My Life Isn’t Mine?

I encourage you to listen to, and also read, the lyrics to the Casting Crowns song titled Lifesong. Here is a link: https://www.castingcrowns.com/lyrics/lifesong/

I have heard this song a hundred times, but as I was driving to work the other day  it came on the radio and the beginning line just struck me, “Empty hands held high.” I think it struck me because occasionally when worshiping at church I feel led to lift my hands up in worship. For me it is an outward picture of surrendering to the Lord, but the ironic thing is, like the song points out, my hands are empty. I come to the Father and I have nothing to offer but my life. It seems like so little and yet that is what the Lord asks of us, for us to pick up our cross daily and give Him our life (Luke 9:23).

It has been years since I confessed my belief in the Lord and was baptized in obedience, so now what? Practically speaking, how can my life be for the Lord every day when I am working, cleaning, and caught up in the mundane? How does being a Christian look different in the day-to-day simple stuff? It seems like it would be more straight forward if I worked in ministry or was a missionary in another country, but for me, how can my life be a song to the Lord?

Meditating on the song lyrics and scripture has changed my mindset. My life is not my own. My husband isn’t mine, my children aren’t mine, my money isn’t mine. All of these are things that the Lord has lent to me for a time on this earth and has entrusted me to use for His glory. In this ME focused world and ME focused culture it is easy to lose sight of that and yet this truth is so helpful when thinking of day-to-day living.

Tithing becomes easier because I am admitting that the money the Lord has blessed us with isn’t mine in the first place. Parenting becomes easier because it’s for raising up children in the Lord. Being a wife becomes easier because there is greater purpose in why I am married to my husband. My life is not my own.

I do not always do a great job of this – I often fall into the trap of having the ME mentality, but the Spirit is quick to remind me of my purpose. I think of John 13: 14-15 (ESV), when Jesus washes the disciples feet and He says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Jesus spent His final night with the disciples washing their feet to leave a legacy for me and for you. He gave His life up for us and He also gives us our life.

Standing on the Word

 

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New Year’s Resolutions

Holy smokes, it’s 2017!

2016 was a hard year. We had health problems in my family. Two of us required surgery. We spent days, weeks, months – it seemed – focused on simply getting through the day. Chronic pain and fatigue made it difficult to be consistent with much of anything. I am not complaining. God was faithful through our challenges, and even though some challenges remain, I have seen God at work in our lives. I know God will use the hard times for something good.

So…it’s a new year, and as our culture loves to promote, time for a new “you!” Time to set new goals and change old habits. Time to “re-invent” who we are.

Laurie asked us weeks ago as we were finishing our last Bible Study, to really contemplate where we find our identity. The answer to this question is very important in regards to our relationship with the Lord. Where we find our identity is often where we spend our time and energy (i.e. as a wife, mother, employee, employer, etc). If our identity is not forged in God, we will not pour our hearts into our relationship with Him.

I have come back to this identity question again and again. I considered it once more as I thought about New Year’s Resolutions. Like nearly everyone at this time of year, I thought about areas of my life I would like to change. I’d like to study the Bible more, have more quiet time with the Lord, exercise more, cook more, schedule more date nights, etc. etc.

I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with wanting to improve ourselves. But I do think that resolutions in general place our focus on ourselves instead of the Lord. So in that respect, I don’t know that they are especially helpful. So, this year, I have decided to ask the Lord to show me what HE would have me resolve to do differently.

The only way to answer this question is for me to spend more time with the Lord. So I must consistently put aside time for Him. That must be non-negotiable. However, I have also decided that if I don’t make my morning quiet time, instead of feeling guilty and succumbing to negative self-talk, I will ask the Lord to help me set aside time later in the day or in the evening. That way, the pressure is off my ability to “perform” or meet a goal – neither of which matter to God anyway.

Most resolutions fail because they are too lofty, too unattainable to begin with – and because they place the motivation for the goal(s) solely on the person who set them. In the past, I have set resolutions that I have achieved and resolutions I have not achieved, but those resolutions were set by ME. Never have I said: “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever He wants” (Luke 1:38 TLB). It is time for me to listen to my God and my Creator, for me to find my identity in being His child, and acknowledge I do not know – will never know – what is best.

Lord, help me let YOU lead – whether it be in New Year’s Resolutions or anything else.

Growing in Grace

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Dependence in Community

Our study has been on a break for the holidays and I’ve got to tell you, I was ready for a little break. Please don’t misunderstand, I LOVE our studies and I LOVE Thistlebend, but sometimes it’s just good to have a break from the normal routine. And it’s great to gain an extra morning of the week where there’s nothing already scheduled. As the new year has begun, I’m realizing more and more the need for consistent community, however.

I’ve always somewhat prided myself on being an independent person. If I actually want to be, I can be pretty disciplined to do things—to a fault really. I can set a plan and make it happen. The Lord keeps bringing to mind this sermon that I heard a few months ago at my church about children and having a childlike dependence on the Lord. One of the things the pastor said was that it was actually very hard to teach how to be dependent, but if he was telling us how not to be dependent he would tell us not to pray. That line has just stuck with me. My husband and I talked about our goals for the new year and one of the things we talked about was this dependence that our pastor was speaking of. I had told my husband I wanted to be more fervent in prayer. When thinking about goals, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 came to mind more specifically which says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” A week or so later our church was doing a “New Year” sermon, and I realized then that I did not put forth that much of an effort or plan out how I was going to reach this goal that I was wanting for 2017. You know why that is? Because my hope was in myself and my discipline and independence to actually achieve this goal. Another reason is because I wasn’t seeking out any community for accountability.

While you could say that my independence has always been praised (by this world) it’s desperately hurting me for many reasons. (1) The truth is, I’m actually not independent like I believe that I am. Scripture says that apart from Christ I am nothing. (2) This fake independence that I believe to have keeps me from praying and asking the Lord for help; it keeps me from depending on Him. (3) It keeps me from actively being in community with others. Because I don’t feel like I need anyone to say anything to encourage me to enact a plan, I isolate myself from others sometimes. And let me be really honest here, I don’t like telling people what I’m struggling with. I like telling them after the problem has been “fixed.”

But the Christian life is not one of independence, thankfully, even though my flesh wants it to be. The Christian life is lived in the body of Christ. I say all of this because I need to hear it. I’m so thankful that Thistlebend promotes this community and this sharing and this dependence on the Lord and on each other.

What does this dependence on the Lord in community look like practically? For me, it’s being vulnerable enough to say to some friends, I want to be completely dependent on the Lord in all things and I want to pray about all things and I need your help to do this. I don’t pray like I should, I am not as obedient as I should be, and I am in desperate need of God’s grace. And it’s asking for help in the exact moment when I know I should pray and I don’t want to. It’s not telling someone that earlier today I wanted to pray and I made myself; that’s being independent. It’s texting a friend in the moment and saying, “I don’t want to do this. Will you please pray?” That vulnerability in the mundane moments creates dependence and it fosters community, true community all centered on the Lord. Needless to say I’m really thankful that study is getting ready to start again because I’m seeing how much I really do need it.

Do you have community that encourages and prays for you like this? Do you have others you can share with vulnerably? We’d love to hear what your groups do to encourage each other! Leave comments! And if you don’t have a community of believers you’re involved with, we’d like to hear that too and try to help you have community within the body of Christ!

Planted for His Glory

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