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Then the Lord said to me, write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NLT) Tyndale House Publisher

This is the time of year when most of us make goals to change, some calling them new year resolutions. Goal setting is a great tool to get things done and moving in the right direction. In-fact the bible encourages such behavior in Habakkuk 2:2-3. It’s not the writing down of goals that are the problem. Without a goal, we often wander through life aimlessly instead of waiting purposefully.

About a month ago, I started a 300 things list. Not really a bucket list, but 300 things I want to accomplish, do or give. I said started because I’m still working on writing things down. I’ve made it to 219 at the time of this post. Had no idea how challenging it would be to write down 300 meaningful things that are important to me. Things that I would like to see happen and that I can participate in making it come to pass. We write goals, lists, and resolutions and forget that we must do something to progress to the finish line.

It is never enough to want something badly; we must take action to get it. Yes, just like Habakkuk we must wait and be patient for the goal, vision, or resolution to come to pass but waiting is not nothingness. Waiting is a season of preparation for what’s to come. In that season between goal setting and goal fulfillment, we can take actions that move us in the direction closer to the goal.

I have a goal to write 100 books in my lifetime. Yep, it’s a lofty goal, but book 1 was published last year so I have 99 more to go. Here is where it gets challenging, I have the goal in mind and I have started so I know I can write and publish, but the day to day task of writing and research are tedious and not as exciting as starting. Then there is my stinkin’ thinkin’ of “who am I to write 100 books and who even wants to read them.” I’m sure most of you can relate. Unless we change our mindset about the day to day task, those goals remain just that, goals.

So, before January 1, 2020, let’s get started:

1. Write the goals
2. Visualize yourself at the end, picture goal accomplished
3. Check your mindset and adjust if necessary (find truths to defeat the lies)
4. Break goals down into small necessary steps, tackle one step at a time
5. Share that goal with someone you trust, that can check in and hold you accountable

Repeat steps 2-5 weekly, if not daily

Here are some resources to help set smart goals:

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 (NLT)

This weekend I had the privilege of visiting a local farm. This no ordinary farm, it’s a quaint and serene place open only on weekends. What’s so special about this place, well there are several things, but mainly it is nestled in the middle of the desert of Las Vegas, Nevada. On the edge of a residential neighborhood, is this unexpected sanctuary and you will miss it if you don’t pay attention.

Surrounded by plants and trees there is an opening that welcomes you with a farmer’s market the first thing visible once inside. They feature fresh homemade, jams, pies, bread and soap along with fruit and veggies from their property. Beyond a gate, if you dare venture, is the home of rescue animals of all sizes and nature. It is by no means a petting zoo, just a sanctuary for those that have been abused or abandoned. There, you are greeted by any number of animals that you can feed or just watch as they roam.

I did just that, watched. Overcoming my own fears of creatures and the “enter at your own risk” signs, I roamed among them until I came across a peacock that held my attention. I have seen peacocks before, and I have seen them with feathers outstretched, for mating. But this guy seemed intentional about letting the world know who is was and what he wanted. He was an image-bearer of the One that created him. He proudly displayed his feathers to every other creature there including humans. He quietly walked around, and other fowl gave him plenty of room. It wasn’t just for the attention of the female; it’s like he knew the beauty he had been giving and wanted to show it. Even when he was alone his feathers were on full display. Whatever situation brought him there did not change who he was and no longer held him captive.

How many of us realize that we were created in the image of God to display the beauty given to us. We don’t mind putting on a show for others but when we are alone, feathers are down, and we forget who and whose we are. Even the image we display to others is more for attention-getting or a deflection to hide the abuse and abandonment we feel in our hearts. God wants to heal every hurt so that the beauty we display is pure and done to please Him alone.  No longer held captive by circumstances we are image-bearers but we must decide what image we want to display.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:12-13 English Standard Version

This was a tough week. I spent time trying to pay a debt that I have had since 2018. That’s around the time that I became extremely ill and had to leave my job. While I was waiting for social security, I accumulated large amount of medical debt and lapsed on credit card payments. It was the hardest and most depressing time of my life.

My husband worked two jobs, but it was a challenge to cover it all. So, I have been slowing paying it all back and rebuilding the damage to my credit. This one company has been a nightmare to pay. My thought: I’m trying to give you money, hello somebody. This week I got completely frustrated. They had made an agreement with me and I allowed them to take auto payments from my account. They stopped withdrawing their payments moved the debt to a different company and no one ever notified me then they no longer wanted to honor the original agreement because it was after the “deadline month.”

After a month of back and forward and listening to recorded calls they finally agreed to the original agreement and I gave them their final payment. While I am trying to be responsible and do the right thing it got me thinking. There is a debt that I will never be able to repay. No matter how hard we work or try, the sin debt that we have accumulated can never be repaid. Romans 3:23 say, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (NLT)

I don’t know about you but, I have spent a lot of wasted time trying to be good enough to pay God back for erasing my sin debt. What I have discovered is that God will stick to the original agreement. There is no wavering in His love for us. The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as a sin offering as well as a love offering. The original agreement was that you are His and He is yours. Don’t waste time second-guessing it, live in the freedom of it. Our sin, along with its guilt and shame has been stamped: PAID IN FULL.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NLT, Tyndale House Publishers

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As humans, we have the tendency to place our hope and even our faith in lots of “things”. We hope and trust in the manufacture of things, that it will operate the way it was intended. I sit in my desk chair every morning without thinking about it because I believe it will hold me. We have an extended warranty on appliances, equipment and devices to ensure that if something does happen, we can fix it unless you are like my husband then you opt-out of every extended warrantee.

We mindlessly believe that when our loved ones leave in the morning they will return in the evening. Why, because they have done it so many times before. We place our hope, our faith, in past experiences. What I have learned in this life is that just because something once was doesn’t mean it will continue to be.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

II Corinthians 1:3-4

You may feel alone in your pain, you’re not, there is someone who loves you, who hurts when they see you hurting.

There are cause and effect aspects that take place here. For example, I spent more than eight years carrying the hurt of my past, and not letting go of that hurt has caused me to isolate myself from family members and friends. They didn’t understand what I was really going through because I never expressed it, until recently.  I wrote a very long text message to a friend among other things, I apologized for my absence in her and her family’s life. I was surprised to learn that she didn’t realize I was hurting, she thought I had just “moved on”, which was hurtful to her.

“And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself”

John 12: 32 Tree of Life Version

This week I was scrolling my email inbox that is always flooded with articles, blogs and invites amongst other things. As I looked closer I realized that most of these were from those that are Christians but I struggled to see Christ. I asked myself, where is Jesus? As a Christian community, where have we placed Jesus?

I mean has He no longer become cool to the church so we nestled Him in the background of our activities about Him. He sometimes makes a faint appearance in our motivational sermons but rarely is He at center stage.

While I’m not talking about being completely radical, wait maybe I am. Maybe that is the problem we have failed to become completely radical for Jesus. We don’t have to beat people over the heads with a bible every minute but Jesus should take a prominent place in our lives and churches.

I shouldn’t have to go on a hunt for Jesus in His own house. As a community of believers, we have hidden away the one person who can change the lives of every human heart.

Communities need to see Jesus. Don’t think a scavenger hunt for Jesus is exactly what the Bible had in mind.

Maybe there is a fear of Jesus. A fear that He will turn people off or that the church would appear strange and out of touch with culture. Jesus, however, was very in touch with the culture of His day. He was sensitive and compassionate but when needed addressed the hard issues. Yeah, He went to the house of worship but He didn’t hide out there. He hung out with the people and people well they flocked to Jesus. He alone drew the crowd.

There is a story in the bible that I love. Some friends tried to get close to Jesus because they had a sick friend. The crowd was thick and they couldn’t get the stretcher through so they climbed up to the roof, tore it off and lowered their friend right in front of Jesus. (Mark 2:4; Luke 5:19) They were desperate and knew that only Jesus could meet the need they had. Only Jesus! So, they went where Jesus was.

Where have you placed Jesus?

Come to me, all you who ae weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28 NIV

I live in a heavily visited city, Las Vegas, NV. The suburbs are not as loud, but The Strip constantly has noise. Most people only think of The Strip when thinking of Las Vegas, so they ask how does one live amongst all those people, noise and sin.

People and sin are in every city. There is no escaping that, but the noise, not as constant in some parts of the country. So, what do you do when the noise is harder to escape? You rise above it.

I love taking the red-eye flights for the simple fact that most people are sleeping and there is a stillness in both the cabin and in the air. There is a quiet that high in the sky that is calming at least enough to make you forget that there is nothing about that metal contraption that says light and airy.

You have risen above the noise of everyday life and often the stressors of life, if only momentarily. Then you land and it all comes flooding back in.

You can live in that place of peace without having to hop on a 747. It’s the place of rest that Jesus invites us into. (Matthew 11:28) If you are anything like me, with control issues, it’s not an easy place to enter. I just want to control outcomes which makes me weary and burdened when I can’t which makes me want to control more. It’s a vicious cycle.

This cycle creates a level of noise that can drown out the voice of God. Jesus is saying come, I have a place of peace for that noise, but the noise is saying we don’t know what that place of peace is like. We much prefer controlled chaos.

So breaking the cycle requires a few steps on our part:

We must grow tired of how loud it is. It’s the only way we will do something different.

We must surrender our control issues. It’s the only way we will trust God with them. (yes, in that order)

We must acknowledge we are weary and burdened. It’s the only way we will come to Him.

We must enter true rest. It’s the only way we Rise About the Noise.

This is my command-be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 NLT

This world can often give us some crazy things that create fear and panic. I have often heard that if you are alive you are either in a storm, just came out of a storm or about to enter a storm.

Storms are apart of life. And they are scary. Think of the disciples’ panic recorded in Luke chapter 8:22-25. They were given instructions by Jesus himself to go over to the other side, meaning other side of the lake via boat. That was the easy part as most of them were fishermen and familiar with both boat and the lake. The challenge was that most were fishermen and familiar with both boat and the lake.

Often our greatest challenge is having too much information and not enough knowledge. Not that one shouldn’t be educated but too much access to information on a topic in which we are not experts can be dangerous. This is why when we or a family member get the slightest ailment, we rush to Google to self-diagnose or create a treatment plan even before we see a medical expert.

Luke records the panic amongst the disciples. I can imagine the fishermen knowing that something was off about the wind and waves and telling the non-fishermen that this was very bad. As a matter of fact Luke records the best viewpoint of the disciples fear with verse 23 saying, “…and they were in great danger.”

A panic response can spread from one group of people to another. Even when it is something of great concern our ultimate response should be that of the one in the boat with us who gave the initial instructions. In this case, Jesus was fast asleep, and the disciples were up fearful.

Jesus being asleep meant there was no need to panic. In our storms God may be seemingly asleep or at least silent, but there is no need for us to be full of fear but remain full of faith in the one who is able to deliver on His promises. Cautious yes, fearful, no.

When fear does arise, remind it of the promises of God and all the times God has been faithful to you and those around you. Yes, there will be storms that don’t turn out how we imagined that they would, don’t panic. In those times remind your fear of the authority of God. Remember that our world is broken. Remember that God is love and seek God on how He is going to use this storm to bring some good.

Dear Beloved,

From the very beginning I knew you would be special, and I loved you more than you could ever know.  Even your name told of who you would be, its meaning is loved, adored, apple of my eye, long suffering and enduring and you have had to endure a lot through the years, and as your Father, I was there to see you through it all.

There were times when you didn’t think it was fair to have to go through so much, but I’m very proud of you, you didn’t buckle under the pressure and if you had, I would have been there to prop you up on every side.  I promised you that I would never leave you nor would I ever forsake you and I’m not a man that I would go back on my promise to you.

Beloved, you should know that I have wonderful things in store for you, the way has already been paved, you only need to stay on course because the safest place for you has always been in my will and all those things you desire will be made known to you.  I have and continue to watch over you and have orchestrated your life from the beginning, sometimes you tried to command the ship and I allowed you to do that for a little while, but then I caused you to relinquish control because you were heading into uncharted waters and I couldn’t allow you to delay your destiny any longer.  It may have seemed harsh to you, but as your Father, my love for you outweighed your emotions at the time.

If you ever have a doubt as to how much I love you, just remember how I sacrificed my only son for you, and there is no greater love than that, it cannot be compared.  Always remember that you are never alone, I walk with you everywhere you go and when it feels like I’ve left you, remember my word in Psalms 121, and lift your eyes to the hills from where your help comes from and there I’ll be as I’ve always been.

You are loved,

It has been 15 days since I started working from home and/or shelter in place, and I’ve had the time to watch the news and have discovered that too much information can cause anxiety.  This time of isolation has allowed me time for reflection and while viewing various platforms I’ve seen how other people are dealing at this time.   This pass Sunday, I logged on to the internet to watch Home Church Online for three different churches and although the focal scripture verses were different, the take away from each were very similar.

God’s word helps us to walk through isolation and reveals that:

1.           God’s love for us is perfect –  1 John 4:18 New International Version (NIV) – 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

2.           Jesus walks on the things that scare us – Matthew 14: 25-27- 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

3.           God wants us to maintain or recover our rhythm – Isaiah 40: 31But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (NKJV)

Of course, there were many nuggets to gleam, from what I heard during online Church, but these three stand out and they allow me to see there is a lot to be learned in isolation.  As we take this time away from the hustle and bustle of commuting, constant telephone calls, and visitors, we have to take advantage of the moments of silence so that we can clearly hear the voice of God.  We have to pray with our eyes on Jesus and not on our circumstances, knowing that the presence of a storm doesn’t mean an absence of God, He is with us as we move from isolation to revelation.