Take Root and Write

We Reap What we Sow on Purpose

"And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption" (Eph.4:30 NLT).

This verse means there is a seal placed on you by God Himself. Whoever believes in and has faith in Christ is regenerated, baptized into the Body of Christ, indwelt forever, sealed eternally, and continuously filled with the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit makes every effort to teach us (Genesis 6:3). He instructs, restores, sanctifies, and comforts believers with an eternal purpose. The Spirit baptizes the believer into a union with other believers and into union with Christ (Romans 6:3-4). This is one of many distinct purposes of the Spirit during this age of dispensation. The Holy Spirit continually indwells every believer (John 14:17) and seals us for the day of redemption.

Pondering: Christian women recognize each other through their spirits, it happens all the time we meet someone and recognize the filling of the Spirit of God in them.

"Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13 NLT).

The Greek translation of the last part of the verse means, we are all given one spirit to drink. Are you drinking in the One Spirit? Are you listening to His sweet whisperings voice of love?

Coaching: The previous two weeks we talked about how the Holy Spirit works in our life. He is the breath of life to those who desire Him. We talked about the consequence of sin in that it distorts or blurs the line between right and wrong. The result of sin leaves a veil of blindness that captures our spirit. Therefore, we are making a deliberate decision to live blind to God's truth while hiding in a spiritual foxhole; or we take hold of truth and live by it. The enemy searches the world-over for those vulnerable to his influence. He is looking for those who live in spiritual foxholes afraid to step into the spiritual purpose God designed for them in eternity past.

"Peter finally came to his senses. It's really true! The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me" (Acts 13:11 NLT).

Seeing Through the Veil of Blindness

My husband Stephen is legally blind with the exception of one tiny spot in one eye. Sometimes he uses a cane however most of the time his seventy-five pound Guide Dog, a black lab and the absolute center of his life gives him the independence he needs. Blaze is the sweetest dog in the world. The two of them are so tightly bonded I barely get alone time with Blaze. Blaze sees obstacles that Steve cannot see when they are walking. Stephen and Blaze go to the Dallas/Ft. Worth (Texas) International Airport every Friday to spend the day with military men and women who are deploying into the theater-of-war.

"Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began" (I Cor. 2:6-7 NLT).

After losing his sight, Steve established an on-line Bible study (The Bible in 90 Days) for our young troops being deployed. Currently, there are over one thousand and four hundred men and women doing the study in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Africa. Even blindness cannot stop the wisdom of one who is determined to serve God.

Pondering: In last week's article we talked about lifting the veil of blindness and crossing the threshold into the Holy Spirit Wind who brings freedom (Holy Spirit Wind 6/23/09). Freedom is not without the cost of war as history has taught. Spiritual blindness commands a much higher cost. Staying within the narrow confine of spiritual blindness isolates how we see things through our eyes, and how we perceive or measure situations in our mind; as a result our spirit becomes a shut-in.

Are you spiritually blind? Do you see only what the flesh wants to see in others? Do you refuse to see behind the pain when someone acts out? Perhaps facing the easy to handle problems are the only issues you handle. If so, you may be spiritually blind.

Holy Spirit Wind

"But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, these is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord who is the Spirit makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NLT).

The wind is a natural force of nature. The Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as a Holy Wind and the Breath-of-Life. The natural force of the wind with all her power is but a feeble-breeze compared to the Holy Wind who gives us the Breath of Life. What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our life? The Holy Spirit takes the dark veil away satisfying our soul with new insights, new life. If the Holy Spirit does not indwell the soul, there is only flesh, which brings death.

Pondering: Have you ever witnessed an undercurrent of air bounce off the desert floor? Suddenly an enormous gust of wind propels across the desert creating a twisting whirlwind as it lifts into the air. It is an awesome sight. Perhaps you have experienced the frightening roar of a raging nor'easter. Maybe you have quietly listened in as the wind gracefully swept across the Great Divide rocketing off the surrounding mountain peaks echoing an eagle's cry.

"When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses" (Jeremiah 10:13 NLT).

Most of us have heard the echoing voice of the wind dance through trees while branches bend toward forces controlled by an unseen powerful current of air. Leaf and bough stoop to the commanding power of the wind-burst as tree branches curve into an unnatural arch powered by the wind. It is poignant and inspiring to witness such power in the wind. The Holy Spirit's voice is the mighty wind that encircles the earth granting us power in the Breath of Life, and the Holy Wind lifts the veil of darkness (Psalms 104:4) from our eyes.

"So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace" (Romans 8:6 NLT).

The Collective Purpose of Wisdom

"If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing" (I Cor. 13:2 NLT).

Love is complicated. Some women have difficult marriages. Some have children with complex problems, and some of us came from fractious families in childhood that left thick scars. Most women experience complexity in love relationships. If love hurts, what is loves purpose in the first place? God's purpose is to love one-another no matter what. However, the unkind person is hard to love without the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Love is a decision.

Pondering: Is it arrogance or innocence to define love from a woman's point-of-view? Women tend to create love labels and place the burden of such labels on those we love. How do we define the rules of the road in relationships? Perhaps it is easier to put people in neat little packages according to our frame-of-reference. Childhood experience builds layer upon layer of learning, whether positive or negative, forming our perspective. Our perspective becomes our definition of love. The question is... did we build our perspective on sand or an eternal foundation of stone? Human love is a mystery filled with ambiguity. Since woman tend to create a unique perspective of love based on childhood experiences, we need to move carefully with our point-of-view until it is formed by heaven.

What if your spouse, diagnosed with a major depressive disorder, changes into someone unrecognizable? Does your perspective of him change? How would you feel if you caught your teen-aged son in multiple lies, or your daughter secretly dating a young man you forbid her to see? Do you love your children any less, or does love become a decision rather than based on the emotions of our unique perspective. It is impossible to impose guarantees on human love because human love is fallible and changes; God's love never changes.

Thoughts That Pierce the Heart

Two men passed by my life recently. Although they did not know one another both went into eternity within the last two weeks. One man was in his early fifties, the other his late forties. One was married not quite three years, and the other had four children. One was diagnosed with cancer six months earlier, the other fell victim to a virus causing him to slip into a coma within weeks, never to awaken . Neither expected they were living their their last hours on earth. Both men loved the Lord. Both funerals became a celebration of love, laughter, and tears.

Ponderings: When thinking about a legacy what will you leave for those that pass through you life when your job is done? Whether new acquaintance or old friend, twenty-five or fifty-five, we touch each other even if for a brief moment in time. For several days I have been reflecting on memories, like old buried bones asleep inside my soul. I ask myself... has my life made an impact? Have I touched anyone's life? Do I continually search for my predestined purpose? Without permission these questions drifted into sifted thoughts as I pondered who I was in Christ. My journey began at one of the two funerals. The pastor read a scripture in Hebrews; listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you as you read this passage.

"Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:11-13 NASB).

The Word of God is (literally) alive and active. The power of Scripture is superior to a double-edged sword reaching into secret compartments in the heart of women deeper yet, into our spirit. The Hand-of-God touches our thought processes and attitudes when we study His Word. We change by the power of the Holy Spirit. His Word teaches us the difference between what is spiritual (real) or what is of the soul (sin nature) penetrating so deep as to divide soul from the spirit and reaching our core and piercing inside joints and marrow. God's Word is immeasurable, written by the Spirit who reveals the depth of the Scriptures to those willing to open the holy cover.

Sweet Sorrow - Courage to Let Go

A warm welcome accompanied by hugs, kisses, and the laughter of family and friends is usually a sign of our get togethers. Generous meals and late-night conversations indicate the excitement and enjoyment of close friends. These social gatherings overflow with heart-felt delight. However, women need fellowship with other women. The Lord Jesus Christ knows us better than anyone does yet he gave us the gift of friendship. Who knows sorrow so well but another woman. A close Christian friend knows our heart's intentions. She knows when to say something and when to be quiet and pray. A true friend stands beside us during trials. Those of us who embrace Jesus also need one another. We need Christ-like friends to lean on someone we can trust and cry with and someone to pray with us, and pray for us when sorrow edges its way into our heart.

Sorrow draws in physical, mental, and emotional pain. Soulful sorrow is a deep-reaching wound that invades the heart leaving an agonizing force that pierces the soul in its wake. Sorrow embedded in the soul feels like nothing less than a heavy steel weight sitting on our chest. The sad truth is some women suffer on the inside because sorrow runs so deep. Alone and without a friend sorrow can devastate the spirit of a woman and injure her emotions, affecting her health.

"For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There is no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death" (2 Cor. 7:19 NAB).

The Book of Psalms; A Priceless Jewel

The intense luminescent red color of superior rubies sought for thousands of years is one of the trinity of precious gemstones. Rubies evoke images of riches, royalty, and passionate love. Considered the king of all precious gems the ruby is one of the hardest known gemstones, along with sapphires and diamonds. A hard mineral form called alumina crystallizes in a range of colors, supporting the rubies durability and hardness.

It is among the most durable of all gemstones. The traditional source for fine-gem rubies has primarily been Burma. Chromium is a bluish-white, hard metallic element primarily responsible for the red color. Chromium causes a fracture or crack in the growth of ruby-crystals by the inclusion of liquid, or gas contained within a ruby. Another element of growth is Rudie: a dark reddish brown or lustrous black titanium dioxide mineral forming needle-shaped inclusions throughout the ruby. When the presence of rutile in the ruby is sufficient the rutile needles cause an effect called asterism, forming a star-shaped reflection in the crystals. When fashioned into a round cut this wonderful effect results in a rare six-rayed star ruby. When factoring in all the stages, chemical changes, and the time it takes a ruby to develop, it reminds me of the metamorphic event of a butterfly, whose life is over so quickly.

Ponderings: For Christian women, metamorphose is the result of being transformed in purpose as we read the Scriptures. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we change in character and quality, like a fine-ruby. The Book of Psalms is a priceless and rare gemstone, rarer than a star ruby. The ancient text filled with songs and poems of wisdom, are miraculous jewels, intended for the passionate lover of God. A precious gem, Psalms is a cornerstone depicting the truth of wisdom considered priceless by the ancients. It also presents to all modern generations the burnish rays-of-wisdom and love paid for by the rarest red-blooded gem, the all-points of heavens' brightest star, Jesus Christ. 

The first Psalm talks about how living a righteous life changes us through quiet time with God, in relationship. A sinner invites sorrow and ruin by living an unrighteous life. To the faithful and righteous go richness and peace, followed by a passionate holy love.

The second Psalms says, "Why do the heathen rage?" refers to disrespectful nations engaged in a false purpose and rushing into bad decisions. The heathens were engaged in angry rituals which were ungodly. Righteousness requires serene, calm, and quiet meditation. 

While reading Psalms 3, I wept for David. He wrote from the heart of a father whose son gathered a multitude against him. He felt the deep wound of betrayal of his son, alongside the realization that now he (David) must run, fearing for his life. Absalom caused his own self-betrayal through indulging in jealousy and hatred embedded within inclusions in his rock-hard heart. What agonizing heartbreak for a father to endure, yet listen to what David said.

"But You, Oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me" (Psalms 3:3-5 NASB).

Coaching: Women who love the Lord morph into powerful and priceless jewels. Intense luminescent-threads (written by the Holy Spirit and inspired by the Cornerstone) throughout the Bible are the elements that change our character and quality. Jesus is the immeasurable jewel of wisdom and the red-blooded Rock in the heavens. He paid the ultimate price of love on the rarest-of-rare alters, the cross, offering us eternal life. He gave us the gift-of-purpose to stand with Him under the support and authority of God the Father. Polished and smoothed by the Father in eternity-past, executed by Jesus on earth, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the issue here is not if we are inheritors of streets-of-gold and jeweled crowns, but rather, will we accept the crown-of-purpose our King offers?

"I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about. Arise, Oh Lord; save me, Oh my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessings be upon Your people" (Psalms 3:6-8 NASB).

Challenge: Waiting in a tiny crevice within your soul is a crystal-clear love message. He wants to take you on a journey of holy understand. Jesus created us to transform into rare and priceless beauties. Your purpose will form if you allow Him to change you into the rare gem He created you to be. Read His love Psalms and search your heart, think about the character he is forming in you. Within His quiet presence, He will form and transform you into understanding the purpose of His divine truth.

 

The Living Water

My father went to be with the Lord on Christmas Eve night, when I was twelve. He had a great love for nature above all, the rivers, inlet harbors, and the deep blue sea in all her unfathomable beauty. His love of the water took us to the beach where we jumped into the waves and danced to the rhythm of the mid-day current.

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and became captivated by the splendor of the vast ocean waves crashing on the beach. We basked in God's presence while gazing at the red and orange sunset blurring the lines between ocean and sky. It made us feel like the salty brine ran through our veins. Dad felt like the ocean was part of us, and we with it. He loved the story in the Bible of Living Water from an unending wellspring. Jesus met the woman at the well and told her she could drink and never be thirsty again. Our parents loved the Lord and it showed in their lives. Dad taught us a love for nature and the ocean, and together they taught us a love for the Living Water from the Word of God.

Pondering: Have you ever felt undeserving because of past sin? Do you secretly harbor regret or shame? Is the past holding you captive, drowning out Gods' whisperings on your true purpose? How can we feel worthy in our Godly purpose while secretly living with regret? We all have seasons we wish we could redo.

Coaching: Jesus talked to the woman at the well. Listen to what He said.

"Jesus replied, If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water" (John 4:10 NASB).

Understanding God's Word

"Seek first to understand then to be understood" (Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955).

To understand, we must first learn to listen. Listening is the discipline of quieting our mental self-talk and focusing our concentration elsewhere. If we seek to understand others, does a natural path open up in others to understand us? When we attempt to understand an alternative viewpoint through the eyes of someone else there is a shift in our thought process, we are more willing to listen and perceive what someone else is trying to communicate. The principle is the same when researching God's Word, comprehensively. Searching for God in His Word is not a casual endeavor; it has to be desired. Prayer ought to precede such a holy exercise. Otherwise, we will stay on the peripheral edge of understanding our Lord.

His Word has a voice similar to a harmonic cord played on a violin in that a balanced cord echoes a pleasing resonance in the same vein of harmony between scriptures. A harmonic cord consists of three parts in order to complete a satisfying balance, as does the Trinity. Not surprisingly, we too are made of three separate elements... body, soul, and spirit. Each component completes our essence yet each is separate in distinction and design. The body is our physical venue. The soul is a place of conscience and creativity, and the spirit is for communing with God's Word. When we discover His purpose for us, we feel harmony. There is harmony and purpose in the scriptures for each of us. It is imperative to understand what we are reading before we can understand who we are, in Christ.

"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12 NASB).

Change the World: Patience, Waiting, and Endurance?

"And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:4 NASB).

My husband Stephen loves to research our family history as a hobby. He experiences a tremendous amount of enjoyment gathering information, collecting facts, and exploring new data about our families while stepping back in time.

Not long ago Stephen casually strolled into the office saying he found something interesting about my fathers' family-line: I am the 40th granddaughter of Emperor Charles Franks Augustus Charlemagne. Well... needless to say this news was extremely exciting. I began researching Charlemagne and discovered that he truly made a difference in the ancient world. He altered history. Charlemagne was responsible for conquering the ancient European Muslim World changing the national religion to Christianity. There is a great deal of historical information available about the Emperor, however it was changing the world for Christ that grabbed my attention.

"Therefore, return to your God, observe kindness and justice, and wait for your God continually" (Hosea 12:6 NASB).

Ponderings: How can We make a difference in today's world? How would it feel if our purpose was to change the world for Christ? It is hard to imagine what the Disciples, and the Apostle Paul went through. They were beaten, threatened, and harassed wherever they went. Their lives were constantly in danger yet they stayed-the-course through a supernatural love for Christ. Without doubt, Paul and the Apostles learned the discipline of the waiting room. Moving on in purpose means evolving in perspective; listen to what James said about endurance.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (James 1:2-3 NASB).

The Weaver's Hands

Have you ever met a woman whose eyes were like piercing beams-of-light penetrating deep into your soul? When you look at such a beautiful woman do you see a reflection of yourself, or feel the need to achieve a deeper spirituality? In eternity past the "Weavers Hands" gently shaped the design of our life, spinning raw fibers as they twist and form into threads-of-life, creating in us a binding strength that cast us into an intricate pattern. God weaves His pattern-of-purpose by interlacing unique people, predestined events, and the courage to accomplish our purpose within a framework tailored for each of us individually. He created a pattern of life-events to assist and teach us to understand the gift of our purpose, and to nurture others as He does us.

Women in ancient societies would spin the flax, wool, cotton, and camel's hair necessary for weaving garments. According to New Unger's Bible Dictionary, men accomplished the art of weaving figures in a unique ornamental art form. Jesus is the true Weaver. Binding the threads-of-sin to the tapestry of the Cross He freed us from our sin nature, and united us in His design.

"So Jesus said to them, for a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light" (Matthew 12:35-36 NASB).

The Purpose of Solitude & Silence

Jesus looked for solitude and silence after the news of John the Baptists' death. He understood that solitude was a important for physical, mental, and spiritual solace. Christ realized His need for a temporary escape after ministering to the crowds; He sought rest for His human body. The Lord Jesus Christ needed rest and strength in order to complete His divine purpose. His mental pressure and emotional fatigue required a different type of solitude. He needed time to deal with sorrow over the death of John. Grieved in His human mind and emotions, the Lord longed for a restful and quiet place to think, to ponder John's death, and deal with heartache over the loss of His cousin, and forerunner. His divine spirit needed personal time alone with His Father, to be comforted, to counsel with the essence of love and wisdom the Father shared with His Son, and the Holy Spirit.

"Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this they followed Him on foot from the cities" (Matthew 13:13 NASB).

Pondering: What is solitude? Why is it important to practice silence? How can we enter into reflection so comforting we cross a threshold into the presence of God? God speaks softly and quietly to His children when we quietly, honestly, and prayerfully immerse ourselves in His Word. When we release our daily pressures, the Holy Spirit quietly prepares our hearts in silence. It takes time to give ourselves permission for tension to flow from our body, to quiet the incessant self-talk, and to relinquish our spiritual weariness into God's capable hands. Such release is like breathing out cold vapor into warm air.

"After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone" (Matthew 14:23 NASB).

Moments

Choices can produce heavy consequences. It all boils down to moments. A moment of decision to turn right instead of left can become life changing... one right turn, turned out wrong. A slow-moving moment not of our doing can alter our life. This week in California, a twenty-eight year old Sunday school teacher became a provable suspect in the murder of an eight-year old girl... life changing moments. Adam and Eve had a moment when each made a decision. Their decision placed a curse on the world and plunged humankind into ruin and changed their relationship with God. One women, one man, one decision and the whole earth changed. Life changing moments.

"Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts" (Matthew 13:19 NLB).

The Bible speaks of the character of Satan and his Toolbox of Temptation and Tricks.

Satan uses his toolbox on God's people because of his rivalry and hostility toward Christ. What caused God's most beautiful created creature to become hostile toward Jesus? Satan saw himself and loved his own beauty; consequently, pride became his master. Pride is only the beginning of a long chain-of-sins that knit together one link at a time. Once pride takes hold of the mind, other sins are born such as jealousy, bitterness, hate, vindictiveness, implacability, envy, guilt, fear, worry, anxiety, and self-pity. These are mental attitude sins.

"While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him" (Luke 24:15-16).

The Lighthouse Keeper

The purpose of a lighthouse is to guide ships into safe harbors.Although the light from the seaside structure is blindingly bright, it comes from an even stronger source;  the Bible states that God is the very essence of light. How poignant that God Himself is the light in the lighthouse guiding us into safe harbors.

"God's Word is a 'light' to one's path" (Psalms 118:105 NASB).

Christ often speaks of Himself as truth and light, and the Holy Spirit as fire. So what is truth? The Pocket Book of Theological Terms says, "God's own being and will is truth. Furthermore, Jesus Christ is the truth in that he is the revelation." Light born from darkness obeyed God's command and the earth's first dawn appeared as morning light (Genesis 1:3). Every source of truth and light rests within God. His light began in Genesis and ends in The Book of Revelation, glorifying the Bright Morning Star, the Lamb of God. He is the symbol of hope, the beacon that guides us. God is the keeper of light, in the lighthouse.

"And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb" (Revelation 21:23).

Ponderings: God knew some would listen, and others would refuse to hear His truth or see His light. Satan planned a negative thinking strategy eons ago to set a trap and we easily fall right into his trickery because we are born with a sin nature. Birthing negative thoughts is living in darkness. Trapped in a pessimistic thought pattern is a learned behavior that takes time to change. Negative thinking is a stronghold that slowly strangles the hope of facing our yesterdays, today, and tomorrows.

A Band of Women

They were four women of strength and character. Through years of suffering they watched wickedness mortally wound their beloved country. The truth, these women believed, grew from hearts of wisdom. Their tired and weathered eyes had learned to shift in the night always on alert...watching. The military forces that maintained the status quo grew from a malevolent governmental order. They lived in a country that denied even basic civil rights for women. There has always been systematic killing of people for national reasons, ethnic cleansing, or "unacceptable" religious beliefs. The stench of death destroyed the hope of returning to their ancient roots.

These four women were alone in the middle of a controversial, political breeding ground of evil. The rest of their faction ran and hid for fear of losing their lives. However, despite the reign of terror this day was different. They were on a mission and would not be stopped or denied. You see, they were quietly preparing a body for burial. The government charged him with sedition against the regime. He was an outspoken man the aristocrats called a blasphemer of the Law. He was the only hope the four women had. His name, is Jesus Christ. 

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome prepared spices so that they might anoint the body of the one they loved. What were they thinking in the middle of this hot political nightmare? They were thinking only of Jesus and honoring Him by preparing His body in an act of vast love and devotion.

"Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment" (Luke 23:56 NASB).

The Pattern of Hope

 

Spiritual Couture for Women

A few weeks ago we began a series of articles symbolizing clothing as spiritual tools. We dressed in spiritual gear designed for life's battles. We put on the following:

• Boots - we walked toward our true north, Jesus Christ.
• Gloves -  helped us stop denying sin in our life.
• Bonnet - is an awareness of unworthiness, not worthlessness.
• Cloak of Christ - what Jesus suffered, and why.

"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God"  (Rom. 8:16 NASB).

Dressing in spiritual armament shields us for the trials of life.Today, we will dress to defend ourselves with an uncompromising pattern of hope. There is a universal difference between the pattern of natural hope, and the pattern of spiritual hope. Biblical hope is a supernatural "anchor for the soul." The entrance of the Holy Spirit in our life has not eradicated our sin nature... the Spirit changes the pattern of hope in our thinking. Our Godly spiritual reality-race involves a perception change. There are inevitable consequences in making lifestyle changes from natural hope, to spiritual hope. What will your choice be?

The Cloak of Christ

While writing this weeks article, a stirring began to take root, moving deep within, coming from only one place, the Holy Spirit. A question started to form, do we wear the cloak of Christ as a facade, because it feels safe?

Christ wore a cloak that only He could bear, the sacrificial Cloak-of-Death, and of hope. Simple questions enter our thoughts and inundate our minds, some of which we would rather ignore. Do we in truth comprehend the sacrifice Jesus made? He suffered the most torturous death history recorded. His severe mental and physical anguish is hard to envision, or fully grasp.To think about the extent of pain Jesus endured is unnerving. If we allow ourselves a deeper look at His suffering, perhaps we will value His sacrifice anew.

Pondering: Even though it will be hard to see, we must look at the pain His body and soul endured. Why did He allow Himself such agony? At His seven illegal trails, the guards struck His face, blindfolded Him, He was spit on, beaten, scourged, struck on the head, and humiliated with a crown of sharp thorns pushed deeply into His scalp. Deemed guilty at His seventh trial, the order was given to flog Him with a cat-o'nine-tails whip.The guards unmercifully whipped Him until His flesh lay open wide. After which, they packed His wounds with salt for fear He would not live, to die on the cross. Yet, He did not cry out during such brutality. After forcing Him to carry His own death instrument, the cross, the guards nailed His hands and feet with spikes to a wooden beam. The guards raised the cross upright, and gambled for ownership of His robe. Jesus hung on the cross in agony for several hours. From the pull of His weight, and the wounds, His strength diminished. Consequently, as His strength waned, His muscles tore loose causing His joins to slowly separate. He endured this torturous pain until He breathed His last breath.

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong, or a clamoring symbol" (I Cor. 13:1 NASB).

Coaching: Jesus rose on the third day wearing the Cloak-of-Life, a gift we inherit because of His loving sacrifice. Do we comprehend the sacrifice He made? What He created through His sacrifice was an opportunity to live for Him, through Him, and with Him. The principles within His example, and His Word, open us to His unconditional love that offers us the opportunity to wear the Cloak-of-Christ's-Love. To wear His love is to show others who Jesus is, and the love He longs to give. We do not always need to speak with words; sometime Christ's love speaks clearly of Him, through our actions.

Challenge: This weeks challenge is to wear Christ's love. Display your Women's Spiritual Couture, wherever you go. Try putting on the cloak for your family. Show them the love of Christ without spoken words, or anticipating anything in return. Who knows what His unconditional love will awaken within your loves ones. God places friends, and acquaintance's, in our lives for a season.When we become an instrument for His purpose He covers us with a Cloak-of-Love. People will be touched, and changed because of our willingness. Understanding His love and sacrifice, leads to a willing obedience. The Holy Spirit will taylor a perfect fit for us to wear the Cloak-of-Christ.

Next Week: Tune in next week to discover what the new Women's Spiritual Couture will be.

A Bonnet for Believers

The English Royal family is legendary for their extravagant hats. The more flamboyant, baroque, or showy the hat, the more the affluent women covet them. Price does not seem to be a factor. When we think of humility, do we see ourselves as a servant of the living God, or do we see ourselves as wearing a flamboyant hat to show off our feathers to casual observers? While passing through this life do we want to linger in silence before the Lord or strut our stuff wearing hats brimming with superficial pageantry?

Pondering: Why is humility an important part of spiritual life? How can we be meek when we wear heartache like a hat? How do we become humble when pain envelopes us like a blanket? Will we ever be able to forgive ourselves, or perhaps, someone else? We need walls around our heart in an effort to protect ourselves, right? Perhaps, what lies beneath our covering is necessary to hide what we do not want others to see.

Thoughts like the above are deceptive. We have no strength to waste on deception. The spiritual force we have inside can propel us to glide on the wind like eagles, but only through the direction of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever heard of Occam's Razor? It is a principle named after William of Occam who, in the 14th century, stated: "Keep things simple or simplicity is better." Keep in mind, that this is a vague explanation.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4 NASB)

Liquid Time

There are seasons in our life when we feel trapped, like living inside an earthen jar. We become like liquid inside. Time and circumstances tilt our vessel and we begin to empty out; nothing left to spill. It is not difficult to become emotionally parched, dry, or thirsty; to become absorbed into sorrows sterile ground. Our time becomes so thin and liquid we seem to descend into a loss of spiritual conscientious from the storms and pressures of existence. Christian women are quite knowledgeable regarding seasons in a wasteland of disturbing numbness. We live in seasons of spiritual battle throughout life whether we realize it, or not. How can we live with peace, joy, and contentment when battles are raging all around us? How can we keep from denial when our vessel is empty and cannot comprehend the truth?

Ponderings: How do we unearth peace in a world filled with raging storms that twist the soul of a woman into liquid sorrow, time after time? Last week we put on spiritual boots, and started walking toward worship as a protective covering; a way to peace, contentment, and a release from strongholds. After we lace up our worship-boots we begin walking toward our God; He is our true north. Next, we need to cover our delicate hands with the gloves of prayer. Gloves are made of shapes that fit the fingers, thumb, and wrist. Prayer creates a protective covering for the body, soul, and spirit of God's children.

Coaching: With hands veiled, folded, and in the protective glove of prayer, the Holy Spirit whispers guidance for the journey into contentment. It takes more of God's grace to praise Him while suffering, than when He blesses us. God's grace in us heals, whether we are poured out like liquid from an earthen jar, or we are in a time of blessing. The key is realizing His grace is enough for our needs. However, God did not create puppets so that He could enslave us to do His will. The choice to trust Him is ours. Do you believe He is there with you all the time? He loves you so much that he planned a purpose for your life. Slip on your gloves and warm up in prayer.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13 NASB).

Challenge: This week, the challenge is to stop living in denial. Take a good look at sin in your life, any sin no matter how many times you have denied it. When you are ready to stop the denial, the Spirit of God will begin the healing process within your soul much like a warm and soothing ointment. Sometimes we need to allow the pouring out in order to see the truth. When your time seems to have vanished and there is no more to give, look up to heaven, with your hands folded and covered by the gloves of prayer and your feet covered with worship boots heading true north. Know that He is in control no matter what the circumstances of your liquid time. Will you waste your time being poured out on sorrows sterile soil, or will you stand on solid ground? Where will you stand on purpose?

Nest Week: Tune in to learn the next bit of protective covering of the Spiritually Fortified Batman Suit.

Lace Up Those Boots and Start Walking

 

How can we progress into a destiny shaped for us in eternity past when we are brittle, fragile, and broken? How can we get past our delicate history to envision what God has for us today? Where is our protection? What happens to the woman who trains to run a marathon, yet never reaches the starting point?

Pondering: Life is an epic long-distance race. From our first lungful of air we fight to live. We cry and struggle, pout and shout, we love and we are unable to find love. Will we one day wonder where the years have gone? In between the struggling we feel careworn. Still, there are those that wish to sway, persuade, and influence us, only to make them feel in control. There are Pharisees among the spiritually fraught; they strive to share blindness at a price too lofty to pay. How can we endure the high hurdles of life, or run the distance with any peace, contentment, or strength for the race, when vultures are waiting in every life experience?

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me the strength" (Philippians 4:11-13).

Coaching: When the Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, and imprisoned he worshiped the living Lord. Worship is part our protective armor. Praising God is the foundation of our Spiritually Fortified Batman Suit. We will call worship our boots. When we lace up our worship boots we are empowering our feet to move towards truth. We may not be running yet, but we are moving in the right direction; true north. Our protective covering is shielding our feet from bruising stones, muddy paths, and snakes that would otherwise bite us in fields of hidden snares. Putting a cover over our vulnerable feet allows us to walk on a path that was destined. The act of covering our defenseless first steps protects us through faith and protects the soul of our boots. Trying on our boots of faith is a sturdy and worthy starting point in faith, and opens the door to worship, which in turn flows into contentment.

Challenge:This week I challenge you to put on your boots of faith, lace them up, and start walking towards worship. Perhaps it would be a good idea not to ask anything of Him, just worship Him for who He is, and for what He has done for you. Release negative events during your worship time. Worship God for five minutes a day for seven days, and see what happens. If you are willing to do this small exercise, you will be training for a marathon faith habit, that will strengthen and build spiritual muscle to go the distance toward your rightful purpose.

Next Week: Tune in next week to learn the next bit of protective covering from our Spiritually Fortified Batman Suit.

A Spiritually Fortified Batman Suit

"God can make you anything you want to be, but you have to put everything in His hands" Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972).

What is a soul scar? It is a lasting effect left on the mind of a woman because of a personal misfortune or an unpleasant experience. How do we maintain the wounded soul when a life experience has primed us for calloused walls that numb, shroud, and bind our precious God-given soul? If we do not eat food for nourishment our body will die of starvation. If we fail to nourish the soul, than our soul will harden. God's Word is the solution and clarification to facilitate every predicament in life that continues to imprison our heart with strongholds.

Pondering: Is it possible to heal a wounded soul? We are born with a sin nature that fights to control us. Until the dark nature within all of us transforms into a renewed, supernatural, and spiritual regeneration we cannot change who we are. Even after regeneration this process will continue throughout our lifetime because this battle of character does not depart while we are on earth. Like flowers in a field, we too will wither and fade. What will we do with our life here on earth?

"All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:6-8). 

Coaching: The Bible explains the vanity of the natural woman with all her ornaments and advantages. However, through regeneration the Holy Spirit takes us on a journey of change waiting to rest on a life-path of excellence, distinction, and rehabilitation. We transform and strengthen our human nature through spiritual fortification by the armor of God. It is like putting on an unseen Batman suit for protection. The corruptible becomes incorruptible in the course of nourishment from the Word of God. His tender scarred hands stretch from heavens door to our earthly hearts. He knocks on our soul and we listen to the sound of His knock. Whether we open the door to Jesus Christ or not, the decision is ours. If we open our heart to God's Word and pray for understanding of the Scriptures, the binding chains of strongholds will fall like dust to the ground. Each particle of dust evident to our soul as we experience release from the weighty burden.

Challenge: This week I challenge you to set up a schedule of perhaps fifteen minutes every day to read God's Word. Pray for understanding and listen to the voice of God. Change will not happen overnight, it takes time to learn and grow. Like any good habit we form, we need to initiate the first move, even if it is uncomfortable..

"The man (or woman) who surrenders to Christ, exchanges a cruel slave driver for a kind and gentle Master whose yoke is easy and burden is light"  A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) (Italics added).

Next Week: We will learn to fit more comfortably into our Batman Suit for Christ.

Cracks and Craters

Sometimes life fills us with shards of rubble. Tiny cracks in our foundation lurk beneath the surface of most women. We build ancient walls within our soul. These walls can be strongholds, aged and strong from years of emotional pain, or disillusionment. Strongholds cause the soul to close-off; they cause weakness in the fabric, like seams of life strained and frayed from pressure until we become, worn and threadbare. Our soul can become like a ragged piece of withered cloth. Life can leave jagged edges on the heart of a woman. We can easily feel forced to enter the valley of the numb, the anesthetized. Gradually, and without warning the soul deadens from injurious and painful life experiences. Pain goes away for a time. However, we revisit the vicious cycle of pain and numbness, repeatedly. Eventually, the cracks turn into craters.

Ponderings: Why do we allow human wreckage such permission to hold us prisoner in the deep crater of shadowy and secret sin? Why do we refuse to rest in the arms of Jesus? We are never too deep in the nightfall of transgression for the love of God. There is no offense too severely embedded in the ooze of sin that the One who created us from love, will not forgive. He longs for you to come home.

Coaching: The only requirement to restore fellowship with our Lord is a childlike prayer of repentance. The silhouette of first light in our soul is the Son rising in us, and a new day begins again.

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24 NASB).

Challenge: If pride is your stronghold, than pray for humility. What is holding you back from growing in Christ? Take it to Him and lay it down before His thrown. Jesus is waiting to take you into His arms to comfort and heal the cracks and craters in your soul. This weeks challenge is to read His Word everyday without fail. Listen to the quiet voice of God, through His glorious Word. Let His Word seal the cracks and craters in your soul. 

Next Week: We will look into how God's Word releases us from strongholds.

God's Divine Design

What would happen to us if we truthfully let go of the past and the present, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us and confirm God's will for our life? What would it be like to accomplish the divine destiny God premeditated in eternity past for each of us individually? Would it change who we really are? What would actually happen to us? These questions asked in the quiet, secretive, concealed place of the soul where no one dare glimpse our unease or trepidation, are very real. We all are afraid of losing ourselves at one point or another. If we make a commitment to go beyond doubt and allow God to have power over our entire life, there is where we are transported into His glory. Then, we find peace and joy.

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled faces,beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are becoming transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NASB)

Pondering: What happened when Moses came down from the mountain? Moses' countenance was so bright he veiled his face. In God's Holy presence, His magnificent glory transferred onto the face of Moses. The veil is enormously symbolic in that the Jews were subsequently blinded in their hearts and therefore could not see God's presence revealed on Moses' face. The majestic and noble reflection of God was temporary in the Old Testament because it eventually faded away. However, after salvation the New Testament glory of God transfers to our spirit for all eternity. His glory never leaves us. We can transgress falling out of relationship with our Lord Jesus, but through Christ's death and resurrection the course of repentance immediately returns the relationship back into Father and child. He remembers nothing of our failings.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:22-23 NASB)

Challenge: This week, take a close look at your goals. Are you in God's divine design for life? Have you asked Him to direct you into his plan? Ask Him to change your heart. Pray for direction to the divine course designed for you in eternity past. No matter what circumstances encumber us today, God wants to take us to a place of joy and peace.

Next Week: I will continue to look at God's divine will for our life. God Bless!

What does it take to let go? Committing Our Future to God.

What does it take to let go?

Hanna W. Smith wrote a book in 1883 entitled, "The Christians secret of a happy life," in which she said:

"It is generally less difficult to commit the keeping of our future to the Lord, than it is to commit our present."

Pondering: The future seems so far away that committing our future to God is not really threatening. Committing our present circumstances and our past to the Lord is altogether different. Why is that? Maybe it is because we do not want to burden our Lord. Perhaps we feel we can take care of the substance of life without any help. Could it possibly be that we do not want to let go of the past, or our present situation. Conceivably, we could be a prisoner to all of the above.

Coaching Concept: Faith is the substance that preserves us, and guides us through the stuff of life that seems to strangle the soul until we can no longer protect ourselves.

Philip Yancey said:

"Faith is not an insurance policy."

Eddie Askew suggests:

"Maybe it is: insurance does not prevent accidents, but rather provides a secure base from which to face their consequences."

I find these quotes thought provoking in that releasing our soul scars, bitterness, and the darkness of the past takes faith, about the size of a mustard seen. In other words, a tiny amount of faith no bigger than almost nothing iis sufficient. A minuscule fragment of faith is all that God requires; the Holy Spirit than takes us by the hand into life experience, resulting in spiritual maturity over time.

Challenge: Can you generate enough faith to fit into a mustard seed? If so, grab-hold and get ready for an adventure because the God of all creation will take you on a journey that will change you forever. I have been on a faith journey for a while, although I am by no means mature, I can promise you no regrets releasing the burdens of the past to Him. The journey of a spiritually filled life-path leads to an adventure that escorts you into peace and rest no matter what the circumstances of life. Will you decide to give this adventure a chance?

Resting in God is a State of Mind Part 3

How do you cope? When you call on God is He silent or have you heard His sweet voice? Do you have a private place to get alone with God, on purpose?

The Old Testament book of Leviticus explains peace offerings through sacrificing animals. The New Testament books explain (after salvation) how peace offerings are given through free will. A gratitude for blessings received through spontaneous devotion to God, lead us to infinite peace, and rest in God. Worship and praising God brings us to that place of peace and rest that words cannot describe.

Entering into a deeper relationship with God usually requires stages of growth we must attend. One of the most important things to understand is that as human beings we have all inherited a dual nature. After salvation, part of us is still rooted in sin and part of us is rooted in God. When we realize our dual nature continues to exist after salvation, we gain an awareness of how to cope (or battle) the duality of our nature through instructions written in God's love letters. We simply have to learn how to cope with our opposing nature through the progression God intended from eternity past, by reading Gods' Word, and praise and worship through prayer. It is through this process that God teaches us how to hear His voice.

Listening to God's Voice - Part II

What does it take to hear God’s Voice?

It takes building Christian ethics in your life, and sticking to it. God uses our life experience to start placing in us principles as habits that make us who we are. Practicing being proactive in developing a positive prayer life teaches us the importance of prayer as we talk with God. Creating spiritual habits that daily strengthen, sustain, and build us throughout our life enables us to hear God’s voice.

Pondering: Have you learned to wait upon, and trust the Lord? Have you learned to sit quietly and listen for His love song? Do you have any character traits that prevent you from maturing in Christ? Have you ever experienced God rest, or a peace that words cannot begin to communicate? How can God talk to us if we do not listen to the letters He wrote with the instructions on how to come into His presence, and hear His voice?

Coaching Concept: It takes courage to change. It takes time to realize negative characteristics inside our duel nature. Life is a journey of difficulties, rough roads, disappointments, sometimes sorrow, and many, many tears. Our time on earth is simply a time called waiting. What we do with our time is what matters. Life is going to happen anyway, right? We might as well allow the power of God to help us through life with the peace and joy that He promised. Step up this week, no matter what the circumstance of life, with your face to the wind knowing that God has your backs.

Challenge: To hear the voice of God, one must surrender the things of the flesh that impede the work of the Holy Spirit. Only you know what those things are. Only you can set yourself on this journey. He is waiting for you to hear what He has to say. Will you listen to the voice of God?

Purpose Pondering - Listening to the Voice of God, on Purpose

Have you ever wondered what God sounds like?

Pondering: Close your eyes and imagine that His voice sounds like a thousand violins or a babbling brook. Perhaps He sounds like an explosion of thunder or a tranquil summer rain. Maybe God's voice is not a sound at all, but a quiet sensing in your soul. His voice touches us through healing, soothing, and comforting no matter what the circumstances of our lives. He speaks to us through His Word or perhaps a few wise words from a friend. Whatever form our Lord decides to use to communicate, there will be no doubt that we have heard from the great and almighty God of all creation.

Coaching Concept: Are you willing to hear His voice, and see His presence in His creation, in someone's eyes, or a baby's smile? He is in us, around us, through us, and above us. It is time to tune into God's frequency to begin understanding the substance and desire of God's heart. All He asks is that you love Him back  because He is already in love with you.

Challenge: Listen...can you hear Him? He is calling you, right now. Take a journey with me. In the next few weeks I am going to be talking about how we learn to love the One that loves you. Come with me on a journey of purpose to find your true love.

Purpose Ponderings has a New Writer!

Last week we said goodbye to our Purpose Pondering's Columnist, Diane Cunningham. Diane has become such a special friend and was hard to say goodbye to her as part of the TRW team! It is inevitable that we will have columnists come and go. As God stirs the hearts of all and it might mean moving in a different direction for either them or Take Root and Write. 

God ALWAYS provides and has brought us our newest writer Pam Butler. She will be continuing the Purpose Pondering's Column weekly. This column is an excellent way to begin your week. It is also an excellent writing prompt for your blog! Use it to post each week. Answering and pondering your thoughts on that weeks Purpose Pondering and Challenge. Here is the picture/Badge and code if you would like to do just that.

 

<a href="http://www.christianwomentakeroot.com/notes/Purpose_Ponderings!"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn136/TakeRootandWrite/CWTR%20MAin/PPondering.jpg" /></a>

Be sure to stop by Pam's Writer's Page to read more about her as well! 

Saying Goodbye

 

Question of the Week:  How do you say good-bye?

Pondering:  This is my last column and I am wondering how to say good-bye.  It is a "good" good-bye, as I am passing the baton to a highly talented friend of mine.  Sometimes it is time to move forward, to let go, and to give someone else the chance to shine.  How do you leave at the right time, not too soon or too late?

Coaching Concept:  Leaving is challenging, even though we know that God will open up a new opportunity.  Surrender.  We are about to leave 2008 and move forward into 2009.  This is a great time for you to see what you need to surrender from this past year.  We need to allow God to use us in any way that He sees fit.  We have to let go of our control....so easy to say, so hard to do.  This verse says it so well from The Message:  "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you:  Take your everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life- and place it before God as an offering."  -Romans 12:1-2

Challenge:  What do you need to say goodbye to?  What do you need to place before God as an offering?  How and when will you do it?  My challenge to you this week is to make a list of your successes and blessings from 2008.  And then make a list of your goals and dreams for 2009.  Be as detailed as you can.  Write it as a love letter to your Father.  Tell Him the desires of your heart.  Allow Him to provide.  Allow Him to move you forward and to help you to "let go". 

Special Note:  Thank you for this amazing journey and allowing me to write!  Thank you for being a part of my purpose!  Keep on pondering.....

Christmas....on Purpose

 

Question of the Week:  Are you "on purpose" this Christmas?

Pondering:  What is your purpose this week?  What are you focusing on?  How are you staying in the sacred-ness and not the silly-ness?  I am going to rest, re-group, and rejoice this week.  What about you?  What are you going to do for God?  I want to be "on purpose" this week as I consider the blessings of the year and the Holy ground that is before me.  I want to honor my Father.  I want to BE, and not DO.  Where do you need to BE?

Coaching Concept:  Be where you are, in the NOW.  Listen to God. Linger with your Father this week.  "I know the Lord is always with me.  I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.  No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts His praises"  (Psalm 16:8-9 NLT). Sit with God this week.  Be filled with joy, and on purpose. 

Challenge:  I challenge you to write a list this week of blessings.  Share it with a friend, blog about it, or just keep it tucked away in your journal.  Be, Be, Be.....and have a merry merry Christmas!

Joy!

 

Question of the week:  Where is your JOY?

Pondering:  I am reading all about JOY and how to find it and live it.  The book is called The 4:8 Principle and it is written by Tommy Newberry.  The book talks all about Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things".  I love this book, have read it once, and now re-reading it again.  I am pondering how much we need to think about the good stuff....the JOY! 

Coaching Concept:  What are you thinking about?  Are you looking for the JOY this season as you attend the holiday parties?  As you look for a parking spot at the mall?  Are you giving extra LOVE to the barista at Starbucks?  Or are you the cranky one in the line?  Are you making a difference or making a dump?  As a coach, I seek the good, help you to find the way.  We are most useful when we are living our purpose, which is a big JOY in our life.  Our joy, adds to the world.  Our joy, is God's calling on our life.  Where is your JOY? 

Challenge:  This week, I challenge you, my friends, to make JOY, find JOY, seek JOY, and be JOY.   

Are you in the middle?

 

Question of the Week:   Are you in the middle of.....a miracle?

Pondering:  I am aware of God's amazing power for miracles and His perfect timing.  My marraige is in the middle of a GIGANTIC miracle, one that only God could arrange and provide.  The journal that I have been using during this very challenging time, has this verse on the front cover, "He has made everything beautiful in its time."  -Ecclesiates 3:11   I am seeing this in action, as I have been praying, and waiting, and praying, and crying out for my marriage to be healed and restored. 

Coaching Concept:  How do we respond when we are challenged?  When our world seems to be falling apart?  Who are you when you are in the middle?  And do you recognize a "miracle" when you see one?  I would bet that you have experienced many miracles through the course of your life, and have not labeled them as such.  The miracles are a big part of your purpose puzzle...as you see how God connects your life together. 

Challenge:  My challenge for you this week, is to look back on your life, and count up your miracles.  Watch for big and small miracles this week.  Remember that you are right in the middle....and the middle is a good place to be. 

Are you ready to go? Or ready to say NO?

 

Question of the week:  Are you ready to go?

Pondering:  As we launch into the fastest month on the calendar, do you feel ready?  It seems as if each year, the list gets longer and the time gets shorter.  I am looking at my calendar and wondering what needs to stay and what needs to be taken off.  As we listen for God, we need to lean in closer this month.  I find myself getting swept up in the "silly", instead of focusing on the "significant". 

Coaching Concept:  Get ready to GO, but be extra ready and willing to say a big NO.  We need extra time for quiet and the gathering of our thoughts this month.  Listen to God's whisper.  Take the time to go walking by yourself, to sit and journal, to just BE.  "Be still, and know that I am God."- Psalm 46:10

Challenge:   I challenge you this week to say NO to 2 things a day!  Look for things to practice your NO on.  Say NO to an extra helping, a party invitation, or even a negative thought.  Just say NO!

Give it away with GUSTO!

 

Question of the week:  Are you full of gratitude?

Pondering:  Is God moving mountains in your life? As we move into the official week of "thanks" here in America, are you pouring out praises?  Are you embracing the gifts in your lfie?  Or is it the opposite for you?  Are you amazed at how things have changed for you this year?  Are you sad and lost?  We can't see the BIG PICTURE but we CAN trust that God sure does have one, and he is right on time. I am going to see my family this week, and it is always a time of great joy and great challenge.  Can anyone relate?  Tensions run high when we are with the people we love.  I am pondering how to be true to ME, true to GOD, and give great amounts of praise to my family of origin.  This will be odd behavior for our group!

Coaching Concept: God is a God of celebration and joy.  He is all about being filled with gratitude and delight.  As it says in Psalms 37:  "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." 

Challenge:  This week I challenge to give out praise and thanks.  It is FREE my friends,......why are we stingy with it?  Give it away with gusto...give it away with glory.....give it away with God!

Are you listening?

 

Question of the week:  Are you listening? 

Pondering:  We are so bad at listening.....to ourselves, to others, and to God!  We just keep talking and thinking and never stop long enough to listen for God's nudges. 

Coaching Concept:  To really catch on to our PURPOSE, we have got to tune in to the right frequency so we can hear what God is saying.  We have got to "Be still, and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10.  Most of the time we don't slow down long enough for God to get a word in edgewise.....right?? 

Challenge:  This week I challenge you to listen and write down all that God is saying to you.  Keep a log and recognize the messages all around you.   Listen and learn, my friends.  See where God is leading you.....

Diagnosis= Chronically Early

 

Question of the Week:  Are you "on time"?

Pondering:  What an amazing time we are in the midst of.  Change is all around us with the newly elected government officials.  The scriptures tell us that there is a time and a season for all things. It is time for some true confessions.....I am a chronically early person.  There I have admitted it.  I get places early.  I find a seat, get organized, read a book.  I hate to be late!!  And I find it rather disturbing when other people are late. 

Coaching Concept:  God has prepared, and is preparing each of us, "for such a time as this".  Are you ready?  Will you be early, late, or right on time?  God's timing is perfect, no matter what we can see or comprehend. It is about the journey, and the lessons He wants to teach us.  Who are we to not show up for his assignments?  Who do we think we are? 

Challenge:  I encourage you this week to be early and "on time" for God's appointments.  See who you might meet if you get someplace with a few minutes to spare.  Enjoy the extra moments to pray and chat with those around you.  It is all about your purpose.  Trust God's timing as He reveals more to you.

Falling in Love

Question of the Week:  What do you love?  Who do you love?  How do you love?

Pondering:  Fall is my favorite season.  God shows me the vibrant colors on the trees, the cooler weather, and the time change reminds me that life is moving forward.   I am learning to love myself in a new way this fall season.  I am watching God's plans unfold before me in a mysterious way that I cannot understand.  I am letting go just like the leaves on the trees do, as they swirl to the ground.  I am seeing how God is bringing vibrant new people into my life.  This falling in love with myself, is good!   It is part of my purpose journey, even when I don't understand it.  Especially when I don't understand it.  You see, I can tend to be a control freak, and God certainly knows that.  He is working on me.....working with me!

Coaching Concept:  How are you falling in love with yourself this fall?  What do you love to do?  Who do you love to spend time with?  What is your favorite color, season, restaurant?  Who are you?  How did God uniquely design you?  What clothes do you love to wear?  As it says in The Message "So chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you:  compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline......And regardless of what else you put on, wear love.  It's your basic all-purpose garment.  Never be without it."  Colossians 3:12-14 

Challenge: I challenge you this week to fall in love with yourself.  Write a list of your unique strengths, gifts, talents, and accomplishments.  See how God is clothing you.  Be a lover of life!  Share your love with the people God has gifted you with.

I Wonder.....

 

Question of the Week: Are you wondering?

Pondering:   I am right in the middle of a situation and I often wake up wondering, and pondering, of course...."How did I end up here?   What do I do now?"   My husband and I have recently separated.  I have debated about writing about this here in my column for many reasons.  Some of the reasons are.... I don't want to be judged.  I don't want to be pitied.  I don't want to be rescued.  I want your love, compassion, and prayers for both of us.  I don't know what God has planned, but I do know that I am right in the middle of a gigantic lesson.  I trust that He is working, even when I can't feel it.  I know that He is my provider and sustainer in times of turmoil. 

Coaching Concept:  It is good for us to wonder....to evaluate, to investigate, and to ponder.  It is also good for us to be honest, get real, and speak the truth.  I am trusting in God's message for me in Proverbs 16:4 from The Message, "God made everything with a place and a purpose".    I am learning who I am in Christ, and more about my inner workings.  I am right here waiting and wondering....

Challenge:  I pray that by me speaking the truth today, it will help you to speak the truth this week.  I challenge you to get real, even if it causes you to wake up wondering.  I love you my friends!

The "Yuck" Zone!

Question for the week:  Are you frustrated?

Pondering:  As we journey through this purpose process, we can get so frustrated.  I know this feeling intimately because that is where I am right now.  Frustrated, mad, confused....in the YUCK zone!!  Just when you think you have things figured out, and you are trotting down purpose lane, a boulder lands right in front of you.  The economy is in turmoil, relationships all around me are changing, and my brain is swirling with questions. 

Coaching Concept:  Yes indeed....you and I will have frustrations along the way.  The bigger question is, "what are we going to do about it?"  Who are you when you are in the YUCK zone?  The bible tells us to let our YES be YES and our NO be NO.....are you doing that?  We are also to speak the truth in love......are you doing that?  As it says in Ephesians 4:15 (NLT) "Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church."

Challenge:   My challenge for you this week is to find out why you are frustrated and begin to speak the truth about it.   Start small, but start somewhere.  Be brave.  Trust God's timing and listen for his answers.

Tempted??

Question of the Week:  Are you being tempted?

Pondering:  Temptations.  I find them all around me at this point.  I find myself tempted by easy things like chips, chocolate, shoes, and my eternal search for the perfect purse.  I find myself tempted by bigger things such as better furniture, a different house, a more sophisticated office. I even find myself thinking about a different relationship, getting caught in the grass is greener section of my mind.  .  What are you tempted with?  We are all tempted daily.  I ponder daily and hourly about "this" and "that", which is really my mind going to places that it shouldn't.  Truthfully, my thoughts take me on a journey away from my purpose and away from God.

Coaching Concept:  We can learn a great deal about our purpose as we see what we are tempted with.  We can look under the surface and see what our motives are, and why we think the grass is greener over there.  As it says in Ephesians 6:11 NKJV "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil".    What is your purpose?  What are your motives?  What is tempting you away from God's plan for your life?

Challenge:  I challenge you this week to consider your temptations.  Talk to them.  Ask them what they are trying to keep you from seeing, hearing, and feeling.  Ask God to show you a way out!

Freaked out with FEAR

Question of the Week:  What are you afraid of?

Pondering:  Do you ever just get so afraid that you can't think clearly?  You begin to imagine the worst case scenario and you start to linger there, almost embracing it.  How does this FEAR help?  Let me tell you my friends, it doesn't!  I have been whirling and swirling around the FEAR loop lately and it is just YUCK!  I somehow forget that God has me taken care of.....that I have nothing to FEAR. That in fact he says "Do not fear!" 365 times in the bible.  One for every day of the year!  Why do I get so anxious when I can rest in the love of my Father?

Coaching Concept:  This week, as I was talking to my friend and a fellow coach, she asked me, "What are you afraid of?" and so many things came through my mind that I told her I needed some time to think about it.  Our fear tells us an important message, but we do not have to act on it or make a decision from a place of fear.  If you find yourself doing that, STOP.  Take your time.  This is so important to living out our purpose and being "lined up" with God's agenda.      

Challenge:  What are you "fearful" of today?  I challenge you to do something about it.  Write about it, talk about it, pray over it, read a book about the subject, gather knowledge.  You are a wise and wonderful woman!  Embrace that, not the FEAR!

I Give Up!

Question of the Week:  When is the right time to give up? To surrender?

Pondering:  I hate to give up!  I am so "over-responsible" that I have a hard time cancelling an appointment, not completing a task, or even allowing myself to be sick.  But what I am being reminded of during this season, is that my timing is not God's timing.  That I need to stop thinking that I know what is best for me or for anyone else.  My controlling nature is helping no one.  God wants me, and requires me to give up, to surrender.  As it says in The Message, "Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering." Romans 12:1

Coaching Concept:  Giving up can be good, no matter how challenging it is.  Sometimes I have to learn the hard way, that giving up actually is what God would desire from me.  He does not want me to be out of balance, overwhelmed, exhausted, and unable to be fully present.  I am saying NO to a variety of things. I am taking things OFF of my calendar that don't need to be there.  I am giving up! 

Challenge:  What do you need to give up?  How can you "bless and release"?  Give up one thing this week and journal about how it feels.  What is God teaching you? 

Hate to Wait?

Question of the Week:  What are you waiting for?

Pondering:  Don't you just hate to wait?  We are so impatient and so "in a rush".  We want God to answer our questions and take care of our problems immediately.  I am in the midst of a very challenging season....and I have to wait.  My father God is holding me in His arms while I catch my breath.  I am wondering and asking so many questions and He is just holding me and telling me to wait.  My friend told me to look up Psalm 40: 1-3, which says this:  I waited and waited and waited for God.  At last he looked; finally he listened.  He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from the mud.  He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn't slip.  He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.   More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery,  abandoning themselves to God. (The Message)

Coaching Concept:  I am waiting and learning, one day at time.  What ditch is God lifting you out of?  What mud is in your life? We can learn so much in the waiting....it is a time to be observant and reflective.  I am writing down my thoughts and my prayers in my journal.   I am talking with God.  He is listening and I am learning.

Challenge:  I challenge you to wait this week.  Try getting in the longest line at the grocery store.  See how that feels.  I challenge you to write down your thoughts and ponderings for God in your journal. 

Learning and Turning...

 

Question of the Week:  What do you do when a disaster hits?

Pondering: This last week we have watched Hurricane Ike roar through Texas and the 7 year anniversary of 9/11.  We sometimes share natural disasters as a town or community.  Yesterday a well known and loved eye doctor in my town died while landing his plane at the airport.  How do we make sense of it all?  What does purpose have to do with disaster? What can we learn from a disaster or a tragedy? 

Coaching Concept:  Learning is a part of living, and we often learn the most in the horrible times.  I know how much I have learned from my failures and my mistakes.  I have failed in public and I have failed privately.  As a coach, I work with people who have journeyed through all kinds of ups and downs in life.  The key is in the learning and the turning.  We can either learn from it and turn towards our Father, or not learn and turn the other way.  Which will you choose?  In Psalm 121:7-8 it says, "The Lord will keep you from all harm-He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."   

Challenge:  I challenge you this week to send a message of encouragement to someone who is in the midst of a storm.  I pray that you will ponder the lessons that God is surrounding you with.

Need a Makeover?

Question of the Week:  Do you need a Character Makeover?

Pondering:  I am writing this week's column from Kentucky.  My friend and colleague Kelly Thorne and I have just completed a BIG Character Makeover Launch that you will be able to join virtually through TRW.  Find out more on the main page or go to www.ibloom.us.  I KNOW that my life is in need of a BIG transformation.  My marriage is in need of a healing balm.  My hearts cries out. In Matthew 11:28 it says this, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  I need a rest!! 

Coaching Concept:  Are you ready to be brutally honest with your life?  Are you ready to look at your strongholds?  A significant part of the coaching relationship is the questions that we ask.  Another crucial part is the accountability.  Are you ready to continue seeking your purpose and be held accountable for your actions?

Challenge:  I challenge you today to come along on this character makeover journey.  I challenge you to be gutt-wrenchingly honest with yourself.  I encourage you to speak your truth this week!

Are you going "back to school"?

Question of the Day:  Are you ready to go "back to school"?

Pondering:   I love "back to school"....don't you?  I don't actually have the privilege of going back to school this year, but I love the idea of it.  I love the papers, binders, and supplies on sale at every store.  Fall is my favorite time of year and I know that once those yellow school buses start moving again, that my favorite season is fast approaching.  And for me, living in Texas, this means that the heat will start to decrease....praise God!

Coaching Concept:  As women, on the search for purpose, we are always in "school".  Life is our classroom.  We are always in a process of learning and growing....or we are stagnant and standing still.  I choose to learn, and to learn as much as I can.  God is refining us, moving us, growing us.....are you ready?  As it says in Romans 12: 2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."  Are you ready to be transformed?

Challenge:  What are you learning today? This week?  Are you willing to take yourself back to school?  I challenge you to sign up for that Spanish class, take the zumba class at your local gym, attend the seminar.....do something that scares you!  I dare you.  See what you learn about yourself and the purpose that God has for you.

Leadership Lessons

Question of the Week:  Are you a leader?

Pondering:  I have spent the weekend on a Women's Leadership Retreat in the mountains of Colorado with women of all ages and backgrounds.  In August, I led a Women's Leadership Coaching group.  Leadership is on my pondering mind lately.  I am reading books on leadership, looking at leadership websites, and just doing a great deal of research and reflection.  I am thinking of good leaders in my life, and not-so-good leaders.  I am taking a hard honest look at my style of leadership.  I want to take each day and learn something. 

Coaching Concept:  So I ask you today, my friends, are you a leader?  You might not realize how much of a leader you are.  Do you know that people are watching you?  Not in a "stalker" sort of way, but in a "pondering" way.  Your friends, your neighbors, your kids, your family, are all watching you and learning from your example.   

Challenge:  I challenge you to take at good look at your leadership factor.  Who is watching and learning from you?

Flip Flop Envy

Question of the week:  Do you have flip flop envy?

Pondering:  True confessions time.  I can't wear flip flops and I am so jealous.  Every where I go, I see men and women wearing the most fabulous flip flops.  What used to be a fashion faux pas is now totally stylish and chic.  There are fancy flip flops, ugly flip flops, high heeled flip flops, man flip flops, and even the interchangeable top flip flop with a variety of colors and patterns to choose from that you can snap onto your flop.  That leads me to ponder.....which part is the flop and which part is the flip......hmmm.  So try as I might, I can't become a flip-flopper.  Now this causes me a great deal of shopping challenge when almost every shoe is the store is a flip flop of some sort.  I need help!!  You must be wondering why in the world I can't seem to wrap my toes around and settle in with this silly shoe.  Well, the "toe-thingy" bothers my toes.  Simple as that.  The toe thingy is always there, then the rest of your toes just fling out into never never land.  No support for the tootsies.   

Coaching Concept:  Well you might be wondering if this has anything to do with purpose....it does.  We often compare and think that someone else has a better shoe or a better purpose.  We question our purpose, looking around and trying to fit ourselves and our lives into shoes that don't fit.  We struggle with flip flop envy or purpose envy. We try to be floppers.  In Galatians 5:26 NASB, it says "Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another".    

Challenge:  I challenge you to not compare yourself to any one else this week.  Just embrace your own purpose, as much as God has revealed to you!  Don't try to wear the wrong shoe.  Allow God to show you where He needs you and what He needs from you.....in His timing. 

Camels at Harmony Exit

Question for the week: Do you need to go on a road trip?

Pondering: I went on an overnight business trip to Amarillo, Texas last week. I DO enjoy driving on these trips because it gives me lots of time to pray, think, sing, and come up with fabulous ideas. I DO NOT like the fact that I have one of the smallest bladders ever, and because of this I have to stop far too many times. As I am driving down the road, singing and getting my groove going, I look to my left and I see a field of camels. Yes there are approximately 20-25 camels at the Harmony Exit in the middle of Texas. So I immediately call my husband to say, “You are not going to believe this….”.

Coaching Concept: How often do we “see” right through something or someone because we feel like we know what is there? We expect it to be the same. We expect people to be the same. We tend to get in a rut and just keep driving down the same road, with the same people, doing the same thing. In Exodus 33: 18 Moses says “Now show me your glory”. I believe that God blessed me with an abundant picture of His glory. Not only did He allow me to see one camel, but more camels that I could count. Very nice indeed! I love how my father God speaks to me and gets my attention.

Challenge: I challenge you to drive down a different road, so to speak. I challenge you to watch for camels. I challenge you to look around….your purpose might be right in front of you. Ask God to reveal His glory to you this week!

Ice Skating on my Birthday!

Question for the week:  What do you do on your birthday??

Pondering:  I just celebrated a birthday!!  My birthday always brings joy, lots of eating, and a sense of reflection.  I take stock of all that has happened since the last birthday rolled around.  Well part of the joy this year, was that I got to go ICE SKATING on my birthday with my husband and two new friends.  It was a blast!  We were the oldest ones on the ice, but not too shabby, if I must say so myself.  I love ice skating!  In college, I took an ice skating class and learned a few fancy moves, which I have now forgotten.  I just love the gliding and the swooshing.  Some of the things that I don't love are....the skates that don't fit right, and the not being able to do things on the ice that look so easy when you are watching them on TV.   Hmm.....hard to imagine that I can't do a double axel right?   

Coaching Concept:  How do you celebrate the passages of LIFE?  Not just for others, but for you.  As women, we often ignore our own birthday and yet throw gigantic celebrations for others throughout the year.  And how do you have FUN?  How do you stay YOUNG?  Throughout my birthday weekend, the verse that kept showing up for me is Psalm 37: 4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."  This was in the front pages of a book my husband gave me and a journal that a friend gave me.....so I am embracing this verse and choosing that this will be my verse for this coming year.  I am choosing to celebrate the life that God has given me, good and bad, challenges and triumphs.  I choose to keep on ice skating.....with God.

Challenge:    I challenge you to celebrate your life and reflect on your  purpose.   Each day is a gift, and to be delighted in.  Each day we can move closer and closer to our God-given purpose.  I challenge you to do something crazy.....something that scares you!  I urge you to get out on the ICE......and I will meet you there.