why hope if you have

I’m hearing the word HOPE a lot lately. From some it’s like a cross your fingers and just maybe if we have extreme luck something MIGHT just happen. Others are firm in their hope. Trusting in a level that is infectious.

The many variations of hope isn’t really the issue, but what is that hope focused on…

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24-25

I really feel its time for our HOPE to GROW!
Time to really know that we are not cast offs but grafted in children of God.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. Romans 8:18-21

I do love Romans 8. A few years ago a group gathered to study it further. We realized that in so many ways we were waiting for these things to be real when Jesus comes again or when our earthly life is done. But the creation is speaking loudly NOW that we as children of God really need to start living on earth as it is in heaven. We weren’t just saved for a blessed death. We were chosen to be disciples here and now.

In the coming weeks, take some time in Romans 8 and seek further what it means to live according to the Spirit – not the flesh.
Ask God what it means for your life that the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you? Romans 8:11

We have been living in only a fraction of our true identity in Christ. The time is coming when we are going to need to know what our relationship and identity is really about and use it in every moment.

I bless you with wisdom and understanding as you seek His ways and truth for your life. That You will see yourself with new eyes – the eyes of the Father reflecting to you just how much you are made in His image. And He says it is good! That isn’t something you have to hope for – its something you already have!

denial to disciple

Several new paintings are waiting for final touches.  As this rooster sat on the wall staring at me, so many thoughts of Simon/Peter’s story came to mind. After finishing touches as I was doing more of the engraving, the words “chicken scratch” came very strong.

The original painting was a realistic rooster that never felt finished. I was going to totally cover it up then thought to leave some realism in with the abstract.

As I thought of Simon/Peter, the first engravings in one layer of paint were, “denial – one – two – three”.

Jesus wasn’t surprised by that denial. He even told Simon/Peter it would happen.

I looked up the name Simon – in Greek it means flat or snub nosed. I think we can say he “snubbed” Jesus and as said – before the rooster crowed.

I also found great hope in this painting and the Simon (Peter) story. You could say Simon didn’t know how the denial would turn out but Jesus told him quite clearly when he spoke the name he would be known by…

Matthew 16:15-19 NIV
¹⁵ …Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”
¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades  will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

There was a depth to their relationship. Jesus was calling out the GOLD in Simon – that he would be Cephas (Peter), the rock!

Denial was in his history. The chicken scratch of past – not the ROCK of his future!

Your life has a message from Jesus too! We need to be like Peter and willing to hear it from the Lord as He calls us to our future. The world needs what we are carrying! We were made for such a time as this!

I pray that this week, you will hear the call of God to be ALL that He created you to be. That you would have courage to step forward to ALL that He has in store for you! Thank you Jesus for this gift of life on earth – as it is in heaven!

 

 

you are treasured

Shoreline Treasures

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

I remember thinking I was so unworthy of God’s love, goodness or grace. Guilt and lies had hung a cord of shame around my neck that continued to chock off hope.

BUT THEN….

God loves to do MIGHTY things in our lives when we decide to surrender.

I’ve learned that I have to keep on surrendering! It’s like a great dam that has been built is being dismantled bit by bit and releasing treasures as the new water churns up those jewels that were buried further and further by my choices, life influences and the lies of the world.

Thank you Lord that everyone of us has reason to HOPE when we have You! That You truly never leave or forsake and always want to lavish Your love on us. Let us learn to surrender more AND receive the wonders that are uncovered from the depths!

mirror test

Do you ever ask God how He sees you?
You should try it.
Stand in front of the mirror and ask…
Don’t discount the inner voices you hear but seek His Spirit of Truth… not the spirit of limitation or disgrace.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:22-25

We are being “renewed” day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16) The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but JESUS comes to give LIFE, full and abundant LIFE! (John 1o:10)

How often we forget that we are made in His image, in His likeness. (Genesis 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:18) That we carry His Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16) – the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead. (Romans 8:11) Christ in us IS the hope of glory! (Colossians 1:17)

We limit our own thinking with human wisdom instead of heavenly wisdom. We are made to be a city on a hill that can not be help but shine brightly!

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 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. Matthew 5:14-16

your story

Free to Soar

The story of Jesus is laid out in advance in the OT, long before Mary and Joseph were even born. It was foretold, where He would be born, how He would be known and even the way that He would die. His story is our history, our heritage, our legacy.

The word of God also points to your story – 
Made in His image, in His likeness (Gen 1:27)
Created for His glory (Isa 43:7)
His workmanship (Eph 2:10)
Not just servants but friends (John 15:15)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

Thank you Lord for creating all of us as part of You. That Your word gives us the best picture of our true identity and You know the best ways to guide us on this journey. I pray for our hearts to be enlightened further to know the hope of the calling we have in Christ Jesus – for Your glory and Your story!

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1

 

simplicity

Matter of the Heart

Did God win your heart by telling you how horrible you are?

Usually we are won over by love and caring – not condemnation.

We can’t clean ourselves up enough but He knows how to do that well. We don’t make ourselves righteous – and especially not through comparison – it’s Christ who brings us to right standing. It’s not another’s opinion that matters most – it is HIS!

Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.
Ephesians 5:26-27 MSG

May you know in your heart AND your mind today – God chose you. He loves you beyond measure. He wants to bring out the best in you AND wants you to bring out the best in others!

beloved

Several weeks ago I had the word beloved keep playing in my mind and saying it needed to be painted.

How do you paint BELOVED?

With the blank canvas in front of me and not knowing what was to come, I painted the phrase “He calls you beloved.” Now how do you get the rest of the paint on the canvas? You paint over it and do it again.

I think we often forget that WE ARE HIS BELOVED. It may be inside but we don’t see it enough so we need to put it on the outside too.

Maybe it’s time for a beloved sticker on your mirror, your war room wall (good movie!), or on your computer. Could be why a young woman has it tattooed on her forearm.

The world will never give us the best picture of ourselves. It seeks to point out flaws and sell cover-ups.

Listen to what He says about you – that is the real truth!

God designed you so beautifully and HE calls you BELOVED!!

embrace change

Blues

I liked how this wax painting was but I saw something else in there and reheated the wax to see what else would emerge.

Just as God knows there is something else in us since He is the original designer of each and every one. He creates with great vision but the things of this world bring great corruption to His design. We often feel the heat as our best side is brought back to life.

We create with limited vision….until we focus on Him!

Wings

Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
2 Corinthians 5:14-21

people you meet

here fishies

April was traveling with Mom again to see my brother in Kona, Hawaii. I know, rough life you may say. There is always more to every story…and a purpose under heaven. (Ecc 3:1)

One of our God connections was while we were capturing a sunset and I commented to a woman with a great camera. She and I started sharing our very similar stories and we invited her to join us on other days. Debby Smit is a fabulous photographer from Canada who gave up all that was familiar to be a YWAM volunteer and go where God leads and needs.

I was blessed to be able to host her in my home last night as she drives through the US to do a West Coast journey with YWAM Ships. We even caught another sunset together at Holland Beach.

He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 2 Timothy 1:9 NIV

leaning in

One of her heart passions was to work on a cruise ship – God is making that happen in a different way than imagined. One of mine was to be an artist.

40’s, 50’s, 60’s – it’s never too late. He wants to give us the desires of our heart. (Psalm 37:4)

I feel we all have a GOD seed planted long ago to be used for His glory!

Please join me praying for God’s provision, safety and more holy connections for Debby as she heads this week to her next God assignment.

Debby Smit – YWAM – donations can be made here to bless her journey, just note her name somewhere in the process.

BE BOLD WITH GOD’S GIFTS
And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. (Sensible vs self-discipline seem very different to me!)

So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.

This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.

So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
2 Timothy 1:6-14 MSG

another world

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Where’s Your Focus?

Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
John 17:13-19 MSG