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As I look toward the brand new year that begins tomorrow (can you believe it?), and as I look back on a very hard 2009, I just happened to get an e-mail from a friend. I want to share that e-mail with you, and I hope it pumps you up for 2010 as it did me!

“For the vision…will surely come”.
Habakkuk 2:3

Obstacles can’t steal your dream without permission.
Winston Churchill rallied blitzed, beleaguered Great Britain from the edge of defeat with these memorable words: “Never give up! Never give up! Never, never, never give up!”
When you walk in faith and refuse to quit, God guarantees your obstacles will not prevent your vision from being fulfilled. Though they were enslaved, Israel received the strength to overcome Egypt’s efforts to break them. The story of their survival and success reads: “The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew” (Exodus 1:12 NKJV). Paul’s dream of evangelizing the world met roadblocks at every turn. Tightening his grip he declared, “We are hard-pressed on all sides, but…never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but never…deserted; we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out” (II Corinthians 4:8-9). Joseph’s journey to the throne led him through betrayal, persecution, and loneliness. His dream, still alive and unsurrendered, was put on hold for years. Vindicated in his critics’ eyes, his dream at last realized, he recalls the amazing way in which God accomplished it. “For”, he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Genesis 41:52 NAS). He refused to surrender his dream – it is what kept him alive. God made him fruitful, not by exempting him from affliction but by promoting him right there, “in the land of my affliction”.
Your obstacles can’t stop God; don’t let them stop you!

Do you see what I mean? Look toward the new year with a great anticipation of what God has in store, everyone, Things may even be bleak now, but don’t lose your vision, your dream. God will bring it about in due time.

Happy new year, y’all!

Shari

“Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord” (Lamentations 2:19).

Recently some friends and I were playing Bible Challenge, a Bible trivia game, with some friends. We got the question “Who is the author of Lamentations?” My partner shouted out “Jeremiah!” I thought it was someone else, but she spoke with such conviction, I went with her answer. It turns out she was right.

I laughed and said, “You know you’re bad off when you’re looking for comfort in the book of Lamentations!” My family and I have been walking through years of challenges and sometimes we feel like we are still no closer to resolve than when we started the journey. At times we have been discouraged to the point of despair and felt totally abandoned by a God we are sure loves us. And yet in the midst of all of it we have found comfort in Jeremiah’s words in Lamentations 3.

“He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed He has turned His hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old… Even when I call out or cry for help He shuts out my prayer… I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, “my splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.” I remember my affliction and my wandering… I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me. 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.’” (emphasis mine).

If you are at the point of despair, do what Jeremiah did and pour out your heart to God. And then call to your mind the fact that GREAT is God’s faithfulness. He has not abandoned you and He loves you. Don’t allow Satan to deceive you to think anything else. God will be faithful in your life.

More later…

Shari

There has been a lot of complaining around our area lately. People are wondering why it has to be so cold outside, and why there is no snow. I sat at a Cleveland Browns football game (not a fan…I love my Steelers) Sunday night. I complained about the winds off the lake…I’ve never been so cold in my entire life! But I also sat and listened to the armchair quarterbacks talk about what they would do to fix the Brownies. I’ve been complaining about my family’s current financial status, Complain, complain, complain! We all do it more than we know…

“Do everything without complaining”. Philippians 2:14

Two groups of psychology students were wired for audio and assigned a period to socialize freely. One group knew the experiment would measure the level of complaining in normal conversation, the other did not. Afterwards, both groups were shocked by how frequently they complained. The informed group complained almost as much as the uninformed one. It’s the oldest response in the book — literally! Confronted with our choices and actions, we spontaneously start complaining. “It was their fault, not mine. If they hadn’t…I wouldn’t have.”

Adam needed no lessons in the art of complaining. Caught red-handed, he told God, “The woman You gave…me, she gave me…and I ate”. Eve said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12-13 NAS). Neither accepted responsibility for their choices. And since God doesn’t help people who won’t be responsible, He threw the complainers out of Paradise.

If they ever “got it” regarding complaining, they didn’t transmit it to their offspring, Isreal. “Now the people complained…in the hearing of the Lord…his anger was aroused. Then fire…consumed…the outskirts of the camp” (Numbers 11:1 NIV). Notice, all complaining is “in the hearing of the Lord”, and He clearly doesn’t want to hear it!

Paul writes: “Do not complain as some of them did; they were killed by the angel that destroys. The things that happened to those people are examples…written down to teach us” (I Corinthians 10:10-11 NCV).

Clean up your verbal act! That goes for all of us! Decide to detect, reject, and eject all complaining from your vocabulary!

More later…

Shari

Just some thoughts for today:

“Be sure your sin will find you out.”Numbers 32:23.

David’s “one-night stand” with Bathsheba turned into a long-term wipe-out. In Psalm 32 we read about the effects of sin on David. In the aftermath he felt guilt, shame, and even physical symptoms because he wouldn’t come clean with God. But his story doesn’t end there. After being confronted by the prophet Nathan, he repented. After a year of hiding his sin, David came to his senses and sought God in brokenness of spirit. If you want to know how to come back from sin and failure, do what David did—fall on your knees, open your Bible to Psalm 51 and pray: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalms 5:1-2 NKJV). Some of us don’t know what repentance means. We offer a little prayer that goes: “Lord, I’m sorry for my sins. Forgive me in Jesus’ name. Amen.” True repentance begins with confession, which means to agree with God that what you did was wrong and needs to be made right. David prayed: “Against You…have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight” (Psalms 51:4 NKJV). Genuine repentance means acknowledging that your sin is first and foremost an affront to God. It makes no excuses. It says, “This is my problem and my sin. I didn’t have to yield, but I chose to. I can’t blame it on anyone else.” Do you need to come back from failure, or are you dealing with someone who does? This is where it starts.

More later…

Shari

Ever had one of those worship team rehearsals where the tension was so thick because of one reason or another, you could hardly stand it? I saw the following devotion this morning while surfing the web. It’s from Bob Gass Ministries, and it gives some support to any of you who may be going through this…especially worship team leaders:

“Giving preference to one another”. Romans 12:10

Before discussing what healthy compromise is, let’s be clear about what it is not. It is not giving up what you believe, or who you are, or accepting second best because you are impatient of or afraid of criticism.

Healthy compromise is about learning to negotiate a win-win for both sides. It is tempting to dismiss somebody as being wrong and see only our own viewpoint. That’s when it is crucial to relinquish your pride, step outside of the role you’re playing, try to become the other person and ask yourself, “Can I see their point of view? Can I appreciate why they feel as they do? Can I help them to better understand where I’m coming from?” The stronger we are in personality and views, the more we risk alienating the very people we need by being inflexible and unwilling to hear them out. That can cost us dearly.

Because David listened to Abigail’s plea for mercy, he avoided falling into the trap of his own anger and killing her husband who treated him badly. Paul was uncompromising on the truth, but he changed his mind about John Mark and gave him a second chance to ministry.

Here are two Scriptures we need to think about when we are hard-headed: 1) “Be kindly affectionate to one with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10 NKJV)…and 2) “Be at peace among yourselves…comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all…always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (I Thessalonians 5:13-15 NKJV).

Amazing, isn’t it? All you need is a little give-and-take.

More later…

Shari

It is so good to be back online after a number of days of lost communication. Put it this way…the bill is paid now!

Just some thoughts for worshippers out there:

Why don’t we see more of God’s promises fulfilled in our lives? Because we overlook the process. It is the process of reaching the promise that we become discouraged and quit. Success in any venture lies in holding even when others let go. We demand instant gratification, and if we don’t get it, we leave our jobs, our churches, and even our families. There’s a process you must go through, regardless of your level of faith. There are no shortcuts. You’ve got to pay full price; it never goes on sale. Endurance is the price tag of achievement. “In due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart”!

For years, William Wilberforce pushed Parliament to abolish slavery. Discouraged, he was about to give up when his elderly friend John Wesley heard of it, and from his deathbed called for a pen and paper. With trembling hand, Wesley wrote, “Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and of devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them stronger than God? O be not weary in well doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery shall vanish away before it”. Wesley died six days later.

Wilberforce fought for 45 more years. Three days before his death, slavery was abolished in Great Britain. Eventually, it was abolished in America too.

Hang in there — what God has in store for you is worth any price you have to pay.

More later…

Shari