WHEN CHANGE HURTS...

Ouch! I looked down and noticed my Hawaiian wooden bracelet with the beaded flowers was too tight. I pushed it further up and began rubbing the sore area. That's when I noticed the beautiful floral design had made a perfect imprint on my wrist. It looked very cool.

For hours it had been digging in, forming, shaping and molding it's image. I was unaware at first because it took time to wear it's way in. As it worked into the deeper layers, leaving it's mark, the pain increased, eventually drawing my attention to the area.

Often when the Lord is trying to work on areas in your life, it may feel the same way. When you first asked Jesus to come into your heart, changing, molding and shaping your life into His good and perfect image; you felt a joy and peace that may have brought you to tears. As time passed, the Lord slowly began to work from the inside; into the deep recesses of your hidden areas. The areas that needed to be healed, restored and renewed. Painful things may begin to arise. Jesus lovingly coaxes you to keep looking toward Him. Pray...read the Scriptures, sing/listen to songs of Praise; FILL UP...more of Him and less of you, right smack in the middle of it.

He is trying to bring you out of the bondage sin has placed on you, calling attention to certain areas. Right in the center of that pain, He is reshaping, reforming your life; removing all things that He has already suffered and died for. Jesus is reminding you to call on Him, allowing Him to take it out of you. The sting may feel unbearable at times. It's in that very moment that He reminds you to look toward His healing love...an all consuming refiners fire. The "old" you being made brand new. The person God created you to be.

In the midst of your trials, call on Jesus. Look to Him as though you search a dry, parched land for water. He is the living water. 
Jesus said: "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38 
"but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14

Do not shrink back in the difficulties. Don't push away from the Lord...draw near to Him. Allow Jesus to change you. Cry out, "Lord, Jesus, come into my heart and make me more like You!" Right in the middle of your mess...He will bring healing, wisdom and peace as you yield to the Masters hand. He is doing a great and mighty work in you. Let Jesus imprint HIS IMAGE on your heart and soul. Call on HIM. 
"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Galatians 6:9

He is the Savior of the world and loves you with an everlasting eternal love. Let Go. God has great plans for you. 
"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

My Will vs. God's Will

The call came in. I've been putting off the very thing the Lord is telling me to do. My procrastination isn't for a lack of want on my part. Change is just plain scary. Change and commitment to forever leaves me feeling nervous. I don't know why. I know it's right. I knew it the minute we began to walk down this journey. God's will. God's purpose. God's timing. But I drag my feet in weariness. Sometimes I want things my way. My will. My timing. So I stop. I wait until I feel emotionally ready to move.

But what if in the waiting, I'm not being faithful?

What if, instead, I choose to say, "Okay Lord, it doesn't feel like I can do this right now, but I will trust YOU!" Isn't that what faith is...a trust when it looks to be too much? Faith in God...who's plans, will and way are opened in the impossible. If I wait for my timing; for things to be just perfect; for my emotions to be perfectly ready...is that faith?

Am I trying to control the very thing the Lord is asking me to give to Him? Can I lay it down completely and let Him take over?

My will vs. God's Will.

The ever present battle.

My prayer today is that I let go. I hand it over to Jesus and walk out the steps of faith, no matter how shaky, feeble or weak I may feel. I know my safety is found in Him and nothing else.

Lord, help me to trust You more and give You complete control over every area, every scary situation, every unsure step. For it is in the letting go that You are found. An ever present pillar. A light in the darkness. A hope to the hopeless. Thank you Lord. I sit in the loving embrace of Your arms as You carry me to my final destination, wherever that may be and whatever that may look like. Your perfect will be done in and through me.

"So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God." Mark 11:22

"My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways." Proverbs 23:26

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment." Mark 12:30

"The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace." Psalm 29:11

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He." Deuteronomy 32:4

IS YOUR LIFE RIPE YET?

I look up and there it was, late into the sumer...bountiful fruit on thin tree branches; faithfully sprouting. Through spring and summer, the tree remained bare, but the owner knew if this tree was watered, pruned and cared for, the fruit would come. When it seemed too late in the season, the tree blossomed with a sweet, ripe, harvest. It produced food to fill the body with nature's nutrients. A blessing in the waiting...trust.

You too are created to bare fruit. The fruit of "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" Colossians 1:27

When you allow THE LORD to water, prune and care for your soul, HE fills you with HIS nourishing Word and Truth. This nutrient produces abundant fruit in your life. The cares, worries, doubt, pain, fear and sorrows, give way to the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This fruit fills you for the journey THE LORD has planned for you. A travel that requires constant Spiritual Food. The good stuff you need inside of you, the feeding of an often parched and weary soul. This fruit is invisible to the naked eye but seen through the nutrients it produces; "Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control."

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Galatians 5:22-23

The true light of JESUS CHRIST shining first in you and then through you. You begin to do and say things that uplift, not tear down. You have strength to say, "Yes LORD, YOUR will," in the midst of tough situations you may be facing,

"saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

You know that the strength of your LORD is carrying you beyond the, "all about me" focus...to the lost, hurting and broken who are sitting in darkness. Your life, having been pruned, forgiven, renewed...now being used to lead others to JESUS CHRIST. He restores the failing heart and soul; each Scripture, each Prayer, each Word of Encouragement HE speaks deep inside the soul as you spend time with HIM...FOOD! 

The Lord is asking you to be faithful in the waiting. Stand firm in your resolve to seek HIM daily. Let HIM fill you. You were made for more. You're a special, chosen child of God. 

During the pruning seasons, stand strong in the knowledge that The LORD will work ALL things "together for good to those who love HIM, to those who are the called according to HIS purpose" 

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

And then, in that perfect moment, all the growing and waiting springs forth the fruit of JESUS CHRIST in your life. Be faithful; patient in the waiting...God's not done with you yet...HIS MASTERPIECE!!!