Have you ever experienced that feeling where the ground under your feet seems to sway back and forth and you have absolutely no control over it?

I’m talking about the ground its self, the foundation you have placed your feet on begins to shake and tremble!

If you have lived in California all of your life like I have then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

California is known for having earthquakes! Some of them are small and some of them are quite enormous. But regardless of the size there is an unexplainable feeling that takes over when you realize that the very thing you are standing on and have put complete confidence in to hold you up, begins to quiver and become unsteady! Your initial response is to go to your knees, or get as close to the ground as possible and hold onto something sturdy.

Spiritually speaking, this is also the perfect practice when you begin to waver in your faith!

Oh, we’ve all been there. We stand on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord! He is unshakable, He is perfect, He is all powerful, and yet there are moments when we can begin to sway and flutter, and quiver, and become unsteady!  

It can happen as quickly as a physical earthquake. A sort of, “earthquake of the soul!” One minute we are full of the joy of the Lord! Our confidence in Jesus has never been stronger! Our feet are firmly planted and we are serving with all our might! Then something happens and we are shaken to our core. A decision is made and we disagree with it. A word is spoken and it stings worse than a physical slap. Someone fails to do what they promised, and suddenly we begin to feel ourselves fail and give way.

What do we do? How do we stand firm? How do we keep on keeping on when we feel doubtful, discouraged, even trembling and shaking?

We follow the example of Jesus!

“No unbelief made Him waver…But He grew strong in His Faith as He gave glory to God.”  Romans 4:19-22

Jesus did not waver because He “Gave Glory To God!”

In all things, in all situations and at all times, Jesus Gave Glory to God and this kept Him from wavering!

Jesus experienced the same frustrations, hurts and pains that we experience. Yet He endured to the very end. He did not get shaken, tremble, quiver, give way or fail. Instead “He grew strong” as He stood steady and gave the Glory to God!

We can too! When we feel the “spiritual earthquake’s” hit and cause us to shake, tremble and sway, GIVE GOD THE GLORY for all He has done for you, and you will feel the ground become steady under your feet! 

TRUTH BOMB

GIVE GLORY TO GOD AND FEEL THE SPIRITUAL EARTHQUAKES STILL BENEATH YOUR FEET!

Speak Truth Love

“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:2

As a famous quote says, yesterday is gone; tomorrow has not come; all we have is today. 

What are your eyes focused on?  

Have you ever watched a duck swimming across a pond? You can sit on the cool green grass and watch for hours as he seems to float effortlessly across the water. It is almost relaxing as it leaves you with a sense of calm and peace. But if you were to take an underwater camera and focus it on what is going on underneath the water, you would see a fury and a frenzy of paddling, pushing, and motion to keep his body afloat and moving forward. The duck is obviously putting forth a great deal of effort to move forward. But the key is his eyes. Where are his eyes focused? They are focused on his destination. While effort is needed to achieve his goal, he maintains steadfastness in his moving forward as he fixes his eyes on his destination. 

We too face hard work and effort in our quest to move forward! But our goal must also be to fix our eyes on where we are headed. Jesus knew this and practiced it faithfully. “Jesus kept his focus on the joy that lay before him.”  Instead of looking back at what had been done to him, or become preoccupied with what was being done to him in the moment, He fixed his eyes, His focus, on the joy that lay before Him. That is how He endured the hideous death on the cross. He stayed focused, He kept his eyes on the ultimate joy of saving mankind from eternal death. He did not stop working, “moving underneath the surface,” to accomplish what He needed to, but while He worked intensely, He kept His calm and peace by having His eyes focused forward on the joy that lay before Him! 

No matter how intense your “paddling” beneath the surface gets, stay calm by focusing on Jesus!

TRUTH BOMB

No matter how intense our paddling, we stay calm when we focus on Jesus!

Paddling steadfastly together!

Speak Truth Love

This has become the mantra around my house! As we clean out, closet after closet and drawer after drawer and room after room and the garage…Enough said, the encouragement I continue to receive is, PURGE PURGE PURGE!

The encouragement is coming from my very own family members. Those that know me best and love me most! They understand that to get rid of unnecessary items, to clear them out and free myself from them is actually healthy!

However, during the process, it feels anything but healthy. Some of it, sure I am ready to be done with it, throw it away, add it to the trash pile, I can’t remember why I kept it anyway. But for the majority of it, there were reasons I held onto it. The memories are still there and they surface with every item that I pick up and hold! Then comes the excruciating decision, get rid of it or hold onto it.

I am not making light of this process in any way shape or form! It is truly one of the most difficult things I have had to do. But if something has sat stored in a box for six years or more, chances are I don’t need it and it has only been collecting dust.

The process of purging can actually be a very healthy thing to do! I have actually had a third garage that has been nothing but a storage unit. I have lived in a house too big for me, and my spare rooms and closets have become store houses for my extra stuff.

It was time to downsize and with the downsizing it was time to PURGE!

PURGE is defined as: “To rid(AKA get rid of), whatever is undesirable, or impure.”

It is also classified as “clearing, freeing, wiping out, removing, emptying, evacuating, and clearing away!”

Every single one of these verbs have been a part of my life this past month!

To quote my daughter, “PURGE PURGE PURGE MOM! I know it’s hard to say goodbye to some things, but no one can take away the memories you have from them. You will feel incredible freedom if you just PURGE PURGE PURGE!”

Oh my brilliant girl is so right! There are still some sad lingering memories of things from the past. My back and arms are definitely feeling the fatigue from the physical exercise of purging! But my heart and my mind and my spirit are beginning to feel cleansed and purified! FREEDOM IS COMING!

As I have sat in many a dusty pile these past few weeks, God has brought the truth of purity to my heart and mind.

He has gently reminded me, as only He can do, that the beautiful memories that I hold are gifts from him and they are as true and real today as they were the day they occurred! Holding onto those precious memories and giving God the glory for each and every one of them truly is the gift! Letting go of space I do not use and items that sit and collect dust are not the gift themselves. The gift that God so graciously and lavishly gifts to each and every one of us is in the relationships they represent! There is a beautiful freedom and purity that comes from realizing what needs to take my complete attention and time are the people, the individuals that bring me and share those memories with me! 

This process of purging my physical things, has caused me to look inward and ask God what spiritual things do I need to purge as well. What is it that’s collecting dust or taking up space in my spiritual life that I need to get rid of?

What is it that is impure or undesirable in my life that I need to cleanse and get rid of? Is there something I need to completely wipe out so that the Spirit of God has complete access to truly make me pure and free? Those are the hard questions that I need to ask myself.

As I accomplish this physical purging, I am asking God to help me with a complete spiritual purging! It will not be easy, it’s hard to say goodbye to things we’ve held onto so strongly and so dearly. But in order for my heart, my mind, and my spirit to be completely free to receive all of God’s gifts I must spiritually PURGE PURGE PURGE!

What is it that you need to purge?

Is God asking you to get rid of anything that is impure or undesirable in your life?

There is no one but you that can answer that question! But take it from me God will be right there with you to take you through the process and to cleanse you and purify you and set you free! 

“The fear of The Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of The Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.”  Psalm 19:9-10a

TRUTH BOMB

THE FEAR OF THE LORD PRODUCES PURITY AND FREEDOM THAT IS FAR MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD!

Speak Truth Love

After writing last weeks blog on “Stuck in the Middle,” and the reminder to look up to Jesus because He is the only one who can get us unstuck, I was blessed beyond measure by a new book title from one of my favorite authors, preachers, and prophetic exclaimers!

Christine Caine has written a new book titled, ‘Don’t Look Back.’ I couldn’t wait to order it! Problem was it hadn’t been released yet! I was still so desperately, “in the middle,” that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and read what I knew would be incredible encouragement to keep moving forward! I mean the subtitle could not have  been more perfect, ‘Getting Unstuck and Moving Forward With Passion and Purpose!’

WOW, did she write it just for me?

I needed it and I needed it now! But it would not be released for another week!

I was actually bummed and a little bit sad, I truly felt like God had something for me between the pages of this book, and I couldn’t get my hands on it.

I tried to put it out of my mind as I looked forward to going to our annual leaders conference with my husband!

We love going to THRIVE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE each year and standing side-by-side fellow servants of the Faith who can encourage and build us up and even give us a laugh or two!

Each year I look forward to the uplifting worship as we sing out loud with all of our hearts, the rich breakouts where we learn from fellow servants how to be better at what we are called to do, and from the speakers who light up the stage each night with the message God has given them to bring to us all! 

This year I was as excited as ever to attend and receive all that God had for me. But I was also more physically exhausted and fatigued than I can remember ever being. Because, I am still, “in the middle of it!”

But boy, did God have a surprise for me! No, they were passing out the latest copies of Christine Caine‘s new book, but better, far better than that, she was the main speaker on this stage! There she was, standing only a few feet in front of me bringing the Truth from the Word of God that I so desperately craved to hear!

“REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE!”

What’s that you say? Lisa, you seriously got inspired by the words:

“REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE!”

Yes, you heard me right, and I heard Christine Caine right. The POWER comes through who is speaking these words!

Spoiler Alert; It’s not Christine Caine, IT’S JESUS!

“Remember Lot’s Wife.” Luke 17:12

The second shortest verse in the Bible holds some of the greatest power!

I know it was the POWER I was longing for!

Jesus tells us to remember Lot’s wife because she looked BACK!

We don’t even know her name, but we know that in the middle of God saving her, she got “STUCK” in her past and she looked back!

No matter what we are going through, no matter how long we have been going through it, Jesus wants us to “REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE” and stop looking back!

Last week I said the only way to stay unstuck is to look up to Jesus!

This week I’m going to quote Christine Caine:

TRUTH BOMB

“STOP LOOKING BACK AND START LOOKING TO JESUS.”

Christine’s book released this week! I know it is a read none of us will want to miss. It’s not as good as in person, but I trust The Holy Spirit will move powerfully through it!

Let’s commit to staying unstuck, moving forward, looking to Jesus and not looking back!

Speak Truth Love

Why is that a legitimate saying?

Because it is SO TRUE!

Have you ever boarded an airplane and looked down the isle with nervous anticipation? You grit your teeth as you look to the left and quickly scan every row for a window or aisle seat. You see no empty aisle seat or window seat to the left and you jerk your head with record speed to the right! A drop of sweat forms on your forehead as you frantically search each row for any available window or aisle seat. All you need is one! PLEASE GOD, you’ll even take the window or isle seat in the emergency row where you have to endure listening to the flight attendants speech about how you must perform the proper safety measures for everyone around you, in case of an emergency, before you put your own mask on!

But alas, the sweat dries on your forehead and you finally breathe out that sigh of resignation you’ve been holding in, as you realize you are going to end up in that dreaded MIDDLE SEAT?

You know, where you sit with your arms crossed on your lap as to not bump the person on your left or the person on your right. You dare not reach under your seat to grab gum out of your purse or backpack, even though you know your ears are going to fill up and not pop because of it! You don’t bend down and grab your healthy snack of almonds you diligently packed just for this occasion. No, you resign yourself to the fact that in the middle seat you will eat their stale pretzels instead!

Finally, you pretend you are amused by their in-flight magazine that you’ve seen over and over again the last several years. Do they ever update this thing? Because the novel you are dying to finish reading and are sitting on pins and needles to discover the outcome of is residing in that bag stored safely under your seat. You are unable to reach it from your middle seat with your politely crossed arms.

You truly are STUCK IN THE MIDDLE!

What do you find yourself in the middle of? Are you STUCK in it? 

Is it overwhelming you, discouraging you, holding you down, holding you back, defeating you, or even stopping you from moving forward?

LOOK UP!

WHEN YOU ARE STUCK IN THE MIDDLE YOU NEED TO LOOK UP! 

“But you, Lord, are a shield around me,

My glory, The One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.”

Psalm3:3-5

TRUTH BOMB

EVEN WHEN YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE, WITH JESUS YOU ARE NEVER STUCK! 

I am in the middle of something right now my friends! Each and every day I keep plugging away at it working harder and harder than the day before. No matter how hard I work or how much effort I put in, it feels like I’m still in the middle of it! 

Sure, I know I’ve made progress, but it feels like a drop in the bucket compared to what still needs to be done.

The key to my situation and yours is to LOOK UP! To know that the only way to be in the middle and not get STUCK IS TO LIFT OUR EYES TO OUR LORD, OUR SHIELD, OUR GLORY AND THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN LIFT OUR HEADS AND KEEP US UNSTUCK UNTIL WE EMERGE FROM THE MIDDLE!

AND WITH HIS HELP, WE WILL!

We may be in the middle of it, but with Jesus we don’t have to be stuck there!

Speak Truth Love