There are moments in the Christian life that play very definitely on our security.  I can think of dozens of moments in my life personally that have almost paralyzed me with the reality that the control of a situation has left my hands.  I am a huge fan of the late Oswald Chambers.  One quote that we recite often in our house by him states, “God works when we get to the limit of the possible.”

I don’t know what that looks like to you today....but I do know that if you have been a Christian for any length of time there has been a time when God asks you to stretch your faith muscle.

Recently, I have been faced with just such a situation.  Knowing in my spirit the definite direction that God has ask me to proceed with my life, I found myself faced with a choice.  I can move forward with the task at hand, risking almost all fears, or I can save face and retreat.  

I sat there with sweaty palms.  My heart beating rapidly, knowing what I must do.  The conversation lingered.  Failure was a possibility, but obedience on my part sustained me.  When the opportunity arose, I responded bold on the outside, shaking on the inside.  I waited.....and GOD DID NOT DISAPPOINT.  Against all odds, He blessed.

A couple of days after this event, God brought me back to a passage of scripture that I haven’t visited in some time.  Elijah is such an inspiring personality in scripture.  He spoke with such authority in scripture.  The pastors I admire most today, ALWAYS speak with authority of The Powerful God.  Elijah was just such a guy.

In 1Kings 18, Elijah wanted to show the idol hungry nation of Israel the power of God up on Mount Carmel.  So he decided to test the power of the idol Baal, and God.  Baal’s 450 prophets did their thing, and failed.  Elijah built an alter to the Lord, and said this:

1 Kings 18:36b

O Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, TODAY LET IT BE KNOWN THAT YOU ARE GOD IN ISRAEL AND THAT I AM YOUR SERVANT AND I HAVE DONE ALL THESE THINGS AT YOUR WORD.

37

Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God and that You have turned their heart back again.

38

The the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39

When all the people saw it, THEY FELL ON THEIR FACES; AND THEY SAID, “THE LORD, HE IS GOD; THE LORD, HE IS GOD.”

Elijah had an assignment from the Lord.  He was the prophet and God used him to show the entire nation of Israel once again that God is the Almighty.  Elijah, could have chosen NOT to do this task that God called Him to do, but he went forward in full obedience.  Because of his bold stand for Christ, he saw a nation repent.

What if he didn’t have the faith to act?  Clearly, he would not have tasted the power of the Almighty.  Elijah was not confident in himself, He was confident in his God.  Nothing pleases God like His children exercising their faith (Hebrews 11:6).  Elijah boldly stated, LET IT BE KNOWN THAT YOU ARE GOD IN ISRAEL. And folks, He let Israel know.

I think of you today....faith is hard sometimes.  It plays on your every insecurity, and often times we, as humans, have talked ourself out of the task God requested, and therefore forfeit the blessing.

Let me challenge you today, stop placing your eyes on the task at hand, but rather focus on the God that gave it to you.  When your focus is Him, the task doesn’t seem so crazy!

Countless dollars have been spent to celebrate Christmas in churches this year.  The production that we display to celebrate the coming of the King is mind-boggling.  I sat a few weeks in a Christmas production so incredibly amazing that myself along with my family sat speechless.  Open-mouthed we watched multiple angels swing back and forth above our heads while a huge amount of dancers, singers, and orchestra performed to the song “Angels we have heard on high”.  Watching Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus on the stage in the midst was beautiful.  It was more than my dry eyes could take, emotion got the best of me as it always does when Jesus followers come together to worship the true King.

We have been to many programs just like that this holiday season.  I have to say, I have found myself stopping in the middle of the pomp and circumstance and asking Jesus what He thinks about the human effort to magnify His name.  No doubt He is pleased when the hearts of those participating exceed the level of production.

I think today about God’s motive for giving us the Christ Child.  My heart is drunk with passion for God when I read His love-letter to us and remember it was because of me and you.

John 3:16&17

For God so loved the world, that he gave only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

The production that God displayed in the stable and manger was seemingly insignificant, and yet if held the Force capable of breaking the bondage of the sin of mankind.  All because His motive was us....

Unconditional love, isn’t that what we all want?  The whimsical feel of Christmas might mask that want for a month or two, but inevitably January comes and reminds us we want to be loved.  Many years ago, I tried to fill the void of love with so many things.  I was completely frustrated when I did everything earthly possible to fill that void, and still came up short.  There is only one answer to the relentless searching to find fulfillment in this life.  The answer doesn’t lie in a mate, or even children.  You will find that money and a huge house or great success doesn’t fill it.  It can’t even be found in the love of a parent or affirmation of a degree. It manifests in the name of Jesus.  I know some of you are searching for joy, and peace, and I know that you are tired or the search.  My answer to you is that it can be found.  The only way to attain it is a relationship with Jesus. When I got serious about my relationship with Jesus, I realized why I was so frustrated with my life.  My expectation to everyone around me was for them to fill the itch to be accepted, and secure.  It was so unfair to them, because it wasn’t there responsibility.  I was using them as a stand in for Jesus.  

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus changed my perspective.  Be aware if you think you have Jesus, and aren’t satisfied, it’s a sign that you might not have Him at all.  His love is so powerful that you can’t mistake it when you have it.  Receive the gift of Jesus’s love and forgiveness today.  

After all, Gods motive for sending Jesus was you.

When I was single, I made a list.  I didn’t write this list on paper, I didn’t need to.  I was so confident of what I wanted in a mate the very thought of him prompted frequent references back to my mental list.  I knew after moving on from my previous marriage that if God was going to give me the gift of a husband there were many things that I wanted him to be.  I knew that ministry was a very important interest.  I knew that whoever God had for me must be supportive of my call to ministry.  I knew I wanted someone who was going to adore me and displayed a very kind disposition.  I wanted my husband to be funny, and laugh at my jokes even when they are stupid.  One of the biggest (and most ridiculous) requests I had was that I wanted my husband to be a very specific height.  

A couple of weeks ago someone that I adore asked me an interesting question.  Her question to me was, “What do you think about praying for a specific list for a mate?”  If you know me at all you will know that I am a huge fan of praying very specifically.  I believe that we have a small way of measuring God’s amazing might when we see a very long awaited prayer answered to the exact specifications of our request.  I thought a moment about how I would reply to this question. My answer was “I believe that God answers just enough on our list for our mates to show that He is a personal, detail-oriented God, and just enough NOT on our list to show that He is Sovereign.”

The bible says in Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Through the amazing gift of prayer and faith we have the privileged to watch God work in our lives.  He begs us to drop the anxiety and let our requests be made known.  So, we make our lists about our mate in secret.  Only God knew the specific things I was wanting, and more than likely only God knows yours.  

On the other hand check out Jeremiah 33:3,

Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you great and mighty things you do not know.

In order to show us He is the God of all, He has His own requirements for us.  He knows things that we need, and we don’t even know to ask.  After all, He is your Creator.  In His sovereignty and timing He is the One Who creates the perfect match.  His list of things in our mate far surpass ours, it’s His that matters.

When we have the faith to believe that God will answer our small suggestions, it pleases Him.  After all, faith the size of a mustard seed moves mountains.(Matthew 17:20)

Eddie and I have been married for about 7.5 years.  I have to tell you, God answered the height requirement.  Eddie is the perfect height for me, and we fit together when we hug in the most comfortable way.  Not only did God answer just about all the small suggestions I had, He added several Himself.  The longer Eddie and I are married, and the more we experience together, the more I realize the unbelievable sovereignty of God, and the love He has for me.  He gave me a gift in my husband, that I continue to open.  I learn new ways to praise God the more I see His sovereignty in placing us together.

Don’t rule out the sovereign addition to your list for a mate!

My dad is the Santa Claus for his local mall this year.  I have to say, it’s possibly one of the funniest things that he has ever done.   I can’t tell you the amount of laughter that has passed through our house as we have received pictures of my dad prepping to be Santa.  

Last week, my whole family went to Indiana for Thanksgiving.  One thing on the penned-in agenda was to see my dad as Santa make his big debut at the local mall.  Even though we were exhausted from all the food eaten the previous day, we all got up with excitement on friday and rushed to get ready so we would not miss the “to do” that was happening at noon.

We arrived to the mall about 10 minutes early to a sea of people awaiting Santa’s arrival.  My family and I exchanged glances of shock as we walked toward the mass.   Not expecting that kind of turn out, we all laughed as we realized the huge ordeal that this had turned out to be. We stood with some adorable children sitting on the necks of their fathers and grandfathers and waited.  Santa was to arrive in a helicopter, and the crowd was silent listening for the dull roar of the engine.  

Finally, after what seemed like an hour we heard something in the distance.  The crowd began to get excited, looking in every direction to where the helicopter could be coming from.  After appearing in the far distance it began to make it’s grand decent.  The crowd cheered as the helicopter came closer and closer to the grass where it was to land.  The suspense was killing us as it made several loops around the area before it decided to drop off it’s preciously awaited cargo.  When it landed, out stepped the man for all the pomp and circumstance was arranged.  He stepped from the helicopter waving, and shouting, (in his best Santa voice) “HO, HO, HO, Merry Christmas.”  The security in place could not contain the crowd of the children who had waited all year for Santa’s return, and they burst through the barrier.  Santa found himself in the midst of a mob, and he was loving every second.

I have to say, I am a huge Santa fan.  Up until this Christmas season we have practiced all the Santa traditions one can think of.  This summer however, my daughter became wise to the fact that Santa is not real, and was happy breaking this new discovery to my husband and I.  As crushed as I was that my baby had grown out of Santa, she agreed to keep our little secret for our son to enjoy.

As we waited for Santa to appear last week, my heart couldn’t help but think of my Saviors amazing return.  Check out the verse below.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

Every year we await Santa’s return, Christmas is definitely the most anticipated holiday in my house.  But how many of us are living daily for the return of the TRUE KING?  I talk to a lot of people who aren’t ready to stop playing around with sin and become serious about a relationship with Christ, but the reality is Jesus is coming back to this earth and the bible clearly tells us it will be at a time we don’t expect.  Check out this verse in Matthew...

Matthew 24:36-37

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, not the Son, but the Father alone.  For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

I wonder how many of us today are ready to meet Jesus face to face?  Would you be ashamed today to see him when he comes, or are you anxiously awaiting Him to come? I know the thought might not enter your mind very often, but the reality is, it’s on God’s calendar.

As much I as I love to have fun with Santa, sometimes I wonder if Christians are waiting for Jesus as much as we wait to play Santa with our kids at Christmas.

 I challenge you to prepare your heart for seeing Jesus in the clouds, the same way you prepare your house for Santa’s big debut.

My darling Grace has been begging for a snow globe for a couple of years. There is something about the way the snow wraps around the glass bowl that mesmerizes my sweet girl.  If one of the snow globes she happens to see in a store also plays music, you can see her bright eyes glow with excitement as she winds the object. 

Eddie and I have not purchased her one knowing that one drop of the glass globe, and she would be crushed.  Not that she has stopped asking.  Every time we see one she begins begging and pleading almost to our frustration knowing that she is not quite old enough.  

Last weekend we were at Home Depot getting some Christmas decorations for our house, and she spotted a beautiful snow globe that happen to play Christmas music.  I let her carry it around the store playing the music and expressing her love for the beauty of the globe.  We were in Home Depot a very long time.  So long that we lost Eddie.  As we were trying to find him I watched her.  She never asked for me to buy it, there was no pleading or begging.  She was just appreciating the time she had with it.  It hit me that her sense of entitlement to the object had changed to a welcomed respect for Eddie and my decision to wait it out.

It was almost more than my heart could take when I asked her to take it back and she did so with little commentary.  As I watched her sweet heart change from entitlement to the object to appreciation of it, I wanted to reward her.  I pulled her aside and told her because she had the right attitude I would buy it for her.  She almost didn’t believe me at first, her eyes a little misty she grabbed the box and headed for the register.  After the clerk gave us the bag, she was overcome with Thanksgiving to me for giving her what she wanted.

I think today of our culture and the idea of Thanksgiving this week.  I wonder today if we as a whole have a heart of Thanksgiving or entitlement....  I have noticed that it is harder and harder to come by someone that is sincerely thankful for a service rendered or a gift given.  We expect presents at birthdays, and excellence in everything even down to the barista at Starbucks. Lot’s of times someone does something for us, and we forget to say a quick thank you.

There is a story of ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19.  When the 10 lepers saw Jesus enter the city they cried to Him for healing begging and pleading for Him to heal them.  He answered their cry and told them to present themselves to the priest to be healed.  After presenting himself to the priest only ONE of the healed lepers came back to Jesus.

vs. 16

And he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him.  And he was a Samaritan.

vs. 17

Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But nine--where are they? (18) Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

This story is incredible convicting to me.  Jesus had just given one of the biggest blessings one could ask for, and performed a huge service for these men, and ONLY ONE remembered to thank Him.  

I fear they felt so entitled to the healing they forgot to praise the Healer Himself.

Do you have an entitled heart or a heart of Thanksgiving?  Do you expect things from people or God in such a way that when your way is given you you don’t even remember to take a minute and praise them for it?  

PRAISE GOD TODAY, FOR HE IS GOOD.  HE IS SO WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE!!!!

Psalm 92:1a

It is good to give thanks to the Lord..

Psalm 95:2a

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.

Psalm 100:4a

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name.

Psalm 105:1

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name..

Psalm 106:1a

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

Psalm 107:1a

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

Psalm 111:1

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all your heart.

Last Christmas I was at my parents house celebrating the holiday.  As the family grows with spouses and kids, each addition make their spacious house smaller.  My daughter always sleeps in their study which is full of books that they have used and read for years.  They have an amazingly comfortable futon that serves Graces sleep needs to a T. I was getting her ready for the day while we were there and my eyes panned over to the bookshelf.  I stopped short when my eye picked up on a book that holds a special place in my heart.

I stopped and immediately skimmed through the pages to find the blessed line that changed my life.  After a few minutes I found it, the line read, “Don’t faint precious child of God, soon in the midst of your days, your day of jubilee is coming.”

My mind went back to that day in my history....

I remember being completely overwhelmed with my circumstances that particular day.  My ex-husband had just left for work, and I found myself needing a touch from my Savior.   I was in bondage in so many ways, I felt as if I had no hope.  I remember the amount of stress that day hurt physically.  As soon as he left the house I ran for the life-giving message my bible would bring, at that time I was reading this particular devotional from Kay Arthur.  It was a day by day devotional, and that day I needed a message of hope which manifested in a single sentence and ended with “your day of jubilee is coming.” After I read that sentence, I went on my own study about “jubilee” and the significance in the bible.  You can read it for yourself in Leviticus 25.  The idea of “the year of jubilee” was significant to me that day.  I learned that every 50th year was to be set aside by the Israelites and in that year they would proclaim a release through the land from debts, captives would be set free, and people would return home. It also was a year of rest and celebration or jubilee.

The word “jubilee” has stuck with me all these years as my little message from God.  I knew He spoke loudly to me that day so many years ago. He promised me release from my bondage, and He fulfilled it.  When I need it, (which is a lot these days) God allows me to see that word somewhere.  It may be in a song or a commercial.  It may be on a brand of product at a store, but when I see it, my promise is once again solidified in my mind.  

God brought me back to that passage of scripture last week and reminded me of His power at work in my life.  After my little study session last week, I stood speechless.  He showed me once again fresh things from His word that are rich in meaning to me personally.  

I wonder today if you feel in bondage to someone or something.  I know what it’s like to feel forsaken, tattered, worn, worthless, insignificant, taken advantage of, made fun of, hopeless, ugly, stupid, and overwhelmed.  Let me remind you today, that we serve a God that can change your circumstance with one fervent sincere call out to Him in prayer.  He promises that no matter how you feel, His love is stronger.  Any emotion regarding your circumstance He is able to overcome.  If you are ready to break free from the bondage you find yourself in and claim a time of jubilee in your life, He is waiting. 

I leave you with Jesus saying this in Luke 4:18,

The Spirit of the Lord in upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF THE SIGHT TO THE BLIND. TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. (year of Jubilee)

The very freedom from your bondage lies in a touch from Jesus.

Eddie and I live in a new neighborhood.  I think it’s been the first time in our 7.5 years of marriage that we actually know our neighbors.  We live on the end of the cul de sac with some of the best neighbors anyone could ask for. Our next door neighbor is a nurse, and she has come over a couple of times after a frantic call from me needing to know if Jude needs stitches.  Last week when we came home to our backyard fence blown completely over, our sweet neighbors were there to lend a hand with the cleanup.  Our neighborhood is in a building phase.  We, right now, have about six homes going up around us and at any given time you can hear hammers, drills, and the engine of the latest cement truck drive by.  Often I have looked out my back door and surveyed the process of the new homes.  As I think of it today, my mind goes to The Blush Network.

This last year has been The Blush Network’s building phase.  We are planning (God-willing) for the long hall with our ministry, and tax forms, and legal papers must be submitted to become a recognizable organization.  If you haven’t guessed, I don’t like doing these little tedious things, however, they are the necessary steps in building an organization.  Often, I have referred to my amazing Board of Directors for advice and have leaned on my husband more than ever for help.  We have seen in the last two years an amazing transformation.  One of my favorite songs right now is “You make beautiful things” by Gungor, in which they sing the line, You make beautiful things out of dust, which we know is taken from the Bible.  I have seen in the past two years God has grown our little baby ministry from the dust.  It has been an amazing thing to witness knowing the tears, and the prayers, and the waiting it required.  One thing I know for sure is that God has done it. 

One of the things I struggle with is doing things too quickly.  I have always been the impatient type.  I am ambitious, and passionate about just about everything, and it has caused me much heartache in the past.  God has worked on me in that area for years, and I’m still no where near where I need to be.  With Blush, knowing my weakness in this area, I wanted to be sure God was driving the ship, and not me.  With prayer we have entered into some new phases of the ministry.  If it was up to me, we would have done a whole bunch of different things, but my desire has been for us to walk WITH GOD, AND NOT IN FRONT OF HIM.

This verse speaks so plainly appropriate for today.

Psalm 127:1

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor IN VAIN who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

We, at Blush, want the Lord God ALMIGHTY to build our ministry, and we are asking Him to lead the way.  I know today as we open up our new website, we are seeing the very hand of God at work in building His ministry.  I ask that you pray for Blush and the difference we want to make on our sweet young women’s lives going forward.  

Many times this year, I have clung to the verse Exodus 33:15.

The he said to Him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

We are asking for God’s presence, because we know that He holds the answer to any problem or issue that we come across at The Blush Network.

Please check out the Blush Networks new website at theblushnetwork.com.

*****Big thanks to DAVID SHREIN, AND THE ONE AND ONLY EDDIE MILES FOR THE WEBSITE!!!!!!!!*******

I am sitting right now on a teeny tiny airplane headed to the next speaking engagement that the Lord has so graciously allowed me to have.  It’s been one of those days.  You know the kind I am talking about.  You get to the airport only to find out that the airline, without emailing you, has changed your flight to 3 hours later. Then you stand in a line and wait for someone to reschedule your flight because ain’t no way you showed up 3 hours early for nothing.  Then you get on the plane only to find out that you are the lucky winner of a seat between to healthy men.  Then you get airplane sick because you read the whole flight and didn’t realize you were dizzy until you stood up.  You get the picture I’m sure.  Well, I walked outside to get on my connection and sat on this little plane for quite sometime waiting for takeoff.  The flight wasn’t full so we all took dibs on who got the empty seat, and lucky enough, I got to sit in a row by myself.  

I was looking out the window thinking to myself, what is taking so long and saw a luggage cart being driven by a man drive right beside us.  As he took the curve, two pieces of luggage spilled out of the side of the “security” flaps onto the road.  The man in front of me turned around and ask me if I had seen what had happened and we both laughed about the incident, because the man driving the little luggage cart never even turned around.  As we drove off we saw a pink suite case and a black suite case laying on the pavement alone.  I said, “looks like he didn’t care about the luggage he left behind.”

As I sit thinking of that statement, it’s taken on a whole new meaning.  I see Christian’s everywhere, doing the Christian thing and keeping it to themselves.  They go to church every sunday, and they have prayed the salvation prayer to give them some fire insurance, but they don’t share their faith.  Besides the “rules” no one knows that they hold the key to everlasting life.  Some Christians are content living a rule-keeping Christian life, without power.  Can you be a Christian without using the power that lies in your heart?  I suppose you can, but why on earth would you?  Think, my beautiful friends, about those that you may leave behind.  Wouldn’t it be a travesty to live your whole life around people that aren’t Christians and you never share what you know.

We get so busy plowing through our little personal lives without regard to our true mission here on earth.  Our mission is to spread the glory of Christ and share what Jesus has done for us.  Don’t so get to caught up in your feelings or insecurities that you care more about your them than your mission.  Consider the people around you your assignment, if they aren’t Christians THEY NEED WHAT YOU KNOW.  

Since my divorce, I have decided that my life WILL COUNT FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.  The petty things of this world hold no candle to the fulfillment of watching a life change for Christ and the reward that comes from Christ because of it.

I have to admit that sometimes I freak people out when I meet them, but the people in my path know where I stand with Christ, and I make no apologies for it.  My insecurities are not worth someone else’s eternity.

Don’t leave them behind.

A few years ago my husband and I found ourselves having to make a very unpopular decision.  It was a decision that would affect our little family in the most dramatic way.  Everything we knew would change, and everyone we knew would not be on board.  We found ourselves completely torn over the decision and kept it quiet for several months telling only our parents until we knew that we had heard from God.  After we were confident, we shared it with those around us.  It was hard.  It hurt.  I remember the resounding question that we faced was, why didn’t you come to us and gain some perspective.  That question is hard to answer when you are staring some great friends in the face.  But we knew that God had spoken to both of us extremely clear.  When God speaks, whatever He says is the answer.  Some of our friends tried to talk us out of the decision, but we remained confident in the fact that God was working.  If Eddie and I didn't make the unpopular decision we would not be experiencing what we are today.

In my reading this morning I was so intrigued by these verses in Galatians 1:15-16,

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and CALLED me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I DID NOT IMMEDIATELY CONSULT WITH FLESH AND BLOOD.

Wow, Paul said something amazing here!!  Paul was on his way to persecute Christians, and God got ahold of him and He got saved!! Right when Paul got saved he knew that he was called by God to preach the gospel, something that he was persecuting other Christians for doing minutes before. If Paul would have consulted his friends right after his conversion, he would have been laughed at and would have been heavily influenced to NOT preach the message of grace. After all, Paul’s friends were the same guys that wanted Jesus dead.  If Paul would of listened to them what would that have done for the message of the gospel???  Paul, the greatest missionary that ever lived, could have been silenced because of the advice of men.

Don’t get me wrong here, God a lot of times confirms His call on your life through godly counsel.  My challenge today is when you are sure that God is telling you to do something, ask God to confirm it through GODLY counsel.  As women, we have a problem of asking anyone who will listen for direction, and although well-meaning, some people are not in tune with what God is telling you to do. When you ask everyone you run the risk of being talked out of one of the most amazing moments of you life.

This passage in James is a great guideline for advice.

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.  James 1:17

When God speaks, listen.

Last week Eddie was out of town and for the first time in a while, it was me, by myself, with my kiddos for a few days.  I have to say, I was enjoying having my undivided attention on Grace and Jude.  I took a break from working for a few days to fully enjoy the alone time with my kiddos.  I had asked the kids what they wanted me to make for supper one night.  Grace chimed in first to say that she hadn’t had my lasagna in a while, Jude followed suit and before you know it I was listening to a duet of “We want lasagna, we want lasagna”.  So, after I dropped Grace at school Jude and I headed to get the ingredients.  When we got home, I quickly made the lasagna so Jude and I could play some ball before he had to take a nap.  I was just about done with the dish and Jude couldn’t wait for me to finish.  He wanted to go outside right then.  I told him to go ahead outside and wait for me.  He ran out with the ball and bat in his hand anxious for me to follow as soon as I could.

About two minutes later I hear a squeal unlike a squeal I have heard before and I see Jude’s little spiked hair as he runs around the bar to where I was standing.  His cries were desperate, his eyes were wide and completely terrified.  In an instant I was trying to figure out the problem, he couldn’t speak, just scream.  As I frantically looked him over, I saw a large amount of fire ants around his ankles and all over his shoes.  Without another second, I stripped him as quick as possible and put him in the sink. In about .7 seconds I had washed all the ants off of his legs and we were surveying the damage.  After calling the doctor about what to do, and getting her assurance that a visit to see her wasn’t necessary I smothered his little ankles with cortisone cream, and held my little man for a while.

Even now, when I think of Jude’s face, it makes me emotional.  He ran to me, in the midst of his urgency trusting that I would know how to help him.  He didn’t care about being scolded earlier in the day, or that he might of been upset with me about giving Grace a piece of candy for helping and he didn’t get one.  At the point of his crisis, he was clinging to the fact that he knew I would help, no matter what.

In Joshua’s farewell address in Joshua 23:8 he tells the children of Israel this,

But you are to CLING to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

The use of the word cling in this passage is captivating.  In one of Joshua’s last statements his charge was to cling.  The children of Israel knew what it was like to be hopeless.  They knew that in some of the situations they were faced with without God’s utter might, they would have been completely wiped out as a nation.  They recognized desperation, and they knew Who their Deliverer was.  Even still, Joshua said “cling”.

Why did he give this charge?  Because Joshua knew how easily they wandered from the Lord.  He knew the temptation for them to rely on themselves, when there was not impending danger.

Isn’t it so true that in a panicky moment like Jude and the fire ants, or news from the doctor, or a pink slip at work, or a letter that you get in your mail, or wondering where the money is going to come from to pay the mortgage, we CLING to the Lord.  Clinging in rough times seems so natural because we need a Savior.  Then there are days when we just get paid, and the kids are behaving, or we get a promotion, and we are just doing well that we tend to forget where those blessings come from. We slack in reading our bibles and praying because we are doing ok without it. When things are good, sometimes God is the farthest thing from our mind. Why is that?  He is the same God, and worthy of the same adoration.

If you are doing well, it isn’t because you are super smart or got it all together, it because God is blessing you. He loves you so much that He wants to bless you, just like you love to bless you children.  Don’t forget in the great times in your life to praise Him for his goodness, and have the attitude of still being desperate for Him.

King David in the Psalms is the perfect example of CLINGING to the Lord.  He knew when times were bad that God was HIs only hope, and when times were amazing God was the only reason.

I leave you with this.

Psalm 107:1

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.