As You Get Out Of Bed In The Morning..

..be aware of My Presence.

This entry is pure truth about how much we desperately need God and about how much He desperately wants to be there for us.

I have major tendencies of becoming anxious. I am convinced that anxiety is a mixture of pride, unnecessary imagination, and a lack of trust in God. Pride because when we are anxious, it means we are worrying. And when we worry, we are wondering whether or not we will be able to get through whatever it is we need to get through. And when in the very moments of worry and anxious thoughts, we are keeping the control of circumstances in our own hands. And let's be honest, sometimes having control just feels good. But, anxiety very much doesn't. Even if control does, anxiety doesn't. God's perfect Peace feels so..much..better. Unnecessary imagination comes from Beth Moore. In this book of hers called When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, she addresses the evil one - his power, what he seeks to do, how he does it, and how to be protected and fight against the evil powers of this world. She touches on imagination, and it hit me, praise God. When we let our minds wander to the "what if's" we not only do not keep our eyes focused on GOD, but we give ourselves a clear picture of something to get very anxious and worried about - something that has not even happened!! I'm not sure if you girls do this at all, but this was like a breakthrough for me. We must not allow ourselves to go to questions of, "If such and such happens..," as Sarah says. Lastly, our trust in God. This is self-explanatory. If our eyes are on Him, as Katie wrote, in complete thankfulness, surrender, humility, expectation (not anxiety or worry - huge difference, right) and peace, we will have the "confidence to face the day cheerfully." Amen, Sarah! Thank You, Father God. This anxiety thing does not need to be a way we deal with life.

This whole process, as Sarah points out with the wisdom of God, MUST begin the very second we wake up. It must. And it is as simple as whispering God's name, as Sarah says. I wrote in my journal after I read that sentence, "God, it is this easy to be with You? It is this easy to invite You into my day? Sometimes I feel like I have to ask enough or in the right way for You to be with me. Why do I make this so complicated?" Girls, we are God's beloved daughters. Bill Hybels said in his message this weekend that when we come to God we are able to say, "God, this is your daughter speaking..." How amazing is that. God deeply desires to be with us from the start of the morning til we lay our heads back down again.

There is no better way to wake up than to whisper His Name. Then we can walk through the day with the confidence of not only His Presence, but that we can just gaze at Him with anticipation for what is to come (Psalm 5:3). Easier said than done, but this is God's plan for us. Father God, please bless us in teaching us this way of life until there is nothing else that feels more natural.

Love everyone!

p.s The picture is kristin waking up in the morning. I even stretched it lengthwise a little bit. :)

LOVE you, kris!

June 27 - Rest with Me a While

"Look neither behind you nor before you. Instead, focus your

attention on Me, your constant Companion."

Reading this passage, I began picturing our lives as one big walk with God. We're walking with him, holding his hand and our eyes keep wandering to different things.

Sometimes, maybe, we had a bad experience that happened yesterday. So we keep looking back on what had happened. After a while, that experience happened years ago, but every now and then we keep looking back at it with grief or pain or embarrassment.

Sometimes we try to look ahead, straining for a better shot of our lives like we're too short at a concert. Something may be coming over the horizon that we are really excited for. We could be thinking, "OK, if I can just make it through today, then I'll be happy!" Problem with that is, I've figured out one too many times, is that it puts a lot of expectation on that one event or day. So if something doesn't happen like you've been fantasizing, it might make a wonderful day seem half as great.

There is one place we can look on our journey with God that will make every moment more clear and reassuring. And that place is up to our Father's face. I can just picture walking, holding his hand, looking into his eyes and not knowing where I'm going. This is what God prefers us to do, and what we should be doing!

One thing that makes God so wonderful is that he knows that our eyes will wander behind us or before us. He just asks that we realize what we're doing, share a smile with him and then try to focus our eyes and life back on him.

Lord - Thank you for knowing we will make mistakes. Thank you, even more so, for loving us no matter what. We love you for all that you have done, are doing and will do for us and our loved ones. Please help us to focus on you today - all day! If not, help us to realize that we aren't and then refocus our attention. We love you! In your amazingly powerful name we pray - amen!

LOVE to all!

taste and see His goodness

I really wish I could find appropriate words to describe how desperately I need to cling to this sentence. Right now I am in Bogota, Colombia, and in the last three weeks I have seen some of the hardest things people go through in this world. Families that have been broken by civil war and violence, young girls that are carrying their own father’s child, kids that cannot write and don’t get the chance to learn in a school, hunger, shame, loneliness and a lot of tears. If I am being completely honest, it is really hard to see these things and think in those moments “God you are so good…”

But, at the same time, if I take a second I realize that it is in those moments that there is no other possible response than “God you are so good…” because I know our God already sent a Savior, already gave the people hurting most in this world hope that they won’t stay in it forever, because He sent Jesus- and Jesus won. If I did not believe that, there is no way I could handle seeing all the pain that exists here and all over the world. We must believe that God is good, and we must tell others that He is good or they will give up, they will surrender to their circumstances because they cannot see that they are temporary and that there is eternal life beyond their wildest dreams waiting for them. The comforting arms of our Father are open, and He IS good! I know it breaks God’s heart so much more than mine to see what a mess we have made of His world- and yet in his GOODNESS He won’t leave us here- in his GOODNESS He is cleaning the mess.

The end of Psalm 34:8 says, “Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” So, we taste and see God’s goodness while in the safe embrace of Jesus, the refuge of the Lord and the only anchor in the storm that is a world so broken by sin. Lord God, would you help me remember minute by minute that you are good, and that you always will be. Never let me doubt your goodness even when I don’t understand your ways, because I know they are high above mine. Thank you for your mercy, and I ask you to show your goodness to the people of this world who desperately need to believe in it…

Be Conscious

I remember when I was young, I NEVER wanted to do anything alone..... it was a big problem for an only child! I never wanted to be the first one to try something. I never wanted to do something if others weren't following or leading. I was too conscious, nervous, and shy of my surrounding circumstances.

Little did I understand then that I was definitely not alone and had no reason to freak out :)

I think todays message is short and simple to understand, but sometimes hard to actually live out.

"Stay calmly conscious of me today...." - easy right?? we know He is always there with us?!

"....NO MATTER WHAT!" - ok maybe not as easy. It is hard to be calm ALL the time. Imagine how much harder it would be without our Father! If it was so easy i'm sure the world may be at much ease. BUT how comforting to know that we do have our Father right by our side 24/7, and just like Sarah says, nothing is a surprise to him.

Psalm 23:1 - The Lord is our shepherd :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

June 24 & 25 Hands

Hold My Hand and then... Open Your Hands

I wanted to touch on both Thursday's and Friday's devos because it seemed to perfectly correspond with my faith's journey. Have you ever had a moment when you read something or heard something that you just weren't ready for yet? I read Friday's devotional first this morning and was impossibly bitter of all the thankfulness I was told to be feeling. I wasn't ready for it. I have a hard time disguising my true feelings from the ONE that knows me most- my Maker. And the way I make sense of my bitterness, my confusion, and my fears is to write to Him about it. My thoughts seamlessly turn into words that string together as sentences of truth- sometimes lovely, sometimes brutal. My journal and I have a special relationship because she is the unbreakable and unshakeable source that unites me with my creator. And my journal prayer this morning started with hands tightly gripping the promises I know are true and yet, beautifully weaved through my jumbled thoughts to come to an end with my hands open wide in praise.

June 24- The past two days have been busy. But they've also been hurried and worried.

"Don't be surprised by how easily you sin when you forget to cling to My hand." I neglected to take the time to be quiet before the Lord these past two days. No matter how much time I took to be still, these days would still be busy- but the hurried, worried life is not from God. I wanted to 'handle everything in my path those days. But Sarah Young is so good at reminding me that true maturity is found in all-out dependence on God.

May my hands cling to yours in ultimate dependence, God.

June 25- This morning the sun was hidden behind clouds when it rose (which almost never happens in the hot Arizona summers.) I want to be selfish for a second here and say that the clouds this morning were for me and my time with Jesus.

In this Friday morning entry, Sarah wrote of the sunrise God uses to announce His radiant presence. And if I was perfectly honest, I needed a few clouds to match my attitude this morning. Despite the grumpy mood, time with my God and revelation in my heart allowed me to end my quiet time with hands open wide in praise and worship. His sunrises ARE radiant, His power is incomparable and His love endures forever!

So what do our hands look like with God? I've settled on the picture that He gave us two for a reason. One to grip tightly to His mighty ways, and one to leave open for praise, worship and anticipation for Him.

June 23-Let my love stream through you

...washing away fear and distrust.

I picture a beautiful clear stream continually cleansing the rocks at the bottom. The constant flow of water washes away the dirt, grime and jagged edges of these rocks. God does the same with me. His love flows right through me washing away my fear and distrust. Much like how the rocks are a part of the stream, continually being cleansed and shaped, God needs to be a constant in my thoughts and decision making.

So often I say or journal about how God is always with me, yet in the moment, I forget to have "trusting dependance" on my heavenly father. I need to be gently reminded to bring my focus back to Him.

I am so thankful for the last sentence, "I look for PERSISTENCE-rather than perfection-in your walk with me."

Psalm 52:8 But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you.

LOVE

THANK ME

...for the very things that are troubling you.

Thanking God for things that are good isn't necessarily natural when we first begin to know Jesus. Yet, after awhile, we begin to discipline our minds, reminding ourselves that any and everything good comes from God. I even heard in a message one time when I was a lot younger that a woman used to just whisper to God "thank you, God" whenever something good would happen, even if it were just getting a good parking spot. I took that to heart when I was young and began doing it and it really helped me focus on God's goodness! God being good is fun! But this first sentence is like the advanced form of thankfulness. We DEFINITELY don't do this naturally, huh.

Yet, the second sentence is such wisdom from God, telling us why thanking Him in our troubles is CRUCIAL: "You are on the brink of rebellion, precariously close to shaking your fist in My Face." This is frighteningly true. Even Paul says it in Romans 7:15 ("I do not understand what I do..." etc.). I know that I get scared of this sometimes, falling into an attitude that draws me away from God. Especially an attitude as easy as complaining. Even though complaining is pretty socially accepted, we must remember as Christ followers that complaining is self-indulgent. It takes us away from God and makes us angry at Him, because we know He controls all things. We all know this is a devastating road to travel down.

Yet, we can't help but ask God, because thanking You for our trials does not come naturally, why do it? I think Sarah Young points us to two totally important, life-giving reasons with her writing and scripture.

1) As said, we are at risk of rebellion against God. We must be on guard! And, "The best protection against this indulgence is thankfulness." How awesome that the more we thank God, the more our hearts will be awakened to His Presence, and we will find peace in everything situation through our thankful prayers, prayed in faith.

And besides thankfulness acting as a shield, why does God deserve thankfulness for what is troubling us?

2) Psalm 116:16-17 -- "O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the daughter of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains. I will sacrifice a thank offering to You and call on the Name of the Lord." Despite what we are enduring day to day, God has set us FREE! FOR GOOD! Out of that truth comes an undeniable flow of thankfulness, underlying all of the events of our day to days.

Let's practice thanking God for our troubles and watch how He changes our hearts into more trusting, faithful, peaceful instruments for Him. With this, nothing can shake us. My, God is good!

Love you girls.

Jaym