Merry Christmas

Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you.

My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1-2

Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

John 11:40

Dear Heavenly Father,

You are my God. You are mighty and wise and your thoughts and ways are above mine. You cherish us and all of creation in ways that are outside our own ability to love and cherish. You forgive and embrace in ways that are so much more expansive than we can ever imagine. Your heart encompasses emotions that are rich and deep and leagues beyond our capacity to feel or measure.

I see your glory in dawn’s vermillion clouds and night skies brilliant with lightning. I hear it in the cooing of mourning doves and the twilight call of coyotes. I smell it in the fresh, fall rain and newly stacked hay on roadside pastures. I taste it in an orange picked straight from the tree and the kiss on a baby’s just-bathed belly.

Yet, at this time of year, I remember your glory and your heart in your Son, who you gave to us as a living sacrifice, to purge us of our sins, to offer us a chance at repentance, new life, a new heart, a new relationship with you.

You offered up your Son, who was born for us, who lived for us, taught us, was tortured for us, who died for us and who rose again for us, that we might continue his legacy and, in love, spread the gospel to everyone and build your Kingdom.

Heavenly Father, help us to love you first and greatest. Help us to be examples of Christianly love in our walk. Help us to remember we carry the Holy Spirit inside us and help us to honor him – and you, and our Lord Jesus – at all times. Help us to surrender our hearts fully to all that Jesus taught so that we build your Kingdom by embodying the fruit of the Spirit in all we think, in all we say and in all we do.

Help us to become the people you intended us to be.

Spiritual Adultery, plain and simple

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. Romans 1:25

Romney or Obama. Obama or Romney.

Whose philosophy do you worship? Which man do you idolize? Have you become a spiritual adulterer during this election year? Is your email, Facebook or blog consumed with hate for the “other” candidate? Do you smirk or post cynical remarks, causing discomfort in the heart of your friends who may disagree? 

When is the last time you read – and embodied - Galatians 5:22-23?

But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Is your attitude or the words that come from your mouth or keyboard serving as a stumbling block to the Holy Spirit? Are you even willing to look there?

 “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.” Isaiah 8:12

When you argue and seek to lift your opinion over others, you glorify yourselves, not your Creator. You create division, not peace. James (the brother of Jesus), Peter and John, the three pillars of the early church community exhorted us all to follow the example of Jesus and speak to each other in peace and love.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

During these heated times, let’s not open the door to the enemy and give him a foothold. Let’s remember what our Lord told us.

 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’  

“The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31

My Guide

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you, God, and bless you for being a force and presence in my life. You are a miracle to me, Lord. You are my Portion, my Glorious Inheritance and the Only One I desire or will ever need. You smile upon me in so many ways, Lord, and I am so very thankful. I can feel You placing in my heart day by day a love for You that surpasses all others, Lord. You are my Hope, my Faith, my Love, my Heart. You are my Friend, my Father, my Husband. You are my Family. I adore You, and I put no one before You.

You take my worries and turn them into lessons and blessings. You take my sins and convict me and forgive me. You take my heart and enlarge it. You give me peace and love and joy and patience and promises and faithfulness beyond measure. You provide food and shelter and plans and wealth in the form of a fullness of heart that cannot be explained or fully understood. You commit to a treasure in Heaven even beyond what You provide on Earth. I am in awe of the extent of Your generosity.

Lord, when I am still and quiet enough to hear Your voice, Your encouragement and wisdom reassure me. Your gentle hand reaches down to guide me, and Your face seeks mine as I seek yours.

Your warmth and loving advice is always available, just as it was for Tamar and for Rahab and later, for Priscilla. Lord, I confess and repent that I have not always taken Your advice, and know that You forgive me and see my heart.

I thank You for continuing to love me through my foolishness, for continuing to help me place one foot in front of the other back to Your path from my own, helping me every day to hear Your voice over the din of deceivers, and holding my hand while You lift me around or over the stumbling blocks, increasing exponentially my trust in You.

All I ask, Father God, is that You continue to place in my heart a growing love for You like no other, a desire to embody the fruit of the Spirit in thought, word and action, and a yearning to glorify You in everything I do and say.

Thank you for directing my path today, Lord, and allowing me to serve You.

Your loving daughter, 

Susan

His Gifts

"Let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them sing with joy forever. Protect them, and let those who love your name triumph in you." Psalm 5:11
 
Taking time to fast and pray today, the first thing that entered my head was to praise Him.

You are the Lord who sings praises to us, Lord on High, through the birds and the sun and the stars and the evening breezes. You share your everlasting love with us every day, Lord, yet we-in our busyness, our self-absorption, our pride, our petty hurts and annoyances-turn away from You.

My heart grieves for those who do not stop to savor the simple splendors of a child's belly laugh in response to the excited licks of a puppy, or a tear escaping the eye of a man's loving look at his wife of 50 years as he takes her hand in his, or a piece of music, literature or Scripture written by one who knows our heart deep down to its core and touches us, weaving words that forever tie us to the moment we hear it or read it.

You, Lord, create these moments for us, binding us to You in love, in courage and in faith. You reveal yourself to us in all You do, Father God. You encourage us, teach us, favor us, and above all, sacrificed Your Son for us. What kind of love and mercy is that? 

The kind that brings me to my knees. The kind that makes me weep without ceasing. The kind that creates in me a thirst for You in a parched and deserted land. The kind that causes me to stand courageously and lift my arms to heaven and proclaim, "I love You with all my heart!"

You told us that we are Your masterpiece, Lord, yet we have done nothing to deserve this magnificent title and honor. You are the potter and we are the clay; if You see us as such it is only due to the strength and power You bestow on us, the beauty You see in us through Your eyes, Lord.

I pray today to live up to what and who You have created me to be, Lord. I know that You are not yet finished with me, and I pray that, in the finishing, You create in me a desire to make Your will my own, to make Your path mine, and to make my love for You greater than any love I have ever known. I pray, Father God, to know You more deeply with every passing day, to walk in the fruit of the Holy Spirit and to be a living sacrifice and beacon of the Light of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My Mission

By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. 2 Corinthians 3:5 GW

The Holy Spirit has given me a gift. Before I was born anew in Christ, I used that gift aimlessly, and for whoever would pay. I didn’t care about what I wrote, as long as I got paid to do it.  

As I develop maturity in my faith (and it’s a long, slow, uphill process) and an understanding of my dependence on the Lord, I joyfully submit to His yolk, realizing that the capabilities I have are only those that He grants me for His good purposes.  

For the last two years, I’ve been writing k-6th grade, homeschool, Bible curriculum. The Bible studies focus on foundational pieces of scripture in a way that helps Christian families come alongside their children to form a closer relationship with God and to walk in the teachings of Jesus Christ. 

This Bible curriculum is slow. It is developmentally appropriate for each age group. Each grade’s study takes a small portion of God’s Word and identifies how it is a reoccurring theme of the Bible. Students will see the threads that connect it all together, from Kindergarten to sixth grade, from the Old Testament to the New, from Adam to David to Jesus, and how God worked in each of them. The name of the curriculum – Branches – comes from Scripture, too: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5 NIV).

Each small portion of scripture is given to children as a precious gift to unwrap, enjoy, and marvel over for nine months. Students are given the opportunity to revisit the scripture again and again as they would a cherished photo album or scrapbook. They will build upon it piece by piece like a tasty puzzle until every morsel is in place to reveal His beautiful canvas.  

The writing is Spirit-led, which many marketing experts don’t understand. I can feel my heart expand as I sit and listen to the Holy Spirit lead me from one scriptural idea to the next. Some days I write for an hour or two; other days I write for five or six. I am amazed at the depth of understanding I have received from the Lord. He has graciously given me eyes to see and ears to hear. He has mercifully opened my heart to His word the way I have never been open before. He has shown Himself to me in new and glorious ways, and in doing this, He has prospered me and made me a wealthy woman.

This curriculum has become my mission, my way to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout this country. By the end of August, I will be looking for about 200 moms from across the country to pilot-test and give honest input to this curriculum so that in the spring of 2013, if it is God’s timing, I will be prepared to go to a publisher and spread the word in a big way.