He Answers Prayer

In yesterday’s blog post I talked about relationship breakdowns.  As I went about my day, one of my errands was to stop by the church and drop off this month’s newsletter.  Almost immediately upon arriving I was handed a booklet from the previous nights centering prayer group.  The booklet was called “A Circle of Prayer: The Anglican Rosary for All of God’s People”.  (For those of you who don’t know the Anglican church in Canada is similar to the Episcopalian church in the US.)

Can you guess what the first prayer in the booklet was about?  Opening yourself up and showing God’s love to those around you.  It was a prayer for the very thing I wrote yesterday that I was struggling with.  I wanted to share that story with you because I want you to know that God is always with us. He will always answer our prayers, even if sometimes it’s in unexpected ways.  We just have to be open to seeing him acting in our lives.

So today I’m going to ask something from all of you.  I just received news that a family member of one of our readers has been diagnosed with cancer.  I’m asking all of you to pray for that person and his/her family.  I’m asking that we all pray for God to lift them up and strengthen them in their time of sorrow and to help them remember that even though they are walking through a tough time right now, God is with them.  He is always faithful and his love will never fail.

If you have words of encouragement or scripture you would like to share with this person, please feel free to include them in the comments section.

In Christ,

Meredith

Relationship Breakdowns

Do you have people in your life that cause you to stumble and fall in your pursuit of God?  I do.  They are people that I love with all of my heart and I know that they love me dearly, but at the same time we seem to have the most trouble showing each other the love of Jesus.  The patient, kind, gentle love.  When I’m around them I have a hard time recognizing myself as the person I want to be, instead I feel defensive, frustrated, quick to anger.

I don’t think I’m saying anything revolutionary when I say that it often seems as if it’s the people we are most familiar with.  I think that’s because they are people who have had the most opportunity to hurt us.  Sometimes it’s the people that we know most intimately, and that know us, that can be the most difficult to love, and the most difficult to forgive.

I wonder how much of that is because of old habits?  Established patterns of behavior that we are doomed to repeat because that’s what we know, because they are familiar and comfortable.  I know that the people I struggle with have baggage. I even understand their baggage.  But I can’t seem to put down my own baggage long enough to show them God’s love.

I spent a lot of time in prayer over the past weekend, asking for patience, forgiveness, strength.  Sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn’t.  But I always felt Jesus was with me, that he understood that I was trying and he was going to keep on helping me get back on track.  And I think most importantly, staying in touch with God kept me from feeling guilty about failing.  I knew I was failing.  He knew I was failing, but together we were going to keep on trying.

Relationships are challenging because they aren’t always about what you are doing.  I don’t know, maybe some relationships are beyond our ability to fix, maybe the only way they can be repaired is by turning them over to God.   That’s what I’m doing with mine.  I continue to pray that God creates in me a new heart, a new spirit.  In many ways I’m glad that I stumbled this weekend.  It keeps me from feeling too proud of myself and my faith journey.  Jesus didn’t go around bragging or feeling proud that he was the son of God.  He just tried to show everyone God’s love.  I’m going to pray that God continues to work in my heart and in the hearts of my family so that we can create new relationships that not only more accurately reflect the love that we have for each other, but the amazing love that God has for us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Suffer the Children.

I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say that their biggest problem with God is that he lets bad things (things like abuse and cancer and war) happen to the innocent; to children.

I’ve thought and prayed about this a lot and I hope that the some of my thoughts on this help some of you.

I quoted a passage from 1 John 1:5 in Monday’s blog that “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”  I want you to really think about that for a moment.  God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

When God created man, He loved him so much that He gave him dominion over the earth.  He put him in the garden of Eden – in Paradise and He gave man the most important gift He could – free will.  Free will.  And it was from that first man and woman exercising their free will, in choosing to disobey God and eat from the tree of knowledge that sin and pain and suffering and death were introduced.  So lets think on that.  God didn’t introduce pain and suffering and death…man did because he disobeyed God.  Because he was tempted by Satan.

People are always so afraid to mention that as much as there is a force for good in this universe – GOD, there is also a force for evil – Satan.  In John 8:44 Jesus says the following about the devil.

“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

Those are some powerful words.  He was a murderer from the beginning.  I think that the devil wants us to suffer and he especially wants us to blame God.  Anything that he can do to destroy the relationship that God intended to have with mankind is a win for him. He lies to us and tries to convince us that if God is so good, bad things wouldn’t happen.  Except that I think that is part of the lie that he wants us to believe, that bad things come from God.  Remember, Jesus called him the father of lies.  “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  Can you really believe that a God so full of love and light wants children to suffer and die?

But God also gave us free will.  He absolutely will not usurp that.  If we lose our free will, our ability to freely choose God, then we are nothing more than slaves.  Our pain and suffering is the consequence of our sinful nature, of the original sin.

Now, I don’t want anyone to think that I believe a child deserves to suffer.  I have absolutely yelled at, and pulled away from God over the suffering of my own children at times.  But I have also learned that God has the incredible ability to take something truly horrible and make it a blessing.  God can’t subvert our free will by fixing this world we live in, this world we have created by exercising our free will, but he can make wrong things right if we turn to him, if we lean on him. If we trust in him.

I can’t imagine the heartbreak that comes from losing a child, but I certainly know the heartbreak of parenting a broken one, and I believe with all of my heart that they are welcomed into God’s kingdom.  That while we suffer here from their passing, they are in the arms of a loving Father. God is good. Don’t let darkness and anger keep you from having the relationship you were meant to have with God.

God bless

Meredith

Stubborn Pride

Have you ever thought about an aspect of your personality that gets in the way of you doing the right thing or making the right choice?  I know my weakness is absolutely my pride.  Pride keeps us from saying sorry when we know we are wrong, Pride keeps us from asking for help when we need it.  Pride makes us speak badly of other people and causes us to view ourselves through a lens of distortion.

Think about a time when you have been furious with a friend, family member, loved one.  I have no trouble recalling that feeling of self-righteous anger.  But I also have no trouble recalling how incredibly difficult it was, when I was in the middle of that, to say sorry.  To humble myself and care about the person I was fighting with more than myself.  Because that’s what pride is, it’s selfish and self-serving.  And I think we can all agree that I’m not talking about the feeling you get from accomplishing something that you worked hard for.  I’m talking about the pride that sits like a lump in your chest and prevents you from reaching out to someone.  The pride that makes us need to be as good as someone else and take our eyes off of what really matters.

C.S. Lewis writes in his book The Problem of Pain about pride:  “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

When I talk to people about giving my life up to God; about putting him in control, very often I get the same response.  That they are responsible for their choices and all of the good things that they have.  They believe that saying God in control is tantamount to abdicating responsibility for yourself.  They are so busy looking down and around them that they can’t look up.  Their pride is so powerful and overwhelming that they can’t accept that they aren’t in control.  Because we aren’t.  We can’t control if we are going make it home from work safely, or that we won’t suddenly drop dead of a heart attack, or the way that our family and loved ones treat us.  But our pride deceives us and makes us believe that we are.

Instead of going through your day today feeling proud of your accomplishments and everything you have “achieved”, try going through your day with a sense of humble gratitude for the many gifts and blessings you’ve been given by your Father in heaven.  You may find that not only do you start to see yourself and your life differently, but being humble allows you to see others with more compassion and kindness.  You start feeling happy for their successes and blessings instead of envying them.

Ask yourself how difficult it would be for you to get down on your knees and thank God for the gifts he has given you in your life.  I’m guessing that if you aren’t in the habit of humbling yourself, it seems like an almost insurmountable thing.  But just like the feeling you get once you have broken through the barrier of your pride to apologize, the feeling you get from expressing gratitude and thanking God is so worth it.

Let go of your pride and gain a new life of peace and happiness.

God bless,

Meredith

 

Does God want you to be happy?

Do you ever notice that God has a bit of a bad rap in some circles.  So many people think of God and religion in the same way.  They believe that a life lived for God must be restrictive and boring.  Or even worse, the only things they’ve ever heard about God are full of fire and brimstone, and presented as a way to scare them into believing.  “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is a hand!”

My first experience with God was very similar to that.  I wanted to be a Christian because I didn’t want to go to hell.  But can anything that comes of fear be good or lasting?  Is that really the message Jesus preached?

If you’ve been reading this blog, then you know I always bring everything back to my own experience as a parent.  Would I rather my children behaved well because we share a mutual love and appreciation for each other, or because they are afraid of my punishments and reprisals?

It makes me sad when I see God’s message distorted to scare people (because I absolutely believe it is a distortion).  The people who really know God, the ones who carry the message Christ preached in their heart, they know that our God is a God of love.  They know that Christ came to save the world, not condemn it.

So that brings me back to my question.   Does God want you to be happy?

“And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.  This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ”  1 John 1:4-5

The gospels and letters of John are perhaps the most full of love in the entire bible.  John, the disciple whom Jesus loved best.  Maybe because John most understood, or was closest to Jesus’ heart.  So yes, I absolutely believe that, like any good parent, God wants us, his children, to be happy.  I can’t claim that I don’t have darkness in me.  Sometimes I yell at my children out of anger or frustration.  But God is the perfect parent.  Everything he does is to make us the people he created us to be.  Everything he does is to bring us closer to him.

Now that being said, I’m not saying that God is a completely permissive parent.  Like any good parent, he gave us a set of rules to live by.  He loves us enough to give us boundaries and  rules, designed to keep us safe and happy.  Don’t you do the same for your children…out of love?

And when your child disobeys how to you respond?  Do you correct them?  Do you discipline them?  Why?  I’m guessing for exactly the same reason you gave them rules in the first place, because you love them, and you want to keep them safe, and to help them lead a happy and successful life.

So doesn’t it make sense then that our Father in heaven, who has no darkness in him, does everything for our own good?

I think that the closer we draw to God, the more we follow his rules for life, the more he rewards us in big and small ways, by glimpses of his love.  And when we keep our spirits focused on him, and not the distractions of this world, we come closer to finding the peace and happiness that God wants for us.  A peace that passes all understanding.  A joy beyond anything that we could ask or imagine.

So when you hear people tell you that they don’t want a God who punishes people, you can tell them that isn’t the God you believe in.  Tell them that your God is a kind and loving Father and that everything he does comes from a love that always wants to draw you closer.  A love in which there is no darkness, only light.

So what exactly are God’s rules for us?

  1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
  2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
  3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
  4. Remember the sabbath
  5. Honor they father and mother
  6. Thou shalt not kill
  7. Thou shalt not commit adultery
  8. Thou shalt not steal
  9. Thou shalt not bear false witness
  10. Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbors.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I read these all I see are rules about respect.  Respect for the God who created us and loves us, and respect for each other.  These are a set of rules designed to make our lives better, given to us by a kind and loving Father.

I’m guessing that not many of the people reading this blog are going to have too much trouble following rules 6-8 on a daily basis.  But what about taking the Lord’s name in vain?  Honoring your parents? Coveting? Keeping the sabbath?

The more we make God’s rules a part of our lives, the more in communion we are with Him, and the happier we become.  God wants all of his children to live in joy.  But we need to do our part to make that happen.

So this week I challenge you to pick one rule and try to make it a habit, part of your daily routine.  If you find yourself feeling envious, think about all of the gifts God has given you.  If you find yourself taking the Lord’s name in vain, correct yourself and say sorry.  Try prioritizing church for a month.  You’ll be surprised at the joy you’ll find in following God’s rules.  And, yes GOD ABSOLUTELY WANTS YOU TO BE HAPPY!

GOD BLESS

Meredith

 

 

 

 

Overwhelmed – pushing my rock up a hill.

We’ve all been there, right?  Feeling like we have too much to do, and not nearly enough time to do it in.  As a mom, sometimes that feels like an almost daily state of being.  I’ve been feeling that way with my work lately and I wanted to talk a little about how I’ve been managing that feeling of being overwhelmed.

God has been so amazingly good to me in my work.  I have so many incredible things happening, so many ways to share his words and work with the the world and I am so incredibly grateful.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes get stressed.  How am I possibly going to fit everything in and still have time for my family, my life?  Just writing that causes the anxiety to rise up and my heart to start beating faster in my chest.  Panic that I will let one of my many balls drop.

I had a conversation at Baltimore Comic Con this weekend about God and how it’s not true that he never gives us more than we can handle.  He absolutely does, all the time.  But there’s a reason for that.  So that we can learn to lean on him, to turn to him.  Our priest told a story at children’s focus about a boy who was trying to move a rock that was simply too big for him to move.  He told his dad that he’d given it everything he had, but he just couldn’t do it.  His father asked him if he was sure he’d given everything.  The son said yes, he’d used every means available to him.  His father looked at him and said “You didn’t ask me.”  So simple.  So true.  When we are trying to move our immovable rock or climb our unclimbable mountain, before we give up are we sure we have used everything we have?  Have we asked God for help.

I know that the work God has put before me sometimes feels overwhelming. But I also know that through him and in him I can do infinitely more than I can ask or imagine.  Today, in all ways I submit myself and my work to God.  I know I can’t do this on my own, but I know that I can do anything with God’s help.

God bless,

Meredith

Obsession!

What do you think of when you hear the word, obsession?  It positively screams of something dark and insidious.  A fault or failure of character.  A character flaw that allows something negative to take over or dominate your life to the exclusion of all else.

We speak of kids and their obsession with social media, video games, screens time.  We talk about obsessions with fashion, food, fitness.  It seems like everyone these days is blaming something on their OCD.

Well today I want to confession my obsession to you.  Because I am obsessed…obsessed with God.

It’s like He sits there, in the front of my brain.  I can practically point to the place, it’s right between, and slightly above my eyes…right in the middle of my forehead.  Or sometimes when I’m in church it’s like I can feel his hand pressing down on my bowed head.  Letting me know he is with me.

God fills my thoughts.  When I’m happy, songs of praise either dance through my brain, or burst uncontrollably from my lips.  I’m constantly thinking about Him, thanking Him, wanting to learn more about Him.  Understand Him.  In my free time I think about this blog or my other writing projects, and how I can give back to Him who has given me so much.  How I can use my meager talent to thank Him for the fullness of my heart; the moments of overwhelming, soul-filling joy.  The feeling of knowing and understanding what He is trying to tell me – those moments that bring me to my knees, tears streaming down my cheeks because I feel so full.  So fully loved.  So full of Him.

But this obsession is unlike anything I understood obsession to be.  It is all consuming, but instead of guilt and darkness, I feel only light.  My obsession doesn’t take me away from my family and my responsibilities, it only makes me able to be more;  more engaged, more patient, more gentle, more kind.  It only makes me love them more.

My obsession makes me want to take everyone I meet by the shoulders and shake them.  I need to make them understand how amazing it feels to be loved, to live in the light of God’s love.  There is no video game, or movie or social media post that can give you the sense of wholeness you get from communing with God.

This is an obsession that redefines the word.  There is no negative here.  There is only a sense of rightness, of peace, of what was always intended.

I know God loves me.  I feel God’s love and it is an oxymoron; all consuming and liberating at the same time.  In everything you give up to Him, you feel more full, more fulfilled, more satisfied.

This must be a glimpse of what it feels like to live always in His glory.  When you come close to experiencing, even a glimpse of his presence, you can’t help but fall to your knees in praise.  Now I understand the title of C.S. Lewis’ autobiography “Surprised by Joy”.

God Bless,

Meredith

My ugly jealousy.

I debated about writing this blog because, like most people, I hate exposing that dark underbelly that we all have.  But I also feel that if I am going to be honest about my faith journey and how God works in my life, then sometimes you have to do things that make you feel uncomfortable.

We’ve all had them, feelings of jealousy.  I know for myself, Those feelings almost always stem from my own feelings of inadequacy.  I never envy people having or doing things that I am confident in about myself, but areas where I am insecure, especially in my work, are very common places for negative feelings to arise.

I had occasion to experience those feelings this past weekend.  I could feel the ugliness and that little voice in my head, questioning myself and putting down another person because I needed to reassure myself that I was good enough. I felt it… but I also recognized it as nothing that was going to take me anywhere good. I think that is part of walking close to God, he lets you know almost immediately that you are on the wrong path and gives you the opportunity to right yourself.

Not only did God give me the opportunity to right myself that day, he then reassured me in my scripture readings.  Now I know the other day I talked about being accused of confirmation bias.  But when I write the verse I read today, you decide for yourself.  Because I could have read it the day before, and I would have if I had stuck to my scheduled reading plan, but I didn’t…  I read this verse on the very day I needed to read this verse.  I simply can’t believe that is anything other than GOD present and active in my life.

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:”  Romans 12:3-4

I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure God took the time today to remind me that we each have different skills and that he will call us each to be our best for him and not to worry about what anyone else is doing.  There are several more verses that follow this one that reiterate that.

This is why I love our Lord.  He absolutely took time to listen to how I was feeling and he gave me an answer and a direction, just like any parent would for their own child. The moment I read that verse I got down on my knees, tears streaming down my face, and thanked God for his love.  For taking the time to show me how much he cares about me and for reminding me of the path he wants me to walk. That feeling of being held by God, of being known by God is so wonderfully, powerfully overwhelming.

If you don’t think that you can have this type of relationship with our Father in heaven I would wholeheartedly tell you that you are wrong.  Not only can you have this kind of relationship, but this is the relationship God wants to have with you.  All you need to do is reach out.  If you haven’t already accepted Jesus as the son of God, and asked him to be a part of your life, then do it now.  If you are a believer, make an effort to get to know the God you believe in, reach out in prayer and open yourself to a life of freedom and love and blessing.

God Bless

Meredith

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Freedom

I titled this post Freedom because that is what my faith in God and Jesus has given me.  Freedom.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am absolutely a type A personality.  My life is all about time-management and schedules.  Getting the kids out the door, to school, to their activities.  I like to be prepared and preferably well in advance.  I try to reduce the stress  that I find comes from doing things last minute. And in doing this I delude myself into believing that I am in complete control of my life.  Until I’m not.

We’ve all heard the phrase, the only thing we can really control is how we treat the people we encounter in our lives.  But I would challenge that statement, because while we might not be able to control much in our lives, we can absolutely control who we put in charge.  Chance?  or God?   I don’t know if I have the right words to describe how much more peaceful my life has been since I just let go and acknowledged that.  And in that acknowledging, gave up my illusion of control to the one who created everything.

I’ve had lots of discussions with people about this concept.  It’s like they think that by me saying I’ve put God in control I’ve stopped having agency in my life.  I would say that the exact opposite is true.  I’m not afraid anymore.  I’m not worried about getting my next writing job or solving a problem that is outside of my control.  They say that “God helps those, who help themselves”.  And I absolutely believe that.  I still continue to work very hard to be the best writer I can be.  I still continue to work on, and pitch stories that I believe in, but what I don’t do, is worry about it any more.  I’m not afraid of my story not being picked up, or not getting a job, because I’ve put that in God’s hands.  I do my part and then I sit back and let him to his.  That’s what I’m talking about when I say giving control of my life to my Father in heaven has made me free.

I turn everything over to God.  When David lost his wallet in Orlando, I prayed about it and then I called the hotel and when we found it, I absolutely gave thanks.  When I needed to move a large item and the trailer that I had lined up ended up falling through, I worked hard to find another one, but I also gave it up to God and while I did my best, I didn’t worry.  I knew in my heart that my Father would take care of me.

I guess that’s the point of today’s blog.  We absolutely have a Father in heaven and I’m sure this feels like a bit of a reoccurring theme for my blogs, but I don’t think that we can be reminded often enough that God loves us and wants to be an active part of our lives if we will only let him.  When you start giving God control, you will be surprised at all the little ways, everyday of your life, you can find him taking care of you.

God Bless,

Meredith

 

 

 

 

 

Truth

I wasn’t sure what to write about today and then I glanced at my phone and saw the following verse on it from one of my bible apps.  “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  John 8:32.  I think that goes along with what I’ve been reading and talking about this week, so let’s talk some truth.

The truth is that I don’t know if everyone who reads my blog believes in God.  If you do, great!  If you don’t, thank you for taking the time to read, with what I hope is an open mind, and if you are wondering, I pray that God uses something I write to speak to your heart.

Truth is that our faith, and the public expression of it, makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Truth is that a lot of people would like to convince you that Jesus Christ wasn’t real, he isn’t the son of God and you believe in a grand delusion.  Truth is that what you see as signs of God working in your life, often times other people will call confirmation bias.

But here’s more truth.

1. Historians, both atheists and theists alike, virtually unanimously agree that Jesus was a person of history.  There are far too many sources, outside of the gospels that speak to his life, his existence and mission 2000 years ago. So yes, that person who we believe in, he actually walked this earth, and gave us a set of ethical standards that have been unmatched by anyone after or before him.  So if you don’t believe in God yet, know that you can absolutely believe that a man named Jesus of Nazareth really did live here on earth, and it has been historically proven.

2.  Jesus absolutely was crucified by Roman.  Again, this is a fact that is virtually undisputed based on a significant number of historical documents, again,  separate from the gospels, written by historians and writers unsympathetic to the Christian cause.  And despite what some people will try to tell you, he didn’t just swoon, he died.  Again, his death by crucifixion is perhaps the most certain claim about Jesus in all of history.  Which means that absolutely a man named Jesus Christ gave his life “claiming to be the son of God” as atonement for our sins.  I think the only thing that really remains to be proven is, is the claim that he is the son of God.

3. And if the crucifixion has been recorded historically, then you can also be sure that the empty tomb was a big freaking deal three days after Jesus died.  Rest assured that if the body of Jesus could have been produced by the Romans and Jewish Pharisees, if would have been.  Let’s also consider the fact that the empty tomb was discovered by women.  In Jesus’ day, the word or testimony of a woman was considered highly unreliable and often dismissed.  If you were going to come up with a lie as monumental as the risen Lord, I think you’d want to find the most credible people you could to back you up.  Not to mention the hundreds of eye witness accounts of Jesus appearing after his burial.

Now I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure that if I under went the type of pain and suffering endured by the real man, Jesus of Nazareth, even if I didn’t die, I would not be strolling around three days later looking so gloriously beautiful that people, at first, wouldn’t be able to believe it’s really me.  (Remember when your parents used to get dressed up for a night out or a party and your mom completely transformed herself into a new person.  I think it must have been a little like that.)  So you know what that tells me?  If Jesus said he would rise again and he did (Truth) then the other things he said about himself, you know, all that stuff about him being the Son of God, that must be true too.  Haven’t you found that to be true in your personal experiences with people? Aren’t there are some people you can count on to be truthful and honest, and others you know to habitually embellish or distort facts?

It’s hard these days, 2000 years after the life and death of Jesus.  There are people all around us trying to convince us to think about ourselves and live for the moment, to leave the past in the past.  But if you are reading this, I highly doubt that that kind of living really makes you feel free.  And if today is the day that you need confirmation that what you believe in is true (because we all have those days) then I hope I have given you something to help you today.

If you are a skeptic, I challenge you to really look into the “truth” of Jesus’ life and ministry.  If you’ve come this far, I think that God is calling for you to come farther and be one of his “chosen”.  I think that he wants you to know the truth, so that the truth can set you free. 

The bible says seek and ye shall find, ask and ye shall receive.  I highly recommend the book Man, Myth, Messiah by Rice Broocks.

As always, God bless

Meredith