Recipe for Success: Life + Pepper

There's a saying that a Dutch friend of mine shared with me that I simply cannot shake. She said she felt like someone needed to:

Eat a little more pepper!

The visual of a person choosing to add spice and a little "get up and go" to their approach to life was humorous for sure. In her direct, poetic way she was expressing frustration about a person's hesitance to make decisions and move boldly. And, while not making a commentary on the specific person/situation she was referring to, I gave a hearty "Amen" to the sentiment. You see, I am constantly amazed at the hesitance of Christians. When I read the Bible, I see so many examples of boldness and so many moments where God asked for people to walk with authority. You look at the patriarchs of the faith and see examples people like Abraham who left on God's command and walked boldly into what they were called to do or women like Jael who without trembling immobilized the enemy with a nail into the temple in his sleep (Judges 4). When you look at all of the people who made it into the "Faith Hall of Fame" in the book of Hebrews, you see countless examples of boldness and courage that continue to baffle us to this day. Or you can even think of contemporary examples like Albert Einstein, MLK, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, and so on across the nations who were world-changers because of their boldness.

Some moved on behalf of Christ and others in the name of whatever power they held dear. And so I find myself wondering how, if people can change the world and walk boldly with non-Christian motivations, how much more can we as Christians do in the boldness we draw from Christ? You may be reading this and have been on a see-saw of emotions--wondering what your next steps in life are, seeking God on which way to turn...which way to go, people to see, places to be. Today, I want to challenge you to move in boldness and add a little "pepper" to your approach. Pick up your mantle of faith and walk without fear. Remember what God has placed in you--the gifts and dreams that have simmered under the surface. Remember the doors He has opened; and walk through those doors without abandon...or to echo my friend...Eat a little more pepper! Need scriptural basis for this command? Try out:

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Though you may fear making a mistake, I ask you...what is the harm in that? Most mistakes are the building blocks of greatness. So for now, disregard the potential for mistakes and spice up your life. For sure, a little dash of pepper/boldness can surely be that one last ingredient to a recipe for success that you need to accomplish what God has called you to.

Be encouraged,
Pastor Andrea

Where There's A Will...

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to go down some challenging routes of faith for God. My decision to follow Him was not predicated upon conditions of where/how I would be willing to go or not. I didn't say "I'll go if..." I've trusted Him (even when scared) as opportunities to do somewhat unrealistic things with my life or to venture to somewhat dangerous areas, during somewhat dangerous times. However, I am often surprised by the fact that the loudest voices of fear that I hear come from Christians. Their excitement for what God is doing in/through me is often tempered by love and words of caution. As a human being, it makes me smile and feel cared for, but as I listened to the last of these "lectures of love" most recently from a relative, I couldn't help but feel a little sad as well.

You see, there are some verses of scripture that just about every Christian can recite (even if they don't know where it's found in the Bible). Philippians 4:13 is one of those verses. But I often find myself wondering if we really believe what we recite. Do we believe that small three letter word that defines what we are capable of...A-L-L? When David faced Goliath with stones, He didn't cower in fear but conquered in courage (I Sam 17). When Abraham was told to leave all he knew to be precious and "go", he didn't didn't rest on a "woe is me" song but instead started singin' "On the road again..." (Gen 12). When Esther was asked to stand against all odds before a king in the face of death, through her own fear/hesitation, she rose to the challenge "for such a time as this" (Esther 4). And when Christ himself faced the cross, he did so saying "not my will by Thy Will be done" (Luke 22:42).

From Genesis to Revelations, we have that "great crowd of witnesses" that the Bible talks about (Heb 12:1) who testify to how God can both grant supernatural victories in the face of defeat and bless you beyond your wildest dreams while doing it. The key to being able to really live that Scripture out is simply to do it. There is no magic solution. This week alone, there have been forces coming against you to stop you from doing things (big and small) that line up with God's Will for your life. And time and time again, you've allowed the small voices of fear and doubt to overrule the "still small voice" of God unctioning you further in Him. God wants to help you do the impossible. He wants you to take your eyes off the greatness of the end result and just do what He told you to do. Take that leap of faith to find what you need waiting for you at the top of your jump. What's waiting are the fruit of His promises and the relief of your destiny. Be encouraged this week to plow forward into ALL THINGS with abandon that shows you truly believe that you can do it all through Him.

Blessings,
PastorA

Faith = "Do It Scared"

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed 

from faith to faith; as it is written, 

“The just shall live by faith.” 

Romans 1:17

The other week, I got a chance to spend some wonderful "catch up" time with my friend Cassandra. I'm not a big phone girl, but every once and a while I get on these marathon chats with dear friends from near or far and really catch up on life. And as we chatted and testified one to another, she said something that stuck with me. She called what I'm going through and what she's going through by name. She said we are "doing it scared". 

Came across this painting by Herschberger that says it all

I haven't been able to shake her words. I told her then that I would steal it but in reality I just think that it's worth repeating. You see, both of us have had so many people ask us "how are you doing this?" People look at her incredulously as she explains that she's an older woman who has decided to go to medical school when most are deciding to retire. People look at me like I've lost my mind when I say that I'm not exactly sure what the next step is but that I just heard God say "go" so I'm doing it. It's an unnerving space to be in. Though fear sometimes tries to sneak in and steal a piece of my heart, I remind myself constantly that my faith must overpower it...that 'greater is He that is within me' (1 John 4:4). I described it as feeling like I'm floating through life with God alone as my safety net.

At the end of the day, there's no massive secret to this space we're in. You see, what it boils down to plain and simple 'ole faith. And I'm sure you're tired of hearing about it, but I can't preach/teach faith enough. It's more than a way to describe your religion...It's more than a principle, it's a lifestyle. You can't decide to embrace faith one day and shake it off the next day. Well you can but it doesn't do you much good. When you've really embedded yourself in faith and faith embedded itself in you, it means that you don't always understand what's ahead of you but it's alright. You don't always know where the resources are going to come from. You don't always know what people will stick around, who will go by the wayside, or who will resurface. You can't predict how it's all going to end. But WHEN GOD SAYS IT, YOU JUST DO IT anyway. Do it despite the fact that you don't understand and are shaking in your boots. Do it scared!

God will honor your faith. Be encouraged today to take that step closer towards Him despite your fears.

Blessings,
PastorA

P.S. If this spoke to you, praise God. If not...then perhaps it's for your friend so be a gem and forward it along. :) Thanks!

Why So Surprised? HE IS GOD!

I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

Psalm 89:1

When I left home yesterday morning, I have to admit to being a bit blue. The previous couple of days (more than that if I'm being honest) had been particularly "heavy". There was no major event to explain why that was the case but it was more about the season I have been in weighing on my shoulders and simply trying to maintain my faith. Like so many other days before, I had had a bit of a melt down the previous day about my transportation situation--crying out to God that I was still waiting for the promise of a car that He had given me and that my fortitude in the wait was wearing thin. And so as I began my trek that morning to the bus stop, a small speck of white on the sidewalk caught my eye.

As I looked down, there was a small bead with the letter A inscribed on it. This random little speck made me stop, back track and take a picture. There was something about it that made me feel like God was whispering directly to me that morning that I was on His mind and that He hadn't forgotten me. Feeling the way I had recently, I could use every piece of encouragement I could get from God so I snapped the picture and kept on moving--this time with a little less weightiness dragging me down. As I made my way up the road, I was still a bit down but just that much more encouraged that God hadn't forgotten me. I took one bus then stood waiting on my connecting bus feeling worn out and the day had not even really begun.

The ringing of my phone would next change the trajectory of the entire day as a friend called to tell me that she and her husband wanted to bless me with their "old" (yet new to me) mini-SUV! I thought I was hearing things. Tears began to overwhelm me as she explained how I had been on her heart to do this for me the last three months and basically how God made a way for it to be possible. Her husband had blessed her with a new, bigger truck for Mother's Day and was in agreement that they should give the old one to me instead of using it as a downpayment on the new one. My prayers had availed and God's promise had been manifested just that quickly. When I shared the news with one of my friends last night, she almost made me feel stupid saying 'duh...you SAID He was gonna do it!' and I told her that my awe was not in the belief but because I was overwhelmed by His faithfulness.

As I awoke this morning, God reminded me of the scripture in II Kings 4 where the prophet told the Shunamite woman after her being barren for so long that "this time next year" she would hold a son. True to that prophetic word, by the time he returned the next year, she had had her son. Last year the weekend of Mother's Day, my old car died and God told me to get rid of it. He also told me that he would replace it (though I did not know when). So this time last year, God was telling me to trust Him and this time this year He is reminding me that that trust is never misplaced. As "crazy" as prophesy sounds at times, He was very specific in putting a small SUV in my heart and said that something I did in ministry would be result in someone blessing me. When my friend gave me the news yesterday, she expressed those same thoughts.

When we move in obedience and do what He tells us, He remains faithful to take care of us. Period. Though our obedience should never be about earthly rewards, we have to keep in mind that God uses us in life plants seeds and unlock our own blessings. And it's not about what we are going to "get" as much as it about the potential for lives to be impacted for God's glory. In the end, I'm going to nickname this car "Faith" as a constant reminder to me of how God is faithful. The car is a "little" thing in God's sight. The promises He has given me are much bigger than my transportation, but God in his infinite grace and mercy saw fit to throw me a bone and lift some weights yesterday and simply remind me that He is God. I couldn't leave my house this morning without "singing of the LORD's great love" (as it says in the Psalm above) and encouraging you in this season. We can believe Him. There's no need to be surprised when He makes good on His promises both big and small.

Be encouraged that you are on God's mind and He has not forgotten you.

Blessings,
Pastor A

P.S. Some of you remember that I even wrote about my car before. You can see that entry at http://lhmdevotional.blogspot.com/2012/06/when-is-enough-enough.html.

Faithful to Finish

For I am confident of this very thing, 

that He who began a good work in you 

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 

(Philippians 1:6 NASB)

There are times in our lives when we become discouraged. There are days when we look up and around and begin to lose sight of whatever God has said for our lives. There are seasons when the promise of God seems so illusive--where the reality of our circumstance and situation makes seeing the possibilities of God's will difficult. We are weighed down by life and responsibility. We are distracted by the twists and turns of day-to-day living and begin to forget that God is a God who can make it all straight.

I am in such a season. If you're anything like me, you begin to think you must have dreamed it all. I have pouted and thrown tantrums with God. I had even made a decision the other day that perhaps I should simply start trying to convince myself not to believe. In the interest of being content or satisfied, perhaps I should simply decide that I'm not meant to be or do any more than what I'm currently being and doing. I began to think that if I lower my expectations of what God said was to happen, the process would somehow hurt or fatigue me less when/if things didn't move as I would hope. I'm a person who shouts "YOU MUST HAVE FAITH!" from the highest mountain tops, but was facing a crisis of my own--thinking that it was enough to have faith in how powerful I believe God to BE without fully investing my heart in the faith for what He said He would DO!

I went back and forth in my mind the last few days about weather to embrace this shift in mindset. BUT GOD (gotta love when He puts his "but" in things), the lover of my soul, wrapped His arms around me in the form of an emailed video from a friend today. My friend had done me the favor of digitizing the video from my initial sermon. (I have only watched this sermon once and that was some time after at the taunting of friends.) But TODAY, I needed to be reminded and God was faithful to send me that reminder. I remembered that being content and satisfied were not one in the same. As I listened God reminded me that wanting what He has for me has nothing to do with not being content. If He doesn't do another thing for me, I will be content. But I refuse to live satisfied with less than what was His original intent when He fashioned me in my mother's womb. The Bible tells me to press towards the mark (Phil 3:14) and not just float our way there. There is action and intention in walking out the promises of God and we cannot lose sight of the destination while we are panting through the course!

Just has He did for me, it is His intention for you to understand that He IS a Promise Keeper! You were starting to feel like you must have dreamed what God said or like He has forgotten, but He sent me today to remind you in love that He's not a man that He should lie! He sees you and knows your path! HIS WORD IS BOND!!! He's a FINISHER and will begin what He started in you. Beyond your tears and the realities of your circumstance lies your PROMISE. Today, be encouraged to keep your eye on the prize and keep pressing. He's well worth it!

Blessings,
MinD

P.S. I've posted this in my personal blog as well and have uploaded a clip from my initial sermon on YouTube (http://youtu.be/2E6hVj0Hotc). If you have 7 minutes, please take a look and stand in agreement with me for the promises that God is bringing to pass and be encouraged to share that encouragement with those you think may need a bit of a boost today.

Striving for Perfection

For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

~Hebrews 7:28

I recently had the opportunity to visit a Mayan ruin in Belize--Lamanai. Like many ruins, it was once used in Mayan society as a place of sacrifice, worship, government and trade. A tall structure, it is used by tourists now to climb to the top and see over the treeline God’s great Creation. To say the least, it is a feat to be conquered and not for the slight of heart or fearful of heights. I, in my haste, decided to take on the challenge. As I began to climb, the stupidity of the exercise began to enter my brain. With nothing to secure a climber (holster, rigs, etc.), I was beginning to second guess my decision to climb as my fear of falling kicked in not far into my adventure. I made a decision twice (around step #10 of the incline steps), in fact, to stop the whole charade of bravery and adventure and abandon ship for safer, solid ground. Each time, a fellow-climber would skip by me (seemingly effortless climbers) with words of encouragement. And so I pressed on—speaking the words of Phil 4:13 to myself as I went…muttering “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” as I purposefully made my way up the narrow stairway. And as the end of the rope you can hold going up came to an end and the “real climbers” could take the last 10 steps up to the very top, I had hit my limit.

Looking up at the folks on top.

I stood on the plateau, shaking like a leaf feeling completely victorious even though I had fallen short of the ultimate plateau. I looked up at those above me who had achieved their ultimate goal of making it to the top and smiled to myself as I had achieved my ultimate goal of pressing passed my fears to the place where God would allow me to go (somewhere around step #50ish). I knew that I could go no further. Safety would not allow that—shaking uncontrollably while trying to climb with nothing to hold on to is not advisable for anyone.

You see, I had strived to accomplish the best that I could be. I had strived for perfecting this adventure. And what I learned when I got to my top was that my point of perfection is not the same as another person’s point, my accomplishment is not the same as another person’s accomplishment, my goal was not the same as other people’s goal. And, while my fellow climbers seemed to want to console me in my inability to make it all the way to the top, I could only smile the biggest smile ever because I was celebrating my ability to do even more than I thought I could do. And the same thing goes for the other areas of our life. Our ultimate goal is common—we all want to reach the perfection of being like Christ. But along the way, what we will come to learn is that we are human. And, as Hebrews 7:28 says, we are a priesthood full of weaknesses. We have been chosen indeed. 1 Peter 2:9 says we are a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood” but that does not ever make us all the same. What’s more it does not equate us with Christ. There is always One (Christ) who sets the bar higher than we will be able to reach but a bar we should strive to meet nonetheless. And as we climb towards that bar, push through our comfort zone (step #10) and hurdle over our fears, we will feel assurance and excitement in making it to our own levels of accomplishment.

Today, your challenge is to make sure that you don’t sell yourself short and stop on step #10 when your place of accomplishment is at step #40 or #50. Be encouraged as you press on towards that mark in Christ Jesus. God and a host of angels will be cheering with you when you do (even if man does not). Push on. You can do it!

Blessings,

MinD

P.S. Don’t forget to share this prayer point with someone today. You never know who could use an encouraging word to make it past their step #10.

Day 18: Time To Unpack

“Stuck”…It’s a four-letter word in spirit though made up of five. It’s so easy in life to hit moments when we you simply feel stuck. What’s more, getting “unstuck” can feel daunting and impossible. Beyond simply understanding that "nothing is impossible with Christ" (Luke 1:37), you must take steps to begin to wiggle out of that stuck position. This means you have to actively decide to unlock vision, unchain dreams and unpack the gifts that you’ve managed to stifle inside. There’s something in your heart, a passion that may even be accompanied by a skill set, that seems to be encased in a blanket of slumber (and reeking of moth balls). Do you remember it is there? Do you remember what it felt like to use that gift? Do you remember what it felt like to fly high on your dreams and let that flight catapult you into the next phase of your life? If you answered “no” to any of the above, perhaps it is time to rekindle your fire. Perhaps it is time to unpack the gift and give it the air it needs to breathe and grow wings. We’re told in Proverbs that “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” (Pr 18:16).

Begin today by telling someone about that gift and putting it on display. Be encouraged to unpack and stay a while knowing that a room will be made for you soon.

Blessings,

MinD

Kept Over Unsure Ground

If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.

Psalm 94:18-19 (NKJV)

One of the items on my "Bucket List" was to zip line, and as I went through the ropes course in an effort to fulfill my zip lining adventure recently, I must admit that my nerves were racked. Even though I knew that I had been solidly harnessed to the line above my shoulder, when it came time to step on moving logs and unstable wires and dodge obstacles, my confidence was shaken. I gripped unnecessarily at the ropes in an effort to hold myself up; and, in the end, I made it through a challenging 24-point, 90-minute ropes course from beginning to end--zip lines, tight ropes, log swings and all.  


As I swung into the final heap of sand, I remembered the thought that I had as I began (the point at which I took the above picture)--that no matter what happened, I was secure. You see, we were harnessed with two lines and two clips. There was an "extra safety measure" of clipping the hooks on in opposite directions so you could never accidentally grab hold of the releases and suddenly go swinging. And as the course began, I felt the Lord reminding me that this is a great example of how He has hold of me. Even when I get scared and nervous of making the step in front of me, He has me secured. Even when I feel like my footing is slipping, He's got me on the other side holding me up. At multiple points throughout the course, I had to stop and calm my "anxieties" by thinking on the Lord and simply taking a moment to look around at His great Creation.


This week, you will be challenged to take steps that may feel shaky beneath you. The ground you're on may seem to be unsure and doubts will try to invade your spaces of faith. You may not even remember that God is there and attempt to hold yourself up through your journey. But rest assured that He's got double safety measures holding you up with grace and mercy. Move with confidence and, if need be, take a moment to simply breathe and look around at all God has already done in your life. Take it all in before you keep on moving. Don't pause. Don't delay. Decide today to live your dreams!


Be encouraged and encourage someone else along the way!
--MinD