A Daily Epiphany

Last Sunday we celebrated Epiphany – the manifestation of the Lord – when the magi’s eyes were opened to the King of kings. I desire a daily epiphany when my eyes are opened to my King.

I post my blog for today. Now I’m in my cozy chair with my throw blanket tossed over my lap. I reach for my well-worn Bible, my daily devotional and my journal. A deep breath in and a slow exhale. It’s my time, it’s His time. It’s our time to be together.

Before the electrician arrives to do some repairs. Before I go on errands. Before I go to Weight Watchers. Before the day’s activities are in full go-mode, I get to be with Jesus. For a few quiet moments, I don’t have to share Him with anyone. The words are always fresh to me. A new reading in His Word and a new reflection. What will He show me today? What will be my “epiphany” today? I take it in like it is a required prescription to keep me alive. After all, it is the Bread of Life – physically and spiritually.

But, sometimes, my mind is overactive with my to-do’s and it’s simply a “routine” that must be done. Please forgive me, Lord, for those times when I only give you a quick glance. Sometimes I have an “aha” when I read a verse that I know was written with me in mind. Other times -- not so much. I pause and whisper, “Lord, open my eyes to see the wonderful things in Your Word. Help me understand what You’re trying to show me.” I don’t want to miss a single thing that God has for me. I don’t want the distraction of the clock or daily assignments to pull my thoughts away from His. I really do not want my time with Jesus to be a quick “meet and greet”. I really do want to pray, ponder, understand and respond.

My sweet mother-in-law, Lydia, has been that kind of pray-er and ponder-er. Every time I read Acts 16 where a woman named Lydia is introduced, I think of Mom. Lydia and her friends are having a prayer meeting on the riverbanks. The Apostle Paul and his traveling companions stop by the prayer meeting. Lydia is already a worshiper of God, but as Paul shares the Good News of Jesus and His redeeming work on the cross, Lydia has an “epiphany”: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention and to respond to the things said by Paul”. (Acts 16:14).

I absolutely love that: “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention and respond.” Oh, how I desire that my heart is opened to pay attention and respond to my Lord. Lydia’s mind is opened and she receives a fresh revelation of Jesus. He deposits a desire in her heart to learn more about the gospel of grace that Paul is sharing. I think of an old song that is actually a prayer. May it be our prayer today.
“Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.”

May this be our heart’s greatest desire — today and every day! May we open our hearts wide so we can receive a fresher revelation of Jesus. No matter how much we think we know about Him, let us long to know Him more!

Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.”

A Prescription for the Dumps, the Mulligrubs, & the Grumpies

Do you need a prescription today because you’ve had it, you’ve just drawn the “last straw that broke the camel’s back”, someone got on your last nerve, and you’re just D-O-N-E done! Well, I’m happy to write this prescription for you today – one that you don’t even have to go to the corner drug store to get it filled. You need a Word break. If you'll just pick up your Bible, you'll find the hope you need. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:).

God gave us the Bible to encourage us. It's a mood picker-upper. Everything in Scripture is written for our encouragement. Even the tough parts of God’s Word are there to ultimately encourage our lives in the right direction. That’s why we need to spend time alone with God every single day. Whether it’s our quiet time, daily devotional, or our personal inspiration time, we need to be getting alone with God, reading his Word, and talking to Him. Psalm 119:114 says: “You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me”.

I’ve become pretty good at diagnosing the dumps, the mulligrubs and the grumpies. Better put -- if you’re discouraged and have lost hope, I can tell you one thing about your life without ever “getting into your business” -- you’re not spending time in God’s Word. You’re not spending time with Him. From having personally lived in the pity party zones, I know if you’re down and out, and having a pity party – it’s because God has become an uninvited guest to your miseries. I know from firsthand experience. Know God – know joy. No God – no joy.

So, today, I give you this prescription. I give you Jesus. He’s the peace that passes all understanding. I give you Jesus. He’s the perfect love that casts out all fear; I give you Jesus, He's the water that you drink and never thirst again; I give you Jesus, my friend, I give you Jesus. You will find Him in His Word.

The more we read God’s Word when we’re down, the more He lifts us up. So the next time discouragement comes knocking on your heart's door, don't open it. Open up your Bible instead -- and read it. God’s Word has the power to change your life. It has God’s power in it. Nothing else does. The Bible will give you the “real stuff” — true encouragement. Start out with this "real stuff"!

Psalm 16:5-11 "You, Lord, are all I have, and You give me all I need; my future is in Your hands. How wonderful are Your gifts to me; how good they are! I praise the Lord, because He guides me, and in the night my conscience warns me. I am always aware of the Lord's presence; He is near, and nothing can shake me. And so I am thankful and glad, and I feel completely secure, because You protect me from the power of death. I have served You faithfully, and You will not abandon me to the world of the dead. You will show me the path that leads to life; Your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever."

Be Fearless

Fearless in these days and times? Get real, girl! Who can be fearless when from the smallest fear (like a snake in a flowerbed -- that was me yesterday) to my friend's upcoming major surgery or another friend's livelihood being challenged after a hard fall that fractured some bones? I get it. There are plenty of reasons to be in fear about what tomorrow holds. But God has solutions for us to squash those fears. We can be fearless. It's not a suggestion from God -- it's an actual command! Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God..." God Almighty is our back-up and our back-up plan for being FEAR-less.

Clearly, God's solution for annihilating fear is Himself. He shows us how to be fearless. It is by trusting in His sovereignty and power which keeps us in peace when everything else in the world screams out for us to FEAR. My husband identified FEAR in an acrostic -- "False Evidence Appearing Real". Reality tells us that so much of what we spend our time worrying about never even happens. Living under the weight of the "what if's" is a mighty heavy blanket to live under.

My younger self struggled with fear and worry for years, so much so that I developed acute colitis. My amazing Christian doctor coached me to healing by giving me the prescription of taking God's Word into my heart and meditating on it as soon as anxiety showed up. I took that prescription, faithfully. I learned to call on the Prince of Peace (Jesus) to give me peace and I found it as I relied implicitly on what He promises in His Word. In time, I began to find that the things that I once feared, no longer affected me. Change happened. Anxious thoughts disappeared. Worry released its constant grip. God's words became "life" words, soothing to my soul, calming my spirit, giving power to my days. It wasn't always easy, and it often came down to a choice. Choosing not to allow fear and anxiety to control my life. Choosing to guard my heart. Choosing to focus my mind on what is truth in the midst of uncertainty.

If you're relating to what I'm speaking about today, and FEAR has you in its grip, I urge you to take the same prescription that Dr. Gregory gave me. As many times a day as you can -- take God's Word in, speak it, pray it, meditate on it and be healed. Our Master Physician is on call 24/7. Find Him in His Word that is full of His promises. Be assured that He is a promise keeper!

~ Psalm 34:4: "I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears."
~ Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
~ John 14:27 "Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be ~ worried and upset; do not be afraid.”
~ Psalm 118:6-7 “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; He is my helper.”
~ Isaiah 26:3 "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."

PEACE be with you! Be FEAR-less!

Getting the Prescription Filled

Seventeen years ago, my fingers hurt so much that I couldn’t button my shirt or pick up my grandbabies. A rheumatologist diagnosed it as osteoarthritis, a chronic disease that, she said, could only be maintained (not healed) via drugs. She prescribed Vioxx. My husband said to me as we drove home, “Now we know the name of the symptoms, and since we know THE NAME that is above ALL names, the name, osteoarthritis, must bow to the name of Jesus. We pray for wisdom and will believe God guides us in what to do, not to just ease the pain, but for your complete healing.” He prayed those words from God's Word (God's remedy book for so much that ails us) in Philippians 2:9. We just didn't have a peace about having that prescription for Vioxx to be filled, and, it’s a good thing because a couple of years later Vioxx was taken off the market because over 60,000 patients died from taking it. (BTW, God's wisdom led us to natural supplements and the pain was gone within 90 days. All glory to God!)

I’m not advocating that we shouldn’t take medicine. Combining our faith in the healing power of God with the wisdom of the medical field can be God's way for our healing to come. When we are really sick, and beyond our faith, we may need to go to a doctor for help. If he finds an infection, he'll prescribe a remedy and write a prescription for us. He knows and expects the medicine to help us get better. He wants to help us get over the issue so we take it, then wait for it to work.

Now, think about how much God wants us to apply His Word to, not just healing our bodies, but restoring our souls and having an entire life of His abundance and success. We talk about what God’s Word says. We think about His Word. But often we don't actually “take it” and act on what it says. God, our Great Physician, has prescribed what we need in His Word. The fact is taking His prescription (or not) to love, forgive, trust, and hope (His characteristics) will determine how long we wait for success.

If we don’t know where to start, we can start with the simplest of all “prescriptions" for success. It is God’s BIG ONE – a commandment, which is sometimes difficult to swallow, but the single most important one for a life of blessing and abundance. It’s simple to remember because it basically boils down to one word: love. This one word contains the essence of all the other commandments we’ve ever been given. It says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). That’s the prescribed medicine we need to take daily……religiously.

Learning to wait well with patience involves learning how to put into practice the regularity of living as a child of God. It means putting into practice those things we already know: • Loving
• Forgiving • Believing • Doing what God says to do.

Heavenly Father, we want to love as You love, forgive like You forgive and honor You with our hearts in every way. Use us as a testimony of grace, kindness, and love to those around us. I pray for a double portion of favor and blessing in our lives! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Please, God! Take This Baggage!

BAGGAGE: past experiences that are regarded as burdens, cares and weights (i.e., emotional baggage).

I made it home from Tulsa in time to quickly change clothes and head to my church for our annual 3-night Lenten Mission where we intentionally set aside the time to dive deeper and lean in closer to God. It’s about going to a place of introspection and renewing our hearts to purposely enter into a deeper relationship with our Lord. It’s as though we’re at the doctor’s office and he’s using his stethoscope to check our heart beat and condition. Then he gives us the “prescription” for healing our heart.

Last night’s message focus was on our relationship with Jesus Christ who is our Face of Freedom. He sets us FREE which implies that we have been BOUND by stuff. We’ve become stuck in our issues and clutter and all that BAGGAGE in our lives. Jesus gets us because He came to earth to be one of us and experienced what we experience. Hebrews 4:15 “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since He had the same temptations we do, though He never once gave way to them and sinned.” We experience temptation, rejection, betrayal, disappointment, discouragement AND, so did Jesus. Jesus came to give us freedom. Freedom from anything that holds us bound: bad attitudes, addictions, fears, guilt, despair unforgiveness, anxiety, worry. All of that “stuff” is BAGGAGE that Jesus came to free us from. It’s time to ask God to free us of baggage that our soul cannot afford to lug around anymore. Jesus came to give us abundant life but we can’t live in that abundance as long as we don’t let go of the stuff.

Once we are willing to let go of all that BAGGAGE that we’ve carried far too long, Jesus will free us of the weight of so much baggage. We did that in a symbolic way last night as we wrote on an index card the names of the BAGGAGE that was weighing us down and then, where four tall crosses were at the front of the sanctuary with a basket beside them, we processed forward and gave those cards that contained our “BAGGAGE” to Jesus -- once and for all. All that “baggage” will be burned so there's no need to ever take it back on.

Now that we’re free of all the stuff – we can be FREE to give our full attention to Jesus – to make Him the Savior and Lord of our life. This question was asked “Where is God in your life on a scale? Is He #1 or #3 or #8? When we were dating our wife or husband, we couldn’t think about anything or anyone except them. We couldn’t help ourselves. We thought about them and even talked about them incessantly. That’s how our relationship with Jesus should be. What if we incessantly thought about Him, talked about Him and talked to Him, the more in love with Him we will become. When we’re that much in love with the Lover of our Souls – the cares of this world (the BAGGAGE) will no longer weigh us down and have us bound. I’m ready for that FREEDOM. How about you?

What Medicine Do You Take?

If you're like me, your medicine cabinet has just about everything you need in it for the common cold, headache, cuts, scrapes, bug bites, sunburn, tummy ache, etc.  I've got aspirins, ointments, sprays, oils, ice packs, heating pads to help conquer the ailments at any given time.

Yesterday morning, while getting ready for my day, I listened to a Joyce Meyer broadcast that I had previously recorded.  Her message sure hit home and impacted me enough that I'm sharing with you the part that I loved and took to heart the most.

She had two HUGE medicine bottles on the stage -- two medicines for our souls.  One said, "Trust" and the other said "Do Good".   Joyce said,  "This is a prescription for trust. The doctor is Jesus and the patient is whosoever. The instructions are take as many, for as long as you need it, refills are endless. There are some side effects, so you'll need to be careful. The side effects are: peace, joy, stability and confidence.  Trusting God is the best sleep aid in the world."   And the other presciption was "Do Good" -- side effects:  extreme happiness.  Trust God and do good.  That sounds like two medicines that would take care of spirit, soul AND body.  Those two medicines that Joyce mentioned:  "Trust God and Do Good"  will solve any problem we have.  Psalm 37:3 says "Trust in the LORD, and do good".

I loved this analogy.  How easy it is for us to go to the medicine cabinet for the physical issues we might be dealing with, but what do we do when we are in fear, dealing with anxiety, disappointment, discouragement, depression, anger, self-doubt, and so many other emotions?  The answer is Joyce's answer "Immediately go get the prescription and medicine of God's Word."  The Word of God fixes everything that ails us.  There is an answer for everything in God's Word.   When in fear, take a dose of courage; when anxious, take a dose of peace; disappointment -- a dose of a thankful heart; discouragement -- a dose of encouragement, etc.   We wouldn't put up with a headache very long before we'd take an aspirin for relief.  And we shouldn't put up with all the sufferings of our soul.  How do you spell relief?  TRUST GOD and DO GOOD!

Growing Older -- Growing Merrier

TBT -- This photo was taken two years ago during Mom's 90th Birth-Month Celebrations. Each day of that October month, we made a big deal of celebrating her. On this day (October 9th, 2012), I gave her "The Last of the Good Clean Jokes" Book. It was to honor her, and her great sense of humor. I think that’s one of her most precious characteristics.

She has always enjoyed laughing with others…..and even at herself. I love how she doesn't take herself so seriously that from time to time, she makes fun of herself. She's looked at the bright side of life, when she could have been in despair. I really believe the scripture, “A merry heart does good like a medicine”, and that has been one of the main prescriptions she's taken over the years, and that’s why she looks and acts so young…..and why so many can’t believe that on October 31st, she'll turn “92”!!

I'm so thankful to her for showing us all that there’s a better way to live life than being gloomy, sad and in despair! I love her so much and I thank her for laughter and joy!! This is one of her light-hearted times with her daughter, Karen Wuerch Rose. They were playing "train" here!