Fullness.  An interesting word.  When do you use it?  When do you think about it?  Not a word we use too frequently in our daily conversations, is it?  Ephesians 3:19 is part of a prayer that Paul prays for the believers at Ephesus.  May you experience the love of Christ, thought it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Wow, the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  That is almost too much comprehend.

Some days I am just happy that I have some of the love of God and power in my life.  Just enough to make it through my day with enough for me to deal with me. But what would it look like if I walked through my day filled with His life and power?  I would have enough grace to be patient at the grocery store, or with my grandchildren’s attitudes, I would have enough to share with my struggling friend to really hear her and her situation.  Learning to walk in that fullness is a process.    Our Pastor is teaching a series called “Rooted”, being grounded in the Word of God is part of our ability to access this fullness Paul is talking about.

One of the assignments of our Uninvited  Bible Study this week, was to re-write Ephesians 1:4-5, exchanging every “us” to “me” and to read it aloud several times a day.  As I worked on this exercise the truth just got deeper and deeper.  Even before he made the world, God loved ME and chose Me in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.  God decided in advanced to adopt ME into His own by bringing ME to himself through Jesus Christ.  This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.  Ephesians 1:4-5  I found myself reading it differently each time, emphasizing different aspects of these powerful lifechanging words. Because I read it personally, intentionally and with faith it touched deep places in my soul that only God knew I needed.  I would encourage you to try it for yourself.  This concept of personalizing scripture is a common teaching tool that I urge you to try for yourself.  Especially if you are fighting against pessimism or discouragement.  God’s Word is full of Hope and it is His desire to impart this Hope into every one of our hopeless areas.  It takes a bit of time, but it is so worth the effort.  Join me in the journey to walking in His fullness–we have it, it is just a matter of learning to access it and then apply it to our daily lives.

Father teach me to walk in your fullness of life and power.  I’m ready to learn.

 

Our Life Group watch a DVD last night with Lisa TerKeurst called “Uninvited” Living Loved When You Feel Less than, Left out, and Lonely.  We finished reading the book the end of July and have chosen to do the DVD series and Workbook for the next six weeks.

One of the first scriptures that came on the screen was Matthew 11:28-30. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.    As we read that scripture I felt almost a sigh from these lovely women, and myself as we were reminded of His care and grace.  I am glad they let it linger on the screen for a bit while she shared her heart.

We all need to be reminded that He has a rest for us.  The rest of the scripture instructs on the how we do this: Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.    I love this scripture for the grace it gives, the hope it gives and the reminder of who we are serving.

But in order to experience the rest he talks about, we need to do the whole scripture.  First we need to go to Him, in the midst of our labor and busyness with our burdens and cares go to Him.  Hebrews 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  Sometimes our own fears, sins and feelings of inadequacy prevents us from coming to Him when we need it most.  I have found that if I go to Him before I get super overwhelmed my rest and balance is restored much quicker.  But, if I struggle it out on my own first, He is still there waiting for me.

So we come to Him and the next part is crucial to growth:  we take time to learn from Him.  Even if it takes us many attempts to learn something, keep going back, for He is a patient, loving caring teacher.  He is a persistent teacher, however and will continue to help us until we learn what He wants us to know.  He does not leave us in the learning.  He abides with us, as we abide with Him.

If we want to remain in this rest, we must accept His yoke (will, purpose and Lordship).  It is in the yoking up with Him that we set ourselves to really learn who He is.  He will show us how easy it is and how light His burden is for us.  When we fight the yoke, it seems hard, difficult and too much to bear.  But if we relax and follow His lead and settle into the “unforced rhythms of grace” (Matthew 11:29 Msg) we receive the grace to live our lives with a rest in our hearts which is His part of the gift He purchased for us on the cross.

Father, I ask that you move in our hearts today and reveal any areas where we have not taken your yoke so we are living less than you desire.  I choose to take your yoke and set myself once again to learn from you.  Thank you for helping us all to choose your way of rest, in Jesus Name, Amen

I turned 69 this past week–so this is my last year to live the 60’s decade.  As I approached my birthday I realized that for some reason to me, 69 sounded a lot older than 68.  I don’t know why, but it seemed to bring with it difficult thoughts of “out to pasture”, “past your prime” and “the best years are behind you”.  Not really faith statements were they?  (I don’t know if it helped or hurt my thoughts when I overheard my niece talking about how she did not really feel or think of herself in her 40’s!)

However, I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit and how He can change our thoughts and perspectives.  The closer I came to my birthday, I discussed it with the Lord and discovered that it became just a number and then my focus shifted again, and it became an opportunity.  The decade started so sweet–(as a triplet, we hosted a family party for all our siblings–complete with color-coded shirts so everyone would know which grand-kid belonged to which family!)  It was a wonderful day with many memories.

My husband and I continued to develop our bi-coastal ministry–touching lives and watching God move and answer prayer as we sought to follow His Spirit (this was in 2009).  2010 brought radical changes.  Darryl suffered his major heart attack and stroke and my world shifted and I was plunged into the world of caregiver.  2012, he passed away and I began learning how to live life without him and what it means to come to grips with grief and loss.

The lessons I learned during this decade are precious, priceless and hard-earned.  They changed me.  Some of the soul strikes are still impacting my life, but God is still so faithful and good.  I’ve learned how our enemy is not fair and that there can be casualties in this life–but victory is promised.

So I am determined to make this year count for His kingdom.  I have set myself to enjoy this year, live it to the fullest.  Darryl and I had a motto together “the best is yet to come”.  Most every week our church posts it on the screen as it encourages those who responded to the salvation opportunity to follow up with our Fresh Start team.  I struggled with it for awhile, then once again the Lord and I had a conversation.  Do I believe the best is yet to come–here on this earth for me?  Or am I waiting for heaven?  I working on believing it.  I read it with hope, not pain and trust the shifts I still need are coming.  We serve a God who cares, and I believe this 69th year will be my best year ever!

(Update: Tim’s Open Studio Tour was a big success!)

Last weeks blog “Faith and God’s Creation” honored God and His handiwork through His magnificent creation. When He created man in His image He gave each of the ability to be creative as well.  We each may use those gifts in a different way, with different mediums but we have been given the ability to be creative.

I want to honor my son in law Timothy Haslet.  Tim received an amazing ability to paint.  His ability to take acrylic or oil based paints and transform them into amazing masterpieces is inspiring.  He took his gift–painting and with training (an art degree from Whitworth College) and began to paint.

God sent him a wife who understands his need to paint.  Every place they have lived in their seventeen years of marriage they have “found a studio” for Tim to paint.  He painted in an attic, part of their laundry room and now in their home office. I am amazed how he makes it work.  It has taken time to hew his talent, it has taken money to fund his supplies and it has taken perseverance to keep painting.

Always he encourages others in their creativity.  God has brought him artistic friends and I have watched how they have mutually supported each other to stretch their creative ways.  He enters art shows–won second place the first year and first place this year!  Others are hearing of his skill and have invited him to use them to paint a fire hydrant here in Oak Harbor for the city beautification project.  God has favored him, because he has not buried his talent under a bushel he brings glory to the Lord.  By day currently he is a landscaper.  He paints with stone, plants and hard work.  Yards are transformed into beautiful creations where their owners can enjoy God’s handiwork.

This week end he has been invited to participate in the Whidbey Working Artists Open Studio Tour.  They are part of fifty artists on Whidbey Island who will be opening their “studio” or home to the public to share their art and creativity.  As they have prepared for this event I have watched Tim overcome many obstacles.  They have four children who love to live life!  They are taming their yard and creating and fulfilling their vision for their own home–reading it for all visitors who choose to come their way.  Of course we are praying for sales, but they are preparing a sanctuary to greet their new guests.  (I get the privilege of hosting the four lively children during this event!)

I can’t paint or draw, but when I teach God’s Word I am amazed at how He puts things together.  Images, object lessons and thoughts spring forth from my soul as I wait on Him.  How does your creativity reveal itself?  i spent last night helping some friends make apple pies for the homeless!  My friend has chosen this way to give back to her community.  She takes excess apples and turns them into a taste of love and caring.  Do not bury your talent in the ground.  Take it out and ask God how He wants to use it to show forth His glory.  Do not fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others, but honor the gift He has given you.  It will bring Him glory and touch lives as I know Tim’s art will this coming weekend.

Those of you who are observant might have noticed that there was no Blog from me last week!  I was away camping with some of my children and grandchildren.  We had a wonderful time making memories and enjoying God’s handiwork.

As we walked through the HOH Rain Forest (no rain in sight and 80+ degrees!) I was amazed once again at how specific and intentional God was when He created creation and established the varied cycles of life that keep our universe functioning so amazing!  Last year I taught botany to three of my grandchildren and it was fun for me to remember some of those lessons as we walked through the forest.  We learned lichens (a complex life form of algae and fungus) are great indicators of how clean the air is–the more they prosper the greater the indication of healthy air quality!  We saw gigantic big leaf maple trees providing ephiphytes–or plants growing on other pants which had mosses, , spike mosses, ferns and lichens all growing on them!  Nurse logs which help provide germination for the next generation of trees.

I was fascinated by the variety of plants and trees in our short 3/4 of a mile walk.  I was also fascinated by the variety of languages we heard as other tourists joined our trek.  German, French, Asian and (plus the various American dialects) and those are just the ones I heard as we marveled at God’s handiwork.  It was crowded, hot and not quite what we expected, but it was still a great day for me.  (My daughter Elizabeth commented, “I didn’t know we came to Disneyland!”

My soul was restored by the trip. When we returned home to church the next Sunday, Pastor Rich Irwin, a guest speaker from Anchorage, Alaska spoke a message entitled “Beauty in the Glory of God”.  As he walked us through Psalm 104, the memories of those beautiful moss covered sunlit trees kept coming to my mind.  He discussed the difference between useful, efficient and beautiful, and how we need both.  At the end of the message, he brought it all home. If we only judge things useful or efficient then we rob ourselves from God’s joy and purpose–especially if we do that to people.  Years ago we were part of a nursing home ministry.  Some of the lovely people there were believers and I asked the Lord why He did not just take them home.  He told me they are still serving my purpose.  I am using them to help you not be selfish and to learn to think about others.  There are no throw away people to our God.

Once during our house ministry days someone came to me complaining about a child and their behavior.  I admit I was a little short with them and I said “what do you want the parents to do? Throw them away?”  All of God’s creation works together to reveal His glory.  He desires our attitude, character and actions do the same.  Thank you Lord for your mercy and grace as we grow in your ways.  Help me to not dismiss others because of what I think their usefulness may or may not be.  I may be a nurse log for others to grow upon.  And Lord, especially help me when I deem myself useless.

Right after I published last weeks blog (Faith and Salvation Joy), I was made aware of someone going through very a very difficult challenge.  As I joined her in prayer for the situation I saw her in the middle of a wilderness with no clear path around her.  She felt lost and hopeless.  My time in the Word and with Jesus equipped me to have hope that what she saw as impossibilities, God saw as an opportunity to make some changes.

The scripture that came to my mind as we prayed was Psalm 16:11 you will show me the path of life.  This is just a phrase out of the entire verse, but it is the phrase that has brought me through my own wilderness places.  As I continued to pray for the situation, I felt inadequate and actually wondered if I was making things worse for her.  The hopeless darkness that enveloped her was so strong.  I actually got out my phone and read that blog post to her!  I felt things start to shift and at least a glimmer of light began to breakthrough.

Things are better, but not fixed or even settled, but she is on the more sure fitting of God’s love and hope.  I have encountered many others who are fighting their own spiritual warfare during this time.  There seems to be warfare against hope.  Hope that God knows, understands and cares about our situation.  Hope that God’s love and concern reaches through our own sinful actions (mercy) and restores damaged souls.

I came across this scripture in the Message version, through the YouVersion app.  Romans 15:13

Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

That word green stood out to me–the hope we are trusting in is alive.  We serve the God of All Hope, who is trustworthy and is growing within each of us as we fertilize it with faith and trust.  Imagine my chagrin when I opened my Logos Bible program and looked up the same scripture and it read

Oh! May the God of great hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

So I found a typo in the YouVersion app–but God still used it!  It is still accurate.  The hope we have is living–do not let the cares of this world cheat you out of that hope.  Cling to Him, He is faithful!  This is my prayer–that the God of great hope will fill us all with joy, peace and we will walk with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit.

 

I am so thankful I have a Savior!  Someone who rescues me (when I let Him!) from myself and my sins, shortcomings and struggles.  What a blessing it is to simply sit back and enjoy my relationship with Him. I confess that sometimes I get too stuck in my head about “what more should I be doing”, “am I doing enough”, “am I praying enough, reading enough, seeking Him enough” treadmill that I lose the joy of my relationship with Him.

But when I stop and simply rest in His love, taking time to remember HIM, not some taskmaster image my own mind conjures up–peace returns.  Joy comes and my devotional/prayer time with Him increases as a natural flow.  There is the rest my soul needs that settles in and an expectation of His intervening power and might that happens that helps release my faith in new measures.

He becomes bigger than any problems or situations.  We begin to see the opportunities rather than the impossibilities which helps us pray and believe for even a greater manifestation of His love and care.  Romans 14:13  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust him.  Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is my prayer that we take the time to let him fill us completely with His joy and peace as we learn to trust Him.  This takes faith-which we know comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17)  As we read, meditate and enjoy the presence of the Lord through His word and worship He leads us to discover who He really is.  It is humbling to realize the God who created the universe loves us intentionally and specifically.

Psalms 23, written by King David gives us a glimpse of who David discovered Him to be and we can experience these same truths.

The Lord is my shepherd: I have all I need.   He lets me rest in green meadows: He leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing me honor to his name.  Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  You honor me by anointing my head with oil My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Brethren, I pray that you will take time to let Him renew the joy of your salvation and for living life without it isn’t the life He has called us to live!

During my regular Bible reading plan I came across our dear friend Elijah and how the writer of 1 Kings (possibly Jeremiah) showed both his strong faith and also his weaker side.  The story of the battle between the prophets of God and the prophets of Baal is one of the epic stories of the word.  You can refresh your memory of this story by reading 1 King 18.

Moving to 1 Kings 19 we find a  very different side of Elijah, a man running for his life, praying that he might die.  Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day.  He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said.  “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”  God heard his heart cry, but obviously did not answer his prayer.  He had an angel feed him some fresh baked bread and a jar of water and he laid down and slept again.  Once again He fed him saying “get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”  So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.  There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

He first ran to Beersheba and then about 200 more miles to Mount Sinai.  Mount Sinai was the place where the Lord revealed himself to Moss and the children of Israel, so maybe Elijah was running in hope that he, too, would have an encounter with the Lord.  In my reading and thinking, I wonder what happened to the prophet community after that great victory?  Was there no one that could have gone with Elijah either to celebrate with or share and encourage him during Jezebel’s threat?

Elijah was alone.  God’s love, care and concern for him was abundantly revealed during this dark hour, but where were his buddies?    I am so appreciative that in the gospels we find Jesus sending out the disciples two by two.  When we go through things we need each others.  This past week I was diagnosed with pneumonia.  The weariness I mentioned last week had a root!  As an active person it has been quite challenging to be forced to REST.  To be honest, I do not have an option.  Living alone is great for resting, but when you are exhausted it forces you to depend on others.

I am so fortunate to have not only my local children helping me, but also my sisters have showed up, ran errands and simply gave their support.  I also have had some sweet church sisters bring food, phone, text to show their love and care.  We need each other.  What a blessing to have these practical loving actions extended to me.  It took me a few days to admit how sick and needy I was.  During that time I spent a lot of time thanking the Lord for my healing, praying in the spirit for answers and trusting His Word.  Was that a waste?  Of course not.  God was listening to my heart cry and sent the help I needed.  Once again I want to remind us to reach out to others during their time of need.  Prayer is so needed and helpful so that is our minimum response.  Sometimes we can’t be the hands or feet  but just sending a text, email or phone call helps!  Every like, smile or praying on Facebook  lifted my spirits and I want to thank each of you for your extended love and care through technology!