Category Archives: Christian Life

Posted on

Walking The Way of Jesus

I am walking the way of Jesus the best I can. He leads and I follow. He is brightness and light, full love, peace and joy. He illumines my steps. I see my steps more clearly after I’ve taken them. My trust in Him is ever growing. It is a hard journey, but He’s never failed me.

I said that it’s a hard journey. It is that, in many respects. But it is also a good journey, in many respects. Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are great companions to have on a journey. The Spirit teaches as I go. I benefit from listening and taking to heart the strength He imparts.

God provides love, direction, and context for the journey. His book has wisdom and truth that fills me with goodness. I am enlightened as I read His Word, and I am encouraged as I embrace His way. He has answers, and I am grateful for them. God is the mastermind behind it all.

Jesus, however, speaks differently though the same. He is the God-human companion that never fails to assist me. When I say “Help me,” He does. Jesus dries my tears when I am hurt. He gives me courage when I am afraid. He lifts me up when I am down. He speaks when I need comfort.

I like the way all three persons of the Godhead show up when I’m going astray. My problem areas aren’t the big bad ones, but I get off the track, nevertheless. Once I see my area of drifting, then I will try to get out of that rut. The Holy Spirit lets me know that something’s not right. Then God’s Word confirms it, more often than not.

God has been showing me some things that need fine tuning. I’m up for that. It’s weird, but I have let a few things get me down and get the better of me. Covid hasn’t helped matters. That’s no way to live.

A question in a lesson book asked, “How might it change your day today if you were to cease looking for human approval and begin seeking only the approval of God?” My answer, I’d be more productive and less defeated. That was a defining moment in my reality. I’m chasing a new reality now, one that’s love-based, which is God-based because God is love.

I’ve decided to look at obstacles differently. Love changes the way I look at things. It makes me braver, I can love people wherever I go. It pushes my shyness aside and opens the doors to a productive life even if it’s just loving people. How? I ask God to fill me with His love, and I go from there.

God loves you. Jesus loves you. The Holy Spirit loves you. It is good to be loved so adequately, profoundly, and tenderly. Some days we feel separated from that love because troubles enter our lives, and we fail to see their purpose. Yet the love is there, sustaining you. You’re abundantly loved.

God loves you. Jesus loves you. The Holy Spirit you. It is good to be loved so adequately, profoundly, and tenderly. Some day

It’s always worth looking for answers as long as we’re looking in the right places where the answers are found. I remember last year I found an answer in the book Codependent No More. I saw aspects of myself in that book. I hadn’t realized that I had codependency traits that controlled part of me. I also realized that part of my happiness was bound in an unhealthy way to others’ happiness or their happiness with me. This was huge.

Keep looking and you’ll keep finding. I can’t wait to tell you about what I’m learning now. I realized another sizeable gap in me, and I couldn’t believe that I had been so dense to never think of it in my spiritual makeover. That story will be in another post.

It’s a great day when your head comes out of the fog to live fully, faithfully, and cheerfully.

Thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

—

  • The family picture is of my children and me the first Christmas without their dad. We were sad, and I think it shows. We are at my folks’ house. I had a hard time, but I was well on my way to a new reality of ‘God with me.’
  • God is gracious.
Posted on

God’s Plan, The Rest of the Story #6

It is interesting how God allows pain in our lives almost as an initiation or secret entryway into the deeper life. We are given choices, opportunities to choose which way we will turn. Unbelief in God’s goodness, plus anger and embedded roots of bitterness can take the life out of us. To think differently was a challenge for me.

I noticed the inconsistencies in me. I believed life could be lived victoriously. But how? There came a day when I made a list. This list stated all the things that I wanted God to change in my life. The quagmire was sucking me in. I knew that there had to be a better way. I was serious about changing. God knew I meant it.

God began to change me by taking my through a process. The process unfolded in many steps. He took me on a journey by removing my anger and bitterness, by showing me my hurts and healing them, by speaking to me through His Word and His whispering voice, and by teaching me to trust Him, that He knew what He was doing, and that it was a good plan.

God’s presence was so real a couple of times that I felt utterly full of light and joy. It became beautiful and meaningful. God also removed the pain out of my heart when He healed it. An absence of pain led to a fullness of joy. I can’t really explain it, but it was real.

I have never returned to the way I once was. The healing is complete. The challenges are still fought on a frequent basis, but God’s presence never leaves me. In fact the struggle proves I’m still in the battle. I know that my Savior still saves, still keeps, still loves, and still teaches. The battle belongs to the Lord.

I pray that God will continue to redeem what the locusts have eaten. God can, and I believe He will. I believe God can use my story to heal and bless others. I pray that He will use my story to lead others to their own healing, and most importantly, to a remarkable closeness with Father God.

In my strange story, I have learned and grown via a fascinating, unconventional journey that has taken me to heights of joy after experiencing the depths of sorrow. God is enough. He really is. Heart belief tells the truth about a soul’s actual health and its love for God.

I invite you to trust in Him to meet you on your journey and to see you through to its end. I finish with this. God has a plan and a future for me, for you, and for all of us. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

The End of The Rest of the Story.