Fine-Tuning Our Focus

From mid-June until now, I've been focused on VBS kiddos, then I hopped right into focus on 4-legged kiddos at my children’s place then to my 2-legged grand-kiddos at my home, back to focus on my children in Austin, and now back home to the two 4-legged furry kiddos of my Frisco family while they’re away. Whew! FOCUS – can sometimes be draining. Being responsible for the care and well-being of others and focusing on their needs keeps us from focusing on our own needs. I get it. We love focusing on our loved ones…..because, well…..we love them. We are wholly devoted to them. But, giving our full attention to something, somethings, and “someones” means taking the FOCUS off of ourselves.

Why is ME-focus important? I refer again to Jesus’ words in establishing “FOCUS” priorities: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39. Focus priorities look like this: Love God. Love yourself. Love others. The fact is – unless we care about WHO is most important, we can never love others to the capacity that God intended for us. We become better parents, employers, employees, friends, neighbors and leaders when our FOCUS starts with God and ourselves. So, I’ll admit I’m ready for some God and me-focus.

I have some friends who have asked me for some one-on-one time. I have had to put them off while I was focused on the care of others. And, now, before I can give them the quality and Spirit-led counsel they need – I MUST focus on “loving the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind” which means spending time with Him to get me loving me enough to love them enough to give them Godly wisdom for their lives.

I loved having those special times caring for others. It feels my “love tank” so full. I’ve heard of week-long get-away places where people will go to a health and fitness boot camp to FOCUS on a road to lifestyle and body transformation. Then there are couple boot camps where they go to FOCUS on each other to revitalize and renew their love and marriage. It’s important to stop the struggles and wandering and wondering to FOCUS on what’s most important in our lives.

So, now, I’m back to my little world of God and me – I get to FOCUS on what and WHO keeps me stable, unshakable, and centered. My relationship with God. With all the distractions that we are consumed by, can we possibly imagine how much God wants one-on-one “you and me” time with us – where He is the center of our attention? And when He’s the center of our attention, our FOCUS is fine-tuned on what’s good and lovely and the question about whether we do what He wants or not is easy because we will focus on what He focuses on.

This is fine-tuned FOCUS: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3). By fine-tuning our focus, we’ll always “focus on God first” Who is near to us, strengthens us, and gives us wisdom and Godly perspective to persevere through life. That FOCUS will help us focus on everything and everyone else with His perspective, His love, and His wisdom.

Hebrews 12:2 -- “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith….”

You Bear a Striking Resemblance of Your Father

People often say my daughter resembles me and my granddaughter resembles her, and I resemble my mother. It’s undeniable – we were all cast from the same mold. My son is undeniably, His dad’s son. They RESEMBLE each other.

My word for today is, obviously, RESEMBLE: to have qualities or features, especially those of appearance, in common with (someone or something); look or seem like.

While I love that compliment “You look just like your mother” or “Your daughter and granddaughter certainly look like you” – most importantly I want for them and me to RESEMBLE our Heavenly Father – and to RESEMBLE Him is to resemble His nature and His ways. Ever heard someone say, “The more we live together, the more we finish each other’s sentences and we’re even starting to look alike?” That’s what I pray for in my relationship with God. And the more time I spend with Him, the more I know His plans and purposes for me, and the more I (like to think), that I start to RESEMBLE Him. His nature is LOVE. This is the month of love and what better time to become LOVERS of God and RESEMBLE Him in His love for others.

This life we live is truly all about love. Of course it is, because God IS LOVE and the most important lesson He wants us to learn on earth is how to love. To say “I love you” can sound like a cliché if our actions (or our RESEMBLANCE of God) don’t measure up to those words. We say “I love you” in the same sentence that we say “I love chocolate cake” and there are times when it seems the one saying those words, loves chocolate cake more than us.

Learning to love unselfishly is certainly not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. That’s why we’re given a lifetime to learn it. God continues to demonstrate His love to us each and every day. And that’s why He is our role model and why those who spend time with Him will start to RESEMBLE Him and His ways. Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

God wants His family to RESEMBLE Him and to be known for love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other – not our doctrinal beliefs – is our greatest witness to the world. He said, “Your strong love for each other will PROVE TO THE WORLD that you are my disciples.” John 13:35. He proved to the world His love – and now as we love and serve, we take on His character and RESEMBLE Him.

It’s admirable that we could RESEMBLE our Father within our four walls and in our own families, but love isn’t learned from hiding out with our four, and no more. We must be around people, even those cranky, grumpy and even frustrating people around us, because God's LIGHT of LOVE in us is what the world needs NOW. In Acts 10:38 we see how Jesus RESEMBLED His Father everywhere He went: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good.”

Resembling our Father is to LOVE. It matters most. It takes top priority. So, let’s be LOVE show-offs and RESEMBLE our Dad today!

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

We’ve all found little finger prints on our glass doors or windows or walls. No sooner do we get those glass doors cleaned, than a little one comes along and puts his hands all over the door again. Little chocolate, play dough or muddy hands had left their imprint. The evidence was real. We recognized those finger prints. They were placed there by some little person that we loved.

Those were the times when those little ones had no idea of what those little finger prints could do. It took some repetitive correcting and maturing for them to finally learn to use a napkin or washcloth to wipe away the evidence.

Now, that we’re all grown up -- we know better. We do pretty well with keeping our hands clean. Today, even grocery or big box stores, provide antibacterial wipes to clean off that grocery cart before you use it. And, many of us carry little bottles of hand sanitizer. But, really – I’m not talking about those little dirty hands.

Psalm 24:3, 4 says “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where He lives? Who may stand before the Lord? ONLY THOSE WITH CLEAN HANDS AND PURE HEARTS, who do not practice dishonesty and lying.”

Clean hands. Pure hearts. How can we clean up our hearts? There are many ways: medications, self-help books, therapy, counseling, and mental affirmations. Of course all those ways help our physical and mental thoughts, but when we let God use His super-powerful cleaning system do the work in us, then we’ll show up with those “clean hands and pure hearts”.

Clean hands and pure hearts. Those are the hands and hearts who know better than to allow the stains and dirtiness of the world – lying, dishonesty, cheating, envying, complaining, and deceiving – to “mess up” our relationship with God. We do our best to keep our hands and hearts pure and clean, because the rewards for being God’s good kids are so great. We get to sit at the “adult” table where the benefits are so many. He finds pleasure in His kids when they desire to please Him.

My prayer is from Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!” Clean hands. Pure heart. Sounds like someone had a good “cleansing” shower!

Signs are Everywhere, But Do We See Them?

My relationship with God is by far my highest priority.. I purposely cultivate that relationship by spending time in His presence....I hear from Him quite regularly. Maybe that sounds like I pray for hours on end to be in His presence, but that's not the case. When I wake up, I know I'm in His presence. As I go through my day, I know I'm in His presence. When I'm sleeping, I know I'm in His presence. I don't have to find a secret place (though it's quite beneficial to have those places of complete focus). Being so "tight" with my Father God that I sense His nudges and His signs, is sincerely my goal.

I'd like to think that I am always on the same wavelength as God -- that His ebb and flow is my ebb and flow. But there are so many distractions that come my way, that very often I miss His whispers, His nudges and His signs. Paying attention is my aim.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've shared in my FB posts how I've recognized divine encounters, God's gentle nudges and other signs of His presence. When a cardinal showed up while I was praying, I sensed God's attention to the details of the talk I would soon be giving. And, Monday, His presence was made known to me again, confirming that I was on track.

Case in point: On Monday's FB post, I shared the gist of my talk at the Advent by Candlelight. "I understand" are Christ's words when it comes to all the challenges we may face because He experienced everything that we have. "I understand a baby's cry" because I was a baby." "I understand a teenager's struggles, because I was a teenager." "I understand the temptations of a young person, because I was tempted in all points as they are, yet I sinned not." Bottom line "I understand" are Jesus' words because He too knew the plight, the struggles, the pains and concerns of humanity, because He was human.

Getting everything together for the event, I realized I left my Bible in Frisco, so I asked Mom if I could borrow one of hers. She said, "Sure, there's an Oral Roberts Bible on the book shelf in my bedroom. I loved it -- red leather edition. As I opened to the scriptures I would be referring to at the event, a Gospel tract fell out of the pages. The tract was entitled "I Understand". God gave me a sweet assurance that I was on point with my talk because, of all the Bibles Mom has, it was the Oral Roberts Bible that she directed me to, and that tract was in that Bible. I shared this story at the event to assure the ladies of God's gentle nudges, signs and His desire to communicate truths with us through so many providential circumstances.

The next day, one of the attenders of the event, sent me an email asking for a copy of the tract "I Understand" to give to her mother in law. I found it online and sent it to her. But her words about "signs" are what blessed me. Here is what she said.......

"I just read my morning prayer and wouldn't you know it mentions signs! How about that? Here's the devotion prayer....
"Lord Jesus, may I never lose sight of the SIGNS of your presence in my life and the SIGNS of your action in the world today. Free me from spiritual dullness, indifference, and every distraction that would keep me from you. May I never tire of listening to your word, seeking you in prayer, and longing for your return in glory."

May we keep our eyes and ears open to His voice and His gentle nudges. He wants us to seek Him and know His heart, His longing to be our best friend that, more than anything, desires to see us blessed. If not, maybe now is a good time to start! I pray that you become a NOTICER -- watch for God's sweet confirming "signs" that will keep you moving in His direction!

Not on My Watch

My precious grandmother had 10 children. I remember her prayer “God, there’s not one of my children that are too bad for Satan to have. They will all come to know you in personal way before I ever leave this earth.” Maybe that’s what took her so long to “go home”, because when she passed away at 99-1/2 years old, every one of her children had a precious relationship with God. In today’s terminology, she might have said, “Satan, NOT ON MY WATCH will you get your hands on my children!”

Someone was asking me to pray for their wayward child and I told her the story of my grandmother. I told her to stand in the gap for her child and declare “Not on my watch” to the enemy.

When the tornado was close to my home last week, and I had my granddaughter and her friend with me at my home, I thought “Not on my watch, will I put these girls in danger!” I took them across the street to a neighbor’s storm shelter. I feel that way with those that I hold near and dear to my heart. “Not on my watch – will I stop praying for them.”

What if we had that attitude about our communities, our states and our country? NOT ON MY WATCH – will the enemy continue to invade our lives. It’s time for us to arise from our slumber and complacency and take a stand for what is right in our homes and our country. God placed us here on this earth at this time for a specific purpose – to be watch-men and watch-women. God is speaking to each of us to RISE AND SHINE.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). Paul wasn’t telling us to be passive spectators—of entertainment or anything else. He meant something far different. He meant for us to stand up and be accounted for. He meant for us to say “Not on my watch will the enemy win.”

If ever there was a time for us to resist wasting our lives away, the time is now. To waste time is to waste life. A Watchman is one who has sympathy, empathy and compassion for our fellow countrymen and for all humanity -- so much so that he or she fullfills our God-ordained responsibility to watch and pray.

The best watch-men and watch-women that we can be is a LIGHT SHINER. We must be “the light of the world” by being a godly example for others to follow (Matthew 5:14). We must go into all the world and spread the “good news” of God’s love and mercy. In such a chaotic time in our world, God is calling us with a higher calling. NOT ON MY WATCH -- will the enemy win, because if GOD BE FOR US, who can be against us!

Take Joy, My King, in What You Hear

Day 8 of the Love Month -- Take Joy, My King, in What You Hear
Last week I posted about the love songs we enjoyed with our significant other, the love songs we sang to our babies, and the love songs God sings to us, but doesn't He Who is THE originator of music desire to hear love songs from us? The ONE who deserves our praise, adoration and our love.... because He FIRST loved us? Christianity is a singing faith. Why? Because it’s not about religion! It’s about a love affair; it’s about a relationship with God— God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us and He wants us to love Him back.

Here's one of the love songs I sing to Him:
"I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship You. Oh my soul, rejoice.
Take joy, my King, in what you hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear."

Oh, that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be forever making beautiful sounds and songs of love to my King. How often do I let my tongue slip with a careless word, complaint, concern, or woe....those sounds that I'm sure God must put His fingers in His ears and go "la la la la la" to hide those less-than-lovely sounds. But how He must lean into me when He hears me praising Him -- making sounds of gladness, joy, thanksgiving and gratitude. Psalm 22:3 says "He inhabits the praises of His people." He dwells there with us. He embraces our praises. He abides in our praises.

Nothing makes us more aware of God’s love and presence in our life than singing and praising. I know you may be thinking, “But you don’t understand. I can’t sing.” God doesn't look for virtuoso singing. He's quite okay with being off-key. “Make a joyful noise” (Psalm 66:1). We can all do that. When we cheer our favorite teams and players on, we make a joyful noise. So let's just let it out! We don’t have to hit the right notes; we just have to make a joyful noise of love and praise to God.

When we really think about all that God has done for us, we won’t be able to help ourselves. Those are the sweet times of intimacy (in-to-me-see) when we bare our hearts and souls to Him who knows us so completely anyway. Those are the times when we are so tight in our love for each other, that we can barely put into words all that He means to us. Quite naturally, our love songs will come pouring out of us like a fountain of unending flow. "I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship You. Oh my soul, rejoice. Take joy, my King, in what you hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear."

Indescribable, Uncontainable, Amazing God

Day 259 of Photo Inspirations -- Indescribable, Uncontainable, Amazing God
For the last three months, I've been privileged to be part of a retreat team that is working diligently on an October special women's retreat.  Weekly, we meet for prayer, study of God's Word, and then it's "all hands on deck" -- to diligently work and prepare for the event.  What a joy it is to know that we will be getting to take other women to a place of "green pastures" -- to get away from EVERYTHING -- families, work, electronics, schedules, routines and "to do" lists -- to enter into a new or deeper relationship with Christ..  That happens when we go to that "Secret Place".  Psalms 91:1-2 "The one who lives in the shelter of the Most High, who rests in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “You are my refuge, my fortress, and my God in whom I trust!"

I'm baffled when I think that THE GOD of the universe is my loving Father and He knows me by name.  His arms are outstretched to me/us 24/7.  Shouldn't we be the most excited people on the planet because His arms outstretched means PARTY TIME.  The party begins when He is invited into the innermost recesses of our hearts and lives.  

I want my passion for God getting stronger and stronger, and my light to burn brighter and brighter, and a sweet way of doing that is to REFRESH and RECHARGE at a retreat (a place of refuge and restoration).   Some things with God are so personal, so intimate, that they cannot be described with words -- they can only be felt with the heart. This is how true intimacy with God is; we feel that no one else can really understand the special bond that we share with Him because it's altogether personal.  But I assure you of this -- that intimate place of relationship -- removes doubt, worry, concern, and fear consciousness and replaces it with "Savior" consciousness.

This describes my relationship with Christ. He has comforted me as I have cried.  He has directed me, taught me, reproved me, guided me and loved me.  Only God knows us perfectly and intimately. He understands our desires, motives, and thoughts. Nothing about us escapes His notice. In fact, God knows infinitely more about us than we will ever know about ourselves.  He not only knows all about us, but He will never forget us. He even keeps an account of the number of hairs on our heads.   God promises in Isaiah 49:16 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands."

Perhaps it's not possible for you to go to a physical retreat location to find Him, but you can find a "hiding place" or a "secret place" where you come to know the indescribable, uncontainable, all powerful, untameable, uncomparable, unchangeable -- AMAZING God...for yourself RIGHT NOW -- wherever you are.  His arms are outstretched to you.....and in case you haven't been told 'you are loved today', through me...He is telling you now.....'YOU ARE LOVED'!

I love this song by Chris Tomlin.  Maybe, right there at your computer or cell phone or iPad, you can find that secret place right now.  Listen and know HE IS AMAZING GOD who loves you so much!           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpLqAUJcUbo

Feeling Some Nudges? Having Some "Aha" Moments?

So you've been feeling some nudges, hearing some still small voices, having some "aha" moments? I'd like to suggest that God is trying to get through to you! If you are tight in your relationship with God -- you go to Him in prayer and study of His Word, you embrace His love and care for you, you KNOW Him -- then, it's definitely Him, and I highly encourage you to respond to His nudges.

And, when I talk about "nudges", I'm talking about the Holy Spirit Who Jesus promised would come when He went away. "However, I'm telling you the truth. It's for your advantage that I'm going away, because if I don't go away, the Helper/Counselor won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." John 16:7.

I talk a lot about "being on assignment" -- and it's so simple to know what that assignment is when we realize He who knows everything about everything lives big in us. We don't have to jump through hoops or any other actions to merit His favor or love. He is our Father so we should just live "tuned in" to His nudges and still small voice and the "knowing" that He is leading and guiding us. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27

So, let's start following Him -- His little nudges. He has so much wonder and awesome experiences awaiting us -- let's start pursuing them. We could take the "safe" route and the easy way by living a mundane life, or we can follow God’s impulses that lead to the "above and beyond" in our lives. Let's tune into the nudges that God is giving us -- those nudges to live, pursue, hunt, give, climb, dig, jump, walk, run, research, and focus on the assignment -- the nudges -- and the "aha" moments will surely follow close behind!