What a goody good Christian! Good isn’t good enough.

Are you trying really hard to be good?  What is good? In the bible the first time the word good was used was in the description of God creating the universe.  In my seeking I found that we missed the interpretation, the word should not have read good but functional or (tov). The Hebrew word for good is tov and the word for evil is ra meaning dysfunctional. If you read the scripture that way, the meaning changes. Genesis 1:31a, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good (functional).  

In the center of the garden of Eden there were two trees; the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good (function) and evil (dysfunction).  We choose to rebel and disobey God and eat from the forbidden tree of knowledge of function and dysfunction.  No one can argue that our world is currently ruled by dysfunction. We choose dysfunction. Jesus said,  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 

When we pray we should not be asking to become good but rather to be restored to our original beings. To set our goal on being good has us fall, far short of what God created us to be.  Pray for restoration, to the people we were created to be, functional in a complete right standing with our creator. Full restoration and full access to the creator of the universe, and all the blessings He can rain down on us.

Strive for full restoration of function.  The question then becomes what is our function?  As a Christian our function is for complete obedience, zealous praise and a commitment to fervently seek after the Lord.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart Jeremiah 29:13.

Pray: Lord Jesus You tell us how Your ways are far above our ways and who can understand the creator of the universe.  But we seek after You, and in the seeking are blessed.  Jesus restore me to whom You created me to be.  Make me functional again.  My dysfunction is more than I can bear.  I want to be with You in complete congruence with Your desires.  Lord I don’t want to do anything contrary to Your will.  Help me to know who I am and what you want for me.  Bless me with Your revelation of my true self.  I know I am far from who I am designed to be and I ask for Your help to restore me to whom You created.  I trust You, Lord only You can save me. Love you, your daughter Heather

 

Priscilla Lack and her husband, John are teaching on the Jewish meaning within the bible.  They sparked me to learn more and more about the original Jewish meanings.  

Restoration of prayer (pt.2)

Grace the little homemaker

 

 

Grace and I were headed to get the oil changed and so I asked her to pack a bag with a snack and books.

She informed me that she made herself a sandwich and even put it in a Baggie.  Wow I thought I should get an award.  My four year old making a meal, how resourceful.  I stopped congratulating myself soon after, when I asked what was in it.   She sweetly and quite proudly stated, “m and m’s.”.  Boy were the mechanics impressed.

Self Help or Self clutter? (prayer restoration part 1)

Prayer can change the very fabric of our existence nothing else can. No self help book/seminar, no new job, new location, promotions or vacation.

We clutter our lives up with things designed to improve us, make us “competitive”.  We strive to give our children “everything”  and spend enormous amounts of time and effort to do what society says we “should”.  All the while spending little to no time on the very thing, the only thing that is eternal and will transform our lives.

How do I know this?  I lived it.  I spent huge amounts of time seeking after the things that society deemed necessary to be a “good” mother and to give my children “everything”.  Driving me crazy and ironically not improving anything.  I only succeeded in the creation of life clutter.

A conversation I over heard sparked my desire to seek after eternal rewards through my surrender.  I heard my pastor say, ” I don’t know who that young man is but, I know he loves the Lord,  you can tell by the way he prays”.  I was immediately convicted.  How did I pray?  Did I even sound like I liked God let alone loved him?  Did I use my prayer time as a laundry list of needs?  These truths lead me on a five year journey to become a prayer warrior.  I’m still on this journey and it has become a consuming passion that energizes me and leaves me constantly seeking more of God.

I’m not sure how long it will take me but, this is Part 1 of “prayer restoration” where I will try to put onto paper what God has revealed to me about prayer.  Some of these truths I have learned through painless revelations I have received from God in prayer and some of the truths I have learned through painful trials, my own or the trials of those I love.

In order to be transformed I had to lay down myself and create space within me for the Lord to fill with His truth.  I could no longer cling to my selfish wants, petty grievances, pride, judgmental tendencies and un-forgiveness.  They were taking up too much space and consuming energy that the Lord wanted to replace with His unfailing love and patient discipline.

My first prayer was simply this.  Lord I know I’m broken and a mess I don’t even know what needs fixing.  Please take what You want and leave the rest.  I love you Jesus.  From then on that became my simple prayer that I prayed for many months as He worked within me. Take what you want and leave the rest and He did.  Psalms 145:13 “The Lord is faithful to all his promises” and he promised us. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8.  Read the scripture again and you will see He is the One, there is no other One who goes before your life.  You can’t know whats coming or even the significance of what has passed.  If we want to improve, allowing the maker of the universe who is all knowing, all powerful and ever present into our lives is mandatory.  The way to do this is through prayer.

Pray:  Lord Jesus I know the only thing that can improve me is You.  The removal of me and the in-filling of You.  The clutter of my life distracts from the purpose of my life.  Broken and vulnerable I lay down my pieces before You not for You to reassemble into a newer better me but, for you to utterly transform me to renew me into the being that You created me to be, into the the very image of God. To do that full surrender is required and I am up to that challenge.  Help me to see the areas of my life that I am clinging to and not allowing Your cleansing fire to transform.  Lord Jesus I believe that You love me and want what is best for me.  I surrender my heart, mind, body, thought life, mothering, parenting, being a wife and being your servant to You Lord Jesus use me for Your kingdom. Thank you Lord Jesus.  Love you, your daughter Heather.

Divine connections: connecting God’s kingdom

I have often discovered that one conversation, a book or even a well placed laugh have altered the direction of my life.  I don’t know about you but sometimes I get stuck in playing the same anxiety ridden recording over and over again in my mind.  Rendering me unable  to develop a plan to uncover myself from the rubble of my life.

Prayer is the answer.  In prayer we can ask the maker of the universe for anything and He will deliver.  The key is what do we ask for, when we are so stuck in our own heads?

A well placed sermon dropped the concept of Divine connections into my world forever altering my prayer requests.  Divine connections are when God answers our hearts prayers through the use of fellow Christian brothers and sisters in our lives.  He connects us to the exact person who can meet our specific needs at the exact moment in history that we need it. There is no such thing as coincidences or luck.

Now I pray for divine connections, whenever I encounter a problem that I can’t even conceptualize let alone problem solve through.   When you submit to God in prayer, lifting up your needs, He will meet them under His perfect will and direction.

Just Tuesday as I was praying for divine connections to improve a puzzle wrought with anxiety and stabbing me with fear for 9 years the Lord set up a divine connection and a 5 minute conversation blew apart my problem and changed my perspective forever.  If your stuck ask God for divine connections.

Pray:  Lord Jesus I’m stuck again, I need your help.  Please grant me divine connections to help me in my miserable state.  I don’t know what to do but I believe that You can save me.  I know you hold me in Your perfect will and that you have plans for me to prosper me and not to harm me.  Help me to feel Your presence and love in my life.  I need you now,  I can’t do this alone.  Thank you God for your perfect love, direct me onto your path and I will submit my life to Your direction.  Love you God, amen.

Anxiety is just a nicer word for fear

The word fear appears in the King James version of the bible 528 times.  That leads me to believe that it has some importance.  As women we readily admit that we experience anxiety from time to time about our children, marriages and life decisions.  The word anxiety is really just a tamer word for fear.  God says,  I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.  John 14:27 NLT.

Being anxious or if we are more honest with ourselves fearful is a joy stealer.  The evil one loves to keep us chasing after the “what if’s” and “what are we going to do’s” in the middle of the night.  It keeps us focused on this world and all the possibilities for utter destruction instead of praying for a miracle.  God wants to hear from you about what is on your heart.  He wants to minister to your deepest needs but He needs you to willingly lay down your life to Him.  He needs you to willfully give Him space to work His miracles.  We need to consider that the maker of the universe does know what he is doing, has our best interest at heart and will provide for us.  We must also realize He will do it in His time and with the best possible outcome.  He is not restricted by our own limited thoughts of what the “best” solution is.  Nothing about the act of surrendering is easy and it is in fact impossible without prayer, constant prayer.  

The word heart appears 928 times in the KJV of the bible.  God is interested in our hearts.  He wants to protect us even from ourselves.  Do not let the evil one steal your joy with worry.  Keep praying.  I listen to K-Love and one of the hosts said she prayed for something for 20 years and it has just now come to pass.  What patience, persistence and tenacity. God desires us to ask Him for help and stop trying to muddle through it on our own.

Please pray with me and for me.  Lord Jesus: We mother’s surrender our children, husbands, lives and our entire hearts.  Search us and know us Lord.  Root out any unclean thoughts or heart conditions.  Leave us clean and able to see the Truth, Your Truth Lord Jesus.  Help us to make decisions based on Your unfailing Truth and not our fears and wilting strength.  Lord We need You.  You know where my anxiety lays right now help me to see the truth surrounding this fear.  Reveal to me what Your plan is for me and I will willingly surrender my life decisions to you.  Help me Lord.  Thank you, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Sparkle!

 

Grace wants to nickname her sister Abigail “sparkle”. When I asked her why she said it was because her eyes sparkle. I love it. Children are so precious.