Do not be discouraged...

This week has been pretty good but pretty difficult! ...SOMETHING good is BOUND to come...  That's my prayer anyway!  God can do ANYTHING!

I've committed to reading through the Bible...no set time frame just going through at my own pace...I just started the book of Joshua.  What miracles the Lord did before the eyes of the Israelites!  Joshua 1:9 has become somewhat of a mantra for me this week:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Sometimes the fact that He IS with us is the only comfort we have...and it's all the comfort we need!  There is NOTHING to be fearful of, no matter WHAT is going on in life because God is with us.  Death has been defeated!  The battle is won!  And even death (as scary as it is) is more gain and triumph than we could ever imagine because we have erternity to look forward to!  Life on this earth is difficult...it's the only garuntee we have.  But, be strong and courageous!  Live life FOR Christ, allowing HIM to overflow from your heart into your actions/conversations/relationships, and there is NOTHING to fear! (Easier said than done for sure)  That's why God gave us the Holy Spirit and Prayer!  Talk with God.  Listen.  Only He can and WILL give you the strength to carry out the good work he has started in you---and he will cary it through to completion! (Philippians 1:6)

love and prayers,

XOXOX

Victory in Jesus!

Here we are on Sunday again...I'm sorry this isn't as consistent as I want it to be, thank you for bearing with me :)

I am always amazed at how the Enemy can pick out just the "right" lie for each and every day.  Some days it might be how you look..."you're not pretty...that doesn't look good...why are you even trying?...," he says.  And, wouldn't you know it, that's JUST what causes you to have a bad day.  Or maybe he attacks your job performance, or your relationships, or your mood, or any number of things, but each time he chooses the ONE thing that keeps you from puting one foot in front of the other that day (and it may be different every day).  The POINT is, that's his goal.  He wants you to fail.  He wants you to be upset, cower in the corner, snap at your friend, tell yourelf you are any less that what God made you....  The TRUTH is, we have already won the victory(1 John 5:4: ...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith)!  God has given us the power to say:

"Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Matthew 16:23

And the cool part is, Satan HAS to listen!  (I so need to hear this today!)  Satan's hateful half-truths have been coming at me from all sides...and it's hard to say "no" to him (John 8:44: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.)  But, God has given us the power!  Praise the Lord!  Even though it's hard, it IS possible...and sometimes we need to tell him more than once to remove his influence from out path...all the while guarding our hearts and minds from his constant attack!

So, tell that bad day to get behind you and move on in JOY!  Chirst has won!  The victory is ours!

No words...

What do you do when the words don't come?  When inspiration has kept its distance?  You're staring at a blank screen, page, face...and the words just aren't there...God doesn't seem to be leading.
Or is He?
Sometimes in the face of silence we are to be silent...to sit in wait for that spark of creativity, conversation, or inspiration to manifest itself and grow into a fully formed thought...  It's in those moments when our time together comes on a Sunday, or Monday...BUT, then we are no longer sharing "Saturdays with Sara" are we?  No, it's more like "Devotions with Sara" or "Encouragement with Sara" or any number of things you may or may not get from our time together once a week.
Then, there are other times when we are to fight the silence because it's Satan's way of keeping us from a commitment...silence...hiding the light...keeping you from sharing your voice, wisdom, and love with the people around you.  In these moments we must fight the urge to give up and press on through the awkwardness of "nothing to say;" because a heart overflowing with Christ will always have SOMETHING to share.  Something of great value.  Something no one else can share...
Itself.
In my weakness, He is made strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)...  So I will most gladly boast in my weakness because it is then, and only then, that God's voice is purest (and loudest)...there is no longer anything that I can contribute...I am only a vessel for Christ.
So, as you go through your day, when you come to those moments where there "are just no words" rely on the fact that God speaks with a still small voice...so listen carefully...because if you have nothing to say, He does!  Therefore allow your heart and mind to overflow with Christ and alow Him to speak through you!  When you share Christ, you share your heart...When you share your heart, you share Christ.
Chances are, You need to be silent so someone else can hear!

What Do You Seek?

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

What do you seek?  As humans we seek wealth, fortune, truth, love, comfort, honesty, leadership, counsel, meaning, worth, gratitude, kindness, et cetra...  Every day is filled with a search for whatever it is we are "missing."  We are consumed with the action of searching with the goal of fulfillment...yet we are not fulfilled.  Nothing we seek, once found, satisfies.  Why?
Our Creator, God, gifted us with the ability to seek and the free will make a choice once we find what we seek...All we need to do is rely on wisdom and reason to make the right choice...right?  But, whose wisdom do we rely on?  Where do we find our model for what is right?
The ONLY answer is Christ.
God created us to seek...Him.  There's an old song that says, "there's a God shaped hole in all of us..."  I believe that.  God created us with a void to fill, a void that can only be filled with Christ.  Before the fall, when Eden was perfect, Adam and Eve never felt that void because God was with them every step of the way...After the fall we have been left to choose to fill the void with Christ and Christ alone.
What do you seek?  What are you searching for right now?  Where are you looking?  To your job?  To your friends?  To yourself?  Are you finding FULL satisfaction IN Christ every moment of every day?
There is no person, no thing, no word, no action, no amount, no status...NOTHING that can fill or satisfy our search OTHER than Jesus!!  How COMFORTING!  We have a God who loves us so much that he created a place for Himself in our hearts, and then PURSUES us so that we might find Him!
How has He pursued you today?  Really think about it...write it down...Share His pursuit of you with others!  We serve a wonderful, majestic, loving God!  (and what girl (or boy) doesn't want to be pursued?)

Power

I went to Myrtle Beach for the first time this weekend!  I went with coworkers, it was so much fun, and all I could think of all weekend was my lack of Internet to "meet with you" yesterday. The ocean always amazes me with the wonder, majesty, and awesome power of God.   It's my favorite place in the world!  Saturday was really really windy and as I attempted to remain standing in the surf, I was not only struck by the power of God, but I could FEEL it!  (Mommy and I share this same thought process...she went last weekend and told me she thought the exact same thing...which I remembered after I thought of it...)  It reminded me of the song "Revelation Song" which reminds us that Jesus' NAME IS power.   Worthy is the, Lamb who was slain Holy, Holy, is He Sing a new song, to Him who sits on Heaven's Mercy Seat [Repeat 2x] (Chorus) Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord God Almighty Who was, and is, and is to come With all creation I sing: Praise to the King of Kings! You are my everything, And I will adore You…! Clothed in rainbows, of living color Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder Blessing and honor, strength and Glory and power be To You the Only Wise King Filled with wonder, Awestruck wonder At the mention of Your Name Jesus, Your Name is PowerBreath, and Living Water Such a marvelous mystery! Just the name of Jesus has power and we have that same power in us!  What a gift!  So, in anything you struggle with, in anything and everything you do for the rest of the day and for the whole week, remember that YOU have the POWER of God LIVING in you!!!  Release it with prayer!

God's Perfect and Pleasing Plan

As I was chatting with friends last night, I came to the realization that even though I am going through what I see as "a lot," even though this life is difficult, even though this is NOT where I thought I would be at 25...I am overjoyed to go through it for Christ!  This short time of suffering is a blessing.  And each and every "turn for the worse" is perfect and pleasing because it is God's will!

"Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne."  Hebrews 12:1-2

 Sometimes we forget that Jesus is the "source and perfecter."  Nothing in us comes from what we may have...ALL things are from Jesus and made perfect BY Him!  This means our desires too.  The bible tells us that God will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 20:4, 37:4)... but, the bible also tells us that our hearts are prone to evil and sin (John 8:43-45).  Romans 7 reminds us that because we are born into sin we do the things we hate rather than doing the things we know are right.
I used to think that all my desires came from God...then I would get mad at God for not fulfilling the desires He gave me.  The thing I didn't realize was that the unfulfilled desires were either premature (and might be fulfilled later - that is, in God's timing) or they were not from God (they were from Satan).  The beautiful thing is that God will help us to see the difference!  As we grow deeper in our faith and in the word, as we grow closer to God, He begins to change our heart. I'll never get over that...Jesus CHANGES my heart!!!!  As our heart changes, so do our desires!  Did you catch that...Jesus not only changes our hearts He changes our desires...  As we are made to be more like Jesus, we beging to think, act, worship, and desire more like Jesus!!!
This is not an easy task, however.  We are called to suffer through this Christian life (1 Peter 2:21, 5:10) until we are captured up into Glory with the Father.  But, as Paul tells us, this suffering breings the greatest joy of all!

John 13:35

Sitting here with my coffee thinking of  our "discussion" for this Saturday, and my heart reminds me... As we live life together (in our relationships) we are either influencers or influenced...either way, as Christians, we are a picture of Christ to those around us.

 

In my life, I find that I have different "circles"...there's my friend relationships, my family relationships, and my work relationships...  each "circle" looks a little different AND causes me to ACT a little differently.  With my friends (and at church) I feel I am more encouraging, more joyful, and more serving.  With my family I tend to be a little more irritable and contentious/argumentative.  At work I am more influenced by others' moods and tend to be more easily frustrated. Unfortunately, as open and honest as that all is, it is so very wrong.  As a picture of Christ (a Christian = meaning "little Christ")  I should be the same (that is, have the same attitude) throughout all of my day in all of my interactions.

Jesus treated all the people he encountered with the same service, the same love, the same care, and the same tenderness no matter WHO they were or how well He knew them.  Jesus was always the same because God is always the same...He never changes!  What a great truth!!  So, If God is always the same, why can't we be???

SIN. 

The long and short of life is that we are creatures drawn to sin...we are drawn to the irritable, contentious, argumentative, frustrated, follow the crowd mentality (Romans 7:13-25)...if we weren't, we wouldn't need a savior (Romans 3:22-24).  (Praise God for the Savior!)So, can I explain WHY my attitude and actions are different depending on the people around me?  No.  Except that, Satan seeks to destroy us and therefore seeks to destroy our relationships. (1 Peter 5:8) I DO know that this trend needs to change and I DO know that MY mood is affected my the people in my life and I respond accordingly...instead I should seek to AFFECT the mood of the people in my life by ALLOWING Christ and Christ alone to overflow from my heart!

And now, as I finish the last of my coffee, the last thought is this...God mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 2:22-23) and therefore we have a new opportunity every day to allow God to affect our mood rather than allowing others to affect our mood.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)