2 by 2

Do you ever wonder?  About all of it.  Where am I going?  Where will it lead?  How will it end?  What will happen?

Wonder, wonder wonder..... and all too often it seems I sit here with more questions than answers.

BUT God....  You will remember this one as I use it often. One of my favorite phrases.  But for God.... who knows all, sees all, and takes all things into His hands.  To include this weary girl.

A friend who is a powerful prayer warrior reached out during a particularly exhausting week recently and sent me the following words. 

"I believe God showed me your new calling and positioning for 2020.  (See the 2 by 2 in 2020?)  It's important.  It's a calling, an appointment, an anointing and a position.  It is all about Jesus and His kingdom and the place He is bringing you into.  You are the vessel He is working through.  I believe you made this trip through obedience and sacrifices even now.  Pray for your enemies, do good to those who spitefully use and abuse you but be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.  Be quick to hear and slow to speak.  For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope.  Hope that does not disappoint.  Hope that springs eternal in your soul.  Glory bless the name of Jesus.  Yes I know your sacrifices.  Even to not get together.  Choosing the best even when you don't know and understand why.  Shalom, shalom, shalom.  Have eyes to see and ears to hear.  It just won't stop.  What God has blessed no man can curse.  May the blessings of the Lord our God be upon you for Jesus has come in the flesh.  Rejoice.  The joy of the Lord is your strength.  Amen.  Now give the Lord the intents of your thoughts and motives of your heart.  Give your mind completely over to Him in shalom peace.  Follow Him closely in faith trusting Him alone.  He will broaden the path beneath and beyond you.  Jesus is your 2 by 2.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  A friend like none other who sticks closer than a brother."  

And she closed with this:  I feel like the Lord will be speaking to you with verses.

I don't know about you, but I feel like I could spend a lifetime trying to comprehend the breadth and depth of what was written above.  And the crazy of it all is how quick the Lord is to bring confirmation when we earnestly seek His voice above the noise of the world.

I just returned from California (late last night) where I had traveled for business on a wing and a prayer.  This meant that I ate the continental breakfast served by the hotel, I ate the lunch provided by conference, and I ate the hotel provided evening service.  Because I literally went on blind faith that God would provide all I had need of.  I traveled to California with 2 close friends who have faith in the leading that God is providing and have humbled me by coming on the journey with me.  Can you

While in California, I couldn't release the thoughts of my dearest friend and prayer partner that I haven't seen in over 20 years.  I knew she lived in California but had no clue where.  Turns out, she was roughly an hour from where I would be for the next week.  My heart soared!! Nothing I wanted more than to figure out how I could make time to meet with her and relish speaking to her in person.  I nearly cried when there was a hard check in my spirit that I was not to do that but to focus on the task at hand.  Being the "doer" that I am, my mind set to work on how I could accommodate everything and still meet my friend.  Can you picture me working to balance the see saw?  Quite clearly the door was closed once more.  I couldn't understand.  My friend is such a beautiful story of a Godly woman and powerful prayer warrior why would God not want me to see her?  It broke my heart but I obeyed and stayed.  None of which I shared with my sweet friend.  But as you can see above in what she shared, God definitively had other plans and was faithful to reveal that not only to her but to me as well!!  How good is He to protect our hearts when we are faithful to Him and His leading.

This morning after a week that was mentally and physically draining I awoke to a rather excited Homer bouncing on my head demanding I roll out.  And he, being the boss of the home that he is, succeeded and out I rolled.  As I grabbed my coffee and headed to my refuge, longing for my warm comfy bed called me to just indulge a little.  I deserved it didn't I?  After all, I had been up at 3 a.m. most every single day and hustled til after 7 every evening.  I was feeling oh so depleted and even more justified in why it was ok to crawl back in my bed with my coffee and just lounge.

I just couldn't dismiss that pull.  The pull of God called me to my refuge and to open His word so that I could hear from Him on how to move about my day.  So in I trudged (yes trudged not skipped with delight) to plop down with coffee in one hand and the bible in the other.  For those who don't know, I follow a regimented reading plan that encompasses the old testament, psalms, proverbs, and the new testament daily.  And I always read in the order the books fall in the Bible.  My inherent nature that craves order won't allow me to do any different. Now you grab a hold of your coffee and take a listen to how God moves in the hearts of his people when we will be obedient.  Because just as sure as I am sitting here, this is fully God on display and nothing of me.

The first reading was 2 Samuel chapters 7 & 8.....  One verse leaped off the page to me.  8:6 "So the Lord preserved David where he went."  yes daughter, as I will preserve you if you commit your life to Me.  My head whipped around.... I thought for sure someone was standing there speaking.  He was.  The great Alpha and Omega loves me beyond what I can understand and reached out to make sure I am fully aware of His calling on my life and His direction that I am to follow. 

The second reading was Psalm 119:33-48 Every single one of these verses just sang a song in my heart that even now is ringing with joy.  The verses plead for God to reveal His will and word to His people.  That He opens their understanding.  Asks for strength in walking in His ways.  And it goes on and on and on and on.  My heart is just quivering for without a doubt God is walking me through His holy word to reveal Himself to me so that I may know "this is the way, go in it."  I am humbled and for once..... speechless.  I can only say over and over and over "yes Lord, your will only my King."

Next in line is Proverbs 15:33  "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility."  I am listening Lord.  Strengthen me to be obedient.  Place my feet on Your path so that they do not slip. 

Lastly today's verses wrap up with John 14:15-31 Verses 15-18 stopped me in my tracks completely.  God reminding me that if I truly love Him I will be obedient to His commandments.  And more than that:  He will equip me to do so by sending His Holy Spirit to me forever so that I am not left as an orphan. 

As I closed my bible I was awash in emotion and my thoughts were just swirling like a riptide pulling me deeper and deeper.  God wasn't quite done with me..... I kept wanting to pick up my phone which is something I have committed not to do while in my refuge.  I am easily distracted so it is important that I push things aside so that God can truly have my heart and my time.  The thought wouldn't go away.  Over and over, "pick up your phone, read now what Janet has sent to you.... read it now." 

And read it I did.... and there was my come apart.  Tears streaming at the goodness of the Father to lead me once more to His throne of mercy and grace so that I might find all that I need there. 

I have highlighted corresponding revelations so that you can see how God unfolded everything so that I could rightly understand it. 
If you would like to test me, (wink wink) open the bible app and go to day 145.....  for that is where I am on my year through the bible journey in this application.

Listen closely my friends for God is calling out to you just as surely as I am writing this to you.
Take the time to hear Him.... you won't ever regret it....

Hugs from me to you......

F I G H T

So often in our day to day lives we find ourselves facing a battle.  Some are small, some are pretty large, then there are those that just come in wave after wave where we can no longer see daylight.

2019 has been such a year for me.  I don't want to give unnecessary credit to the battles themselves so let's just say it greatly resembled the waves forcing their way up the beach in the middle of a tsunami.  Waves which sought to drown, destroy, and take away everything.  Waves that left destruction and desolation in its place.

Daily I come to my refuge.  Some days I enter with a much better attitude than others.  That is reality.  But daily, God never fails to meet me here.

The biggest struggles through out the storms which have been raging are those my mind couldn't see around.  How do I find God in the midst of this? Fear of the unknown.  Who am I now? How will I ever fight this giant?  Will I survive?  And the biggest of all, how do I move forward in battle, laying aside hurt/betrayal while presenting myself in such a way that God gets the glory?

The first and biggest revelation was two fold.  1) I am who God says I am ~ even if I have a hard time believing it.  So I remind myself daily by repeating all the verses that tell me who I am in Christ.  2) Every single thing is a choice!  Not happening to me.  Not an emotion.  It is MY choice how I react.

I grabbed onto those revelations and held on to the life preservers that they were.  New storms kept rolling in and the questions kept swirling.  Somehow I was missing what God was trying to teach me.

Then this morning while the full moon was shining, God entered my refuge and began to speak.  My ears were opened and I could clearly hear Him calling to my heart to hear, obey, and be healed.

In 1 Samuel 17 we read the account of that which so many of us are familiar with from the days of our childhood of David & the Goliath.  What I haven't ever done, is see what is so plainly spelled out as to how we are to fight.

* 17:26 ~ Who is this that they should defy God?   This is our proper perspective to those who are in active disobedience against God as they advance towards us with a storm
* 17:32 ~ Never let fear have a foot hold in your heart or your life.
* 17:33 ~ Do not let those around you deter you from pursuing the call God has placed on you.  For they do not know the God that is within you.
* 17:34-46 ~ Do not let your heart fail at the sight of the current battle before you.
* 17:37 ~ Rest in the confidence of all the times that God has delivered you.
* 17:39-40 ~ Do not choose the weapons of man but rather the weapons of God which are a humble spirit, an obedient heart, and prayer.
* 17:45 ~ Always and only lead with the name of God for there is none that can stand against His mighty name.
* 17:47 ~ Believe the power and might of God for He fails not.  Openly confess His victory even in the middle of the storm.

How is that for a battle plan to fight all that comes against you?  I know my own heart is resting in peace this morning.

I will daily remind myself of all He has taught me this morning as I continue to move forward secure in the knowledge that my God is the great Lion of Judah, King of Kings, who is, and was, and forever shall be!!

Keep moving on your path of faith my friends.  Just place your boots firmly in His footprints and your hand in His.

Hugs to you all.....

Mirror Mirror

All too often I find myself reverting to old ways of thinking.  Status quo kind of thinking.  The kind of thinking that kills growth, steals joy, and allows wounds to fester.

The stale thoughts just kind of creep in much like an old habit.  I always heard this, my family taught that, it has always been this way..... all these add up to come silently in to your thoughts, which become your actions, which become habits, which become who you are.

But is it really?   Is that really who you are?  Stand up, grab your boots, and come on a journey with me.  Let's walk the path of faith!

In 1 Samuel we find Hannah crying because she can't have children.  She is ridiculed and her days are made miserable by those around her.  In spite of her husband treating her so very well, Hannah's sorrow cannot be consoled and she even refuses to eat.  During the families journey to worship in the temple, Hannah "pours out her soul before the Lord."  The priest Eli hears her and speaks to her a promise from God. 

Here..... here is what we need to see and grab on to!!!  "She went her way and ate, her face was no longer sad."   Are you catching what is being laid down?  When I grabbed onto this early this morning, my face literally began to shine with joy that was pouring out from within.  SHE WAS NO LONGER SAD!  Her circumstances had not changed.  In fact, nothing had changed. 

She heard the promise of God and walked away filled with joy.  THIS.... this is the things that faith is made of.  She wasn't any different, her life wasn't any different, the mean people weren't any different.  She CHOSE to believe the promise and then walked forward as if the promise was already a reality!!!!

Wooooo.... I am just about to fly right out of my chair as I share this with you!  I cannot begin to describe the freedom that comes with allowing this one truth to become the center of the foundation of your faith.  Jesus is the Cornerstone, but allow this truth to become the center of the rest of the foundation of faith that we will build on.

But wait, there is more.  Mind boggling I know.  When we read in John 5 we see the story of the man at the pool of Bethesda unfold.  Ask yourself this question, "if the man had not taken the action of gathering his bed, rising up, and walking would he have been healed?"  The answer is no.  Not because Jesus isn't able but because of another stone that needs to be added to our foundation of faith.  Action MUST accompany faith.  Always.  When we choose to place our boots on, put our feet on the path, and take that first step forward, God will always meet us there and show us the way.

The reality is that it is not enough to believe, we must get off our sitting parts and hit the path of faith and place our full obedience and trust in God to lead, guide, and protect us.  Our part is to make sure each day finds us in His presence, seeking His will through the reading of His word, and allowing Him to speak into our lives.

The final stone of our foundation today is found in John 5:19-20.  Just as Jesus did nothing of Himself but only that which He had seen Father God do, so should we.  In other words, each of us are to be a mirror image of Jesus the Christ and God the Father in our thoughts, our words, and our actions.  For our actions reveal the condition of our heart.

Mirror mirror on the wall.   What do you see when you look at the mirror of your heart?  Do you see a reflection of Christ?  If not, grab a coffee and sit with Him a while and pour out your soul to Him.  He listens, He cares, He heals.  That is for all of us. 

I love ya! Let's go out and start that sure foundation and place a new stone on it each and every day!!!

See you on the path to faith!!