Thankful Heart Discussion At The Well

Laurie at Women Taking A Stand is hosting at the well this week, and her topic is "Having A Thankful Heart." With this INCRedible topic, I'd suggest going by to read what Laurie has to say on it. She has the spiritual gift of teaching, and I go regularly to her blog to be fed spiritually and to learn the deep stuff of God's Word.

I would've love to put together something well-packaged for this great topic, but since I'm low on time, I'm just going to answer her discussion questions as if she and I were having a conversation. Would you like to do the same? If so go by Laurie's blog to sign up.

It is easy to give thanks when everything is going well. But how easy is it to give thanks when we are low in the valley?

So TRUE! Honestly, I find it easier to give thanks than to live thanks, you know? I say it and sing it with my mouth, but my moods and actions often communicate a whole different message. The desire of my heart is to be able to say it and mean it at the same time, whether in the high, low or in-between.

How do you give thanks during difficult times?

When I’m going through a difficult time, I HAVE to be honest with the Lord and myself. I admit that I’m feeling yucky, down, depressed, attacked, whatever the emotion, and I ask Him to help me with it, taking the opportunity to thank Him in advance for how He will act and what He will do in the situation. I also ask Him to give me a new attitude and a new perspective—those that are His instead of mine which is limited and human. One other thing I do is to thank Him for His divine character and the sacrifices He made for me. Somehow when I focus on God’s mercies, my heart becomes God-focused instead of me-focused. All of a sudden, I’ll remember all of the other ways He has brought me (and others) through the muddy waters. My heartfelt cries are then exchanged for honest gratitude.

Share with your readers a testimony of how God brought you thru a difficult time.

Oh, wow, there are too many to count. Honestly. One in particular I feel led to share is how the Lord brought me/our family through a self-sacrificing time. Talk about sanctification. When Brian’s father got terminal brain cancer, we were devastated. At the same time, we began to take care of his granddad in our home, all while continuing to homeschool the kids three days a week, Brian helping his step mother care for his dad, while continuing to run his company. My mother in IL got very ill during this same time frame, and I was trying to work in trips to see her. Then she passed away. Granddad’s health with Parkinson’s, and I dare say grief over his only son dying a horrible death, began to deteriorate. He passed away after 20 months of living with us, then Brian’s dad just months after that.

Lemme just tell you, we are STILL recuperating. But there is no WAY we could’ve made it through that time without our faith. In many ways our marriage strengthened. We were forced to work through issues in our marriage that had lurked for many years underneath the surface. Our entire family comforted one another, while at the same time remembering all the ways God had provided for us through it all…big things, small things, mysterious things. Too many blessings to count.

I remember one day in particular. The kids were fighting, Granddad was sitting in the living room with the TV blaring, we had a TON of homework to do, my housework was piled up to the max, and I really thought I might come undone for good. I fell to my knees weeping, locked behind my bedroom door. I ignored the dog barking and the knocks of concern and just sobbed as quietly as I could. And prayed. Begged. With those tears, God poured out His peace. Out came the stress, and in came His supernatural, overwhelming flood of comfort from the Holy Spirit. No major revelation came, no verse came to mind, no song came to my lips. Just silent comfort.

And I’m still thanking Him for that.

Psalm 77:11-12 (NIV)
" I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds."

Dear Lord Jesus, You are amazing. Magnificent. All-powerful. While the enemy tries to steal, kill and destroy, You constantly remind me that You have come to give eternal life, and to the full. Thank You. I don't deserve anything good, but yet, that is what You give, over and over again. Keep me ever mindful and solely focused on You, replacing my emotional perspective with Your perfect vision. This Thanksgiving, cause my thankfulness to pour out to others, in word and in deed, and especially in attitude. In Your name I pray, Amen.

In the Key of HE,

Romans 12:1/A POV Shift

Monday Manna is being hosted by Joanne at An Open Book today. I couldn't resist jumping in on the Scripture because I JUST FINISHED WRITING A DEVO ON ROMANS 12:1 for a completely unrelated writing project at my church (literally, the deadline was today). Joanne encouraged me to post some of it. I'm sure the timing is not a coincidence. Joanne posted an INCREDIBLE perspective on it, as far as all the others I've read so far, so go by and read and join in if you can...

Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

My entire adult life has revolved around serving God, especially in worship and drama. For many years, this is how I understood Romans 12:1:

“…offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…this is your spiritual act of worship.”

And I lived it out, offering myself to the Lord’s service, wherever He called me. I served Him with my talents, but also with my gifts of shepherding and encouragement. My prayer was for all of it to be holy and pleasing to the Lord, and to live out my call to worship.

An internal struggle came, however, when I noticed some strongholds in my life. Why am I struggling? I thought. I’m supposed to be holy! As I cried out desperately for help, the Lord lovingly showed me what I was missing in this “living sacrifice” kind of faith. He opened my eyes to the whole verse:

“THEREFORE, I urge you…IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCY, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices…” (emphasis mine)

Once I understood the entire verse (and its context with the preceding chapters), I realized that the emphasis is not on ME living a life of worship. Rather, it is on living with God’s mercies in full view. It’s saying, “Therefore—after eleven chapters of theology showing what you’ve died to, what you’re alive to, and what the Lord has done for you—THEREFORE—In view of those mercies, see worship for what it really is—not a gift you give to God—rather an offering of grateful sacrifice you live for God, knowing you don’t deserve a lick of those mercies.”

But there’s that one last word: sacrifice. I say I’ll give it all, yet I feel an agitated resistance to any discomfort that accompanies it. The only way for me to say “not my will, but Yours, Lord” is to continually focus on God’s character. It takes a mind that is preoccupied with the truth of God—as verse two says—a renewed mind.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

With His renewal (and constant help), I’m able to live out God’s “pleasing and perfect will,” and finally experience true worship—the kind that flows from a grateful heart.

Lord Jesus, I am overwhelmed when I stop to think of all the mercies You have given me. Eternal love and grace and joy, saving faith, strength, the Holy Spirit as a helper, righteousness, eternal life and security and everlasting peace. All of these and so much more compel me to live for you, yet I'm so bad at it sometimes. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me when I forget to look from this point of view, and strengthen me according to Your Word. Thank You for giving me everything I need for this life and for Godliness. I long to sacrifice my all for you today. In Jesus' name, Amen.

In the Key of HE,

A Quick Wit and A Stiff Neck

Hey all, as you know I've been rather busy lately. Tis the season in my life! ;) Anyway, many of you probably don't even know that I have a totally separate devotional ministry where I send out devotionals and fiction stories from my regular Lovinthearts.com ministry website , so I thought I would post one of them from awhile back. I hope it ministers to you today.

God has gifted me with a quick, dry wit. Constantly, I hear catch phrases that ring in my mind and cause it to answer. It’s a blessing and a curse. Some people are drawn to it; others probably run the other direction as soon as they see me just to avoid it. If you could be inside my mind for one day, I guarantee you would either be greatly entertained or incredibly concerned. Anyway, I’ll get to the point of why I’m mentioning it.

One day recently, I woke up with excruciating pain in my neck. While issues with my neck are common, this day was worse than normal, as it wouldn’t even relent to the pain medicine. Halfway through the day, Wit spoke up: “What a pain in the neck!” I chuckled in my mind. Later in the day, she spoke up again: “You stiff-necked woman!” That one wasn’t quite as funny to me, of course, as it reminded me of the stubborn Israelites.

As I awoke that next morning, the pain woke with me. I couldn’t even move my neck from side to side without a wince. I was thankful for Mrs. Wit’s humor to keep me amused along the way.

What amazes me is that God often uses these little illustrations in life to strike me and remind me of Himself. As I spent time in prayer, the Holy Spirit reminded me of some unconfessed sin in my life. I was quick to deal with it.

Then He brought to my mind some areas of complacency and unbelief. I gave those over.

Then a tucked away verse woke up my memory: “Do not be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” That sent me on a trail of trying to figure out what this means to a Christian, and more importantly, to me:

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’”
Hebrews 3:12-15

Though I’ve read this verse many times before, the Lord showed me this time that it is possible as a mature believer to turn away from Him with sin or unbelief.

Before, when I’ve envisioned “turning away from the living God,” I’ve thought of a BIG turning away, kind of like the prodigal son. I picture a monumental decision to leave the Christian life to seek my own pleasure.

While that is certainly a possibility here, I don’t believe it is the only one. It says, “BUT encourage one another DAILY.” Wow---I can actually deal with a sinful, unbelieving heart on a daily basis?!?!?

One of the things about sin is that it can tiptoe up on us.....it is deceitful. It wants to make us believe that we will be unaffected from the repercussions of a wishy-washy lifestyle, but read on: “We have come to share in Christ IF WE HOLD FIRMLY TILL THE END the confidence we had at first.”

We want to share in Christ, don’t we? Do we still have the confidence IN Him to live rightly BEFORE Him? Micah 6:8 says, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

To walk humbly requires a daily giving over of ourselves. If we’re not careful, sneaky sin can convince us that we don’t have time to do this or that it’s not necessary....we can become a “stiff-necked” people, if you will. So what is the answer for us?

The answer is found in Psalm 95:2-8a:

“Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods; In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. COME—let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. TODAY, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts....”

Let’s stretch our necks out for Him today, noticing His creation on the left, His blessings on the right, and His provision right in front of us. As He shares this with us, may it cause us to look UP, renewing in us the confidence to hold on firmly all the way to the end.

© Copyright 2007 Laura L. Shaw
All scripture references are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.

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In the Key of HE,

Purse-uaded

Remember a few weeks ago I told you about how I bribed won a giveaway on another blog. Well, it's here, and I am thrilled. Kim at Homesteader's Heart made me a gorgeous purse. Lemme just tell you, I am IMpressed. And a bonus, her daughter made me some earrings. Aren't they beautiful?

Thank you, Kim, so much! I had already grown to love you as a sister in Christ through reading your blog, but now...now I am completely purse-uaded that you are absolutely the real deal! What a blessing you are, dear one. And I will remember and pray for you and your daughter each and every time I wear them.


To Kim:

Philemon 1:4-7 (The Message)
"Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, "Oh, thank you, God!" I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other believers. 

And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. 

Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers."

In the Key of HE,