Unshakable, Assured, and Deeply at Peace

Posted by Christy

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Jesus is saying: I am telling you about this ahead of time so that you won’t be worried. By trusting Me, by believing Me, you will be unshakable, assured, and deeply at peace. It is peace *with* God that gives us the peace *of* God. In this godless world you will experience difficulties, but don’t worry because you can also expect Jesus right there with you in the midst of it. And, yeah, about this godless world…don’t forget, Jesus has already won.

Prayer:

God, I believe in You. No matter what comes my way—I believe that You have overcome the world. Even though trouble is ever-present, You are my constant source of peace in the midst of it. You surround me and protect me. Nothing is too difficult for You to accomplish. I will praise You because You are the One in whom I trust—You are in control. In Jesus name, Amen.

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Overcoming

Posted by Christy

It happened. We got “the call” about our daughter serving overseas. She got sick. And not just sick. The go-to-the-hospital-kind-of-sick.

There’s one thing you’ll notice about our family: When something goes down, we get quiet. We collectively, as if we are one body, click into a mode where we talk very little, listen, hear from all sides, get information, take in information, pray, get others to pray, go to scripture, take in more information, hear from all sides, and pray. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It’s our form of running. Except we don’t run away…. we run into Daddy’s arms. This is how we overcome and conquer…in Him. All Him.

Everyday is filled with the ups and downs in life – the excitements, the disappointments, the scary unexpected, the adventures, and the times that aren’t so exciting. What we choose to do, and how we respond to these situations, indicates the type of people we are on the inside.

Jesus said, “In this life, you will have trouble. But take heart! For I have overcome the world” John 16:33

Jesus knew we would encounter disappointments. He knew we would encounter troubles, fears, and doubts. To that He says, “Take heart!” because He’s already overcome this life. If we choose to take Him at His word, we choose to live in the place He’s called us to. A place not devoid of sorrow, but where we know and live in victory.

GOD has a plan for each of us, and we are defined by His intentions not our present circumstances

In spite of trouble, in spite of doubt, GOD is there with us.

Here’s the thing: we will encounter sorrow. We will encounter disappointments. But GOD didn’t create us to live there. He created us to overcome, to rise above those circumstances, and to let His light shine through us, in spite of it all.

But those who wait on The Lord will find new strength. They will fly on wings like eagle. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

This is the place where we are called to live. A place of overcomers and conquerors. Choose to let GOD’s light shine through your circumstances – in spite of your circumstances. Choose to be a person who overcomes – in spite of everything. And rest in the fact that GOD is right there, in the midst of it all.

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. 1 John 4:4

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

The Day We Fight Back {Unleashing the Warrior Chic}

Posted by Christy

As I held out my hands to her, I could see the grip of fear in her eyes. I was asking her to do something she’d never done before. To go to a place she’d never been. To leave her safe place that ironically was a hard place. But it was all she knew.

Until now.

She’s fighting back. She’s unleashing her warrior chic.

“What if I fall?”

“What if you don’t?”

“I might get hurt”

“You might not”

“You sure?”

“No, but either way, I’m here”

And with that, our eyes locked. And off she went.

We are God’s workmanship, not a workmanship of any other circumstances (Eph 2:10). We aren’t a product of time, we’re a product of eternity. The most potent force on earth is the blood of Christ – and.it.sets.us.free.

Now, draw a blood line in the sand and don’t go back.

Because TODAY.

Today we’re fighting back. We’re unleashing our warrior chic

I can hear those war drums beating now. Hear it? I like that beat.

You can start bad but finish free. Don’t be a woman defined by your issue – be a brand new woman….created in Christ Jesus….defined by the freedom that Christ set you free.

You can’t set anyone else free if you aren’t’ free and it’s not too late. How do I know? Because you’re still here.

What’s holding you back? Or, what things are you allowing to hold you back? We don’t know about tomorrow because life is but a vapor (James 4) so don’t live your life as if you’re supposed to enter death safely.

God has created us to be untamed, undomesticated and to be a force to be reckoned with.

Jesus died and rose again to make us dangerous to the forces of darkness.

This isn’t a dress rehearsal.

We are agents of change.

We are salt to this world (Matthew 5:13-16).

Go.

Salt the world around you.

We are light to this world (Matt 5:13-16)

Light is created to dispel darkness. The only way a room gets dark is to switch the light off.

Go.

Light the world around you.

Don’t stand in the crowd when you’re supposed to stand out.

Normal never did anything significant in the Scriptures. Here’s the thing: that’s not normal – normal is warrior chic! God calls us to go against the grain when the grain is going against God.

Feel like you’re insignificant and meager?

Jesus began in a simple maiden town no one wanted to live in (John 1:46), and worked with simple, blue collar people. What you’re looking at now doesn’t represent the future (Mark 4:30-32).

Jacob was a cheater. Peter had a temper. David had an affair. Noah got drunk. Jonah ran from God. Paul was a murder. Gideon was insecure. Miriam was a gossip. Martha was a worrier. Thomas was a doubter. Sara was impatient. Elijah was moody. Moses stuttered. Zaccheus was short. Abraham was old. Lazarus was dead.

Every weakness you have is an opportunity for God to show His strength in your life. The magic happens out of your comfort zone.

My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in your weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Are you afraid? Everyone is afraid. The questions isn’t – are you going to be afraid. The question is: Who do we believe in more?

What can man do to you? We fear man so much because we fear God so little. Decide that you want it more than you’re afraid of it. God will give you peace as you follow Him faithfully. Faith is like a muscle, the more you use it, the bigger it gets. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.

Now, lock eyes with Jesus, and JUMP because this is the day we fight back!

Dare To Be

Posted by Christy

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes into His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.” Luke 9:23-26 HCSB

Jesus is telling us what we can expect for ourselves in a life of following Him. He’s laying it all out so that we know going in what this disciple-life is like and what we can expect so that there’s no surprise when it happens:

Anyone who intends on coming along with Him has to let Him lead. We aren’t in the driver’s seat. He is.

Oh, how we love to control things. We live in a time where everyone is all about being in charge of themselves and obeying no one. Not even God. We want all the fruits of His spirit, but choosing to obey Him is something we often ignore. We need to have complete dependence on God and be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit. If God is all you have, you have all you need (John 14:8)

Don’t run from suffering but embrace it. Follow Him and He’ll show you how. You may have opposition of loved ones. Some of your family and friends may oppose what you stand for. The Message we proclaim isn’t popular. We will suffer in one way or another for righteousness sake whether that means saying no to a certain movie with our friends, or taking a stand before the world for what you believe in.

Self help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, His way, to finding yourself – your true self.

Do you think of your relationship with God primarily in terms of what’s in it for you or in terms of what you can do for Him?

The tendency is to save our lives by selfish, complacent routine—basking in comfort, luxury, and ease by living for the present. Trading our finest talents in exchange for a few years of mock security. God calls us to a life of death to self and to the world.

We are called to pour out our lives for the sake of others, not to spend our lives on earth merely to please ourselves.

What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you – the real you? We may end up packing our bags and leaving everything we know behind…family, friends, house, lands, and comforts. God may call you away from all that you know but that’s ok because if God is all you have, you have all you need (John 14:8)

If anyone is embarrassed with Jesus and the way He leads us, know that He will be far more embarrassed of us when He arrives in all His splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. Don’t back down. Stand up and stay up!

Our instinct is to recoil from a life of cross-bearing. Our minds are reluctant to believe that this could be God’s will for us.

BUT…

This life involves laying hold life that is life indeed! It means finding, at last, the reason for our existence! What joy and peace it is to be right where God wants you to be, doing exactly what He wants you to do! And, it means eternal reward. What a PROFOUND spiritual pleasure that comes! This life of abandonment has a deep inward satisfaction that defies description. Ever see someone go through things and remain in peace? This is why.

Giving this up for anything this temporary world could offer would be an insane bargain.

This is what we’re called to. This is the real you- the you that you were created to be. Anything less is said not to be a true disciple, but merely superficial lip service. True, it’s risky business following Jesus in this world, but the odds are in our favor. We win.

Making A List And Checking It Twice

Posted by Christy

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1John 4:7-8)

As much as I try or even want to love on my own strength, I cannot love well and completely unless I am connected to God. Believe me, I’ve done that, and it ain’t pretty.

When we first know Who God is and experience His love, grace, and forgiveness in our own lives, we are then filled up with a supernatural love that overflows to others…..even those who are hard to love.

It’s this same supernatural love that God pursues us with. His tender passion is not found in this world, oh, no. This world is full of fragile loves–love that abandons, love that fades, love that divorces, love that is self-seeking, self-pleasing, and plain out selfish….me, me, me, it’s all about me, and right now. This isn’t love….these are “feelings”. God is not that kind of love. Real love is like God who is holy, just, giving, kind, patient, seeking others needs first, never gives up, never looses faith, always hopeful, and endures forever.

He’s personal and intimate with us in our hearts, in our prayers, and in our lives. His love is everlasting.

I just love Him so much that I have to do something about it. Who Christ is and what He’s done should cause us to act. His generous love and compassion is not to stop with us. We should find ways to show compassion to those who are suffering (even if it is at their own hands) because Christ is compassionate towards us. (Believe me when I tell you that there are days when that alone keeps me going. I could start another blog on that alone….these aren’t empty words here). His love for me is my fuel and lights me up…keeps me fired me up and overflows to others.

“You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving….great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves and in spite of ourselves.” -Victor Hugo

Here’s your list….check it twice 😉:

Love for God can be seen only in love for other people (4:11-13,16-21,5:2)

Love and fear are opposites (v18)

Love is a gift, not a possession (v10,13,19)

Confession of Christ and love of others cannot be separated (vv19-21)

God’s love is certain. Christ showed that on the cross. (4:10,14; 5:6)

Because He first loved us….

Never Underestimate The Power Of Prayer: God is well able to accomplish all that concerns you

Posted by Christy

Elizabeth was too old to have a baby by human standards. Her body had long ceased to offer the possibility of reproduction. Even when Elizabeth was young and in her prime, she was unable to conceive a child. Now, as a woman who had lived nearly 9 decades of life, there was no human possibility that this would ever happen. There was not a sliver of hope!

But God breaks all the constraints of human standards. His ways are higher than our ways and He is able to trump any limitation that we exhibit in our strength.

“Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth …” Certainly this “time” was not Elizabeth’s chosen time. God has a chosen time for prayers to be answered, for His mission to be accomplished and for miracles to take place. Do not for one second believe that God has forgotten you or that He has not heard your prayers. When God’s appointed time comes in its fullness, you will give birth to all that God has planned for you.

“Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.”

Many times I believe that the Lord says “Wait” as an answer to our desperate prayers so that His glory is revealed rather than the certainty of mankind’s function. Most women are able to conceive and bear children in their teens and twenties, but it takes the intervention of God for a woman to experience the miracle of birth in her eighth decade of life!

Can you imagine the rejoicing of her relatives and neighbors? Can you picture the scene as the women danced in circles in the village streets? Can you envision how her friends lifted their hands in praise to Yahweh?

As John nestled into his mother’s arms, and as the nearly 100 year old eyes of Zacharias looked into the newborn eyes of his son, God was glorified. Prayers had been answered. Their story had just begun.

The story of Elizabeth and Zacharias is the call to live a righteous life, and it is the promise of what persevering prayer will obtain. God is well able to accomplish all that concerns you. His part is to perform the miracles … your part is to pray without ceasing and to live a life that pleases His heart.

Luke 1:57-80
Psalm 138

This blessed me so much I just had to share it!

(Shared from Joy to Your World YouVersion)

Stay Close to the Light

Posted by Christy

Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become children of the light.” When he has finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. (John 12:35-36)

Stay close and the darkness won’t overtake you…..

I remember that night so well. We could hear the tornado coming. The electricity was out and there we were in the dark.

Suddenly the house we knew was unknown. We had one tiny flashlight that barely lit our path in front of us. Kids were scared, and I was doing a good job at faking my calm. The already dim flashlight began flickering….darn, I forgot to replace the batteries…..and I wondered how long the light would be with us.

For a brief second, a child stepped away to grab something but quickly discovered that when he stepped away from Mom the darkness would overtake him. “Stay close and the darkness won’t overtake you”…..the child that was clinging tighter than my pj’s said: messaged received.

Jesus was teaching that He is the light. His crucifixion was near, and He was urging them to believe in and walk closely with Him while there was still time…..stay close to the light and the darkness won’t overtake you.

In our home we knew so well, we were constantly unsure of where we were as we inched along.

When there is absolute absence of light, even the familiar is unknown

When we believe and give our lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord, He (the Light) remains with us forever. Darkness will not overtake us. Like a light shining in a dark place, He points the way we should walk.

As Christ followers, we are to be Christ’s light bearers, letting His light shine through us. How brightly is your light shining? Can others see Christ in your actions? Walking in the Light isn’t simply about living a moral life; it’s a matter of following Christ, Who is the Light.

I’ve been to some pretty dark places in my life…..and in the lives of others. I’ve seen darkness overtake people: message received. I cling tightly to my Savior.

Jesus’ return is near. He is urging you to believe in Him, and give Him your life while there is still time. Walk in the Light and the darkness won’t overtake you.