Sometimes the Night is Beautiful

I love this song! I will never get tired of it, the words are so powerful and the video pictures in this are done very well.
I am always reminded of this song when walking through tough times...the line "sometimes the night was beautiful" just brings tears to my eyes.

The "night", the darkest hour, the loneliest most painful time...can be so beautiful when we find HIM there. He has made so many dark times in my life beautiful by His love.

I have also sung these words by faith when I was so confused at the course my life had taken..."step by step You'll lead me, and I will follow YOU all of my days!"

If you have time, watch it all the way through, the ending is so powerful.

Sometimes By Step by Rich Mullins


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Lord don't You see all my enemies? Part 3

This has been such a fun study to do with you guys, I love all your input! I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who struggles in this area! :)

Matthew 5:43-45
"You have heard that the law of
Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy.
44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who
persecute you!
45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of
your Father in heaven.
NLT

Isn’t it interesting that God does not seem as concerned with what our emotions are, or how bad we’ve been treated. No exceptions- love ALL enemies- even the really bad ones! But we have to think of Him as a Father who has our best interest at heart... just like with our children, we want what is best- not what is momentarily pleasing (ie. revengeful thoughts and fits of anger).

Ok, so you might be thinking, what about the time that Jesus got angry?

John 2:13-16
13 When it was almost time for the
Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 In the temple courts He found men selling cattle,
sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15 So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from
the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money
changers and overturned their tables.
16 To those who sold doves He said, "Get these out of
here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
NIV

It seems that Jesus in contradicting himself, but that is only because we don’t understand righteous anger. The Bible teaches us to be angry and sin not. Jesus was motivated by righteousness to protect His Father’s house and people.

He loved these people, but was upset by their sin.

Walking in love does include standing boldly at times, but not at the expense of
love. Love always needs to be our motivation in confrontation.

If we are motivated by self-preservation, our motives are wrong.
True self worth is found in knowing who we are according to the Bible AND believing it for ourselves.

Psalm 37:5-6
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in
him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the
dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
NIV

Are you willing to wait for the Lord to bring about the truth and justice of your circumstances, even if it does not happen in this lifetime?

God has taught me four very important words:

My motivation in all things should be for the glory and honor of God, never for my glory OR my self-preservation. My pride doesn’t want to hear that, but it is so freeing to finally lay down our own selves and sense of self- protection.

Our pride will entice us to focus on ourselves instead of on the Lord. Making the choice to be humble is a hard one sometimes, but you can never go wrong choosing humility.
Humility brings freedom!

Pride can also come across as self-pity. Self-pity is self-destructive.

The only way we can feel sorry for ourselves
is to overlook or outright deny
the amazing/unlimited
amount of God’s love for us!

True self worth is found in knowing who we are according to the Bible AND believing it for ourselves.

Psalm 37:5-6
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in
Him and He will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the
dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
NIV

Are you willing to wait for the Lord to bring about the truth and justice of your circumstances, even if it does not happen in this lifetime?

Psalm 37 is a wonderful chapter about our enemies, for further study read it for yourself and let the Lord speak to you through it.

Lord, don't You see all my enemies? Part 2

I think that one of the hardest things to deal with is when people speak badly or falsely about you.
Our natural tendency is to defend ourselves! Set the story straight!
After all, it’s right in Proverbs:

Prov 18:17
17 Any story sounds true until someone sets
the record straight.
NLT

But if we are truly following after the example of Jesus, we need to do what He did.
He shows us in Mark 15:3-5:

3 Then the leading priests accused him of many crimes,
4 and Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to say
something? What about all these charges against you?"
5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate's surprise.
NLT

Did you ever really think about what kind of things they might have been saying? I wonder what crimes they accused Him of? All we know is that it was ‘many’ and that Jesus did not defend Himself.
That is hard!!
I have a hard time not defending myself when I am lied about!

One day I was thinking about a situation in which I felt I had been wronged. I knew that the right thing to do was to forgive and move on. I had a little discussion with God about it, I wanted to know HOW in the world could I forgive such horrible things done to me??? In my heart I heard a still small voice say, ‘how did Jesus forgive?’ This verse popped in my head:

Luke 23:33-34
34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing."
NIV

I don't think that any of us really understand what we are doing when we hurt others, especially Christians, we are all part of one body, Christ’s body.

If I speak wrongly of another Christian, I am speaking wrongly of myself.
Ouch! That one is almost a little too much for me, but think about it...
God wants us to forgive and put the situation in His hands.

Rom 12:19-21
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but
leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will
repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed
him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you
will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by
evil, but overcome evil with good.
NIV

This is such a powerful verse. By doing good, you can conquer evil!

Trust God, He will take care of your enemies.

Part 3 coming soon...

Lord, don't You see all my enemies? Part 1

Most storms in our life will include enemies.
People that we perceive to be out to destroy us and make our lives miserable.
I admit that the words ‘just smote them God!’ have come out of my mouth. I have many times echoed the words of David;

Ps 3:1
O LORD, I have so many enemies;
so many are against me.
NLT

But read a little farther, verse 3:
Ps 3:3
But you, O LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts my head high.
NLT

I speak that out loud often. He IS the lifter of my head!
It literally changes my physical and spiritual posture when I declare that verse!

Sometimes satan can get me so wrapped up in feeling that people are looking down on me, but this verse is the truth that I need to focus on to get through that battle.

After all, I AM a child of the Most High God.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
NIV

His love is never ceasing, He will never leave me or forsake me.

Heb 13:5
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."
NIV

The enemy wants me to shrink back in intimidation and shame in the presence of my enemies, but God wants to lift my head.

Ps 22:16
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
NLT

Have you ever felt that way? I think we all have felt like victims in this life at one time or another, and that our enemies are out there is great strength.

You may be surrounded, but our Great God promises that...
1 John 4:4
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them,
because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
NIV

To be continued...

But...I'm the Wounded...

Ok, let’s turn the tables (upside-down if we need to!) on this subject.
What about when WE are the walking wounded?

What about when WE are the ones bloody, wounded
and seething in pain?

How much anxiety, rejection and abuse can we take before we are the ones bleeding?

Jesus came to heal YOU.

I want to re-post a couple of posts that I did on God Healing our Broken Hearts:

Healing Broken Hearts part 1

Healing Broken Hearts part 2

I talk about some of my personal need for healing and sexual abuse that I experienced. I pray God uses them to minister His healing to you today.

If you are hurting today, I wish I could wrap my arms around you and pray for you, but since I can’t, feel free to email me any prayer requests and I will pray for you.

Love you girls!
(((((Hugs))))))

The Walking Wounded

This is a quote from a children's book by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman about a little Chinese girl that's going to be adopted:


"But, then, there's a cry that's the saddest of all.
In fact, it's unlike any other.
It comes from a deep, empty place in your heart
That can only be filled by a mother."


The first several times I read this story to my daughter I couldn't even say those words because I was either crying or had such a large lump in my throat the words just couldn't get past it.


As I was reading it to my daughter tonight, I thought of all the people in this world that do not know the Lord. They don't know their Heavenly Father.
There is a longing, an emptiness...a God-shaped hole in the heart of every person that hasn't received (and possibly has even rejected) His love and forgiveness.

Sometimes I can get so frustrated when sinners sin.
I forget to look past the sin and see the pain that is driving them to behave this way.
In the same way, I can get offended when someone is unkind or harsh with me.


We have a dog and she is so sweet. She has been with our family for several years now and never hurt any one of us. Lauren lays on her and pulls her ears and she still never does anything that might hurt her.
BUT, if she were ever hurt or hit by a car, I would NOT let Lauren near her.
WHY? Because in her state of pain and fear, she could respond in a violent manner.
It is only natural.


There have been times when the Lord has reminded me to see people this way.
Bloody, wounded and seething with pain.

Obviously, they are not physically injured, but the pain for some is deeper than physical wounds. Many times, the responses and reactions that we get from people are not a direct result of their feelings towards us, but a response to their feelings toward themselves or others who have hurt them.

I'm not excusing bad behavior...

But possibly, if we opened our heart. We might see that love could heal some relationships that have been destroyed by one person's pain, and another's resistance to forgive.

In the same manner, if we understand how empty and sad a heart can be without the Lord, maybe we can see beyond the outside walls built aroung their heart and give them a reason to let Him in!

He's the only hope for a lost and hurting world.

It takes a person strong in their walk with the Lord to open their own heart to the possibility of being hurt by the wounded- but it's worth every battle scar.

What's Your View of Things Today?

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;

in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.” Psalms 27:5

Do you know what happens when God sets you high upon a rock? For one thing, it changes your perspective. You see things differently.

I often tell people who are struggling to step back and look at the big picture. Separate yourself from the pain and hurt of your circumstances and think about what is really going on here.

We went to Niagara Falls one year for our family vacation. The first view we had of the falls was from high up in the Skylon Tower. It was an absolutely breathtaking view!

I had never seen anything so beautiful and serene.

Our next view of the falls was from street level. It was a completely different picture from down there. The water is so loud as it roars over the falls, you can feel the thundering waves crashing to the bottom.

There is also a mist coming up from the water and the falls seem to create its own wind. It is an awesome sight to see from up in the tower, and a very intimidating one to see from the ground.

Where did that serenity from high up in the tower go? It's was frightening at this level.

Were there two sets of falls that we experienced that day?

No, just two different perspectives of the falls.

God wants us to look at our circumstances in light of how awesome He is, not how loud and frightening our storm is.

In light of how God looks at our life, every storm seems to quiet. It is not that the storm goes away, but the roar of the circumstances dull in His awesome and magnificent presence.

Let Him set you high upon that rock today and take a look at things from HIS point of view!

Lord, help each of us today to see out lives from YOUR point of view, draw us so close to You that we aren't frightened by the roar of the circumstances.

He's Our Comfort in the Storm

(I had a girls weekend with Mom and visited her church this week and saw several people baptized. It was the most precious thing! These people were so broken and you could see the effects of a hard life on many of them-but also a HOPE for a future that would be different. The joy in their faces after coming out of the water was the most beautiful thing. They were not taking this lightly, they were giving all they had to God.
Oh Lord please remind us of that joy we felt at the cleansing and renewing of baptism!)



Here is what I have on my heart this morning, for so many people I care about that are hurting:

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” NIV

Make no mistake about it, you will have trouble. If you are reading this, there is a good chance you are in the middle of a storm right now. God’s word tells us that we will have trials and then tells us to rejoice in them.

Rom 5:2-5
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
NIV

I used to believe that God never wanted us to walk through anything hard and that if we did He would ‘rescue’ us if we prayed, rebuked, and confessed the Word enough. However, the truth is that He allows some storms and trials to develop perseverance, character and hope in us. Think about the three Hebrew children, I am sure they would rather have avoided the fiery furnace altogether, but if they had, they never would have walked together with the Son of God. And they came out…I love this…not even smelling like smoke!

What about Daniel? I am sure he was shaking in his boots just a little as he was thrown into a den filled with hungry lions! That is not my idea of a walk in the park-what happened to leading me to green pastures beside cool waters? After all, Daniel was doing the right thing! He did not deserve punishment like this. However, Daniel ends up making friends with the lions and hanging out with angels. God did not forget about him, God was right there with him protecting him the whole time.

Are you seeing a pattern here? God never leaves us.

When we feel pain, we assume that God must not be with us, because surely it would not hurt if He were here. We forget that He told us, “In this world you will have tribulation.”

Webster’s dictionary defines tribulation as: distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution. Tribulation is painful! So the promise that He is with us, is life changing!

We need to know that He is walking through every trial with us, and that His Word is more trusted than the words of our closest friends or enemies! He loves us infinitely more than we can imagine!

Who likes CHANGE??

Yesterday my husband preached his last message as Senior Pastor of the church we planted over 6 years ago. It was bittersweet. On one hand, I see the Lord leading us out but on the other hand, it’s much like a child that I raised and now I have to walk away from. It is a lesson in trust for all of us.

It is also a lesson on CHANGE.
We don’t tend to like change too much, especially when it messes with some of the foundations that we build our lives on.

Sure- I love to change my furniture around and the décor of my house or even my hairstyle. Those are fun changes! But, start messing with my comfort zone and we have a problem!

Change shakes us up, and many times a “shaking” is just what we need. Here’s some of the things that “shaking” does for us:

1. Shaking can bring us down to our foundation.

After a strong earthquake, we always see pictures of the survivors walking around the ruins of buildings that once were tall and glorious, only to become piles of rubble sitting on the bottom floor.

When our lives are shaken up by change, it brings us right down to our foundation. To the things we have built our lives on. Sometimes it’s a person or people, sometimes it’s a job or position but ultimately God wants it to be Him.

Sometimes a shaking is to wake us up to the fact that we’ve been building on a foundation other than Him and His Word.

Matt 7:24-27

24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
NIV

Why did one house fall?
Was one of them not built as well as the other? It doesn’t say that.
Was one storm greater than the other? It doesn’t say that either.
One house built on solid rock and one built on sand.

We tend to look at our “storms” as the problem, but God sees the foundation as the problem.
God’s right!



2. Shaking can mix things up and ultimately unify.

When I make a cake I put all the ingredients in a bowl and I mix it up. Why? Because on their own the ingredients don’t taste very good, but if I put them together and bake them- yum!
Same goes for us!

Sometimes God shakes things up to bring unity!
The outcome of that is much more delicious than the way we taste individually – all doing our own thing!

Rom 15:5-6
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
NIV



3. It can expose parts of us that we were not aware of before because they remained hidden or dormant.

Have you ever seen a family digging through the wreckage after a storm? They come across things that they probably would see everyday, but now consider them priceless treasure because they have survived the storm!

God may want to expose something in you. Maybe it’s a treasure, or maybe it’s a weakness.

1 Cor 4:5
He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
NIV

If He brings it to light during a “shaking” then we need to deal with it. Maybe it’s unforgiveness or rage or a selfish ambition. Don’t beat yourself up when these things come out- He’s exposed them for a reason. So that you can bring it to the cross and lay them down!



4. Causes you to grab on to something for stability.

What/who do you run to when you experience a shaking? We all have something or someone that we cling to when times get tough. Spouses, family or friends, that’s good.
But what’s even better is that we FIRST go to God. He wants to be our source of security and trust.
People will let you down, their human, they can’t help it. But God will never leave you or forsake you.

We all need a little flesh and blood to hold, but we can’t let others become our security. God needs to be the one who we grab on to when change comes our way.

Jonah 2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs. NIV

Heb 4:14 That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. NLT


Lord, help us to cling to You as we face change, because God You never change!