Lisa Cline's Blog, page 20
January 23, 2018
Back in the Saddle Again
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Imagine that you are riding atop a beautiful, strong, trustworthy, and brave horse that is carrying you to parts unknown. Try and picture your hands, as you sit atop the horse.
What are they doing? Holding the reins, right? Now imagine that they are folded in your lap as the horse has no reins but is controlled instead by an unseen force.
If you are like me, the thought of riding such a horse makes you more than a bit uncomfortable.
Yet, as a Christian, you will occasionally have the opportunity to ride on such a horse.
Wait, scratch that.
As a Christian, you are always traveling on such a horse as you journey through this life. Yet, that fact is easy to forget because life has a way of lulling you into this false sense of security in believing that you are walking a path of your own choosing, with God as kind of your sidekick.
Yet we know the opposite is true. For the Bible says that.
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
(Proverbs 16:9)
Or in other words…God is in control.
So when you next find yourself startled into the realization that you are sitting atop a horse with no reins, don’t panic. Instead look around and enjoy the view. And know that though you may not know exactly what the future has in store, you can be assured that God does and will lead you to exactly where you need to be.
December 31, 2017
I am the Lord your God.
(Ezekiel 20:7 ESV)
It sho...
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I am the Lord your God.
(Ezekiel 20:7 ESV)
It should be simple right? Give your life to God and then float along on a cloud until you depart this earth to be with Him in heaven. And it makes sense. God, after all, lead his people with a cloud (Exodus 13:21) so why wouldn’t he allow us to ride on one while he blows it, and us, across the finish line.
It should be simple, yet winds of change can often, and sometimes too easily, (and violently) knock us off our clouds and cause us to become disillusioned with God.
But here is the thing, we were never meant to become cloud-sitters. We were called to be cloud-followers.
Yet this is not always easy. Take for instance God’s own chosen people. He chose them and yet
While living in Egypt, the Jews began secretly to worship the gods of the Egyptians… When God opened the way for Israel to leave Egypt, some of the Jews took their Egyptian gods with them! God had sworn by an oath (“lifted up my hand”)7 that He was Israel’s God (v. 5) and that He would set them free and give them the Promised Land (v. 6). The true God set them free, but they carried false gods with them!1
He chose them, swearing an oath to them, and they, in turn, chose to trust in false Gods.
Who will you choose to follow today?
God says,
“STOP putting all your trust in your friends, your bank account, your abilities, your plans and your schemes, or even your newspaper and START trusting me, for I alone am able to make your path straight. It is NOT about what you see in front of you. Look up and trust that I, the God of the Universe, who sees the end from the beginning, know what doors need to be opened for you and which doors need to remain tightly shut. You are here for such a short time, make the most of it by putting fully your faith in me alone and see what I will do through you. I will not fail you!”
Choosing to trust God when it is hard is not, by definition, easy, but as you make the choice every day to follow him it will get easier and easier, until the day it almost seems as easy as floating on a cloud.
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1. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Reverent, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor/Cook Communications, 2000), 93.
December 10, 2017
Trusting God in the Void
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Yesterday, after over nine years in school, I completed my last course requirement for my Master’s Degree. For over nine years I juggled (though not always successfully) kids, work, cleaning, etc. And now that I am finished, I feel a bit strange. I suppose that this is because there is now a question mark where there once was a plan in place.
And though most of my previous classmates (as discussion posts point out) are already full into their careers, or are about to start one, I am kind of in limbo. While I do know that God has called me to a specific place but have no specifics I do believe that God has given me my next step. So after nine years of schooling, I will spend this next season soaking in the time with my grandson and getting closer to God.
Though I am not going to lie, this season is not what I envisioned. I always thought that at the end of all of my schooling there would be a big shiny door open for me.
I imagine that Ittai the Gittite felt, if only for a second, a bit like I am feeling,
You see, Ittai was a guy that had dreams, big dreams. He wanted to work for the King. Yet, He no doubt had (as there usually are) plenty of neigh sayers. I would imagine that he heard things like, “What? You, working for a king?” “But you are a foreigner!” “Why would you dream such a thing?”
But against all odds ole Ittai the Gittite got the job and traveled far away. No easy task in those days. He then started his brand-new job, only to find that it looked nothing like he imagined it to be.
For only one day after his arrival his boss, King David (along with his staff) had to flee for his life. We see this in 2 Samuel 15:19–21.
“Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.”
He just got there, and his plans have turned to dust. He could have done as suggested and went home, the day after he came. It would have been easier, and for sure safer. But look how he responds;
But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord, the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”
Forget Mike, I want to be like Ittai!
He knew what was important. It was not about his dream! It was about his king!
Yes, my plans are not as I have imagined. Yes, I, like Ittai, have no idea what is coming next, but, like him, I do have a Boss. I do have a King that I will stick to. For, “wherever my lord [my] king shall be, whether for death or for life!”
As with a lot of Biblical people this could have been all there was to say about Ittai And frankly, for me, it would have been enough. But God was not done with Ittia. For in the very battle that would but David back on the thrown we see that even though it may not have looked like it, God had a plan after all.
“And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite.”” (2 Samuel 18:2, ESV)
I do not know all that you are facing today, maybe it is a job loss, or the loss of a loved one, maybe it is a financial problem or maybe, like me, you have graduated with no real doors for your future opening up. You may be feeling a deep void in your life and may not even know why. If so the best thing that you can do it be like Ittai, stick close to God and He will open the right door for you when it is the right time.
Know that I am praying for all who read this post.
December 2, 2017
When I was pregnant with my last child something h...
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When I was pregnant with my last child something happened to my face. I am not sure why my face chose to betray me, but the truth was that I looked bad. huge bumps all over my face. It was so bad that children would literally ask me questions like “why is your face so ugly?” It was so bad that when I went to an eye doctor they doctor would not allow me to rest my chin on the chin rest and even told me not to touch her equipment with my face. She even lectured me about allowing my face to get like that.
Though my medical doctor was never able to figure out what caused it, he said that he knew it had nothing to do with what I was eating or how I was cleaning my face. He knew it was something biological. Something in me that I was not aware of and had no control over caused the outward manifestation.
Though the way that people treated me during that time should have caused me to look back on this season with sadness, instead I look on it with joy.
Why?
Because my husband, a man of few words never noticed the change in my appearance. Ok, Scratch that. I am sure that he noticed, he wasn’t physically blind.
But his love for me caused him to react as if he never saw any imperfections. It filled me with such joy that he still looked deep into my eyes and called me beautiful. He still hugged me tight and told me he loved me, and he never ever flinched when he looked at me. This amazed me because it was something that I would do myself when I looked in the mirror.
Why did he treat me this way?
I am sure that it had to do something with the fact that the love he had for me caused him to look at me differently. He did not see my imperfections but saw the real me.
This is how God views us.
Though we may see nothing but our past imperfections when we look in the mirror, though out guilt may cause us to think of ourselves as ugly (inside and out), or maybe people in the world treat us as if we are, without us even knowing why. Yet God does not see us that way. He looks at us through lenses of love.
Though our past may cause us to want to hang our head, God is the lifter of our heads.(Psalm 3:3).
If you are struggling with looking in the mirror, because of any reason, feel the nudge of Gods hand under your chin.
Feel him raise up your chin until your eyes meet his.
Hear these word from him:
You are beautiful!
You are the apple of my eye!
Do not hold on to the past, let it go!
Know that your best days are ahead!
You ARE the apple of my eye!
I Love you!
November 28, 2017
September 5, 2017
August 24, 2017
August 17, 2017
If you are wanting to give up…wait!! “Here is why you have not found success yet!”
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When I wake up, knowing that I have had a dream, the first thing I do is try and remember as many details about it as possible. The next thing I do is ask God if He might be speaking to me through the dream.
Last night I had a dream that I was on some sort of educational trip with tons of college aged students. I was late arriving and late getting to my dorm. They were all unpacked and enjoying themselves while I was trying to find my room. And I remember feeling like they all were laughing at my ineptness.
I was having a hard time and wanted to go home when another student said that he would show me where to go.
However, before we reached the room there was a long hallway with a door would not open. As it turned out, only I, with all my life experience, could fix it. Just then a college professor passed by and told me “you are an amazing student.”
That was the dream.
The real-life fact is…
I just turned fifty about six months ago. Fifty! And I am about to begin the last two classes I need to complete my master’s degree. I have been thinking a lot about my future lately, wondering if I missed the boat.
When I asked God what they dream meant (if anything), He brought to my mind that out of all of the students, I was the only one that was there at that time, with the exact skills and life experiences, to fix that door that all the other students would use to walk through. The younger student with me did not.
God gave me the gift of writing, I believe, at birth. I have always been drawn to observe and write. It is part of me. I have, however, not done a lot with my gift, but I feel as if I am standing ON THE THRESHOLD of all that God has called me to do.
Yes, choices have consequences that often keep us from being where we want to be, but I believe that God spoke to my heart this morning, concerning the dream saying “Here is why you have not found success yet…because it was not yet your time. You needed to go through all that you have gone through to gain the knowledge that would be used fixing that door.”
I believe that God is saying to you,” Hold on! Do not quit!! Here is why you have not found the success you desire as an author, teacher, student, businessman or, singer, etc.. because it is not yet your time.”
You are in the process of getting the life experience that you need, to be positioned where God wants you to be.
So do not look around you and make a judgment against yourself based on others. Your journey is unique.
Keep your focus on God.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. – Psalm 16:8 (NIV)
Keep trusting God, keeping going, And Remember You are Amazing!
June 30, 2017
There are ni ‘ifs’…
There are no ‘ifs‘ among believers.
Anything can happen.
Mark 9:23 (MSG)
