My heart follows my feet.....
I have long believed that obedience in Scripture is a misunderstood teaching. For God does not merely desire our obedience, but our hearts. However, I also believe that sometimes our hearts just need time to catch up. Which means, I obey-even when I don't feel like it and my heart will catch up. It is a matter of disciplining our hearts, setting our hearts to chase after the things of God. Because every thought and intention of man is wicked (Jer 17:9 9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?)
I KNOW and readily acknowledge that my heart is prone to wander-probably more than most. Therefore, I-like Paul, find it necessary to "run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:26-27) I must RUN and beat my body to make it a slave to God, to righteousness to, to grace, to Love, to holiness, to pursuing Him.
This is WORK. It takes being intentional. It takes laying aside every encumbrance and running after Him. It takes sacrifice, dying to self and focus. It takes accountability. It takes the Word of God.
I don't want to be disqualified....so this is NOT an option, but the demand of life as a believer. And quite honestly, there are days my heart just doesn't want to do it anymore. I get tired. I begin to wonder why do I even try. I struggle with results. I fail...I fall....I become angry at the lack of produce and fruit. I get tired of swimming upstream in the religious pond. I get weary and lonely...My heart wanders....

And then the WORD comes alongside my wandering heart and sets my feet to the path....
Do not grow weary. Do not lose heart.
Gal 6:9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.

Why?
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; {and} that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him {be} the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

And then I am reminded that my heart will follow my feet.

KEEP RUNNING, buffeting....even when your heart wanders...so that Christ may dwell in our hearts and we will know the Love of HIM who is able to do more than we think or ask. Don't lose heart....set it...and run.ALL FOR YOU

shoes

For Christmas, Jim got me some new shoes. They are beyond cool and extremely special, mainly because they carry a message from my heart to my feet and from my feet to my heart.
Years ago, the Lord impressed upon my heart the PURPOSE of life is to LIVE for HIS GLORY. And that is where my sign name came from...the word Doxa is the word for glory in the GREEK. (kinda like NIKE means victor!) It has been the heartbeat of every step.
Recently, the Lord has made me start running. Just a word picture of what my life is to be about to RUN for HIS GLORY. Because most everything in my life has some sort of JESUS significance...so that I will constantly be reminded of whose I am and who I am....Jim got me RUNNING SHOES that say just that. DOXA CJU. That's right. ON THE SHOE...from my feet to my heart and to my feet again...RUN FOR THE GLORY of God. Doxa!

ALL FOR YOU

Friends with BENEFITS!!!

I was thinking on the unfathomable riches of Christ and the NEED to talk about what we HAVE IN HIM now...not just the fact that we get eternal life after we die.
I ran across this Scripture again in Psm 103.
This is a REALLY COOL list of what we GET NOW!

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;
FORGIVENESS, HEALING
4 Who redeems your life from the pit; who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
REDEMPTION, RESCUE from the PIT, CROWNED with COVENANT and COMPASSION
5 Who satisfies your years with good things, {so that} your youth is renewed like the eagle.
SATISFACTION, GOOD THINGS, RENEWED STRENGTH
6 The LORD performs righteous deeds, and judgments for all who are oppressed.
DOES GOOD THINGS, REVENGE
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
REVELATION of HIS PLAN
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
COMPASSION, GRACE, PATIENCE, COVENANT
9 He will not always strive {with us} nor will He keep {His anger} forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
MERCY, restrained WRATH
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
COVENANT LOVE
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
REMOVED OUR SIN
13 Just as a father has compassion on {his} children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
COMPASSION
14 For He himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are {but} dust.
KNOWS US....that we are NOTHING-but still loves us
15 As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more; and its place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness
to children's children,
18 To those who keep His covenant, and who remember His precepts to do them.
EVERLASTING LOVE, COVENANT, gives us RIGHTEOUSNESS
19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; bless the LORD, O my soul!

If that isn't reason to BLESS HIM....talk about HIM, live for Him, change for Him, listen to Him and meditate on Him....we are not all in...and we are missing it!
ALL FOR YOU

stiff neck

Been thinking a lot about stiff necks these days. Why? because mine is! In more ways than one.
I have an injury that keeps me uncomfortable. But since Christmas, the pain has increased and I simply can't hardly stand it. The bulging discs, bone spurs and muscle spams-along with the just plain tensing of the muscles is just about all I can take. All that, adds to the stiff neck, because the muscles clamp down and won't let me move...so I don't. The stiff neck keeps me from doing what I should and from the mobility I need to have.
So, I am seeing a dr to help with that problem. I go 3 times a week and he "snaps" my neck, trying to put things back in joint, but also to loosen up the muscles and the stiffness.
But that is not my only problem. My heart is a little stiff necked too.
Acts 7:51 says "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did."
Prov 29:1 says A man who hardens {his} neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.
So, I am seeing to it that my neck is not the only thing that is getting snapped back into place, but my heart as well. I don't want it broken...which is what the Lord promises if I continue to stiffen my neck to HIS desires.
The choice is mine...the choice is yours.
Stiff necked, unrepentant and stubborn, resisting the Holy Spirit and eventually broken....or we can do whatever we have to do to make sure that our necks/hearts don't become like this...but are pliable in the hands our our MAKER.

ALL FOR YOU

Religious Freedom Day

Well, tomorrow-Jan 16th is Religious Freedom Day. I am sure it is not what I am thinking. It probably has to do with recognizing everyone's right to choose their own religion and to worship how they choose. Which, quite honestly, I am thankful for, because it is what gives me the freedom to worship and serve the God I love without threat of losing my life or freedom.
But the thought that really rings my bell has nothing to do with freedom of religion, so much as it does with freedom FROM religion.
I have spent a lot of time recently allowing the Spirit to reshape my thoughts on following Christ-to be Christ centered and not man/religion centered. My-how this has changed my thinking. To allow Christ to determine all things and not what pleases man, what I like, what tradition dictates. To begin to beg the question...is Jesus pleased? Does this really represent Christ and how He thinks or merely reflect the religious laws of man.
The Pharisees had almost 700 additional laws to the Bible. Stuff they made into laws-in addition to what the WORD said. Stuff that they began to make equal to the Word..saying that people were sinning if they did not follow them. Wow...I see so much of that in church today. People who make "laws" out of traditions, ideas or opinions and try to make people obey them simply because they like that stuff.
I am so glad that Jesus died to set us free from that stuff-from that religious stuff that messes with our heads. Jesus is so much more than following man's rules...He is life and breath and in Him we live and move and have our being.
So maybe, tomorrow...we might celebrate Religious Freedom Day by simply saying...It is for freedom that Christ died, therfore STAND FIRM in your freedom and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. (religion!)Gal 5:1

ALL FOR YOU

revival

Revival is coming....a week from Sunday-it starts.
We have been preparing for this time and are working hard to be sure that it is exactly what the FATHER wants it to be. Our only goal is to be sure that HE is pleased with our offering, for if that is true, we WILL reap the reward of His presence with us, His power on us and His reviving of us.
As we have been preparing, we have been praying diligently for the Lord to direct our steps, our hearts and our minds to WHATEVER it would be that would glorify Him and bring Him pleasure. Now, I know this may sound odd...because typically when we think about Revival...we think about ourselves. We think of Revival as a time for God to do something to us....and I guess there is some truth in that. But Scripture teaches that we come to WORSHIP HIM and as a result receive a blessing....not the other way around. And so we have been wrapping our hearts around what HE would want.
In so doing, we have been praying through the times of worship....what that should look like, begging God to show us what songs He wants sung, how and when. The order of worship, the enviornment He wants created. And so we have been having rehearsals. I know that sounds crazy, but we have. This is NOT about pleasing everyone in the room. That will NEVER happen. But if when we are done, the Father is pleased, then we have done all that we were supposed to do.

I was standing in my kitchen talking with a friend this week. I was asked what we were doing on Thursday night. It just popped out...."we are having revival rehearsal". I was looked at like I had lost my mind. Revival rehearsal? What is that? Before I could stop myself, I responded by saying "we are going to practice dying and allowing the Lord to breathe new life into us so that we are revived." A kind of spiritual CPR.
I was trying to be smart....but those words have rung in my head for days now. Maybe we do need to have Revival rehearsal. Maybe it needs to be the habit of our life. To die so that He might live. To die, so that He might breathe new life into us. To die, so that He might revive us.
Next week isn't about pleasing people, getting something from God or even what music is done. It isn't about the speaker, how many show up or who stays away. Next week is about GOD. The reason it is called the REAL THING REVIVED-Revival is because it is time for us to set and focus our hearts on where they were supposed to be in the first place. To come and worship. To bless God. To Honor Him. To be sure He is pleased with our offerings and sacrifices. Isaiah 1 tells of a people that God became wearied with because their offerings and multiplied sacrifices were nothing to Him, they were a burden to Him. Next week is about making sure that our offerings are pleasing in HIS sight and that HE alone is worshipped, honored and asked.....is this what YOU wanted.
In the meantime, maybe we need to have revival rehearsal. Maybe, we do need to practice dying so that He might breathe on us. It is in that moment that we will see the rain. When we have died....and He is raises us to new life. I am still praying for a downpour.....but in the meanwhile, I am having rehearsal....how about you?ALL FOR YOU

Real Me?

Be the real you...even if it rocks people's boats.
Let people feel the weight of who you are...and let them deal with it. Don't pretend to be something you are not.
I often rock people's boats...not just because of what I say, but because of who I am. It is only recently that I am realizing it is more about because of WHOSE I am and what I am NOT that people are aggravated with me.
But I will be the real me....Christ in me...even if it rocks people's boats.
ALL FOR YOU

When did we get over the CROSS

I guess it happened sometime, but I don't really know when. Someone, somewhere decided church should be a civilized activity. I understand the reasoning-reverence and all that. But I am really struggling with the whole idea of just being tame, being civilized, being respectable....being...casual.
I mean, when did we decide that we could think on what Christ did for us, what God gave for us and be like....um...cool. When did we stop screaming at the top of our lungs, rejoicing and sharing that with all we know? When did we become so ungrateful that we stopped talking about the Cross and Jesus? When did we start belittling Him and making much of everything else? When did we...when did I...get over the cross?
In recent days, I have discovered something....I didn't. And that is why I am so weird. I didn't get over the cross. I didn't forget. And it is why I am a burr in the saddle for so many...who would like to be casual. How can you be casual about the cross.
We need to stop and think....when did we get over the cross...and just started chasing the American Dream? When did we decide that it was more important to find our missing cell phone? When did we forget what was done for us?


ALL FOR YOU

what have you read in redbook lately

Last Sunday, several of us went to see WE ARE MARSHALL. It is a pretty good flick (more language than I like) and the message is a tear jerker. I walked away with a couple of thoughts that have pricked my mind.
1. The way you play today is how you will be remembered. This is sooo true. What you do today will mark your legacy and who you will be. We must make everyday count for the Kingdom, for the glory. There are no off games, not downs we can loaf on. We MUST be ALL IN for His name and renown are at stake.
2. Rise from the ashes and grab glory. Wow, what a cool thought that God turns ashes into beauty, that He takes our death and gives life. That out of the ashes of our lives, He can receive glory. But it takes us dying...it takes us getting to the ashes, before we will ever see glory.
3. What have you read in redbook lately. No, I am not talking about the magazine. I am actually talking about the book with the red letters in it...you know Jesus' words outlined in red. What have you read...what has Jesus said to you lately from the pages of Scripture. I am awed at how few people even spend time in the gospels any more... and miss out on what Jesus has to say.
I don't think I will stand and scream WE ARE MARSHALL... but I might be found screaming...WE ARE YOURS.
so play today like you want to be remembered
die that you might rise out of the ash to give Him glory
and spend time reading the red book
ALL FOR YOU