How to Ensure a Good Year!

Tomorrow begins a new year, a new beginning, a clean slate. For so many, 2016 was a hard year. It was filled with difficult things and packed with intensity. How can we ensure 2017 is a better year?  I can't promise there won't be difficulties, but I did tap into some things which helped me in my own eventful-compacted 2016. I hope they help you find amazing peace and also help you focus on the love of the Father every single day this year!

• Live one day at a time. Don't focus on the whole year or even next week--focus on today and making it the best day possible!
• Plan ahead. While this seems contrary to the first statement, it isn't. Put important things on your calendar so that they become engraved in stone--so the important isn't crowded out of your life. 
• Put family first. Trust me, the older you get, the more you realize what is truly important. While you'll look back and be so glad of the investment you've made in other people's lives, you'll find your greatest investment to be in YOUR family. 
• Put your "YES" on the altar. Say "yes" to God every single day!!  It doesn't matter what He's asking, the answer should always be yes!  I found this to be one of the most important things I did this year. My heart was always in the mode of willingness. God helped me differentiate between the important and the urgent. 
• Look for God every single day. God is always at work in our lives. It isn't always a huge miracle--many times it's a small thing which may lead to the next small thing. This is something I'm pursuing this coming year--to be aware of God and what He's doing.  I want to live in a perpetual state of AWE!!  (I'm using this calendar to write down what God does each day.)  http://www.ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2016/12/04/best-of-my-days-2017/
• Don't do things out of duty but out of love. If you can't do it out of love, just don't do it. 
• Love BIG in 2017!!  Extend love to everyone but especially those hard to love. It will leave you feeling good. Love with actions and words. 
• Forgive quickly!!
• Speak life and blessing into other people's lives. Encourage them; build them up. 
• Give BIG!!  I encourage you to tithe to your church. Malachi 3 says we can test God in this. Start small and test Him. You'll be BLESSED--because you're loving the Church--the bride of Jesus!  But don't stop there--give sacrificially. Give to the poor, orphans and widows. Give to Israel, whom God loves. GIVE!!
• Fill your day with praise & prayer. I can promise this will be easy if you're doing everything else!  Your heart will be filled with praise because you'll be seeing God at work in your life. Hard things may come...but you can trust an all-powerful God who is at work all around you.  Make it a point to have an open, on-going dialogue with God all day long. He'll easily become your best friend!!

My prayer is that you expect God this year!  I know I began this process in 2016 and found my own heart expanding in ways I never expected. Live each day in an utter awareness of God. 

Just a cook...

 

What if you wanted to fulfill your purpose but lived in the boonies?  What if you thought, "The only thing I can do is cook."?  

Today, I drove 140 miles out of my way to observe the greatness of Ree Drummond. Of course, she doesn't just cook--she's an author and photographer, too. But the reason I make the point is because I hear many people say, "But I just _____."  (Fill in the blank!)  God has a purpose for each of us. And if we never accept the giftings He's given us, we'll never explore how to use them for the kingdom of God!  

Ree is such a good example that it doesn't matter where you live!!  Pawhuska, Oklahoma is a town boasting 3500 people--and Ree doesn't even actually live within the city limits. She lives on a ranch outside of town. 

 

But today, her new Mercantile was very crowded with people from miles around!!  People drove to Pawhuska to be near Ree, to celebrate who she is and what she's done. They hoped to see her. Why?  Because she's become famous with her amazing recipes and her step-by-step photography and blogging of those recipes. How does that happen?

 

Because she didn't let her mind get in the way!  She accepted her gifts and used them. I'm sure she had no idea in the beginning she'd become famous--she was just a city girl stuck on a ranch looking for an outlet. But she used what she had...and God expanded her!

What are your gifts??  Don't let your mind get in the way! Give them to God and let Him expand them for His kingdom!!  You never know...

Heaven Is Waiting!

 

We  always think about getting to heaven and talking to Abraham, Moses, or Esther. But did you know they're waiting in anticipation to talk to you??  You have the opportunity to experience something constantly that they only got to experience a few times. As a believer, you have the Spirit of God living inside of you, helping, speaking, guiding, counseling, revealing to you perpetually. He inhabits you. The Spirit of God only visited the saints in the Old Testament...occasionally. They can't WAIT to find out from you what it was like to be inhabited by the Spirit of God!  What was it like to have that kind of power available? What was it like to hear God speak to you every day?  What was it like to be guided by Him every step you took?  What was it like to be taught by the Spirit as you read the Bible?  What was it like LIVING WITH THE SPIRIT?

I want to have some GOOD things to tell!!

I encourage you to watch this message by Graham Cooke:

Why God put Moses in the Princess' house

 

How many of us have felt unquestionable empathy with Jochebed, Moses' mother, for having to put Moses in a basket and send him down the river to save his life from the king's edict to kill all of the Israelites' baby boys?  I can't even imagine the heartache. But her plan wasn't without much prayer and forethought.  I think she knew when and where the princess came to bathe. I think she counted on a woman's compassion for this tiny infant. But mostly, she trusted a big God to guide everything!

It occurred to me this week that God had so much more in mind than just having Moses' life saved and then growing up as a prince. If he had grown up in slavery, how hard would it have been for Moses to break free from the mindset of a slave to deliver a nation from bondage?  But Moses grew up in the palace with all of the best at his disposal. He understood royal protocol.  He knew the language. He knew how the kingdom worked and how the pharaoh ruled. God wasn't withholding from Jochebed and Moses...He used Jochebed's great redemptive love to produce a king who could deliver God's people. 

We should never underestimate or question God's amazing plan. 

What happens when we feel "out of control?"

Typically, when we feel out of control, we take control.  We need to feel like everything is safely within our grasp and arranged in perfect order.  This need will be more pressing for those who are fearful or already have a need for strict perimeters in their lives.

I've been observing the presidential campaign these past couple of months--and just life in general.  I've been struck by how divisive things have become so quickly--especially on social media. I think it's because we all feel out of control.  Things aren't normal or the way they used to be.  So we've grabbed the remote control of life and have determined to change channels.  Some have gotten loud, angry, and demanding with their opinions because they've determined the way things should be and everyone is not cooperating to get life back to that familiar place--or to a completely new place.  They feel like they have the answers and want everyone to agree with them.  The problem is...everyone has a different opinion about the way things should be!   Even Christians!!  We all resist being controlled.  We hate being told what to do.  So when someone is shouting at us to tell us what to do or what to believe, we resist them and their message.  But we all still put our opinions out there in hopes of compelling people to conform to us.

I had to stop this week and ask God, "Am I totally off course?  Because things sure feel off balance!"  And I had to remind myself of the basics of life...of the Christian life, that is.

1. Press in to God and follow Him.  
2. Hear His voice.  
3. Read the Word. 
4. Pursue Truth. 
5. Be still and know that He is GOD!  
6. Trust Him.  
7. Submit to the Holy Spirit.  
8. Remember God's good plan.

God has an ultimate plan for this world.  Things are going to happen which are completely out of our control.  But we have a choice in how to respond to those things.  The safest place to be when our world turns upside down is nuzzled in right next to the Good Shepherd.  His ways are right and perfect.  He's watching over His sheep day and night, safely guarding and calming them.  We need to press in to Him.  We won't have to convince anyone of anything--except to draw near to this Good Shepherd and hear His voice.  He can be trusted to lead us in the paths of righteousness.  And for all those sheep still out of control, going their own way?  Pursue them in love and bring them back to the Good Shepherd who is Truth.  No wonder Jesus prayed, (in John 17)  asking that we would be one as He was one with the Father.  Unity is a sweet thing.  It's coming in agreement with God which brings harmony between us, His sheep.

"If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.] Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another."  Galatians 5:25-26

"Brothers and sisters, if someone you know loses his way and rebels against God, pursue him in love and bring him back to the truth."  James 5:19

God's Promise to Abraham--and us!

"Listen to the solemn vow the Eternal One has spoken: “Because you (Abraham) have done what I asked and were willing to give up your son, your only son,  I will reaffirm My covenant of blessing to you and your family. I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing. All this is because you have obeyed My voice."  Genesis 22:16-18 (emphasis mine)

Who are the descendants of Abraham?  Israel, for sure.  They are the direct physical descendants of Abraham.  But believers in Jesus Christ are also descendants--spiritual/faith descendants.  We've been grafted in to the family tree!  (Romans 4-11)  So the eternal promise made to Abraham is also our promise.  What is that promise?

• We will be many.
• We will possess the lands.
• We will sit in the gates of our enemies. (where legal and binding decisions are made)
• The earth will discover true blessing because of us.

Claim your inheritance!  Abraham lived by faith.  This promise was made because of his faith.  We need to believe these things are ours--by faith.  There are lands to possess and rule over.  In Genesis 17, where God originally makes the promise, Abraham is told that nations and kings would descend from him...and they have...and will.  He's also told his descendants would be fruitful.  We will make legal and binding decisions in enemy territory.  There is a whole earth which needs to discover true blessing because of us. 

Abraham's part of the agreement was that he and his descendants must keep God's covenant throughout the generations--and He promised to be our God forever.

That's a pretty sweet deal!

Propaganda or Truth?

Dalai Lama's Palace

I don't remember the year exactly, but around 1999, Andy & I went to Lhasa, Tibet to visit a friend and to look for opportunities to help people.  Tibet was a closed communist country and we were required to have a "guide" the entire time we were there.  The guide did actually give us tours, but they were also placed with us to make sure we weren't detrimental to their country.  Before we went, we were even told to assume our motel room would probably be "bugged."

One day, Andy was with the guide touring the Dalai Lama's palace (I chose to forego the climb) and I was out touring the city with our friend.  All of a sudden, a voice came over the loud speakers placed around the entire city.  Since my friend could speak Tibetan, I asked her what they were saying.  Her reply was, "Oh, just a bunch of propaganda."  I was kind of stunned.  It wasn't my first time to be in a communist country, but it was my first time to be confronted with propaganda being blared so blatantly.  Her words never left me.

I came home and began paying attention to what was going on around me in the good ol' USA.  Were we being fed propaganda and weren't even aware of it?  Remember...this was 17 years ago.  I began noticing then that newscasters weren't even trying to be objective anymore.  More recently, I've been paying even closer attention.  Not only are we being fed propaganda, but great diversions are being created to get our attention elsewhere so people can change the direction we're going while we're not looking.

I encourage you to be aware.  If a herd of sheep are resting quietly in a pasture and a small dog runs into their space--they'll all react in fear and take off running together.  Ewes have even been known to abort their babies in a situation like that.  Don't be like a sheep and run with the mob in fear.  Take a quiet seat and observe.  And while you're watching, ask God to reveal truth.

A good question to ask the Father is, "What are You doing?"  And, "How can I agree with You?"