The beauty of God’s work was very evident yesterday. In fact, yes, it is God’s working, but in reality it is God’s Spirit at work. I ended the day literally stunned by the many representations of this. The meeting of the morning, the phone call, a couple of unexpected representations of the Spirit working which literally came together yesterday and then ending the night with some healing showing forth at Celebrate Recovery. All in all, it was an amazing day. I stand amazed!

Today I go back to the district to address only with the superintendent our meeting of yesterday. Yesterday I had much to surrender in the way of anxiety regarding the work. Today I go in anticipation of continuing the work The Holy Spirit opened yesterday.

What was so wonderful about yesterday for me personally was an unexpected call. I won’t go further into this except to say that the kindness of The Holy Spirit working was so evident in this. How grateful I am to be serving such a caring, kind God who gives us His Own Spirit to guide, nudge us along the way to see Him.

As I was journaling this morning to start my devotional time I was writing about the “sticky” issues of this morning’s meeting with one of the school superintendents I work with. This person and I are meeting with a couple other folks to unite the work for all of us. There have been enough issues along the way that the superintendent and I called this meeting. Yes, I am concerned about it wanting us to get to the heart of the problem and not just talk about issues. We need to talk about the root of the issues. As I was writing this I was given the thought that we need to take what is “sticky” and use it as a glue to bind us together as a team. Don’t let the sticky cause avoidance, but to use it as glue. In other words, the more we feel stuck, the more we need to come together rather than to avoid. Today will be the start of this binding together. I know God will be present and I pray He will be in the lead by our own personal surrender to His Ways rather than man’s.

Secondly, today seems to be the day when God wants me to address the issue within our restoration classes. The light seems to be green for me to make the call today. Once again I know that God being the one nudging will also be the One to provide the spirit of clarity and the Light which He wants to have shining forth. I do trust Him fully in this. Yes, once again I’m concerned but I have surrendered the outcome and the entire situation to Him.

I said a day or two ago that this week has been a fire hose of “stuff” as I have reentered into the work I do. However, starting the day with surrender and obedience reminds me to prepare myself. To see God as the God Almighty He is in each of today’s situations makes me want to step into them rather than fear it. I love seeing God at work and it is humbling as well as rewarding to be part of it.

This week has been a fire hose being re-immersed into the work with the schools/districts and into the restoration work. I journaled this morning telling God and literally listing out all of the items involved in this. Instantly I was nudged to recall what He has been teaching me. Yes, see the problems/issues, but don’t stop with them. Look beyond them to see Me–the Healer of all wounds, the solution to all problems. I am to let the weight of these problems fall onto His shoulders. In each of the cases I do my part, but I am learning that my part is not to carry the problems’ weight, but this is what I surrender and let the parties involved know the Great Healer is waiting with them to work with them. Boy, has this been a huge awakening for me. I can literally feel the weight coming back into this week. Yet, I also feel the absence of the weight as I intentionally give the responsibility of resolving the issues to God.

I wish I could go into the details of yesterday to describe just how God acted on the issues of the day. However, knowing I am not to divulge any of them, I write only that I stand humbled and amazed how the clarity of action was defined and the clarity of the problem was seen once our eyes lifted from the problem to the problem solver–Jesus Christ.

I have said before that on the top of my prayer list I have “New Creation” written to remind me each morning of my position with God. He has made me a new creation. I’ve now for the first time written “Surrender & Obey” on the top of this list. I no longer question this position, this gift Christ Jesus has given me. What I’m truly needing to learn is what surrendering each day looks like and then what obedience looks like for each day. This journey is amazing!

My fingers are still wanting to hit the 1 key for the 2nd 2 in 2020. The habit isn’t completely broken.

I cannot begin to explain in this blog just how much God is emphasizing my need to focus on Him fully in my life. His doing this through these little closing books of the Old Testament is striking to me. Today I began the book of Zechariah. Each of these prophets is given a message or several messages to deliver. Each of them demonstrate their struggle/s in so doing. However, each of them delivers the message regardless of the struggle. Each one surrenders and then obeys. There are a couple of them like Jonah who took some convincing in order to obey, but he finally did.

When I actually live out surrendering and obeying today, I tend to only think about the obstacles I face thinking the relevance of my problems are very different than those of old and those old ones were easier to face “back then”. What I overlook is the reminder that I am to not look at the problem, but to the God who makes the mountain (problem) a molehill. The problems of old are often very different than the ones of the present. What is the same is the God who gives the Grace to face them and let Him overcome them (making them into a molehill).

God had told these prophets to get the Israelites motivated and focused on rebuilding the temple. They were scared to death because of all the threats they’d been given by the surrounding tribes of people. They saw the mountains of problems and God was telling them to see Him. He is the One who makes mountains into molehills. This same God tells this same message to you and me today.

The old hymn Trust and Obey rings true today: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

This morning God is emphasizing the point of this year’s resolution I’ve made to Him. This resolution had to do with surrendering my will to Him daily and obeying His nudges quickly. I’m realizing that obeying God’s nudges have to do with moving forward in what seems difficult times as well as withholding oneself when you want to act on something but God is not wanting you to do so at the time. This was all emphasized in this morning’s Bible reading of the book Haggai.

Haggai is another minor prophet at the time the Israelites had moved back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. They had been there 18 years and all they’d done is build their own homes and reestablish their farms and work. The temple had yet to be touched yet that is what God had brought them back to do. God wasn’t blessing their crops and the fruit of the crops and Haggai told them why.

Today I return to my work with schools. It is never as easy to return to work in the dead of winter as it is in the light of summer and fall. The dismal days do something to the psyche deadening motivation. As I journaled this today God reminded me that I am doing this work not for me but for Him. I wrestled with God before I took this assignment 1.5 years ago. He reminded me that His nudges come from the steadfast God who never changes. The same God who had nudged Haggai to give the Israelites their message of disobedience to Him is the One nudging me to be daily surrendered and obedient to Him.

The temple God had the Israelites rebuilding was one of earthly material. Joyce Meyer reminds me that the temple God is restoring in you and me is within us. It is the temple of God’s Holy Spirit He placed in us when we asked Christ to come into our lives. We cleanse this temple more fully each time we surrender and obey. These are fleshly acts which have spiritual purpose. How much I have to grow and learn and how much I love this patient Teacher we have–Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit.

Hey, I wrote 2020 without needing to correct it! That’s the beginning of a new habit forming and an old one breaking. My sis in California who is closest to me had an auto wreck a couple days ago. It totaled her car and she called me Friday night to tell me about it. We talked at length which was nice in and of itself. Her younger son took her car shopping yesterday and we talked twice during the day. I know God didn’t arrange that wreck so the two of us could have more frequent conversations, but I do thank God for the way He uses these times to connect the relationships we love so much. The good news is that she is fine and they are finding what they needed in the way of a replacement vehicle.

I continue to be amazed at the current application of the Bible books called the minor prophets. I read through Zephaniah this morning and was once again touched by its message. In Zeph. 3:19 it says: “Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you. I will save the limping and gather the outcasts and will make them a praise….” Have you ever thought of yourself as a “limping one” as referenced in this verse? Joyce Meyer writes, “God wants to bless those who would appear to be outcasts, those with ‘limps’ in their lives. He has determined to gather and bless those who are imperfect–and that includes all of us. He promises to cast out the enemy, which is in may cases shame, blame, or disgrace. God does not want you to limp through life anymore….”

I love reading this! I have lived with a limp almost all of my life. God, however, has helped me see that what I thought was a crippled part of me is actually a tool in his toolbox. I just needed to put it in His Hand so He could use it. My willingness becomes His opportunity to help another. How much I love Him for this!

At 4:00 am this morning I awoke feeling like grandpa the “mother hen”. My grandkids were filling my mind. This weekend they are all over the place. Some of them have still been sick, some are skiing, some are out of state, a couple of them are with Kathy and me. I needed to give them all over to Jesus’ control and love. At the end of this I hit upon the real reason I awoke–or so I think. There is an ugly situation I’ve known about with one of our folks in our restoration work. I was contacted yesterday afternoon by one wanting some specific information I would not give and will not do so for fundamental reasons. I’ve known this would likely happen and was grateful it took place yesterday rather than when all our family was together a week ago. I can’t and won’t go into any of the details. I only bring it up because it is part of my current journey.

As I had my devotions this morning I was reminded that when we are on our journey with Christ, we will need to KNOW there will be strife, bitterness, ugliness, warfare and so much more to face. We are in Satan’s homeland. We are present to be Light carriers–Christ’s Light. Matthew 5;16 says, “Let our light so shine….” This is what Christ is wanting and this is what I want to be obedient to each and every day and each and every moment within the day. To God be all Glory for great things He hath done!

Recently I read where it’s a good idea to predate the next twenty checks in your checkbook with 2020 so you don’t mistakenly write 2019 on them. It gives us time to create the new habit. Well, I need to do that with this blog. Today is the second time I’ve had to backspace so I’d write 2020. I suppose we are all in this transition time.

I loved being back to Celebrate Recovery last night. We missed last week knowing that with all our company we wouldn’t even attempt to attend. I know that is the right thing to do but I always miss the open honesty of CR. I love the environment where people come clean with their lives not attempting to make what they say fit the social environment they’re presently in. I’ve heard so often that the environment of CR is what the environment of the first church was like. Unfortunately, there is a stark contrast between the environment of today’s church and that of CR. As much as we talk about this reality, it is a difficult item to overcome.

I’ve had some recent Bible reading that keeps talking to me. I have to admit that reading the minor prophets hasn’t always been a time of scriptural revelation as it seems to be of late. God is talking to Judah about their need for Him–to return to Him. He is also talking twice to Nineveh in Jonah and today in Nahum. He wants them to hear Him and respond obediently to His leading. This message is hitting me squarely between the eyes. God’s leading in our lives can’t be optional if we are to thrive in His Kingdom Work. I truly want to grow in this obedience as this new year starts and continues. One day at a time is the only possible way we humans can do this. I have to daily surrender my will for His Will.

My awakening to this new year came as a surprise. New Year’s eve settled in with a rumbly tumbly–as Winnie the Pooh use to say about her need for honey. My need was to hit the bathroom. This need didn’t subside until yesterday afternoon. This bug was going through our family during Christmas week when we were all together and I succumbed to it too. I told one of my kids that I didn’t want them to suffer alone! All is quiet and settled today but I sure don’t feel like eating anything too hearty.

With all of that said, I still want to hit on this new year for a moment. This new decade is truly the one of freedom. It is the first one I’ve been totally aware of the bondage of my past and also the freedom for my future. I recognize my sins as mine and the sins of others as theirs. I also am learning that there is no rank order to sin in God’s eyes. He hates it all because sin is the epitome of man’s selfishness–“I will do it my way in spite of all I know”. I’ve also learned that relationships are the premiere desire of God. The relationship with Him, His Son Jesus and The Gift of the Holy Spirit are the greatest ones of all. However, along with these, He wants us to have respectful, thoughtful, forgiving relationships with one another. Just as He forgives, He wants us to do the same. He doesn’t say when, but that we need to do it. He also gives us the assurance that He will help us to forgive.

I write all of this because these have been tremendously huge lessons for me and ones I can vouch for. My resolution for this year is one. It is to walk wholeheartedly for God. Living one day at a time and one moment at a time always striving to keep my walk in surrender and obedience to His daily and momentary nudges.

I love our God! I thank Him with all my heart for his patient endurance no matter what we face. Happy New Year–a day late!