In His Own Timing God Will Make a Way

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post called When You Dream Alone. Dreaming alone can be an exercise in waiting. And it's easy during this time to get discouraged. It often seems impossible for these precious dreams to ever come true.  But it is becoming clearer and clearer to me that I truly do not have to see the way. Because when the dream comes from God - He WILL make a way when the time is right. And so I rest in the knowledge that the dream is safe in his hands. All I am asked to do are the steps He has placed before me today - grow in Him, continue learning daily, practice mindful living, make the most of each day he gives me, and trust Him. 

Because in His own timing

HE will make a way!

~ Also Linking Here ~

The Better Mom, Living Well Wednesdays, Titus 2sdays, Encourage One Another, Heart & Home Tuesdays!, It's A Party,Thought Provoking Thursday, Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood, No Ordinary Blog Hop

`

credit

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Adventure in Abundance



credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

Today at Faith Barista we are talking about this One Word:

Adventure

An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome.

At the beginning of January many people chose one word for the year. The word I chose is Abundance. Jesus said "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10 So this year I am claiming that abundance for myself and my family.

I believe that stepping out in this faith, claiming this abundance is going to be an adventure and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be an adventure of faith because it's going to stretch me further than I've been stretched before.

I believe it will be exciting. God never does anything halfway so this adventure is going to be beyond anything I can imagine.

I believe it will be unusual. God is not stuck in that box we often try to place ourselves and others and even Him in. So any adventure in abundance with God is going to be unusual in our eyes.

It will be bold. I believe this adventure in abundance will be a bold illustration of God's awesomeness.

Will it be risky with an uncertain outcome? Maybe at times it will seem that way to me, but God has already walked through this story from beginning to end so it is not risky for Him, and He knows the outcome. And since He is walking through this story with me, I can step out in the assurance that there will be a happy ending. 

It's going to be an adventure of abundant love because God is love.

It's going to be an adventure of abundant joy, and peace that passeth understanding.

It's going to be an adventure of growing and learning, of using the talents I was given to serve others.

It's going to be an adventure of abundant creativity because the Creator Himself is in on this adventure.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  1Corinthians 2:9

I'm excited and looking forward to this year's adventure in abundance!

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Ask

Google GmailYahoo MailHotmailAOL MailAny email    



credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ~ James 1:5

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. ~ Oswald Chambers

God wants to give, not only wisdom, but blessings of all kinds. He wants to hear from us the desires of our hearts. He stands ready to bless if we will only come to Him, the Heavenly Father, and the One who gives all things good.

But, I know I am far too likely to look at the difficulties around me and the many reasons I see that this blessing may not be mine and I doubt. I may not even ask because in my eyes it would be impossible anyway. When I do that I am looking at the difficulties instead of keeping my eyes on God.

My prayer, for you and for me, is that we can keep our eyes on God, knowing He loves us, and gives generously to all.

~ Linking Here ~

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Thoughts on Faith

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

Faith is not without worry or care, but faith is fear that has said a prayer. ~ Author Unknown

Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch. ~ Ramona C. Carroll

But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. ~ Hebrews 3:6

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. ~ Hebrews 10:23

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. ~ Hebrews 10:39

Some days it's hard to see what is ahead, but it's comforting to know that we don't have to. There is Someone who loves us and is more than able to take care of the future for us. We simply need to rest in His love and care for us.

~ Linking Here ~

Sustaining Faith

Faith.

It's a word I cling too. And yet so much more than a word, it's a lifeline I hold on to desperately. 

So much pain and uncertainty surrounds me, that when I look around I find myself faltering. In the last week, a life changing diagnosis for a new friend, a flare up of illness in a small innocent child, another friend stalked and harrassed. A family hurting and reaching for help, needing strength and healing.

Part of me wants to try to fix it all, part of me wants to run. I know I can do neither.

Faith.

Faith in the God who loves, who heals, who transcends time and hurt and disease. Faith in the God who has already seen the end of the story and has already claimed the victory. Faith that makes no human sense, and yet sustains.

Faith that falters, that is no bigger than a mustard seed, but still there, sprouting, growing, tended carefully by the Giver of all things good. The faith that holds on to me when I cannot hold onto it.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Finding My Voice

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

Each of us has a voice, something we want to say, something we want to share. And even more importantly, there is something that God wants each of us to share with the world around us. Whether is be to one or two people close to us or to a large audience, that voice is there, waiting for expression.

I am realizing this more and more lately as I find myself at a bit of a crossroad, looking at new directions and opportunities, wondering, waiting, praying,  listening to the voice rise up within me and yet, at the same time, unsure of what, exactly it is trying to express.

But as I explore new options and paths, I am excited for what is ahead, and for the adventures waiting as I share this journey with those around me. I know there are topics I am passionate about, I am pretty sure of the general themes that run strong in the nature God has made me with, and the talents, interests and strengths He has given me. I know there are things I am not cut out to do, that are simply not what I was made for. And although there is at times a very real pressure to try to be someone I'm not, or to do things that I was not cut out to do, I am learning to recognize this and move in another direction.

At the moment, finding my voice seems to taking me in these directions

1. Becoming more involved in the church I am now in. Learning from and with, encouraging and being encouraged by, sharing the voice within me as I listen to the voice of each one around me.

2. Writing. Using this blog as a way to share, to speak out about those things I am passionate about, and again learning from and with, encouraging and being encouraged.

3. Within the community. Each of us, in our own community, are here for reason. It is time for me to take a more active role within my own community, to be more open to those around me. I'm not sure what direction this will take me, at the moment I am simply paying more attention to the needs and opportunities around me as I wait for direction.

4. And last, but probably the most important, within my own home. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in all the other opportunities around us and forget that those within my own homes, whether immediate family or simply in my care for the day, need me most. They are the ones who need my best, who need me to be the person God created me to be, right here, right now.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a great encouragement to me. I know that God has a plan for me. I can see how He has worked in my life up to this point. And I am excited to see where He will lead me next and the new ways He will have for me to express the voice He has given me.

 

 

 

"For I know the thoughts I have for you" declares the Lord. "plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11



Lessons From the Rich Young Ruler - Notes From The Morning Sermon

Mark 10:17-22
¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother. ”
²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”


Hebrews 11:1-5
  ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.
³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

Isaiah 55:8-9
⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Jesus was not interested in the rich young ruler's money. He wanted him to take his eyes off of what he could see and focus on what he could not see. His whole life had been based on what he could see - his actions, the approval of those around him, his money. Jesus wanted him to live by faith, not by sight.

Do not deny reality, but do not put your faith in that reality.

As we look around us we see many things that may cause us to fear, but we need to remember that our faith is in an unfailing God. It may not be as easy as it was but it will be profitable for you if you trust in God.

These are notes, quotes and paraphrases from our morning sermon at White Hill Church of the Brethren, preached by Jim Chappell

~ Linking Here ~

Morning Musing Over Coffee - Lining Up My Problems

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn


It's not easy to take my problems one at a time when they refuse to get in line.

~ Ashleigh Brilliant

 I laughed when I read this but there is also a grain of truth in it. Sometimes I think I have a lot of problems and I keep trying to line them up in a way that makes sense to me. Then I plan to solve them in a way that makes sense to me.

There's just one problem with this idea.

What makes sense to me quite often does not make sense to God. And what I see as a problem He often sees as a learning experience, not a problem at all, or even a blessing.

So I guess it's time for me to stop trying to line up my problems and take them on one aat a time, but instead to pray about my problems and then leave them in His very capable hands.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7