Unfolding...

Lord, I praise You today because the unfolding of Your word brings light. Through Your words, You give insight to people who would otherwise be untrained and ordinary. Thank You for guiding us while we are still in the process of learning right from wrong. Thank You for helping us to distinguish better between wisdom and folly.


Thank You for enlightening us and giving us mysteries to uncover as we delve more and more into the adventure of knowing You. Your Word is not so difficult and challenging to understand that we need to be sophisticated in order to benefit from it. We can enter into it; we can begin to appreciate Your testimonies while we are yet young, gullible, and immature in our knowledge of life. The blessing of receiving You and Your promises is not reserved only for the quick-witted and efficient person.


How glad I am, dear Father, that Your Way and Your truth are not limited to the sharp, the skillful, and the savvy. You also find places within Your kingdom for the weak, the feeble, the inept, and the weary.


Thank You for taking time for those the world might otherwise ignore. Thank You for not leaving us alone in darkness and futility, but for caring enough to give us light and life. But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).  To this we say amen!

Come...

Dear Father, 
May I not get so caught up in the what of my calling I neglect the who behind my calling. This speaks to me because it seems easy to get absorbed in the details of certain projects and lose sight of the people the projects are intended to serve.

Your call is still a call to relationship. Your desire is still for relational intimacy between you and me. You still want for believers to know You. You still call for me to come…

May I still heed You when You call me closer.  May I still approach the throne of grace with confidence so that I can receive mercy and find grace to help me in my time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Thank You, dear Lord, for giving us a High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Thank You that He has been tempted in every way just as we are. Thank You that He experienced what we experience, yet was without sin.

It is a true joy to know Christ came for us so that we can freely and without fear come back to You again and again.

To come…to know….to heal… to grow…

To plant…to harvest…to reap…to sow…

May I draw near and follow You; May I experience Your patient grace and then live for Your always glory.

Worthy

There are many ways for me to be reminded of God's faithful leading in my life. Once in a great while, I have the privilege of looking back in my files and finding something I wrote years ago.

Praise Him for His continued presence with me; love to you if you remember this from before...

From Amie’s Desk: May 21, 2006

Dear Friends, 

This morning as I was writing in my journal, it dawned on me again: Sometimes I get so focused on where I would like to be, I forget to thank God for where He has me right now. I've covered a lot of ground with Him in the last little while, and I'm sure you have too.

Anyway, here's the song I sang as I put down my pen, maybe it will bless you as it blessed me:

"You are awesome in this place, Mighty God.

You are awesome in this place, Abba Father.

You are worthy of our praise; to you our lives we raise.

You are awesome in this place, Mighty God."

Wherever your “this place” is in this day, may you praise him there. May you celebrate His goodness to you in the path He has given you to walk upon.  He is faithful...

In our journey,

Love, 

Amie 

He's still awesome...worthy...amazing...and I'm still choosing to celebrate...

Beyond

Am I ready to accept God's plans for me even when God's plans for me include the unexpected? 


What does it look like for me to be willing come what might?


Am I accessible, available, and approachable when God chooses to call my name or appoint me for specific service? 


What does it look like for me to be useful in kingdom service and  truly purposeful in serving others for God's glory?


I want to be open to God's call and will even if it does not appear when I think it should.
I want to be open to God's call and will even if it does not appear what I think it should.
I want to be open to God's call and will even when things don't turn out how I think they should


When it comes to dealing with the surprising, startling, unpredictable, and unforeseen, I admit I still have some work to do. I tend to get impatient if circumstances don't move steadily in the direction I anticipated they would. I need to be reminded the plans are not mine, but His. I need to know once again the timetable is not mine, but His.


The results are His. 
The kingdom is His.
The praise is His.
The honor is His


How much of me is really His? How much of my life is defined by knowing and revealing Him? How well do I know Him so that I can aptly make Him known? What fears and motives of mine are yet standing are yet keeping others from glimpsing Him in my life?


Woe is me if I spend my days looking to me as the goal of what gets done and accomplished and lived out. 


It's not good enough...With the help of the Spirit who reveals I want to go beyond... I want trust more fully and believe the impossible...

Still....Exalted

All week long, I have attempted to comprehend the ocean of God's wisdom using my Coke-can brain. From my limited perspective, my efforts have not been very successful. Perhaps the things which are truly successful in this life are the things which propel us more and more toward intimacy with Him. 


There are so many times I must admit I don't know.
There are are so many situations in which I just don't get it.
There are so many instances in life which really don't make sense.


I often feel like I'm grasping at straws, looking for little rays of hope in shadowy places, but God is sovereign.


He is still in control.


He's still got the whole world in His hands.


He's still watching over me in such a way that He numbers the hairs on my head.


He's still unfolding His purposes in my life...


He's still working things out for my friends and family members.


He's still demonstrating His grace and aiming at His glory


In the middle of my muddle and finite measuring system, His voice is still heard:


Amie....


Child...


Beloved...


"Stop trying to figure everything out!"


"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10).


May He be exalted in my life today...


May He be exalted by those I love today...


Come what might, into my Coke-can brain and singular life, may He be exalted...


still.

Beauty ahead...

"A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice." (Isaiah 42:3)

Father, 

We take comfort today in the gift of Your presence and we trust Your leading to see us through. We praise You as a God of justice and mercy even though there are many things we cannot figure out on our own. We don't know, dear Lord, why some people seem to struggle so much while others seem to suffer so little. Guard us from trying to discern all the details and enable us to rest more and more in the peace of knowing You. Yours is a peace which transcends that which is seemingly certain, comfortable, and secure. Yours is a peace which allows for faith even when circumstances around us are uncertain and fragile. 

If we are known to You and You've called us by name, then we can draw strength from the knowledge that no one can snatch us from Your hand (John 10:28). We need not fear for You have willed Your truth to triumph through us.

Powerful One, work powerfully today in the lives of those who are weak, oppressed, and lost.Work mightily in the hearts, minds, and lives of those who need You, Your touch,  and Your amazing grace.

Jesus, enable us to shine brightly in places where our world seems so dark, so confused, and so forsaken.

You are still the hope of nations, Servant King. 

In gracious love, grant us glimpses of beautiful tapestry where right now we might be seeing only tangled threads. 

Manageable

My Father has the wonderful ability to help me manage that which I would otherwise name as unmanageable.


Every week, I need to be reminded He's not going to fail me while I flounder, flub, and fumble around. His mercies are new every morning and He's as close as my next breath of air . I love the thought of His compassion being fresh every day; His faithfulness is abundant and His grace is ample.


I can know and experience His full sufficiency even as I question, wrestle, and wonder. I can feel uncertain in my adventure even while being certain of my expected destination. I don't have to know everything about all the stops in between, before I board the bus. If I was aware of all the paths the Guide would lead me down before I arrived where I was going, I would possibly abandon ideas before I had opportunity to search them out. To walk with the Lord in faith, is not necessarily to abandon my fears all at once; to walk with the Lord in faith is to appreciate the gradual fading of my fears as I gain understanding of His plan piece by piece by piece. 

Often, renewal is not achieved by means of a singular Aha moment; often, renewal comes in incremental measures as I breathe in and out and find myself moving from peace to peace to peace. Admittedly, some days, times, and seasons are more peaceful than others. It's not wise, honest, or realistic for me to pretend that my days are always flowing smoothly and things are always proceeding swimmingly. It is much wiser for me to confess my neediness and move forward comforted by His presence and direction in the midst of my apprehension, agitation, or nervousness. His nearness despite my disquiet makes advancement possible step by step or inch by inch. Together with the Lord, I am able to persevere in whatever surprising activities a given day brings forth. It means a great deal to me to consider the fact He is not astonished by events which occur without my prior notice or intention. 


Each day is but a part of a bigger picture and I serve a Master whose call to hope and life extends way, way, way, beyond my fickle imaginations and momentary frustrations.


May I not "write off"  those things God is still working out...


He has a plan and those who believe are active members in it... 


I yearn to keep an open heart, mind, and will before Him.