Saturday Night Contemplations

November 2, 2013November 6, 20131 Comment

I think we are most self conscious when we are acutely others conscious. . .

Don’t punish self for crimes committed by others.

Awkward stares, rudeness, insensitive comments, misunderstandings, heartbreaks. . .

Even though you have good reason to, don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Take heart.
Our world is incomplete partly because we have so many impersonators and not nearly enough originals.

We need you.

The real you.

Then it occurred to me, many of us have spent so much time and energy trying to be something we’re not, or running from who we don’t want to become or trying to maintain an image or trying not to come off as weird … that we really don’t know who we are. Some may try to shame you for this. I say, congratulations. They say when you know better, you do better and now that you know, you have approached the passageway to a beautiful place called self discovery. It can be a lonely city; the names on the mailboxes of most of its citizens are Incognito and Inconspicuous. Few people are willing to admit that as self assured and confident as they appear, it’s only a charade.

But it’s ok.

Journey through your own adventure of self discovery. Take God with you. You’ll be a wilderness child spending unnecessary time going in circles if you choose to go without Him. And as with everything I post here, this one is hitting home. You won’t be alone. We’ll be neighbors.

Wednesdays with Beth: Filled to the Measure

June 27, 2012June 28, 2012Leave a comment

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.

Oh For Shame . . .

June 12, 2012June 16, 20122 Comments

I’ve been doing the Esther study written by my Fran, Beth Moore. ;0) In the week three video session, she says this:

“One of the most important parts of fulfilling your destiny will be your transparency.”

Now, I loves me some Beth Moore, but I was quite irritated when I heard her say this. In a room full of other women eager to hear the word of God, I wanted to shout, “Hey Siesta, mind your own business!” :0/ I was just so frustrated that the Lord would be using her to, once again, make me uncomfortable with the covering I had afforded myself adapted by and from shame. ugh.

Has anybody out there ever struggled with being ashamed of themselves other than me?

Those of you nodding your head yes, know the things that we do to try to make ourselves feel better and look better. But it never works. God is authentic and He came that we may have life and have it to the full (see John 10:10). Operating under illegitimate shame cannot work in tandem with His work for us to have an abundant life.

But hold on! Help is on the way!

There are two kinds of shame: legitimate shame and illegitimate shame.

“Legitimate shame is the same inner experience as biblical humbling. It is the recognition of our state as desperate and our response to our rebellious condition as deplorable, deserving condemnation and death. . . Legitimate shame, in other words, always leads to a sense of being lifted up by God to possess what is surprising, unnerving, and undeserved. . .Shame is experienced before the one I’ve entitled or given the right to judge me. Ultimately, that is the prerogative of God alone. To give that privilege–in essence, the opportunity to bestow or retract life–to anyone other than God is idolatry. This concept helps clarify further the difference between legitimate and illegitimate shame.“~Dr. Dan B. Allender

If you have sinned, repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and move toward Him. Do not take direction from our great ancestors, Adam and Eve, who sought cover through fig leaves and hid from Him (Genesis 3:7-8). Satan knows what he’s doing. When he can convince you to walk around with a lowered head, feeling less than who God says you are, and living beneath what God has for you, not operating in your destiny nor getting any closer to it, he’s won.

We serve such a loving God. Even after Adam and Eve sinned, God was there to correct and deal with the sin but He was also there to provide. He got rid of those pitiful fig leaves and “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)” Every attempt we make to act independently of God will render us pitiful. Whatever your fig leaves are, drop ’em. Let Him clothe you in His love.