Fruity

First year anniversary at our home in Stilwell, Oklahoma. We've done so much work creating our farm life, and still more work to be done. But that's ok; I wake up every day overjoyed at where God has put us. A friend rightfully commented on my Facebook post this morning; 'You get spontaneous joy from being obediently grateful.' So true. 

I think the Christian thought is that joy is a fruit of the spirit and that it will magically be in you. But maybe God doesn't want to just throw fruit at us. Maybe He wants us to be an orchard. Or an oak. Or a vineyard. We always think survival; God thinks multigenerationally. With family in mind. The Vinedresser prunes us according to His desires, because the fruit isn't for us it's for the Body. 😆😂❤️

I used to think of my life as a road with a lot of potholes in it, and God was filling them. God is interested in healing and restoration, yes, but He does that to build foundation. He plans to build on top of all that smooth, healed heart. I've spent a lot of time learning about my brain and how it works. Joy doesn't land on our brain with all its crappy thoughts. It's grown; which is why it's called a fruit. Find out what you're thinking and why you're thinking it. Invite Him into your thought life. He's already there, but He does like to be included. He's not waiting for you to sit down with your devotional. He's waiting to walk with you, hand in hand, and He wants to create a place of abundance with your life. To bless Him and feed His family. 😊❤️

Civil War

I was watching The Good, The Bad and the Ugly with my love. Like many times before I was struck by the civil war scenes. I looked it up; 620,000 died in our American Civil War, more than any other war in history. My husband reminded me that there wasn't a draft; men on both sides enlisted to fight a battle that was basically over ideology. It was about freedom; but how the freedom was administered and to whom was the topic that thousands died a horrific death over. 

In the wake of the tragedy in Orlando, it feels like we are constantly trying to kill each other. If not with guns, we kill with rhetoric. And hate. And lack of perspective. It's as if the red and the blue wish, once again, to fight. 

I have good news though. It doesn't have to stop here, in the place we face off, brother against brother. This is where it will end; 

“"For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.”

Habakkuk 2:14 NASB

http://bible.com/100/hab.2.14.nasb

And here; 

“Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."”

Revelation 11:15 NASB

http://bible.com/100/rev.11.15.nasb

Jesus came to reveal the face of the Father. His is a face of restoration and hope. Of Love. 

In the midst of devastation, we get to choose who we agree with; love or fear. Reconciliation and hope, or anger and blame. 

I choose Him. 

Salted with Grace

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Colossians 4:5-6 NASB

http://bible.com/100/col.4.5-6.nasb

Last night I cut a thirteen pound brisket into two pieces, and ad libbed a dry rub and a braising liquid. After fourteen hours at 200 degrees I pulled them out and tasted. The dry rubbed was a little sweet, the braised...well something wasn't right. I'd thrown a couple tablespoons of whiskey in and it didn't taste very good. Then I realized it needed salt. It chagnged the whole flavor! It was so good! 

Grace is like that. It's indispensable, but often overlooked. It can change a whole conversation. It's easy to acquire, too. Just think where'd you be without Jesus. Now, if you think you e done it all pretty well by yourself, or if you've pulled yourself up by your bootstraps, that's what you will communicate. 

Why can't you do it? Why can't you figure it out? Just do it. See? That's just no fun. Graceless. 😆😉

Add some salt. You'll taste much better. 😁😘😘😘😉

Drastic Cuts

I've been setting a lot of goals for myself and today I'm a total failure. I told my husband I was discouraged. When he asked why and I told him, he said, "Why don't you ask God what His goals for you might be?" Yeah. 😒

So I've been trying to pull myself out of my funk by listening to a sermon. The pastor used a story that stuck out to me. 

A guy hires an arborist to come trim a tree in his front yard. The arborist says, "Before I start, what do you want? Do you want a tree that looks good or a tree that bears fruit? If you just want it to look good I will round it off and just trim a little. If you want it to have fruit I will need to make more drastic cuts." 

I usually have an idea of how I want Christ to be formed in me. Maybe an Instagram type journey, filled with strengths and creativity. Instead I get to be a mom of three growing kids, on a farm in a fixer upper house. Dirt, poop and back talk. Drastic cuts. 

The Holy Spirit is full of hope. He pulls me along and let's me see peeks of what He's doing. And it's like nothing I ever planned. Christ in me, the hope of glory. 

CS Lewis describes this really well; 

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

I Won't Be Overwhelmed

“I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let you be defeated. He who guards you never sleeps. He who guards Israel never rests or sleeps. The LORD guards you. The LORD is the shade that protects you from the sun. The sun cannot hurt you during the day, and the moon cannot hurt you at night. The LORD will protect you from all dangers; he will guard your life. The LORD will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever.”

Psalms 121:1-8 NCV

http://bible.com/105/psa.121.1-8.ncv

Monday's are full days for me. I wouldn't say I get the Monday blues, because in a way I enjoy them. The return to structure, the gradually evolving cleaner house, kids quietly busy with school. I do, however, get a little overwhelmed. What should I prioritize? House? Farm? Parenting? All of it? 

Most Monday's I have to pull myself back to refuel and rest more than I thought I'd need to. I found myself singing this today. 

https://youtu.be/f3aZ-MgE8aU

Momentum

Eben has transitioned to a bigger bike. He had a little Red Rider that didn't have pedals and he'd balance and coast along like no one's business. This new bike has pedals and no training wheels. I'm trying to tell him that he has to be moving to balance. He needs momentum. 

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2 NASB

http://bible.com/100/heb.12.2.nasb

Sometimes in our efforts to hear God, please God, follow God...we forget to do life. All throughout the Bible, God encountered people while they were doing things. David was tending sheep, Saul was finding donkeys, Peter and John were fishing. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm a mountaintop person. My ideal getaway location is a cabin in Alaska with only airplane access. 

And it's ok to find a clear spot to listen. In fact, I find it imperative. But I can't forget that He is with me in the day to day. I can get through the day to day, because Im learning to dream. To build. I created a generation, and it's growing, with or without me. 

The coolest part is that in the waiting, the growing, the building, the dreaming...I can have joy. I can get through the hard stuff because He's walking with me. He's meeting me and I'm meeting Him.I think this is one of the things Jesus thought of when He endured the Cross; unhindered friendship with His creation. Nothing to keep us from His love. No sin. No shame. Just the walk with joy. Now that's heaven on earth. 

Deep Wells

“"For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.”

Jeremiah 2:13 NASB

http://bible.com/100/jer.2.13.nasb

Most of the time we see sin as the problem. But it's not. Sin is the solution. We had a problem, and we solved it our own way. 

Beginning with Adam and Eve, we've sought to solve our problems ourselves. We are trying to be like God without God. But we can't. It's a long, slow death, because we were designed to be connected to Him. 

I'd always been taught that my sin made God pull away from me. That's a lie. Nothing can separate me from the love of God. What can happen is that I let my shame or my pride make ME pull away. It's like potty training a toddler that doesn't want to poop in the potty. You realize you haven't heard he or she in quite a while, and you know they are somewhere hidden, pooping. It's not the poop that separated you from them, it was their realization about the poop. ☺️

Don't hide with your poop. Don't focus on it. Just bring it to God and flush it. Nothing separates us from Him. Nothing. We can come boldly before the throne of grace and talk to our Daddy. And nothing satisfies like Him. There's more to be had. Always more. Further up and further in. 

https://youtu.be/KcJaKj45QGA

Between Your Ears

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”

Romans 12:2-3 NASB

http://bible.com/100/rom.12.2-3.nasb

I love how the verse that talks about renewing our mind precedes the verse in how to think of ourselves. Isn't it funny that it says not to think more highly than we ought to think, but it doesn't say what we ought to think? 😆 God wants to talk to you about you in your relationship with him. He wants you to learn to use the mind of Christ. I say use, because we all have it and most of us don't employ it. We still think with bitterness, unforgiveness, rejection, fear, worry. When we try to solve life with ourselves as the solution, we miss the mark. That's what sin is; missing the mark. We can't fix ourselves; we have to die. 

The Holy Spirit wants to teach you how to think. I love how Graham Cooke says, "If the thought you're thinking isn't working for you, have another thought!"

When we start aligning our thoughts with His, the fruit of the spirit doesn't grow up funky. Lol. We had a barn when I was young that we stored potatoes in. Some rolled under their racks and hibernated. Then they'd sprout but look really weird; long, pale and alien-like. That's us with an unrenewed mind. 

God never used the term 'wretched sinner' to refer to us. Those are our words, and they are wrong. God came as the son of man to die for His creation. He feels passionately about us. He alone decides our worth, and we were worth it. 

Bill Johnson says, "I can't afford to have a thought in my head about myself that isn't His." 

What would happen if we began to think like Jesus, and see ourselves as He sees us? 

The One and Only

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."”

John 13:34-35 NASB

http://bible.com/100/jhn.13.34-35.nasb

This is really the only commandment Jesus gave us. In the Old Covenant there were Ten Commandments, of course compounded by many more rules. In the New Covenant there is this one. If you want a further description of what it means to love each other, read 1 Cor 13. It's not there to just be quoted at weddings. 😆 It's 11pm right now and I've committed to writing a daily devotional. That's love. I think. ☺️

You can't love without being loved first. It's impossible. Fortunately God foresaw this; We love Him because He first loved us. 

Most of us live with an idea of love, but not an encounter with the God of Love. Philosophy and brain farts can't get us there. We need to have heaven meet earth like a sloppy wet kiss in our hearts. Then again and again until we overflow. 

The church hasn't been known for Her love. Let's change that. ❤️

Rednecks and Jesus

“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

Acts 4:13 NASB

http://bible.com/100/act.4.13.nasb

Peter and John were fishermen. They didn't go to seminary. They weren't cultured. They were basically rednecks. I've met rednecks in upstate New York, Long Island and Connecticut. I've met rednecks in the south, where everyone expects them to be. They are fun people...and they definitely have culture; redneck culture. Lol. They value fish fries, family and a good beer. The closest to philosophy they come to is, 'Here's your Sign'. (A redneck commentary on stupidity) 😅

The people listening to Peter and John were aware of their background as fishermen. Which was in stark contrast to their confidence, authority and the content of their message. At the end of this verse they realized what has transformed them; they had been with Jesus. 

Being with Jesus had transformed them as men. Their identity and mission and presence had been irrevocably changed. 

I've read a lot of books, listened to a lot of sermons, studied a lot of things. But what has marked me is my time spent with Him. Time in His presence, reading the Word, and learning to hear His voice. 

The person I am today is unrecognizable from the girl that first said yes. He's a friend. He's a Father. He's a lover. And He wanted me. 

He wants you. At this moment, He wants to hang out with you. He likes you. He sees the you you've never even conceived of. He sees you whole, walking in power and authority. A redneck that has been with Jesus. 

“" Who is this coming up from the wilderness Leaning on her beloved?" 

Song of Solomon 8:5 NASB

http://bible.com/100/sng.8.5.nasb