Holy Uprising - Mon Mar 8

Prayer

Read: Matthew 6:9-15

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 Forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

In the early 1970’s soccer was an emerging little league sport in the US and it was open to girls! That was all my parents needed to hear; finally, something that might be an outlet for all of the energy in their very ‘spirited’ little girl. The problem was I didn’t know anything about it. It wasn’t played during PE or recess! You couldn’t watch it on TV, there were very few books on the sport and the inventors of YouTube and Wikipedia hadn’t even been born yet! Fortunately, my first coach, Morgan Redman, didn’t see that as a problem but as an opportunity to not only tell his young team how the game could be played but to also show them.

He was creative and enthusiastic. He worked hard to tell us all we needed to know about the field, the rules and the how to’s of the game. Each practice we would work on drills that would strengthen our developing soccer skills and then at the end of practice, coach would make our parents become our opposing team. That is how he showed us the game. We would play for a bit and he would stop play to explain to us the why’s of the game! It was awesome – we were prepared for our first game, the test of our new skills and knowledge because our coach had connected the hows and whys!

Jesus had the novice team of Christianity with him! They had never heard anyone teach about the potential we each have to fulfill the purpose of the Kingdom of God, let alone have someone show them what it could look like.

Like my first experience in the unknown world of soccer, Jesus knew he needed to not only tell but to show them & us as well! In Matthew 6 he tells us all, “Pray like this” and then he gives us the words. And when we do more than read those words, but pray them, they can come alive and jump out of the pages into our hearts and minds!

What part of Matthew 6:9-15 jumped out at you today?

Do you need to feel the forgiveness Jesus offers? Do you need to forgive someone else?

Do you need to release the fear of the unknown, or do you need to offer thanks for God’s provision?

Praise God for Jesus’ willingness to do more than tell us what we need to know but to show us as well!

Holy Uprising - Sat Mar 6

FEAR!

Such a simple four letter one syllable word – but it can do so much damage! It comes in all shapes and sizes – fear of failure, fear of exposing one’s self to criticism, fear of saying the wrong things, fear of somehow losing the “things” that make us “happy,” fear of upsetting someone who thinks differently, fear of taking chances, and on and on. Fear is a destructive tool used to quietly hinder the Kingdom of God.

Proverbs 22: ¹³ The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!"
or, "I will be murdered in the streets!"

I have faced all of these fears in my life and in my walk with our Savior. I often spoke out of both sides of my mouth depending on who I was hanging with. With Christian or church friends you would hear me saying things like - “God can do all things - His word never returns empty – He is the source of all joy – we need nothing but Him – He will provide – He is the God of all creation.” All truths – All awesome statements about His power that can fuel a true inner peace and confidence in our walk with Him.

2 Corinthians 9: ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

But all these truths are useless when I would walk out of the safe zones of church, reading the Word, life group, discipleship groups, encounter, etc. and failed to apply them to my life. I failed to live them out with my wife, children, co-workers, and chance encounters. Fear crept in. Fear of man – not God.

Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only…

My man made fear comprised of destructive whispers and thoughts that keep many men stuck on their couches and off God’s battlefield. “Dude, you know all the crap you still have going on in your life – how do you think your Christian friends would feel about some of those sins!” “Following God is too hard – you won’t have any fun anymore – He is a joy kill.” “Your friends at work are going to think you’re crazy – don’t you remember all the things you’ve done with them.” “Dude, you need that drink (or whatever) to take the edge off, nothing wrong with escaping reality – life is too messy sometimes” “A church small group isn’t ready to handle someone like you – you’re not good enough.” “I won’t be able to pay the bills if I give.” “I can’t talk to him about Jesus, I don’t know the bible well enough – I might say the wrong things and do more harm than good.” “I can’t stand my neighbors, let alone love them – I can’t hang out with them.” “I know I would be uncomfortable serving there – someone else is better equipped I am sure – they will step up – maybe I can help next fall when _______ is over.” “I can’t lead other people – I am a failure to God.”

I've had all these thoughts and lies, and numerous others, in the 12 years I have known Christ as my Savior. All I can tell you is -- they are lies! Over time and with the power of God, I have discovered an indescribable joy and peace in serving Him. It hasn’t always been rosy, or easy, but it has been immeasurably more satisfying than the God-substitutes I used to succumb to. Stepping out in faith always starts with a single small step. You don’t have to be a champion sermon giver or Bible expert to spread the gospel. You are certainly not required, nor able, to be perfect in order to serve those in need, be a friend to a single parent neighbor, lead a life group, go on a mission, or do anything involving following Christ. You will have failures and trials along the way – but that is what is awesome about God – He is in control – He has your back – He will forgive all those things you did – no matter how big - He WILL provide – and all it takes is faith! It takes you believing in His promises – It takes you asking Him for the forgiveness and the strength to persevere.

Try Him – I dare you – He will not forsake you. Ask Him for wisdom – His wisdom:

James 3: ¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

We all need Jesus – We cannot do it on our own. Let's get rid of those foolish fears and follow him without fear of persecution from our circles of influence – Let’s come together and serve the “least of these,” so Jesus will know who we are!

Matthew 25: ³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Holy Uprising - Fri Mar 5

"The people have been offered new birth, but they are like a child who resists being born. How stubborn they are! How foolish!" Hosea 13:13

January 1983: An extremely swollen belly, legs, ankles, two weeks past due, impatiently waiting for the birth of our child. Physical misery was second to the longing of the heart! Come out little one, come out of your dark, quiet, comfortable place– I long to hold you, to kiss you and care for you. My arms ache to be filled with your presence, my eyes want to see your sweet face, my heart yearns to know you. Leave the darkness for the light of the world.

What a great picture . . .

March 2010: God longs for us to change our stubborn ways. He longs for us to be in his presence, in the sweet embrace of his care. He longs for us to leave behind the darkness of sin and step into the light of his love so that he can see our face and wrap us with the strength of his embrace.
Sadly we resist, like an extremely overdue child waiting to be born!
How long will you resist?

Be honest today . . . Where are you resisting God? In what areas of your life are you arching your back and resisting birth? Why? What does that (sin, comfort, addiction, pleasure, stronghold, xxxxx) really have to offer?

Offer it to Him and He will give you new life!

Holy Uprising - Thur Mar 4

We're two weeks into our 40 Days (or a few days into 30 Days :) and if you're anything like me, I need constant reminders to stay on track. Roadsigns that keep me on the path.
So back to 2 Chronicles 7 today . . .

If my people will humble themselves….

2 Chronicles 7:12-15

The LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

Wow. These are promises of God. He will hear from heaven, forgive sins, and heal. IF we, who are called by His name, will be humble, pray, seek His face, and turn from sin. Sometimes, it is easy to think, that is so much! Being humble is difficult enough, but to pray, pursue Him, and walk away from sin? That is too difficult. Too overwhelming. But, did you catch the phrase, “my people, who are called by my name?”

1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

If you have chosen Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you are God’s chosen. If you are His chosen, then HE lives in you through His Holy Spirit!

John 14:26: But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

If you have the Holy Spirit, then He will teach you.

Do you need Him to hear you, forgive you, and heal you?
In what ways have you been trying to do this 40 Days by yourself? In your strength?

You need to make the time and effort to draw near to Him. Take time right now. Humbly pray. Humbly seek Him . . . talk to Him. Tell Him you need His help. Ask Him to help turn you from the ways that are keeping you from Him. He will make good on His promise.

Holy Uprising - Wed Mar 3

Hint of Spring…

I have to admit, I am showing up to this Holy Uprising empty handed. I want to want to be repentant. I want to want to fast. But I am struggling with selfish thoughts. Like many of you reading this, I feel like I already have too many irons in the fire. I’m working, going to school, trying to be a giving wife and mom and life-group participant. What exactly do I have left to give up? I confess I felt a little like this Lent thing is more than I can handle right now. So, out of obedience and not much else, this morning I read the devotional posted online. I prayed for God to please quiet my racing mind so I could soak in His Word. I thought about the words of the devotional today- reading them over and over. I tried speaking them out loud. I looked at the beautiful photos of His creation. I wanted to live in THAT reality- in the presence of His Majesty “Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling” (1 Chron 16:25-30)- not the frenzied non-reality I had constructed in my mind of to-do lists, guilt, deadlines and obligations. I finished the devotional and looked around the house at the piles of dirty laundry, dishes in the sink, to-do lists, and textbooks. I sighed and thought, “well, back to reality”.

But the sunlight was streaming in the windows and I decided, no not yet. I want to hang out with God a little longer.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth” Psalm 46:10

I just sat there with the sunlight in my face. Being still. Some verses came to mind…

The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."- Exodus 33:14

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

My yoke is easy and my burden is light Matthew 11:30

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

As I sat there in the sunlight, I was overcome with gratitude for that time of rest in the warmth shining in from the window. I realized that the season of Lent shouldn’t feel like a burden. It is a rest. It’s a rest from the junk- the heavy yoke—the distractions from God’s goodness- that we put on ourselves when we try to single-handedly run our own lives. Humbling ourselves doesn’t mean we stay down in the ashes. It means we make ourselves available to be picked up.

This past Sunday, Feb 28, was the Jewish holiday of Purim. Talk about an example of God turning ashes and mourning into gladness! When they humbled themselves and cried out to God, he turned their death-sentence under Haman into a place of honor and security.

Esther 9:20-22

²⁰ Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, ²¹ to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar ²² as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

It is my prayer that we would allow God to use this season of Lent to remove the burdens we were never intended to carry from our white-knuckled grip. What cares do you need to cast upon him?

Holy Uprising - Tue Mar 2

The First Psalm and the Life Giving power of the Word:

1 Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Hmmm, what is delightful? I find myself 'delighting' in different things. I delight in trips with my family that are full of adventure; Fall days in the hill country spent all alone; watching my kids athletics; peanut butter on almost anything.

Why do I not always delight in God's Truth? What's wrong with me? Do I really not love God?

How about you . . . Who or what do you delight in?

Man, I think sometimes I forgot the point of delighting in God's Word. It's to know Jesus. And the psalmist says that it brings blessing!

There's real live fruit to life when I acknowledge my need of Jesus and seek to know Him through the Word. I so desire to want what He wants for my life.

Mark Batterson said this recently in a blog post:

Ultimately, God wants to sanctify your desires so you want what He wants. . . . But most desires start out as disciplines. And if you discipline yourself long enough, the discipline becomes a desire. I think the goal for all spiritual disciplines is that they would become spiritual desires.

I think the best analogy is the physical disciplines that result in physical health. Going to the gym starts out as a discipline, but if you keep going it becomes a desire. If you get out of the habit, it goes back to being a discipline again. That is the way spiritual health works. You don't always feel like reading the Bible, and that's when it's a spiritual discipline. But if you keep reading, it'll become a spiritual desire again. Then, if you get out of the habit, you've got to make it a discipline again.

I love the resolve in Psalm 119:16: "I will not neglect your word."

You can't read Psalm 119 and come to any other conclusion than this: the Psalmist loves the word. He delights in the word. He desires the word. But part of that desire is buried in this discipline: "I will not neglect your word."

Be a tree by living water. Ask Jesus today to give you His desire, and ask Him to speak as you open His Word.

Holy Uprising - Mon Mar 1

God Sees

As I was praying one afternoon, God brought to mind that there are Creekers who are hurting, perhaps hurting in silence.

Several groups of people passed through my mind.

A husband who is concerned about his ability to provide for his family, but was concealing his fear so not to worry his wife.

A mother who feels overwhelmed by the responsibilities of her home and wondering if she is doing anything right and if this is really what her life has come to.

A person who desires a life companion and feels the weight of loneliness.

I am sure there is more. In the midst of it all, we sometimes wonder, “Does anyone care?” “Does God care?” “Does anyone hear and see the desperation in my heart?” In that moment, a very clear impression was laid in my heart. “Yes. Tell them I see. Tell them I care. I see every heart ache and every tear.” Then, a verse was brought to mind, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Not only does God see and care, He desires for you to have life to the full. For each person, that journey with God is going to look different. However, be assured with the knowledge that He does desire a renewal in your life. Knowing that, take your difficulty to Him. He came, died, and resurrected so that He can give you life to the full. Ask Him how to start this journey with Him. He is ready to renew your heart and life

As you go today take Jesus' simple words in John 10:10 with you. Read them over and over and let them be encouragement to your mind and soul. He is for you and has come to give you life!

I Have a Maker

I have a maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hand

Chorus
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And hears me when I call