Prepared Hearts

I love being blessed. It doesn't matter if the blessings come from family, friends or from total strangers, they're all great. But the blessings I receive from God are - shall I say it - divine! I like to think I receive God's blessings all the time. There are the blessings of food, shelter, and clothing I'm thankful to get each and every day and countless other I can think of. But I wonder how many blessings come my way that I don't even notice or worse yet – that I turn away because I don't recognize what they are. Why does that happen? I think the problem is that I'm not always prepared to receive them. My heart or attitude might be in a bad place when a blessing comes down from heaven and I won’t notice it. I may be so consumed in my own thoughts, pain, anger, doubt, or busyness that I don't see the hand of God working in my life.

One of the main things I pray when praying for others is for God to bless them in whatever way He desires to. It could be a blessing that is financial, emotional, physical, or spiritual. Whatever their need is I know He sees it and wants to provide. Recently I was praying for someone in particular whose relationship with God is, I'll just say, sketchy. I began to wonder if that person would 1) even notice the blessings and/or 2) recognize the source from which they came. I thought about their heart and realized that if the heart wasn't right the effectiveness of the blessings could be diminished. What happens when prayers fall on unprepared hearts?

I thought about my own heart? How prepared is it to receive the blessings God wants to give me? What if God blesses me with something I don't think I want? If I pray for blue and He gives me red what will be my reaction? Red’s not even in the same color family. Will I pout? Will I say "no thanks"? Do I subconsciously think a blessing is only a blessing if it's exactly what I think it should be? If God wants to give me red then I want my heart to want red too.

If our hearts are unprepared I feel that, although we still receive blessings, we won’t receive the maximum benefit God may be hoping to achieve in giving them. I liken it to opening a present and saying "Thanks. This will come in handy." versus opening a present and saying "AWESOME! UNBELIEVABLE TIMING! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED (OR WANTED)! YOU KNOW ME BETTER THAN I KNOW MYSELF! YOU ALWAYS BLESS ME IN WAYS I CAN'T IMAGINE! YOU CONTINUE TO SHOW ME HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME AND HOW MUCH YOU CARE! I DON'T DESERVE THIS BUT I THANK YOU FOR REACHING INTO MY LIVE AND SHOWING ME HOW SPECIAL I AM TO YOU! YOU ARE AMAZING!" Which reaction would you like to get? I’m sure God would prefer the second. But don’t get me wrong – I don’t think it’s all about the gratitude. I think it’s about the total package – which includes the full understanding of what was given and how we benefit.

I know first hand that God prepares hearts. Before my husband and I left for China to adopt our baby girl I prayed often that God would prepare her for us – that she wouldn’t be frightened by the new strangers removing her from the only world she knew. I believed even at just a few months of age God could still prepare her for us. And He did! Not a tear was shed when they placed her in our arms. She looked at us as if to say “There you are. I’ve been waiting for you.” This was a blessing I will forever be grateful for!

The revelation of needing a prepared heart was a blessing to me because it showed me I need to change the way I pray. I know it’s good and Godly to pray for people to be blessed (including me). But now I know I need to pray for God to prepare our hearts so that we receive the blessings He so graciously gives. I continue to believe God wants to bless us in many ways and, furthermore, that it gives Him great joy to do so. Why? Because He loves us.

I Love It When The Bad Guy Says "Oops!"

“I will gain glory for myself……they will know that I am the Lord!” Ex. 14:4

You know the feeling you get when the underdog wins? It’s a feeling of triumph. Not only do we see the “little guy” win but there’s something about those victories that make us feel like we’ve just won too. Somehow their victory is our victory.

We see these moments a lot on TV and in film. Movie makers earn millions making us feel victorious in films such as: The Karate Kid, The Man From Snowy River, Facing The Giants, and The Blind Side. The list goes on. Let’s face it – feel good movies make us feel good. But more than in movies we love those same moments in real life. We love it when the school bully suddenly realizes he picked on the wrong kid. We love it when the nerd transforms himself and gets the high-school beauty queen. We love it when the down and out turn lemons into lemonade. We love it when the losers turn around and win. But maybe if we’re honest – or maybe it's just me – we love the moment more because the bad guy - the antagonist - or naysayer suddenly realizes he’s made a mistake. We love the moment when he says “Oops!”

Yes, I love these moments as they occur in everyday life but I especially love these moments when they occur in a “God battle”. Although any member of God’s army is never truly an underdog – the world sometimes presents the illusion that they are. We see time and time again in the Bible how God’s people appeared to be the underdogs and yet came out victorious. These were moments when God made the impossible possible. These were moments when those on the wrong side surely said “Oops!”

Take Pharaoh's army, for example, as they followed the Israelites onto the dry path created by the division of the Red Sea. Despite the obvious sign that something supernatural was taking place, they continued to go after the Israelites. When the walls of water started collapsing on them, don't you think maybe just a few of them had an "Oops!” moment where they suddenly realized the Israelite’s God was far more powerful than Pharaoh?

What about the battle of Jericho? Logic says of course you can't destroy a whole fortified city by marching around it. I imagine Jericho's finest guards watching in wonder as their confusion turned to mockery. "What are you lunatics trying to pull? What's with the music? Where is your God? Is this how He fights battles? Ha Ha Ha!" But then on the seventh day the walls started shaking and trembling. Did the guards watch sections of the walls crumbling down around them? Did they say "Oops! Maybe we shouldn't have been so cocky. Their God is amazing. He’s destroying our city without even touching it."

There are so many great “Oops” moments in the Bible. How about all those people who thought Noah was crazy? “Oops!” How about those Philistines? I can almost hear them yelling “Oops!” as they ran for cover when their mighty protector, Goliath, was killed by a shepherd boy? And what about that moment of all moments when the tomb was found empty? Were there maybe a few people who said "Oops! Maybe Jesus was the Messiah after all."

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t enjoy the “Oops” moments because I’m vindictive. I don’t want the “bad guy” to suffer. Sure I enjoy the victory but it’s more than that. I enjoy them because it may be the moment when the bad guy realizes he’s on the wrong side in the battle of good vs. evil. You see, until he realizes he’s on the wrong team, he’ll never get on the right team.

God always amazes me. Not only in the things He has done but in the things He still does today. I love being on His team because I know that even when I face the impossible - it's not truly impossible. I love to see God prove people wrong. I love to see His glory revealed. I love it when God says by His actions: "Don't think for one minute you have me figured out. I am more powerful than you could ever imagine." Don’t tell me that my God is not powerful. Someone who says that God is not powerful is someone who has yet to see who God really is.

I Serve A God Who Wins!

I serve a God who grants victory to those that serve Him.

I serve a God who stuns and shocks His enemy by His power and faithfulness.

I serve a God who helped a boy defeat a giant with the mere slinging of a stone while everyone who was supposed to fight trembled with fear.

I serve a God who tells an army commander that he has too many soldiers and leads him to victory with a mere 300 men.

I serve a God who won a battle of wills against a tyrant Pharaoh and freed his people from bondage. A God who, when the path was blocked and the fate of His people seemed all but doomed, spread the waters before them and gave them a way out - crushing their enemies behind.

I serve a God who won a battle between Gods when He ignited a fire on a thoroughly water soaked altar in front of a shocked and dismayed audience of Baal worshipers and prophets. Arguably not a hard battle to win since the other gods only existed in the hearts and minds of their worshippers.  The point of His own existence and power was made very clear.

I serve a God who won the battle of territory when he made the walls of Jericho simply collapse after His army marched around the city for seven days listening to the taunts of its residents who thought they were safely protected inside their walls.

I serve a God who fights and wins the battles that sin wages against me so that I have the strength and time to serve Him (not hindered by the evil one's distration of the week).

I serve a God who offers victory when defeat looks ready to be handed down. 

I serve a God who has already won the war against the evil one.  The kingdom is His!

I serve a God who wins! (And it feels great to be on the winning team!)

Just A Thought - The Power of a Healed Ear

Do you ever wonder what happened to some of the people's lives that Jesus touched?  In Luke chapter 22 we read about Jesus' arrest.  Here is how Luke describes what followed after Jesus was approached by Judas and the men that came to arrest Him: 

When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.  But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him. 

I wonder what happened to that servant.  I wonder what went through his mind.  First there must have been a little bit of fear and some anger at being attacked. But then what?  Maybe he felt shock that the very man they came to arrest would heal him (and could heal him for that matter).  I'm sure he probably carried out his duties that evening not fully knowing what to think or how to act.  But I wonder as the evening progressed how his heart was affected by Jesus' loving action.  When all was said and done, did he go home to his family and describe their "victory" and getting rid of Jesus.  Or was there a sense of remorse?  And if being healed by this Man wasn't enough to push him into belief - what went through his mind when the tomb was found empty.  I like to think that maybe, then, this servant believed in a different kind of victory that day. 

Just A Thought!

A Year of Success

A year ago I started a new prayer "program".  I make a list of people I know (family, friends, and/or acquaintances) and I pray for them daily for 40 days.  When the 40 days is over, I make a new list and start over.  Earlier this month I discovered that I have successfully done this program for a year.  This means something to me because I've tried many different ways over the years to get myself dedicated to prayer.  This method works for me.  I have found myself committed.  I truly believe I'm making a difference in the people's lives I'm praying for.  I know they are being blessed and it feels great being a part of God's blessings.