Few Find IT

I am forever digging down deep into my thinking with Jesus.  I am wired as a philosopher by God.  I think.... then I think some more.... and then I think some more, especially in His presence.  

I often picture myself as a little girl, musing constantly with her Father. And often....very often, I see Him smile, as He leads me on a treasure hunt.

This world has been anything but friendly and easy for me, starting with my birth.  I am of the opinion He broke shame off of me in my twenties, which then freed me to look at myself.  Truly look - not in a condemning manner, but an exploratory manner, asking, "What makes me tick? Where do I go off into the weeds? What do I need to repent of?  Be more diligent about?" 

You do know there is a difference between guilt and shame, don't you?  

We are ALL guilty.... daily .... of sin, ergo the absolute need of repentance.  We CHOOSE to walk in shame; the byproduct of guilt if there be no repentance. 

Shame has a way of sticking around way too long --- and the longer it sticks around - the more the brain normalizes it.  But alas, it is an odd, disagreeable, and deadly bedfellow if allowed to stay around.

One parameter, I have found, reveals if shame is apart of one's normalized psyche - and that is how quickly does one repent. 

Every believer in Christ is commanded to walk circumspectly. 

If we aren't taking this charge seriously, we aren't taking our walk seriously.

This morning my musing with Jesus went something like this.

"Few there be that find it.  IT."

Then my mind jumped to how many people are on the planet currently: 8.3 billion.  

Assuming Creation is between 6000 to 10000 years (Biblically) old, that's a lot of people in the course of history that presumably didn't find IT.  

The assumption by many is that they are among the few.  

Ironic, don't you think?

So, I sat with Him in silence. 

"Am I among the few, Lord?"

Life is found IN Him.

We are told anything .....ANYTHING... apart from Him is.....meaningless.

That's a horse pill to swallow, IF honestly surveyed, don't you think?

[Pause for a moment.  Be brave. Think about your days.  Are you abiding in the Vine? Your actions? Your thoughts? Is cohabitation possible, particularly long term?  Meaning - if a believer isn't actively surveying their mind for "viruses", shame, sin, etc - and repenting....turning from these things in humility....can one abide in the Vine?]

Then I leaped to a memory.

Eighth grade.  I was chosen to sing the solo in Annie: Tomorrow. 

I felt the treasure hunt begin with Him.  I'll share in short.

Between Hollywood and Disney, most Americans have been thoroughly programmed with thoughts of "the sun will come out tomorrow" -  "a knight will arrive and save the day" - "Cinderella will meet her prince" - etc.

If Jesus is the Vine, and I abide in Him, what are such lines of thought but viruses in the brain??

Living in America, such thinking is commonplace, but leads to - at minimum - a feeling of hollowness, and at maximum ....death.  

In the last decade, God has schooled me on the difference between hopium and hope.  The former is linked to fleshly desires - and the latter is linked to the Vine.  

There is chatter among Christians that the spirit of Babylon is on the rise in America.

I believe this is an accurate statement.  

If our cares circle more around our comforts, our next amusement, our next sunny tomorrow, aren't we missing IT?

Few there are that find IT.

Seek and you find will. 

Be careful .....very careful.... that you are not among the many who think they are among of the few.

These days humility is my life partner.  

As more years tick off, the more I dig into my thinking with my Creator. 

There is no shame - only reprogramming after extracting virus after virus throughout the decades now - that came into my way of thinking as a child, before I was ever taught to gatekeep my thoughts. (Refer back to Hollywood and especially Disney as a child! Mercy -- talk about mental viruses afoot!)   (This includes all of mankind, by the way; even the best of childhoods need a through going over!) 

Live long enough and your hard drive stands more than a reasonable chance of getting deeply infected with thinking that is far more inline with Babylon than God's Kingdom.  It's a fact of living in this fallen world, and one of numerous reasons we are instructed to be diligent. 

In truth, it's freeing to sit with God and have Him root out software that shouldn't be there.  To dig down deep into the meat of what defines abiding in the Vine.... to what truly gives life depth and purpose... it is a lifelong treasure hunt worth the taking.   

Want to discover IT for yourself?  A good starting point is the discipline of simply sitting in silence - no phone... no company.... just you and God.  

It's a discipline worth carving out.  It's been a habit of mine for decades.  At first, it seemed the noise in my head would not cease, but in time, it did -- and His voice replaced it.... a whisper too often drowned out by Babylon's spirit and the cares of this world.

Dare to sit with Him.  Some of my richest reprogramming was carved out during these times with Him.

A word of warning: self deception is thriving today. Many Christians roll through their days and weeks without a single awareness of the many mental viruses running in their subconsciousness and thus controlling their actions. 

Don't be among them.  

As a man thinks ..... so is he.

"SEEK.... and you will find."  There are no shortcuts.  If there is one relationship worthy of all your time, it is the relationship with your Creator.  Honest, raw, life-giving, life-changing.   🕊

Is Love Transactional?

I have been reflecting on the concept of love being transactional lately for two reasons: Easter and my recent article in January on reciprocity, which provoked someone stating, "That sounds like you're making love transactional." 

The model is The Cross of Yeshua, which was and remains transactional for all of time.  A Holy Sacrifice of His life for my life.  The ultimate expression of love. 

Now, take a giant leap from the ultimate God-expressed love to mortal human love. 

I know; it's a painful leap, but it must be explored to have any hope of being lived out in a healthy way.

Have you ever noticed that those who demand more are often the ones who give the least?  I'm not minimizing their feeble attempts to show up. I'm simply no longer willing to maximize them either.

I have come to the irrevocable conclusion -- or better put, the affirmation of God's Word - that HOW we show up in human relationships is *solely* a heart issue.

Carnal people fall into two primary categories: givers and takers. 

I was a natural carnal giver.  I was determined to impact people by giving.... and giving... and giving .....even when I was tapped out to fumes.  I bought into the lie that I could love people into loving me as I desired to be loved through giving.... giving time, resources, giftings, knowledge, care - whatever --- if I had it, I often and without hesitation offered it.

Givers and takers attract one another in the carnal world.  The world calls this codependency.  It is unhealthy and destructive.  It ingrains burnout in the givers and entitlement in the takers.

I had to take a hard look at my own heart with Jesus.  

I saw the error in my ways.  

God is the one who created boundaries and limitations.  We see it first in the Creation narrative.  He set boundaries on the oceans, boundaries on the atmosphere, boundaries on the sea creatures, boundaries on the land animals.  Boundaries all about and all around.  

For decades, I taught my kids, "Boundaries are protection, not punishment," while I foolishly did not apply that to my own relationships. I readily accepted God's boundaries and personal corrections in the vertical scope between Him and me, but I failed to apply them to my human horizontal relationships.

The overreaching lie of give more, try harder had to be acknowledged before God as being deeply rooted before I could be liberated from its grip.

I have spent the most recent years recalibrating the rules of engagement.  

I no longer accept the taking without giving.   

It was a deep pruning, but a necessary one to give space for healthy relationships. I want to do life with givers, but true givers  - not carnal ones. 

True givers are those who have had their eyes opened to God's ways, abiding by boundaries He has established: regarding others as we desire to be regarded (Him included! Hello?!)....loving others as we have learned to love ourselves, which means with self-respect and an understanding of our value as a daughter or son of the Most High.  

The reality is people treat me the way I teach them to treat me.

If the bar is low, carnal people will give little and take a lot.

If the bar is high, carnal people likely won't even try.

But redeemed brothers and sisters, who have a heart to please the Father, will give in-kind; meaning, they will seek to reciprocate the building up of one another in the most holy of ways.

Is love transactional?  Absolutely. 

In simple terms, if you try to withdraw more than you deposit into a bank, you are cut off. 

If you are like I was -  a carnal giver who gave "credit" out to people, some of those loans might be to subprime borrowers (aka: highly unlikely to repay). The net effect in these situations is dual emotional bankruptcy.  

The Bible is very clear about credit.  You take it or give it, risking your own peril. 

I have come to see the wisdom of being cautious concerning emotional credit which always, unavoidably involves degrees of love. 

Your emotional credit should be guarded and used very sparingly. 

In the financial world, most people see the wisdom of having a high deposit balance with no debt, yet so easily abandon this principle when it comes to love and matters of the heart.  

Don't be among them.

Walk in wisdom.

Be quick to apply boundaries so as to avoid emotional debt.

Peace. 🤍

In a Clamoring World

 In a clamoring world, I praise God that He is my fortress.  

My life and all that it is is because of Him. I know this full well and rejoice in its truth!

As the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 46:

"God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble. 

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall,

God will help her at the break of day.

Nations are in an uproar, kingdoms fall;

He lifts His voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done,

the desolations He has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease 

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

He burns the shield with fire.

He says, "Be still, and know that I AM God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob IS our fortress.

I pray you know Him as YOUR fortress.

Peace to you. 🤍

 

The Gift of Solitude

It's a rainy foggy Sunday morning, and instead of hustling to get out the door to church, I feel a beckoning to stay put.  

I meander into the kitchen.  Turning on the Keurig, I await the precious minute until my coffee, complete with froth, is ready.  I walk back to my bedroom, where my two sweet pups, Nina and Anya, sitting atop my bed, await my return.  They know that, upon my return, they each will get two fingertips of froth.  After plumping my pillows and sitting up in bed with covers comfortably drawn back up around me, I take my first sip, and exhale deeply.  

Silence.

Many people run from silence, but for me, it is a pathway to desired solitude; a haven of Divine making.

For decades, I lived in the hustle and bustle of raising children. My only solitude was found in the early morning predawn hours. I would roll out of  bed while it was still dark, scurry downstairs before anyone else woke up and have my quiet time with God. It was my daily anchor then just as it remains so today, but today, I can linger in that haven as long as I want to with Him.

These days I find my life exceptionally rich in silence, and as a result, my thought life has grown exceptionally calm. It's been a two year process of recalibrating, and at first, I literally felt an internal resistance to the process. I knew how to be a multi-tasking "Martha", and while I enjoyed my intentional moments of "Mary", if I lingered too long, I felt a tinge of guilt. 

Why was this?   

Recently I read a study about fascia.  (I am a lifelong student. I simply love reading and learning.)  In short, what they are learning is that fascia is fluid, and it responds to sound waves it picks up in the atmosphere of our environment.  The body "reads the room", using fascia, and in turn instructs the brain to release appropriate hormones, that then instruct cellular response - be it cellular healing, demand, or degradation.  

If the environment is chronically tense, protective stress hormones (aka survival hormones such as cortisol) are released by the brain.  If the environment is full of fun and laughter, hormones such as dopamine or serotonin, for example are released. As we age, if we have lived in an environment of chronic stress and tension, the fascia stiffens, creating a cascade of health issues.

I marveled when I read the study.  The body is an absolute masterpiece of God's making. 

Isaiah 32:18 states, "My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places."

Silence and solitude allow the body to heal and stay strong and healthy by turning down the room signals, or better stated, the room noise. The brain reads the peace and releases the signal that all is well, and can then go about healing at a cellular level.  

We hear much about stress management, yet how many, when given the opportunity to sit in silence, turn music on or turn the TV on or call someone on the phone?  

I recently had a conversation with someone about their adult child, who they observed always had earbuds in, listening to something.  They actually said their adult child was distressed by silence.  I simply said, "It's because they have trained their brain that way, so they must work to retrain it."  

If they don't, they will have numerous physical challenges as they become older.  The body requires silence to heal and that silence isn't only to be during times of sleep. 

I hope you all don't fall into the category of running from silence.  Consider sitting in silence intentionally.  At first, you may very well find your thoughts racing, but in time, they will calm.

Internal peace with God is indeed priceless, but when external and internal peace align, its value cannot be overstated. God instructs His people to seek out peaceful habitations for a reason!

Make friends with silence, and you too will discover it is a pathway to solitude; a Divine haven unlike any other. 🤍

The Boundary of Reciprocity

For decades, I lived my life with what I now would say was a naive assumption: that most people live by the Golden Rule of "do unto others as you would have done unto you." 

They don't.

A large percentage of the human population lives first for self without much, if any, thought for their common man.

I look around -- all around -- at the brokenness of civilizations.  Simply put civilizations are no longer civil.  It's an "every man for himself" mentality that we bump up against every day, and we have the rash marks to prove it.

For me, I have drawn a line in the sand in recent years, and revisit the boundary periodically to make sure it is still visible to myself and others. 

After years of giving, when it defied logic to keep doing so, I developed a boundary of reciprocity in my life. This means that if a relationship does not actively seek to give back, I will stop sowing in that field.

It's common sense and natural law, if you think about it. 

A wise farmer will not continue to plant seeds in a field that does not yield a healthy harvest. 

We should all take a lesson from this.  

And as an important caveat here, ONLY God can heal the field; both ours as well as theirs. Each person is responsible for their own condition - whether they surrender to God and let Him do the "soil work" - or keep possessing the field in its sin degraded state.

The Bible speaks of sowing and reaping.  It is important that we walk with wisdom and let consequences/reaping of poor sowing be what it is.  Too many, while good intentioned, use their own strengths to absorb the poor behaviors of others, buffering the true results of poor soil. 

Did Jesus do this? Was such acceptance and absorption the model He presented?  No, it was not.

I have learned that loving does not mean self-sacrifice. Love - true, pure Love - builds up ONE ANOTHER. It seeks to encourage the best, even as the other reciprocates seeking to encourage the best.  It does NOT seek to take and take without end.  

So, today - I charge YOU with drawing your own boundary of reciprocity in your relationships. You will be the healthier for it..... and ultimately, so will your neighbors. 

And if you are someone who primarily lives for self, to take from others without giving back, check yourself - aspire to shift by wholly surrendering to God.... not in-part.... but the whole of you. 

To be of God means you are a giver; not a chronic taker. That's the plumbline. You either are or you are not.  Choose wisely, because God will not be mocked.....He too has boundaries. 

Home Is Not Where The Familiar Is

I walked outside for the first time this new year, and immediately I was hit with this thought, "Home is where the familiar is."  

It's a lie, but it doesn't sound like one to many who hear it.

We all want what the word home invokes; comfort, the familiar, an exhale of the soul, but where are we looking?

Audibly I spoke out loud, "That thought is a lie.  Home is where You are, and where You are is rarely familiar or known, but rather discovered progressively." 

To walk with God, one becomes very accustomed to discovering life in "real time." 

For the Christian, we have a personalized Guide who has promised to never leave us, but many elect to walk away from Him for the familiarity of past knowns, even if those are unhealthy.

We love our comforts; don't we?  The familiar foods, the familiar TV shows, the familiar bed, the familiar routines..... the familiar.

What we don't seem to take seriously is that we are our own enemy.  You can't change your life apart from Him because your brain will absolutely keep you looped --- chained -- to the familiar.   

He meets us at our point of desperation to set the captive free.  

The question then becomes how desperate are you for LIFE and liberty over the (chains of the) familiar?

When we adhere to the familiar over the call of God, we, by default, forfeit what He has for us.  

He couldn't give the Israelites their promised land, until they answered the call to leave the familiar.

They could have stayed in Egypt.  

And you, too, can stay right where you are in 2026. 

Permit me to ask: as you begin your brand new year, what is God calling you to?  I can guarantee you it will not be the familiar.  If answered, it will stretch you beyond where you thought your limits were.  But I also guarantee you that if you answer His call, you will not end your 2026 the same as you are beginning it.

Simply put, home is NOT a feeling; it is a real time relationship with the One who created you....a surrendered, obedient, unfamiliar, stretching, yet profoundly adventurous and life-changing relationship with Home personified.  

As a Christian, we have been trained to think of Home as Heaven - a destination.  But if we dare to change the mental script to Him as Home - it best fits our enteral path we ARE actively traversing with Him in the now, IF we elect to do so.

What are you waiting for?  Discover Home this year.  🤍

God's Drawing

With coffee mug in hand, I sat down upon the same spot I have sat down upon for over nine hundred mornings thus far since relocating. 

I crave this spot first thing in the morning, but this morning was different. The craving was intensely flipped. God was waiting for me.

The gift of being pursued.

In the Christian faith, much emphasis is placed upon the believer to pursue God.  To set apart time to study His Word.  To seek His counsel.  And while those are crucial disciples of the faith, the reality is HE first pursued us. THAT was the beginning. 

Paul even wrote a warning in Galatians to us:  Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?

Pure love is not earned, and it certainly is not kept by our doing.  As a matter of fact, the reality that Pure Love is gifted unmerited is what sets it drastically apart. 

We love because He first loved us. I John 4:19

When you abide in His pursuit as the object of His affection, ones entire world not only looks different; it IS different.

Recently I was conversing with someone about knowing  - leaning into - the character of God. If we focus on that filter, ALL doubts dissipate.  

It no longer is about our worthiness drawing His affection, His care, or His presence.

As God said to Moses: I am who I am.

He shows up.  

He heals us.  

He leads us out of wildernesses. 

He leads us to green pastures and quiet waters.

Why?

Because He loves us.

No strings attached.

No hoops to jump through.

It's not about performance.

It's about heart posture.

First, His towards us.

Then, ours towards Him.

Once love abounds, the concept of Jesus being Lord of my life is both natural and right.

The created finds safety in His Lordship, not restriction.

His ways are protection, not punishment.

John 10:9 reads: I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. They will come in and out, and find pasture. 

No fear. 

No doubt.

No worry. 

Only assurance.

Only safety.

Only provision.

I trust you know His pursuit, but if you don't, consider His invitation:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door; I WILL come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 

Revelation 3:20

This Christmas season I pray you answer the knock at your own heart's door.  

He came to this earth to seek and save those who are lost, wandering around hopeless - wondering, "What is the point to any of this?"

He's waiting for you.... will you answer His knock?  

I pray you do.....

Merry Christmas, all!  🤍