Are you a 911 Friend?

"This is 911, how may I help you"?
"I am in a medical crisis and I need prayer"
"Yes, dear friend, I will pray without ceasing."
Are you that kind of a friend?  Are you that kind of a Christian?
How easy it is to speak our Christian language and let the words drip off our tongue...."I will pray for you".  As the words escape our mouths, the intent, also, escapes our consciousness.  We never,in fact, get around to praying for that person or the situation.  As easily as the words are spoken, the situation is forgotten.
I recently found myself in a medical trial.  On my to ER I examined my "short list" in my head, my 911 friends. Sometimes, in a crisis, we can not formulate our words so that they reach the throne, in an eloquent, coherent manner- Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.'
I found myself in a situation that is not familiar to me....I was without words.  I was afraid, I was hooked up to a lot of drugs, I could not formulate my thoughts or my prayers.
I needed my 911 friends.
As much as I sought the aid of the Dr's to alleviate my symptoms, I sought the aid of my 911 friends to alleviate my symptoms. 
What constitutes a 911 friend?  For me, they are :
*Dependable 
*Intentional
*Authentic
*They will pray, without ceasing, until they are released from the problem, or the problem is released from the person.  
*They check in and alter prayer requests as the situation develops and changes.
*They offer sacrificial prayer: irregardless of time, space or situation. 
*When they say, "I am praying", you know it to be true and there is great comfort.
I am thankful that I have a handful of 911 friends.  I pray that through this experience, I am forever altered, to become more of a 911 friend. I pray that I am never so big, so important, so self absorbed...that I forget what really matters. We are the body of Christ, if one of our members have fallen, the body falters.  To reach down, to slow down, to reach out- so that we can reach up on anothers behalf.  To see, feel and understand the plight of others. To expand from a 911 friend to a 911 Christian...that sees the world through the eyes of prayer and the endless need for more love.  
To my 911 friends, you know who you are,....I am eternally grateful.  Thank you!  

Endless Ocean

 

(Found this fantastic image at http://www.worth1000.com/contests/24770/wooden-boat )

."If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry 

I love this quote...I love the thought of  an insatiable desire to know more of the immenseness of God.  I think we can get so busy on the shoreline...that we get lost in the making of our boat.  We spend so much time on shore, making sure that everything is pristine and perfect...That the vessel is sea worthy, that our vessel looks good and is shiny and perfect.   We polish and we add and we look out to sea...but the time isn't right yet...there is still more work to be done on our vessel before we can launch into the vastness of God...so we limit ourselves to the shoreline...and we limit ourselves to playing in the surf...while the nature of God licks at our Spirits...beckons us to launch into Him...yearns for our presence in the heart of His character.  We look longingly out to sea...but...we...are....simply...not...ready...yet.  We are not ready to loose ourselves in Him. 
The fact of the matter is, He loved us and chose us, while we were still sinners.  If we are waiting to be "perfect" and acceptable before we launch into His greatness- we will never be able to launch, because we are, and ever will be, sinners.  He accepts us as we are, and THEN he starts transforming our hearts.  We have to launch into His presence, and give Him access into our hearts...and then He starts a wonderful metamorphosis within our hearts.
Perhaps the thought of all that ocean...all that God is a bit daunting and frightening....to quote CS Lewis, from "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe":
“Is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr Beaver sternly. Certainly not. I tell you he is King of the wood and the son of the great emperor-beyond- the-sea. Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great lion.”
“ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake” said Mrs Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

He is the King of kings, He is Yawheh...we would be foolish to come before Him without our knees knocking...but he IS GOOD.  His very nature and character is GOOOOOOD.  Think about the tiny wooden boat and, decidedly, launching into the vastness of God.  A bit daunting, yes?  Imagine it this way then: With each stroke of the oar, you pay attention to the nature and the character and the blessings that He bestows on you.  You pay attention, with each stroke of the oar, to the sun that plays on the waves...and you give thanks to God.
You pay attention to the colors playing within the water, and you give thanks to God.
You look at the oar and how it slices through the adversity...and you give thanks to God.
You look at the boat, how well it is made, .....and you give thanks to God.
You look at the bounty of life contained around you...and you give thanks to God.
You see rain clouds on the horizon...and you give thanks to God.

AS you count your blessings...one by one...you are launched further out into the expanse of The King....and He is GOOOOOOD.  He isn't safe...the rain clouds are approaching and the waves are picking up.  The sun is sneeking slowly away behind those angry skies.....a storm is coming.

But...remember ....His nature.  Remember....His goodness.  Look at the storm and remember who you KNOW God to be...You are now amongst the vastness of His presence.  You have left the shores of complacency and you find yourself lost in the vastness of his endless ocean.

The storm can't hurt you if you jump in.  Remember the blessings, remember His goodness.  Remember that He loved you FIRST.  Jump into His presence...do not fix your eyes on the storm...trust in who you KNOW Him to be.  Let Him surround you, permeate you, get lost in His presence....that is where the safety is...that is where you breathe in His goodness and that is where you find the satisfaction of learning and relying on the immenseness of God.

Ok, back to our little picture...I love that in the picture there is a hat, because we are no longer on the boat- we have left behind that which the world says will protect us...the boat and the hat...and dove into ....beyond all reason...beyond all human understanding...we have dove into God Himself.

And we have left behind a fishing pole....because...really...isn't it our job- to coerce this yearning, for the immenseness of His endless ocean, in others?  Really...isn't it our job to help others get into the water and off the shoreline?  Really...isn't it our job to fish for men and introduce them to the joy of loosing ourselves in His immenseness?
I think so....May we all build sturdy ships through counting our blessings and  discovering His goodness through each heavenly kiss ,we call a blessing.
May our spirits be strengthened through discovering His nature through His word.
May we realize and respond to the longing for MORE of Him that is planted in our souls.
May we launch out to discover the vastness and the uncharted areas of God ' s heart.
And may we swim amongst His spirit, in the arms of Christ, manifesting His presence...and creating an insatiable thirst in others.

Check Yer' Batteries - Control

Livecell is a self recharging battery that harnesses power from our movement.  Imagine that, as we are walking in the world, walking towards what keeps our focus - this battery is instantly recharging. We walk towards that which has our attention.  We embrace that which we strive for...the walk fuels our spiritual batteries as much as the destination.

What are you focusing on?  What are we walking towards and embracing?  Yesterday, we looked at the WORLD charging our batteries.  Today, I wanted to look at SELF charging our spiritual batteries. 

     

How can SELF control our spiritual batteries?  I think one of the biggest places we allow SELF to permeate our surroundings is through control. How many times have we felt like the weight of the world is resting on our shoulders....our  knees are breaking and we are crying out for the Lord to help us and release us from our burdens.
      We shake and we shudder and we are going down for the count - overtaken with circumstances......and the Lord is standing next to us- arms wide open, ready to receive that which we are willing to give Him.
      His hands wait for us to release it to all to Him, yet, We .....are...not...sure.....about...that.  To release it ALL?  To relinquish ALL control ?   To release ALL control of outcome and expectation?  Hmmmmm,that will require some thought and preparation, as we continue to try and control our own, personal universes.  Trying to spin our world on the axis of our perceptions and our details....spinning our universe on the epicenter of our control and micro management.  Spinning the world we have created to try and steer towards our expected outcome.  Fixing things and planning, creating and moving, we create our own Ishmael's on a daily basis.  Things born of our need to control, not out of the heart of the Father. 
     In this reality,w e are the masters of our own Bodily corporations.  We are the CEO, The VP and the President.  We create business plans for our marriages, our jobs,  our children, our careers...so many business plans...so little time.  We create the plans, we write them up and we hand them to GOD to sign off on.  He is a gracious God, He has given us Free Will.  He looks over the binder of business plans that you have presented Him with, and a tear slips from His eye...because, He sees the beginning and the end.....and He knows the implication s of Page 4, Subcategory 3a, Section 14- and He knows that is going to wreak havoc in your marriage. But, he signs off on it.  He turns the page and a sigh escapes from His lips - because He knows what is going to happen when you get to page 15...you will enter a dark night of the soul, that you will curse Him for your circumstances....But, He signs off on it.   He continues to look at your plans and your schemes, as you stand before the throne- shuddering from the weight of your world on your shoulders, and your eyes meet. 
     We were not created to run the universe, thank goodness!  We were not created to hold our worlds on our shoulders, spin them and make them dance to the heartbeat of our desires.   Jesus stands and asks us to trust Him and relinquish the need for power and control into His loving hands.  We stand before Him, holding our world, holding all of our worlds atop our shaking shoulders......  What is fueling our motion sensitive Livecell battery in this scenario??  The shaking of our bodies as we strive under the weight of our created circumstances.  
     We can switch out that fuel and we can heave our carefully controlled universes onto His shoulders.  We can watch as those things that were not of Him spin into the ethers.  As they spin off, we feel lighter somehow....our batteries are being fueled by a new source.  He takes our universe in His loving hand and He starts rearranging things.  Our pulses quicken....surely He didn't mean to do THAT???  To move that??  To remove the thing that had taken 2 years to get done??  Surely that was a mistake.....  You reach out and you think it might be time to take your world back onto your shoulders again, because surely- He doesn't understand the implications of what He is moving around, removing and adding into your world.  His eyes search yours....They implore you to trust Him with your world, your circumstances, your health, your occupation, your family, your marriage, your finances, your spiritual life.....His eyes question..."Can you trust Me with your world?  You want to say yes...you want to be the good Christian that walks by faith and not by sight.  But, to let go of it ALL and trust Him?  
     What if we used our ONE.STEP.AT.A.TIME here as well.  I can remember the day that I handed my children to Him.  I think it took over two hours to really let them go and release them into His arms and His, ultimate care.  He asked me to trust me with their hearts and their lives.   The Creator of Universes, the Maker of All, gently asked me to give Him my kids and trust Him with their hearts and their lives.  It was, possibly, the hardest thing I have ever done.  
I cried out, "But do you know how much I love them????"  
"I created them, do you know how much I love them?"
"But, they are everything that I hold most dear"
"Let Me be that which you hold most dear"
"What if something happens to them?"
"Things ARE going to happen to them, do you trust me?
"Yes...for me, but these are my CHILDREN"
"Do you trust Me with their care and their life and their hearts?"
     I wrestled for hours with Him.  I wrestled and cried and implored that He would understand how much I loved them.  I needed them to be alright.  I needed them to be cared for and alright.  I needed them to be loved.  I needed to control them and be in control of their destinies.  These were walking expressions of my heart, that had found a place in the tangible world. If I controlled their worlds, surely I could keep them safe....
He whispered directly to my soul, 
"Your love for them is so great, so deep....how much deeper is mine.  I entrusted you with their hearts for a season, will you trust me with their hearts for eternity? " 
 And, I broke, as He washed over me with His love and His adoration for the little hearts that I hold most dear, and...I ...passed....them....to....Him....one...by...one, through countless tears of trust and gratitude.
     ONE.STEP.AT.A.TIME. Is there something that you can give over to Him today?  A circumstance, a relationship?  A situation?  A job?  A need?  If we were to relinquish control, ONE.STEP.AT.A.TIME......our backs would stop straining, our knees stop aching.  The fuel of CONTROL would be replaced by the fuel of TRUST and FAITH.  Pick that ONE.STEP today, and begin the process of letting go.  Tear up Your business plan and present Jesus with a blank journal for Him to write the desires of HIS heart for your life, and then, walk it out ONE.STEP.AT.A.TIME, holding His hand!




     


 

Heart Fire: Check Your Batteries!

Heart Fire: Check Your Batteries!

Check Yer' Batteries! The World

We all have batteries that fuel us and batteries that need to be recharged. My question, this morning, is what  fuels your batteries?  Such a hard question to get our hearts around, because we all want to scream out, “The love of the Lord”, or “Jesus is my fuel and my source”…and that can be true, on most days.

Yet, I find that the grave clothes and vestiges of self are so hard to dismiss and get rid of.  I think “dying to self” is one of the hardest tasks that we are called to.   To be in the world, but not of it.  We have all grown up with these words, heard them, recite them, teach them to our children….but, HOW??

How do you “Walk in the world, but not be OF it”?  How do you “Die to Self”…that all sounds great and feels so smooth rolling off of our Christian tongues..but, really…what does THAT mean?

I can only speak in terms of what the Lord has taken me through and the places that He has claimed as His own in my heart.  I was born into the Catholic tradition.  I received all of my sacraments and struggled to find God within the confines of the Catholic Church.  As a young adult, in college, I turned away from God-  because I found so much hypocrisy within the walls of the Church.  After loosing my grandmother, my world turned upside down and backwards…..and I found myself reaching out, once again,  for God.  I attended a church that God came alive within my heart and was a tangible presence….Our Lady Of Fatima.    He was alive, He was real.  Through bible studies and young adult groups…I grew in understanding.  Through service projects, I saw the need of others and responded with compassion.  But, I still walked in the world.  I spent my time on Sundays at church and was moved to tears by the music and the message.  I had my small group Thursday night, led some Bible Studies, participated in other Bible Studies.  I was asked to speak at church, I served as a Eucharistic minister at church- but the world still held most of my heart.  I was content with Church 2-3 times a week , for a few hours – and a whole lot of ME time for the rest of the week.

The music I listened to, the movies I watched, the books I read, the bars, night clubs, and dance places I frequented….did not speak of my Christian walk and the Lordship of Jesus in my heart….my lifestyle spoke of the Lordship of ME in my life- with a little bit of room  allowed to Jesus.

Dying to self happened over the course of the next 20, some odd years…one step at a time. One DECISION at a time.  I started to choose a spiritual book, and inspirational novel or bible study – over the most recent trashy novel.  I found that when I did attempt to pick up something “trashy” I had a quiet discontent, and did not enjoy it any more.

I found that movies started to offend me…slowly, slowly…one step at a time.  Movies that would have made me chuckle years ago – seemed to stir that quiet discontent again.

       As I made one decision at a time, God owned more of my heart and my battery fuel was s-l-o-w-l-y changing.  The key word here is SLOWLY.  God is never in a rush to refine us.  He takes His time, and He refines us with His love – even though it hurts sometimes.  It seems that with each “better” choice I made- I had a bit more peace and joy.  The world feeds us anger, competitiveness, jealousy, resentment, and comparison as our fuel.  As I made –one.choice.at  a .time- my heart seemed to get lighter. My fuel was changing , my batteries were being charged by a different source.

       From a worldly view, the prospect of giving up the world appears to be impossible and absolutely no fun.  The Christian walk appears to be fraught with hypocrisy and judgment.   That is what satan would have us believe.  Give up the world and you give up fun.  Give up the world and you give up laughter.  Give up the world and embrace a Christian walk – and you will have to have your Bible with you all the time, so you can hit people with it.  Going to embrace a Christian walk?  You better get a soapbox and a refined, manicured pointer finger- to point the  **FINGER OF JUDGMENT* at everyone.

One.choice.at.a.time – you realize that is a lie born out of hell itself. 

One.choice.at.a.time – you find the stillness of God in your soul as a gift.

One.choice.at.a.time – you find joy, real joy…bubbling out, uncontainable joy....... and laughter .....and fun, that originates from a different source.

One.choice.at.a.time –you find those movies really are offensive and don’t speak life into your heart, or your families heart.

One.choice.at.a.time –you find you are choosing different reading material

One.choice.at.a.time –you find you WANT to read the Bible and discover God within the living pages.

One.choice.at.a.time –you find you WANT to be at Church

One.choice.at.a.time –you find that Sundays, alone, isn’t enough anymore

One.choice.at.a.time –you find you are changing from the inside out

One.choice.at.a.time –your countenance changes

One.choice.at.a.time –you are no longer judging, but loving. 

One.choice.at.a.time –your batteries have been switched over to refining fuel of oil.  Your batteries are brand new,

I still have to make One.choice.at.a.time . The world always tries to take back that which we have given over to God.  There are always new books and new movies that “everyone is talking about”.  But, I make One.choice.at.a.time .  I press into God and I pray for strength and I pray that I make the right choices.  Yes, I do make wrong choices too.  But, my God is always ready to remove the scalding oil of the world from my batteries, the second I ask Him to…and He replaces it with the fuel of His Spirit and a stronger resolve in my heart, to not partake again.

What fuels your batteries?  Are you ready to make One.choice.at.a.time –

Rush, and you may miss the blessings....

Held so tight.....