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Entries in UPLIFT Encouragement (6)

Tuesday

Nov222016

Count on God and Count Your Blessings

Sharon Paavola is one of those trophies of God's grace; I've seen the Lord work powerfully in her life and in the lives of those she loves. In this special Thanksgiving UPGRACE—which is also a spiritual UPLIFT—she encourages us to be joyful on "two counts."

"My husband accepted Christ later in life," Sharon says.

I (Dawn) think it's always special when people receive the Lord, but there can be challenges when that choice comes later rather than sooner. But Sharon experienced an unexpected blessing in a lesson from the Lord after her husband came to Christ.

Sharon continues . . .

My husband accepted Christ later in life seven years after we married.

He had not grown up in a Christian home and attended church seldom as a child. His first prayers were precious and at mealtimes he thanked God for simple things like our home, our dogs and for always having abundant food to eat.

Most of his prayers ended and still do with thankfulness for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins and the gift of eternal life.

I grew up in a pastor’s home where mealtime thanks could become routine, but not rote.

Eric’s petitions were fresh. They were not tainted by years of hearing the same words.

I realized I had accepted a pattern of praying.

Listening to Eric brought me up short. I realized how rarely before eating I truly thanked God with my heart.

Now our pre-meal petitions contain random praise for all kinds of daily mercy and blessings. As a result of this practice, I have incorporated thankfulness into my communication to God in new ways. Throughout my day, I find small and large situations and events to be grateful to God.

I have also learned that:

Thanking Him before He has answered my prayers for how He will work brings hope and expectation, releasing the worry or anxiousness of the need.
Praising Him for glorifying His name leads to more faith. What joy comes then when He does answer even if it is not what I had anticipated.

During the years I taught a Bible Study at my church, I told my leaders when a "mountain" came against us, "God knew this was going to happen. He is not surprised. He has already gone ahead of us to work out the details, smooth the path, and solve this situation. We only need to thank Him.”

I saw their shoulders drop and heard big sighs.

God remains faithful! We can count on him as Psalm 40:5 says:

“O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.”

I have often sung the hymn, "Count Your Blessings" at Thanksgiving time. It is quite appropriate in our spiritual lives daily and at mealtimes to count our blessings.

Thank the Lord even for the heartaches, the losses and the unexpected—anticipating how He will work.

We can thank God for many ways He has blessed us.

In my life today:

I thank God for my contacts and my glasses that allow me to see as well as I do. I started wearing glasses for nearsightedness at age ten. Now I am considered legally blind and have glaucoma and cataracts. I also need glasses for reading. I want God to know how grateful I feel to see as well as I do. I sometimes whine about my eyesight, but as I put my contacts away at bedtime, I realize what an amazing invention they are for me and am grateful again.
I thank Him for a comfortable bed to sleep in every night, for a mind that thinks as well as it does, and for the gift of my sweet puppy dogs.
I thank the Lord for my darling 10-month-old grandson. He is a miracle! Years of tears went before him, and through in vitro fertilization he was born to my daughter and her husband. That is a big thank you!
We thank God every night at dinner for our salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

In summary:

Thank God for all things—and always for His salvation plan.
Daily run a constant praise to Him for what He has done throughout those twenty-four hours.
Give Him gratefulness for how He will answer our prayers, no matter how difficult or impossible.
Appreciate the unexpected and how God paves the way before we even knew it would happen.

Are you joyful on two counts? Are you counting on God today? How will you count your blessings? (Can you name them one by one?)

Sharon Paavola writes a blog on book reviews and her thoughts for assisting women to find peace and healing from depression, pain and loss. She loves being a new grandmother, has been married for twenty-three years, and has three grown children. When not reading books, she sews, walks, and gardens. She helps lead a post abortion recovery Bible Study and assists at her Precepts study at her church. Learn more about Sharon on her blog.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at 7:45AM

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Tuesday

Nov082016

A Thankful Heart Produces a Blessed Life

Dawn Wilson

I've observed Julie Watson go through a severe testing of "waiting," and then the blessings God poured into her heart and life. In this special UPLIFT, she shares one of the things the Lord taught her during the long wait: Thankfulness.

“Whoever said ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness’ must have been one difficult Mother-In-Law to impress!" Julie says. "I believe a more accurate description is ‘Thankfulness is next to godliness.’”

The two thoughts that came to my (Dawn's ) mind when I read Julie's post today were: I think any child would want a mom like Julie; and I want to be a more thankful person!

Julie continues…

Thankfulness, gratefulness, heartfelt appreciation for all that God has blessed me with is something I think about almost every day. It’s an attribute of Christ I wish to instill in the hearts of my children. *

The words “thank you” are said in my home at least 20 times a day, or at worst, a gentle reminder to do so is given to an otherwise distracted and forgetful child.

But, let’s be honest. Having a thankful heart is hard to have on difficult days, especially when you find yourself in the midst of an unexpected life storm!

We recently finalized the adoption of our three beautiful children just a few months ago. PRAISE JESUS! It was such a blessing for our family to finally be official!

What a difficult, nearly two-year journey it had been. There were many days I was thankful during that time:

Thankful when my oldest, who was filled with anger, stopped chasing his sister around trying to rip her hair out.
Thankful when my youngest son stopped hiding behind furniture when he didn’t want to talk, or more accurately, “grunt” at us for something he wanted.
Thankful when my daughter, in tear-filled panicked cries, stopped screaming for me not to leave her, as her bio mom had done so many times before.

I slowly learned to be thankful for every small step in the process. In fact, it is still what keeps me in check today!

Ultimately, seeing the huge progress my kids have made in the relatively short time we’ve had them has given me such a sense of joy and contentment. I feel blessed! It helps me stay focused on the good stuff and not so much on the obstacles in front of us.

However, it wasn’t always this way (and at times, I still struggle).

Between the temper tantrums, power struggles, constant lying (still working on this one), destruction of our property, issues in school with stealing and cheating, and days where I just felt completely alone with three little "monsters" ready to drive me into an early grave—I seriously have WAY more gray hair than I ever expected at this age—I can honestly say, I was NOT thankful.

Many tears were shed during my quiet times with God, begging Him to reconsider this path He had placed me on.

This Ministry of Motherhood He had bestowed upon me after waiting 17 years was NOT all it was cracked up to be!

I remember telling Him quite clearly that He “had picked the wrong mom for this job.” And, “You’re crazy, God, if you think I can do this!”

Looking back, I’m sure He just sat up on His heavenly throne saying, “Wait... just wait, child. What I am doing through you will be more amazing than you could ever imagine!”

That is truly where the thankfulness begins.

Trusting in God as you wait upon Him during those hard days... those life storms! Being grateful for each small victory and not focusing on the mountain still before you.

Every day after that it’s simply a choice.

You have to CHOOSE to be thankful in all things. You have to PRACTICE it.

You have to rely on the goodness and faithfulness of our loving Father who has something so amazing, you won’t believe it—until you do.

A thankful heart produces a deeper, more intimate walk with Christ and a blessed life.

Here are some verses to encourage a thankful heart:

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" (1 Chronicles 16:34, also Psalm 106:1)
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17).
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).
"For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected it it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

Are you struggling with being thankful? Do you have a hard time trusting God to complete a good work in the midst of a life storm? Remember He cares for you and will speak to your heart if you open His Word and simply listen. Start thanking Him for some small victories today!

Julie Watson worked in women’s and children’s ministries for 10 years and as an Executive Director and Grant writer before becoming a stay-at-home mom to three beautiful children. She and her husband, Shawn know these children were hand-picked by God to be their own, and officially adopted them in the spring of 2016. God is good!

* Note from Dawn: I had never actually thought about thankfulness being an attribute of Jesus, but it is! We see Him giving thanks in John 6:11, and in many other places in scripture He offered private and public appreciation for the good deeds people showed—He thanked the Father and He gave credit on earth where it was due—a wonderful example for us.

Graphic, adapted, courtesty of HotBlack, Morguefile.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 8:22AM

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Thursday

May262016

I Did Not Plan for This

Dawn Wilson

Kaley Rhea co-hosts a TV show with her comedian mom, but that doesn't mean Kaley lacks depth! In this encouraging "UPLIFT," she shares how the Lord taught her to hold her plans loosely.

"Tell me if I’m the only one," Kaley says. "But sometimes I get an idea in my head about how my day is going to go. I’m not even a to-do list kind of person or a details kind of person or an itinerary kind of person.

"Yet somehow I’ll have these moments where someone calls or something pops up that throws my preconceived idea of today, of right now, off by a few millimeters, and all my brain alarms go wild and my insides announce, loud-speaker style, 'Error, error. Please return to regularly scheduled life-having.'"

Yeah, you're the only one, Kaley.

No, seriously, I (Dawn) am such a planner, that almost never happens to me. But when it does, I get the same blaring alarms. Sort of a "Danger, Will Robinson!" thing. (But Kaley's probably too young to know about young Will.)

So let's let Kaley continue . . .

To be clear, this is a ridiculous phenomenon I’m talking about.

“I didn’t realize the trashcan was full, and now I have to take the trash out, and I wasn’t planning on taking the trash out right now. Ugh, worst.”
And “Oh, my friend is calling, and I love talking to her, but wait, we didn’t plan on talking right now; what is she thinking?”
And “Child, why have you vomited on the carpet? We are on our way out the door; I’m not prepared for this!”

That moment of internal, irrational pushback I feel when something has intruded into my schedule, into my plans, and something—even something small—is required of me.

I’m confessing here. Sometimes I live my life with a perspective set about two inches from the end of my nose.

I guard my time, my words, my efforts with a sharp eye, unknowingly fixed on only spending them where I see fit.

And I’ve met me. So believe me, I know exactly how insane that is.

Of course, while ruminating on these things, I thought of Jeremiah 29:11:

“‘I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘Plans for welfare and not for evil. To give you a future and a hope.’”

I feel like we pass this verse out like candy, and I’m glad we do because these words are sweet and so important.

Any moment spent remembering that my God knows infinitely more than I do and has made infinitely better plans is a good and necessary moment.

But I also couldn’t get the Gerasene demoniac out of my mind.

Of all the people in the Bible, he’s where I landed. Luke 8:26-39 talks about this man who had been possessed by an entire legion of demons and was living this absolutely wrecked life. Jesus cast them out of him. Healed him.

So the man made this plan to go with Jesus. It seems like a perfectly legitimate reaction to what had happened. A good, appropriate response. So he asked, but Jesus told him to stay. To proclaim the name of Jesus where he was. And the man did.

It’s a convicting thought for me. Jesus has done a miracle in my life, rescued me from my sin.

I think sometimes I have this attitude like, “No, no, Jesus, I’m going to serve you this way and in this place and on this timetable."

And I miss out on opportunities He lays right in front of me to serve Him and glorify His name.

In ways that are simple. In ways that walk right up to me. And instead of thanking Him for these opportunities, in my heart I’m selfishly thinking,“Could you please step aside, opportunity? I’ve already scheduled my God-glorifying for 2 p.m., and it’s only half past ten now.”

Lord Jesus, wake up my heart. Help me see the things I miss when I focus on my own plans and my own understanding.

Holy Spirit, give me kindness. Help me see people the way You see them because I love You.

Defeat the selfishness inside of me and replace it with Your love.

Help me hold my plans loosely and always ask You to shape them into whatever You will. I trust You with my time and my desires.

Are you trying to put God in a box? How might you be making your plans without His wisdom and missing out on what He might have planned? For you!

Kaley Faith Rhea is the co-author of Turtles in the Road, releasing soon, with two more novels in the works. Along with writing and teaching at writers’ conferences, she co-hosts the TV show, That’s My Mom, for Christian Television Network’s KNLJ in mid-Missouri. Check out a sample here! Kaley lives in the St. Louis area.

Graphics adapted, courtesty of Pixabay.com.

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Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 8:21AM

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Saturday

Jun202015

Modeling God's Love When It's So Tough

Dawn Wilson

We have seen a monumental display of God's mercy this week, and in Dawn Wilson's Spiritual Life UPLIFT, I want us to focus on the grace of forgiveness.

At his bond hearing, Dylann Roff stood in his striped inmate jumpsuit with a blank expression as family members of the victims he admittedly gunned down at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church said over and over again, "I forgive you."

A daughter of Ethel Lance said,

"You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people, but God forgives you, and I forgive you."

To the astonishment of a watching world, relatives offered words of grace. Mercy. Forgiveness.

It was a painful but powerful testimony to the work of Christ in the hearts of those who love Him.

In Commentary magazine, Abe Greenwald, senior editor of Commentary, wrote, "The late [antitheist] Christopher Hitchens formulated (and forever repeated) a superficially clever challenge to people of faith: 'Find one good or noble thing,' he said, 'which cannot be accomplished without religion.' The astonishing rejoinder to Hitchens comes now from the family members of those who were gunned down Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina."

"At today’s hearing for the suspect, the spouses, siblings, parents, and children of the murdered innocents addressed the man being held for this unspeakable crime—and showered him with mercy and forgiveness. Theirs is a model for all humanity and a testament to the unique and transcendent power of faith."

How can those, so wounded, so wonderfully forgive?

Forgiveness does not mean the relatives approve of Dylann's evil act. Forgiveness releases Dylann to God's hands. Forgiveness prays for peace, but it does not mean we don't need just laws to deal with those who are filled with hate and would harm or kill.

The victims' families are following in the footsteps of the Great Forgiver.

1. Jesus Modeled Forgiveness.

Mark 2:5 - "And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'"

Luke 7:48 - "And he said to her (a sinful woman), 'Your sins are forgiven.'"

John 8:11 -"...'Neither do I condemn you (an adultress); go, and from now on sin no more.'"

On the cross, Jesus forgave a repentant thief, hanging on a cross beside Him (Luke 23:42-43), and He even forgave those who put Him to death! (Luke 23:34)

2. Jesus Taught Forgiveness.

Matthew 6:14 -"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

Matthew 18:21-22 -"Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him,'“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.'" [Story of the Unforgiving Servant, Matthew 18:23-35]

We see the power of forgiveness in the much-loved parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), modeling the Father's love and forgiveness.

Jesus exemplified and taught the kind of monumental mercy and forgiveness we've seen at Emanuel AME Church.

Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., says, "Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."

As the deadly shots came, the victims were in Bible study. They loved the Word of God. And likely, they too would say to us, "Love and forgive. It is when you are most Christ-like."

Do you struggle to forgive? Can you walk in Jesus' footsteps and forgive by faith?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Ministries, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the Director of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego). Dawn is the co-author of LOL with God and contributed "The Blessing Basket" in It's a God Thing. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

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Saturday, June 20, 2015 at 11:15AM

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Tuesday

Feb172015

I Choose Grace

Dawn Wilson

Those who know Mary James will testify to the sweetness of her spirit and the power in her songs. I asked Mary to share an UPGRADE Uplift to encourage our hearts.

“If you believe change is not possible when looking at a situation,” Mary says, “you are deciding what God’s grace is capable of achieving.”

So many times, I (Dawn) have allowed the enemy to weigh me down with regrets. When I do that, I can’t move forward. But God does not leave us without hope.

Mary continues…..

The message of God’s grace through Christ is the most beautiful gift any of us can ever possess—especially for those who have made significant mistakes along the way.

Though we may have regrets, the weight of God’s forgiveness covers our choices with a love so big that the past loses it power over us.

I recently heard a message that sadly left listeners without this hope. Its focus was on parenting. In a nutshell, the message said, “If you do not do as Scripture instructs, you will have regrets.”

Ok, makes sense. We know that Scripture has been given to us for a reason and will spare us much heartache. But all of us have fallen short of its expectations.

So then what? Oh, yes . . . a heart full of regret.

As a person who the enemy loves to torment with the past, I began to squirm in my seat. Occasionally, I squeezed my husband’s leg in almost uncontainable frustration.

The message continued and my spirit grew heavier and heavier, especially for the men in the auditorium who were being held to the highest level of accountability. Yet I remained hopeful and kept waiting for it . . . and waiting . . . and waiting.

But it never came.

There was plenty of truth, but no grace. Not a shred.

As my husband and I sat there—two people who have made a thousand mistakes as parents—we were left to see ourselves as only one thing: failures.

Years ago, I heard Bunnie Wilson share about the remorse she had in raising her children. Her regret was that she had not taught them to have a servant's heart. But—and there was a but—she pointed us all to a new day, a new beginning, a Christ-centered resolve.

Bunnie said that now, every time she is with her children, she models servanthood for them. What she did not teach them when they were young, she taught them as adults.

And they were changed by her efforts.

Every parent in the room who had missed the boat in some aspect of parenting left with that hope. I have never forgotten her reminder of God’s ability to redeem our less than perfect choices.

If you believe change is not possible when looking at a situation, you are deciding what God’s grace is capable of achieving.

God has given us history so that we that we can learn from it, but Paul also understood the danger of living in the past.

As he wrote in Philippians 3:12-14,

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

We can live in the bondage of regret, or we can let the power of God’s grace move us into a new day. Either way it requires effort.

Regret is like carrying around that proverbial baggage, where grace requires humility: placing any limitations, grudges or shame into the hands of God.

Whether we are at the podium or in the pews, rigidity in our thinking when it comes to God’s ability to change us or restore a relationship/situation, diffuses the work of the cross.

Oddly, our regrets can be the very things that help us understand our need for Jesus.

We must accept consequences, but God has shown us time and time again that He can take a mess and turn it into a masterpiece.

Which do you choose? The mess or the masterpiece? Regret or grace?

Mary James is a Christian Artist and Speaker who has embraced the charge found in 1 Peter 2:9, that we are, “Saved to Proclaim the excellence of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Through her music, testimony of grace, and transparent, biblically-centered messages, Mary is devoted seeing hearts and lives healed, strengthened and transformed by Christ. Since entering ministry in 2000, she has released five full-length CDs, shared the platform with leading Bible teachers such as Dr. David Jeremiah and Kay Arthur, and is a three-time Inspirational Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year Award winner. Visit Mary's Website.