Lord I Need You

Have you heard the new Matt Maher song? It’s on his new album, All the People Said, Amen

Haven’t you had those days where you have truly taken all you could take. If you are married, or have children, I am sure you have! Only because the relationships closest to you will always be a source of joy and therefore are targets for arrows from our enemy.

On these days I have needed a song such as this, that can rest within my heart as I say,

Lord I come, I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
Without You I fall apart
You’re the one that guides my heart

Lord, I need You, oh I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Yes where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me

So teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I’ll fall on You
Jesus You’re my hope and stay
And when I cannot stand I’ll fall on You
Jesus You’re my hope and stay

Can’t you hear the sound of angels wings… on their way to rescue you, if not physically, mentally, emotionally.

Just listen… Lord, I Need You

He, the Lord of the universe sits just waiting on time with You, even if the only time He gets is in the crisis, He waits for You. No need to walk- run to Him, He is more than able to carry your burdens.

With Love,

Mel

Really… After allllll this time…

Have you ever said to yourself, “Really…. this is where I still am… after all this time”?

I am sitting in Really Land today…and I’m gonna be really real… 

It’s like a picture on the wall in front of you.

A beautiful mountain stands tall, proud and confident on a gorgeous blue background. Oh wait, there you are, standing on the … cliff?

“What am I doing there”, you think… Whoa…. “what is that coming out of my mouth, oh no… don’t… say… that! NO”!

Unfortunately the words have been released. When the Lord created the heavens and the earth and spoke them into existence His words never ended, therefore, what is out is out and what is done is done.

Your hands are clenched in your lap and red from you wringing them with anxiety, because you know. You know that your life is changed each time words that are powerful are released, whether it affects you negatively or not isn’t the end, how it affects the kingdom… well that is the real issue.

You glance back to the picture and you can see …

Yep. That’s me you see… on the ground after the fall… on my knees, crying out to God. “Forgive me”

Sometimes He in His great love for me, lifts me up and wipes off my hands and knees, dries my tears and comforts me, and other times… well His spankings may not be physical, but they are jolting. Sometimes ….the words can’t be taken back. Sometimes… what is said, is never forgotten. Sometimes… you don’t get the opportunity to say I am sorry. Everytime… it’s preventable. We are able to keep our mouth from opening, our hands from typing and our pens from writing. We are given the gift of free will, because He loves us that much; however there is another way. His word says,

“Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.”

David Learned quickly to ask the Lord. He doesn’t assume many things from what we read of him, instead he consistently asks God. . . Who would have “thunk it”? To actually ask God… not in a wimpy whiny way, but a strong confident way, can you hear the difference?

Teach me Lord to be like you! To quiet my mouth, my flesh in the moment of my weakness… be my strength! Be my shield! My ever-present help in times of trouble! The trouble my own mouth creates that stops the truth of your word from flowing from my mouth like honey. My own mouth that spews vinegar on those I love, when I do not walk in self-control of my greatest weakness.

Psalm 50:19

You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.

 

I am guilty! but I can trade in that tongue… for a new one! Isn’t that what the good news is all about! That our weakness is His strength, that our junk gets recycled and becomes His treasure.

 

Psalm 35:28

And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness And of Your praise all the day long.

We hold the power, in our tongues to break people from the bondage of a fallen world, or to tie them up in our words, branding them with our tongues and withholding the truth of the Lord from affecting their life. We have a choice to make. Pray that He helps you to speak abundant life, to see others as He sees them, and just see what He will do with you!

There is a brilliant picture hanging on the wall of your heart… and guess what… your sitting at peace on the edge of the cliff.

What Makes A Marriage…

Jake Hamilton teaches on What Makes A Marriage. As I watched this video I literally felt as though the Lord was reaching into my heart showing me how to change a generation. It requires doing nothing more than honoring my husband and my children and teaching them the value of the covenant I made with their father. If we can get this as a church… the lost will come running!

When Love Wins…

Proverbs 17:9

“He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.”

You’ve heard it before, “You can’t tell anyone, but…”… most often this is a tidbit of information that has hurt someone, would hurt someone, or will hurt someone… and my friends, it will always come back to haunt us. Often times it isn’t in the moment, but the future when we look back at a situation as we heard it and realize that we propelled it beyond truth, to a place of speculation and lies.

Our family has experienced times and situations like this more times than I am comfortable with. A family striving to look like Jesus, who still gets caught on the cracks in the sidewalk and face plants right there; in front of an audience. We all feel guilty, we all look guilty and the real kicker… we are guilty. In a moment where we could encourage someone to hide that secret, or confidence within their heart, lifting whatever it is up to the Father instead of sharing it; we latch on and not only do we hear it, we then share it. Do we intend to share it? I believe most people upon hearing it are already forming in their mind who they should “tell this too”. We are learning the hard way what it is to cover a transgression by seeking love. When I contemplate this, I think, “Mel, what does it mean to seek love here”? Some things need to see the light and others need to stay right where they are, to give love to someone who upon hearing of the transgression we may “judge for ourselves” that they aren’t worthy of someone covering them, however the Bible tells us something different.

Back in Genesis 9… yep all the way back Noah had such an incident occur:

20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”
26 And he said: “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”

The beauty of what we see here, is that Shem and Japheth not only honored their father, they didn’t spread the “secret” around. They immediately went into action to cover their father’s transgression. Today, when someone says those tempting words, “You can’t tell anyone… ” quickly, immediately do as Shem and Japheth, cover the transgression and encourage the speaker to do so as well.

“Lord, we thank you that you give us mercy when we don’t deserve it. Teach us to cover others transgression out of love for them and ultimately you. Guide us in our relationships with others that they will be lasting, honest and true to you. Help us to grow in relationship with you, that we would know you more and look more like you. Amen!”

Desensitize: to make indifferent, unaware

Have you heard one thing so many times that you no longer have a reaction to it?

 For many of us it is, “Mommy”, “Mom”, “Momma”, for others, it’s the radio in the background playing the same songs over and over again until you sing them without thought.

When I was young in age and the faith I was taught as many were, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The beauty of this verse is of course our security in our Savior Jesus who came to earth as a wee infant and became a mighty man ready and able to save us from our sin. We were destined to sin, as we were born into a fallen world. There was NO HOPE! … until the birth of Jesus, part man, part God, wholly able to Save.

The moment in my life that took this beautiful picture of grace and changed my life, was the birth of my daughter. I was raised with the full gospel belief, and grew into young adulthood following closely to the word of God; however I got distracted, and stayed distracted for years, forgetting that God had a plan for me beyond my own selfish desires. Then He blessed me, an active sinner; a woman unable to look Him in the eye and yet He gave me a precious child.

She was born a beautiful 7lb. 11oz. and was completely my responsibility. I instantly adored her, and could see in her God’s handiwork. In one moment I knew, my life had to change. If it didn’t; she may never know the work of Jesus in her life. The promise of a verse told and retold for centuries, by mother’s, father’s, grandparents & friends; not to live forever, but to live for now, because God loves us. He admires the earth that He creates but he never shows us love for things, only people. Over the next few years I would work harder than she would ever know to become a mother that was worthy of being called a “Woman after God’s heart”, a women full of mistakes, that were paid for on a cross so long ago; forgiven, changed and new. I would realize with full sensitivity what it would cost me to not only allow my child to suffer for the sin of the world,  but to give my child for the sins of a fallen world. The verse, said so many times that I was no longer affected by it, became alive to me again.

How can you make the white noise surrounding you fade away so that you can hear that still small voice whispering to you again? Make no mistake my friends, He never stops whispering… we just stop hearing. Listen today for your father’s gentle words, “I love you! I see beauty in you, purpose in you, my very heart in you! There is no mistake too great for the cross to overcome! Be strong and courageous and come to me, I will give you rest!”

Let’s Pray,

“Lord, we are so grateful for the love you have given to us. The literal love that you sent to earth to take our place and bear our sin and shame. Lord we ask you to wash us clean today, that we would turn to you and not away from you. That we will stand boldly before your throne and hear the truth of your word. That you gave us eternal life with you, in exchange for our mistakes and regrets. Forgive us Lord and help us to start new today. Make our path straight and our burden light. We pray in the name of your gracious son, Jesus. Amen!”

Now walk in freedom my loves!

 

“For I know the plans…”

My favorite scripture of all time, Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, Plans for good; not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope”.

I have long loved this verse because of it’s meaning to me, as His creation. I have read it when life has been all I dreamed it could be, I have used it to encourage myself that there is more on days when life was far from my dreams, and yet today, reading it shows me something different entirely. Today I see that His hope; His son Jesus, gave me a future long before my time on this earth began, He gave me his seal of approval, by giving me breath to breathe, a song to sing, in tune or out of tune, and a command, to be for good and not evil.

I am unsure how many of us are able to keep our tongues from evil! I myself struggle with this, this desire to always speak when I should listen, to hear when I am already thinking of my fastest retort to use in response. To quiet my child’s incessant calling for “Mommy”, so that I can catch the last line of my current television show. To miss the moment to show my child that the picture they are holding smudged and imperfect in front of me was worth far more to me than something I will laugh at and forget about in less than 15 minutes. Do you struggle as I do, with being just a smidge too selfish to see the beauty beyond your own nose? Well my friends, today is the day we trade the “evil” He hasn’t promised for the “Good” that He has!

Would you pray with me, in your own way, maybe picking up your children from pre-school, or coming out of that mega-meeting that was a deal breaker in your life, or sitting in your home preparing for a new day, a new opportunity to put change into practice.

“Lord, we thank you for another day here surrounded by your goodness. May your grace and mercy cover us amidst our failings; though they are many, would you clean our hearts? May you remove selfishness and fill us with your love to honor you and those around us. Help us to bring change, to be change and to operate in the good you have called us too. We love you Lord, and desire to be more like you, pure, kind and gentle in all of our ways. Amen.”