Henriet's Blog

Russell Wilson Quote: "Well done." That's Jesus!

When we are at the worst times of our lives, when we are battling with something, or struggles, whatever it may be, when we are at our highest point as well, when things are going really well, we want somebody to comfort us and be there for us and to say, 'Well done.' That's Jesus!

Russell Wilson

I'm sure Jesus is smiling on him and saying, "Well done!" Russell you make us proud as you always point to God and give him the glory. May God bless you as you serve him. Go Hawks!

God keeps his promises exactly...in his time

Then the LORD did exactly what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age. It all hapened at the time God had said it would.

Genesis 21:1-3, NLT

Genesis 21 starts with the declaration that the LORD, the Almighty God, did exactly what he had promised. What an incredible statement! Can I count on this reality at all times? Will God keep the promises he made me? I'm still waiting for some key promises to be fulfilled, especially about a family member who is still struggling. God promised me,

"Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 91:14-16, NIV

Yet it's been seven years since God showed me these verses and I have been waiting and praying. Sometimes it seems like it's never going to happen. Yet I know that God is God. He keeps his promises. I can trust him. Abraham's story points to this truth.

What had he promised Abraham? He promised Abraham would have so many descendants that they'd be too numerous to count through a son born to him by Sarah. (Gen. 15:5 and Gen. 17:16)

• It wasn't logical. Sarah and Abraham were too old. Sarah was 90 and Abraham 100 when Isaac was born.
• It wasn't fast. God made the promise about 20 years before Abraham and Sarah had Isaac.
• It wasn't without challenges. Abraham and Sarah had tried to "help" God keep his promises...through their own solution. Abraham slept with Sarah's servant Hagar and had a son. This was not God's promised son. Did they mess it all up?

Regardless of logic, time or interference, God kept his promise—exactly as he promised. This shouldn't surprise us because God is faithful and true but so often it does surprise us.

I've acted like Abraham and Sarah...

• applied logic to let God (or myself) off the hook,
• thought it was too late and the time to fulfill the promise had passed,
• or tried to "help" God and thought I'd blown it so God would change his mind.

No matter how much I trust God, sometimes it's been hard to believe the promises will be kept, especially when everything seems to go wrong. I've doubted and been tempted to let God off the hook by assuming the promises were not really made, or I misunderstood, or I did something to undermine the promise. All this because it's not happened...yet!

It's easy to get stuck when I look at my circumstances and the calendar. Time passes and God has not "fixed" it yet. But this I know: I can rest in the assurance that God keeps his promise and he keeps them in his time. God is God and keeps his promises because he promised. He keeps his promises, exactly as he promised.

When does he keep them? At the time he says he will. It's in his time...which is rarely (should I say never) our time. While I'm still waiting I can hang on to the fact that in God's perfect time, he will keep his promise.

What promises has God made you? Are you still waiting? Have you let God off the hook? Are you concerned you might have messed it up by stepping in to "help" God along? How can Abraham and Sarah's story help you?

Quote on Hope by Martin Luther King Jr.

Superbowl 2015 bound...Go Hawks!

Unbelievable. What an aweful awesome game. Yay Hawks. Impressed by the effort, the persistence and the faith.

Olympic Opening Ceremonies Feature Team USA in Sweaters Knit from Oregon's Imperial Wool

It's all about living your story...

My friend Kristi S. forwarded a newsletter from her cousin, Jeanne Carver. Jeanne and Dan Carver own and operate the Imperial Stock Ranch on the North-Central Oregon Plateau. They have committed their lives to operating their 35,000 acre sheep ranch preserving the land and the way of life. Now they have a chance to be part of an Olympic moment...as part of Ralph Lauren's Team USA sweaters. Here's what Jeanne wrote:

Our Olympic Moment is just days away. On Friday night, Team USA will step out in the Parade of Nations wearing 650 sweaters designed by Ralph Lauren, knit with 5.6 million yards of our Erin Yarn.

When I look at these sweaters, I see American soil. Soil that grows beautiful grasses, grazed by sheep, and converted to beautiful natural fiber to make a parade uniform for the best U.S. athletes, participating in the most prestigious sporting event in the world. When I look at these sweaters, I see an authentic American treasure.

They're also feautured in an article in the Oregonian newspaper. It's exciting to see people living their story well...to tell His story. Thanks Jeanne and Dan!

Opening ceremonies will be broadcast Friday, February 7, 2014.

Seahawks 12th Man—ia

It's everywhere. We're all in. To say we're excited is well...an understatement.

Go Hawks!

Can you imagine if we were this excited about living our faith? Just saying...

Daily Living Like Jesus with Skin On

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."     Colossians 1:27. NIV

Blackaby: Discipleship is Christ in You

My friend Cindy and I think of living missionally as being Jesus with skin on. The word "missional" is overused and misunderstood. Henry Blackaby, in his Experiencing God Day-by-Day devotional on January 19, writes what it means to live this way. He states, "Discipleship is Christ in You." (I love Blackaby's devotional. He writes simultaneously concise, deep and simple. As an author, I consider communicating deep truths clearly in three paragraphs an admirable feat. Blackaby delivers daily...)

Letting Jesus Live and Love Through Me

God has chosen to place His Son, Jesus, in every believer. Jesus' life becomes our life. Discipleship, according to Blackaby, is "learning to give Jesus Christ total access to your life so He will live His life through you." It's the essence of missional living...Christ in us and through us.

Blackaby concludes: "God wants to reveal Himself to those around you by working mightily through you. He wants your family to see Christ in you each day. God wants to express His love through your life. There is a great difference between 'living the Christian life' and allowing Christ to live His life through you."

It's a life long challenge to learn to let Jesus be in charge of our lives and fully live through us. People don't need us to be nicer. They don't need more of us. We cannot bring people to a saving relationship with Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can and he often does that through Jesus' life in us. Only when we live our life stories with Jesus at the helm, will we demonstrate Jesus' love and power. Only when Jesus lives in us can we be missional—Jesus with skin on.

Are we allowing Christ to live his life through us today? What would that look like in our specific context? What are the implications for our thoughts, words and actions? 

Consider It All Pure Joy

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
                                                                                                                            James 1:2, NIV

Sharing Stories

In May 2013, I started a discussion group based on my book, The Story Lives. Six women gathered at Lucky Jack's Latte and we quickly decided not to plow through the material in eight weeks but take our time. We're still getting together weekly.

It's been a transformational experience for all of us. The book served as the platform to discuss our life stories and discover God's plans for our lives—together. By telling and exploring our stories we developed deep, transparent and life-long friendships. We've laughed, cried, and challenged each other through really hard trials, including: chronic pain, severe financial distress, serious illness, relational issues, and parenting drug-addicted children. (We're not the fluffy variety.) Based on our circumstances sad faces might be expected but you won't find any. When you see us you'd think we have it all! And we do...

Pure Joy           

We all have joy! Not just happiness or run-of-the-mill joy. We're discovering true, unending joy. It started blossoming when Lynn helped me through a challenging situation with a person I don't like. Lynn shared about a similar situation in her life and how God showed her to give thanks for everything, including a difficult person.

She shared this Bible verse with us:

"The joy of the Lord is your strength," Neh. 8:10.

With Lynn's encouragement, I started practicing giving thanks. It works! Since then joy has been an ongoing focus and we're all practicing giving thanks. Joy has been the inevitable result as we spur each other and encourage each other. We've all increased in joy.

It's changed us. Can you imagine having true joy while your child is a drug addict, or your loved-one is facing an uncurable disease, or you suffer chronic pain? Only God can make that happen! And he's doing it. It's available to all of us. It's a fruit that flows from his Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). 

God taught us to embrace trials and experience pure joy. 

 

Image sources:
http://servantsofgrace.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/consider-it-pure-joy-my-brothers-whenever-you-face-1.jpg
http://mamawsplace4.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-your-day-be-filled-with-joy.html
http://3rdwaverevolution.com/2011/11/17/pure-joy-in-the-face-of-trials/

Focus for Success in 2014

Every New Year's Day, I like to start off by spending time with God and writing in a new, blank journal. As part of my ritual, I record the year's non-negotiables:

• Follow God absolutely and obey him
• Trust Jesus fully—love and obey him
• Practice the Holy Spirit's Presence and be filled with him, living under his control
• Wait for the Lord in all things
• Worship, praise and love God
• Be strong and courageous
• Rejoice in the Lord always

A word from God

As soon as I asked God, "Lord, please give me a word for the year... ", hope popped into my mind. At first I thought it meant to have hope in the midst of circumstances, or hope for the year. I wondered, "Why this word for 2014?" Today's Spirit 105.3 verse of the day was: Psalm 31:24, "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD."

Why hope? God is inviting me to focus on him: God is my hope and my hope needs to be in him.

Verse for the year

I also asked for a verse for the year. This didn't come instantly. As I waited quietly, Psalm 91:1 came to mind. So I looked it up:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.         Psalm 91:1, ESV

 

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High

will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.     Psalm 91:1, NLT

I've been thinking about this verse every day. When things start to get stressful, I say this verse to myself, reminding me I can rest in God's shadow. He is the Most High, the Almighty. Nothing is too hard for him or beyond him. I imagine his shadow is HUGE! So I can just relax, exhale, lower my shoulders, and lean back into his care. He's got it and he's got me! I've been doing a lot of "resting" already but it works!!!

I choose hope in God and staying close to him so he can act on my behalf and I can rest. It's going to be a good year because God made it and he is good!

Image sources:
* Non-negotiable from http://www.warrenbaptist.org/non-negotiable/
* Hope from http://ilifejourney.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hope-in-focus.jpg

Genuine Christ-followers—Normal? No we're not!

A while back Susan, a friend in one of the women's leadership discipleship missional communities I co-lead, wrote an email commenting to the group that we're not like her other friends…we're not normal.

Thank God we're not normal!

After a lively exchange she sent the following reply:

No...WE are not normal.

nor·mal [nawr-muhl]

adjective

1.conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; regular

That is what I meant, when I said my other friends are 'normal', and that our missional community of women leaders are not.

We don't conform to the standard, regular way of living. We are trying to live our lives the way God has designed us to.

We live Designer Lives, rather than Fred Meyer Lives :)

Obeying the Apostle Peter's instructions

"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10, ESV

We are supposed to stand out as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood loving God, loving each other, and loving everyone around us. As his people we should not look normal!

Kathy, another woman in our missional community, wrote back, "Praise God that we are not normal and don't conform to this world. We are supposed to stand out, right? That's what we are being taught in this community."

How about you? Are you normal?

HT: Susan VN and Kathy D