Tag: god's will

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To Walk In His Steps

krisshetter 
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.  Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”  John 17:15-19 

If you’ve spent any time reading my posts you’ve probably discovered I have had a difficult relationship with my parents.  My father, the atheist, and my mother, the rejector of all things “church” have led lives which saw an ever-decreasing circle of family and friends.  During the last 10 years or so, my mother set about turning her back on not only me but one of her granddaughters and subsequently her two grandchildren.  My dad, a quiet, unassuming man, felt the best way to keep the peace was to follow along.  So, one day he told me to stop calling and checking in because each time I said even, “Hello” his world would turn to chaos.

Much of what my mom set about doing was, I believe, due to mental illness as time went on.  However, I also came to realize she suffered from a life-long emotional need that was never fully met.  She desired love but just could never fully surrender to what that all entailed – time spent together, joy, forgiveness, empathy, giving freely, and even physical contact.

The Bible tells us emphatically to “honor your father and mother.” (Exodus 20:12 & Deuteronomy 5:16).  Jesus, in Gethsemane, told His Holy Father that He would suffer an excruciating death in order to do His Father’s will.  Well, I spent a lot of time with God over the last 20 years trying to figure out exactly what that meant.  I sought to understand what walking in Jesus’ obedient steps would look like in my life.

I may have said in the past that my process of coming to a “good place” with my parents went through all the stages of grief.  

  1. Denial
  2. Anger
  3. Bargaining
  4. Depression
  5. Acceptance

At some point I realized I was in the midst of this process because I grasped that what was happening was the death of something that God has ordained as good – the parent/child relationship.  When I finally stopped working so hard at getting their approval and love, I needed to see what God wanted out of me in terms of “acceptance.”  How could I show the love of Christ and glorify Him in my steps?

The LORD, was sanctifying me through a very personal and long-term problem.  I knew the acceptance of the situation still meant I needed to obey His Word.  That became obvious during COVID and my prayer time.  My prayers turned from “please fix them” to “how can I best love these folks that gave me life?”  I obeyed when He showed me the way.  And even though I was turned away so often, I was no longer hurt because I knew I served Him well.

Last year, the LORD moved this situation into a new realm.  I truly believe He saw I was ready for more Kingdom work.  On July 11, 2024 a family friend called to tell me my mom had suddenly died from an aortic embolism.  My father had called him to get a ride home from the hospital.

As I rushed to my parent’s home to meet my dad, I didn’t know what to think, what to expect.  But I knew God had shifted my life and I was ready to embark on whatever new path of sanctification He was taking me.

As I stood next to my father, who sat stunned in our friend’s passenger seat in his driveway, I felt God’s powerful presence leading me to complete forgiveness, compassion and love.  I embraced my dad and we cried together.  I took a big leap forward that night on my way to Jesus’ desire of holiness in me.

I’ve hopefully set the framework of why we get sanctified and by whom in the last few posts.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to show you some practical ways the Holy Spirit, given through Jesus’ death and resurrection, calls us, speaks to us, guides us, and comforts us as we are being sanctified.  Lessons learned over the last few years, especially the dramatic turn of events in my life last year.

We will walk through these 5 potential spiritual growth areas:

  1. Knowledge
  2. Trials
  3. Obedience
  4. Wisdom
  5. Stewardship

So, I hope you join me next week as we stride our way into our first topic of knowledge – the way to gain it and use it to bring us closer to our God Almighty.

This week’s question: In absolute honesty, where do you turn to first when you have questions about the Christian faith?

30daysofpraise, Bible, bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, christian men, christian parenting, Christian women, Faith, god, Jesus, Jesus Follower, prayer, religion, Uncategorized

Day 2 Fresh Fire

krisshetter 
Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:2-4
 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out. Leviticus 6:13

Where I live, the threat of devastating fires is always with us.  During certain months I feel my mind and body change in alertness to puffs of smoke on the horizon or that distinctive smell of vegetation burning somewhere.  But fire in all its frightfulness offers so much goodness in its flickering flames.

It’s fire that changed man’s way of life by providing warmth, a new way to eat, and a comfort in throwing light out to scare away all that darkness brings.  Fire is a powerful, God-given element – both dangerous and life sustaining.  

Throughout the Bible we see fire used by God to consecrate covenants, protect the people of Israel at night, to burn up sacrifices, and to pass judgment.  The New Testament refers to God as a “consuming fire.”  

For non-believers they face the lake of fire.  But for believers we are given the fire of the Holy Spirit.  This fire doesn’t consume but rather refines.  On the day of Pentecost, the fire placed in the disciples just days before by the resurrected Jesus draws a huge crowd in Jerusalem.  And because of the power of that fire, thousands were saved and also given that fire.

I want to live with God’s ever-burning fire in me.  Not a tiny spark or a flame but a wildfire.  A fire that speaks with the confidence of knowing the Holy Spirit is really doing the talking.  A fire that hungers and thirsts every single day for the Lord’s will.  

This song is one I heard a few years ago and inspired my series aptly called Fresh Fire.  Not too long ago it was also recorded by Brandon Lake and Maverick City Music.  It brings you to your feet saying “Yes! Me too!”  I especially love the line – “A man on fire doesn’t care what he looks like, what he sounds like.”  As daughters and sons of God we don’t need to fear man, only God.  And God calls us to be full of fire with His message of love and salvation to those all around us.

bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, Faith, Jesus Follower, Uncategorized

The Smoothest Path

krisshetter 
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:3-5

A few years ago, I came home on my birthday and opened my garage door to a beautiful, new, baby blue Vespa scooter.  On it sat a giant bow.  I was so excited I jumped out of my car and proceeded to run toward the scooter.  I suddenly realized, however, I had yet to put my car in park and turn it off.  So as my car inched toward disaster I jumped back in, turned it off and started laughing.  Once the excitement wore off, I realized I now was faced with a task I had long put off – getting my motorcycle license.

Since I was 15, I had wanted to ride motorcycles but my mom was fearful I’d kill myself.  So here I was, 53 years old, and finally doing it.  After successfully attaining that goal, my husband and I made a new one.  We decided to do a long ride with the local Vespa Club out to Palm Springs, California.  Taking the non-freeway route made it a 113-mile ride over a minimum of three hours.  And as the ride went along, I held my own.  Just before you drop from the mountains into the desert floor of Palm Springs, you’ll find a motorcyclist’s dream road.  On a map it looks like a mess of squiggles.  In reality it’s seven steep and sharp curves.  Having ridden with the group for more than two hours I recognized the most experienced and safest riders.  I picked one and decided to follow his line down the hill.

In motorcycle terms “following the line” means keeping an eye on the leader to see the smoothest, quickest and safest path along curvy roads.   A few years later on a Vespa trip through the Alps, following our guide’s line was crucial as he was the most experienced rider of our group.  And I certainly didn’t want to find myself riding off the edge of a cliff or smacking into a giant tour bus!  

That’s me waving! As we ride through Austria!

It’s amazing the people, some of whom we barely know, that we are willing to put our trust in. Yet with God, who has been with us from the beginning, we seem to struggle in following His line.  He promises to make our way straight.  He will make our ground level.  Yet, we are the ones that decide to take a path all on our own. 

We know better.  Or worse, we just don’t think He knows what we really need.  My youngest daughter was famous for going against my directives.  I once found her, at 2 years old, standing up on the kitchen counter attempting to get a glass down from an even higher shelf.  She had asked me for some juice and I had said, “no.”  I turned my back for a minute.  You see, she would explain to me, I just didn’t understand why she needed x,y or z.  If I had only just understood her need better I would’ve apparently said “yes.”  So, to her, that justified her standing up on the kitchen counter that day.

How many times a day do we do that to God?  How many times a day do we tell God what He needs to do for us?  Or how many times do we just think, “if only He really understood what I need.”? 

Whoever has my commands and keeps 
them is the one who loves me. The 
one who loves me will be loved by 
my Father, and I too will love them 
and show myself to them.”
John 14:21

How many times have we thought our kids or friends or spouse or employees don’t respect us because they refuse to take the path you’ve laid out for them?  You’ve tried sparing them from hardship and yet they still don’t listen.  Now think how God must feel.  

We are asked, entreated, implored by God via His prophets throughout the Bible to trust Him and follow His line.  He knows the best, quickest, and safest path for us.  The book of James has so many wise words about His path. It happens to be one of my favorite books of the Bible.  Why?  Because I like lessons to be clear.  And James also makes it clear that when we learn what that path is, we need to hold steady to it.

But when you ask, you must believe 
and not doubt, because the one who 
doubts is like a wave of the sea, 
blown and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6

I’m thankful for that Vespa rider, whose name I don’t remember and I may never meet again, for leading me down that treacherous road into the desert.  But I’m most thankful to Jesus, whose name I hold in my heart and on my lips, for leading me out of my desert and into a bright and beautiful path.