Heather Holleman's Blog, page 40

Holding Your Hand

As I continue exploring the “hand” imagery in the Bible, I find another beautiful passage. Many people I know memorize this passage and hold it in their hearts as their favorite, most comforting verse. Maybe you’ll feel that way as well. It’s Psalm 73:23-26, written by a temple musician, Asaph, about God. He says this:

Yet I am always with you;
��������you hold me by my right hand.
You guide��me with your counsel,
��������and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
��������And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart��may fail,
��������but God is the strength��of my heart
��������and my portion��forever.

Picture God holding your hand. He guides and comforts. How beautiful to feel it!

The post Holding Your Hand appeared first on Heather Holleman.

What You Picture

I love picturing God stretching out His hand. You see that phrase repeated so often in scripture. You also see the idea of God taking people “by the hand.” Can you imagine? When Jesus raised the young girl to life in Matthew 9:25, we read how He “took the girl by the hand.” Jesus leads a blind man “by the hand” (Mark 8:23); He takes a demon-delivered boy “by the hand” (Mark 9:27). I love the tenderness of it. I love the strength of it. But perhaps my favorite moment of Jesus reaching out His hand involves Peter. Peter walks out on the water to join Jesus in Matthew 14. We read this:

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.��But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ���Lord, save me!��� Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.�����You of little faith,�����he said,�����why did you doubt?���

I spent some time trying to picture this scene. I found a beautiful painting by Youngsung Kim called “The Hand of God.” You can see the image here:

The Hand of GodToday, I picture this hand reaching down to pull you and me up and out of whatever overwhelming situation sinks us.

The post What You Picture appeared first on Heather Holleman.

A Reader’s Great Question

This morning, a reader reached out to talk about The Six Conversations. He offered one of his favorite questions to ask others, and I’m so excited about it! It’s a perfect question to lead to spiritual conversations in particular. Here’s the question:

���What are you seeking in . . . (life, in a relationship, in a career)? Essentially, it’s both a cognitive and volitional question, but it also involve emotions. What am I seeking in life? What am I seeking in my relationships? What am I seeking in my career?

I love thinking about how I would answer each question. In my life right now, I’m seeking simplicity and joy. In my relationships, I’m seeking authentic connection. In my career, I’m seeking greater effectiveness. What would you ask as a follow-up question to these answers? Imagine the connected conversation that would follow:

Who else do you talk to about living a life of simplicity? (social)

What does “authentic connection” feel like to you? (emotional)

What processes or workspace additions do you put in place to increase your work effectiveness? (physical)

How do you make sense of the lack of joy in people’s lives? (cognitive)

What choices do you make to protect authenticity? (volitional)

How has your relationship with God led to a joyful, more simple life? (spiritual)

I cannot wait to have this kind of conversation. It reminds me so much of how, like the reader points out, Jesus asks questions like these. What do you want? (John 1:38) Who are you looking for? (John 20:15)

The post A Reader’s Great Question appeared first on Heather Holleman.

When We Pray for Revival

In the book, Touch the World Through Prayer, the author asks, “Just what is real revival?” I love his answer. He writes this:

“Revival is a manifestation of the holy, sovereign, almighty God. It is God visiting His people with special and renewed blessing. Revivals usually bring a new God-consciousness, a new revelation of God, a new sensitivity to God, at times an awesome sense of God’s holiness and righteous demands. These are times when God makes bare His holy arm in salvation and His holy voice in the inner consciousness of people. Revivals are sudden interventions of the sovereign, supernatural working of God in the life and witness of the church. . . they are always the work of the blessed Holy Spirit.

I’ve been thinking about this definition for several days now. It guides my prayer for revival for my city: I pray that God manifests His holiness, sovereignty, and might. I pray for that special and renewed blessing. I pray that God removes the “spirit of stupor” (Romans 11:8), “confusion” (Galatians 5:10), and “error” (2 peter 3:17) so people experience a profound sensitivity to God. I pray for God’s holy voice to speak to the inner consciousness of people.

Can you imagine revival like this in your church, in your town, or even in your state or country? Let’s pray together for this. And when it comes as a sudden intervention with many people seeking God, we will be ready.

The post When We Pray for Revival appeared first on Heather Holleman.

What You Reread

“Tell me what you read and I���ll tell you who you are” is true enough, but I���d know you better if you told me what you reread. ~ Fran��ois Mauriac

The post What You Reread appeared first on Heather Holleman.

A Sticky Little Verb in the Bible

This morning in the book of Joshua, I notice how many times Joshua tells us to “cling” to God. In Joshua’s last days–and in his last words of blessing to the people–he says this in Chapter 22:

Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the��Lord��commanded you, to love the��Lord��your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to��cling��to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

I love this little verb cling. When I picture “clinging” to God, it’s a desperate move. It’s like a terrified child clutching a father or a shaking animal tightly burrowing into the arms of safety. To cling to God means we hold onto Him so tightly because we need Him. He’s our only hope. We cling to Him like someone storm-tossed who needs stability, like someone who cannot see the way, like someone who needs protection.

May we stay desperate for God. May we cling.

The post A Sticky Little Verb in the Bible appeared first on Heather Holleman.

Imperfect Little Treats

I loved today because I delivered little treats to my colleagues who were around the English department. My wrapped treat was simple and not glamorous: some chocolates and sugar cookies I decorated myself. They were neither fancy nor skillfully iced. But everyone thanked me and smiled, and a few people said they wait all year to get my Christmas cookie delivery.

I reminded myself that imperfect little treats, made with love, work just as well (and sometimes even better) as professional looking things. I think about this because every year, I almost talk myself out of giving homemade or baked gifts because it might embarrass me. But when I take the focus off of myself, and give an imperfect little treat with love, it blesses people. So if you’re holding back from doing something for someone in the way of a gift, do it, even if you think your efforts are embarrassing!

The post Imperfect Little Treats appeared first on Heather Holleman.

When the Lord’s Hand is On Us

This morning, I pondered 1 Chronicles 28 and how God gave David clear instructions to Solomon when it was time to build the temple. We read how David “gave [Solomon] the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind.��� The Holy Spirit put in David’s mind everything he needed to know to tell Solomon. We then read how David says, “All this I have in writing as a result of the Lord���s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.���

David wasn’t frantic or stressed out. David wasn’t confused or blocked. Instead, he recounts how the Spirit put things in his mind and how God allowed him to understand everything. David says it’s because “the Lord’s hand” was on him.

I pray for this. I pray that the Lord’s hand would be on us, on our work, on our plans. May God’s Spirit put God’s plans for us in our minds. May God give us all the details, and may we understand.

May the Lord’s hand be upon us.

I finally recall in Acts 11:21 this beautiful verse about the work scattered Christians were doing to tell others about Jesus. We read that “the Lord���s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”

May the Lord’s hand be with us so many believe and turn to the Lord.

The post When the Lord’s Hand is On Us appeared first on Heather Holleman.

“Specificity Leads to Visibility”

I’m reading the book 21 Days to Childlike Prayer–One Specific Prayer at a Time by Jed Coppenger. As I sat reading in my office this morning, I kept stopping at the idea of listing specific prayers since “specificity leads to visibility.”

It’s true. Sometimes people mention that I seem to see God at work in so many places and in so many answers to prayer. It’s because someone taught me to ask in specific ways so I can then look for how God is working. Specificity leads to visibility.

We ask specifically. Then, God becomes visible in His answers. What a marvelous thing to consider!

The post “Specificity Leads to Visibility” appeared first on Heather Holleman.

5 Minutes to Break the Cycle

I woke up thinking about James Clear’s words on breaking a bad cycle. He writes this:

���It only takes five minutes to break the cycle. Five minutes of exercise and you are back on the path. Five minutes of writing and the manuscript is moving forward again. Five minutes of conversation and the relationship is restored. It doesn’t take much to feel good again.���

I especially like the “five minutes of conversation” idea. When trying to reconnect with someone you’ve lost touch with, for example, five minutes can start a fresh cycle of warm, loving connection. I also think about things I don’t necessarily want to do. When I start–for just five minutes–I’m on a new path of productivity.

It doesn’t take much.

The post 5 Minutes to Break the Cycle appeared first on Heather Holleman.