I cannot help but end this week of rejoicing in worship. Talking about the rest of rejoicing, knowing the secure hope of seeing our Savior face to face and entering through His gates compel me to worship in His presence.
Soon and very soon My King is coming Robed in righteousness And crowned with love When I see Him, I shall be made like Him Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon I’ll be going To the place He has prepared for me There my sin erased My shame forgotten Soon and very soon
I will be with the One I love With unveiled face I’ll see There my soul will be satisfied Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon See the procession The angels and the elders ’round the throne At His feet I’ll lay my crown, my worship Soon and very soon
Though I have not seen Him My heart knows Him well Jesus Christ the Lamb The Lord of Heaven
Information regarding the October Bible Study Series, "Reknown" will be available on Monday. Not like y'all are on the edge of your seat waiting with baited breath and drumrolls, but since I had it in the calendar I felt like I had some 'splainin' to do.
She laid her head on my shoulders in deep heavy sigh, collapsing into me. It was, after all, well past her bed time.
Glimmer in her eyes, "Look up, Mama."
Joy in her eyes, "See the blue light!"
Bouncing around every corner of our ceiling and back again.
Life in her eyes, "A puppet show!"
Dark shadows of fingers dancing above.
In the twinkle of an eye, her tiredness became a glimmer of hope as she reached for her tiny flashlight key chain hidden from my sight. Looking up, she knows what the five second future holds and the joy of it all brings energy back into her little soul. Beaming with life and captivated by this puppet show in the ceiling sky. Watching and creating all the same.
"...and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30
Thank you, sweet Madelyn, for reminding me to look to sky for the glorious wonder that awaits!
It's not too late to enter the giveaway for the WINGS Psalm 91 Necklace. Click here to comment.
REST is a 4-week Bible study series. This final week is Rest to Rejoicing, beginning with Tuesday's Bible Study.
Ruth introduced me to Michelle last Fall. Our lives interwoven in the familiarity of our Kinsman Redeemer. Ruth had Boaz, we had Jesus. The Lord knit Michelle's heart with mine as we shared stories of dreams yet to be fulfilled, prayers over brokeness and the shared fervency to be a vessel for God's glory. I know you will be inspired by her story.
Michelle has a heart for wings and their beautiful representation of God's shelter and provision. Be sure to read the end of this post to see how you can comment for a chance to win this WINGS Necklace.
“We want to surgically remove half of your son’s brain in order to try to stop the seizures he is experiencing.”
Sitting in a sterile examining room; my arm wrapped around my precious eight year old son, Tanner, I took in the words the neurosurgeon in the white coat was stating.
Did he say remove half his brain?
The whole half?
What would that mean?
Is this really happening?
Will Tanner survive this?
Will he ever walk or talk without that much of his brain?
Will he be able to see and think?
Will he still be Tanner?
The doctor’s words hung in the air, and the pulse of my heart seemed stop beating for a moment – it was then the amazing peace of God began to wash over me slowly and I heard Him say, “I am with you.”
For many years, I have been in the habit of sitting with the Lord most mornings to soak up a portion of His Word, sometimes read a devotion and have a time of prayer - enjoying the peace and rest of His presence.I desperately needed that peace and rest now hearing this life-changing news.
Verses I had read over the years since becoming a Christian started to trickle into my mind as we walked out of the doctor’s office and drove home to continue on with the tasks of the day – the overwhelming decision looming like a dark thunder cloud off in the distance, one that you know brings a storm soon.
Should we go ahead with the incredibly intricate and potentially life threatening and life changing surgery? Or just continue to medicate Tanner for his grand mal seizures, and let his life expectancy remain at a mere 40 years of age.
I felt like a kindergartner being asked to figure out a calculus problem.
After leaving the hospital, I drove Tanner back to school where he could enjoy his routine, and a relatively normal day with his classmates – he really had no idea at his young age, the decision that loomed.Driving home, I remember noticing the other drivers and thinking, “You have no idea what I am facing right now?”Walking in the front door of my home, my first thought was to call my dad and share with him the decision we faced, but I sensed my Heavenly Father saying, “Come sit with me.”I sank down into the chair in our living room where I have my quiet times and opened up my Bible.
Lord, where do I even begin?As if the hand of God flipped the pages, I found myself reading Psalm 18 …
“ I love you, Lord; You are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my Fortress, and my Savior; my God is my Rock, in whom I find protection. He is my Shield, the Power that saves me, and my place of safety.I called on the Lord, Who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies.The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to Him reached his ears… He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.…In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection.
For Who is God except the Lord?Who but our God is a Solid Rock?God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect.He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.He trains my hands for battle; He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me Your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; Your help has made me great. You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.”
It was in the moments of reading this passage the Lord showed me undeniably we were to proceed with this radical, cutting-edge surgery.God didn’t show me what the outcome would be – whether it would be healing for Tanner? or life in a wheelchair? or even death.However, I just knew we were supposed to have the surgery performed and rest in the Lord with all the details.He would be our Rock to stand on and arms to rest in. He would be our strength.I was able to stay in that strength and rest during the entire journey.
From all the hospital visits to UCLA for the complex pre-surgery testing, to all the painful blood work Tanner had to endure – and as his Momma, every needle poke felt like it went into my arm.
Then, watching Tanner get wheeled into the operating room and waiting for the seemingly endless 10 hour surgery to be performed, and then the long walk to the recovery room to see how our precious son came through the surgery.I enjoyed the peace beyond all understanding
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”.Philippians 4:7
Some have asked, how do you get that peace?The verse right before this one tells you the key.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”Phil 4:6
Seems so simple.And beloved, it was that simple.
I didn’t worry about the situation, I prayed about it.I told God what I needed.And then I thanked Him for all He had done in my life up until then.That brought His peace.And His strength.And His rest.
It is there for you as well.
Tanner is a living miracle.He is currently a senior at Corona High School and earned a 3.0 GPA in regular classes.He plays on the high school tennis team and recently gave a speech in front of a thousand people at the opening of the exhibit he is featured in at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. “God is able to do immeasurably beyond what we could ever ask or imagine”.Ephesians 3:20
I didn't think I would be so overcome with emotion in today's study. Standing on the edge of Heaven stirs my heart every time I dare to stand at the gate to peer in. The video begins with a response to one of the questions posed in our Week 1 Session, Rest to Ransom. What is the significance of no night recorded on the 7th day of creation when God rested? While I’m certain there are various perspectives illuminating this, I share my thoughts by reviewing a few passages of scripture. (And beware of the opening blooper. That one's for you, Mom!)
God’s glory is brilliance, that which distinguishes Himself as God. Revelation 21:25 says, "In the daytime (for there shall be no night there), it's gates shall never close. How wonderful God's illuminated glory will be! However, it is also a consuming fire. We see this contrast in the wilderness as God is preparing His people to enter into the Promised Land.
Remember with me in Exodus 32and 33, Moses is enveloped in God’s complete glory and then he takes a hike down the mountain to discover the Israelites worshipping the calf. God smote the people for their sin and further claimed He would not go with the Israelites “lest He destroy them along the way.”
What does Isaiah 33:11-12 say about the breath of God?
It is for this very reason that the chosen people of God could not enter into the Promised Land. Their sin kept them from entering God’s rest.
ENTER THY REST
Read Hebrews 4:1-13 to establish a context about entering God’s rest as I unpack a couple scriptures.
Underneath the sin was an underlying issue that kept an entire generation of Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Keeping them on the edge of Canaan, incapable of entering in God’s rest or gaining the inheritance promised to them.
Read Hebrews 3:7-12 to see what kept God’s chosen people from entering His rest.
Unbelief.
It was not God’s will for his people to stay in the wilderness but their unbelief and doubt delayed their promise of God. They went backwards in unbelief, rather than forward in faith. Ultimately they died in the wilderness and it was a new generation, led by Joshua, which possessed the land and entered in.
DOUBT IN THE WILDNERNESS
Don’t you think it is the same for us? We can wander aimlessly in circles by living in restless unbelief. We doubt God, which leads to not trusting Him, which leads to not obeying His Word. Remember Eve?
We can all have moments of doubt. For me, it comes with impatience over trials not being “resolved.” Oh, how I can get frustrated at God for allowing a harsh circumstance or taking something away from me, when it’s the very chastisement God is using to draw me to closer, more intimate fellowship with Him. So I will trust Him more.
Instead, I fight and raise a stubborn fist in my heart. My frustration level increases. My inner temperature rises. Anger ensues. Complaints are proclaimed. All of which diminish my prayer life, relationships and reduce my faith to a mere flicker, ready to fade out.
Simply because I failed to believe God allowed the trials and circumstance for my own good.
And while a lament is a form of worship, it is not to become part our daily talk. Laments always end in praise and trust that God will prevail. Complaints end with unmet expectations and presumptions that God is punishing us.
What areas of your life are infected by doubt and unbelief?
If doubt is creeping in, step out into your proverbial Canaan and claim the inheritance of faith promised to you by the author and perfecter of your faith.
The rest God has for us today is a greater rest than what Joshua could give. Hebrews 4:11 tells us to be diligent to enter God’s rest. If unbelief leading to disobedience kept the Israelites out of the rest of Canaan, we reap the same consequence.
Remember when Jesus said He will give us rest? He says Come. Take. Learn.
The Greek word for learn is manthano and has a threefold meaning: To increase in knowledge, to be informed by hearing and to learn by use and practice.
Be diligent to hear His voice.
Be diligent to read the Word.
Be diligent to exercise faith.
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
THE REST OF SUBMISSION
When the unbelieving generation stood at the edge of wilderness, they said, “We are not able.”
But Joshua confidently said, “God is able.” He knew God’s word was true.
When we, like Joshua, have faith the ultimate result is submission to the authority and ability of God.
When I loosen the grip of my own clenched fist, and open my hands to receive from Him, I find there is rest in submission.
REST TO REJOICING
In our passage of study, God speaks of us entering His rest. The spiritual rest we have today does not compare to what is waiting for us. Doesn’t even come close.
There is an in describable rest for the future. A rest that if we truly knew what it was like, would cast off any stray bullets of doubt that dared to wound our faith.
Just as the Israelites stood on the edge of Canaan, we are going to stand on the edge of Heaven to see what this rest is about.
AT HEAVEN’S GATES
Read Hebrews 4:9 again. This is the only occurrence of the greek word, Sabbatismos. It is a continual Sabbath. An uninterrupted Sabbath. A perpetual rest with Jesus and God the Father.
Read Revelation 14:13. The fullness of this sabbatismos is set in the future.
It gives me great JOY to know that one day there will no longer be this war, battle against my own spirit and flesh. We will be in total and complete rest and fellowship with the One who breathed life into us.
The future rest that is to come is going to be magnificent and brilliant beyond all human comprehension. While we can only stand on the edge of Heavens gates, peaking in to catch a few glimpses, God says it needs to be the very desire of our hearts.
“How blessed is the (wo)man whose strength is in Thee; In whose heart is set on pilgrimage….for better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere…How blessed is the (wo)man who trusts in thee!” Psalm 84:5, 10, 12
Is your heart set on pilgrimage? How often do you allow your mind to drift past the gates of Heaven? How does the hope of Heaven impact your daily walk in Christ?
Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us God has set eternity in our hearts and all things will be made beautiful in His time. There is a whisper in our heartbeat, calling us to a home not set in the temporal.
Read Revelation 21:3-6
God will make all things new again.
We rejoice in the days when God will wipe our tears.
We rejoice in the day there so be no death.
No more mourning. No more crying. No more pain.
Here’s how the Lord spoke to Isaiah about the Divine Rest found on the Holy Highway.
“They will see the glory of the Lord, the Majesty of our God. Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, Take courage, fear not….He will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a dear, And the tongue will shout for joy…And a highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it. But the redeemed will walk there, And the ransom of the Lord will return, And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Isaiah 35:2-10
There will be a full and complete rest of rejoicing and He will allow us entrance in His rest with the beautiful words, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)
Join us for tomorrow's guest writer, my friend, Michelle Lanksbury, who recounts her incredible story of resting in God with the life of her son and by hosting a "WINGS" Psalm 91 necklace giveaway for our readers.
I am truly amazed we have come to this final week of study! I personally have been challenged while deepening my own understanding of what resting in Him means. It is so much more fulfilling than ceasing and being still! God's Word has so much treasures and what a blessing it was to sit at His feet, flipping the pages of all that He had for us! Now, I'm getting ahead of myself, because we aren't done just yet! Let's be diligent to get through this week...there is much rejoicing to do!
If you are just joining us, don't feel the need to play catch up! Simply start at Week 1 and work your way through the lessons.
Another DIY just in time for the weekend! The vitality restored to my skin after a good facial is wonderful. Sadly, I don't have the great fortune of visiting Glen Ivy every week in hopes to bring the radiance back to my face. That's where oatmeal and a few other home grown ingredients will do the trick!
I know, I know. The last time you probably did a homemade facial was at a slumber party while watching Girls Just Wanna Have Fun in your pajamas...but part of looking young again is acting young! So just do it! I dare you!
Ingredients and Supplies:
2 Tablespoons of Oatmeal
2 Tablespoons of Ground Almonds
1 teaspoon of apple juice
1 drop of geranium essential oil or 1/2 teaspoon of pure aloe vera
1 small baby food jar
Printable Sticker Paper for Label (optional)
Instructions:
1. Mix all ingredients together well to desired texture, either grainy or creamy.
2. Massage gently onto face.
3. Rinse with lukewarm water.
4. Place label on side of jar and store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
5. And voila...beautiful, smooth glow to the skin's surface.
This beautiful label was created using House of 3 Digital Inspiration Kit. To print label, click on image and save to your computer.
REST is a 4-week Bible study series. This week is Rest to Restoration, beginning with Monday's Bible Study.
This story is a glimpse of a chapter in my story, really His story, as told collaboratively by my mom and I.
“Always choose God’s best, Honey. He always wants the best for us.”
This life mantra growing up found its way into dinnertime conversations, birthday cards and long drives to school.
It still does.
Choose God’s best.
Having been raised in a Christian home with my mom since the age of 3, I knew what God’s best was. I knew it was more than simply minding my manners and following the rules.
Choosing God’s best was opening the Word when I hid under the covers scared Darth Vader might come to kidnap me.
Choosing God’s best was asking for forgiveness and learning life lessons on tithing while exchanging starbursts in the car.
Choosing God’s best was holding each other tight, praying until our eyes could no longer stand watch and the cool breeze from the broken window left by an intruder finally died down.
I lived my Christian life in the shadow of my Mom as I saw her choose God’s best, relying on my godly heritage to get me through my days.
She probably won’t describe me as a prodigal daughter.
“She is my precious angel!”
I’ve read the story of the Prodigal Son. I know what coming to the end of yourself looks like.
A prodigal daughter. A sheep prone to wander.
Head buried in my hands, uncontrollable heaps of tears and heavy sobs distorted any words I tried to utter. I couldn’t breathe. Time stood still as the heaviness of sin, disappointment, fear, anxiety bound tightly to my neck.
I couldn’t even look up.
I hadn’t chosen God’s best.
As my mom sat back in the shadows, under the wings of her Savior, she saw my tears from a different perspective. Sitting across the table, she desperately tried to make out what I longed to say.
I had to break this silence. “Is there something you want to tell us?”
Glancing at Noel, perhaps they were here to tell us of an engagement.
Noel and Melissa exchanged glances and then she broke out in tears. Tears of shame and sorrow.
Still unable to speak, I looked at Noel and asked him the question that burned in my mind. His answered silenced me as I watched my daughter cry and shake.
This wasn’t an engagement. This was a pregnancy.
In the moment of that realization I had an overwhelming feeling of compassion and mercy that flooded my soul. Getting up from my chair, I hugged my daughter tightly.
“I love you, Melissa. It’s going to be okay.”
How could this be okay? How could I let this happen? All my life I was told to choose God’s best. This couldn’t be God’s best, could it? This isn’t how life was supposed to happen.
“And I love Noel as my son.”
My heart fell to the floor as I flashed back to earlier that evening...
Sweating palmed and feeling a thousand heartbeats a minute, we pulled up the driveway and sat in the uncomfortable moment. Everything inside me didn’t want to walk through the front door of my mom’s house. This isn’t God’s best. Her heart will bleed of disappointment and I can’t bear this guilt. I just can’t.
“Lord, may she love him as her son. She doesn’t even know him well, but please, Lord, may she love him as her son. “
“I’m not disappointed in you, Melissa. I love you.”
I said it with honest conviction. When Melissa was three years old, I dedicated her to the Lord. God entrusted me with her life and I trusted Him. Practically speaking, when I witnessed moments of her straying away, I knew God would bring her back. In His time. In His way.
There is a season in everyone’s life, whether good or what we consider bad, when God gives exactly what is needed to get through. God poured out His tender loving care, longsuffering, mercy and most of all His loving grace so I could give that to my daughter.
I knew God had a plan and He would make things right according to His will. We all make mistakes, as children of God and we are to ask forgiveness, repent and move forward. Life is a continuous growing in Christ.
The growing pains that make us more like Christ.
Leaving my mom’s house that evening, tear stains on my face left imprints of peace and joy. For the very first time, I had been touched by grace and mercy. I drew near to God like never before.
Nine months later, my daughter was born.
Isabella Renee
I wouldn’t come to know the meaning of her name until several years later.
God’s promise reborn.
A promise from the Most High God.
A promise that became God’s best.
My mom conditioned me to know God’s best but it was only my will that could choose His best. Little did we both know, I would have to be a lost sheep to feel my Good Shepherd pick me up and carry me on His shoulders, before I would ever make that choice to follow Him.
REST is a 4-week Bible study series. This week is Rest to Restoration, beginning with Monday's Bible Study.
Studying the Good Shepherd this week as part of our series on Rest, we saw that there is nothing we can do as sheep to be restored.
HE is the one that does the work. It's in His job description as Shepherd.
Weighed down by the heaviness of wool, excessive weight, or simply being too comfortable paves the way for sheep to become down cast. Our souls can become down cast and just like a sheep, we lose equilibrium, desperately fighting for a stance on solid ground.
Envision your Shepherd as Rescuer, who continually pulls you out of the miry clay and makes you stand firm. It's the way of Him and the habit of His love.
This song by Sherri Youngward is a beautiful illustration of our Good Shepherd who makes me rest to restore my soul.
RESTORE MY SOUL by Sherri Youngward
Lead me beside The water so still Let me catch my breath Let me drink my fill Let me lie in fields of green Where only gentle breezes blow I’ll reach out my empty hands For the cup that over flows
Restore my soul, Restore my soul, Restore my soul, Restore my soul
I’ve stood too long here in these shadows These valley walls are all I see I need the skilled eyes of my Shepherd Now my vision’s failing me
Then I will run and not be weary I will walk and not faint I will soar with wings of eagles In God alone is my strength
Surely goodness and mercy Will find their way to me And I will live with them forever I will have no more need
The Lord is my Shepherd He is my God I will live with Him forever I shall not want
REST is a 4-week Bible study series. This week is Rest to Restoration, beginning with Monday's Bible Study.
Genuine. Transparent. Brave. Perceptive. Those words immediately come to mind when thinking of Sarah. Through her writings, I have witnessed immense love for her husband, adoration of her two beautiful daughters and unstoppable love for her Redeemer. Her life stories breathe remnants of our Savior. I am overjoyed to have her voice for this study! Visit Sarah on her blog.
I read an article recently about some women with a rare crazy form of progressive insomnia.
It was a disorder that caused all of them with that genetic marker to, as they age, be less and less able to sleep. At one point these women were going weeks and months without sleep and their bodies couldn’t handle it. Death is the eventual result because a human body, it would seem, cannot go without sleep for long.
Insomnia related death. Crazy, right?
Maybe not. The “mystery” of sleep has always fascinated me. We cozy ourselves in the cocoons of quilts and pajama pants and put our heads on pillows. On the left. On my back. On my stomach. We all have our preferences. And then we close our eyes with faith that our bodies will be restored in six to nine hours.
We’ll wake up with clearer minds, no nighttime headaches or leftover indigestion, and with a new outlook on life.
Our bodies were designed to NEED sleep, to crave it, to rely on it.
When I was a little girl the worst punishment you could dole out to me was a nap.When I was a college student I depended on power naps to get through the afternoon. And as a mother now, there are some days I would give my right hand for a quiet, dark hour in my bed.
I think that cycle is natural. We fight rest. We crave rest. We fight rest. We crave it.
The older I get the more disciplined I’m becoming about scheduling regular times of rest into my life. I can’t go 100 miles an hour for very long without my whole world coming to a crashing halt.I need times without writing deadlines, without the computer or the television, without the speed of the lesson-school-home circuit that rules my life from September to June.
So I retreat.
If I don’t I become the equivalent of the progressive insomniac who dies because her body, heart and mind can’t restore itself.
I close my eyes. I get away for the weekend with my husband. I put 30 minutes of television on for my daughters and I sleep for a few minutes. I plan at least an hour of slowness into each day. I combat the chaos by finding the quiet.
I really don’t want to die because I’ve chosen the busy life.
I want to live because I’ve chosen to rest.
REST is a 4-week Bible study series. This week is Rest to Restoration, beginning with Monday's Bible Study.
Join us for next Tuesday's guest writer, Teri Fode of Teri Fode Photography. We'll close the study with my friend, Michelle Lanksbury recounting her incredible story of resting in God with the life of her son and by hosting a "WINGS" Psalm 91 necklace giveaway for our readers.
Welcome again to our bible study series! If you are just joining us, feel free to start at Week 1 or begin now! The beauty of an online study is you can begin at your own pace. Praying the Holy Spirit show you something new and kindle your spirit afresh this week as we seek the Lord as our Good Shepherd!
Week 3 | AT A GLANCE ::To view, click on links below
