Possibilities

What we think, feel and do at this very moment influences both our present and future in ways we may never know. Begin. Start right where you are. Consider your possibilities and find inspiration... To add more meaning and zest to your life.
Alexandra Stoddard

A very dear friend to me sent me a package the other day. It had a book of inspiration in it (she knows me all too well). As I opened it this morning to read my daily dose of joy, I read this quote and fell in a state of imaginating the possibilities of the future God might have for me.

Ever since I was old enough to start contemplating my future, I have wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I argued with my dad for a while on why I needed to go to college if I was just going to be a housewife. It was simply a waste of money. Even now, my forever calling will be to provide a haven of comfort and love to my future husband and children whom I will one day be responsible for. However, God has shown me that He has gigantic plans for my life. And as steadfast as my heart is set on being stationed in my home, God has revealed that I am going to have to make room for both. Had I not went to college when and where I did, I would not be on the path I am today. Isn't God just unbelievably amazing?!

Check out this verse:

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. (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

Wow! Are you blown away, yet unbelievably gracious to the King of Kings? This verse is telling us that He already knows what you will do with your life! He wants to give you hope! He wants to give you the adventure of a lifetime! Will you take Him up on it? You see, God has a perfect plan for your life that will allow you to bea vivid light for Him. He wants to use you. But the problem is that most of the time we get to busy or to let-down to stay focused in the One who loves us most of all. Maybe you ask how I know this? I have walked down this path.

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. (Proverbs 16:3 KJV)

I can tell you with all sincerity my heart can bear, joy will not consume you until you are willing to go all out for the Lord of Lords. I have accepted my perfect adventure. I am ready to take on the world as a shining light for Jesus Christ. Are you?

Resolve to start your adventure today full of joy and hope and trials. I promise, God will allow it to be remarkably worth it.



Livin' with joy,
Elizabeth

HeartFull

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)

There isn't much more to say about this verse.  A wise man, Dr. Whipple, recently said, "Don't destroy God's words with the words of man."  Meditate on this verse.  It will be a blessing.  I know it.








A servant for Him,
Elizabeth 

Faithful and True

Faith. Wow. Have you ever realized how deep this word is? Have you ever realized that in order to even obtain the strength to say you have it involves some intense surrendering. This past spring God definitely revealed to me that this word is radical. It involves a total surrendering to Him.

You will, if you havent already, come to a point in your life when you know there is more. Whether your saved or not, God is calling you to more. There are way to many people who live in this mundane world, fixated on their own needs. They refuse to serve the One who was hung by His limbs upon a splintering cross with thorns placed upon His head. How selfish are we? I don't understand how it doesnt sicken people to live their normal life knowing that deep down, And believe me, I was there for a very long time.

The whole chapter of Hebrews 11 talks about faith. But two of my favorite verses are Hebrews 11:1 and 6, which says:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Verse one is pretty much the biblical definition of faith. We'll deal with it in a minute. But verse six always hits me hard. God is telling us that we can not, in any way, shape or form, please God without having the faith that He can accomplish it. You must first believe that He is. This means that you believe that He will take care of your situation no matter how complicated it may be.

Sometimes we give things to God, but we lack the faith in believing He WILL take care of it. How many times have you (because I know I have) given something to God and then in the back of your mind, you think, "I need to fix it" or "There is no way I can ever get over this". Have you seen your problem yet? The word "I" has come up. I can do this, and I can fix that, and I just need some time to figure it out. No. God is the only one who can heal the pain or the discontentment we struggle with.

So the second part of this verse, He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Diligence is probably the most important word in this section. We sometimes get this mindset that if we give our life or problem to Him once then everything will be a-okay! Wrong answer (as my dad would say)! Having faith that Christ loves us and wants more than anything to take care of us involves daily trust and quality time with Him. I have a friend who has struggled with her salvation for a very long time. She believes that Christ saved her, but everyday Satan pops his head back in her mind and creates doubt. The other day I told her that she needs to remember that beleieving is a one-time deal. She needs to have faith in His never-failing promise on a daily basis. She might have to diligently seek Him daily.

Luke 9:23 says:

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23 KJV)

Even Jesus himself said we have to make a daily surrender to follow Him. Constantly surrender to Him.

So back to this whole faith thing. It says that without faith, you can not please our Lord. It's saying that if we don't completely surrender to Him everything we own spiritually, physically, and emotionally, then God will not use us. I'm not sure about you, but I desperately want God to use me with every ounce of my being.

This morning I read my devo in His Princess Warrior by Sheri Rose Shepherd. It hit me like a ton of bricks. The quote I prized the most was, "Your trials will lead you to an abundant life of effective and everlasting ministry if you will allow Me to carve in your character a true reflection of Me while you are in the fire where your faith is being tested."

I guess what I love most about this quote is that our trials are not endured invain. God is preparing us for the adventure of a lifetime. When we truly surrender to Him, we will be tried and tested. Honestly, we may go through the most sudden, heartbreaking hardship we ever have! But we can be confident in faith that God is going to use your hardships to shape you into the ministry your life will lead. However, it takes faith in knowing that you are being molded in order to persevere.

So I'm asking you, and myself, today. Do you have the faith to believe He has an adventure for you and faith in the fact that He is strengthening you for the road He has set you upon?




Smiling with you,
Libbie

Preparing You

My Dearest Love,

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)

You are strong, yet you don't even realize to the majority of the time. God can make you stronger than you ever need to be. He has promised not to give you anything you are unable to handle. Hold on to the fact that He is strengthening you for your prepared adventure. He loves you so much that he died on that old, rugged cross for you. Have faith in the fact that He adores you and He wants to call you His forever and ever. But this involves total surrender. Don't trust in yourself. Trust in the One who knows every hair on your head and every speck of dust. I promise, He will give you the adventure of a lifetime.



Encouraging strength,
Elizabeth

The Strength of My Heart

I wasn't sure what to do my devos on this morning. So i prayed that God would reveal something to me. Then i managed to flip through the well-worn pages of my Pawpaw's Bible. I came upon this verse, Psalm 73:26:

My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Heartache is, well basically it's what it says it is: painful. There are things and people in this world that are going to let you down. Wanna know how I know this? I've been there way too many times. 

See, people on this planet are not as perfect as we tend to think. We picture ourselves in Pleasantville where nothing or no one can go wrong. But here's the deal, the same people who you live with, are friends with, live beside, and work with are the same as you and me. 

Romans  3:23 says, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.". Notice the word "all" here.  This means that every single person on the planet Earth deals with sin, just like me and you. They deal with the same jealousy, bitterness, irritability, misunderstanding, anger, and pain that we do. Yet we expect them to somehow be perfect.

When we come into heartache, we think it is the most devastating, horrible thing that has ever happened in the history of relationships, best friends, your boss, etc.  But ya know, they are just like you and me; and sometimes we have those situations in life where we wish we would've made the right decision.  Or maybe the decision was correct, we just wish it didn't hurt as bad. 

But check out this verse Christ gave us!  

My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Did you get it that time? Cause if you did, you should probably be jumping up and down (to say the least)!  Read it again:

My flesh (everything that is in me that is not ordained by Christ) and my heart (that soft mushy thing that allows us to come into occasional pain but is the giver of earthly and heavenly love) FAIL; but God is the strength of my heart (able to heal every tear and fill every hole) and my portion (literally this means my territory or my___) FOREVER (even as we walk through those heavenly gates).

So did you get riled up that time?  This verse is telling us we WILL have heartbreak.  God allows it so that we are forced to lean on Him.  Or He may be protecting you from something that only He knows. But we can have assurance in Him. He can bring us freedom from the situation.  He can bring healing.  He can allow a greater work in us that we could ever possibly imagine.  Or maybe you will allow Him to wrap His big arms up around you and let Him guide you to His perfect comforting will. 

God is all we need. We simply need to trust and have faith that He is all knowing.  Pro 5:21 "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths.". He knows what is best for us.  Take comfort in the fact that God loves you and He is the ONLY strength you will ever need. Give your burden to Him. 




Surrendering all,

Elizabeth 

Fearless

A ship in port is safe but that's not what ships were made for. -Grace Murray Hopper

I encourage you today to seek out adventure! Don't wait for it to come to you. You may never find it.




Love, Libbie

Truly Prized

When I came to Uplands Reach this summer, I had no idea what all God had in store for me.  I was asked to come and do some public relations type of stuff.  And I was going to be an RA for six girls.  But help teach a class was not on the agenda.  


Those who knew me about four years ago would freak to know I stood in front of about 90 teenage girls and taught a class on self-esteem a week-ago.  I was the shy girl who would become red as a beet if she was called on in class.  I was insecure.  My insecurities led to my struggle with self-esteem.  A struggle that I would allow myself to fall into a pit that seemed impossible to get out of.  


However, God has allowed me to see that He knows me.  He made me to be exactly how I am.  Now, I am all over being healthy.  God says to keep your temple holy because it is home to the one who loves you eternally (1 Corinthians 6:19).  Therefore, you need to be healthy, but not extreme.  My struggle to be healthy became a struggle to fight for my beauty.  The beauty that was given by my eternal Father.


Psalm 139 says,

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it.

See, the problem is that most of us don't know it.  We are unwilling to prize ourselves like Jesus prizes us.  We see what the world sees.  A pitiful, unfulfilled individual who needs to prove herself to be worthy of the praise of others.  And as harsh as that sounds, it's true.  I've been there.  I know what it is like to stand in the mirror and wish for changes - foolish changes.


Some of us wish to see a skinnier person in the mirror.  Some of us yearn for a prettier face.  Some of us want a new wardrobe because the piles and piles we have just don't suit.  Some of us want a personality change: nicer, bolder, funnier, wittier, more outgoing, etc.  But the point is, each of us deal with some sort of low self-esteem.  We simply don't categorize our grievances as "low self-esteem" because it doesn't have to do with our weight.  But any desire of change in ourselves is a sin.


"For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (vs14)"  This word "for" literally means "because".  So we should praise Him because we are wonderful!  We were made wonderfully!  So if we want to change what God has created us to be but still praise Him, we are committing a sin.  Revelation 3:16 talks about Christians being lukewarm.  By praising Him but not understanding and truly believing why we are doing it, we are lukewarm. 

But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

John 3:16 is probably the most quoted verse in the Bible.  

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Here is that word "for"again.  So this verse actually says BECAUSE God loved the world.  We should be so ashamed.  Because Jesus loved the world so much, He died on that old rugged cross.  He was beaten, stoned, spat upon, and left to die so that we could live eternally with Him.


Why then are we so discontent with ourselves?  My good friend and mentor, Maryanne Grimmet, who works here at Uplands talked about self-respect.  And how that even if maybe we struggle with self-esteem, we can still have self-respect.  We can still prize ourselves like Jesus prizes us.  Girls, "we are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)."  Thrive on that truth.  If you live for Him and see yourself through His eyes, I promise you life will be remarkably easier.  Take it from a girl who knows.






Lifting you up,


Elizabeth 

Immovable

1Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.      

A very wise friend of mine told me to read this scripture last night.  After making the most difficult decision of my life, I was in need of great encouragement.  The greatest encouragement we will ever know can not come from the mouths of men, but rather, it comes from the Word of the Lord - the Bible.  I stand firm in my conviction that the Bible is alive!  And it is able to aid each of us in a battle that we can not face alone.   


The verse says to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord."  Simply put, this means that no matter how many lemons we are handed, we should continually find ways to shine for Him.  Maybe you just lost your job, put your extra time into working with a local youth group.  Maybe you just broke up with your boyfriend, use your time to prayerfully seek God's will for your life.  Maybe you just found out one of your loved ones has cancer, use your tears to relate to those who are going through similar situations and show them that there are big 'ol arms dying to wrap you up.  


Whatever your devastation is, know that there is a greater being who loves you.  And He is yearning for you to serve Him.  Maybe your tribulation is to show you that He loves you and He wants to comfort you as long as you let Him.  We must keep going, even when all we want to do is stop for just a little while.  We can't.  


"Knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."  This is what we know because he openly tells us it will not be in vain.  If we serve Him in the rough times, He will bless us eternally.