Faith Walk in Action

April 28th, 2010 Filed under Personal, Walk by Faith No Comments

“Any leads?”  “Are you staying in Houston?”  “What are you up to these days?”  These questions and others have been the conversation starters of many of my visits with my friends these past 30 or so days.  How blessed I am to have so many who truly care about me as well as what my future holds?

As many of you know, I have felt much like Abraham these past few months.  From the Bible, Hebrews 11:8 tells us, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”  I was definitely called to leave LifeHouse and upon my resignation, was not the least bit certain of where I was to go next.  But, I loved this recent tweet by Suzanne Eller, gave me great comfort “God didn’t ask Abraham to leave his country as a sacrifice, but to move him closer to the promise…”

As I shared in an earlier post, God has given me some direction but it still has been one of the strangest faith walks I have ever been on.  What has been so unique about this walk is that instead of being in an “at-ease” position between steps – you know, where you take a step with the left foot and then bring your right foot parallel to your left and stand.  This walk has looked more like this…

Next Step

And since much of this came down during the winter Olympics, apart from the skin tight suit, I have felt a bit like this…

Speed skating start

In the ready.  On my mark.  Awaiting the starter’s gun.  Not wanting to miss the signal but also not wanting to get ahead of the voice of God.

Well, now, after being back from vacation for two weeks, I definitely feel like I am in my stride in this next season of my life.  There is joy in my steps, my yoke is easy and my burden light.  Tomorrow, I will share exactly what I am up!


Why I’m Content in My Singleness #3

April 10th, 2010 Filed under Personal No Comments

In my two earlier posts, I shared reasons for my contentment in my singleness.  The first one I shared was that if I were married my focus is divided and instead of just focusing on pleasing the Lord, my focus is on pleasing my husband.  The second reason is that if I marry I will still have troubles – different than if I were married but still troubles.   The final reason is that if I were married my body would not be my own.

Back to I Corinthians 7 again where it says in verses 4 and 5, “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.  Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”  The issue of sex in a marriage is a huge source of troubles in many marriages.  For many women, life starts happening, schedules get busy, children come along, etc. and their desire for intimacy wanes.  Meanwhile, the level of desire has not decreased in their husband.  So there is conflict sometimes when the husband snuggles up to the wife and desires sex.

However, what the Bible says is that when a husband desires intimacy from his wife, unless she can convince him to pray, she needs to say yes so that Satan does not get any foothold in the marriage.  If I were to marry, my selfish ways would be quickly revealed and I am certain that this would cause conflict especially because I love sleep!!

Why I’m Content in My Singleness #2

April 7th, 2010 Filed under Personal No Comments

In Monday’s post, I that for the most part I am very content in my singleness but there are days were I struggle.  On those days, there are three Truths that I remind myself about that helps me to re-gain perspective. The first one I shared was that if I were married my focus is divided and instead of just focusing on pleasing the Lord, my focus is on pleasing my husband.

The second Truth I want to share about today comes from I Corinthians 7:27-28, “Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife.  But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.”  Here is the Truth:  if I get married I will have trouble.  Now, as a single, I will have trouble as well – different trouble – but still trouble.  And not only do I still have troubles but now I have troubles with someone else.

Easy StreetI sometimes think if I get married all of my troubles will be gone.  If I just got married, I would be living on Easy Street and things would be go smoothly.  The hard things in life are because I am single.  But that is such a lie and the Truth is that I will have troubles, difficulties and challenges – not the same kind if I were single but still I would have them.

When I am eating dinner alone and I see a couple enjoying dinner together, I remind myself that if I were married I would have trouble.  When I am traveling by myself and see a husband carry his wife’s bags, I remind myself that if I were married I would have trouble.  When I am struggling to make big decisions, I remind myself that if I were married I would have trouble.  These reminders keep me focused on the fact that marriage is a wonderful thing but being married will not eliminate problems from my life.

On Saturday, I will share the third and final reason for finding my contentment in my singleness!!

Why I’m Content in My Singleness #1

April 5th, 2010 Filed under Personal No Comments

For the most part, about 90% of the time, I am completely content in my singleness.  I truly view singleness as a gift and enjoy it!  However, those 10% times when I am not content, my mind wanders through the reasons why I would love to be married.  I would love to be married because when done right it is just a great example of Christ and His bride, the church.  I would love to be married because of the companionship that it would provide.  I would love to be marriedWorship because decision-making by myself can be so hard.

It is at these times that I remind myself of the three Truths that help me gain perspective.  The first truth is that if I am married my focus is divided and instead of just focusing on pleasing the Lord, my focus is on pleasing my husband.  Paul says in I Corinthians 7:32-35, “I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord.  But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.”

Paul is not saying that it is wrong but that is just the way it is.  Once I marry, if I want to please my Lord, I please my husband because my husband has become my number one ministry.  As a wife, my calling is to be my husband’s helpmeet…his helper…his mission becomes my mission.

This does not mean that I don’t ever do “godly” things.  That doesn’t mean I am not serving the Lord outside the home.  Obviously my relationship with the Lord is still primary but how it is manifested in my life most often is in serving my husband.  But being married will cause distraction in my life.  As a single woman, I am not distracted at all.  I am free to move to Africa and minister or stay in Houston and serve in my church’s women’s ministry.  I can pack my bags and move back to Atlanta, live in a friend’s basement and write my book or I can flip burgers at McDonald’s and write my book in Houston.  I am free to go or stay as the Lord instructs.

This also applies to the day-to-day things as well.  If I want to purchase something, I go and buy it.  I don’t have to check with anyone.  If I want to go away for the weekend, I do not have to look on his calendar to see if we are free.  I can just do it.  Cereal for dinner—fine.  Movie on Saturday afternoon—no problem.

When I get a little restless and desiring to be married, this first truth helps me to get my perspective back on track.  I remember that as a single, my only focus is the Lord and I am not distracted by the concerns of the world.  On Wednesday, I will share the 2nd Truth that helps me to gain perspective.

90 Days

March 22nd, 2010 Filed under Walk by Faith 13 Comments

Ninety days ago most of us were finishing up last minute shopping, putting the finishing touches on the menu for Christmas dinner and even packing to spend the holidays at home. It is amazing how much your life can change in 90 days!!

Friends of mine still have unopened gifts because their loved one suddenly died before he could open his present. Others have been let go of jobs that they thought would be a lifetime career. Calendar I also know of friends were joyous things have happened – babies being born, marriages restored and houses sold!

Personally, when I boarded my flight back to Houston on New Year’s Day 2010 I never dreamed I would be where I am today. No longer at LifeHouse of Houston. Starting my own consulting business. Writing a book. The goals I had in my mind on the first day of the new decade have gone out the window. But, there is great peace in my soul because I know that “the mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

Despite the peace, there are mornings when I awake and wonder, “What am I doing?” Even, “What is God doing?” However, the Lord encourages me as I read His Word, re-read my journals and check back in with my counselors concerning the steps I have taken these past 90 days. For the first time in my life in such a big way, I am being courageous. Because courage is really not courage unless you are afraid and you do it anyway.

So before you know or I know it, another 90 days will roll past. For me, I am excited about my journey and my struggle will be to enjoy it and not get too caught up in the destination. What will your journey be like these next 90 days? Are you being courageous or are you playing it safe? Are you excited or are you dreading it? Regardless, I pray you can sing with me the words from Robin Mark’s song, All is Well: “All is well with my soul! He is God – in control. I know not all His plans but I know I’m in His hands.”

Fruit Trees in the New Land

February 26th, 2010 Filed under Bible 1 Comment

One of my favorite things about the Bible is that it is so RICH!!  No, this is not about prosperity preaching but rather the wealth found in the Word of God.  One can be a disciple of Christ for years and have read a verse a dozen times and each time the Holy Spirit reveals something new.  A rhema word.  A fresh revelation.  A deeper understanding.  The author of Romans said it best, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33 NIV)

One of my 2010 goals is to read the Bible through in a year.  My pastor, Gregg Matte, has said that Leviticus is the graveyard for many “read the Bible through in a year” plans.  Well, this is exactly where I am right now in my reading, Leviticus – the book of the Law.  However, this morning, the Word almost jumped off the page at me.  It was one of those rhema moments!!

Nestled between the law on having sex with a slave and to not interpret omens are these three verses:

red delicious spartan apple container bins harvestWhen you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten.  And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. But in the fifth year you may eat of its fruit, to increase its yield for you: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:23-25 ESV)

During the first three years of living in the new land, the Israelites had to plant the seed, tend the sow, pull weeds, pray for rain, pray for sunshine and then at the harvest time, I guess, they threw the fruit away.  In the fourth year, same amount of work but now instead of throwing it away it is given to the Lord as a praise offering.  Then finally, the fifth year comes and they are able to reap what they have sown.

How does this apply to me today as I sit in the middle of the 4th largest city in the US and don’t even have a yard let alone a garden to tend?  Spiritually, there is ground that my forefathers and I have surrendered to the enemy.  As I walk out the statues of God in love for Him, I am gaining back this ground.  I am coming into new lands.  There is great celebration in the victory but for me to have FULL ownership of the land, to no longer be under guardians (see Galatians 4:1-4), there is work to be done.  And this work is hard and long.

I am willing to do the work to gain that full ownership.  Willing to wait a long time between sacrifice and blessings.  I don’t just want to be a squatter on the Promised Land the Lord has granted me but I want full ownership.  The full inheritance!!

How about you?  First, are you even seeking to take back surrendered ground?  To enter into the Promised Land?  Secondly, Have you gained some ground but grown lazy in the labor?  Have a hoe but are just too tired to deal with the weeds?  Finally, are you willing to wait for the fullness of time?  A mark of spiritual maturity is how long you can wait between obedience and reward!

Oh the depths of the riches of God’s Word!!  I don’t understand the law two verses later that says ” do not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard” but I do know that God has a reason for it and in the fullness of time I will know.  However, in the meantime, may I tend my lands well!

Time at LifeHouse

February 22nd, 2010 Filed under Ministry, Walk by Faith 4 Comments

Life has been a bit challenging for me lately.  Here is a quick update on what is happening… After much prayer and counsel, the Lord has confirmed that my time at LifeHouse has ended.  I resigned on the 10th of February and my last day will be March 31st.  There is much sadness in my heart but I have full assurance that this is the next step I am to take.

iStock_000004237399XSmallRecently, a dear friend of mine shared a word with me that has given me a great comfort for me these last few weeks.  ”Obedience is more important than understanding.”  As I have been walking this path these last few months, I have often asked the Lord, “Why?” and He has not answered.  He has simply said take the next step.  He truly is only revealing to me my next step and it is long after the sound of the previous foot fall fades that I hear, turn to the right or turn to the left – walk this way.

Praise the Lord that He has taught me to live a very frugal lifestyle and to live debt free.  Because of that, I have the ability to take the time after my last day at LifeHouse to wait, pray, study, rest, etc. so that He may reveal to me the next step.  I don’t know what the future holds but I do KNOW these things:

1.  He holds the future.
2.  He loves me BIG.
3.  This path is for my good and His glory for if there was a better path for me to walk He would have taken me down that path rather than this path.
4.  He who began a great work in me will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
5.  The plans He has for me are to prosper me and not to harm me; to give me hope and a future.
6.  The plan is much bigger than I can imagine and there is excitement in that.

As the Lord brings my name to your mind, please pray for me as I walk through this new season in my life.

Every Need is Not a Personal Call

February 20th, 2010 Filed under Ministry 2 Comments

Recently, I wrote a guest blog for a friend’s website (www.RussMasterson.com) for a series he is doing called Lies Overheard in Church.  Here is what I shared:iStock_000004084820Large

Lie:  If you hear of a need, you are called to fill it.

As the two women walked into evening worship, one looked frazzled and exhausted – definitely not the countenance one would expect on the Sabbath.  “Jessica, are you ok? Why the downcast face?”  “Oh, Karen, 3 year old choir this afternoon was crazy.   My ears are ringing from the decibel level of the kids’ singing and my knees hurt from sitting in the baby-bear chairs.”  “Jessica, you barely liked your kids when they were three – why in the world are you doing preschool choir?”  “Well, Karen, if I don’t do it, no one will.”

There are countless frazzled and exhausted Christians serving in churches who are serving only because they believe the lie that by hearing a need they are the ones who are to fill that need.  Even, the great evangelist D.L. Moody believed this lie for many years.  Every need is not a personal call for you or for me.  Nor is it even for God…  In Genesis 2, God sees that it is not good for man to be alone but instead of filling that need with Himself, God creates Eve to meet that need.

Too often we will start doing Kingdom work and then ask God to bless it.  That is kind of like a private in the army making plans for the day and asking the commanding officer to make available the needed supplies.  Instead, we need to listen for a personal call from the Lord and then respond in obedience with full assurance that God will provide the necessary supplies – emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.

  • Are you exhausted in the “work”?
  • Do you dread doing the “work”?
  • Are you drained after finishing the “work”?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, I am not saying you have missed the call of God but it would be the first place I would look.  What lies do you hear at church?

February’s Menu

January 31st, 2010 Filed under Food No Comments

Well, the challenge this month is to get the grocery and eating out budget under $200 for the month!!!  So far so good as my recent shopping run that covered 90% of my groceries for the month only cost $82!!  Here is what I got:

Groceries

You may be asking, “How can that little bit of food feed you for a month?”  Well, I am glad you asked… Here is what my meals look like for this month:

Breakfast is almost always strawberry/banana smoothie (made with diet V-8 splash, frozen bananas and strawberries), a boiled egg and oatmeal.

Mid-AM snack is an apple and mid-PM snack is homemade yogurt.

Lunch will be vegetable lasagna or veggie chili (still have 3 or 4 packets left from last month) with brown rice.

Dinner will be spinach topped chicken, turkey meatloaf or autumn glazed pork chops (also left from last month) with brown rice and frozen veggies.

Once I planned my month and took out the meals where I was out of town or already had commitments (i.e. church dinner), I needed 17 lunches and 17 dinners. The lasagna and spinach topped chicken each make 12 servings.  Since the chili, meatloaf and pork chops are left over from last month I am pretty much good to go with what I already had in the freezer. I will need to go back and probably get another gallon of milk and fruit but for the most part I am covered.

I spent about 3 hours this afternoon preparing the chicken and the lasagna but it means that I am done cooking for the month.  I freeze everything in single serving sizes so I just check my calendar and see what I planned and pull it before heading up to bed.  This has saved me so much money and calories!!

What are some ways that you save money and/or calories?

Vegetable Lasagna

January 31st, 2010 Filed under Food No Comments

This recipe is wonderful because I love all of the veggies.  I can use a ton of them and feel full but not have all the added calories.Lasagna #1

Vegetable Lasagna

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

½ cup diced onion

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 ½ tablespoon Italian Seasoning

½ tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

14 oz. can chopped tomatoes

6 oz can tomato pasteLasagna #2

12 lasagna noodles

4-6 cups Chopped Vegetables (peppers, squash, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, etc.)

1-10 oz box chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

3 cups grated mozzarella cheese

16 oz skim cottage cheese

6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In 6 qt stockpot, sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender.  Add seasonings, canned tomatoes and paste.  Cover and simmer 40 minutes stirring occasionally.  (This makes a great marinara sauce as well.)

Chop 4-6 cups assorted vegetables.  I used yellow squash, onions, mushrooms and a bag of frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrot medley).  Add chopped vegetables to sauce mixture the last 10 minutes and cook until vegetables are crisp tender.  (If using frozen vegetables, thaw beforehand and only add the last few minutes.) Set sauce aside.

Boil 12 Lasagna noodles according to package directions.  Drain and set aside. Drain spinach (press out excess water) and set aside. Spray bottom of 13 x 9” pan with cooking spray.  Place 4 noodles across bottom of pan. Top with 1/3 of sauce/vegetable mixture.  Spread 1/3 cottage cheese on top and spread evenly.  Sprinkle with 1/3 Parmesan cheese.  Top with 1/3 of mozzarella cheese.  Spread entire box of spinach evenly over cheese.  Repeat noodles, vegetable and cheeses 2 more times ending with mozzarella cheese on top. (I actually was only able to do this noodle process twice so I just made a smaller lasagna using and 8×8 pan and cooked it alongside the other dish.)

Bake at 350 degrees 30-40 minutes or until light brown on top and bubbling on sides.  Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.  Serves 12

Nutritional Information: 284 Calories; 9g Fat (27.1% calories from fat); 19g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 19mg Cholesterol; 678mg Sodium.

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