Promises

This morning it is my desire to place all my hope in the promises of God.

Often it is easy to say that I "trust in the Lord".. knowing that He is in charge is usually comforting enough to get me through the rough spots. But, if you're like me, sometimes... trusting in the Lord is easier said than done.

How many times have you told yourself to "trust God" only to then wonder what that really means. How many times have you felt discouraged by people who tell you to "trust God" when times are tough?????

Sometimes doing all the right things and reading all the right verses... just doesn't seem to cut it.

I think I've read Jeremiah 29:11 a million times

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

and every time I've read it I've wondered what ARE those plans???? And I've tried with all my strength to trust in the Lord... when really what he's saying here is that we can trust in his plans for us!
His plans for us are specific... they are not generic open ended for all people...

Think about Abraham for a moment.

In Romans, Paul talks about Abraham and this verse really opened my eyes up to how I should be trusting in God...
(From the Message Romans 4:18-23?)

"When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do... He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said."

Did Abraham simply trust in God.. or did Abraham trust in the PROMISES God made to Abraham?

So, I challenge you today.. if you're struggling and in tough times like I am... consider actually talking to God and asking Him if he has any promises FOR YOU! There is a heightened hope in promises that God gives when they are tailor made for you! Trusting in a far off God overseeing the world's problems gives room for doubt and unbelief.. but letting His Promises wash over and comfort you builds up hope and confidence! That requires us to come before God in a way that begs for a personal relationship... letting Him speak to you... hearing His Words in your heart... is surely to help us "come up strong, ready for God to make good on what he says"

Lessons from Prince Caspian Part 3

Today I want to recognize a few different quotes from the book "Prince Caspian". They each take place at a time when Lucy is with Aslan, and Lucy is the only one who can see Aslan.
When she first sees Aslan again she is amazed at how much bigger he seems to her than before. He says,

"Every year you grow you will find me bigger"

I have found that to be true for every year I've "met" with the Lord. When I was younger, I thought I knew everything about Him. I thought He was amazing then.. but as I've grown older I've found that He is much bigger than I once thought. My problems get bigger... every year... and so does He.

This comment is so refreshing for me... especially at a time when I fear that my "problems" have gotten too big. I can take comfort in the fact that HE is even bigger.

Later in the chapter, Lucy is grieving the fact that she failed to follow Aslan when he first called her to follow. She let the opinions of others and guidance of her family rule out over what she knew she had been called to do. They in turn wasted the entire day going the wrong way. She comes to Aslan that night, remorseful for how she failed him and asks him the simple question of "what if I had listened... would everything have been alright?"
And Aslan wisely answers her the same way the Lord answers me...

"To know what would have happened? No, nobody is ever told that... But anyone can find out what will happen"

I have often cried out to the Lord... so sorry for following others, or following my own way, and then wondered "if I had only listened in the first place...."

Like in the Kimkins saga, "what if I had listened the first time my mom questioned the low calories when I first started the diet"? "What if I had stopped the diet the first time my stomach flip flopped while reading at LCF?"

But the Lord, just like Aslan, smiles and gently reminds me that I will never know the answers to those questions... but I CAN find out what WILL happen if I follow Him now.



So, now Lucy is ready to "find out what WILL happen", and is ready to follow Aslan regardless of whether or not her family follows her as well.
This time they do follow her, but not without grumbling and complaining and making life miserable for her, as they are still full of doubt over whether or not she truly knows where she's going.
I absolutely love the line that says...

"Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things
she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan"

I want to repeat that one part over again, as a reminder to myself of what's important here..

"... But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan"

I want to remember this line, throughout my daily life. I want to be like Lucy, able to bite my lip when those around me are making life miserable. I want to be able to FORGET everything else when my eyes are fixed on the Lord.

I want to remember that just like Aslan, the Lord is calling for some of us to start walking without prior instructions!


So.. here I have 3 lessons to remember in a span of 9 pages.

1. The Lord is BIG and will only get BIGGER in my life!
2. I can find out what WILL happen by following Him instead of everyone else.
3. I can keep my eyes fixed on Him, and forget everything else.

Lessons from Prince Caspian Part 1

I am so excited about the upcoming movie Prince Caspian from The Chronicles of Narnia. I challenged my small group of 6th grade girls to read the book before joining me at the movie and asked them to look for any ideas throughout the book that might remind them of our relationship with Christ here on earth.

I loved all the parallels that were found in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe... and I think I liked some of the Prince Caspian one's even more.

I wanted to share with you some of the ones I found... over a series of posts. Feel free to comment with your insights as well.

In my copy of Prince Caspian (Chapter 9)on page 128, Lucy is speaking to Susan after they are forced to kill the wild bear in the woods. She says,

"Wouldn't it be dreadful if someday in our own world, at home, men started going
wild inside, like animals here, and still looked like men, so that you'd never
know which were which?"

Lucy is so insightful! Sadly, I fear that her statement has become truth here "in our world" already. There are so many men and women who look just like anyone else, but inside they have gone wild and are capable of doing very harmful, scary things.

I find it very interesting that Susan had paused in her reaction to seeing the bear at first, because she was afraid it might be "a talking bear". She feared hurting/killing something that had good inside.

She was then embarrassed for not reacting quick enough.

I can draw a parallel from this simple section of the story to the whole Kimkins saga. I for one, am one of those that "didn't react quick enough". I was sure that there was "good" in Kimmer and Kimkins and if it weren't for the swift actions of those that could see her for what she was, I may have ended up more firmly in her grasp.

When Susan wonders aloud if the bear could have been a nice bear...the dwarf answers her with this,

"I saw the face and I heard the snarl. he only wanted Little Girl for his breakfast"

He was able to tell the intentions of the bear, because he had been around wild bears before and recognized the look and the sound.

We can learn from this, by realizing that we do have instincts. After we have been exposed to people who are now "wild" inside, we will be able to recognize their intentions when we hear them. We can't refuse to react in order to protect someone who might hurt us.

In the book, Aslan is not yet with the children. But the dwarf is there to help them.

Even when we aren't aware of our God's presence... we can take peace in the fact that He IS there. He might even be diguised as a dwarf!!!!