Seekers of Sheep

SHEPHERDESS 2

Father give us a vision for a world where our “to bless list” is longer and more urgent than our “to do list.”  Equip us with a grace that not only enables us to be hearers and doers of your word, but also seekers of your sheep.  In the midst of our schedules, commitments and responsibilities, we often look at your people but do not authentically see them.  We are all broken brothers Father.  Where brokenness is present, pain and struggle pervasively reside in hearts.  We know that you record every hurt and collect every tear from above, but down here, let us be good stewards of Your love and compassion.  May we not only be present with our intentions but persistent with our actions.  Train us to recognize and react to opportunity for blessing in every situation we encounter.  May we love and bless with humble and surrendered hearts, as to minimize us and maximize You.  Amen.

Daily Prayer



images-3

In a world where entitlement is pervasive, and happiness is an objective, Father secure my eyes upon You.  For it is through imploding plans and serial struggles that we are afforded unique opportunities to magnify your character.  In all the areas, I wrestle; Jesus prepare me to be a good steward of your name.  I constantly fall short of standards for approval born of this world, leaving me vulnerable to comparison that is void of joy, but full of condemnation.  You look upon me with affectionate eyes laced with grace, not seeking superior performance, but a surrendered heart.  Allow me to rest, not in my critical view nor the criterion of this world,  but in the secure shelter of your abundant mercy and amazing grace.  Amen.

My Daily Prayer

108196178-2

My Daily Prayer:
Father as we start another busy week already feeling a little worn, keep us conscious that busyness is often like a narcotic. It can distract, delay and deter us from truth, circumstances, people, and more importantly-You. It is hard to hear You and be obedient to Your paths amidst the chaos of schedules, commitments and activities. May we trim excess where we can so that there is always room to hear and be held by You. Our culture is after our hearts, eyes, minds, bodies, souls and our time. May we remember saying no and honoring our boundaries is smart not selfish. Bless us with the grace to pursue peace above pleasing
people, quiet not chaos and sound souls above social ones. We take no talents, possessions, medals, grades or accomplishments with us Home Father. Shelter us from taking pride in false treasures that will turn to dust. Amen.

My Daily Prayer

108196178My Daily Prayer:
Jesus when loved ones are struggling, relationships are shaky; people are ailing, help me resist the desire to fix what is. May I remember that scrambling for solutions can become a form of control and unbelief. Keep me cognizant that it takes more courage and faith to release my most precious treasures to You, free of my clinging hands. Allow me to care without control, hold without hovering and support without suffocating all people and situations I encounter today, and each day forward. Jesus grant me the grace that enables me to rest not carefree, but confidently in your sovereignty amidst the backdrop of a broken world. Amen.

Progress in the Pruning

 

I have always loved the delicate beauty of roses.  Many years ago, I discovered knock out roses.  These tiny rose bushes quickly flourish into a beautiful blanket of amazing color when planted.  I initially planted them for pure aesthetics, but they have come to represent much more than just beauty to me.  The picture of life they illustrate has become a story of inspiration and encouragement.  In times of great struggle, I remember my rose bushes.  In times of great favor, I remember my rose bushes.

Knock out roses are hearty and require little to be fruitful.  The two things they require are a lot of light and consistent pruning.  They need harsh pruning in the winter to ensure with the dawn of spring they re-emerge bigger, more beautiful and plentiful.  After each season of pruning and subsequent maturation, they thrive and flourish so much that their growth can become uncontainable.  I often have to prune them in their most abundant times in order to form them in the image I want them to be.

When I look at these beautiful bushes, they remind me of how The Father molds and matures us, His children.  We cannot thrive in darkness.  It is only when we are living in the light of God’s word and walking in obedience that we may experience God’s optimal plan for our lives.

Also, much like rose bushes, in life we go through times of harsh pruning that are infused with opportunities that lead to deeper rooted growth and development.  Sometimes even in the midst of our greatest progress, we may require additional pruning by The Great Gardner who longs to mold us into His image. The encouraging thing is, like my rose bushes, we have the prospect to materialize each new season with stronger and deeper roots of faith.  Who would have thought such an authentic depiction of life could be mirrored in the growth cycle of a rose bush?

Embracing Who We Are

 

images-2

As a woman, growing in grace means when someone gives us a compliment, we do not dismiss it.  We do not begin to tell them why we do not look pretty, do not have a nice smile, are not a good cook, do not have a kind heart, have not lost weight, are not good at…Grace enables us to embrace the compliment with a humble, soft, “thank you.”  Then we allow those words to settle into our souls and realize, yes, I am those things because that is how God created me.  Sure we have moments when we do not like ourselves; everyone does.  Those moments, however, should be fleeting.  We become who we think we are, so we must allow ourselves to be a friend’s compliment!  This is one of the hardest things to do for all of us, but let’s change that today! May we all be humbly adorned in the unique gifts God placed within each of us today, and all days ahead!

My Daily Prayer

a_beutiful_sunset_in_greece______by_oofallenangelloo-d5beilu

I do not see, but I will follow.
I do not hear, but I will listen.
I do not comprehend, but I will fight to believe.  Heavenly Father help all those who are struggling through pain, suffering and unthinkable trials today to trust and rest in you.  May we all walk not by our senses or understanding, but guided by faith that although sometimes is shaken, it is never shattered!
Amen

Shedding Souls

44c6340f31c0b62b709fba33fe6d04b5

Our bodies seem to have been created for sloughing?  Sloughing is defined as the act of casting off dead tissue or cells.  According to The American Academy of Dermatology, the average person looses anywhere from 50 to 100 strands of hair a day.  We loose an estimated one million skin cells per hour.  This is not only natural, but necessary for optimal health.  If this is the way our bodies were made to function on the outside, why should our insides be any different?

When I fail to remember the value, and importance of shedding the built up atrophy of my soul, I head down a frail path.  Life, responsibilities and circumstances build up and form layers of dead weight that are important to yield in order to give our minds and bodies rest.

Why do we carry burdens and worries so long?  I often bottle worries deep inside me and bear them longer than needed.  Then when I cannot shoulder the weight anymore, I have to make a critical choice; I either shed them or become subordinate to them.

Have you ever noticed how good you feel after you release a burden to a trusted friend?  It can sometimes feel like an extreme weight loss.  We just feel lighter. A load has been lifted, and we can breathe with less effort.

Not too long ago, my son was wearing the weight of a heavy burden that had been enslaving him too long.  He finally reached a point where he could not keep it at bay anymore.  He needed to “shed” the weight of his heart to someone.  He said it all from behind the voice of one trying to hold it all in, but tainted with the sound of tears. I knew that sound.  He could not hide it.  Not from me.  Not from me who knows him so well.  So he released it all bravely, and then he was rescued by a deep, desperate sleep.

Isn’t that an organic picture of life?  We try to hold it all in, and conceal that which opposes us.  We try hard, and then a little harder to not be found.  Then there comes a point when we are pinned under the pressure of the fire we are walking through, and we release it in a spewing of toxic ash that has been brewing under the surface.

It is in those times, when we let ourselves be fully known that we can be fully loved.  It is those moments of true identity and authenticity that afford us the pacifying balm that our true self-longs for every day.  It’s in the most desperate moments that we are most receptive to receiving the mending, and comfort of Jesus, who already knows us just as we are anyway.  Masking of inadequacies only delays God’s refurbishment.

We live in a world that is in the business of replacing all that is broken, but Jesus is in the business of restoration.  We shoulder burdens and limitations that we were never meant to bear.  Why do we delay our recovery so long?  There comes moments in this life when it takes more courage to fall apart in the presence of someone who loves us than it does to keep it all together.

At the heart of us all we just really want to be seen, heard and understood.  This is a beckoning to trust in our Savior who in His timing restores, and makes all things strong and steadfast.  Part of the renewal process is releasing all the rot that begins to infest our souls.

Restoration rarely happens how we envision it, and never as timely as we would like, but all good things have to happen on a timetable that is outside of ourselves.  Overseen and orchestrated by The One who knitted us together, every little detail, with his soft, sovereign hands.

I am thankful for those moments when courage wins.  I am thankful for glimpses of people’s true identity.  I pray as we all mature in our secure standing of Christ’s righteousness that we will become more comfortable shedding the layers of entanglement and trade them in for the acceptance and love that transparency affords.

It is in our purest identity that we are open to the most beautiful of possibility.  May we all embrace, learn from and release all things that embattle us.  We were given them for a reason, a resource and as a bridge for restoration.

 

Weary Hearts

DSC_0976

For weary souls and feeble hearts, remember this today:

It isn’t in the midst of great times and a carefree life that God comes after hearts. Nor is it within the paramaters of easy that souls become dehydrated enough to thirst after Him, and the living water that only Jesus can offer.

No matter how much you are hurting, or whatever circumstances you are enduring, God is working much more in and through your pain and frustration than He ever could your happiness.

Fight to believe that, and speak that truth to yourself repeatedly until it gives you rest!