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Running Baggage
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrew 12:1-3 has been on my mind lately.
This weekend I’ll be running a 5K with my summer shred boot camp girlfriends. It’s been a few years since I’ve run in “competitive” races (not that I will be competing this weekend). I can feel the past years in every grueling stride I make.
2 weekends ago we went over to a beautiful trail around a small lake. In my past years of competitive training, this lake trail used to be a breeze… something I would run just for fun. The 2 mile run (if you can even call it a run) was grueling. I wanted to stop even before we started. I felt totally discouraged. What once used to be easy – was now bringing me pain and shame with every step.
After a week of some endurance training we did the trail again this past weekend and it was MUCH better. Yes, it’s important to train appropriately. But maybe even more important is the self talk happening within.
I took a yoga class once from a teacher who had us holding an intense pose much longer than we students wanted to. She instructed us to stop thinking “no I can’t” and gave us faith that the muscles were able to hold the posture much longer than our minds wanted to. And, it was true!
This last 2 mile run I kept encouraging my friends to go just a little bit longer, strive for the next marker, even though I truthfully wanted to stop at the bench we just passed. But due to the positive peer pressure and mental help we gave each other, we endured and went maybe an inch or two further than what the mind said we could.
The first run my eyes were focused on me. The negative changes that had occurred in my body. I wasn’t able to focus on others around me. I was pulled inside and it showed.
The differences aren’t astounding or life changing to anyone… but they fit this scripture so perfectly today.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Hebrews 11 gives us a wonderful list of faithful witnesses who surround our faith walk. But, look around you friend. You have many people God has placed in your life just for this time.
- What is hindering your race? sin? busy-ness? Throw it off!
- Run with perseverance – the course which is already laid out for you. As Psalm 139:5 states “You hem me in—behind and before.”
- Keep your eyes on the One who can get you to the next race marker. He’s been here – He’s been on the burden-filled road. He knows your needs and will supply. Just do it!
So many times I have wanted to give up. To take the easy road, or just settle in with my jar of Duncan Hines frosting and cry. My fitness journey parallels my spiritual journey as well. Too many times I have told God to forget about me, just give up, I’m done. But He always pulls me through the challenge…. maybe not in the moment that I wanted, but He has been faithful.
Last night God put Psalm 130 in my hands. Allow it to be your prayer as you start this new week, a new month, walking in faith.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
Fools in Faith
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Does this scripture give you comfort or pressure?
Me? I see comfort.
I don’t have to be perfect to be significant. In fact, I can be most effective in my weakness. Ultimately, this thought is what started the whole faith talk this week. If you want to hear my preacher-man speak his heart in truth listen here.
The apostle Paul who single handedly spread the gospel halfway around the world calls himself:
- unsophisticated
- foolish
- uneducated
- afraid
Who am I to think that I need to be something that I’m not in order to do the work of Christ?
vs 5: so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power
Faith relies on God’s power not my wise or funny words.
I find comfort there today. How about you?
How can we pray for each other in our faith walks this weekend? Please leave a comment with your prayer request.
An industry of faith?
If you’ve been reading my blog this week, you know that FAITH has been on my mind. So when I read the following words in a post today, I knew I had to share it with you.
I know many of us are struggling financially. We can’t sleep at night worrying about our home. We wonder when we can buy groceries again, and how in the world we are going to pay the electric tomorrow. But, can I ask you to trust Him?
Can you say, Lord give me just enough? Give me just what I need. My kingdom is your Kingdom. You sit on the throne of my life. This is where real and lasting happiness dwells.
Good, isn’t it? Want the whole story? Read Titans of Industry from Laced with Grace.
Can faith really heal?
Monday’s post Heart for Worship stirred up conversation between a friend and I about faith and healing. Here’s part of her reply (by the way, she heard the same message I heard):
Heart of Worship…thanks for your words. I walked away from worship today wondering if [Pastor] Marc really believes that healing is so related to faith (a nasty line to draw) and then i read your words..” We all are broken people. And God can use each of us in our own weakness… God’s light shines best when we admit our brokenness and come to Him with a humble heart” God grant this for Jesus sake, that we come to Him and help shine His light all over the earth.
After reading her response via facebook I was a bit worried that other people might have thought my preacher-hubby implied in his message that all you needed to have was faith in order to be healed. But that wasn’t his intention. The intention was to get us away from striving to be significant and to find how Christ works best in our weakness. (if this isn’t true, oh sweet husband of mine, please comment below!)
I opened my Bible to Matthew 17 where the disciples could not heal a child with demon possesion. Jesus did and scolded them for having such little faith. Here’s the passage:
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Now, if you are like me, you believe the Bible to be true.
However, do you believe these words to be true for YOU? That if YOU had faith as small as a mustard seed YOU could move a mountain?
hmmm… read more of my thoughts on this subject at ExemplifyOnline.com. Look for the title “Oh me of little faith”.
Living on the Edge
God is great.
God is good.
Let us thank Him
for our food. Amen
Have you prayed that sweet child-like prayer before?
It might be sweet and we might teach it to children, but this prayer is beyond our understanding.
“Let us thank God for our food.” Do you know where your dinner last night came from? You probably purchased it at the grocery store, or at a local eatery…
My dinner - lasagna. Bought ingredients at store. Money came from odd and end jobs, not the normal monthly income (we ran out of that money yesterday).
My point? I know where my food came from… I didn’t have to pray that God would feed my family tonight. But, yet, we thank God in prayer each night AS IF He supplied our need.
Ultimately, I KNOW that God provides. He blesses our family with jobs which pay the bills (most of the time). And I do believe that God is truly in control. However, I don’t truly rely on Him like I should.
Why do I tell you this?
Last weekend I had to rely on God more than ever. I led a retreat with all new material. I planned and researched with plenty of time to prepare… but things didn’t come together as normal.
So as the days got closer my stomach felt sicker and my nerves grew thinner. I knew I was doing every “right”. I knew God would come through. But I’ve never been so close to the edge with just prayer to hold on to. I was scared and exhilarated all at the same time.
It was amazing to watch how God orchestrated every detail.
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worship songs
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testimonies
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bible verses
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introductions
Every detail was perfectly arranged. And NONE of us could say we planned it that way. It was ALL Him. And I love that! I love living under His wing. And I want to learn how to live like that each and every day!
Stepping Out in Faith
What’s on Your Mind ’09 continues! Click over to Surviving Motherhood if you haven’t participated in this week’s topic!
Last night I was able to attend an awesome bible study group at church. (Hi gals!) We are currently studying faith through the work of Jennifer Rothschild. Her story is so inspiring. Jennifer’s books are fabulous plus she is an incredible speaker both live and on DVD. As we were working through our lesson, God brought to my mind the story of Joshua leading the Israelites across the Jordan. (excerpt from Joshua 3… emphasis mine)
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
There is something about stepping out in faith that God loves to bless. Notice in the text - the Jordan was at flood stage – yet He asked His people to step forward in faith. And it wasn’t until the priests’ feet touched the water that the blessing occurred.
Where is God asking you to walk today? Keep in mind, our journey is our own and unique. For some, their tasks are huge and overwhelming. For others, the goals may seem minuscule in comparison. But that’s the beauty of our God, He can accomplish His grand master plan through the big and mighty as well as (what seems like) the small and tiny.
What’s your step of faith look like today?
For more faith reading, turn to Hebrews 11.
For more fun with pictures and God’s living word check out Word Filled Wednesday.
A Love Letter
You’ve shown me life isn’t easy
I’ve seen you work hard to maintain relationships
The world hasn’t always been kind to you
Yet you cared through your own struggles
You seem to minimize yourself to make more of me
Love isn’t easy
You could have given up many times
Still your love remains
You work hard and give much
Your giving knows no end
You live a life centered in Christ
And share it with me
I grew in the knowledge of truth and love
Which continues to this day
Now I carry on your legacy
Thank you for your gift of real love
Now I pass it on
Your love extends to the next generation
Where your love is complete
Happy Anniversary
Mom and Dad!
Faith is not for wipmy women!
One loud cry I heard at The True Woman Conference ‘o8 from Dr. John Piper was “wimpy theology = wimpy women!” He urged women to see their true role in Christ through scripture.
This past week, though silent online, was challenging in faith.
My Bible study is currently working through a video based teaching called Walking By Faith authored by Jennifer Rothschild. If you don’t know her story, check out her website. She is incredible.
During our last session we discussed 1 Thess. 5:16-18:
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
If you are going through any type of challenge this is a hard passage to swallow. Yet, Jennifer and the ladies in our group, shared numerous stories of hard times and how God gave them blessings through the trials.
Currently, my depression has become treatment resistant. Thankfully, God brought me to a doctor who uses many different modalities to treat the problem. Here’s my newest treatment: TMS.
The National Association for Mental Illenss states: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a technique for gently stimulating the brain. It utilizes a specialized electromagnet placed on the patient’s scalp that generates short magnetic pulses, roughly the strength of an MRI scanner’s magnetic field but much more focused. The magnetic pulses pass easily through the skull just like the MRI scanner fields do, but because they are short pulses and not a static field, they can stimulate the underlying cerebral cortex (brain).
Needless to say, I’m being challenged in my faith walk.
This weekend’s sermon was focused on the persecuted church. Statistics show that when Christians are at risk, the church grows. It seems counter intuitive, doesn’t it? However, I think that is what Dr. Piper, Jennifer Rothschild, my pastor, God himself is trying to show me… when trials come – you will grow. And that’s why Paul encouraged believers to give thanks, to pray always and to be filled with the joy that comes from the Lord.
Where are you today in your faith journey? In all things, let’s give thanks. In every situation, let’s be joy-filled. And in all we do, let’s never stop praying.
Have you seen the pit of despair?
Search the internet for “pit of despair” and you’ll find an old grotesque machine used to torture people or animals. Many of you probably remember seeing one in the movie The Princess Bride. Poor young Wesley was just trying to follow the orders of his “True Love” but winds up half dead. Yet he still finds a way to rescue his girl.
Two authors views on trusting God
I asked a couple “bloggy” friends to chime in on our discussion about Who is God. In particular, I asked them how one can take the leap of faith in trusting God. Here is what they had to say.
Joanne Heim from The Simple Wife: The Bible tells us that Jesus is Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11). He is trustworthy as part of his character and he can’t not be trustworthy because of that.
