Complete as an adjective means, having all the necessary parts. The definition of faith is COMPLETE trust or confidence in someone or something. Putting these two words and their definitions together; complete and faith is like an oxymoron. To have complete faith, we rarely have all the necessary parts put together before we move forward. Often, we get hung up on insignificant details. In Mat 6:25-26 NIV Jesus uses birds to remind us of our worth and what steals our attention; “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
I was recently on a run when I saw a bird’s nest nestled in a bare tree. I thought about how God must have created trees with the intention that birds would use the strength of the branches to build their homes in complete faith. It is hard to fathom that a strong tree like this grew from a tiny, planted seed. We read about this in Mat 13:31-32 NIV; “He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” The mustard seed is just 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter. A millimeter is one thousandth of a meter.
This past week I was reminded of a jar of mustard seeds that sits in my kitchen. Not only does this seed provide nutrients to our health, but they are also a symbol of nutrients for our faith. We read about this faith in Mat 17:20 NIV; “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “move from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Have you ever done something that required complete faith? Is God nudging you to step out in complete faith today? Surrender all the details in prayer. It is in the surrendering that we draw closer to God and can keep moving forward in faith.
Are you scared? Remember, you are surrounded by God with every prayer and every step you take. Notice surround and surrender start with the same 4 letters.
My word this week has been faithfulness. Some synonyms are constant, dedicated, devoted, loyal, and steadfast which is the definition of our God. Some antonyms are disloyal, faithless, false, fickle, and inconstant which is the definition of our sinful nature. Every day at some point we stress, worry, or fear. It may be something as silly as stressing for perfection or something bigger like worrying over a diagnosis or loved one. What promises have you journaled and prayed over? What do you do with those promises after you have written and spoken them? Often, we leave them exactly where they were written and spoken, in the past. We forget to keep them in present tense. If we could just remember to always keep a promise in our pocket.
With life’s overwhelming demands, keeping one promise in our pocket may not be enough. What if we used our mountain tops to prepare us for our valleys? Think of it as making deposits with God’s promises when things are going good for us. Did you know not one of the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed. Every single one was faithful! You can read in Joshua 21: 43 – 44 how God gave Israel back the promise land.
Where would we be without love? God has promised us eternal life. On those days when we do not feel worthy, remember that Jesus hung on a cross between two thieves for you and I. John 3:16 NIV “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.
Where would we be without planning? We are constantly making plans, canceling plans, changing plans. Just about all of 2020 was about canceling plans. On those days when the plans we made did not go how we envisioned, remember that God sees the bigger picture. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Where would we be without courage? Each one of us require courage at some point during our week. On those days when the Devil tries to whisper lies to discourage us, remember that God is with us whereever we go or don’t go, meaning even when quarantined. Josh 1:9 NIV “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.”
In preparing for my word of the week, I came across an amazing worship song called “Promises” by Maverick City. Some of the lyrics sing; “I put my faith in Jesus. My anchor to the ground. My hope and firm foundation. He’ll never let me down”. It is a long song, but God is worth 10 minutes of your worship.
I would love for you to comment what promise or promises you will be carrying in your pocket and why.
Today I am writing about grief. I am certainly not an expert, rather coming from personal experience. This past week as I prepared to write I asked one of my Psychologist friends for some reliable sources. I have not personally been through grief counseling, but I am a firm believer in the importance of it. As I read the different articles, I was surprised how much of it sounded familiar. My biggest takeaway is that everyone’s grief journey is unique to them. Each loss suffered whether by illness, suicide, an accident, or murder, our grief we experience is going to be different.
I recognized and could relate with each stage of the grieving process. I may not have experienced them in this exact order but have processed each one multiple times. If we look at the definition of grief, “deep sorrow” we know that grieving is not a quick process. Learning to practice patience towards others and especially ourselves is a must. Patience means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. I have been told that grief is like the ocean because it comes in waves. Some waves are bigger than others, therefore require more patience.
I see a traveler who makes a journey from place to place, each day experiencing new sights, sounds, and smells. In comparison when grieving we are like passengers with grief as our tour guide. Your eye catches a photo that takes you down memory lane, the happy tears start to swell. You hear a song that reminds you of the journey, you angrily start to question God. As you cook their favorite meal, the smell overwhelms your soul, and you realize they are in a better place.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross introduced the 5 stages of the grieving process:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
When in denial and anger, we cannot always see and understand what is in front of us. I think about the walk to Emmaus after Jesus’s crucifixion. There were two travelers, one named Cleopas. Neither of them recognized Jesus until He broke bread with them in Luke 24: 30-32 NIV; “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight”.
Notice they recognized Jesus at the “breaking” of the bread. Jesus meets us at our brokenness. We may not always understand the why, but we can ask God to help us accept it. One of my favorite prayers, known as the Serenity Prayer, comes to mind.
God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
In the name of Jesus, Amen
Just hours before finishing writing my mom sent a text. She had been going through some of my Dad’s belongings and came across a letter he had typed on 12/22/18, just two days before he heard the words, you have cancer. I was reminded of his trust in God and the peace he had received from God that week before he would begin his cancer journey. Looking back now I can see how God equipped my Dad to be our original tour guide. Although he fought hard and never gave up on his battle with cancer for 13 long months, he was at peace with whatever the outcome would be. We as his loved ones needed those 13 short months to prepare our hearts and minds. While reading the letter the song “Don’t Miss a Thing” by Amanda cook was playing. Some of the lyrics sing; “You surround me with angels on assignment”. God Wink! I can smile because we now have Dad as our angel on assignment.
I do not normally eat my emotions. This past week was the one-year anniversary of my Dad’s death. He loved ice cream. For me, eating ice cream was one way I could remember and honor my Dad. I encourage you to read the articles below. I feel I am a mixture of both affectively and cognitively processing grief. Affectively I have communicated my grief both verbally and in writing. Cognitively I have processed grief physically through my running journey.
Whatever grief you are experiencing; loss of a loved one or a pet, a nasty divorce or a prodigal child. I pray you will allow God to be your ultimate tour guide through the grieving process. Whereever you are at in your grieving process I pray you can give yourself patience. I encourage you to take time to journal and express your emotions with family and friends. Find fun ways to honor your loved ones, even if it means eating a bowl of ice cream. The John Heywood saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a year” but you can make a point to find joy in the journey one brick at a time. Most importantly, pray. Talk to God daily. He knows our every need. Remember the shortest verse in the bible, John 11:35 NIV; “Jesus Wept”. He loves us and doesn’t want to miss a thing.
What is my word for 2021? I have been preparing for this word since December 6th when God gave me my first God wink. I have had several confirmations, but I kept doubting God and His plan. The more I would doubt my word, the more God wink’s I would receive.
My word this year is Refine which can mean the following:
Remove impurities or unwanted elements from.
Improve by making small changes.
To become more fine, elegant, or polished.
My first God wink came from 1 Peter 1:7; “These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed”. This verse by itself may not make sense but if you read the surrounding verses 6 & 8 you will understand why. In 2020 I faced trials, yet in the midst of those trials, God was refining me so that I could be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
My second God wink came from my Girlfriends in God devotion by Gwen Smith. She says, “what if God wants to use the strains, stains, and disappointments we face to refine us – restore us – strengthen us – and to draw us to His side of desperation”. This is when I got scared because I do not want to experience anymore strains, stains, and disappointments. I remember asking God, what about the word “peace”, doesn’t that sound much better for me? I had just finished an Elevation Worship podcast called “The Path of Peace”. Steven Furtick said, “It’s not the path to peace, it is the path of peace”, meaning I am not waiting for God’s peace, rather I am walking in it. I was desperately feeling the need to walk into 2021 with God’s peace.
Then my third God wink came from Mark Batterson’s book, “Win the Day”. He encourages us to focus on our inputs rather than our outcomes. For the last three years I have been so focused on achieving my degree (an outcome), maybe it was time to take a look at my inputs, remove any impurities, or unwanted elements as defined by the word refine. I was feeling the need to detox. Not only had I gained 10lbs this last semester, I was also feeling I had gained baggage that I haven’t had time to process and fully unpack.
It was not until my fourth God wink which came from Jamie Thompkin’s book, “There’s No Place Like Home” that I was finally starting to say yes to my word. I had been struggling with giving myself grace and at times giving grace to others. This past year has been hard balancing school, work, family, church, and social. Lately I have found myself asking God every morning for His new mercies and for my co-workers, family, and friends to give me grace for what I have or have not done or where I have messed up or succeeded. Jamie says, “Being graceful not only means poised in the physical sense of the word. It also means being polished by the refiner’s fire. At this point I am asking God, what about the word “grace”, doesn’t that sound much better for me? Then I remembered that grace is already freely given to me. I did not feel a strong need to focus on this throughout the year.
I also like to carry a mantra throughout the year. In Jamie’s book I loved the idea of how she talked about; “Be a fruit bearer”. The scripture referenced comes from Gal 5: 22-24; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”. I remember feeling a big sigh of relief, finally the fluff words I had been searching for. Each of these words by themselves do not sound scary like the word refine. On the flip side, if we think about how as Christians, we should embody all 9 of the fruits, they become more than fluff. They start stepping on toes.
It is settled, I want to be a fruit bearer. I want to take the time to inwardly look at myself so that I embody all 9 fruits throughout the year. I want to be polished by the refiner’s fire.
What word and or mantra are you going to let lead you through 2021? What scripture are you going to cling to and continually meditate on? What ways will you share your word with others?
Noel means “To be born” or “birth. It is an exclamation of Joy at the birth of Christ. We sing of this joy in the well-known Christmas song, Noel. The light of the world, given for us. In Luke 2:11 we read; “Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.“
Let us take a moment to think about Christmas in a child’s eyes. The child like faith that breads new hope, love in the purest form, untainted by sin. In the song, “Messiah” by Francesca Battistelli some of the lyrics sing; “All we longed for, all we needed, shining in a child’s eyes. Hope forever, death defeated because of this one holy night. Messiah, Messiah, a baby born to save us all”.
This past year my word has been, “gifts” as in 2 Cor 9:15 “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift”. Although 2020 has been difficult, there have been little gifts of hope shining through the darkest nights. As I sit here and write to you on December 24, 2020, I am tearful. Two years ago, on this very day, Dad was diagnosed with Cancer. Last year at this time my Dad was miraculously gifted with one more Christmas. This year Dad is celebrating with the savior himself.
As we celebrate Jesus’s birth, let us birth new hope in 2021. Take some time to find joy by rising, shining, and giving God the glory in Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
John 11:35 “Jesus wept” is the shortest verse in the bible yet it tells us that we are worthy of His tears. In John chapter 11 we learn about Lazarus’s death. Mary and Martha, the sisters to Lazarus had been pleading with Jesus to come and heal their sick brother. In their eyes Jesus was too late, or was he? According to Jesus’s calendar He was right on time. We learn in John 11: 38-44 that Jesus ordered the stone to be rolled away and instructed Lazarus to come out.
Let us pause here, He ordered the stone to be rolled away. God is in the opening and closing doors business. When we see a closed door, we think we are too early or too late, or it is a “no” but who’s calendar are we living by? We must not give up on praying and taking steps forward because we never know when God will open a closed door.
My favorite part in the story is verse 44; “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” How many of us are still walking around with grave clothes on? We have been made alive in Christ Jesus, we have been redeemed, yet we are still walking around with baggage.
I encourage you all to listed to this song, “Rise up” by: Cain. Some of the lyrics sing, “In the dark and all alone, growing comfortable, are you too scared to move and walk out of this tomb? Buried underneath the lies that you believed, safe and sound, stuck in the ground, too lost to be found.” I now encourage you to find a verse that encourages you to step out of whatever grave you are in and call yourself worthy of God’s love. Tuck that verse in your heart. Write it on your bathroom mirror. Put it on the steering wheel of your car and let God lead you to rise up.
My verse is from Proverbs 31:25, “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” This is my finding joy in the journey but laughing at the days to come.
I found this graphic that shows us how to sign “worthy” and I wanted to share. Another way to look in the mirror and call yourself worthy.
In December 2020 I will graduate with my Associates Degree in Business Administration. When I committed to school three years ago, it was stepping out of my comfort zone. There have been a lot of tearful nights sitting at my computer, asking my children for help, or phoning my cousin. I recently compared school with running, it is a love/hate relationship. There is always that fear of failure or asking myself, can I finish what I started? Then I remember the verse Josh 1:9; “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.”
I have recently committed to running my first marathon by January of 2022. This decision has made me aware of where my comfort zone starts and stops. In November of 2019 I ran my first half marathon. At that time, I was stepping out of my comfort zone. Are you aware of your comfort zone? Just like our faith, God is always stretching us to move outside our comfort zones. Just like Gideon, God will use you and I in unconventional ways if we allow Him to work in our lives for His glory (Judges 7).
Just like school the result will not happen overnight. This will be a Journey that I hope to find a little joy along the way. Just like Nehemiah I have learned that the Joy of the Lord is my strength (Neh 8:10). Just like Joshua and Moses I know God will be with me through the process (Jos 1:5)
Listen to this song “Warrior” by Hannah Kerr. Some of the lyrics sing; “I will keep the hope alive, I will find the strength inside”.
