A Weekend of Shifting

The Art Of Thinking Brilliantly with Graham Cooke

I recently attended a conference with some dear friends at North Heights. It was an incredible weekend! It was one of those times where you really get an "upgrade" as Graham Cooke says. Each session took us to the new step. The first was a time of "giving back our stuff". We had been in a season of stress as a family. The dream Graham shared opened up a whole new understanding to me of my own soul. As Graham shared how Jesus dealt with him when he allowed fear and worry back in to his life. He dealt with me as well. Jesus had pointed out to Graham how He paid for those things and were his. He wanted them back - I knew I had some of the same things to give back. It was the beginning of a weekend of re-surrendering the stuff I was "stressing over" back to the Lord. I went home that night with a fresh, clean feeling in my soul. Jeff couldn't imagine how much it would be of benefit to him as well. No husband wants a cranked up wife. :)

Anyway, the new day we learned about how problems don't exist in heaven... only promises and possibilities. We learned to re-frame ourselves and to also let our relationships get re-framed. Part of re-framing was about getting a heavenly perspective on both of those things. Then our final focus was one we all could work on forever - getting to know God's goodness. Wow! It opened up an understanding of knowing the Lord with a new depth, plus sharing His goodness with others... letting that share His love with others by helping them see His goodness.

I have been reviewing the CDs of the message and preparing my heart for the upcoming conference! I can hardly wait for the "Upgrade Life" coming in April.

Moments with Misty Edwards

Misty Edwards is an incredible Christian artist. She dedicated her life to touch the heart of God through song. I have recently been dwelling on the words of two of her songs. The titles are "You Won't Relent" and "Finally I Surrender" both off her album called "Relentless". "You Won't Relent" is about how the Lord pursue's us and how He does not stop until He has our whole heart. 


Here are the words...
You Won't Relent

You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy demanding as the grave
Many waters cannot quench this love

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart
come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one

The other is "Finally I Surrender" ("Surrender)

All I want is You to have Your way

You are the Potter and I am the clay

All I need is You to have Your way
You are Creator and I'm what You've made

Finally I Surrender

You are God I am man You are sovereign

This is a simple heart cry, but one we all need to make. It is in a place of abandonment, that He can take our lives and bring us to our real purpose. He knows how each one of us fits in to His plan. I want to "Surrender" my life to change the way He desires, even if those changes are difficult at times.


Pastor Jamey of "The House" in Burnsville talks about how we need to be exactly who He created us to be. He said, anything less would grieve His heart. I want to purse that complete Surrender. I want Him to be the "fire inside of me, the flame upon my heart... until He and I are one."

Dark Night

Summary Can Be Found

There is an old classic that I read bits of when I lived in Spain. I was in placed where this old Saint lived and walked in places where St John of the Cross was... Leaves you wondering if my feet picked up some of their dust and it turned into a bit of anointing on my life. I find some of the experiences are similar, yet I have a long way to go. Joshua 1:3 "I will give you every place where you set your foot..." Maybe the dust brings a good dose of his saturated experiences.


Here are some quote from St John of the Cross...


"In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone." - St. John of the Cross


"In tribulation immediately draw near to God with Confidence and you will receive strength, enlightenment and instruction. Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him." - St. John of the Cross.


The attached article is a short summary of his book. Takes you through the principles he learned. One can take a moment of good reflection. I found myself revisiting some of his work, putting several things of real value into the Lord's hands and trusting that if they were to no longer be connected to us - that the Lord would know what He was working in us and it would have value in what it would work in our hearts.


"The fire of evil can better be fought with flames of ecstasy than through fasting and mortification." —Abraham Heschel

Speaking the Truth in Love

Ephesians 4:14-16 (New King James Version) ^“14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Summer months are wonderful times to get out and do extra things with our family. At the same time it can be times where we may have our patience with each other challenged a bit more.  It can be from having the kids home and them getting “too much” of each other. It can be from times our plans don’t work out the way we would like.  There are lots of opportunities to “grow” and sometimes we just want to “tell each other like it is.”

This can happen between believers as well. Sometimes the words are said that can be hurtful to each other, leaving “bad seed” in each other’s hearts. Sometimes in the church we tell each other “little white lies.” This is not what this verse is speaking about when it says, “speaking the truth in love.” Those words are followed by very important ones – “may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ.” I don’t know about you but I want to fully “grow up.” He is the one who joins us together and causes us to really function the way we are created to be. Being joined & knit together is what causes us to bring about the “growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” 

I sure want that kind of growth which will edify those around me in love, but how to keep it truthful. I read an article recently about a Pastor, Phil Callaway,  who took the challenge to tell the total truth for a year. After a couple months he shared that he realized he had a lot to learn. He came up with a key… Phil Callaway, in his book, To Be Perfectly Honest has an acronym for truth-telling: THINK. Is it True? Is it Helpful? Does it Inspire? Is it Necessary? Am I Kind about it? These words became the microscope he used to examine the “truth” he was going to share, before he shared it. I think it was a great thing to keep in mind when we want to share the truth with each other.

A Chance Encounter

It was Saturday night and I had gone to a Gathering with Jeff. It became apparent that I had something different I needed to do. I had an overwhelming sense that I needed to be somewhere else. I jumped in my car and went in search of that something else. I thought about having a coffee at Caribou and seeing who was there. I pulled into the parking lot but it didn't seem right so I didn't go in. I went down a side street and pulled over to the curb to call a friend I hadn't spoken to in quite some time. We had a good discussion which lasted for some time. We finished our conversation and I started up my car.

I had noticed some gals sitting on the back steps of the house near me. As I drove off the one gal waved like she knew me. I wondered if they thought I was "stalking" the neighborhood and swung my car around to let them know I had parked to make a call. They laughed and told me they thought I was their neighbor who lived in a nearby house. I drove back to Caribou - still with coffee on my mind. When I got there, there were only men having coffee. While in line, I remembered a time when a friend did a random act of kindness and bought the next person's coffee. It came to mind I should buy some coffee coolers and take the ladies one, to enjoy while they talked. I drove back to my previous spot with three flavors of coffee coolers. I jumped out and headed across the street, only to realize I was missing one as the two gals had been joined by two guys. I told them my little tale of wanting to give them "a random act of kindness" like my daughter had done. They openly received them and told me I had the perfect amount as one gal did not like coffee. As I went to leave they invited me to stay and have a beer, which I declined because I am not "a fan" of beer. I turned to leave, but by the gal who waved at me in the beginning asked quickly, "Do you like wine." I felt this was an "open door". I had time to spend with them, so I accepted the invitation. 

It turned out to be a wonderful evening - lots of talking, laughing and sharing stories. Here with four strangers - we enjoyed an evening of open conversation. When Jeff finally sent me a text to come pick him up, and I got up to go, these four new friends made me promise to come back and see them another day this summer.

I left pondering the Lord's leading, being very glad I followed. There are four new friends in my life and I look forward to seeing them again.

Morning Stop Points – A Reflection of Unfailing Love

“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”  Psalms 143:8, NLT

This is a verse that I hope will warm your heart as it does mine. It seems with so much going on in the world over the past months that this verse is like a cup of cold water on a hot day. It sure has been to me.

F

irst unfailing love, stands out and it reminds me that even if the circumstances around me or in my life seem difficult, that God’s love for me has not changed. He is totally unchangeable in His love for each of us. It may be that we feel dry or disconnected, but He is faithful to us. What a wonderful reminder to have each day as we wake.

I

nclination to listen is key. We listen when we hear our name. Here the writer requests to hear the Lord reminding him of His unfailing love each morning. His is putting himself in the position to listen. He wanted to hear the Lord speak, so he was focusing his attention to listen. It is important we cultivate hearts ready to listen. You will be amazed at what you hear and how much the Lord knows you and loves you.

R

emember  to look to the Lord and give Him time to guide my day. I don’t want to just bolt out in to the day without His guidance. It may be I am just heading out to work, but I want His guidance in what my focus is to be for the day. I also want myself to be ready to be “detoured” by Him if there is a someone to whom He wants me to reach out to and share His love in some way.

S

urrender myself and my schedule each morning. “Our mindset (for our day) should not be the prevalent one of taking God with us wherever we might go. It must be instead, that we join God in his mission.” (From Right Here, Right Now, by Alan Hirsch & Lance Ford.)  It means I give Him my life each day and I let Him be the one who is in charge. After 9-11 I became convinced of the importance of hearing the voice of the Lord and obeying it. If it is part of our daily practice, we can rest assured the Lord will guide our steps.

T

rust in the Lord can be a real challenge in the midst of difficult circumstances. If we keep guard over our heart and choose to keep trusting no matter what goes on around us, it keeps hope alive in our hearts. Hope is the key to having faith begin to grow. The Bible defines faith as the “certainty of things not seen.”  I have a piece of jewelry I have worn for years which reminds me to “hope.” For me this is a physical reminder of who I set my hope (trust) in each day. I get reminded when I put a shoe or sandal on before I leave the house.

These “morning stop points” are ones that are easy to take with you. If hope that even when the storms come, you will remember to keep the FIRST things first at the beginning of your day!

Please Hear What I Am Not Saying

From the poem, “Please Hear What I Am Not Saying”

With your power to touch me into feeling

you can breathe life into me.

I want you to know that.

I want you to know how important you are to me,

how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator--

of the person that is me

if you choose to.

You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,

you alone can remove my mask,

you alone can release me from my shadow-world of panic,

from my lonely prison,

if you choose to.

Please choose to.

Do not pass me by.

It will not be easy for you.

A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.

The nearer you approach to me

the blinder I may strike back.

It's irrational, but despite what the books say about man

often I am irrational.

I fight against the very thing I cry out for.

But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls

and in this lies my hope.

Please try to beat down those walls

with firm hands but with gentle hands

for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I, you may wonder?

I am someone you know very well.

For I am every man you meet

and I am every woman you meet.

Charles C. Finn

September 1966

These words were ones in a poem that my daughter did a paper on for school this morning. This is only a portion of the poem. You can easily find in its entirety on the internet. It rings so loud in my ears with the attempted suicide of two boys that my kids know. It causes me to ponder who each one of us touching is…

Jesus has given us a commission, to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”’ Mark 16:15. I read this poem and have to ask myself if I am missing some of the people right in front of me? Am I overlooking their message?


I read recently that it is not about "taking Jesus with us", but rather about "going with God where He wants to go." It would seem to me then it is also about functioning with God - or submitting to His leading - to touch the lives He wants us to touch with His presence and His love. If we breathe His life in to the people He leads us to won't this fulfill His will.


At the Greenhouse Neil Cole talked about setting your alarm to go off at 10:02... so I did when I came home. It goes off twice a day - both AM and PM. It went off last night and my daughter caught me and said - well, aren't you going to pray. What a timely reminder to pray out of Luke 10:2, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." It takes my daughter to remind me once in awhile... Yet, I desire to have those opportunities - to be one of those laborers. Do you want to join the adventure? I think following Jesus wherever He leads surely is one of the BIGGEST and BEST adventures of my life!