Lonely Pursuit

Sometimes admitting things out loud is difficult. Like this: how do I go about telling you that I'm lonely.
Me - tightly knit in a family that thrives when we are together.
Me - with gifts called friendships whose relationships run deep.
Me - who has a mentor, accountability and women with whom I study and pray.

How do I dare say I'm lonely?
But I am. Deep down - I am.

Last week I came across these words that spoke of loneliness - words that made some sense out of these feelings that I feel.
"I am leading you along the way I designed just for you. Therefore, it is a lonely way, humanly speaking." (Sarah Young, Jesus Calling)

Jesus spoke of it too.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
Do you see it there? Lonely on the narrow road - 0n the road that only few will find?

Yes. My path may be lonely, but it's mine. It's the one He choose just for me. And because of that, I'll choose it every time. I choose lonely if it means choosing Him. Every time.

All this makes me wonder if you're lonely too? Does your path feel lonely, like mine? If so, consider these last few points:
1. Our loneliness draws us to Jesus. It makes us need Him more. Only Jesus can satisfy the deep longings of our heart. That's not a bad thing to me.
2. We may feel lonely, but we are never alone. We are part of the body of Christ - a body of believers whose hearts are dedicated to pursuing Him. In that pursuit, you are never alone.

Today's challenge: Do not isolate in your loneliness. Praise Him for choosing THIS path for you! Thank Him and let Him fill that void.

Pressing In

In three days I will pack up my car and head out to Pine Cove for our church's Women's Retreat. After months of planning, I can't believe the weekend is finally here. I keep forgetting that I actually get to go too. Boy - oh - boy ... do I need it!

This weekend, in my last minute preparations, I ran across this verse. It's a verse I've loved for a long time because it leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. It's the kind of verse that sticks in my head and gets me all charged up. So here I am - with a to-do list long enough to make me want to pull out my hair by the roots (which are in desperate need of a highlight, I might add) - and all I want to do is share this verse with you. So I am ...

Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3

I love how this verse builds ... Let us know. No wait. Let us PRESS ON to know the Lord.

Can you hear the heart of the verse? To me, the verse is saying, "I don't want to just know about You. It's not about having a head knowledge of our God. No. I'm pressing in to really know Him. What I want is to experience Him. I want to be one with Him. And I know that when I pursue Him, He will come ... He's faithful like the rising of the sun and will refresh and restore my soul like the spring rains that water the earth ... and that is what I'm after."

Press in. Press on to know. That's what I'll be doing this weekend. But the truth is we don't need a retreat to press in because He's here right now. Ready and waiting for hearts that are fully committed to Him.

Press in to the loving arms of the Father.
Press in to His presence.
Press in to His Word.
Press in to His forgiveness.
Press in to His power.

Press in, my friends!

Rememberizing: Part 2

This topic of rememberizing (memorizing and remembering the Word of God) has been occupying the forefront of my mind these days. As a matter of fact, I'm completely enthralled by the practice of it. Recently God has challenged me to memorize a larger piece of text (the entire book of Colossians to be exact). I must confess that I blew Him off for months, thinking there's no way I could do it. But He persisted - and when He persists like that I've learned it's best to obey. Now.

I approached a friend for help and she offered to memorize with me. What a gift!
Accountability. Check.
We got together and came up with a plan. Check.
The starting day came. I was nervous but I got verse one down. Check.
We're one month and one chapter in and let me tell you: I am AMAZED. Blown away! Verse by verse, God has opened my mind to learn, absorb and retain. It is crazy and humbling and so very precious to me.

So, from someone who is in the thick of it right now and loving it - I urge you do this! Allow God the opportunity to dazzle you with His ability to feed your mind with Truth. He does NOT disappoint!

Need a few tips?

1. Start where you are. What are you going through right now? Overwhelmed and exhausted? Find verses on strength and rest. Consumed with insecurities? Focus on verses about your identity in Christ. You get where I'm going with this. Use the topical index in the back of your Bible to find Truth that applies to you right now.

2. Come up with a plan and commit to it. This discipline is not about being legalistic. It's not a duty. It's about choosing to invest in the process of renewing your mind. So, decide what's doable for you. One verse a month? One a week? One a day? Make your plan and stick to it.

3. Find some accountability. It helps to know someone else is there - someone doing the work with you. Accountability helps keep us motivated and focused. Find a friend or a Bible study group to memorize with you.

3. Memorize according to your learning style. If you are a visual learner, slowly read over the verse as if you are taking a picture in your mind of each word. Read it at least 10 times, then practice without looking. If you learn by listening, read the verse out loud 10 times or record yourself reading it and listen to it over and over. If you are a tactile learner, write the verse five times, then see how you do without looking.

4. Practice, practice, practice. In the car. In the shower. Making dinner. Going to bed. Write it on sticky notes. Write it on your mirror. Put it on the dash board of your car. Practice your verses until God has inscribed them firmly on your heart.

If you need someone to keep you accountable - tell me! I'd love to encourage you and cheer you on as you pursue His Word. THIS is my happy place!

Today's challenge: Start!

Rememberizing - Part 1

Yep. You read that right.
Rememberizing.
It's a word created by my daughters - a cross between remembering and memorizing. They have no idea that it isn't really a word and I kinda love that about it. Plus, I love the word because I have come to appreciate the exercise of it - of remembering and memorizing the Word of God.

A couple of years ago, God used this verse to light a fire in me for His Word ...
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

Now I could go on and on about the importance of rememberizing the Word of God - but you can get that teaching anywhere. Instead, let give you my why. This is why I prioritize the discipline of wallpapering my mind with God's Word.

1. My mind is sick. It can not be trusted. It needs the Word of God like an infection needs antibiotics.
2. I do not have the natural ability to memorize. I had to ask for it. Even if you don't want it, I dare you to ask God to give you the desire and ability to absorb and retain His Word. If you do, it will change your life. Forever.
3. As soon as I began rememberizing, I couldn't stop! Our minds were created to contain the Word of God. I'm sure of it!
4. God's Word is changing my mind. It really is living and active, and it's power to renew the mind is - well - mind blowing!
5. It is how God most often speaks to me. By His Spirit, God uses His Word to teach, guide and comfort me. I don't ever want to lose the ability to hear. Ever.

More on rememberizing soon! Until then - Get in the Word, girls!

Face to the Floor Challenge

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6-7

It's been a long time since I've bent low - knees on the carpet and face to the floor.

My short-lived morning routine of submission has long been lost among alarm clocks, sack lunches and school bells. Months have passed since she suggested we try it. (Could it have already been a year?) She said something like, "This one act - this spiritual discipline of old - it will change you. It will change your everything. Just try it."

The challenge was this: Each morning after your peel yourself from the warm embrace of your sleeping place, hit your knees. Bow down, head to the floor, and confess your love to the Father. Submit your day and ask for His leading.

It's an act of the will to start the day low.
A humble beginning to focus the heart.
The kind of morning that honors and glorifies before anything else ...

So I'm saying out loud that I will commit again, and I challenge you to join me. We'll call it our Face to the Floor Challenge. And each morning as we rise, we'll hit our knees and thank our Father. We'll confess our need and yield our day. Then back up again, we'll embrace the day and see what He might do.

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5

Today's challenge: Commit with me to do this for 30 days - will you? God will honor this early morning routine of humility!

For a large case of the grumps ...

I woke up this morning with my flesh screaming. I was grumpy - I knew it - and I didn't care. I was in the mood to wallow - to stew and spat for no good reason at all. I'd like to say I was having a bad day, but the only thing bad in my day was me. When a mom needs a time-out, where does she go? Who's going to put me on my bed, close my door and give me some time to think about the choices I'm making?

About half way through my day I decided I had gone on like that for long enough. I looked at myself in the mirror and heard myself say, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you..." Psalm 42:5-6

I knew the verse but needed to see it again - small words written in black and white - words to inscribe on my heart. My soul lifter. This is how we practice - how we work to apply Truth even when our feelings are screaming for control. Go to the pages. Practice Truth.

My prescription for a mommy-sized case of the grumps (according to Psalm 42)

1. Choose God. Fix my eyes on Him. Wait in hopeful expectation for Him. For His presence.

2. Choose Praise. Not because I feel like it but because He is worth it. All of the time.

3. Choose to remember. Remember His goodness, faithfulness and tender mercies. He never fails. Ever!

My kids are thankful for the Word of God because it has the power to change their mommy. Even when she has a bad case of the grumps!

Lies

The other day I was bombarded - beat down by the lines that played tirelessly in my head. They were lies and I knew it, but the tears came just the same. In no time at all I felt unraveled, and it made me mad. I was in church, of all places. I was in church, and I felt trapped under the heavy weight of self doubt. Scrambling, I wrote a note to my husband about the all consuming madness in my head. He wrote back, "Tell Satan to take a hike."

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5

How often do you do battle against the lies that Satan plants in your mind? I wish I could say that I'm over it - that I have this whole thought life thing all figured out - but the truth is I battle. A lot.

So what does this battling look like? How do we "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ?" It's very "spiritual" of us to quote scripture and say we're doing battle with Satan in our thought lives, but what does this taking captive every thought really look like?

Here's how I picture it:

1. A thought comes into our minds.

2. "Hold that thought." Take it captive. Why? Because we need to make sure we are only allowing Truth to pass through the threshold of our minds. This step has to be intentional. Just as we don't let just anyone who approaches our door come into our homes, neither should we let every thought walk through the door of our
minds.

3. Hold the thought up to the Light of God's Word. Is it sound? Does it line up with the Truth of God's Word? If it does, then by all means let it in. But if it doesn't, bind that thought up and throw it away. It has no place in the mind of a child of the King. (Quoted from my study, The Wardrobe of Christ)

Can you see how important it is that we know what's lining the pages of our Bibles? When we take the time to wallpaper our minds with His Word, the Spirit of God will enable us to recognize Truth and decipher it from the lies. It's our single best defense against the lies of the evil one.

Today's challenge: Be more intentional today about your thought life ... that means you have to take time to think about what you are thinking about. How do your thoughts measure up to the Truth in God's Word?