How To Choose A Path

Walking down a path ... a path of choice. Each day a choice to be led by the spirit or by my emotions. Step by step, learning the difference between the two, sharing what I'm learning along the journey.

No blame game. I cannot shift the focus and lash out. I must take responsibility for the paths I have walked down, the paths I have chosen to trod. I know it's not the norm. Blaming parents, God, circumstances seems so much easier. Ultimately the facade of ease and blame lulls me right back into the prison. A prison locked tight by uncontrolled emotions.

"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." -James 1:13-14

Straight up, there it is. Our own evil desires drag us away. When my uncontrolled emotions lead my choices, my behavior, they pull me away from the path my God has for me. No place to blame. No reason to blame. The path I'm on, I chose it. Good news though, if it's not the path I need to be on, I can choose another.

I determine which path my emotions take. Woohoo! Doing a little happy dance. Don't you see, I can choose. When I blow it and meet Mrs. Grump, I can stop right there, standing on the path. I can choose to hop to another one and skip along. I'm not bound by the thistles along the paths, the circumstances that line the day. I make the decision and determine the path of my emotions.

I can choose to

"Set my affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2

And with each choice I make, choosing to set my emotions on Kingdom good stuff, the earthy icky fades away. I'm choosing a path that leads to a beautiful today and doesn't kick up dust on others around me.

When You Meet Mrs. Grump

We all know the feeling ... standing in line at the grocery store, kids in tow, and the lady in front of you has a hissy fit at the register. In times such as these, you double up kindness, thankful the kids are in sweetness mode as well.

We can whisper a breath blessing over them as they storm out of the store. And the same at the car speeding down the highway in a race no one can see. But what do I do when I look in the mirror and see her staring back at me? When I meet Mrs. Grump.

The mirror doesn't lie. Honest reflection reveals that I allow far too often the circumstances that surround to dictate my day, my emotions, my me. And Mrs. Grump snarls in my home.

I've decided I'm done with her. I am learning to be led by the Holy Spirit and not my emotions. After all, the fruit He produces, love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness ... leaves no room for grump. That's just it. The secret hidden for us to find, hidden in a living book that changes lives, changes mine letter by letter.

Each day, my choice. To be led by my emotions or to align them with His Word. True, I live in an emotion packed world. Yet I will no longer allow them to dictate my daily life. Mrs. Grump, Mrs. Frustrated, Mrs. (insert your own adjective) is emotional driven momma. No, I prefer the spirit led momma ...

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such thing there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

Spirit fruit tastes much better, just ask my family. It's the sweet stuff, dripping with goodness and giggles, filling my pantry, better yet ... filling my home.

From Shadow to Light

A stone rolled away changes history and future.

Amidst the festivities, savory smells, cool whip smiles, chocolate kisses, 4 generations gathered under our roof. I pause. A thought draws me to the tomb. To look. To reflect. To see the empty.

For most of my life, as long as I can remember, I have known of Easter. Thankful to grow in His grace, learn from His Word, soak in His love. Yet in all honesty, the cross has held more significance.

Wrapped in religion, unworthiness, a sense of anguish. I would crawl to the cross. Looking up, feeling shame and condemnation for what my sins cost my Lord. Thankfulness tinged with guilt mingled in my heart. Unable to get past my mistakes. Stuck in sorrow. I lived in the shadow of the cross.

Many of us do. We understand what Jesus did nailed to beams of wood. We believe He suffered and died for us. We accept and bring our sins. Yet we never move on. We continue to walk in the same. Ritual of reliving the past. Struggling to break free of the chains that seem to bind us. Hiding in our spiritual lives. Ashamed to be truly seen. Living in the shadow of the cross.

Days pass. Years. In actuality, we only needed 3 days.

Light explodes from the tomb. Shadows dissolve. Think of the indescribable power that hurled a man from the depths of hell, back to breath. A force that conquered every form of evil, death, the grave, and won the ultimate victory. That same power, lives in me.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11

Nothing can stand in the way of that kind of power. Chains gone. Sins forgiven and freedom received. Guilt washed away in blood red. Some serious rocks being shaken over here.

No longer living in the shadow of the cross, I have chosen to live in the light of the Resurrection.

Snake Bite

When you blow it, step on the snake, it rears its head to strike. I stepped on some snakes last night with my mouth open wide, spewing words, and I got bit.

Hearing about a situation, I criticized. I complained. I disagreed and made my point loud and clear. In essence, I tore down. I destroyed. I opened the door wide and welcomed snakes.

Thankful beyond belief, I have a loving Abba who has the serum for my poison words laced with strife. The still voice and the calm hand of my hubby, guided me towards forgiveness. Asking and believing, He forgave. The others involved showered on me as well.

This morning, with boys snuggled close we read about the Israelites and their problems with snakes. I smiled. God knows best. I knew who the lesson was for. We read and I learned. God had given His chosen people blessing upon blessing. Freedom, direction by fire and cloud, supernatural miracles, provision of fresh water and bread from heaven. In the midst of the day to day, they took their eyes off the blessing and wanted more. They complained. They criticized. And the snakes came.

When bitten, the people would die. Desperate the Israelites went to Moses. Pleading for his prayers to God, he agreed. The Lord answered his prayer and gave him the solution. Place a snake on a pole. If anyone was bitten by a snake, they simply must look at the pole and they would not die. Looking up in faith, they would live.

I'm looking up today at a cross shaped pole. One fashioned for my Jesus. A sacrifice that provided me direct access to God without having to go through a Moses to pray for me.

I recognize the problem. Guided by His loving hand, I see my need. Repent. Receive forgiveness. In faith, seeing my scaley words nailed. Turning from the habits of old. Forgetting my past mistakes, I look to the future. I fill my mind, my mouth with His words.

"Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. " Ephesians 4:29-32

See friends, I'm a real person. I am learning. We all are. When we turn to the Word of God, we can truly see our lives in truth's spotlight and change. Aligning my life with the Word of God, I commit to guard my tongue and squash the snakes. Just call me snake stomper Sarah.

Pulling Up Weeds

I am growing to despise them. The weeds loom everywhere. Nasty things, going strong and fast. Have to rip them out or they simply take over. Choking out everything.

I've learned a secret in the desert sun after many hours on knees pulling and digging sticky spiky green. Soak the ground first, with water. They absorb the water, their roots relax. Give a simple tug and out they plop, roots and all.

We're looking for weeds in our lives today. Digging into God's Word to soften them up, pouring living water. Pull them up roots and all. I've tried the lawnmower approach, in my yard and in my life. It simply doesn't work. You can cut off the top of the weed, the behavior or bad actions, but it grows right back. The key is the root, soaking it.

"Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

Think of your heart as a garden. We cultivate what we want to grow. Above all things, guard your heart, your mind, your emotions, your will. These are what life comes from, the you.

All the seeds, promises, blessings God has planted deep. Don't let just anything stomp through trampling the precious seedlings as they blossom and grow. When a weed pops through the soil, go after it. No matter how small it may seem, it can grow quickly and overtake the goodness growing near.

In my life, I am learning to guard against weeds. One deadly spiky, nasty thing, pride remains on my hit list. It's the type of weed you need to get the gloves on to uproot as it leaves spikes and itchy bumps, fighting to remain in its place.

"God opposes the proud but gives grace the humble." James 4:6

Honestly, I need Abba's grace. I don't even want to think of life with my God opposing me.

We have a weed killer, a sure fire way to extinguish any spores of pride lurking in the garden of our lives. Humility, being willing to be know for who we are. no more. no less. Walking in humility produces a bountiful harvest.

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you; Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Romans 12:3

To combat pride which hinders God from doing all He desires in our lives, we learn to walk in humility. We can learn the steps as we follow in His footsteps.

Step by step as we

serve others (phil 2:5-7 & mark 10:45)

be broken (psalm 34:18)

encourage others (eph 4:29)

speak the truth in love

lay down our rights

prefer our brother (phil 2:3-4)

seek justice and defend the weak (proverbs 31:8-9)

admit our weaknesses (1 john 1:8)

react in the opposite spirit (prov 15:1)

see ourselves through others (prov 13:10)

we walk along the humble path.

Will you take a step with me today? One step and with each step we are transformed more into His likeness. We reflect him more clearly. We dig up weeds.

If you would like the complete list (with references) of simple ways to cultivate humility, simply leave a note in the comments with your email (if it's not attached to your blogger profile) and I will send it to you. I'm speaking this week, so slip on your comfy shoes and join me, as each day I will be posting little snipits as we walk together.

Breaking Down Walls

I'm all about sledgehammers today. Smashing. Crumbling. Destroying. To put is simply, I'm tired of the walls in my life, in our lives. Anyone care to join me?

We build them, trying to find a place to hide. For some, walls of rejection. Bricks labeled with sadness, self pity, depression, guilt, insecurity, darkness, despair, and the wall continues. These bricks we pile caused by hurt, pain, sins of others, sins we chose, affect our lives.

Others build walls of rebellion, building with bricks of hostility, vanity, wordliness, manipulation, deception, bitterness, criticism, death... Stacked one upon another to protect us, they begin to control us.

Stuck in the middle of the walls we build. We have to deal with all this junk. We wonder why we cannot hear God clearly for ourselves.

God cannot build on an uneven foundation. He will not. He knows the end result is simply devastation. We cannot try and cover our crooked walls and play like everything is okay. We hide with our fears behind these walls. What happens when the storms of life beat down?

"Because they lead my people astray, saying Peace when there is not peace and because when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall." Ezekiel 13:10-12

No more hiding. I will be know for who I am, who God created me to be. The walls built around my heart, brick by brick, separate me from a loving God as I crouch behind. Being real. In vulnerability, asking forgiveness for the bricks of sin stacked in heaps.

God desires. He wants to make us clean before Him, to purify us from all unrighteousness and bring the plumbline into our lives. To see if what we have built aligns correctly with His Word. If not, bring out the sledgehammer Jesus. Knock down the walls.

Confess. Renounce. Smash.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

I'm teaching this week, so slip on your comfy shoes and join me, as each day I will be posting little snipits from my speaking so we can walk together. And if you would like a "no excuses" list to combat any excuses rising in your life with what God has to say, leave me a comment asking for them along with your email and I will send it to you.

Digging Deeper

Time to dig deep. Dust off the shovel, get our hands dirty. To plant some seeds deep down, the kind of seeds that bear fruit, we gotta dig a little deeper.

The best part, the part that makes me get excited and grab my gardening gloves ... I don't have to do this alone. The master gardener is right beside me, guiding my shovel. He gave us the best gardening guide for my life, filled with seeds of abundant promises. The Word of God.

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless as the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it." - Thessalonians 5:23-24

Great news. Shout it loud. Fill up deep. God is with us. He is for us. He desires to help us get rid of all the icky things that are stinking up the garden of our lives. It's a process. A process worth every shovel of dirt. My life, a breathing example that God is faithful and He will do it.

WIth the first thump of the shovel hitting dirt, we need to ask "Who am I?" Deep, this question impacts your identity, setting you apart from everyone else. We can no longer put our value, our identity in people or things. They all will rot. Believing what God says about you, deep down in your heart, protects your true identity.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10

God desires to purify us, to change us more into His likeness. He wants us to understand, really know, who we are and our value. God wants to give us an identity and for us to walk, heads high as children of the King.

Circumstances out of our control, words spoken over our lives that stung deep, sins against us, sins we chose, all the junk ... no longer should they define us. God can never lie. His word, TRUTH. What He says about me, that I can believe.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

Think about it for a moment. A moment with a shovel in your hand. People, things, sins, circumstances, do they always shout the truth? God does. It is our choice. We choose what we believe.

Maybe, like me, you've made the mistake of listening to the shouts of others in your lives, believing what they say about you. God always is the voice of truth. Make a choice today, to listen to what He says about you. Trust in God. Step out of your boat. Take His hand. Walk on the waves.

Wanna be brave with me, take a moment. Let go of all the false stuff in your life, the pebbles thrown at your identity. Hold onto the rock. Ask God to show you, who you are to Him.

If you would like a list of verses proclaiming "Who I Am" (really, the truth), please leave me a comment asking for them with your email and I will gladly get them to you.

I'm speaking this week, so slip on your comfy shoes and join me, as each day I will be posting little snipits as we walk together.