Frans!!! It’s been too long! And I have missed sharing with you in this space. It’s been encouraging to hear from you, encouraging me by sharing that you’ve missed the posts. Totally unexpected. Totally sweet. I’m so totally grateful and so totally humbled. I have so much to share and share I will, but for now, I want to get us caught up on the latest installments of Beth Moore’s newest series on Life Today called Taking Your Treasure Back. Here’s part one and part two. Enjoy!!
Goodness gracious, that Beth Moore!! Whew!! This one is by far my favorite of this series.
I’m often reminded of Esther when I think about God’s providence and His call on our lives. I recently finished Beth Moore’s study on Esther and it was just . . . rich!! Seriously rich and inspiring in personal life application, seeing God’s providence in my own life and moving into His call on my life. So, I am enjoying hearing her perspective in this format on God’s call and adding to my level of wisdom as I move forward.
Last Wednesday, August 1, Life Today aired part two of Beth Moore’s speaking series on the call of God on our lives. This week we get a chance to catch up, in case we missed it, and see that same video again. You can view it here . And if you missed the first video check it out here.
Enjoy!!
Today I went to visit an old Fran from college. Kim Morrisette is not just any old Fran. She’s the woman that God used to water and point toward the Son, the seeds that my mama had sewn into me, raising me in Christ Jesus, knowing Him as my Lord and savior. I was so broken, so sad and yet I was searching for something big and deep and real and although I was confused about many things, I knew that what I needed and wanted was only going to be satisfied by God. So Kim led me and a group of girls in our dorm, Greene Hall, through bible study. Our friendship deepened and she went on to disciple me and train me to do the same thing for other women on campus. She poured into me and facilitated further training with my roomie and me as we helped to lead a new, small campus ministry.
I didn’t get to spend a very long time with her– I teased her about living out in John’s barnyard (she lives quite a distance from me in a beautiful farmhouse “out in the sticks”) and that took a bit of our time away because good ole me left a little later than I intended and then I made it all the way to her street and got lost–but the time I was able to just be around her and meet her children and see her face and see what her life is like now, was so good. I missed Kim and I am so glad that during this season of my life, the Lord is making a way for us to connect again.
Within the past week I’ve been in close connection with people who have lost loved ones. Some have been traumatic and the other quiet but all have been hard and sad. I almost feel like times are very uncertain right now; you can’t know if the last time you see someone will be the last time. . . how much will change with people between now and the next time you see them, if you are so fortunate to see them again? So much fear and uncertainty. And although it’s reasonable for me to feel and think this way, it’s not the way of truth. It’s not Philippians 4:8-9 and it won’t draw me closer to my savior, it’ll just keep me questioning Him, and doubting Him.
I enjoyed spending time with Kim so much today because it was a reminder for me that there have been other times when I thought that God had left me, forgotten about me, wasn’t working on my behalf, didn’t have a plan for my life except to repeat what had been done in my family generations past or just plain old didn’t care. But Kim came to me at the most crucial time in my undergraduate career. I was on the brink of utter hopelessness and I needed to know that all that mama taught me about God was real and that there was more. As I look back to then and see what my life is now, in those times when I felt so shaky and uncovered, God, in fact, did have a plan and He was working it out for my good, even when I didn’t always sense it. Seeing Kim was such a sweet reminder of His grace. God is so good. In times of tragedy, pain, sorrow, loss and confusion it’s good to have a blessed assurance– that firm, sure, sweet reminder that He is in control, He knows what He’s doing, His word is still true, He is trustworthy, He’s got me and my whole world in the palm of His hands. I am safe there.
I’m sure that there is someone out there reading this who just needs a reminder that He is good and that He is a loving Father. Please, be of good service to yourself and think about your life–what it was, what it is, and what it could be. He’s there. And He’s been there the whole time. If your waters are smooth right now or if they are rough, this is a good time to know the God you serve and His characteristics. Do yourself a favor. Remind yourself of all that He’s done. And rest. Assured.
She’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! And she’s ready!!! Beth Moore spoke today about God’s call on our lives, i.e. what have we been put on this earth to do? It’s a weighty question, but one worth investigating and figuring out the answers to. Life is short. We want to use the time we have here wisely and we want to make our time here count for more than just the fun times we had, or the wealth we gained . . . Beth Moore said in her Esther study, (something like) what is it that you want God to say to you when He sees you? Who is it that you want to present to the King when you get to see Him face to face? Are you that person yet? Are you getting closer to becoming that person? If not, get busy! Discovering His purposes for your life is a sure fire way to get you there. It’s amazing, scary, exciting, nerve racking. But it’s God business, so that means it’s good. Check it out and tell me what you think. I think this series is gonna be bananas!!
ok wait, so, why the pic of Elmo? Because no matter how silly or off-the-beaten-path you think your passion or calling is, God can use you! I have two very happy and engaged little girls in part because of the work of Elmo and the whole Sesame Street gang. So, thank you Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and Kevin Clash (among SO many others) for being brave enough to go after it. I’m up next.
As you know, I love the music ministry of William Matthews. Here’s another one from him that I thought fitting. Check out these lyrics:
“He’s awakening the hope in me by calling forth my destiny. He’s breathing life into my soul. I will thirst for Him and Him alone. He has come like the rain that showers on the barren plain. So my heart and tongue confess Jesus Christ the hope of man!”
woooooooooo!!! the boy is baaaaaaaaad!!!
Pondering this today:
1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. ~Romans 12:1-2 (The Message Translation)
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”15 Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~Ephesians 5: 8-20
Linked up with the Sunday Community today over at Jumping Tandem for a Sunday of encouragement through the word of God. Check it out.
Saw this today and I thought to myself, “My Frans must see this!!!!” . . . a new perspective on summer reading. . .
It’s Wednesday so that means we get to tune in to Life Today and hear what the Lord is speaking to us through Mrs. Beth Moore. If you watch the program regularly and have done so for a time, you may have already seen this one before. I have seen this one and the story she tells in it has been referenced by others who have seen it. But this video still came right on time for me.
God’s sovereignty and providence is sure.
I had an experience just last week that just seemed so weird but, in the moment, I was so sure that I was being prompted by the Holy Spirit to be obedient to the things He was speaking to my heart. I wrestled with myself and the personal cost of my obedience all the way up until Monday for sure and then finally, I just decided to let it go and trust God to confirm for me if I had indeed heard Him or if I was just a loon. And with just the seed planted in my mind that I had misheard and was wrong, acting crazy and unable to hear from the Lord, satan had a field day and really put in work to discourage me. But God is so faithful, Frans!!! I know that I have some readers who are not Christian and to them all of this talk compels them to think, “No ma’am, you actually are quite loony.” But something happens when we engage God through His holy spirit, allow His words to abide in us and we respond to the call. . . We get to participate in the divine.
Check this out: http://lifetoday.org/video/filled-to-the-measure-3
Been worshiping to this song since we sang it during church service on Sunday. One of my faves from Hillsong. Hope it blesses you.
I’m joining The Gypsy Mama over at lisajobaker.com for Five Minute Friday today, where Lisa-Jo invites bloggers to “write for five minutes without worrying about getting it right.” That’s right. I had five minutes to write about a topic she pre-selects, today it was “risk,” without over thinking, spell checking, correcting, re-reading, all of that stuff. yikes. So, I had up one post and I followed all the rules as I wrote it but then I had another thought so I scrapped the first, set my timer and wrote the post below. Here’s my first attempt, which turned out to be more like ten minute Friday since I scrapped the first try. :0/ Mercy, Frans. :0) Check out the post and then hop over to the site and see how some of the other bloggers are pondering and writing about risk.
START
We all knew that it was a healing service. And we had been told just the day before that we needed to “get our faith up” because if we wanted to see God do anything miraculous, it would require our faith, for His word does indeed say that without faith it is impossible to please God.
As I sat in my seat, I could only imagine what were the needs of the people gathered there around me. I knew that I was coming searching for healing for the broken places in my mind and in my heart but what were the other needs? Was there a lame man who would dare to trust God to give his legs back their mobility, right there for all of us to see? Was there a blind man? A bleeding woman? What would we see that night? Who would dare take the risk to trust Him? And is there really any risk when you are dealing with the things of the divine?
To my surprise, there were many. And yes, there was a man who was was not lame but he had a crippled walk. All throughout the service, I heard him and I watched Him. Sitting there, in his wheelchair, he worked to get his faith up. He came for something that night and the risk of going back home with it cost more than giving his whole self to God. Frans, he got up out of that chair, and out loud he called the devil a liar. And he walked across the floor. And He stared risk right in the face and said, “Lord, I trust you. Make me to walk.”
STOP
pamelluce.com 