Are you a good witness?

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are..." You ARE. Believer in Christ, His light is what you are. Because Jesus has conquered the dark grave of sin and death, and because the Holy Spirit has been given to you, lives inside of you, works through you, you are the light of Christ.

You don't have to pray to have enough light for today or tomorrow. You don't have to pray to do "light" things. You don't have to worry about the darkness taking you over. As you abide in Him, you walk in the light and it beams for all to see. 

You don't get credit. You don't get a medal. You often won't receive any praise or applause at all when its His light shining through you. Because when others see His light in your attitude, your actions, they will see Him and praise HIM. 

Selah.

I know many of you reading know Whose you are...but do you know who you are in Him? Do you know that you are a new creation and that in Him you live and move and have your being? Do you realize that Jesus Christ is your life and that your life is now hidden in God?  (2 Co 5:17, Acts 17:28, Col. 3:3) 

The more I cease praying about being a better Christian and witnessing more, asking instead that the Lord live through me...the more He shines. I can't explain it, but it is so.

I love the way John White puts it:

"Has it never dawned upon you that the essence of witnessing is just plain honesty? You are salt - whether you feel like it or not. You are not told to act like salt but to be what you are. You are a light. God has done a work in your life. Don't try to shine. Let the light that God put there shine out. It demands no more than honesty. It demands honesty before unbelievers. In fact such honesty is ninety per cent of witnessing. Witnessing is not putting on a Christian front as to convince prospective customers. Witnessing is just being honest, that is, being true to what God has made you in your speech and everyday behaviour." John White

Selah.

What verses have shown you who you are in Him?

How is your life different when you cease self-striving 

and let Him live through you?

What does it look like to live "honestly before unbelievers"?

Upon Reflection...For Women to Ponder

It was a transforming day at the gym that day, but it didn’t start out pretty.

Ugh. Why do they have to have mirrors in here? There’s no way I can make it through this. Little Miss Skinny Winny is right in front of me in her ‘lil piece of material disguised as FIT to wear in public! Now I get to stare at BOTH of us in the mirror. YUCK! You’re too out of shape, Laura. It’s disgusting.

Yes, I actually have these thoughts sometimes…and one day in my FLEX aerobics class, they were running rampant through my head. And continuing…I used to be “one of them,” you know. Well, with the exception of the skimpy clothing. But now? Now I am a red-faced, hyperventilating, under-confident, thrumpy, almost-forty something someone.

Obviously my body wasn’t the only thing struggling with a much-needed workout. My spirit was too. Praise the Lord He spoke straight through the booming music and into my heart by the time class ended. He reminded me that, with Him, all things are possible. That nothing is too hard for Him. That He wanted me to persevere and love these people while I’m at it. That He’s more concerned with the state of my heart than the image in the mirror.

My attitude had been placed into submission with my Savior, and it was a good thing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been prepared for what I walked into next. As I entered the ladies’ locker room, I walked straight into an older teenager with a perfect body in her teeny tiny bikini. She smiled at me big and said, “Hi.” I looked straight into her eyes, faked a smile and said “Hi” back. I made my way to my locker and grabbed my things, because I certainly was not changing my clothes in there now.

As I was about to leave, teeny weeny bikini girl’s (let’s call her “TWB Girl” for short.) friend came out of a draped dressing area in absolute distress. “I can’t do this!” she said to TWB Girl.

“You look great, Jody!” TWB Girl said back, “You do, I promise.”

Then the unthinkable. TWB Girl involves ME.

“Ma’am (ugh), tell her how great she looks.”

What I wanted to say is, “What are you two young things doing running around in skimpy bikinis? You need to cover up now, you hear!?! Got a t-shirt in that locker?”

The mommy/discipler in me took over instead. I forced myself not to look down at her body, but straight into her eyes. I thought, okay, if you tell her not to worry about it, she’ll think she looks bad. If I tell her she looks good in it, I’m feeding the wrong part of her.

“Sweetheart, you are so beautiful. Don’t cry, okay? God has made you such a beautiful young lady.” My heart broke in two as I watched Jody go over to the sink, look in the mirror and rinse her tears. I wanted to continue our conversation, clarify a few things about "true beauty," but I felt led to stop. As the two of them left, saying their polite goodbyes, I sat down on the bench and prayed, crying silently in my soul for this girl, for today’s generation, and for the woman in our aerobics class fussing in the mirror over her body just an hour earlier.

Oh wait, that was me!

Are you ever “that me” or “that her” in the mirror?

It may not be your appearance, or your weight, or your age. For some of you, it’s your talent, your spiritual giftedness, your domestic abilities or the lack thereof. Maybe it’s your personality, your spirituality, or some other stark reality.

Why do we do this? Talk down to ourselves, compare ourselves, wish ourselves away?

Blame it on the media, the devil, “the flesh,” the end times, whatever—but what matters most is what God has to say about us. He tells us to think on “what is true,” (Philippians 4:8a) and to “take captive every thought,” making it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5b). He is very clear that He is more concerned with what He sees in our hearts than what we look like. (1 Samuel 16:7b)

Here’s Truth:

* You are beautiful to the King. (Psalm 45:11)

* You are His perfect creation. (Psalm 139:13)

* You are radiant when you look to Him. (Psalm 34:5)

* You can live life to the full if you believe what God says. (John 10:10)

* You are dead to the old flesh, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3)

* You are not to compare yourself to others. (Galatians 6:4)

Ladies, I could go on and on. This is not about whether or not you should lose weight or improve on yourself, or about strongholds or habits you may or may not need to change. I truly believe that if you don’t understand God’s perspective of you and how to think rightly on it, then it will be impossible to change anything about yourself you need to change anyway.

Look to Him today. Seek His face. Dig into His Truth. Pray for change in your thinking about who He made you to be. And I’ll meet you there.

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Now the Lord is the Spirit,

and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory,

are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory,

which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

Internet Cafe Devotions: Upon Reflection...

I'm at the Internet Cafe today with a message I believe all ladies, young, older and in-between need to hear...I pray you meet me there.

Internet Cafe Devotions: Upon Reflection...

Lifesong In The Limelight/Josh Janoski

I truly believe that a person's testimony, salvation or otherwise, is one of the most powerful expressions of the Christian faith. I thrive on hearing God-stories. When I had my blog giveaway/contest, I asked for testimonies based on songs affecting one's faith. Well, people submitted, and I was moved. That's where "Lifesong In the Limelight" on Saturdays was born.

Josh from Just Joshing blew me away with this testimony, and it is such an encouraging one that will hopefully help someone who needs to hear it today. If you want to know someone who loves to encourage, desires to passionately pursue Christ and who has a great sense of humor, then you need to know Josh. He's a phenomenal writer and a faithful Christian friend to me and so many others in the online Christian community. For all of these reasons and more, I'm so privileged to feature him as this Saturday's

God Speaking Through Song - Who Am I?

The first time I heard this song, I wasn’t all that inspired, because to be honest, I wasn’t really listening to the words closely and absorbing the song’s message. However, during June 2007, I found myself fighting a deep depression that caused me to not want to leave my apartment. My mother had given me a Casting Crowns CD, and I decided to play it. The song "Who Am I?" was one of the songs to come on, and I immediately recognized the tune, but this time I decided to listen to the words closely.

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Lord of all the Earth. That’s a big position. And yet He takes time to know my name? To feel what I am feeling? He understands this depression I am experiencing?

Bright and morning star. Wow! He could choose to horde His light from me but instead He lights my path and steers my heart in the direction that it needs to go. Why am I depressed if God has my path laid out perfectly?

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I’m so worthless. Why leave this apartment and go outside to a world that doesn’t care…but wait a minute. HE CARES! Why? After all I’ve done to hurt Him and other people, how can He love me? I guess it’s not because of who I am, but because of who He is. It’s His loving nature shining through. It’s not anything that I’ve done to deserve this, it’s what He did. He made the sacrifice. He bore the sin and shame.

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

My life here is temporary. I am getting older every day. Each breath takes me closer to my last breath. I am but a tiny grain of sand on a large stretch of beach, but He hears me when I cry out to Him! He understands this pain I am experiencing right now. He is listening to me. He wants me to seek His help and counsel.

Lord, help this flower that withers away! Lord, help me to take this time I have and not use it to be depressed or downtrodden! Let me use it to serve you! Catch me Lord as I take a dive backwards into this pit of despair! Catch me and pull me out!

What is that Lord? What did you say? I am…yours? You mean you take possession of me? Even though I feel like I have no one to turn to, you still claim me as your own? I’m yours? Really? I ask this and yet somehow in my heart I know it to be true. I am yours. I am a child of the Almighty God.

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am dirty. The weight of my sin bears down on me, leaving me weak and weathered. My hands are covered in the grime of this world that I have wallowed in for so long. I thought what I was doing would make me a better person, but instead my actions seek to haunt me and destroy me. Your eyes see my wrongdoings. You know all and see all, and yet, you don’t kick me when I’m already down. You watch me get back up using the strength of the hand that you have stretched out towards me.

I feel this storm inside me calming. I see you standing there and commanding this storm in my life to cease. I see now that no matter what I do, how I feel, or where I’m at, that I can trust in you. You care about this tiny grain of sand mixed in among millions of other grains.

I am a flower quickly fading
I am a wave tossed in the ocean
I am a vapor in the wind

But most of all…

I am Yours.

That right there is the message that carried me out of that depression and brought me back to the truth of God’s love for me. I hope that if you haven’t listened to this song that you do so, because I believe it will bless you just as it did me. it's strange, because I heard it on the radio yesterday after church, and I had just got done thinking about writing this post. I sang the song as I headed home, and I took the time to remember who I am in Jesus Christ.

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

Josh is a 26 year old Network Administrator living in the beautiful mountain state of Colorado. When he's not tinkering with technology, Josh likes to read, exercise, play games, surf the Internet, and of course - write. He sees his writing as a ministry, given to him by God to help encourage people and lead them to the hope that is Jesus Christ. Whether it be through humor, fictional Biblical re-tellings, or non-fiction confessionals, Josh's goal is to put a smile on people's face and remind them of the love that God has for them. Please take time to visit his ministry website: Uplifting Words or his personal blog at Just Joshing.

In the Key of HE,

God's Poster Child

I'm over at the Internet Cafe today.

Go check out what's hanging on the wall there:

In the Key of HE,

Who Am I?

Chelsey at Joyfully Living for His Glory is hosting this week, and she wants us to take the time to tell about ourselves. So it's gonna be LOUD! And I'm so excited to know my sisters better. I wish I had more time to put this post together and organize it well, but I'm extremely limited on time right now, so I'll speak off the cuff. Hey, at least I have the backspace key in this conversation. Too bad we don't have them in real life discussions, right?

Wellza (pun intended), here is my story, at least part of it:

Today:
Brian and I have been married for almost 19 years. He's a blessing to me, and I can say honestly that our love has grown deeper and more unselfish over the years. (thank goodness!) Our kids are known as the "A Team," seeing as all their names start with "A"s. Austin is 13, AnaLee is 10, and Allison is 8. And Allison would have a heart attack if I didn't mention that Abby, our 8-year-old Toy Manchester Terrier is also part of those "A"s.

I've entered a new season of parenting--one where the titles of taxi driver, counselor, teacher, friend, intercessor, manager, director and social coordinator all fall under the same hat. Life never gets dull, and my kids make the season fun and laughter-filled. Wouldn't be completely real, though, if I didn't mention that, with the way I'm wired, this is a tough season for me. It's easy on the discipling, shepherding front. Tough on the hectic pace, juggling, and constant "with-it-ness" that it takes to stay on top of all the physical and emotional issues. It keeps me on my knees!

My past:
Would take me a novel, so the nutshell version is, it was tough, but God faithfully provided beauty in midst of the pain. Though dysfunction, abuse and tragedy lined the walls of my childhood home, I refuse to allow those to define me. I am not a victim, I am an overcomer in Christ.

I grew up in an itty bitty town (3200 people) in southern Illinois with only a few stoplights in the town square. Everybody knew everybody else, and it was kind of neat that way. Most of my mom's family lived around us, so my life was full of time with family--grandma and grandpa, aunts and cousins.

My personality as a young girl was always a bit offbeat. I yakked off the ears of strangers and would pretend with Barbies and dolls in my bedroom for hours at a time. As I grew up, I often role-played what I was going to be when I grew up. I started off as a fast food window clerk, got promoted to television anchor woman, then ended up a famous Christian singer. Quite the imagination I had.

The First Baptist Church of my town meant the world to me. I was saved there at 6 years old and married there almost 14 years later. The people in that Body cared for our family through the most difficult of times.

It makes me tired remembering all the activities I dove into as a youth. Almost everything that was offered. In retrospect, I know that was because I needed an escape from my home life, but at the time, I just thought I needed to do it all. My favorite, though, was singing and acting. When I left home after high school, I moved to Texas to go to college on a music scholarship, and I was able to do so because my only sister (and best friend) and her husband took me into their home to live.

I had only been in Texas a few months when I met Brian, and two years later, we were married. Wowzer, did he swoop me off my feet. As a matter of fact, he still is. We've had a rough three years, full of loss and taking care of others, and I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather walk through it with than Brian. We lost his dad to a brain tumor (which was a long suffering death), had his granddad live in our home for a few years and pass away in Brian's arms in our house, and we lost my mom in the midst of taking care of both of them. All of the suffering and pain has brought us to this new normal, this strange new place of figuring out what God wants us to do as a family. It's brought us to a place where we've had to seek Him with open hearts about how He wants us to spend our time, our money, our passions, our ministry. We're still working through it.

While I'm pretty sure everyone in the blogosphere has read it, because it has had the most reads and posts of any I've written, one story in particular that I wrote tells a great deal about who I am and where I've come from. It has some pics as well. If the Lord leads you, give it a read when you have some spare time. It's called Remember Glory.

My life Scripture verse is Psalm 118:14 (NIV):
"The LORD is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation."

I picked this verse a few years back, because I realized then that through all of the hardships I face, He has become my strength. With all of the voices from the past that try to throw me into depression and despair, He has become my song. With all of the strongholds I discover that I need freeing from, HE has become my salvation.

The Lord has been, is and will continue to be so very faithful. I'm blessed to have my husband, my kids, my best friend and sister, a brother-in-law that is just like my brother, my precious nieces and nephews, a few very close friends, and a bundle of faithful, fun friends and ministry partners. Above all, I have a faith that will not be shaken because of a God that loved me enough to send His one and only Son to die for me. My future, though unwritten here on earth, is written in permanent ink in Heaven, and that defines my life above all.

In the Key of HE,

Do You Know You Are OUTRAGEOUSLY Loved?

In the Key of HE,

"All Wired Up" for Women, Part 2

So in "All Wired Up for Women, Part 1," I asked some questions about why some little girls like to play dress-up. Is it that they want to feel like a beautiful princess? We discussed, through the posting and the readers' comments, how we as Christian women are beautiful to the King. But that's not always the reason for dress-up, and for some, they would never even consider such a thing as beauty! So why else?

As I went to tuck my girls in the other evening, I found two pairs of my clothes on the floor--clothes that they sorted through and put on, promising to return them to their rightful place. Earlier, they had dressed up like "moms" and pretended to go shopping. It was really funny to watch, and especially convicting to hear their lingo. (Do I really talk that way? Nah, must be someone else's mom).

I remember the feeling of putting on my aunt's shoes or my older sister's clothes (when she wasn't looking.) I remember being at my friends' houses and putting on way too much makeup in the name of "playing." It was so much fun, and I have no idea what made it so fun for sure.

Yet, here I am today, an older woman, a mature (whatever that means) believer in the Lord, and I still find myself trying to wear others' clothes from time to time. If you are an extremely confident person, never comparing yourself to others, feel free to skip this post, but for the rest of us, whoa, boy, does God need to get our attention on this.

Sisters, God doesn't want us to slip into the trap of wanting or trying to be somebody we're not. It's perfectly healthy to emulate Godly role models or mentors, and it's certainly advisable to strive to be more like Jesus, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about the icky kind of comparison--comparing the way we're wired or created to that of others.

I wish I could sing like her.
Why does she look ten years younger than me when we're the same age?
I'll never be as good of a mommy as her.
There are so many good writers out there. Maybe I should just give up now.
She decorates, she cooks, she cleans, she's perfect. Then there's me.

Get the point? What's floating in the quote bubble outside your brain? Many messages of God's truth could be applied here, but I'll just land on a few. The first is that this type of comparison boils down to envy and pride. Yuck! Proverbs 14:30 says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." No wonder she looks ten years younger than me! My bones are rotting more each moment I look at her! ;)

It's great to improve ourselves, to try new things, to do activities outside of our comfort zones, but our motive should always be to do it for the glory of God--NOT out of pride or envy. I absolutely love, Love, LOVE the following verses from Hebrews. I first memorized them from the NIV, so read them there too if you get the chance, but the way The Message translation puts it is like music to my ears:

Hebrews 13:19-21
May God, who puts all things together,
makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together,
provide you with everything you need to please Him,
Make us into what gives Him most pleasure,
by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Wowzer! Oh, yes, I want to be made into what gives HIM the most pleasure, not what will make me feel like a better person or fulfill my petty pride.

Yes, yes, yes, women of God. Let's talk to Him, ask Him what HE has purposed for us, and then let's live the way we're wired to the fullest, all to the glory of our Jesus, forever and always. Amen.

Sisters or Mommies?

"All Wired Up," for Women, Part 1

I remember as little girls, my cousin and I used to go through my aunt's closet and get dressed up. With thick, heavy clogs we clomped and clanked on the wooden floors of her upstairs apartment (to which I greatly apologize to those who lived downstairs).

With daughters and nieces of my own now, I find great delight in watching them do the same. It's a precious and innocent thing.

Sometimes I wonder, being the analytical thinker I am: Why did we play dress-up when we were little?

1. Is it that we wanted to feel like a beautiful princess?
2. Did we want to be like our mommies or aunties?
3. Did we hope to be rich and famous one day?
4. Is it that we were ready to be a grown-up and tired of being a kid?
5. Was it an effective way to get attention?


The deeper questions loom in our adulthood:

1. Do we realize we are beautiful to the King?
2. Do we try to be someone we're not?
3. Are we content with the purposes God has given us to live out?
4. Do we forget we're the grown-up and continually work to feel young again?
5. Do we strive to get extra attention from others?

Contrasting questions, but ones we need to regularly ask ourselves as women.

So today, the answers to questions 1 from both points of view. YES, we want to feel like a beautiful princes, and YES, we are beautiful to the King.

Psalm 45:11 says,
"The king is enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord."

Before you think I'm taking this verse out of context, please know that I've done a great deal of research on it. According to many smart people who study these matters (i.e. Wycliffe, C.S. Lewis, etc), the whole chapter of Psalm 45 has a double meaning. One meaning for those before Jesus came to earth and another meaning for those after He came. I agree with them that for us now, verses 2-9 describe Jesus, the King of kings, and verses 10-15 describe the Church, believing Christians.

Because of our righteousness in Christ, we are beautiful princesses to the King. Let's honor HIm with it. Don't believe the lies that come from within you or from others that you are less than what you are. Truly--the Creator is not capable of making a mistake. So pull your best stuff out of your heart's closet, clothe yourself with Christ in you and worship your King today.



Dressin' up Cousins

"...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor."
Isaiah 61:3

***One interesting reference for Psalm 45 can be found by clicking here: http://www.easyenglish.info/psalms/psalm045-taw.htm It's great stuff!