It’s interesting, (that’s a kind word for it) to take a walk with me, but will you walk with me. I have something important to share with you. I’m sorta like the little boy in Bil Keane’s “Family Circus” comic strip. I have a hard time staying focused on one thing. Everything intrigues me! I’m […]
Do you ever have words that echo in the caverns of your mind? Words that bounce back and forth and seem to get louder instead of dimmer? It happens to me a lot. This week the words were birthed from last week’s blog about my precious daughter-in-law Jenny. In my Bible study I ran across […]
Where do you turn when you are discouraged? Where do go when circumstances pile in on you? What do you do when your son/daughter is rebellious–seriously rebellious? Where do you look when your marriage is in trouble? What do you do when your baby has a fever and is throwing up and nothing seems to […]
What? You don’t believe me? You heard me right! Call me a rebel! Laugh! Go ahead. But I’ve made up my mind! I’m just NOT gonna do it! I’ve failed too many times. OK. So I sorta am going to make a resolution. But I AM going to make one resolution…one focused resolve for […]
Trust Him- Jesus Will Never Leave You! Fall is my favorite time of the year. I can’t begin to describe the splendor of this year’s fall canvas. Vibrant hues of bright yellows, delicious oranges, explosive reds and emerald greens kissed a flamboyant blue sky. We watched brilliant golden leaves flutter and twirl their way to […]
Breakfast Saturday morning ended the ladies conference. Mama T, Thelma Wells, was hilarious and inspiring. I laughed my way to hope filled truth. The altars were packed and overflowing with people. God showed up! It was absolutely amazing to experience and see what God was doing. But by Saturday afternoon, or at the very latest Sunday afternoon, I am confident some people were already wondering, “God where is “my” miracle? God, I cried my eyes out, but nothing has changed. Did you even hear me?”
We seem to be asking the same question the psalmist asked in Psalms 119:84a NLT “How long must I wait? …” Wait is another four-lettered word we hate! (Remember the blog, The Four-Lettered Word That Will Change Your Kid) Wait? We hate to wait. We don’t want to wait for our fast food, nor the instant potatoes, nor the microwave to heat supper in the steam bag container. We want to pray and instantly see it materialize before our very eyes!
Oh, I wish it worked that way! I’ve seen a few instantaneous miracles, but most of the time my miracle required some waiting, some leaning on His wisdom. Actually it requires a five-lettered word that is on the endangered list—faith.
Faith is a pregnant word. Faith must be activated like yeast to do what it is designed to do. Relational prayer activates faith. You believe because you know to Whom you are talking. Waiting gives it time for the process to take place. I don’t know what process your in, but I guarantee you, one is going on–if you’ve engaged your faith. Satan wants to steal your faith and stop your victory.
OK! You’ve prayed, now you must move to step 2. The prayer position must move to a “wait” position. Let’s move “wait” off the “curse word” list and put it where it belongs as a necessary “success secret” in the life of a believer. This doesn’t mean you pick up a magazine or move to the television to occupy your time while you wait.
We need to understand how to wait. The dictionary meaning of wait is “to remain stationary in readiness or expectation.[1]” Psalm 62:5 NLT “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.”
Wait is a faith position. For a bird, it is an outstretched neck, as it peers into the water for breakfast. For a fisherman, it is a baited line in the water, with eyes on the bobber. For a pregnant woman, it is nourishing her body as she waits for her baby to be born, not premature, but right on time. For a believer it means nourishing your spirit with Scripture and worship.
Isaiah 40:31 NLT “But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Remember to Pray, really Pray for America. This link is some prayer helps and declarations.
Check out this powerful declaration over America!
Resources for Teaching Children to Pray
[1] (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wait Accessed Oct 2, 2012 © 2012 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Do you know America has a national Moto, just like major companies and organizations have a motto that establishes brand? It’s much more than a popular saying. It was officially approved by Congress as our national motto. “A law passed by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956, […]
Kimberly was always such an adorable little girl. She had dark hair and eyes and a smile that lit up her whole face. But one of my favorite stories to tell about her doesn’t light up her face at all. Our whole family loved and still loves to go junking. My jam-packed-full […]
One of the reasons we lose our might to fight is we get discouraged. In a culture of instant gratification, we want to say a quick little prayer and poof there’s the answer. Most of the time, God uses time to test our determination and our persistence. He builds character and endurance in us as we discover how to walk with Him into the strong, turbulent winds of adversity. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to walk into storm winds, but they push you backward with every step. It requires you to grab hold of something and pull with all your might to process. If you’re in a storm, the something is really a someone, Jesus is with you in the storm, but you can’t lay down…you’ve got to stand in faith.
So many times I’ve heard my grand-daughter protest, “It’s hard.” The meaning behind those two words was, “I quit. I’m done. This is hard and I don’t do hard.” And the reality is way too often as believers, we give up on people. We give up on situations when we don’t see results on a time table that is consistent with our agenda.
But using the words from Casting Crowns song “Courageous”. “Lord, Make us courageous,” must become a mindset and a determination, not an excuse. We must arm ourselves with a bull-dog tenacity and the courage to persist in the face of hardships and adversity if we are going to win the battle. There are several stellar lines in this song, but one of my favorites is; “The only way we’ll stand is to start on our knees.” I can only say, Amen! You are not called to be a watcher. You are called to be a warrior!
Listen to the Lyrics. They’re powerful.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
Windows Live Tags: Watchers,Warriors,gratification,prayer,Most,determination,persistence,endurance,Jesus,faith,daughter,believers,situations,agenda,Crowns,song,Courageous,Lord,Make,mindset,bull,courage,hardships,favorites,knees,Amen,watcher,warrior,Listen,Lyrics
Yes, Florence Chadwick broke the world record in 1950 when she swam across the English Channel in 13 hours and 20 minutes. And yes, she is notably the first woman to swim the English channel both ways in 1951. Still she’s best know for her “not so successful” swim in 1952.
Ms. Chadwick’s new goal was to be the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, a 21 mile swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. Rough waters, bone chilling waters and sharks make ocean swimming arduous and dangerous. Long distance swimming adds another layer of complexity to the challenge that lay before Florence. The shark infested waters alone, would be enough to keep this “land lubber” from attempting such a daunting task.
Her support team armed with medical supplies and rifles to shoot sharks, accompanied her in a small boat. In another boat held moral support-her mother! Yeah mothers! Of course, I must mention her dad had accompanied her on the English Channel record shattering trip, so yeah for dads too!
Florence swam methodically hour after hour in the cold waters pulling herself toward her goal. A thick, soupy fog settled over the waters making visibility impossible. When the bleakness of that fog began to blind her inner vision, she began to doubt her abilities. She complained to her mom, “I don’t think I can make it.” Still she swam for another hour. Florence had been swimming for almost 16 hours. But without that inner vision, all she could see was a never ending struggle and that drained her energy. That lack of vision and lack of hope defeated her. She called for her support team to take her out of the water. When she was sitting in the boat she discovered she was less than one mile from land.
Brian Cavanaugh, in A Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, noted that she told a reporter, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I know I could have made it.” (Read more:
She didn’t know just how close to victory she was. She was less than one mile…one mile. If only she had known…if only you knew just how close to victory you are. Life doesn’t give us mile markers to indicate how close we are to victory; like an interstate highway marks our progress to the next town. Without those indicators we must have confidence in our guide and a clear vision of where we’re going. If you don’t; you’ll lose heart. You’ll lose your might to fight.
While our vision must include a picture of victory, our vision must go even beyond the fight, even beyond the victory to the person holding the victory. That is essential as a believer. Jesus wants to give you the victory. As you behold Him, His promises, and His love for you, your heart will receive hope. That hope is a light that enables vision. If it’s dark where you’re cowering this morning and you’ve lost your might to fight, then go to God’s Word. Find a promise for your situation and begin to declare God’s truth, God’s reality over it. Look to Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.”
I talked with a dear friend recently that is fighting a huge battle, I asked, “How are you doing?”
My friend responded, I’m deliberately building my faith. It’s a fight, but my confidence is in God.”
Two months later Florence Chadwick tried it again. This time she kept the vision of land in her heart the entire swim. The entire trek was completed in a record shattering “13 hours, 47 minutes, and 55 seconds”. Not only did she break the record by two hours, she began the first woman ever to swim the Catalina Channel. She did it and you can be victorious in your circumstance as well. Fight the good fight of faith by keeping your eyes on Jesus.
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Mark Twain Get your fight back…more tomorrow.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
Florence May Chadwick.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2012. Answers.com 07 Jun. 2012. https://www.answers.com/topic/florence-chadwick
Read more: https://www.answers.com/main/cite_this_answer.jsp#ixzz1x6XNivW2
Windows Live Tags: Florence,Chadwick,English,Channel,hours,woman,Still,goal,Catalina,Island,California,Rough,sharks,Long,layer,shark,task,team,boat,Yeah,dads,hour,vision,abilities,energy,Brian,Cavanaugh,Fresh,Packet,Sower,Seeds,reporter,Look,Read,topic,victory,Life,markers,highway,indicators,situation,person,Jesus,Word,Find,truth,Hebrews,faith,death,heaven,friend,confidence,circumstance,size,Mark,Twain,Columbia,Electronic,Encyclopedia,Sixth,Edition,Answers,mile
If you follow my blogs you know I love stories, especially Bible stories. This young man loves them as passionately as I do. He has his doctorate, so what he does; his books, his preaching and his life is beyond story telling. Just when I thought I had a mental icon of what a successful pastor, author and preacher should look like along comes a man that changes that icon. He is passionate in his pursuit of God. He is humble, approachable and brilliant. He tells his story, his amazing and miraculous story of God taking care of a man following, obeying and giving his all to Christ.
I loved him for his riveting life story, but he does more in his book. But it’s the influence of HIS (God’s) story, the Scriptural weaving of powerful Bible truths into the fabric of his life that makes this book life changing.
If you want to read a book that will wrap you in God’s love and then release you into your destiny with renewed passion, you need to read this book.
Meeting and hearing this man at District Council in Louisana impacted my life. I’m seeing things differently…oh, how desperately I want to be more like Jesus!
Windows Live Tags: Extravagant,Bryan,Jarrett,Bible,life,icon,pastor,author,preacher,pursuit,Christ,Scriptural,fabric,destiny,passion,District,Council,Louisana,Jesus,Response,Outrageous,Love,Influence,Paperback,Price,Publisher,Description,iota,word,nature,extravagance,expressions,cycle,David,Mary,Bethany,Scriptures,heart,Experience,Recognize,Offer,gift,truths,hearts,talents,miracles
This year is Leap Year and today is Leap Day. It’s an extra day. You just can’t let this day get by without taking a leap. Ladies, I don’t recommend that you run off and propose to someone, especially if you haven’t seen them since last Leap Day! But I do recommend that you take a leap- […]
