What If?

In her daily devotional, "Each New Day", for March 4th, Corrie ten Bloom talks about obedience. She says, "Perfect obedience would be perfect happiness, if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying. A wolf does not bother a sheep that is with the flock, close to the shepherd." Psalm 23:1 RSV, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Corrie goes on to say, "Keep me in your flock, Lord, safe and secure in Your protection, knowing I have nothing to fear when I do Your work."

Obedience seems like a strong word. Before I gave my heart to the Lord, I cringed at the thought of being absolutely obedient to our Lord. I have come a long way toward realizing that I am not giving anything up that is of value, when I am obedient to God. Rather, when I am able to be obedient, my life goes so much better: I have more peace, I find favor with people, I have joy and more.

But what is the hold up? I long for the day when the Lord says, "Do it this way." and I say, "Yes Sir!" When the Lord suggests or commands a way for me, why do I try to convince Him that His plan is unnecessary or that I have a better plan?

In my mind, it makes no sense because I know that the Lord is the creator of all, He is all knowing, He has all the connections, He knows the best plan for each of us that He wishes we would embrace. And yet I find myself resisting. Why? I do trust the Lord and yet I hesitate. Is it my pride that is holding me back? (Resist with full Armor, Sept. 27th lessons learned post). Could it be that my faith is not absolute? (Dorothy with the Sparkling Blue Eyes Sept. 27th testimony). Whatever the reason, I want to do better because I know that the results are better when I fully trust and obey God

If you study the Scriptures, everyone who had a close relationship with God was obedient. Christ was obedient, even unto death. Our Blessed Mother Mary was obedient to say yes to God even though it seemed as if she risked being stoned for becoming pregnant before she was married. Joseph was obedient to marry Mary even though he knew she was pregnant because he believed the angel who told him that the pregnancy was from God.

There are many more examples and even if the others were not absolutely obedient all the time, their heart was in the right place, because they wanted to be obedient and tried their best to do so. God gave them more opportunities and more grace.

I believe that God meets us where ever we are at because He loves us more than we can imagine and He wants to have a close relationship with us. If our heart's desire is to have that close relationship with God, we will want to be obedient to follow His lead. Just like in the human realm, when we love someone we try to do things that please our beloved so that they know we care, when we love God, we will do all we can to be pleasing in His sight to let Him know how much we love Him.

So in questioning my own obedience walk, I thought of an experiment I could try. What if each time I felt a nudge from the Lord to do something, I stop what I was doing, if I could, and actually just did it? Maybe it would calling someone or doing something. Usually with the Lord, things don't take too long and are not burdensome.

I have started that experiment and so far it is working really well. I have been blessed without stress and those involved have been blessed. At this point, I may stumble along the way and miss my assignment, but my intention is to continue in this direction so that one day I will be able to hear God's voice and say "Yes Sir!"

How about you? Do you want a closer relationship with God? Where are you on your journey of obedience to Him? Will you join me in this experiment? If so, of course, you will do it in your own way because we each have our own journey that is special with the Lord. May God bless you in your efforts.

Who is My Best Friend?

Have you ever really taken the time to think about the people who you call friends in your life? There are so many levels of friendship. There are acquaintances and casual acquaintances. There are friends that you have fun with or with whom you have common interests. Then there are really close friends with whom you share your true self. People have said that if you have a handful of close friends in your entire lifetime, you are fortunate.

It is great if you have had the experience of having a really close friend. When you have had that opportunity, it is like a touch of heaven, because you can be your authentic self and still be loved. But, who is your best friend? One who will never leave you nor forsake you. One who listens to you day or night for as long as you want to talk. One who loves you unconditionally just the way you are, no matter what. One who always has your best interest at heart even if it means He has to sacrifice something of Himself for your greater good. One who will tell you the truth always, even when you don't necessarily want to hear it, and will never gossip about you. One who will always encourage you and lift you up.

Have you ever had a friend like that? If so, you have been blessed. Have you ever been a friend like that? If not, it is a great example to work towards. Who is this friend? His name is Jesus Christ and He wants more than anything that we would want to be His friend. Through His death and resurrection He has made a way for us to fellowship with Him, God our Father and the Holy Spirit now and for all of eternity. All we have to do to accept His invitation to be His friend is to realize that we are all sinners who need a savior, repent of our sins and accept Christ as our Savior. Once you have made that decision, God will abide in you as you abide in Him. You will have a peace that goes beyond understanding because you will know that God has your back: He has a plan for you that is for good and not for evil, He will be your counsel and your guide and lead you in all the truth, and He will be your protector and provider.

Believe me, there is nothing better than being able to have Jesus as your friend. Jesus is my best friend and has sustained me during this difficult season of my life. He has sustained me by both giving me His peace and by inspiring people to reach out to me and bless me by being the hands and feet of Jesus to me in my time of need. I am so grateful that those people have responded to the Lord by helping me. May God bless them in a mighty way.

Below is a song that I like concerning Jesus as my friend. I hope you are blessed by it.

Rest in Him

I am still grieving the loss of my beloved husband, John. When we were married, God truly was a third partner in our marriage. He helped us with everything and strengthened us as one. John was the most holy man I had ever met. He loved me the way God loves me and he was my protector. I always felt safe and secure with him. He made me laugh and he encouraged me to use all of my God-given gifts in all that I did. He was my spiritual director and my living example of how to live a surrendered life to God. Together, with God, we were complete. Now that John is rejoicing with the Lord, one third of that relationship is gone. Now it is the Lord and I and my memories of John.

So what can I do now? I can reflect on how God has seen me through other devastating seasons of my life. Paraphrasing what David said in the Bible as he approached the giant of a man, Goliath, "I killed the bear and I killed the lion, so what is this Philistine to me?" When David went up against Goliath, he believed that the Lord was with him and that He would give David the victory.

To me, the Goliaths in my life are the circumstances and seasons of my life that seem overwhelming. Some of those Goliaths have been divorce, and the deaths of my parents. As I think back to those times, in every circumstance, God was with me. He was with me even before I was aware that He was working in my life. He was my comfort, my guide, my counselor, my all in all. One of the greatest gifts He has given me is His peace. A peace that goes beyond understanding. I cherish that peace with all that I am.

How is God going to comfort me now, in this dark season? What does Jesus have to say? In Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Then, in 1 Peter 5:10, it is written, "And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."

Wow! What a promise! So, even on days when I feel so empty, lonely and lost without John, I can trust that God will pull me through and that one day, my mourning will turn into dancing and that I will be stronger than before. I know that I can rest in Him. Thank you, Lord for your words of encouragement.

As I have said in previous posts, music ministers to me. This song, You Alone, by Lauren Daigle spoke to my heart and I felt that it also conveyed some of the feelings that I have expressed in this post. I hope you are blessed by it also.

How about you, are you going through a dark season of your life right now? If so, please turn to Jesus. He will bring you through. I know from experience that this is true. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus is talking about His provision for you. He says, "But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Try putting God first in your life. All you have to lose is your pain, sorrow, worry, loneliness, or any other negative thing in your life. All you have to gain is His peace, joy, mercy and grace. May God bless you in your journey.