Thursday, April 26, 2012

Neither Hot...or Cold.

Have any of you ever had those times in your walk with the Lord where He uses your current moment or action to make something so super real to you? Well, a couple of months ago I was blessed to have been invited to attend a women's retreat at Murrieta Hot Springs and let's just say that it couldn't have come at a more perfect time.  For you who have had the pleasure of attending, you know that there are a few things in which you tend to look forward to.  Sure the fellowship with your friends is wonderful, all of the workshops and worship are sweet and being excited about what the Lord is going to show you also makes this time set apart with Him extra worth it.  But nothing and I mean nothing excites you more than that pot of coffee that you know that is waiting for you when you wake up on Saturday morning because if you did it right, you probably only had a few hours of sleep! As I made my way to my table in the dining room, it was as if that sparkling silver pot was calling my name.  I filled my cup, put in my creamer and took a big sip. It took all that I could do to not spit that coffee right back out, no joke.  I was totally caught off guard because here I was expecting this nice, piping hot cup o' joe but what I got was coffee that seemed to have been sitting out...for the last few hours.  Now I can do hot coffee and I can do iced coffee, but I despise anything in between. That's when the Lord spoke to my heart, "This is how I feel when you are lukewarm with Me." 


Revelations 3:15&16 says, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."  Wow, we can't really sugar coat that, huh?  God desires for us to be active in our relationship with Him.  Now I am not saying that if you are not standing out on the corner with a megaphone at a trolley stop proclaiming the Word of God you are lukewarm in the eyes of our Lord.  What I am saying is that when we are simply skating by in our Christianity it is not pleasing to the Lord.  I don't think that most of us would consider ourselves to be lukewarm Christians, at least out loud, but there are times in each of our lives where we have chosen to "ride the fence",  leaning on the false security that we are saved and that because we aren't really doing anything bad that we are a-okay.  But that is not what the Lord says.   We could go to church on Sundays and forget God throughout the rest of the week and sadly, it is easy to do if we are not daily fighting, daily seeking and daily making it a point to put Him first.


When I heard His voice that morning, I was humbled.  First, because God is worth more and deserves more from me and secondly, that He cares so much about me and our relationship that He planned this real life lesson to allow me to get a small taste of how He feels with us, His children.  Every time I drink a cup of coffee I remember that morning, of how He sweetly spoke to my heart to go before me and protect me against what  my heart is so easily capable of.



Sunday, April 15, 2012

Expectations..

I read a quote the other day that just reached up and slapped me across the face.  Written by Rudy Rasmus, it said, "Expectations are premeditated resentment.” Man, it doesn't get any clearer than that. When are you most disappointed?   Usually it is when you expected something to happen that didn't or something happened that you didn't expect to.  You may go into a situation expecting the end result to be one way and it ends up being the total opposite than what you had planned out in your head.  Maybe someone might have even fallen short of the expectations that you had towards them in a friendship or a relationship.  Unmet expectations lead to disappointment and disappointments lead to resentment. 

When we place our expectations in something or someone other than God, whether we realize it or not, we are setting them and ourselves up for failure. Expectations are unneeded burdens that we were not meant to carry and they are not fair when placed on others. In fact, they will eventually do more damage than they do good.  People are going to let us down, we all fall short.  We will even let ourselves down and situations won't turn out the way we think they should, therefore, our expectations can only be in Christ alone.  

When I really think about it, who can live up to my expectations? To your expectations?  Who are we kidding, we can't even live up to our own expectations... 

By holding on to our own expectations of how things should be, we unknowingly place our all powerful, all knowing God in a box for our lives and our situations.  Instead of allowing Him to blow our minds day-by-day with what He has for us, we are steps ahead of Him, hanging on to our own preconceived notions about our lives and how things should be.  God's ways are not our ways, His timing sure ain't ours and our plans don't look like His, they are always better! We can trust Him to do what is right by us in all circumstances so  just sit back, relax and let Him blow your mind.

Uhhmm, can I get a witness?! 




Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Ten Cows, Three Goats, Five Sheep and a Duck?

Sometimes we use what we have or what we do on a daily basis as a mirror to reflect to us who we are.  Let me rephrase that, more often than not, we base our worth on what we have or do not have, on what we do or do not do...what our lives consist of.  None of us are immune to it, none of us have overcome it to a point where we do not have to check our hearts every now and than. God's Word is true when He reminds us of how much we don't even know our own hearts. In fact, most may not even realize that it is a burden we carry until something beyond our control comes and shakes us up a little.  In the change that God has recently allowed to happen in my life, I found myself questioning my worth.  Really Tamara? Yep, for reals. I found that in my prayers I was starting to ask the Lord what I really had to offer.  I mean, beyond this sparkling personality and smile..(just seeing if you guys were still with me :)) But seriously, broken I came to the Lord questioning my worth.  It's crazy to think how easily we allow the changes and situations in our lives, that our great God has allowed,  to determine how we eventually see ourselves.  Seemingly good or bad, if we are not careful we start to believe it.

A few days ago, the Lord knew I was ready to receive what He had to say to me.  I was sitting on my couch, seeking my God for just about everything and He sweetly spoke these truths in my heart.  In a way that only He can, He said, "By removing your job, I did not remove your self worth.  In fact, I am showing you just how worth it you are. Nothing that you have or do not have defines you, your worth is in Me alone and I needed you to learn that.  When I take things away, it's because you are worth so much more."  I have said it before and I will say it again, the Lord knows exactly what He is doing and what we need to go through to see what He wants us to see about ourselves and about who we are in Him! That's love.

We are all in different seasons in our lives and where ever you are is exactly where the Lord wants you to be.  You may feel that because you are a stay-at-home mom, a single parent, not married, in a tough marriage, divorced, unemployed, just a teacher, just a friend, the leader of a group or not a leader at all that you may not have anything else really to offer.  You may be sick, or struggling, or feel like a failure, or you may not know where you stand in life..(if we are honest with each other this list could really go on and on) but you can not allow these situations or feelings to become intertwined in your worth.  It just doesn't work that way in the Lord's eyes.  God made you worth it when He chose to die in your place.  When He created you from the dust of the ground, when He established your days before He established the foundations of this Earth, He ordained your worth in Him.  Sometimes He just has to allow us to go through some of the toughest situations in life for us to see the real truth about ourselves that He already knows.  

Side Note: As I was fighting the Lord about writing about this (I didn't win), I was sent this devotion from a great ministry called 'Proverbs 31 Ministry'.  I was really blessed by it and God used it to confirm to me that I am on the right track!  Be blessed.

Click here to read it!