God Thoughts No. Forty Three

Most of my mornings begin with my asking the Lord for a word, a verse or some sort of encouragement.

Hearing from Him first thing in the morning is what gets me through the day.

This morning I was thinking about alot of things; the children, the hubby’s new job, finances, etc.

Before I knew it I began wondering if I really was on the right track.

I could feel doubt and fear beginning to creep up.

I began to question whether I have been hearing God correctly.

As soon as I realized where my thoughts were going, I asked the Lord for an encouraging word.

He said, “Look at Matthew 17.”

Verses 1-8 read, “Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, Jesus began to change form - His face shone like the sun and his clothing became white as light. Then they looked and saw Moses and Elijah speaking with him. Peter said to Jesus, ‘It’s good that we’re here, Lord. I’ll put up three shelters if you want – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!’ When the disciples heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up!’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ So they opened their eyes, looked up and saw only Jesus by himself.”

These few verses revealed several things to me.

First, Jesus loves to spend time with us. It is His delight to walk with us and to show us things that our “natural” eyes cannot see; the things of heaven.

The second thing I noticed was how Peter was so quick to want to “DO” something (build the shelters-which is so like Peter!) but while he was speaking about it, God interrupted him.

The Lord reminded me that I don’t always have to be “doing” something.

He desires to bless me anyway.

Third, is the fact that God said, “Listen to him!”

I do listen. I’m pretty good at it.

 Where I struggle is in simply taking Him at His word.

Now I know that in a previous post, I said that my motto was, “Jesus said it so I believe it!”

- And it is my motto. I just struggle with living it every day!

I noticed too, that in fear, they looked down (away from the Lord).

Sure, it may have been reverent fear of God, but it still caused them to look away.

And when they did, they missed out on something (Moses and Elijah left).

Yeah, fear causes us to miss out on things of and from the Lord because our eyes are turned away from Him and focused on the fear.

Ouch!

I can’t even think about how much I have missed because of fear!

And finally, I saw that Jesus touched them.

 And when He did they opened their eyes.

They placed their focus back on Him and all was well.

That is the beauty of the Lord.

 We go through so many things; inflict upon ourselves our own misery,

yet He is always there, ready with a touch; to set us back on course.

With these verses, the Lord reminded me that often, I make things more difficult than they need to be.

When He says something, He means it.

 He has said, “Listen to me, Lysa.

Don’t doubt or worry. Instead, look up! Your redemption is near!”

Yes, He said it and I believe it!

Thank You, Lord, for setting me back on course!

What has He said to you today?

Fitly Spoken

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver."

Proverbs 25:11

The other day I was looking back over my blog when I had a fleeting thought,

 “I wonder if people read this and roll their eyes.

I’m always talking about the Lord and His goodness. I wonder if they get tired of it.”

Immediately, the Lord spoke the above verse to me

 then reminded me of something a wise young man said some time ago.

I had made some sort of comment about the fact that most of my blog posts and social media updates are about praising God or telling of His goodness.

The young man’s response to me was,

 “Lysa, you can’t help it. It’s your very DNA.”

He’s so right and it’s so true! I can’t help it.

I’ve known the Lord since before I can even remember.

He has always been the center of my being.

 And I can’t not speak of Him.

Listen, I am a real person with real struggles.

 Like so many others out there, my life circumstances are a mess and things appear to be out of control.

The past several years have proven to be the greatest test that I have ever encountered.

 But through it all, the one thing that remains the same is God and His goodness.

If I hadn’t had this to hold onto, I would have fallen into despair.

In fact, I probably wouldn’t be here today without the knowledge of Him.

Fear, despondency, grief and depression would have driven me to something drastic.

Yes, death.

But, God.

He is amazing.

Jesus.

A true friend.

Holy Spirit.

The guide to all Truth.

These writings are my offering

to the One who gave me life

and who has preserved me.

They are the reason I live;

who I am.

My decision (the Lord's decision really)

to make them public

is so that others may be encouraged;

filled with hope,

driven from despair

and into the loving arms of the One who created them.

I am so thankful to the young man who said those words to me.

They truly are words fitly spoken and I treasure them even more than I would

valuable gold and fine silver.

So, I do pray that what I share encourages you.

Thanks for taking the time.

Shalom!

Simply Ask!

When I went to bed last night, I was dealing with some mouth pain.

I have a wisdom tooth that’s been causing some grief for way too long now and I have another tooth that has been sore for the past few days.

 I wasn’t really thinking about the teeth when I went to bed, but as I lay there trying to fall asleep, a little rhyme from childhood popped into my head.

It goes, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. – John 14:14”

That’s it.

 It repeats itself over and over again to some little tune that, I am sure, the Sunday School Teacher made up but the line is straight out of the Bible and is oh so true!

As the rhyme coursed through my mind, I spoke to my teeth, mouth and gums, saying to them that they are healed & healthy.

 Not only did I speak these words, but I believed them.

And guess what, my mouth stopped hurting and I went to sleep.

For the past two years, I have been conversing with the Lord about John 14:14 (the whole chapter really).

I have been trying to “figure out” how to do the things Jesus said I (and every other Spirit-filled believer) would do.

This morning He had me reread the whole chapter and as I did I realized that in all my attempts at “figuring it out” I had actually missed the simplicity of it.

Here’s what I re-realized; Jesus said it, therefore it is done.

 I can do all things because of Him.

So if I ask it in His name, it is done.

Because Jesus ascended back into heaven, Holy Spirit came to empower me.

And because it is already accomplished in and through Him, I believe that it is so.

John 14:12-14 says, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever trusts in me will also do the works that I do! Indeed, he will do greater ones, because I am going to the Father.

In fact, whatever you ask in my name, I will do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask something in my name, I will do it.”

Jesus healed and cared for people.

He went about doing good things; things that were “super”natural and awe inspiring.

 It is the Father’s goal that His children would be taken care of; healthy and whole.

And He intends to use us to bring those good things about.

The fact is, God is good.

Sure, bad things happen and evil is all around, but when we serve an all-powerful God who is nothing but goodness, why wouldn’t we expect good, indeed, great, things from Him?

I mean if we believe the Bible, why would we worry, doubt or fear?

Now, I am not saying that I’ve got it all figured out or that I never slip into worry or doubt, but what I am realizing is that it is so much simpler than we make it.

My motto has become, “Jesus (God/Holy Spirit) said it so I believe it!” - plain and simple.

Know what else?

 With that perspective, my heart is light, my mind is clear and my spirit is free!

 Yes!

Confirmation!

I just absolutely love confirmation;

when the Lord says or shows me something

which confirms to me that I am on the right track;

hearing clearly what He is saying to me.

This morning, I asked Him what He wanted me to read

from His written Word and He said, “Isaiah 60.”

My thoughts was,

“Lord, you gave me verse one of Isaiah as an encouraging word just two days ago.

You want me to read it again?”

He said, “Yes, but read the whole chapter carefully.”

So I did.

Three things stood out to me.

First, verse 9,

“The coastlands are putting their hope in me,

with the ships of Tarshish in the lead,

to bring your children from far away,

and with them their silver and gold,

for the sake of Adonai your God,

the Holy one of Israel,

who glorifies you.”

Now Isaiah is speaking to Israel; revealing the promises of God

to His people so that they may be filled with hope.

He is promising prosperity!

He is promising to glorify them!

How amazing that this verse parallels my own life

and that He is showing me that He has,

indeed, promised me (and my household) prosperity.

And the fact that He glorifies us is truly awesome!

The second part which stood out to me was verses 19-20,

“No more will the sun be your light by day,

nor the moonlight shine on you;

instead, Adonai will be your light forever

and your God your glory.

No longer will your sun go down;

Your moon will no longer wane;

For Adonai will be your light forever;

Your days of mourning will end.”

My initial response to this was,

“Yes, this is exactly what I wrote about yesterday;

learning to live and see by His perspective.

When I live and see by His perspective,

There is no darkness

Because He is light!”

Wow!

This is mind-blowing stuff!

And finally, the third thing was verse 22b,

“I, Adonai, when the right time comes,

will quickly bring it about.”

It’s just like I said the other day.

When God says something,

it is done!

It is simply waiting on Him to bring it about

~quickly~

at the right time!

When He promises something we can believe it;

bank on it;

expect it!

There is no need to worry, doubt or fear

because He has done it!

Hallelujah!

I am so excited

and can’t wait for the manifestation

of all He has promised!

Amen!

Perspective

What man sees as supernatural,

God sees as natural.

What man calls a miracle,

God calls a normal occurance.

God sees the beginning from the end.

Man sees only in-part.

What God speaks is already done.

It's simply a matter of it manifesting at the appointed time.

I love the passage in 2 Kings where Elisha and his servant are surrounded by the enemy

and the servant falls into despair; hopelessness.

Then Elisha prays to the Lord for his eyes to be opened.

Here's how it goes,

"So [the Syrian king] sent there horses, chariots, and a great army.

 They came by night and surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God rose early and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city.

Elisha's servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do?

 [Elisha] answered, Fear not; for those with us are more than those with them.

Then Elisha prayed, Lord, I pray You, open his eyes that he may see.

And the Lord opened the young man's eyes, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

Elisha knew his God.

He trusted Him.

And he knew how to see through heaven's eyes.

Now that's perspective for you!

It delights the Lord to share, with His children,

the plans and purposes of heaven.

Jesus told us to pray,

"Your will be done on earth as it is (already)  done in heaven."

I spent a great deal of 2011 asking the Lord

to teach me how to see through His eyes more clearly;

to learn how to remain in His perspective continually.

I have learned that it is mostly a choice.

I can choose to see things from a worldly persprective

OR

 I can purpose to see from a heavenly perspective.

I have made it my habit

 to take captive those thoughts which are not of heaven

and to replace them with God thoughts.

I still have a way to go.

Forty years of wordly thinking hasn't gone away as quickly as I would like.

But I have found that learning to live in heaven's perspective

is as simple as saying the name, "Jesus".

Because all evil flees at His name!

By the power of Holy Spirit and because of

Jesus' life, death & resurrection,

God's perspective is available to everyone who believes

~ in Christ, as Messiah (Savior, God with us).

Woot! Halleljuah!

How about you?

Whose perspective do you want to live by this year?

First Gift of 2012!

About an hour or so into the new year,

I received a present-

yes a gracious gift from a gracious Father!

I had sat down and began logging on to social media

to see what New Year posts people were sharing

when the Lord spoke to me and said,

"Read Isaiah 60:1. It's for you."

So, I did and this is what it says,

"ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!"

I am so excited!

The past several days have been filled with excitement and a feeling of expectancy.

The Lord has been whispering in my ear that 2012 is to be a year of new beginnings

~and I believe Him!

We can see that He has already "started the ball rolling".

We can actually see beyond the horizon as things are beginning to take shape.

No longer stuck in the mire of despondency and hopelessness,

but filled with great anticipation and a sense of freedom, hopes fulfilled & promises manifested.

We truly serve a great and mighty God.

Jesus is, indeed, a Savior of varying degrees.

Holy Spirit is so multi-faceted that what we know of Him

only begins to scratch the surface of who He really is.

I am so thankful for the fact that God is always on the move.

His greatest desire is to have loving relationship with His children.

He is always there; with each and every one of us.

It is we who choose to listen-

or not.

I thank Him and praise Him for His wondrous gifts

and for the fact that He chose to bless me

"right off the bat"

with a wonderful gift of encouragement

from His written Word.

What a loving,

extravagant Father!

Praying you realize, see, and grasp

 all that He has for you in this

new year!

God Thoughts No. Forty Two

I've noticed that a lot of bloggers are posting summaries, highlights & "best of's" for 2011.

I began thinking about what I should post for the end of 2011

and all that seems right is to sum up my life

and to declare, once again,  who God is...

No matter what happens on this earth,

God is good.

No matter what trials, tribulations, tragedies or challenges befall us,

Jesus has overcome them all.

Because of these two facts,

there is Hope

and

we have Victory.

Over the past year,

Holy Spirit has put a new song in my heart

and it is

Praise to the King!

With this perspective,

I can look back on 2011 and smile a bittersweet smile

while looking forward to 2012

with great excitement & anticipation.

Holy Spirit says,

"Expect great things!"

Hallelujah!

AND