Countdown to Hope ~ Day 5

Fishing for Hope

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” Psalms 55:22

Casting your cares is a wonderful concept, when you can grasp that concept. Unfortunately, I struggled with how to apply this wisdom to my life and my walk. As a new Christian, I spent countless hours reading books, listening to tapes and surrounding myself with people who were strong in the faith because I, too, wanted to be strong and grounded in my faith walk. I spent time in church services, attended bible study classes, prayed and put forth my best effort to be the best Christian I could be. I read the scriptures and memorized as much as I could. I felt good about my growth and the direction in which I was headed. But despite all of this success, I still struggled to grasp the deeper meaning of “cast your cares”.

Because I am a “need to know how” kind of individual, I question things. I am the search engine queen! My smartphone gets smarter each day simply because of the endless stream of information that I search for each day. So, when I needed clarification regarding this scripture, too many explanations came up flat!  I am a visual learner. I need pictures, graphics or a really thorough description of something in order to comprehend the concept.  I needed to be able to visualize this idea of “casting my cares”. Well, after over twenty years trying to live a committed Christian life (with shortcomings I might add), I finally got it the other day while playing a video game! LOL!

                Let me put out that I am not the outdoorsy type. I like nature, in its place, which means outside of my house. I’ve never hunted, nor trapped my food. I like my food good and dead before I ever come in contact with it. Hence, this explains my inability to make the correlation between casting and fishing. Last year, I bought a game about fishing for our game console because it seemed interesting to me (just not enough to actually go and do it). I grew up in a city and fishing was something done in the country. But, again, this game intrigued me. The tutorial took you through all of the necessary motions to successfully catch fish.  It taught you how to cast the line in different ways, how to hook the fish, and how to reel it in. The other morning, I was up early and decided to spend a few moments fishing in my living room. As I quietly cast the line over and over again, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit point out the obvious image that I’d been searching to find for so long! He said, “Think of casting your cares the way that you cast the line. The way that you cast the line will determine how far away your cares will travel. And as the line, with the bait, sinks into the water so shall your cares sink into the sea. And as you thumb the line, you’ll hook hope just like a fisherman hooks a fish. From there, all you have to do is reel it in.” Well, wow! What an amazing image! God knew what I needed and I got it just in the nick of time!

                Now, when I am burdened down, I know that I just need to go fishing! I’m prepared with my rod, my hook and the bait of praise. I’ll make sure that I cast my cares as I throw out the line, then hook my catch, and reel in some much needed hope! So, I’ll see you later because I’m going fishing!

Countdown to Hope – Day 4

The Renewing Power of Hope

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

 

Today is simply dreary and dismal. We’ve gone from beautiful, sunny days to an overabundance of clouds, dampness and a vicious chill in the air. It is not a day that easily inspires hope, not even a little spark. It’s on days like this that the burdens and challenges we face seem to wrap around our necks and choke out any small trace of hope that exists deep within us. Defeat looms on the horizon and our faith becomes shaky at best. But, if we get to a quiet place, shut out the world and listen intently for that still, small voice, we can grab hold of the remedy for these valley days.

This scripture is an oft quoted reference that has become somewhat of a cliché in church circles. In my experience, it’s thrown around and responded to so much that for many, it has sadly lost its meaning. But if we take a step back, remove the “churchiness” and really concentrate on the message, we find the answer to this level of despair and any other debilitating experience. It states that “those who HOPE in the LORD” will receive some pretty amazing benefits from that hope. But once again, there’s a catch. We’re back to this whole choice thing. It points out that those who will, not that all will or even that all must. Trusting in God is a conscious, active choice. Hope, like faith and trust, are verbs! They are actions! This faith-journey is an active choice, not happenstance. Those who are at peace and walk in the fullness of God’s love, joy, peace, prosperity and abundance of spirit all make an active choice to do so. God honors the choosers because He chose to uniquely design and create each and every one of us. So, it’s only logical that if we want the fullness of who our Father is and what He wants us to have, we must choose Him each and every day, all day. We must actively hope in Him and His Word because that should be our litmus test, our standard and our goal.

While valley days (and sometimes valley seasons) make this daily choice a challenge, it is a must do in order to not only live the life He has ordained and secured for us, but to honor Him and glorify Him in all that we do. So, note to self: I will hope in the Lord because He is my strength each and every day. And because I choose to hope in my God, I will soar like an eagle, I will not get weary or faint on this journey because the power I receive from hoping in Him, sustains me.

Countdown to Hope ~ Day 3

Activating Your Shield

“But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Psalm 3:3

 

What an enlightening scripture this is! After reading this particular scripture this morning, I had the most amazing “Aha!” moment. Now, you would think that I’d already know these things, but I must remind myself that we all have a different learning curve at different times in our lives. Right now, my faith learning curve is a little delayed! LOL!

Any who…as I read this scripture for the third or fourth time, I realized that my faith is my shield to deflect any and all attacks, adversity, or challenges that come my way. God said that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Now, to those who are tactile learners (or kinesthetic learners), we need hands on demonstrations in order to really grasp a concept. We need physical interaction in order for that concept to become concrete even though it may be abstract in nature. (Hence, the whole shield/faith thing for me.)

 I recently watched the film about Captain America. While watching the film, the theme song from the cartoon that I watched kept replaying in my head. I kept hearing, “When Captain America throws his mighty shield…!” Now, I recall a brief conversation with my sons maybe a year prior to this when the consensus amongst them was that Captain America wasn’t very impressive because all he had was a shield. I also remember fervently defending him because it wasn’t the fact that he had a shield, but how he used that shield against his enemies that mattered! And so it is with our faith walk! It is impossible to maintain or even embrace hope when we are constantly being attacked, wounded and weakened throughout each day; however, maybe we’re not using the shield of faith that has been granted to every believer. Today, I plan on using my shield of faith rather than letting it sit in a corner somewhere useless.

How about you?

Countdown to Hope ~ Day 2

“May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Psalm 22:22

 

After reading this very short and succinct scripture, I came to the conclusion that hope is a choice. We can choose to have hope and rest in the knowledge that God is in control and has our best interests at heart. Or, we can choose to be downcast, depressed and embrace every dark and desolate thought, feeling or fear that surrounds us. Hope is sometimes so far away from us and our current state of mind that we need to file a missing persons report on it and “hope” that the proper authorities will track it down. However, our challenge in this life journey is to seek hope will unending fervor and diligence despite what we see, feel and touch.

God compels us to put our hope in Him. It is through His love for us that we are given the gift of hope and the constant opportunity to revisit and re-embrace hope every day. But again, hope is a conscience choice just like joy is a choice. Choose to hope in God and his unfailing love and hope will be yours always.

The Countdown to Hope

The Countdown to Hope

"Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God." Psalm 43: 5

The holiday season is upon us again and I've fallen into my usual process of getting into the "holiday" spirit. I often sit and watch countless hours of Hallmark movies beginning right after my Halloween movie marathons, and allowing myself to get that overwhelming rush of sappy emotion that is a guarantee when watching any of their films. Now, some would say that this is a silly process merely conjuring up fabricated feelings of "home and holiday" when the reality is...times suck royally! Unemployment is high, people with jobs (including me) are living paycheck to paycheck, the over-commercialization of Christmas has practically taken every modicum of spirituality out of the day/season, and people are generally just hanging on emotionally, spiritually, financially, and mentally and can't get past the haze of gloom and doom that seems to hover like a threatening storm cloud over every area of their lives. So, where do they go from here? Where do we go from here?

At this time of year, countdowns to Christmas begin everywhere you look. There are countdown clocks, displays in stores, endless advertisements on television, radio and now the Internet and cellphones! The greed-infused spirit of capitalism and consumerism wants us all to spend, spend, and spend some more in order to feel better. At least, that's what they want us to believe. They want us to embrace things and stuff and look to it for something, anything to make us FEEL better. Well, I don't want this cycle of misery anymore! I want, I need something better!

So, in this midst of the world's Countdown to Greed, I choose to begin my Countdown to Hope! You see, as a woman of faith, I am compelled to walk by faith and not by sight. So, despite the horrific things I witness each and everyday, I must HOPE! Despite getting disappointed repeatedly by people, I must HOPE! Despite being overlooked and misrepresented, I must HOPE! Even when I am so overwhelmed by everything I do see and I just want to crawl into a hole somewhere and die hoping the pain will go away, I must HOPE! I must hope because I look to the hills where my help comes from, and my help comes from the Lord! I must hope because no matter how bad it may seem, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! I must hope because I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus! I must HOPE! I am commanded to HOPE! My hope comes from my Heavenly Father who created me, my Savior, Jesus Christ, for loving me enough to sacrifice Himself for my benefit, and the Holy Spirit who leads and guides me through every valley and even through the messes that I've created. I must HOPE in God because that's where hope comes from!

So, I challenge you today...no matter how bad it is, begin your Countdown to Hope today! It may take you five days before you feel it kick in, or even twenty, but God is faithful and will restore the hope of your salvation and remind you that He has never left you nor forsaken you, and He never will!

God bless you!

Lili

The Five Senses - A Curse of a Blessing

The Five Senses – A Curse or a Blessing

 

True believers in Christ are, without question, a peculiar bunch. The bible says that we, “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 KJV) . We exist to worship God. We are expected to yield every part of our beings to God and His will for our lives because once we name Christ as our Savior, we belong to Him. In fact, we are so tremendously blessed that the bible declares, “no weapon formed against us shall prosper”. (Isaiah 54:17 KJV) Yet, despite the protection and blessings that we walk in as believers, Paul reminds us in Romans 7:21 (KJV), “when I would do good, evil is present with me.” We must face the fact that we have an adversary in the form of Satan, the fallen one. He desires to see all believers destroyed, both physically and spiritually. He wants to see our testimonies voided, pushing and tricking us into succumbing to every weakness and temptation. But, in my opinion, he gets entirely too much credit for bad behavior amongst the saints. Now, if you were to attend almost any traditional devotional service, the number one reason given for a believer’s fall from grace is the devil, the enemy, the adversary. I tell you, the devil gets ample airtime within the Body of Christ! He is blamed for everything from mass destruction in the world to the reason why that sister you have issues with didn’t speak as she walked by. Now, without negating Satan’s clear influence in this world of ours, where does free will and individual choice enter into the picture? Where, in all of this, do we take responsibility? When does everything stop being the fault of the adversary?

As human beings, God designed us with emotions and senses. He gave us mortal bodies that have real physical needs. We need a certain amount of food, water and rest in order to survive. He gave us senses to help us navigate through this human experience. He gave us a sense of touch, the ability to see, hear, taste and smell. All of these senses can lead to blessings or curses, depending on how we engage them and respond to the stimuli that triggers them. 2 Corinthians 10:14 says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” How we respond to what impacts our senses influences whether we use them according to God’s intended purpose or allow the enemy to pervert them.

 

The sense of touch is not a perverse thing. In fact, it is a scientifically proven need. It has been shown that newborns that are never touched don’t develop properly physically, emotionally or mentally. We are designed to be touched and to touch others. However, when we allow the need for touch to rule us over the balancing power of the Word, it becomes a stronghold and a tool for the enemy to use against us. When we feed this need for touch with inappropriate relationships and the touching that goes along with it, we invite the enemy in to take up residence in that area of our lives. Touch, in its appropriate form, brings life to a longing soul.

 

 

Matthew 6:22-23 says, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” A more secular interpretation of this scripture is “the eyes are the windows of the soul”, or as the French say, “the eyes are the mirror of the soul”. As believers, we often forget just how powerful an image is. We live in a time when most Americans are bombarded with millions of images every day. Images on television, billboards, radio commercials, and internet commercials, advertisements on cars, public transportation and even in the movie theaters leave us with little opportunity to just disconnect from the plethora of images everywhere. There are even advertisements in cell phone apps! And these are the involuntary images, most of which are contrary to God’s Word. If we factor in the voluntary images, the number of anti-Word, anti-Will of God images must be staggering! Yet, we are surprised when we act in ways that are contrary to God’s Word! What we see has such a tremendous influence on our thought process and how we make decisions! The same goes for what we hear! What we listen to and plant within our hearts has just as much influence on us as what we see! This is why we must stay in God’s Word in order to combat the world’s influence upon our beings.

 

 

Taste and smell must seem rather inconsequential when compared to sight and hearing. However, when allowed to go unbalanced and unchecked, these senses can trigger out of control desires that believers have trouble bringing under subjection. The sense of smell and taste often dictate a person’s eating habits. Smell triggers hunger and taste facilitates the eating process. When human beings rely on smell and taste to dictate their satisfaction, they will never, ever become satisfied! Our ability to eat until we are full will be replaced with the need to appease the greed and lust of the senses. Why do we eat when we aren’t hungry? Because we have become slaves to the imbalanced desires triggered by our senses. We must continuously read and study the Word and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We must pray for discipline and balance that only the Word of God can give us. We must remind ourselves each day that, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). It is only through God’s Word that we will obtain and remain victorious!

Reborn

Reborn

By Lili

Buried beneath a blanket of discarded dreams,
Never seeing beyond limits and malevolent schemes,
My heart died valve by valve, and piece by piece,
Aching and longing for the grave’s relief.
My tortured, hemorrhaging soul was bound to envy’s stake,
By criticism hurled, laced with venomous hate.
Damage inflicted by the jagged edges of words
Used to diminish the divine Voice that I heard.
Turned away from my muse, engulfed by denial,
I drank from the well filled with their scornful bile.
Then, at once, shaken from my stupor of pity and defeat,
Arose the blaze of passion and desire to meet
The ones who strategized my descent into sorrow,
And eagerly awaited my destruction on the morrow.
Yet with my mighty sword, a pen in hand,
I felt the flow of creation, Logos in command.
No longer dying, my heart felt an ethereal surge,
The Power connection renewed my creative urge.
The blanket of broken dreams, shaken clean,
Vision restored to me, now free to dream.
No longer caught in the clutches of death,
Rising steadily upward to catch my breath.
Envy, now fallen, into the abyss,
Succumbs to pure evil; its plan amiss.
I’ve embraced divine truth, no more chained by their scorn,
The creative spirit within me is now reborn!

Welcome to my new blog, Worship Through My Wilderness!

I am touched that you are interested in the things that I feel and want to say. In these days and times, too many people focus on the negative, harsh realities that we face in this world. I want to be a voice of love, encouragement and hope in a time when it is so desperately needed!

As I writer, I find healing and clarity in the words that I put on paper, whether through an essay, a poem or even a brief commentary. It is my hope that as I journey through this life, maybe something that I've experienced or thoughts that I've shared might touch or help someone else along the way. No matter what you are struggling with or what challenges lay before you, know that God loves you and Jesus Christ gave His life so that you can have eternal life! Not only that, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly! So, my brothers and sisters, be encouraged! I hope you enjoy my blog!

Lili