A Thought About Peace

In my office I have a ceramic green frog that sits by my computer desk…someone gave him to me during a very challenging time in my life to bring to my mind the acronym: F R O G….Fully Rely On God. It visually reminds me about what it means to live my life trusting God. I believe that there is a great need for peace in our  spirit . Peace of the spirit is one of the results and rewards of the believer who trusts in God and lives  life by Fully Relying on Him. 


That FROG also reminds me of how helpful visual reminders are...

Invitations from JESUS

One of my favorite secular songs is Josh Groban’s, You Raise Me Up. At this time of year as we celebrate the Easter season, that song so reminds me of the special relationship  Jesus and I have together. Not just when I’m thinking about His crucifixion and resurrection – but all year – I want to enjoy, be mindful of, and celebrate this close, personal relationship that Jesus came to give each of us.  What a friend we have in Jesus!  I love this chorus:

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be

I’ve really been pondering this one line from the song: You raise me up to more than I can be.  That is exactly what Jesus does in my life….He makes me more than I can possibly be on my own.   When I take to heart, Hebrews 12:2 (NJB)
 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection, I keep my power source - my fuel for flying… by my side. Fixed eyes are focused eyes; Fixed eyes recognize that Jesus IS THE ONE THING THAT MATTERS FIRST OF ALL. When I keep my eyes on Jesus – I am raised up – I am filled with His Spirit, Who gives me hope, confidence, courage, and a sense of possibility!  Again I say, thank you Jesus!

Thank you dear Savior for Your Words of INVITATION that call out to me…

• Matthew 11:28 (NLT)  Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
• John 1:43 (ESV)  “Follow me.”
• Revelation 3:20 (NLT)  “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
• John 1:39 (NLT) “Come and see,” he said. …
• Luke 9:23 (NLT) Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

The Invitations of Jesus to me – to us – Let us understand and accept such personal calls:

Come to me… What an invitation from Jesus!  Jesus is saying to me, come – draw nearer – move toward – advance – go forward – rise in rank!  I hear His voice saying, “Let me raise you up!”

Follow me… Jesus is calling each of us - to be his own - to be in a close, personal relationship with Him.  I truly believe that here Jesus is calling us to have a higher purpose – to become a part of His mission – His plan.  He is inviting us to join Him in ministry.  Raising us up, up, and away!

Open the door… When Jesus spoke these words, he was talking to believers. He reminded them …and us… that it is easy to get distracted and lose our focus – our sense of priority so, Jesus knocks on the door of our heart. He knocks each and every day.

Come and see…Jesus was being questioned – people wanted to know more about Him…so he extended this invitation, COME AND SEE. We will know Jesus better and better as long as we walk closer and closer with Him; as long as we keep our lines of communication open. If we want to live in the heights , we have to turn the door knob!

Take up your cross daily… This is not the beautiful gold jewelry cross that you often wear around your neck!  This means to be identified with Him in surrender, suffering, and sacrifice. Jesus is inviting us to obey Him in daily discipline: we follow Jesus one step at a time, one day at a time.  Jesus is inviting us to participate in a daily relationship with Him. Taking up your cross means to ask Him DAILY what he wants you to do and DOING IT.  Jesus is inviting us to surrender our self-centered, self-run lives and SURRENDER to His will, His plan for us…whatever it is. Note all those “DAILY” words…We can’t fly, can’t be raised up if we only touch base with our pilot sporadically.

Answering YES to Jesus’ invitations is the way we soar through life – the way to live in the mountain tops – the way to be raised up by Jesus’ love!

Habakkuk 3:18-19 (NLT)  yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! ¹⁹ The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

Joyfully,

Yvonne

All About Love

 

 

Valentine’s Day is coming!  My husband has had to step up his Valentine’s Day learning curve over the last 45 years! At first I received self-help books about how to have a happy husband; then the next few years I received appliances; and then came plants and maybe flowers.  Finally, my sweet Ralph decided to ask me what I wanted so I wrote up a wish list…and this is what we have done for the last 25 years …that way I receive something I want and yet I am surprised!! 

My question for all of us today is—how do we develop and nurture a love worth giving on Valentine’s Day and every day? The answer, I believe, is found in God’s Word. Let’s read what Jesus has to say in the following passage…

John 15: 9-17 (NLT)

I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command… This is my command: Love each other.

There are some steps we must take in order to have a love worth giving:

First Step: RECEIVE HIS LOVE

The three most significant words in each person’s life are: JESUS LOVES ME! Accepting the love of Jesus and living in his love everyday, is the first and most essential step in having a love worth giving.

Jesus explains it this way: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NLT). In other words, as we draw closer to Christ and stay connected to him, he funnels his love into our hearts; only then will we have a love worth giving, because his love is the only perfect, pure love.

Second Step: RETURN HIS LOVE
In Jesus’ day, a rabbi’s disciples were generally known as his servants. But Jesus changes that. He says: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father” (vs. 14-15 NCV). In your relationship with God, Jesus promotes you from servant to friend—which sort of begs the question: what kind of friend are you?
It’s one thing to say, “Jesus loves me.” It’s whole other thing to say, “I love Jesus.” Each of us must ask ourselves … Do I love Jesus? Do I love God?

Is my love for Jesus reflected in how I live my life? We will never be able to love the people God has put in our lives if we don’t start by loving God himself.

Jesus said that the first and greatest command is this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NCV). Our love for God—for Our Heavenly Father, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit—must be the driving force of our lives. If everything we do isn’t driven by our deep love for God, then nothing we do really matters. 

So how do we respond to God’s love in practical ways? Well, I would say it’s not too different from any other love-relationship.  It is a relationship built on trust, communication, and adoration.  In other words: faith, prayer, and worship. The thing about loving Jesus is that our love for him needs to be all-consuming. That is what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and abide in his love for you—our love for God must touch every aspect of our lives.

I think Paul explains this total surrender really well… Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)
¹ So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
² Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Step Three: RECYCLE HIS LOVE
Jesus says, Romans 12:10 (ESV) Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Once we receive the love of Jesus into our lives and return his love, then we’re ready to recycle that love—to share that love with the rest of the world.  Jesus gives us precise directions about how we should love people. He says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12 NIV). This commandment knocks the walls out of any definition that would limit the scope and intensity of love. We are to love as he loved.

We must never lose sight of whose love we are following…Jesus Christ—the son of the living God, the Alpha and Omega.  How did He love? He got on his knees and washed the filthy feet of his disciples. He went through the agony of crucifixion.

As we seek to grow in our capacity to love—to have a love truly worth giving—let’s continue to look to the heart of Jesus and learn to love as He loves. 

Joyfully,

Yvonne

Waiting on God

No matter where I have lived (Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas) I always think of Winter as a time of waiting….waiting to “Spring” clean; waiting for Spring to bloom in beauty; and waiting to move at a more rapid pace.  Today here in Southeast Texas we are actually having a winter day…the high will be 50!  Brrr.  So, I’m inside drinking hot coffee and thinking of making hot chocolate…this gal is not going outside where, with the wind chill, it feels like below zero (according to me not the weatherperson)!   Instead I am pondering the concept of WAITING.

Read with me , James 5:7-8 (NLT)  Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Being willing to wait on the Lord is the equivalent to being patient!  God’s “Wait” Room is a personal training room for each believer…I truly believe that God wants us to participate in the exercise of patience!

It seems to me there is always something or someone we are waiting for or on! And that waiting takes patience!  Every day presents plenty of occasions for “wait” training in patience!  We can get angry about having to wait; we can be resolute and accept that we have to wait; or we can get a blessing and a lesson from waiting…and get good at it!  One thing for sure and certain (Amish saying) we cannot avoid having to wait.

If you are thinking, “OH NO!...I HATE WAITING!” listen to God’s wonderful promise:
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

I’m hearing God telling us, loud and clear, there are times when we need to slow down and wait on Him. We need to wait on God to give us directions. I really identify with this quote from the New England preacher Phillips Brooks(1800’s)…One day a friend saw him pacing the floor like a caged lion. 'What is the trouble, Dr. Brooks?' asked his friend. 'The trouble is,' replied Brooks, 'that I'm in a hurry, but God isn't!

Patience is what James is addressing in 5:7-8. What does it mean to wait on God? Here are some things waiting on the Lord is not: Being lazy; hibernating; nor abandoning His kingdom-work.  The kind of patience to which James is referring can only be achieved by a person who has totally surrendered his/her life to Jesus Christ.  I love slowing myself down by quoting Psalm 46:10a (ESV)  Be still, and know that I am God…

So, for the next week, let’s practice “Being Still”…. And exercising in God’s “Wait Room”.  You can be sure…there are some more patience thoughts I want to share!

Joyfully,

Yvonne

Closets Are Meant To Be Used!

There is something about January that makes me clean out  cabinets and drawers.  I love it!  But, even though I go in my closet every day, I can’t say that it is clean and organized. I’ve just got to share my closet thoughts with you!

CLOSET S ARE MEANT TO BE USED….I’m voting against sterile, organized closets.  Anyone can purchase various shelf fixtures, multi-hanger units, plastic containers, and rolling baskets to completely organize a closet. There are many places to purchase the closet-organizer materials: via television infomercials, specialized container stores, “do-it-yourself” hardware stores, or discount catalogs (just to name a few).   However, there are those of us who miss the sturdy wooden rods and shelves of yesteryear. Closets smelled better then.   There seems to be something so impersonal about white wire filling every space in the closets.  More importantly, there are good reasons for never organizing your closets and continuing to fill them to capacity.

First of all, filled-to-capacity closets help you make a good impression when people come to visit. There is no need to have a cluttered look to your home.  Just place in closets any objects that fall into the following categories: 1) seasonal clothes, tools, toys, and decorations; 2) souvenirs, memorabilia, and knickknacks which you are not willing to discard but you have no desire to display; 3) possessions such as electric card shufflers, gadgets for unscrewing light bulbs and all “Ronco” products which you might need someday; and 4) umbrellas of various sizes which you have purchased or found.  By storing the above items in closets you will be prepared if “Heloise”, “Martha Stewart” or any other homemaker extraordinare comes for an unexpected visit. Visitors will be amazed with your home décor and not distracted with a mishmash of trinkets, gadgets, and other trifles.  Always remember Closet Rule Number One: Never, Never let anyone but yourself open a closet. Visitors must know that closets are not a part of your “open house.”

Stuffed closets provide a sense of accomplishment.  Because closets tend to get (yes, this could be an understatement) over-crowded there are always hours of work available for closet cleaning.  The rainy season provides a perfect opportunity for this activity since you need to find a couple of those hidden umbrellas anyway.  Choose one closet to stack, hang, and discard according to your inclinations. Closet cleaning is an individual activity; do not accept help.  There are cleaning choices that can be made only by you. Choosing plastic storage bins, paper bags, or just neat piles is a decision that varies with the closet cleaner! Make a note when engaging in this activity to buy lots of trash bags and to alert charity thrift stores that a huge donation will be forth coming!    A not to be ignored benefit to cleaning a closet is that a space to restuff is again available. Remember Closet Rule Number Two: Show off the clean closet to family and friends and enjoy the oohs and aahs of admiration.

Full-to-bursting closets also serve as the EMS (Emergency Services) unit of your household.  Store gifts you have been given and cannot use in this closet. In an emergency, when the gift-giver arrives, all you have to do is bring out the object for temporary display. These closets can also store recycle items which are the gifts you receive and can use as an “I need a gift” emergency. This is the perfect place for storing all of the great bargains you have picked up at garage sales, thrift stores, and end-of-the month department store sales. Definitely this is the place to store those “you’ll never believe how much I saved on this” items. The emergency closet takes away pressure. There is never cause for alarm when a  “white elephant” gift for fun parties is needed.   Your emergency closet will also enhance your community reputation. Local charities rise up and call you blessed because you are always able to put donations in the charity bags that are hung on your door.   This closet can handle the direst emergency of all.  When the unexpected minister, principal, or neighbor arrives at your door a true closet stuffer can deposit dirty dishes, piles of toys, newspapers, craft projects, and/or forbidden snacks in the emergency closet in less than three minutes.  Don’t ever forget Closet Rule Number Three: The emergency closet is a place to toss quickly; do not worry about form.

The best reason for having chock-full closets is to provide children with hours of enjoyment.  My first closet memories began when I was a young girl. On special days my grandmother would let me play in her closet.  There were so many options.  I could dress up like a lady; have department store sales, or make a cozy lair for day dreaming.  There were also boxes of ancient family pictures to peruse.  Not only did I love Grandma’s closet, but my dolls and paperdolls loved it too!   Grandma’s closet was a hiding place for us.  When the Jewel Tea man came to sell his household products, Grandma and I would hide in the closet if she didn’t have the money to pay her bill!  If Mrs. Teeny from down the street came to visit and Grandma didn’t have time to talk all afternoon, into the closet we went.  Best of all, no matter how many times I hid, I could always scare my grandpa when he came home from work and I jumped out of the closet!  Grandma’s closet was a happy haven for me.

My mother continued the closet tradition by allowing my sons to invade her closets.  They found materials that allowed them to become clowns, hunters, aliens, and fishermen.  Her closets also provided quiet places for being alone and thinking, plus great hiding places for hide ‘n seek games. Of course, one of their favorite games was to hide from Grandpa and scare him when they jumped out of the closet! (Wonder who taught them that skill!) Closet Rule Number Four is a tradition in my family: Always allow children and their imaginations to play in your closets.

As I look at the latest gadget that enables one to hang eight winter coats on a single fold down hanger I can’t help but wonder, “Why would anyone want to hang eight coats on one hanger? You would never be able to hide Christmas and birthday presents way out of sight.”

Do understand there are some rules of etiquette for closet stuffing.  Open food items must be discarded after the immediate emergency.  Heavy objects should be stored low to protect body and limbs.  Males should never share storage closets with females.  Their storage items are not compatible.  How can you possible put an antique lace doll in the same space with smelly fishing waders?  Never have a written inventory of the closet contents.  A wonderful part of being a closet aficionado is appreciating the sense of expectation and adventure when opening a closet.  The final Closet Rule is to always be able to keep the door closed!

This article has inspired me.  I am in the process of having a carpenter come in and build three more closets.  Who knows what I will need to store in the next few years?

Just Thinking....

I am convinced you cannot love too much!  I am talking about the faithful kind of love that is selfless and faithful to God's love.  
John 15:12  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

I like this quote!

"There is nothing better or more necessary than love." --St. John of the Cross

TALK ABOUT HIM

Hi !

Let’s make the year 2016, the year we TALK, TELL, SPEAK, SHARE, and DISCUSS!  I am so convinced and convicted that we all need to be sharing our story – our personal journey with Jesus.  Others need to know what happens between us and Jesus during the hard times, the good times, the confusing times and yes, the times of doubt and the just run-of-the-mill ordinary times.  We must share, as naturally as we breathe, our on-going HISTORY – His Story in our lives.

We have two young friends from Virginia, Scott and Ellen Park. Since September of 2015, Scott has been critically ill and in intensive care at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. Why am I sharing this with you?  I’m sharing this because Ellen through her personal witness at Johns Hopkins and through the lives she is touching through Facebook continues to share her journey with Jesus during what she has entitled her “Divine Chaos”.  Ellen has encouraged and inspired me; her honest journaling has brought me closer to Jesus. I want to follow in her steps.

We can and must tell our stories.  We must honestly share our daily journey with Jesus.  We have so much to share – we have such a great and powerful Lord.  In my walk I recognize how patient and merciful Jesus is with me and this I know: others need that in their lives. I am convinced that people are not looking for “perfect” Christians; instead they are looking for honest, vulnerable, “real” Christians.

Social media is “the thing” in our culture today.  We are social media…the lives we live; the words we share… that is what communicates to those around us.  We are living advertisements for our Lord Jesus.  What I want to ask myself and suggest you ask the same, “Is my walking, talking and living communicating, follow me to Jesus?

Jesus taught this principle of sharing our personal Jesus journey in his parables of salt and light.  Matthew 5:16 (ESV) In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

And I love the practicality of this paraphrase…Matthew 5:16 (MSG)  Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

A light is to be visible and obvious, not secret or hidden.  Don’t keep your journey with Jesus to yourself… we have no idea how He might use our stories, our lights, our lives to draw someone to Himself.

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Joyfully,

Yvonne

New Years Points to Remember

Hi !
Thoughts on the first day of 2016!  Isn’t that exciting?  I love the fact that as children of God we live in expectation…anticipation…and eagerness to watch what the Lord is doing in our personal life and in the lives of those around us!!  We don’t know what 2016 will bring but we do know that our Almighty Heavenly Father is in charge!

I just love New Year’s Day. The good news is that each year is an opportunity for new beginnings and a fresh start. But then so is each week. Every Sunday is the first day of the week – a new beginning. Actually, every day is an opportunity for a new beginning.    Our God gives us new beginnings through our lives!  Lamentations 3:23 (NLT)  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

As we enter the New Year there are four things I want to remember:

1. Interruptions in my life are inevitable and God allows them for a purpose.  There will be times in the coming year when I will want to say, “WAIT, this is not the way I planned it.” By trusting Christ I can look at all interruptions as adventures with Him! Romans 8:28 (NLT)  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

2. My Attitude sets my agenda for my day – my week – my month – my year! Philippians 2:5 (NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Think about Him…Jesus is the perfect model of humility and being a servant.  Perhaps a new habit to develop in 2016 would be to constantly ask servant questions: “What can I do to help?” “How can I serve in this place?”  “If it were me, what would I want or need?” “Can I lend you a hand?”

3. Cheerful and joyful living is my choice.  When I choose to see all happenings in my life as blessings from God then my heart is glad. When my heart is glad even the rain drops look like love tokens from God.  Helen Keller who was born blind once said, Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. This kind of living can only flow from the love and joy that Jesus puts in my heart. You see, Jesus not only gave His life for us, but He gives His life to us right now! And His life in us fills us with joy and abundant life.  John 10:10 (NLT) …My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

4. The action word for my life is surrender. Spiritual victory and true happiness stems from me giving all that I am to Him.  My surrender is based on this fact: God Is Good. He wills only the best for me.  I lose out whenever I decide to do my own thing instead of God’s will. Surrendering to Him always makes us become more than we could every achieve ourselves.  Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Happy New Year !

Joyfully,

Yvonne

A thought for the New Year ...2016

True Bible faith is confident obedience to God's Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.