Terri's Wellspring

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5b NKJV

God is always here and we are never alone.   Our Heavenly Father is always present even we can’t see Him and even at the times that we can’t feel His presence.  He is always here.  He is here during the bright sunshine days of our lives and even at the midnight hours of need, our God is available to us.  I am thankful that we are never alone.  I am thankful that we can extend our hands, hearts and souls to Him wherever we are on our spectrum of faith and He is able to meet us right where we are.  We may not have it all together in following what we know to be right but He sees past our imperfections and meets us at our point of need.  He is always here.  And we need Him.  Each day there are reminders of how much we need Him; how much we need to be in relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.   We need His transformative love that can heal our hearts and our minds.  We need His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide our daily steps into our purpose. We may be a seasoned saint or new to this walk of faith but there is always an opportunity to come closer to the Father.  We can become acquainted with His heart through talking to Him (prayer) and reading His Word.  We can stay close to Him to hear His voice, even when it is a small whisper. We can live close to Him so that His light and His love shine bright through our life and our living.  God is always here and we are thankful.

You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.  Matthew 5:14-16

We recently witnessed darkness in America. Intentional harm came to people attending the Boston Marathon, an act of evil. While our attention was focused on Boston, still other evil continued with daily taking of life here and around the world. It could be discouraging if we just listened to the news and all the horror that it flashes in front of our faces each day. But a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us that “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” We cannot drive out murder with more murder. We cannot drive out hate with more hate. We as people of God must respond to darkness with light. Light shines brightest with love, understanding, compassion and mercy. Light emanates through acts of kindness and love for our neighbors, whether it is next door or across the planet.  We are the light that must shine bright piercing darkness wherever it is found. Be the Light that shines Bright.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. I Peter 1:5-9

At times my feeling and emotions run counter to what I know in my heart. This may happen to you too. I know that our God will provide for every need but I may feel a little anxious about one commitment or another. I know that my God is a healer but worry may set in with a negative doctor’s report. I know that God provides peace and calm in the midst of the storm when at times I want to scream at the winds. I have been working on getting better at aligning my emotions with what I know. I want my first response to be based on my knowledge of my Heavenly Father and His promises to His children. I am a child of the King. Peace, love and joy should be evident in my ways, my life and even my emotions. We can mature and deepen our trust in Him and align our what we know with what we feel.

So then, Christian brothers, because of all this, be strong. Do not allow anyone to change your mind. Always do your work well for the Lord. You know that whatever you do for Him will not be wasted. I Corinthians 15:58 NLV

The Lord gives each of us something to do. A specific assignment that calls on your gifts and experiences that makes you uniquely qualified to carry out the task. We may struggle with determining what that is and how to move forward with a calling to support His work. But we can have faith that if we seek Him for the answers, He is faithful to show us the way. Our passage today requires us to be steadfast or dutifully firm in the work of the Lord. If you look and listen with your heart even in the area around you, and the people that cross your path, there is plenty of opportunity for service. There are so many who are downcast in their spirit and in their soul. Be steadfast in your encouragement and in each thing that the Lord has your hands to do.  When we do His work, we can be assured that it will not be wasted and it will not be in vain.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable  always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. I Corinthians 15:58

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord! Psalm 31:24 AMP

A definition of “Expectancy” is the state of thinking that something, especially something pleasant, will happen or be the case. As God’s children we can live in a continuous state of expectancy of His goodness and His love being extended to us. Our Father is a Great God who desires to bless those that delight themselves in Him. We have a heart full of thanksgiving for this blessing. We can expect and anticipate the goodness of God to be evident in our lives; His peace, His mercy, His love and His grace will surround each day. We praise His Holy name for all of His power and majesty and the blessing of being in relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Psalm 95:1-3 AMP

Show me the right path, O Lord;       point out the road for me to follow.

Lead me by your truth and teach me,     for you are the God who saves me.

All day long I put my hope in you.        Psalm 25:4-5

This season is full of twists and turns, with some sharp bends in the road that I did not see what was around the corner. Our path is a journey that I have likened more to hiking in a mountain forest than a Sunday walk in the park. As believers we are challenged to seek God’s leading and to listen for the guiding of the Holy Spirit, who provides the gentle whispering winds of which way to go. The path is rugged, requiring strong muscles of faith in our legs, in our hearts and minds to continue to move forward. We have to remember to breathe in and out, creating more opportunities for our heart muscle to become stronger. We have to use all of our senses, listening for God in unfamiliar territory and careful to avoid the stench of discouragement. We have to reach out to others who can help us along the way and take every opportunity to encourage each other in the Lord. We may meet strangers along the path creating an open door for others to join the journey. Using our love with His light, they are more apt to walk the path with us. The enemy may desire to sift us like wheat but Jesus has prayed for us that our faith would endure and that we would not give in or give out. Our savior has prayed for us that our Faith would not fail. We are encouraged to stay on the path, even when it is hard, when it is dark and even when we are tired. We can be assured even in uncertainty of the next stretch on the journey, our God promises to be with us every step of the way and that victory is at the end of the road.

“Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.” Luke 22:31-32

I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’ Hosea 10:12

The Lord is so faithful to continue His work in us. I am so thankful for His love and mercy that accepts us just as we are. Wherever we may find ourselves, Jesus loves us enough to embrace us and continue us on our journey toward His purpose for our lives. Work on our hearts and minds concerning our thinking versus His, requires openness on our part. Some of us have allowed “hard” places to develop, so that it is difficult for the work to be done. Our passage today reflects on the need to break up the hard or fallow ground that may exist in our hearts. That unplowed rigid place is not usable in its current state. We are challenged to create cultivated areas of our hearts that God can use and plant seeds of love, which will bless us with a harvest beyond measure. It may take faith and courage to open your heart but whatever it takes, move forward today and break it up.

“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”  St. Luke 10:2

Some of us may be waiting for the sound of a starting gun to begin working toward our purpose. We may be waiting for the right time, the right money, the right dream job and as a result we entered into a phase of perpetual waiting. We may be waiting for a booming voice from the Father, when we hear whispers of what we should do, with tugs on our hearts and our abilities to move forward. We may be waiting for something special to happen but the starting gun went off again when we woke up this morning. Our challenge is to start walking, running or sprinting toward our purpose this morning. Not sure what that is, start with the things you have been meaning to do. Get organized to see, hear and receive direction. Pray and meditate on God’s word. Spend dedicated quiet time with Him. Listen… The Lord promises to provide both wisdom and direction when we ask for it.

The harvest is indeed plentiful but the laborers are few.  As people of God, we are called to support experiences where those who are hurting, lost, oppressed in very dark places can see Jesus more clearly. If we lift Him up in our calling, our behavior, in our faces, people will be drawn unto Him.  So ask the Lord this morning for direction, clarity and courage and GO!

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16:9a

We serve a mighty God who loves us.  His power and mercy is evident in the grace that is bestowed on us each day. As we approach our walk with Him, we may wonder how He is moving on our behalf.  We may not see how the individual events in our lives work together but our Heavenly Father has the master plan. This is the same God that spoke the world into existence. What power, what might and how gracious that God brought each of us into this world for this time and this place. I am thankful to God for the countless blessings that allow my today and tomorrows.  I am thankful that God has already worked things out on our behalf and that we can honor our Father with our love and our service.  He is showing Himself strong each day.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Moving forward requires us to put one foot in front of another. Our first steps may be small ones but if we can achieve some consistency in walking with Lord as our lead, we will make progress forward. For some of us, we may be experiencing fear that may have us frozen in our current state. Others may have so much emotional baggage that we are weighted down and moving forward takes more energy than we can muster. Having a distorted self-image that is seen through the lens of self-doubt, low-self-esteem and lack of confidence in our talents and abilities can make the initial step seemingly impossible.

But I am so thankful for God’s mercy, His love and His grace. Our Heavenly Father, created us with everything we need to fulfill His Holy purpose for our lives. I have prayed that God would show me what He sees when He looks at me. This is the most powerful lens we can have. He sees the beauty, the talents, gifts and abilities that He has instilled in each of us. He also sees the areas where we may have fallen short but our God is faithful to forgive when we ask to be forgiven. He even sees areas in our lives where need to mature and develop in our walk with Him. Our journey continues when we put our trust in Him and stand on His word for guidance. He is faithful to hear our prayer and allow us to move forward along our path.