A New Thing...

18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

20 The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,

21 the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise. (Isaiah 43:18-21)

I Shall Believe

Arise, My Soul, Arise

It's really amazing to me that when we seek God and seek for answers and wisdom from Him, we get them! I mean... I've known this for some time, but often I either forget it - or He does a completely new thing. He has a wonderful way of hitting me with an answer or a nugget of wisdom when I'm least expecting it.

Lately I've been listening to some Mark Driscoll sermon podcasts while I work or commute. He has a way of presenting the Bible that just resonates with me most days. His sermon title this particular day was "Jesus Rejoices in the Holy Spirit." He had lots of good stuff to say about joy and how the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. He had 10 points to investigate if we felt like our joy tanks were low. And honestly, I can say... My joy tank has been a little lacking these days.

My Joy in the Holy Spirit Increases When:

1. I spend sufficient time in the Scriptures He wrote
2. I repent of the sin He has convicted me of
3. I serve with the gifts He's given me
4. I forgive those who sin against me and pray for my enemies
5. I enjoy what I have and give generously
6. I pay attention to my health
7. I remind myself that joy is one emotion God gives
8. I share in the joy of others
9. I respond physically, trusting that my emotions will catch up
10. I plan fun and capture sacred moments as they come

Some of these I feel I do regularly. Some areas I could definitely work on. Definitely something to think about.

I have some other things that have resonated with me, but I'll save those for another day.

I'll leave you with these lyrics:

Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne my surety stands,
Before the throne my surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.

Nevertheless

I'm currently (and rather quickly) making my way through Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado. Max isn't always my favorite author, mainly because of how much cheese he uses. But as I was searching the shelves in the library the other day, it jumped off the shelf and into my heart.

The back of the book read like my life...

He taunts you with bills you can't pay, people you can't please, habits you can't break, failures you can't forget, and a future you can't face. But just like David, YOU CAN face your giant, even if you aren't the strongest, the smartest, the best equipped, or the holiest. (emphasis added)

Bills - No, Jim and I aren't in any danger of being out on the streets or in bankruptcy court, or anything like that. But bills and finances and growing up has definitely had it's stressful moments. The moments that make you freak out and sit in terror wishing that you had a parent that took care of those and you were just here to get good grades... I often wish I had appreciated those days more when I had them.

People - I can be a little sensitive at times. For any of you that actually know me, and I mean REALLY get to know me, you realize that I take many things personally. I make it my personal aim to please people around me. On occassion this takes an unhealthy approach as it consumes me and depresses me if I seemingly fail.

Habits - Things like at times spending money when I should be saving, reading a book instead of vacuuming, visiting friends instead of laundry... These things overwhelm me at times. I have several habits that I desperately need to break if I'm ever to maintain a neat and tidy home.

Failures - I still, to this day, get caught up on little things I should have done better or excelled at more... I mean, miniscule little things. I should have ran more in high school when I was actually IN shape, it would have made trying to get into shape now much easier. And the list goes on. These little failures sometimes creep out of nowhere and whisper in my ear...

Future - oh the future... Lucky for me, I married a future Methodist minister! I know the fate of my future and have absolutely no idea at the same time! The only thing that is guaranteed is that life will change and will change more than most people's lives will. I recognize this, accept it, and for the most part look forward to it. But there is a part of me that craves being rooted firmly in one place. Oh the future... Only the Lord knows what is to come...

I have a laundry list, yes. But Max wrote a section in which he talked about King David in 2nd Samuel. The Jebusites start listing off a laundry list of things against David in his battle. But it says "...Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion..."

Nevertheless

No matter what the other guy was saying - No matter what was against him - NO MATTER what his laundry list included... God used David. God allowed him to do great things for Him.

Nevertheless

May we all realize that nevertheless was destined for all of us. There is a nevertheless in my story. There is a nevertheless in your story, too.

Nevertheless

And the key to this "nevertheless"? We don't allow the laundry list to be our focus. We don't allow all the wrong things to be in our view and in our ears and in our minds. We focus on the most high God.

As Max likes to put it, "Focus on Giants - You Stumble. Focus on God - Your Giants Tumble."

Where is your focus? Is your mountain, your giant, your problem all you can see or hear? Then look up. Your nevertheless is here.

I will run...

I ran again for the first time in over a month last night. It felt good. The last rep of 90 seconds of jogging, I ended up at a hard run just to push myself. I wasn't worn out and felt like I could push myself a little more. I took off running. I think I took Jim a little by surprise when all of a sudden I was several paces ahead. But he quickly caught up to me. After the rep was over he just gave me a high five and a big smile.

More than just physically - I've been running a race lately.


I will run the race set before me
I will seek your face as the prize of my life
I will run, I will run, I will run...

All I want is You
All I crave is You...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us." -Hebrews12:1