clarity and wisdom.
One of my favorite songs is “The Prayer” sung by Andre Bocelli and Celine Dion. See how God uses this song to speak to your own prayer life so that you gain wisdom and know how to experience His grace, light, and safety in your life.
August 1, 2012
Red Wednesday's Wisdom - CHG #2, Part Three
Love the Lord
I would like to start out praying these words, Father God, this past week we began to explore the possibilities of lessening our clutter by considering what it means to love You. If we could interview the mind and heart of every person, we would quickly discover that most of us desire to be loved, but we struggle to even know what that love looks like. So Lord, as we begin to gather our thoughts and feelings as they relate to loving You, we ask that You teach us about Your love. You are the Creator of love, so it can only be through You that we learn to love and connect with You, ourselves, and one another.
This past week your SW was about reflecting on the color green and what it symbolized for you as you grow in your knowledge of God and His love. The only way I could even begin to learn about what it meant to grow in my ability to love the Lord was to be in His Word. When I slow myself down and take even a few minutes to be in God’s Word I am blessed with the awesome revelation of knowing what God Himself thinks and feels!
The Book of John is a great starting point to learn about God’s love. In fact, John was known as the loving disciple. His Book is filled with Scriptures that will grow you in understanding who God is. The Book of John gives us focus on GOD being true love.
It was through God’s Word that I learned about the traps that kept me from truly knowing and loving God. Have you fallen prey to any of them?
Psychics
Numerology
Astrology
Horoscopes
Religion verses relationship
The occult
“The Course in Miracles”
“The Celestine Prophecy”
New Age thinking
Evolution and Darwinism
Here’s What God Says About Loving the Lord.
♥ Jesus says in 1 John 4:8, “But anyone who does not love does not know God – for God is love.” GOD is LOVE. I need to remind myself of these three words over and over all of the time, because when I show love for myself and others, I am expressing that I know God, but when I am not loving towards myself and others, I am expressing that I do not know God.
♥ Jesus also says in John 15:16, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” In other words, love is a choice and it started with God. God chose to love you and that is why He created you. You are on this earth because of God’s decision to love you! God’s love is never forced. If love is forced then it is not of God and it is not love. Forced love is robotic and God wants you to choose if you want to love Him. God wants you to choose if you want to love yourself. And God wants you to choose if you want to love others.
It’s a command by God to love, but you have free will to choose whether you want to or not. Will you choose to receive God’s love or reject it?
Loving the Lord is the only way I am going to love the way God says to love.
♥ First, I am going to commit to knowing Him (CHG #1)
♥ Second, I am going to commit to loving Him (CHG #2)
Until we grasp that God is Love, our clutter will keep us in bondage as it relates to the MMESS PR:
♥ Mental
♥ Material
♥ Emotional
♥ Situational
♥ Spiritual
♥ Physical Health
♥ Relational
As we conclude with CHG # 2, your SW this week is to reflect on the traps that have kept you from growing in your knowledge and love for God. Meditate on the Scriptures from this posting. Journal some of the thoughts and feelings that come to you as you go through this reflective time. God is speaking to you through these Scriptures, and when you journal just a one word thought or feeling in response to them, you are interacting with God and this is prayer. We will talk more about our prayers when I introduce you to CHG # 3 the next time we meet.
I would like to start out praying these words, Father God, this past week we began to explore the possibilities of lessening our clutter by considering what it means to love You. If we could interview the mind and heart of every person, we would quickly discover that most of us desire to be loved, but we struggle to even know what that love looks like. So Lord, as we begin to gather our thoughts and feelings as they relate to loving You, we ask that You teach us about Your love. You are the Creator of love, so it can only be through You that we learn to love and connect with You, ourselves, and one another.
This past week your SW was about reflecting on the color green and what it symbolized for you as you grow in your knowledge of God and His love. The only way I could even begin to learn about what it meant to grow in my ability to love the Lord was to be in His Word. When I slow myself down and take even a few minutes to be in God’s Word I am blessed with the awesome revelation of knowing what God Himself thinks and feels!
The Book of John is a great starting point to learn about God’s love. In fact, John was known as the loving disciple. His Book is filled with Scriptures that will grow you in understanding who God is. The Book of John gives us focus on GOD being true love.
It was through God’s Word that I learned about the traps that kept me from truly knowing and loving God. Have you fallen prey to any of them?
Psychics
Numerology
Astrology
Horoscopes
Religion verses relationship
The occult
“The Course in Miracles”
“The Celestine Prophecy”
New Age thinking
Evolution and Darwinism
Here’s What God Says About Loving the Lord.
♥ Jesus says in 1 John 4:8, “But anyone who does not love does not know God – for God is love.” GOD is LOVE. I need to remind myself of these three words over and over all of the time, because when I show love for myself and others, I am expressing that I know God, but when I am not loving towards myself and others, I am expressing that I do not know God.
♥ Jesus also says in John 15:16, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” In other words, love is a choice and it started with God. God chose to love you and that is why He created you. You are on this earth because of God’s decision to love you! God’s love is never forced. If love is forced then it is not of God and it is not love. Forced love is robotic and God wants you to choose if you want to love Him. God wants you to choose if you want to love yourself. And God wants you to choose if you want to love others.
It’s a command by God to love, but you have free will to choose whether you want to or not. Will you choose to receive God’s love or reject it?
Loving the Lord is the only way I am going to love the way God says to love.
♥ First, I am going to commit to knowing Him (CHG #1)
♥ Second, I am going to commit to loving Him (CHG #2)
Until we grasp that God is Love, our clutter will keep us in bondage as it relates to the MMESS PR:
♥ Mental
♥ Material
♥ Emotional
♥ Situational
♥ Spiritual
♥ Physical Health
♥ Relational
As we conclude with CHG # 2, your SW this week is to reflect on the traps that have kept you from growing in your knowledge and love for God. Meditate on the Scriptures from this posting. Journal some of the thoughts and feelings that come to you as you go through this reflective time. God is speaking to you through these Scriptures, and when you journal just a one word thought or feeling in response to them, you are interacting with God and this is prayer. We will talk more about our prayers when I introduce you to CHG # 3 the next time we meet.
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