Year: 2011

Do I Mean It?

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Today, we sang a song at church with these lyrics:

Jesus, lover of my soul
Jesus, I will never let You go
You’ve taken me from the miry clay,
Set my feet upon the Rock, and now I know
I love You; I need You
Though the world may fall I’ll never let You go
My Comfort, My closest Friend
I will worship You until the very end.

I love that song.  Sometimes, I can sing it with my whole heart, unreservedly, because I really mean it.  “I will never let You go.”  “Though the world may fall, I’ll never let You go.”

Recently, I’ve been asking myself if I really mean that.  It’s not something you can just decide one time.  I think it’s a continual growth step.  You surrender “everything” to God, and then He asks you to step closer and you have to choose to surrender again.

Yesterday and today, I’ve been reading 2 Timothy, Paul’s final epistle before his execution.  Unlike his first imprisonment in Rome, where he had his own place and could have visitors and people to care for him, this second imprisonment was lonely, cold, and excruciating.

Not that Paul was a complainer.  If you read 2 Timothy, you have to read closely to glimpse the setting.  He writes:

  • “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (1:8)
  • “For this reason also I suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed” (1:12)
  • “This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me” (1:15)
  • “but when he (Onesiphorus) arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me” (1:17)—Note how hard Onesiphorus had to look for Paul.  No one really even knew where he was being kept!
  • “For which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains” (2:9)
  • “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.” (4:6)
  • “Be diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me . . . only Luke is with me. (4:9-11)
  • “Bring the cloak that I left” (4:13)—-He must have been so cold!
  • “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me” (4:16)

Can you imagine?  At his defense hearing, not one person stood up to defend Paul.  Not one. After a life filled with ministry and sacrifice to others, no one came to his defense.  He’s then cast into a prison in an unknown location where his friends have to struggle to find him.

Beth Moore writes in To Live is Christ,

Paul was held under conditions like those of a convicted killer.  He was bound by heavy chains–the type that bruise and lacerate the skin.  He was almost 60 years old and had taken enough beatings to make him quite arthritic.  The lack of mobility greatly intensified any ailments or illnesses.   He most likely was reduced to skin and bones.  The cells where the worst prisoners were chained were usually filthy, wet, and rodent-infested dungeons.  Paul was cold.  He wanted his cloak and begged Timothy to do everything he could to come before winter.

And yet, despite all of this, Paul never questioned his call, never questioned his faith.  He trusted God no matter what.

This year, I’ve felt very much like God is waiting on me.  He’s giving me the chance to decide whether I want to know Him more, walk with Him more closely, and trust Him wholly with my future. Am I willing to take another step?

Honestly, it’s not as easy as you might think to say, “Yes, Lord.  Totally.  Send me, God.”  Sometimes it’s scary.  I think about what Paul endured, and I’m afraid.  I listen to the testimonies of Christian authors and speakers and I’m scared to go through what they’ve lived through–like financial hardships, the death of loved ones–even their children, and physical harm to themselves.

And then there are the not-so-big hardships that still paralyze a people-pleaser like me, like hurtful criticisms and people oh-so-willing to share their opinions on how you’re messing up.

Sometimes, as cowardly as it is, I’m so afraid that I just want to say, “Not me, God.  Don’t ask me.”

But, God is so gracious.  I know He’s being patient with me and He’s been bringing verses and quotes across my path that remind me to trust Him and not fear.

Two of my favorites are:

Deuteronomy 31:8 : “The Lord is the One who will go before you . . . He will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Joshua 1:9:  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I’m not saying that I sang the words, “I’ll never let You go” this morning without any fear of the future.  While I was singing those lyrics, though, in my mind I was singing, “I’ll never let You go; thank You for never letting me go.  Thank You that You’ll be with me even if my world may fall.”

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Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2011 Heather King

Everyday, Ordinary Life

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“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life–your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life–and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1, MSG).

I love that verse in Romans and I came across it again today in my reading. The thing is, there are so many parts of my “everyday, ordinary life” that don’t seem really offering worthy.  I don’t mean because they are mundane.  I mean because they’re ugly and messy and well, failures really.

Like when your daughter decides to take the ballet shoes that you placed next to the front door, hide them and then forget where they are 5 minutes before you have to leave for ballet class and you lose it.

Maybe that kind of stuff only happens to me, but believe me, my reaction to this “irritation” wasn’t really an offering worthy of God.

To be honest, how I react to the big crises in life is much more holy and Christian.  I lean in to God and I grow in my faith in the process because I have no other choice really.  I know fully well that I’m not able to handle any of the big stuff on my own.

It’s the daily annoyances, interruptions, and irritants that bring out the worst in me, partly because I forget to look to God for any help or input at all.

So, how—-how do I turn my everyday, ordinary life into an acceptable sacrifice and a way to give God glory?

I’m reading this fantastic book by Eugene Peterson called A Long Obedience in the Same Direction and he drew my attention to something I had ignored before in this verse.  Three little words: “God helping you.” In the NIV translation, the verse reads:  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

With God’s help and in view of God’s mercy, I can make my life–my whole life, not just the “important” parts—an offering to God.

In Romans 9:16, Paul writes, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”  I don’t know about you, but I’m so thankful to know that my salvation, my joy, my future don’t depend on anything other than God’s great mercy.

That means when I mess it up and lose it over hidden ballet shoes that actually don’t reappear until 3 days later (hidden behind the chair in my room), I can have a fresh start.  As it says in Lamentations 3:21-24:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.

We fail, but His compassion doesn’t fail.  He gives us new grace every morning.  He is our portion.  He is all we need in every difficult, annoying, frustrating moment of our everyday lives, just like He’s faithfully with us in every crisis.  It is only with His help that my reactions to the daily can be placed before Him as an offering.

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Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2011 Heather King

Endurance Training

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I opened up this screen to write and I have my prayer journal next to me.   As I sit here, I’m overwhelmed with things I want to share with you.   I started a new prayer journal this year and I can’t wait to tell you about the verses, quotes, thoughts and prayers on each page!  It’s as if we’re two friends meeting after a long parting and I’m spilling over with things to share.

As excited as I am about God’s Word and how relevant and living it is in my life, I can’t help wondering if someone might read this and be discouraged, rather than encouraged—because maybe your quiet times haven’t been a success or you’re in a place right now where God seems silent.  Perhaps you’re new to this whole Christian life experience and you want to do things “right,” but when you sit down and follow all the “steps” of reading your Bible and praying, it just isn’t doing anything for you.

I get it.  It’s like when I open up Facebook and am greeted by posts from people who love to exercise and then share about it.  “I ran 12 miles, up hill, in the freezing rain.  Then I finished an hour-long workout video and next I’m headed to the gym for yoga class.”   You know who you are, exercise-lovers!

But that’s not me.  Today, I had a long conversation with myself, trying desperately to come up with the winning excuse not to exercise.  I lost the argument.  I exercised.   Did I love it?  Nope.  Am I glad I did it?  Definitely.

In the Bible, Paul told Timothy to “train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8, NIV).

The emphasis here, of course, is that godliness, just like physical prowess, takes training, effort, and discipline.

More than that, we’re not training for a one-time event or sprinting in a quick-to-end race.  We’re undergoing endurance training so we don’t give up in this long-term commitment that is the Christian life.  It’s easy at times to get excited by a clear act of God in our lives–an answer to a heartfelt prayer, a job after long unemployment, a good report from the doctor after an extended illness.   For a time, we’re propelled forward by the anticipation of what else God will do.  At other times, it might be a great Christian book that we just read or a speaker we just heard.  We’re thrilled with a fresh perspective and propelled forward by the encouragement and challenge of it all.

Those times are when we’re “in the zone.”  We’re running faster than we’ve ever run before, farther than we’ve ever gone and we’re not even short of breath.  It all seem so easy and so worth it.

Over time, though, those high-points fade.  They’re great for reinvigorating our Christian life, but it’s the daily walk, the steady, disciplined, never-ceasing walk, that ultimately allows us to finish the race.

In Biblical poetry, ideas are often presented in three’s, ending with the most important or greatest.   That makes the oft-quoted Isaiah 40: 31 even more encouraging to me: “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

If you read these posts and you’re not “soaring” right now, you’re not even “running,” and it’s all you can do to plod along—don’t give up.  Keep walking.  He will give you the grace and energy you need to not faint.  Don’t look at those around you who are zipping by and start comparing your pace with theirs.  Do what God has called you to do and don’t neglect the daily disciplines of the faith that keep you constantly moving closer to Christ.

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Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2011 Heather King

The Reluctant Blogger

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I have been putting this off for such a long time and now that I’m here, blogging away, it is almost as if I have stage fright.  That’s surprising because I’m generally more comfortable talking to a group of people from a stage than I am chatting with someone one-on-one.   I’m envisioning Winnie the Pooh calling out, “Hellllllllo.  Is anybody there?”  And hearing crickets.

But then I realize that whether someone is there or not is irrelevant.  I’m blogging now because I’m being obedient to a burden God placed on my heart, to write and share with others my devotional journey with Him.  My goal here isn’t really to write about me at all–not my daily activities or deepest dreams.  Not my beautiful kids or wonderful husband.  I’m not in the middle of any life adventure that I want to share with the world.

This is essentially about what happens when an insanely busy woman takes the time to meet with God at the kitchen table.

And you know what happens when I sit down with my Bible and my journal and my cup of tea . . .

I breathe.

It used to confuse me on exercise videos when you’re in the middle of your 20 lunges or 15 leglifts and the instructor says, “Don’t forget to breathe.”  I’d think, “Well, yeah.  Of course I’m breathing.”

But, usually when the exercise lady tells me to breathe and I’m resenting her perky condescension, I realize I’m really not breathing in and out.  I’m kind of gasping for air and holding it in.

My daily life isn’t much different.  When I answer the phone, people ask me all the time, “Have you been running or something?  You sound out of breath.”  And I realize, I haven’t been running; I just haven’t been breathing.  The phone usually rings when I’m making dinner and racing around the house cleaning and supervising homework and breaking up fights and sending emails and finishing work.  I’m juggling everything and keeping every ball in the air, but the one thing I’m forgetting to do is to just breathe.

So, most days I’m really too busy to enjoy the luxury of a quiet time.  I’m certainly too busy to put those thoughts together into a blog.  In fact, my lack of time has been one of my biggest excuses for not blogging.

I don’t have the time, but I make the time.  Because without my kitchen table moments with God, I’d die.  I’d slowly suffocate from my lack of breath.

So, in the middle of this “discussion” with God over whether or not I should even write this blog, I went to a women’s conference at a local church and they chose as their theme verse:  “He’s solid rock under my feet,
breathing room for my soul” Psalm 62:1-2 (MSG).

It made me think that maybe it’s not just me who needs the reminder to breathe in and out.   If anyone reads this and realizes you’ve been holding your breath, let me encourage you—“Don’t forget to breathe!”  And, that’s essentially what this blog is about—me taking time to breathe and reminding you to do the same.

This is an excerpt from a poem they tucked into our bag at the conference:

Breathing Out and Breathing In
by: A.B. Simpson

Jesus, breathe Thy spirit in me.
Teach me how to breathe Thee in,
Help me pour into Thy bosom
All my life of self and sin.

I am breathing out my own life
That I may be filled with Thine;
Letting go my strength and weakness,
Breathing in Thy life divine.

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Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2011 Heather King