Karen Moore's Blog, page 8

God Loved You First

Jesus made a conscious choice. He agreed with His Father that something had to be done. Someone had to rescue the people who were consistently and constantly getting themselves into trouble. He was Holy, sinless, and yet, willing to save the people God created.

Of course, we weren’t present for the discussion the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had as they deliberated over what to do about humankind. We just know the result.  Jesus left heaven behind and came to earth. He opened people’s eyes and gave them new hearts. He made it possible for them to believe in their Creator. He did all of this for every living soul.

He loved you even before you existed, and He’s been loving you ever since. Jesus knew no one else could give you a clean slate, a way to be forgiven, and a ticket back to heaven. No one else could agree to take your sin, to become all the things that keep humans away from the presence of God. No one else could be the Savior of the world.

What made Him love you so much? Why did He try to shine His light to catch your interest? He wanted to come into your heart, your temple, your home, so He could dine with you. He wanted you to have a personal relationship and have the opportunity to talk and have fellowship. He wanted the best for you.  When He saw you coming. He didn’t want anything to keep you from God or Himself. He was willing to take on the insults, the suffering, the pain, the ingratitude, and the cruel consequences because you mean the world to Him. You are His child, His heir, and His bride. You can’t be more loved than that!

So, as you celebrate the Easter season, share the fun of bunny rabbits and colored eggs with your grandchildren, and then share His love with everyone around you. Share a story of what He has done to make your life better. Share a meal with someone who would otherwise eat alone. Keep a promise. Embrace those around you with hugs and smiles. Give whatever you can and do it from the heart. Set your Easter table with love. You can show others that Jesus is not just an idea. He’s not just a nice person who did good things for others. He’s not simply a teacher, or a healer, or a brilliant theologian. He’s more. He’s so much more because He cares about you, right where you are. He sees you and long ago, He talked to His Father about you, and He decided He just couldn’t let you go. He had to come to earth to stamp the ticket that would get you home again. 

He’s known you all your life. May you get to know Him better with each passing day. 

No one can love you more!

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It Only Takes One

A number of years ago, an intriguing tale was brought to life in a TV series called The NeverEnding Story. The story involves a young hero named Atreyu who is trying to save his planet from utter destruction. One episode was called The Nothing. The job of The Nothing was to keep people in a world of despair and take away any sense of possibility or imagination they might have. The Nothing worked best when people felt that they could do nothing to change things. The Nothing threatened any thoughts of hope or goodness. It had more control when people were disillusioned and filled with despair. 

I can’t help drawing a parallel between this story and the despair in the world today. People who once would have relied on their faith, or depended on prayer, are walking away by the thousands, leaving hope and possibility behind. They imagine there is nothing they can do to stop the chaos in the world. They have surrendered all their power to those who manipulate their thoughts and emotions. They have forgotten who they are. Even Atreyu in the story, forgot who he was. He didn’t believe he had the power to stop The Nothing. The Empress of the planet assured him that he did have the power, because he still had hope and imagination and those things could start the ball rolling. 

Americans who profess to believe in God have reached an all-time low. The statistics are frightening. We not only have given up going to church, but we simply have also stopped believing in God. We’re more anxious than ever, more uncertain that good can prevail, and more susceptible to the outright lies of political leaders. We marginalize one another, forgetting that we’re all important to keeping hope and love and faith alive. We’ve forgotten that we’re loved by God.  We’re exchanging Everything for Nothing. 

I pose this thought because each of us plays a part in the story being told right now. You may only be one, but you can tell God’s story, or you can tell no story. You can buy into a world where nothing is beautiful or faithful or blessed, or you can surrender your heart in prayer and ask God to guide you into all truth, so you can keep telling His story. His story is the only one that is never ending. 

Please pray with me for God’s story to prevail.

Thanks to FeedSpot for hosting my blogs.

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Divine Possibilities

Recently, I was reviewing some of the entries in my book called It’s Still Possible. When I wrote the book, I hoped to inspire readers to recognize the ways God has worked in their lives, doing amazing things to create new possibilities. Sometimes their options were very clear to them. Other times, they required a lot of prayer.  Every time, they needed to experience and believe in unique possibilities so they could recognize God’s hand at work. 

So, what helps us believe in possibility on any level? Perhaps it’s because we were born with a gene for optimism. We simply trust things will get better in the future despite how it looks as we observe the present. It could be that we’ve experienced real possibilities that created positive outcomes we never expected. We set a goal and amazing things happened. We realized that without our help, that outcome would not have been possible. If we run with that thought, and we affirm our part in making something possible, then maybe we can see by extension, that God can make all things possible. We may have come up with a formula to create something awesome or new, but He came up with all the ingredients we needed. We didn’t achieve anything by ourselves. He inspired our hearts and minds and provided the tools that created the perfect outcome. 

Most of us love inspirational stories of overcomers, people defying the odds to survive or to win or to live the dream they harbored for years.  We believe that God makes things possible for us, through us, and around us. He knows what will benefit us right now. He works for our good, to give us the advantage, to show us the most successful path. He doesn’t do it just for us though. He does it so we will tell His amazing stories to everyone else. We must share the mysterious, the mystical, the amazing, and miraculous things He does because it’s how God reveals Himself. During this Lenten season then, remember some of the most inspiring stories, Divine possibilities, you’ve ever heard. Think of how they helped you know without a doubt that God showed up and blessed you. Your history is an inspired history. You’ve had moments where you know God touched your life. Share those stories with anyone who will listen.

The Risen Lord is your Redeemer, your friend, and your life preserver. He stands ready every day to strengthen you with hope and new opportunities. He is indeed the God of all things possible. Keep telling His stories, keep remembering His goodness to you and those you love. Inspire the hearts and minds of others and help them discover greater possibility.

You are HIs light, shining to help the world believe in Divine possibilities.

 

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Hello, Gorgeous!

I have a friend in East Tennessee who is always a glimmering light. The first thing she says when you see her is, “Hello, Gorgeous!” Now, I don’t know about you, but it’s been some time since I felt I was even a glimpse of gorgeous, so this phrase makes me blush. It makes me wonder what on earth she can see in me to make such a declaration. Of course, she calls my husband gorgeous too, but you know, he is.

The funny thing about Connie’s greeting is that something in me actually wants to be gorgeous, or at least pleasing. So today, no matter who you are, I want to remind you that at every age and stage, you have the kind of glow that can only be classified as gorgeous. You may not see it anymore when you look in the mirror, but I imagine that you are more beautiful now than you were way back when. Why do I think that? Because the older you get, the more you’ve been able to embrace your life as a follower of Christ. You were designed in God’s image and so you’ve grown to be more like Him, and to reflect Him in ways you never could when you imagined a youthful perfection. You are becoming more gorgeous by the day and that’s the truth.

So, what does it mean to be a reflection of God? It means you meet the world each day with a very different point of view from those who brush God aside. You look out and see God’s handiwork in every landscape and butterfly. You see the good in the people around you because you look for the spirit of God within them. You open your hands and your heart to do all you can to help others shine. These are not simple things because the world is continually seeking to find ways to make you feel ugly. The world view is not about love and grace and mercy, but about those things that leave others behind. You are God’s image, His child. You are among those that He looks at and fusses over because He can’t do enough for you. You are gorgeous!

So today, take a look at that amazing, beautiful human you see in the mirror and thank God for all He’s done to give you a brighter, lighter countenance. Thank Him for shaping and molding you into something that is far beyond ordinary, something that is beyond your wildest expectation, and see His light shining through you. You can’t help but see that you are, indeed, gorgeous!

Blessings to you all today.

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The Time Thief

Today, I am sharing a piece I wrote in a book called What a Great Word. I believe this is one of my best books, but sadly the timing of its release meant few people ever knew it was there. So, I thought I’d share some of my favorite entries. Since the book takes one simple Bible word and asks readers to reflect on its potential meaning, I’ve chosen the word “Time” to share with you. The scripture is from Hebrews 10:15-16 and it reads, “This is the agreement I will make with them at that time, says the Lord. I will put my teachings in their hearts and write them on their minds.” 

Here’s the entry:

“What time is it?” That seems like an innocent question. After all, you’re most likely trying to accomplish a lot of things in one day or week, or some specific time frame. Time is a mystery and a thief. It’s a friend and a challenger. You may take note of it as you pass by the mirror, remembering a different version of the person you now see. It beckons you to get in the race and then presses the button to see how far you can get in the brief interval it allows. 

In the Scripture from Hebrews, we notice that God ordained a time when He would put His teachings in our hearts and write them on our minds. The Creator of the universe, the One who inspired every minute of history, declares that He has given you a time to know Him. He has caused His Spirit to intervene in your life and teach you heart-first that He exists. He has written messages in the recesses of your mind so that you will not run out of time to discover He is there. He has made Himself very clear and your timeline is His. 

You have a lot of ways to spend your time today, but it could be worthwhile to check to see what time it is in your relationship with God. Have you given Him the time of day? Have you asked Him to spend very personal time with you as you pray? Have you got time to waste? He has put His Word in your heart so that it is there for all the times of your life. You’ll have a great time together, and He’ll add joy to everything you are yet to do. 

Call on God while He may be found and don’t let time steal your opportunity to grow closer to Him right now. In fact, a chat with Him could be timely indeed.

Just remember, He’s in your heart, and He loves to spend time with you. 

Blessings to you.

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Prayer: Why Bother?

For some of us, prayer is essential. We won’t leave home without it. We believe that life goes better with prayer.

Some of us are still curious about prayer. We’ve tried it with minimal success and determined that it might be good for those crisis moments, but it’s not necessary for everyday living. We imagine we can get along just fine without it, because if prayer is just a crutch, we don’t really need it. 

C. S. Lewis said, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

In a world where darkness lurks around every corner, prayer brings the opportunity to turn the light on. It’s the place where hearts are restored to possibilities and challenges are embraced and overcome. Why do we think that, or why do we bother to pray?

I think we learn about prayer, first by observation, noting that others find this form of communication helpful. If we read the Bible, we note that even Jesus prayed. Like us, He was in a relationship with the Creator.  At some point, we take steps, much like a toddler looking for balance, and we try prayer for ourselves. We begin to discover that with prayer something changed, something good happened. We can’t explain it. We just know we feel better. Emboldened by the result of our beginning efforts to pray, we start to desire prayer. We long to know more about how it works, and why it makes a difference. We start to be more impressed that God really does join us in prayer, meeting us on the threshold every time we seek Him. That very thing strengthens us and before long, we find ourselves keeping journals or making notes of the answers we found in prayer. We feel inspired, cautioned, and listened to. We recognize that we have opened some kind of cosmic channel, some door that is beyond us, yet within our grasp. We actually sense that God is with us, listening to every word, encouraging us to speak our minds and share our hearts. 

That realization makes us want to know God better, hear His voice, move closer to Him. It humbles us to imagine that the designer of the entire universe cares about us and wants to talk with us. It helps us see His kindness and faithfulness and love. Prayer teaches us that there is far more to life than we can see or imagine. So, like C.S. Lewis, we pray because we are helpless, and we know we cannot help ourselves. In fact, we know that nothing on earth can help us like God can. He doesn’t need our talent, or our amazing intellect, or even our gifts. He simply needs our hearts. 

When we draw near to God, He opens the door and invites us in, ready to hear us and share His thoughts with us. Prayer is the building block of our relationship. Prayer is God’s way of sharing the details of your life. All you have to do is call His name and He’s there for you. That’s worth the bother, don’t you think?

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Plan A, Plan B, Plan G

If you’re a planner, like I am, you like to orchestrate things about your life, so you’re prepared. You like to know when company is coming so you can bake a pie, or at least have cookies from the market. You like to be ready to serve those around you. That may mean you’re not as comfortable when your boss drops a new project in your lap before you’ve finished the last one to your satisfaction. You’re not as thrilled to have people just drop in at dinner time when you were just having leftovers. Planning helps you believe things will go as they should.

Now, most of us will go so far as to figure out the ideal plan, let’s call it plan A. Then, we’ll have some alternative ideas in case we need them, which would be plan B. But what if this whole approach is missing the one thing we need to keep in mind, Plan G. Proverbs reminds us that we can have a lot of plans, but it’s actually God’s plans that will prevail. In that case, perhaps we should begin anything we do with Plan G, Plan God. Maybe that is how we can be more certain that our steps will count, our actions be embraced, and our outcomes be the best ones possible.

Proverbs 16 reminds us that if we commit our plans to God, they will succeed. Does that mean the outcome will be exactly what we expected? No! It means the outcome will be what God expected, and so we don’t have to worry about anything. God’s plans come with alternative solutions and we didn’t have to figure them out ahead of time. We just have to trust that He is guiding our thoughts and actions. You may remember that in Jeremiah 29, we are given God’s plans for us. He says, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you.” Plans to prosper you are successful, blessed, those that go beyond any details you may have come up with. Plans to prosper your heart and mind, your spirit, and well-being. Plans to strengthen and renew you. The Scripture goes on to say that God does not have any plans to harm you. That seems almost unnecessary to say. After all, God wants your good, your best, because you’re His child. 

The final thought in that Scripture of Jeremiah 29 says, “I have plans to give you hope and a future.” It seems to me that Plan G then is the only way to go. Hope is always about the future. Hope is that amazing motivator that keeps us moving, striving, trying to become more than we are now. Hope is God’s gift to any plan we might make, at least if we set our own plans aside, and give everything over to God. So, here’s my thought. 

When you are facing something that requires your gift of planning, before you make the list of pros and cons, or the list of what ifs and maybes, or the list of things that must be done, stop. Open your heart in prayer and let God into your planning session. Listen for His direction and He will guide your steps. After all, Proverbs 16:9 says, “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” That must mean you’ll be a step ahead and moving in the right direction.

I highly recommend Plan G. You’ll see God’s hand at work every time, and your heart will be at peace.

 

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490 Times. Really?

In the Gospel of Matthew, a believer asks Jesus about forgiveness. Apparently, he is struggling with forgiving another believer. It seems he’s forgiven his friend several times already and is now wondering how many times he must keep forgiving him. Of course, he thinks seven times should be fair. No doubt, it was a surprise to him when Jesus responded with “not seven times, but seventy times seven” or 490 times. Whew!  He’s probably not really counting, but that sounds like too much.

Chances are, even the best of us would lose our patience if we forgave the same person for even twenty foibles, so 490 times is just ridiculous! Why not just walk away from the relationship? What good is it to be around someone who is constantly apologizing for what they’ve done?  Of course, you may feel that way when you’re doing the forgiving. You may not feel quite the same way if you’re the one who needs forgiveness. 

One of the things to consider here is that Jesus is talking about forgiveness among believers with this guideline. Perhaps it’s even a way we can take the Lord’s Prayer to heart. After all, doesn’t it say, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors?” Isn’t this prayer we recite often saying we want God to forgive us the same way we forgive others? It doesn’t say forgive us because we ask you to but forgive us the same way we forgive others. That means the way we forgive one another is a pretty big deal. We might prefer that God would forgive us even more than we forgive others, but the Scripture doesn’t give us that choice. 

Does God have a big computer that keeps tabs on how many times we’ve been forgiven? When it gets close to 490 does He cut us off, decide the relationship isn’t worth it, and tell us He just can’t stand us anymore? No, because He forgives us when we ask with a contrite heart, and He separates our failures from the relationship we share with Him. He moves past the mess we made and gives us a clean slate.

You’re God’s child, and He always gives you room to grow. He wants to give you a chance to do better next time. Yes, sometimes you have to let a relationship go, but forgiveness is a choice and a chance to try again. Every time you say the Lord’s Prayer, you’re reminded about the power of forgiveness. Forgive us our debts, our trespasses, our failings, those thoughtless things we do, as we forgive others. Forgive us, Lord, so we have big enough hearts to forgive one another. 

How many times do you forgive someone then? Every time!

 

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The Courage to Be You

Most of us are more courageous than we even realize. After all, we rise to the challenges life throws at us, and we grow from them and create new opportunities. We look at yesterday and know that nothing good can happen today if we just look back. We learn from experience and become more authentic, more of the person we were designed to be. It all starts with courage. It all starts today.

Some days though, it takes effort to get out of bed. Your list of options for the day don’t seem that promising or rewarding and so you have to muster all the strength you have just to try again. You get up anyway, partly because you’re the kind of person who believes good things still happen and good people still exist. You know everybody around you is just as vulnerable, just as uncertain, and yet just as willing to step up and step out and try again. 

You were born with courage. In fact, the Bible even says, you were not made to be timid. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Also, in Joshua 1:9, we read, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Okay, so the truth is you are courageous and powerful. You are a force to be reckoned with every single day because God is with you. That means no matter what the latest news buzz is all about, or what craziness is happening that is hard to understand, you are strong. You were made with a spirit of power and love and self-discipline. Wow! That means you can keep being amazing you and trusting God is with you wherever you go. You can rise each day to give and receive blessings. Hold that thought when you feel a bit wobbly and know that God is right there holding you up as well.

You don’t have to be dismayed by the circumstances of life because courage is your middle name. 

May God bless you and keep you everywhere you go today. 

Courage, dear heart!

 

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Where Is Your Heart?

Find information about Joy at: joybrown.org.

Today’s blog is from the book, Finding Joy, by my friend, Joy Brown. I hope you enjoy her insight for us.

 

After Adam sinned, he hid from God’s presence. When God came to commune with Adam in the cool of the day, He asked, “Adam, where are you?” (Gen. 3:8-9)

God’s question was rhetorical because He knew where Adam was. God is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (everywhere at once) and omnipotent, (all-powerful). Hebrew scholars suggest that a better understanding of God’s question might be, “Adam, where is your heart?”

God asks each of us that same question. Like Adam, we may find ourselves hiding out, unwilling to answer. Why? Because we’ve allowed something else to take God’s place. We’ve become too busy, too material, too consumed with life and ourselves.

Blaise Paschal, the French philosopher, spoke of how empty our hearts become when we’re separated from God. Paschal said, “This infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God Himself.”

I once learned something beautiful that took my breath away. In Hebrew, the alphabet letter shin means Almighty God (El Shaddai). If you were to see an outline of a cross-section of the human heart, you would see that it is shaped just like that letter. In other words, our hearts are formed in the shape of God’s name. That is why nothing else in the world can take God’s place in your heart. God put a portion of Himself within your heart from your first appearance on earth.

Ponder that thought and ask yourself the question, “Where is your heart?”

 

note from Karen: I was unable to reproduce here the photos from Joy’s Book, Finding Joy. The letter shin is shaped somewhat like a “W” and the cross-section of the heart, has a similar shape. It’s pretty awesome. God has indeed placed a portion of Himself within us. 

 

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