A Defining Moment

A Defining Moment

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding” Prov 3:5 “Thou will keep Him in perfect peace who has his mind stayed on Thee because He trusts in Thee.” Is 26:3


Sometimes there comes a special time when you have to make a definite choice. This is it, either one way or the other. You have to take a stand. God puts a challenge before you that you can’t ignore.

As some of you know my daughter travels a lot to different places and some are safer than others. And in those less safe places we also cannot get in touch with each other very well except by email when she gets to a place where she can email- an internet café or something like that.

Well, I got an email from her saying she was having some problems that needed to be cleared up quickly, she needed a miracle. And so here I was- not able to contact her really- only something she would get the next day. God put me in a place where all I could really do was get others to pray for her, pray myself, and trust God with her. I could either trust Him or go crazy.

So, this was my challenge. I had to completely trust God that He would protect her and work things out that she needed. I had to say that she is under His care and I only needed to trust Him as well as keep her in my prayers. I had to decide whether God was really listening to me and caring about her and that I could trust her with Him. That is not too easy when it is your child. So, after prayer, I put her in His Hands. (I do have another child but either one in this place, I would have to trust Him.)

I would have to pray mostly and say to myself when doubts came up, that God was going to take care of everything. And somehow my faith in all the things I have heard and have said began to really become deeper rooted in me. I was actually able to sleep and went to work with peace.

And what do you know, I got another email later saying that things were working out! That was a tremendous miracle and I thank God for it. But I believe my breakthrough with trust was really amazing for me also. God does know the state of our faith, but sometimes He allows trials to help us grow and let us see our own faith. I believe that God put me in this place to make a decision to believe the things I say I do and rest on His care.

When trials come

When trials come

We are singing my non- favorite song again tomorrow," Blessed Be Your Name". And again I am having difficuty with it. The pastor that gave a flip answer to me when I explained it was hard to sing before because I had had so many people taken away or left, has since lost his father and our dear Senior pastor lost his wife in a tragic accident. Now the song means something different to that pastor, I believe.

I still have to accept that God is in control and He is The only constant in our lives. Only He knows what He is doing. He is trying to draw us to Him through any way to bring us closer and more like His Son. To make us shine and show forth the face of His Son. (See Rom.8:29) He is coforming us into the image of His Son.

I have had different internal sins, thoughts that He has been cleaning up as I give them to Him- like resentment, unforgiveness, bitterness... I feel that weights are being lifted from me as I confess and give them to God. And many ways these things come up is through dealing with different trials as well as standing on the facts of His love for me.

We need to focus not on the trials or circumstances around us but on God and believe that somehow He will bring good out of the problems and heartaches. And since He is God, He knows so much more than us. We need to trust Him for His plans.

I do believe that God is with us always, especially in trials but I need to remind myself of that a lot, to focus on that fact of Him always being there and not to worry or despair.

He is there as He is working to see Himself reflected in us more completely. He is right there loving us close enough for us to feel His Presence with us. Even in the trials, we have comfort with Him there, cheering us on. As we have accepted Him, He is in us and working through us. So, even when people that are really important are taken away through death or through their walking away He is still there. That IS the most important thing.

...Just so you know: Things I write are always for my growth and for me to understand also. And trusting God has always been hard for me too. I write for my learning to trust always.

Whole Heart

Whole Heart


Is this how it is, Lord?
Is this how You feel?
You love me and are so close,
But although I love You back,
It is not enough

I love You, but not with my whole heart.
You are not a total part of my life.
You are so close,
But there is a curtain between.

You want to be involved
With every detail, every part…

Does Your heart ache, as mine does,
To be close
Just to spend time with me?

When I received my new birth
I received You in me
You are always with me

But why don't I turn to You
To have the reality of You,
Your Presence, in everything?

Is this the ache I feel-
Your love for me,
Your desire to be involved
With every detail, every part of my life?

To drive me into closer
Fellowship with You,
To drive me into Your Arms?
To have my whole heart?


2001 @ J.Myers

Speak, Lord, oh Speak to me

Speak, Lord, oh Speak to me
..
Speak, Lord, oh speak to me,
I desire to hear Your voice,
That voice is what I long for,
More than the riches of the world,
Or the company of many others.

You, Lord, are the Light of my life
You are the One who keeps me going,
You provide the air that I breathe,
And the life in my body.

Oh, to be in Your Presence and
To hear Your voice…
To hear that voice so full of Love

Speak, oh Lord, for I am listening,
Speak, Lord, oh speak to me.
Lord, my heart aches as I wait for You.
I don't see how to live if I can't hear Your Voice.

Speak to me, Lord,
For I am waiting…
Where else can I go?
You have the Words of life;
How else do I know what to do,
Unless You lead me?

Oh, to be in Your Presence and
To hear Your voice…
To hear that voice so full of Love.


@Jane Myers 5/2000

Jesus' Hands

Jesus' Hands: So much has been written about His Hands. But I wanted to add a bit.

Sometimes I see "pictures", perhaps visions, here and gone but the picture stays in my mind. Last week as we were practicing for praise and worship, I saw a Hand, God's Hand reaching out to me to take hold of, to realize He is always ready to take our hand when we are needing Him, when we feel overwhelmed or just need extra love.

He wants to walk with us down the pathway He has chosen for us. He offers to comfort us, to be with us, to give us rest as we take His yoke with Him which is so much easier when we rest in Him. I am an emotional person but when I think and remember His Hands are there, it comforts me.

Many make reference of Peter when he jumped out of the boat and was walking on water and then seeing circumstances he begins to sink (where were the other disciples-still in the boat!) But Jesus was there to hold Him up with His Hand. He saw Peter’s struggle to hold his head up and keep his faith continuing and then his fall and his cry for Jesus. But during that whole time, He never let go.

Those precious Hands also held little children and caressed them. Hands show love so well. He showed His Love by always being willing to touch and lift up people that others found repulsive, like the lepers. or the poor or unsightly, like the blind, the crippled, or the unrighteous. Or He gave hugs or touched, just love for His followers.

They also suffered cruel punishment for you and me on the Cross. I am an Occupational therapy assistant and I really think hands are amazing as I learn more about them. Your hands can feel pain so much more because of the lack of body protection around them. Although His heart was broken because of us, for us, His Hands felt so much of the physical pain.

And from His Hands as well as ours, since we ARE His Hands and feet, touch is so important for others, to show caring as He does.

My thoughts on Valentine's Day

I was thinking that we make such a big deal out of Valentine's Day. We shouldn't focus on love just one day..
For one thing, shouldn't couples treat each other with love the whole year round instead of just one day? Shouldn't they show each other love with little acts of kindness every day or lots of other days? If you love someone, you show it ALL the time. Birthdays are especially important, especially for some people. (My son doesn't think we should observe any particular day as better than another and he has a point. God gave us all days to enjoy).
Another thing is that it is hard on singles to face the big "V. Day" when they don't have a significant other. And there is all this emphasis on being "in love". When we have been rejected or left or never had love or someone died, all the emphasis on this day can be difficult. We are especially reminded of our lack on this day.
But, going deeper, as Christians, don't we know the Greatest Lover of all time? He created us to have fellowship with Him. God loved us before we were born- He chose us to be His people. Whether we accept it or not, He still chose us. Several places in the O.T. and the N.T. He shows how He wants a relationship with us. What kind of Love is this?
In Jeramiah and Psalms and others God tells us He knew us before we were born and fashioned us. He picked Abraham out of all the people at that time to have descendants like the sands at the seashore. Before him there was Noah. And Abraham's linage- still don't understand Jacob, such a scondrel, but He wanted them to be a people set apart. And my favorite, Joseph, He picked him out to save the people from famine. And then, Moses and Joshua..etc.
This great God chose to speak to us through different means- prophets, the Word, signs, other people. He is Mighty God, Creator of the universe, yet He chose to speak to us, to love us, to have fellowship with us, to be our Father. What kind of Love is this?
And He loved the whole world He created so much, that He sent His only Son to show us, to teach us how to live, by His words and by His example. Jesus came to all men, loving , healing, reaching out, but only the humble will accept Him. And then Jesus gave His life to die for sinful man and rose again to give us new life so that we might live with Him. What kind of Love is this?
And we have no condemnation in Him, once we confess and repent, the slate is wiped clean. "If God so loved the world that He gave His Son, will He not give us freely all things?" Rom. 8.
Also He has said He will NEVER leave us. Those of us that have suffered rejection and people leaving us by death as well, don't ever have to worry about God leaving us. If we have God, what more should we need? This is the kind of Love we should focus on- not the human kind. The love between people, although good, pales by comparison.
So, I just want to say that God through His Son, Jesus, is my Valentine

Coming to a new understanding

I guess I am finally coming to a new understanding of the Truths that I have had trouble believing all my life.

I have learned a lot in my journey with seeking after God. I learned about doing good works or legalism. I have been bound up with legalism as if good works would help me to get on the good side of God. But legalism, following the law, tends to either lead to bitterness- "I am doing so many things right, why doesn't God change things?" or depression and anxiety trying all the time and never reaching the goal or being “good enough”.

We are to try to follow the laws but I think "sticking to the letter of the law and violating the spirit" is why we aren't given so many specifics. Being a Christian is accepting Jesus and His death so that we might have life, realizing that He paid the penalty. It is not about following laws because no one could ever get to Heaven that way. We are all sinners, no one is good enough to face a Holy God, because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It is by His Grace that we develop a relationship with Jesus and God and that we get to Heaven.

Our Christianity is based on a relationship with Jesus and being led by the Spirit. It is harder because there are not specific guidelines so we have to stay in close connection with God to follow after Him, to know what He wants. We have to spend time in prayer and Bible study and waiting on Him, listening, looking to hear from Him. And that is what He desires! He made us to have fellowship with Him, to have that close relationship, not to follow laws. He wants us to LOVE Him. That doesn't mean we should not obey the laws - just how we do that is based on following His leading.

Just a few ideas I am learning. I spent so much time trying to be "good" and do the "right thing" but ended up having bitterness. And I am coming to a greater understanding that I am free in Him, free to live with Him! "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." free from the bondage of sin but also free from the bondage of legalism.

Jane

About this thing called anger

As a Christian, it is hard to share faults, but actually as someone said, "We are not perfect, just forgiven". As I strive to draw closer to God to hear from Him, He is showing me things more clearly that I need to get rid of. I am an emotional person but emotions need to be expressed in the right way.
I realize that I have anger that is just under the surface. I am easy going and nice, maybe too nice, so that I don't let things that bother me out enough. Then they fester and sometimes come out in the wrong way.
I know that I shouldn't have anger, or that I should deal with it since it is an emotion, and let go of it. You need to deal with it, not just push it down. Anger, if not dealt with the right was, can lead to either depression, bitterness, or more serious things.
But how do you deal with it? The first thing is to find out what causes the anger.. Sometimes it takes some digging to get below the surface to find out the causes.
Many times we get angry because we feel we aren't getting what we deserve for what things we have done. We do good things and they aren’t appreciated. But the Bible says that "all our righteousness is as filthy rags". Whatever we do will never compare to what He has done for us and what He is doing through us. And He was put to death even though He did marvelous things. (That may be simplifying it but it is true.) And whether people recognize what we have done or not, it is God who sees.
The main thing is, why are we doing good deeds? It should be not to please men anyway, but to please God. And He is already pleased with us. As our Father He loves everything we do for Him or try to do for Him. Whether we give “a cup of cold water in His name” or risk our lives to save another’s life, it is all for Him. So what does it really matter if we get the recognition here from men? It is from God we need to hear, "Welcome home thou good and faithful servant."
Another reason we get angry is because of fear down under, fear that we won't get notice or we won't get something we want. Or fear that we will lose something. We may feel this “something” is natural and not something far out, like a million dollars, but rather, people in our lives, or to have money enough to survive. And when we do feel we have lost something or someone, we get angry. We think we will be miserable.
So, it is fear of loss underneath the anger. Fear also is not from God. It is not based on trust in God, that He will provide either people or things. It is not trusting that He has the best answer for us.
If we feel that we are losing things and people or life doesn't make sense, instead of getting angry at God, we/I should try to give the situations into His Hands and leave them there. We must look to the unseen rather than the seen, that His ways are higher than ours. Someday we will understand it all.
These are my thoughts at this time- I don't always follow what I believe. I don't always really trust God, but am trying. That's what it's about, trying, maybe failing and falling, but getting back up again. And lots and lots of prayer. and teaching and/or studying. With each trial, we grow closer to God and are a witness to others.