Can anything good come from dust?

Sunset Over the Hill by lucianvenutian

My kids and I went to the library last week. Our library experiences aren't organized or intentional by any means, instead this is how we do the library: we walk in, the kids grab a few books randomly off the shelf, they give them to me and then they go off and play with the toys. This method never allows us to know what we are coming home with much less knowing whether the books will be excellent, okay or just plain strange. During our last trip, they managed to pick a good book, Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust by April Pulley Sayre. The story talks about what dust is, where it comes from and what it does. The end of the book has 2 pages discussing dust in further details for the adults and in those pages it says, "When the sun is low in the sky, its rays hit dust particles at an angle. The more dust, the more colorful the sunsets and sunrises. When volcanoes erupt or forest fires burn, they send a lot of ash and soot into the air. This ash makes sunsets particularly colorful for weeks and even months, until the dust settles."

Who doesn't love a beautiful sunset? Who knew that something we find as useless and annoying as dust is the palette, which God uses to create His artistic masterpieces? God wastes nothing, not even something as small as 1/16th of a millimeter of ash. We all appreciate God's handiwork in the physical realm and as we appreciate these displays of His splendor it should remind us of what He also promises to do for us in the spiritual realm:

Isaiah 62:2-3

to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes, the oil of gladness

instead of mourning, and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

The God who uses dust and ash in the physical realm promises to one up it for us in the spiritual realm; He promises to replace our ashes with a crown of beauty. In the Old Testament, times of mourning and repentance often included the presence of ashes. As I look over the past year, there have many days of mourning in my life and the lives of those around me. While I am not surrounded by the presence of physical ashes there are many dreams and desires that currently are ashes in my minds' eye. Sometimes it has been hard for me to look up and not settle into a place of sadness and despair. This book along with the verses in Isaiah have reminded me that even the ashes in our lives will be redeemed by Him. If a sunset is a demonstration of what He can do just by shining on ashes I can't wait to see what He will do when He replaces them.

Sanctified Together

I recently connected with an amazing blogger named Alisa. She has a passion for writing and for God (always a good combination). This year she is beginning a monthly newsletter called Sanctified Together: Email and Online Publication. The theme for this month's publication is: The Belt of Truth. You all know I'm an armour girl so I can't help but be excited about it. But I'm also excited because the publication contains one of my articles:) So if you have a moment please check it out; it is entiled "Why do I throw out the Good?" and if you have time you can also check out the articles by the other 16 ladies.

Thanks,

Into His Hands

Do you remember my post Praying Like Little Children? In that post, I mentioned my beautiful cousin Amanda was pregnant with a baby who had Potter's Syndrome.

On Wednesday, January 6 beautiful

Layla Rae

entered into this world for too brief of a moment.

She was able to meet all the family that was present before she entered into her Heavenly Father's loving hands. As you are lead, please lift up Nick and Amanda as they continue to walk on.

Obtaining Freedom Part 1: Releasing yourself and others from Guilt and Shame

Today I am going back to my archives; I needed to hear this again. This is part 1 of a 4 part series I wrote on obtaining freedom. If this sounds familiar to you then it means you've been reading my blog for almost a year now:)

I think God is on a mission to release His children from the burden of Shame and Guilt. I really mean it: He wants us to walk in the reality of FREEDOM in our everyday life. Jesus died to set us free and yet we sit so entangled by sin much of the time.

So here is what I've been starting to comprehend. During the last 6 years the Lord has done a great job of changing me from striving and living by being guilt motivated. One of the revelations I have received has not only freed me from walking in guilt but has also freed me up to see others in a non-judgemental way and to just love them.

It is all boiling down for me to the power of forgiveness. When Jesus died on the cross, he forgave ALL sins past, present, future. Not just the sins of Christians but also the sins of non-Christians. The payment has been paid in FULL!

1 Peter 3:18

"For Christ also died for sins once for all,

the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God,

having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit."

I think sometimes as Christians we get so caught up in the fact that we still sin, or we see the sin in others and we want someone to make payment for it. In regards to ourselves, we walk around in guilt and shame because we went down that road that we knew we weren't supposed to go down. We think by feeling guilty about it we will somehow "pay" God back for failing Him. But the reason Jesus died is because we would NEVER be able to pay Him back for our failings. This truth then is also true for others. I don't need to make others feel guilty or hold unforgiveness over them because they don't need to pay me back for the wrongs they have done against me. The payment has already been paid in full by Jesus.

Therefore, repentance and forgiveness for a Christian is not about carrying around a burden of guilt and shame but it is about coming into agreement with what God says is true. The Bible says:

Luke 15:10

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing

in the presence of the angels of God over one

sinner who repents."

I always viewed this verse as "the angels were rejoicing" until one of my pastors preached a sermon on joy and pointed out that the angels are in the presence of rejoicing. Who then is rejoicing ~ God! God is thrilled when we turn to Him. He is rejoicing that we finally get it and He wants to celebrate with us. His arms are wide open to receive us.

My encouragement to myself and others is to throw off the cloak of shame and guilt and our misunderstandings of repentance and forgiveness. You really will want to turn to God when you see how He feels about you and that the payment has already been paid ~ so move on your sins have been cast as far as the East is from the West. Then when you see how much God loves you and rejoices over you in your repentance it will free you to love others freely! You will want them to experience the freedom that is found by coming into agreement with the truths of who God is.

Love & War

Did you know John & Stasi Eldredge have a new book called Love & War? As you probably already know by now I really love the stuff written by John and Stasi. This particular book is focused on marriage and it's caption is "Finding the Marriage you've Dreamed of." My husband and I started the book last night and only made it through the introduction, but it already started stirring things in my heart. Below I will be sharing two paragraphs that really stood out to me; to give you some context the introduction is sharing the words that John said to a couple on their wedding day, the following came out of the charge to the couple:

"In choosing marriage you have chosen an assignment at the frontlines in this

epic battle for the human heart. You will face hardship, you will face suffering,

you will face opposition and you will face a lie. The scariest thing a woman ever

offers is to believe that she is worth pursuing, to open her heart up to pursuit,

to continue to open up her heart and offer the beauty she holds inside, all the

while fearing it will not be enough. The scariest thing a man ever chooses is to

offer his strength without knowing how things will turn out. To take the risk

of playing the man before the outcome is decided. To offer his heart of strength

while fearing it will not be enough.

A lie is going to come to both of you, starting very soon, in subtle and not so

subtle ways. It can't be done. It's too hard. We had unrealistic expectations.

It isn't worth it. The lie to you, Megan, will be 'You are nothing more than a

disappointment.' The lie to you Daniel, will be 'You are not man enough for this.'

And so, I have two words for you today. Words that I want you to keep close in your

hearts as you forward: You are. Megan, you are radiant, you are. Daniel, you are a

man, you are strong, and you are valiant. You have what it takes. Hold this close

to you hearts. It can be done. And it is worth it (pgs. 5&6)."

Stasi comments that these words are lost on the new couple because they are filled with the excitement of the day and the newness of love. The words, however, were more for the audience, those who had entered marriage and are living it out. I don't know where you are in your marriage but hopefully some of these words in those two paragraphs have sparked a desire within you to continue pursuing the beauty and worth of marriage. Proverbs 29:18 says,

"Without a vision the people perish."

In America today, we see marriages perishing all over and the church is no exception. Even if divorce doesn't take place there are many marriages that are just two people living together yet remaining strangers. I am excited about reading this book because I know that John is an artist of drawing a picture of God's heart for His people and in this case marriage. In this new year may you embrace a renewed vision for your marriage and go after that which God intended and not settle for second best.

In Christ,

Get Healthy for Hope has officially started. I currently am being sponsored by 4 people for a total of $12 a pound. Let me tell you, it is very motivating to lose these pounds when there is money and purpose on the line! It is not too late for you to get involved. I am still looking for sponsors in my goal to lose 10 pounds. In addition, you also can make a goal to lose weight and be sponsored. Whether you have 5 pounds, or 30 to lose you can get involved. In addition to qualifying for the drawing for a $50 gift card, you have a chance to win a Nintendo Wii!!! The person who raises the most money will win the grand prize of a brand new Wii. Those of you in a family, can combine together and form a team and submit your sponsorship money together. Please consider being a part of this great opportunity.