I’ve had kind of a heavy day. In truth, I’m in a heavy season. I’m sure to the outside world it probably looks like everything is just peachy, but the truth is there are a lot of struggles in my life right now.
“If only I can touch the hem of His garment I can be well.” She could barely get the words out. Life was hard for women of that time, especially this one.
She was a woman of faith, a woman who knew He was her healer, and if only she could get to Him, everything could change. The crowds were massive, and she was weak, nearly crawling on the ground. For at least twelve years she bled and though she had seen many doctors, doctors who drained all her financial resources, no cure or healing had come.
When a home is designed, the architect has to be exact in his measurements and scale when creating the plans. A home is good at being a safe haven, a place of shelter and to share family love. It serves its purpose by doing what it is good at doing. In a similar fashion, we are formed and shaped perfectly for the purpose we are designed to serve.
I love how our heavenly Father’s Word steers us to do what we are good at doing. How many times have we tried to be like, look like or dress like someone else? I’ve done it, you’ve done it. It never works does it? It might for a little while, but eventually it will begin to drag us down.
When we try to be someone else by doing what they do, we short change ourselves and those around us. When we let go to allow our lives and work (more…)
Anytime a soldier goes into battle, you can bet he is going to have his war clothes on. Wouldn’t you? If you are anything like me, you have found yourself going into battle without even knowing what personal war clothes were. If you were to ask me, “Hey Allie, have you got your war clothes on?” I might have looked at you like you were crazy! But today, I know what war clothes are and I learned when you step foot out of your bed, it’s best to have them on. We don’t want to get caught in a battle without them. So what am I saying? Let me tell you a story.
Several years ago I was in the middle of a huge legal battle. A girlfriend of mine wrote some words down on a card for me about a week before I had to be in court and said, “Allie, bury these words in your heart. If you do, you will be prepared for battle.” That sounded perfect to me. I read the words on the card and held them against my heart claiming, “These are my truth today.” I don’t know about you, but court rooms and lawyers used to intimidate me. My exposure with lawyers was extensive, yet I still felt a great fear in their presence. In past experiences I felt belittled, condemned and invalidated.
So on this day, I gathered my files, my portfolio and my index cards with the words that sustained me, my war clothes! I drove to the lawyer’s office, went in and sat in a room alone with my attorney (more…)
The Vision
What is your vision? Where does it come from? The Greatest Visionary, our Father in Heaven, had an amazing, out of the box, enormously creative vision. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Later, after He added all we need to sustain life and saw that it was good, God created man from the dust, literally the dirt we walk on every day. He created man in His own image to be in relationship with HIm and to be a mirror, a reflection of who He is and what He is like. Man was not created as a copy, but for the purpose of being in relationship, to reflect and to fill the earth with children, more mirrors. If you hold a diamond up to the light, you will see many beautiful reflections from it’s many facets. This is how we are created, with the thumbprint of God inside us. In essence, God imprinted upon your heart a vision to reflect Him. His purpose for man’s life is to bring that reflection to fullness and completeness through a relationship with Him.
What is it you can do to reflect Him without distortion? Before the fall of man, everything was as God created it, in order and perfection. “God saw all that He had made and it was good.” After the fall, the reflection became broken mirrors, shattered images, distorted. To become whole again, we seek the heart of God.
Where do you seek the heart of God? Are you looking to Jesus, the Son of God, and to the will of God for His life and the gift given to us through the sacrifice of His life? God had a big vision—bigger that we will ever know this side of heaven. His vision is for you to know Him and His heart of love for you, so that you may live out the days of your life on earth being conformed into a being that is reflective of His great love, kindness, compassion and generosity. God’s vision came to fruition in steps. What steps can you take today, the beginning of a New Year, to begin to follow the steps toward the vision God has set for your life?
Sit with God and quietly reflect, ask Him to teach you, to reveal to you the next step of His vision for you. Then trust Him with all your heart, believing He will show you the way. Press on to meet the goal of what before you, leaving behind all the past that gets in the way. Soon, you will find that by taking these steps each day with God leading you, with your eyes fixed on Jesus and your mind and heart set on knowing the heart of Him who created you, you will be living out the vision God placed upon your heart in the beginning, before you were ever born.
Scriptures reflecting these truths
Genesis 1:1; Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:7; Luke 12:6; Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 139:12-14; Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Mark 12:29; John 1:18;
Personal application
God has personally and uniquely designed a vision for you. Maybe you are a gardener who provides flowers or food for the enjoyment or nutrition of others. Perhaps you are an artist, a writer, teacher or an architect using your talents through creating something beautiful from nothing, crafting a story or book from a compilation of words that encourage and inspire others, work with children modeling the love of Christ and teaching preparation for adulthood, or create designs and strategies to bring structure to another’s life. Perhaps you are a mother with small children, spending your time caring for your family and modeling the love of Christ in the training ground for your children.
What ever it is, big or small from your perspective—God’s perception of you and your purpose brings Him great joy, glory and honor. He is not concerned with what you do as much as who you are. What is closest to God’s heart is for us to seek to know His heart above all else.
How will I begin this New Year? In 2012 what changes can I make in myself to become a better reflection?