Are You Living for The Next Thing or Content With Now?

April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 RefreshHer2 Comments

Perusing through Social media recently made me wonder how many of us live for “The Next thing” that’s coming our way down life’s road. It might be:

Marriage, then
Children, then
A home purchase, then
Vacation or Cruise, then
Another Child, then
A new car, then
When the children are in school, then,
A job promotion, then
The purchase of the newest gadget, then
When the children are on their own, then
Another great vacation…
When the grandchildren are born…

It goes on and on. There’s nothing wrong, of course, with having goals, but some people seem unsatisfied until they attain that “Next thing.” It’s such an easy trap to fall into, isn’t it? Everything we see and hear in our world encourages that discontentment. We’re always urged to want more and to do more and long for the next season of life.

But what if we could put on glasses with lenses that help us to really see what we have “Now”? If we could really embrace the joy of this stage, the gladness for these few possessions, the awe of this status of our lives? Would we not be really living out the beauty the contented, Christian life that Paul’s wrote of when he said,

I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and how to abound, every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:11-13

If we feel a frequent restlessness with today and we’re on the search for something else – big or little – to get us to through the next hoop of our life, it may be that what we’re really missing is not the newest toy from the electronic department, but biblical contentment.

Where does that kind of contentment come from? It’s not found at the Apple store, it’s found in the Secret Place of prayer. When Paul spoke of “being instructed to be full and hungry,” he was talking of being initiated into the secret of contentment, and that can only come when we go to our God in prayer.

When we pray, we tell Him about our anxious heart, our longing for that something else. We ask Him to give us joy in this day, this moment, this status, this car, this house, this marriage. When you get up off your knees, you’ll find that instead of longing for something more, you will have found Someone who was enough!

Ask yourself (or better yet, ask God), “Am I living for The Next Thing, or am I content with right now?” Respond as God reveals the Truth to your heart, and you’ll be staring the sweetest possession right in the face – REAL, TRUE CONTENTMENT.

Lovingly,

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Deliverance From Fear of the Enemy

March 21, 2017March 21, 2017 RefreshHer8 Comments

Bibles 1.jpg It was morning and I had had a fitful night’s rest prior to waking up. The weeks prior to this day had been crammed full of caring for others, a couple of trips, lots of study, sickness and then the emotional drain all that brings. Now I found myself staring at yet another hardship and the day had barely gotten started.

The blessing of this moment was that I was also in my normal spot first thing in my day – I was in my Quiet Place. My Bible was open and I was thirsty for its Living Waters. I opened to a Psalm I’d been meditating on for several days – Psalm 63. It comforted my heart to do what the psalmist had done and stop and remember all that God been and accomplished for me in recent days. Ii was reminded of His goodness.

Then I went on to Psalm 64:1

Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

It was as though I could literally hear the brakes squalling, bringing my fretfulness to a complete stop! The psalmist was asking God NOT to deliver him from the enemy, but from the fear of the enemy. The Lord showed me at that moment that here was my problem – I was fearful of what the enemy might do, of what the enemy could do, of what the enemy was thinking of doing. The enemy is powerless before my God! I was jumping the gun and just having fear OF THE ENEMY. Our enemy doesn’t have to do anything if we can be filled with fear about what they might do!

What is your fear today? Usually we fear something that hasn’t even happened yet. We fear

a poor blood test before the blood is drawn
our children leaving home before they’re even grown
running out of money when we retire before we ever even retire
what someone might do to sabotage our plans before the time for those plans has come

The list is endless. But the point is that we fear things that haven’t come yet, so it’s not that thing that’s causing the fear, it’s the fear of what might be! It’s a fear of NOTHING because we’re imagining everything. It’s a futile, empty circle that only leads us to the pit of despair.

I dropped to my knees and asked God to forgive me for fearing what had not even come. I put the matter at His feet. I then asked for direction for the day. I now had a purpose for the day ahead because the fear was no longer blocking my view of God’s plan for my day. I moved on in victory over the fear of the enemy.

My day was productive.

My heart was joy-filled.

My burden was lifted.

Do you have a fear of the enemy today? Recognize it and then repent. No child of God should be living with fear striking terror and dread in your heart. Christ is victorious over this fear, and you have victory, too!

Do you deal with fear of the enemy? How will you deal with it today?

Lovingly,

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Christian Life · God's character · joy · trust

I’m Not Going!

March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 RefreshHer3 Comments

Reflecting back on the retreat I was privileged to be a part of this weekend makes me shake my head in amazement once again at my great God. That He would allow me to share His Word with ladies and teach them from the overflow of what He’s taught me, is absolutely amazing! It is a joy beyond compare!

It’s also the hardest thing I ever do. There is such an overwhelming understanding of the responsibility to handle God’s Word correctly and lead ladies to Truth, and to do it in a way that God alone gets the glory.

If you could hear me before I go to speak, you might wonder why in the world God would send me! Seriously! I go through the agony of:doubting that what I’ve spent many hours preparing is what I should be doing. I gasp and wonder what in the world I was thinking when I was sure this is what God wanted me to share! My husband and close friends will hear me say,

I’m not going!

It’s then that they know they need to pray much for my weakness. It’s also at that point that I fall on my knees before Him once again and give Him everything – myself, my words, my outline, my heart, myself. It’s a cycle that happens every. single. time. But it’s necessary, you see, because it empties me of myself and makes me realize that I indeed do NOT have what it will take to go speak and help anyone. I CANNOT make anything happen in myself. I am totally nothing without God’s empowering.
My words are empty. My strength is weak. My plans will fail.

But God…

is strong when I am weak.
is almighty.
is able to do exceeding abundantly .
is my all in all.

I sincerely believe that the Lord allows me to speak so that I will continually be drawn to Him in utter dependence. I’m so thankful for that! I don’t want what I can do because I’ve seen what He can do!!

What is it in your life right now that is making you realize that you are so very unable to do what is before you? God gives each of us at least one thing to cause our eyes to look upward, pleading for His possible power when the situation seems impossible to us!

Lift your hands toward heaven and remember that He is your All in All! He can do the impossible in and through you when you let go and trust solely in Him.

Do you have an impossible situation? Will you allow Christ to be your All in All this moment? He is enough. Take it from someone who knows because she DID go, and God did all the work. Praise His name!

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joy

A Little Reminder

January 11, 2017January 2, 2017 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I posted this video right after Christmas, but I thought it would be helpful if every now and then I post it again as a reminder to all of us! Every single day is a gift from God. Are you viewing today as His gift to you? Are you reveling in the joy of all the little things?

Enjoy and thank God for all the little gifts of today!

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Encouragement · joy

It’s Christmas Again Today!

December 29, 2016December 28, 2016 RefreshHer6 Comments

Christmas is over, and sometimes it can be a bit of a letdown afterwards, right? But wait! What if we considered that we have so much to be thankful for every single day?

Someone posted the best little video on Facebook this week that was a reminder of just how much we have, and how thankful we should be for all the little things every single day. It’s too good not to share with you all! It’s less than two minutes long, but it’s powerful.

Here we go: