Receive or Reject

From YouVersion Bible App. Daily devotional story – 8/13/20.`

This is a gift! Freely offered. The best gift. God loves us and cares about us. He LOVES you! He LOVES me!

Yet if we don’t stop. Settle our thoughts. Take a minute. Calm our emotions. If we don’t press pause in His presence while His hand is extended, we won’t truly receive His love.

Have you ever wanted to give something to someone that you just knew would bless their socks off? Have you experienced that feeling that you might just burst before you could extend your gift to the one you love?

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

But what happens to your heart when your gift is taken by an unknown person at the door and left in a pile of other gifts. What happens when you hand your gift to your person and they set it aside for later?

What happens when your person is in a hurry to get to the next gift? What happens to your heart when the one you so wanted to bless is distracted, unaware, and unable to receive your blessing?

A dear friend, the kind that’s willing to look into my dark hiding place, asked me possibly the best question I have ever received. “What will it take for you to believe that I love you?”

Her question stopped my swirling-twirling emotional tornado. Like Jesus commanding the wind and waves. Suddenly everything got quiet. I had no answer for her question.

Intellectually, intuitively I knew she loved me. She was my friend. What other reason would she have for weathering my personal storm?

I mean really who does that?

But I could not answer her question. She spoke again her love and concern for me. She asked me to seek out a counselor who could help me sort, identify, clean out the clutter and become emotionally restored.

I didn’t know how to receive her love at a heart level. However I did receive the gift of her hand and chose to step toward the entrance of my pit. It wasn’t an easy journey. In fact I would say that year of Restoring Your Heart counseling was one of the top five most painful experiences of my life journey.

Good news though. The journey through the weeds was well worth it. The gifts extended toward me by God through loving people became tangible to me. I could see. I could hear. I could think the best of others. I could receive.

Like stepping out of darkness into sunlight.

God is Bigger than emotion. He’s mightier than mushy feelings. God is Almighty and powerful. Jesus is expert at pulling people up out of a pit. He can start or stop anything with a word. And God is especially great at raising dead situations, relationships, and people to life.

Yet, God is also Creator and Father. He loves His creation. He loves you. He desires for you to stop for a moment. Sit. Take a deep breath. And another.

Calm and quiet. Look into His eyes. Hands out.

Now with a little more clarity of mind. With a peaceful heart melted in His presence receive His gift. He loves you. He loves you and gifts you through people with skin on.

You are loved!

Ponders:

First, if you are hurting, but can’t identify the source, please reach out. Call/text someone to come sit with you. Ask for help.

If someone close to you is just not functioning as the person you know them to be, stick your nose in their emotional business. An inkling that “something’s not right” is enough to start a conversation or take action.

1. Of what are you afraid to see if you should you give yourself permission to stop, breathe for 5 minutes, and look at Jesus in His face? Read John 4:39 {the woman’s testimony} slowly. Think about her words as your words. What emotions well up? “He (Jesus) told me everything I ever did.”

2. What has happened to your heart when a sincere gift seemed to be set aside or rejected? Tattle to Jesus. He doesn’t take sides. Ask Him to help you see the full picture.

3. Do you think God feels His love for you is being rejected? Do you know why you can’t believe you are loved? Take a deeper look at John 4:10. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10 Is it okay to ask Jesus if He feels His gift is being rejected by you?

4. Will you take all your ponderings to Jesus? Will you ask Him to untangle your emotional snares? Will you let Him receive your brokenness so He can give you wholeness?

Take a walk outside. Breathe. Look at creation. Talk out loud. Sit and journal. Do something as a first step to healing. Write your decision down somewhere and date it as a memorial stone of remembrance and a reminder to keep going.

I’m praying for you now.

Father, please help this dear one who is reading this message. Take this broken heart in Your Creator hands and breathe a new heart. Take this dear one’s hands and lead them out of darkness. Bring counselors, a grief community, alongside this precious child of God, an image bearer of Christ so that restoration can begin. Jesus, Light of the world, shine into the pit and carry this dear one to safety. I trust You Lord to rescue, restore and redeem all the pain on behalf of the one reading and for Your Glory.

I give thanks to You Father for You are good and Your steadfast love for Your children endures forever. So be it. Amen.

Eyes on Jesus and Shine,

~Lisa

#eyesonjesusandshine
#psalm131
#daysofpsalms #gethelp #askquestions
#calmandquiet
#receive #giftgiver #youareloved

If I had only one chance – week 3

April 10, 2018April 10, 2018 ~ Lisa Brittain ~ 4 Comments

Go back to last weeks post by clicking here.

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So, just in case, this is my one chance to cross paths with you, I want you to know:

You are loved.

You are not lost.

You can go home.

Your story matters.

You can go home to God, the Father.

Seek the Lord while He may be found;
    call on Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for He will freely pardon.  Isaiah 55:6-7 niv

My thoughts first turn to the story of the prodigal son. The younger of two sons, he decided he wanted to strike out on his own, perhaps try life ‘his way’ for a while. Maybe he thought he knew more than his father. Or perhaps he was just tired of the boring old rules. Then again, maybe the young son was woven together with the thread of an adventurous untamed spirit. For whatever the reason or the cause he asked his father for his share of the inheritance and struck out on his pioneer journey rather well to do for a young buck, I suppose.

God knows. And He let Him go His own way.

We know the son’s way did not turn out to be the best way. All had been lost – squandered really – on wild living. What was he thinking? Or was he thinking at all? Perhaps he was simply living moment to moment as we tend to do when we are young and unafraid. Did he get trapped somewhere along the way in the lies of the world, his own self-destructive thinking and the jeers and taunts of the enemy of his soul?

God knows. And He watched all along waiting for Him to come back.

He did go home, didn’t he? And isn’t that about the most fantastic and beautiful point of this story? The younger son coming to his senses in the pig pen of despair actually thought it was a good idea to go home! What did this prodigal know to be true, which would make it at all reasonable to think he should turn back before final destruction became his story?

He wanted to live.
Home was good and secure.
He deserved consequences.
He wanted to receive discipline.
His father loved him.
His father was merciful.
It would be better to live at home as a servant than to perish in a far-off land.

He wasn’t simply correct about what he thought to be true, but the Father’s love and mercy were exceedingly abundantly beyond the son’s expectations. There was a genuine repentance offered, forgiveness extended and celebration erupted upon the son’s return home.

For a long time that parable seemed to be just a story. It was such for me until I needed it to be real and true. I hope I never forget the time a counselor asked my husband and I if we could actually let a son go and not try to rescue him in the middle. Could we simply wait and pray for him to finally come home? Did we trust God that much? I can testify God’s Word is true and dependable.

You can go home to God.

And even as my heart smiles at the remembrance of this beautiful Jesus parable, my mind wanders to another scenario. A woman, who had left her homeland as the wife of a man and mother of two sons. Her name was Naomi.

She hadn’t squandered an inheritance in riotous living. At least there’s no indication she was wrong to follow her husband away from Judah and into the pagan land of Moab. Her husband had taken his family out of the famine in Judah seeking to provide a better life, at least this is what it seems to me. Their actions are not for me to judge for had I been in Naomi’s shoes I most likely would have been the one asking to leave for greener grass.

God knows. And He allowed His children to go anyway.

But when we open the book of Ruth, we quickly learn that Naomi was left with two foreign daughters-in-law only. Rather than the pleasant name of Naomi, she adopted the bitter name of Mara because of the devastation to her family. I wonder if she felt judged. Did Naomi assume she was receiving the punishment from God of her family’s choice to flee God’s people and homeland?

God knows. And He provided ahead of His daughter’s return home.

So, when Naomi heard the good news of God’s restored blessing on her homeland of Judah, she packed her bags, grabbed her daughters hands and headed down the road for home. What did Naomi believe to be true, which would cause her to turn back at the end of such loss?

The Lord God Almighty was good.
Home was safe.
Her people would receive her back as a widow.
God’s law would make provision for her as a barren widow.
It was better to go to God empty-handed and bitter than to let shame keep her in a far-off land.

I recognize at least a bit of my own spiritual journey in this story of Naomi. Not that I’ve physically walked in Naomi’s shoes. However, in a spiritual sense, I might be able to relate to Naomi’s journey back home to her God and the people of her God. I certainly know the sickening anguish of recognizing my inability to save myself or my family from a famine season.

There’s a very real truth to Naomi’s story. She and I both learned we must acknowledge the goodness of God and turn back to Him, both physically and spiritually. A faith relationship, which will endure trials, requires full surrender to His sovereign place as Provider and Defender. God is truly our only Security. He is our King and He is worthy of our obedience and praise!

You can go home to God.

Finally, my thoughts turn to Peter, Jesus’ disciple. Peter was the one Jesus called The Rock, which meant Jesus saw the true identity for which God created Peter. Jesus saw Peter’s potential and God’s purpose for Peter’s life.

When I think of Peter, I think of a roller coaster. He was up at the pinnacle one moment and swerving down into a spiral the next. And yet, Peter was full of adventure and ready to throw caution to the wind for the sake of following Jesus. After all, Peter was the one who stepped out of the boat to meet Jesus on top of the waves. He was the one who rightly answered Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29)

Jesus knew. And He encouraged Peter to be bold.

However, it was Peter’s zealous devotion and hot-tempered responses which tripped him up time and time again. When I think of Peter as a follower of Jesus, I truly believe his heart was in the right place. I believe he was fiercely loyal to Jesus. And I think he just couldn’t fathom God’s outlandish plan to allow His own Son to be crucified, to die and to be buried in a tomb.

Jesus knew. And He corrected Peter out of love.

Out of Peter’s lion-hearted love and devotion he swore to Jesus in front of all their friends he would never rebel, deny or turn against Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Peter had no doubt of his absolute allegiance to Jesus.

Jesus knew. And He let Peter fulfill prophetic words of denial.

So, when Peter was at his absolute lowest point feeling like a total failure, who was it called him home? Who had already set up camp on the beach and had a charcoal fire burning? And who called out from the shore with a fishing tip?

It was Jesus resurrected who sought out his friends and Peter, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” As soon as John announced, “It is the Lord!”, Peter got dressed, jumped into the water and swam to the shore. What did Peter know about Jesus, which would cause him to throw himself in the water the way he did? What did Peter believe to be true and anxiously desire to go immediately to Jesus?

Jesus was good.
Peter was deserving of consequences.
Peter could trust Jesus’ correction.
Jesus was forgiving.
Jesus was Who He said He was all along.
Peter could trust Jesus more than he could trust himself.

Even though I imagine Peter once again acted impulsively by dressing and then swimming to Jesus on the shore, I also believe his response illustrated Peter’s sincere love for Jesus. I believe Peter’s desire for another chance with Jesus was only exceeded by Jesus’ desire to restore Peter to his true God-given identity as The Rock.

And so maybe you’ve heard (or maybe not) Jesus met Peter face to face with a re-enactment of Peter’s greatest failure. Except that with Jesus present in Peter’s most painful memory, Peter was able to state victoriously his full allegiance, love and devotion to Jesus, his Friend and his Savior. It was Jesus’ idea to restore Peter. Jesus set up the scenario. Jesus entered into the place of Peter’s greatest shame and failure. Jesus walked Peter through to the full defeat over his shame and set Peter free to fully serve the One to whom he pledged all his loyalty and devotion.

You can go home to God.

He sees you.

He knows you.

He’s waiting to restore you.

What are you waiting for?

Ponders:

Please, don’t take my word for it. Read what God has to say about going home and His response to your ponderings about returning home to Him.

Luke 15:11-32

Ruth 1-4 (it’s a short book)

John 21

What other scripture passages give you comfort regarding your relationship with God?
Will you ask Him to accept you back home? Can you believe He’s standing at the door with the light on waiting to wrap you in love?
And if it’s someone else you love who is far from the Father, will you pray with me for this very much loved prodigal to turn toward home?
Which scripture passage do you pray or will you choose to pray on behalf of this dearly loved one?

Eyes on Jesus… you’re shining!

~Lisa

If I had only one chance…

March 6, 2018March 12, 2018 ~ Lisa Brittain ~ 1 Comment

Just recently I was asked this question:

Now that you’ve journeyed with Jesus many years what do you want younger sojourners to know?

There are so many things I want you to know. It is the delight of my heart to get to share the path with beautiful creations of God. Yes, I’m talking to you. No matter who you think you are or what you believe or how far you’ve wandered, you are a beautiful creation of God. So, may I ask that you don’t disqualify yourself from this small window of opportunity I have to share four simple truths with you?

My hope before the Lord is for Him to make useful – to redeem – my many wanderings off the path and my eventual returns to the straight path. I hope one day to be able to glimpse an aerial view of my journey from birth to death. Assuredly, my life path will reveal anything but a straight line!

So, for this short part of our walk together, I want to encourage you with four simple truths. And as we head our separate ways in just a few moments, I want to challenge you to explore these truths for yourself. There’s absolutely no need to take my word for it. I can’t convince you of anything. However, there’s power in sharing our stories so I am compelled to do that. More importantly, the Spirit of God is the best teacher as the Word of God is alive and useful in convincing us of truth.

So, just in case, this is my one chance to cross paths with you, I want you to know:

You are loved.

You are not lost.

You can go home.

Your story matters.

I believe and I want you to know that everything in the course of our whole life journey submitted into God’s Hands is productive and beneficial. Our Creator wastes nothing of our experience in molding and shaping us into the image of His dear Son, Jesus, our elder brother. All we need to do is listen for the sound of Father’s voice calling our name… and turn our face toward His voice. He’s already on His way to you.

And He chose us to be His very own, joining us to Himself even before He laid the foundation of the universe! Because of His great love, He ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence. For it was always His plan to adopt us as His delightful children. Ephesians 1:4-6 tpt

You are loved.

Ephesians 1

How do I know?

I know. I have God’s Word on it!

You might argue that I don’t know you. I don’t know where you’ve been. Maybe you would counter with the truth that I don’t know what you’ve done in the past or how you are living today. I pretty much know the arguments by heart because most of them were my own arguments to refute the idea God could love me.

All of those arguments are irrelevant. Not to be offensive and not because I say so, but because God says so. His Word, written in the book known as The Bible, is really His love letter to you. Through this tangible loving and living Word, He beckons you to know of His great love for you simply because He knit you in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139).

I’ll catch up with you here next week. I hope you will want to rejoin me here for a walk in the truth of God’s Word. My story will be here and Holy Spirit will be our teacher in truth and love…

Until next time this is my prayer for you and me:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Eyes on Jesus… you’re shining!

~Lisa

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Future walks on our pioneer journey:

You are not lost.

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Genesis 3:9-10 esv

You can go home.

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  Isaiah 55:6-7 niv

Your story matters.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.

Psalm 51:13 niv

Day 27: Who is it that {overcome}s the world?

October 27, 2017June 13, 2021 ~ Lisa Brittain ~ 8 Comments

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he (and she) who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5 niv

{overcome} it’s a promise for the one who perseveres through, over and around – for the one who puts their eyes on Jesus and never stops following the sound of His voice.

Looking this morning at the question in 1 John 5:5 my first response would be the automatic Sunday School answer – “JESUS!” However, as I finish reading the scripture, the answer is plain as day…

It’s me! Hopefully, it is you!
Only those of us who believe Jesus is the Son of God. We are the ones who are given the privilege, the opportunity and the guarantee – the promise of overcoming the world.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve not really set out to overcome the world. I just want to overcome the obstacles which seem to be impeding my current progress. The slammed shut and locked doors… the tightly shuttered windows… the physical resources which seem to be leaking out without enough flowing back in.

I doubt Naomi set out to overcome the world. Nor Ruth. Probably not even Boaz. Though certainly, the book of Ruth is an overcomer’s true story. There’s much for me to glean from this small book of Ruth as pertains to my own life and circumstances I face. These obstacles aren’t any more impossible for me than they were for Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz.

Clearly, we see a familiar pattern in Ruth – as we see all throughout the Bible. It’s an easily recognizable pattern in my own life as well:

there’s a problem – an obstacle to {overcome}
what can I do to gut it out, fix it, endure it, resolve it
I can’t do it… it’s too hard… I need help
Cry out to God for help, mercy, rescue
Turn back toward home, head down, overwhelmed with shame – disillusioned and hopeless.

Before we get all the way home, He’s there – open arms, welcoming, glad to see us. Father is ready to provide everything we need and Jesus is ready to hold our hand and persevere with us every step while Holy Spirit teaches us to listen and follow Shepherd’s voice. The next thing we know – we’ve {overcome}… because Jesus came to overcome the world!

Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 niv

Ponders:

I feel absolutely sure we each have something in our lives to {overcome}. Perhaps the real questions are deeper than what appears on the surface. Jesus usually wants to take us deeper, right?

I wonder if you will ask Holy Spirit for His perspective on what it is He has for you to overcome? I’m asking too.
- Perhaps it looks like famine, but is it really fear of lack – feelings of abandonment? Perhaps the obstacle looks like your spouse or your children or career or…, but maybe it’s really fear or doubt or pride or….?
Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
- What do these words mean for you? Will you ask Jesus – honestly – pouring out the well of emotion, which is undoubtedly tied to this thing that looks impossible to our human eyes?
- Will you turn towards Jesus, sit at His feet and allow Him to cup your chin and turn your eyes toward Him? Will I?
- Will we place our hands in His, trusting and persevering because He has overcome the world?

We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Persevere friend all the way through. There’s no guarantee your story will end the way you always thought it would. It is a promise, if you yield to God writing His story in your life, the end result will yield a harvest beyond your wildest imagination. Mark 4:20 in The Message

Eyes on Jesus… you’re Shining!

~Lisa

It’s Friday and the surprise word Kate Motaung has for us today is {overcome}. Thanks, Kate, for listening to Holy Spirit for word prompts and sharing them with the rest of us.

So come along and join in the fun. Set your timer for 5. Pray, ask Holy Spirit for His words, type and publish.

{Overcome} the temptation to sit this one out, {overcome} the lie that you have nothing to contribute to the body. We need to edify one another…. {overcome} for the edification of the body of Christ and for God’s glory! Click here to read and or join in the link up for today’s Five Minute Friday

Tag: #youareloved

Receive or Reject