Sometimes the best road is not the most easily traveled. Pastor Dan 10/13/2019

Praying for all the roads this week, that God would shine His light unto the path we are to take, and that we’d have the courage to take them

Blessings,

SB

“Real love, born out of gratitude of a changed life, doesn’t count the cost.” Pastor John Soper, Missions 119

Luke 7: 36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

In my personal Bible study this week, Pastor Soper of Mission 119 talked about Jesus’ ministry on Earth, and the disciples he hand picked to follow Him. They were not the religious leaders, nor people of statue. They were sinners and broken people, like you and me, and He used them to change the world.

Think about that.

I’ve sometimes thought I could never measure up to what “Christians” believe is the standard… but Christ himself, called the broken sinners to be His friend and follower. I’m not perfect. I’m not even good sometimes. But I love Jesus with all my and am willing to pour into others what He has poured out into me.

I am so crazy blessed right now with blessings that it’s truly hard to put into words my gratitude for the Savior of the World, who loves me enough to answer prayers

Changed lives. I’m watching reborn lives of some very special people right now, each who have, by God’s Grace, been given new life…. physically, Spiritually, emotionally.

For one, it is literally an answer to a thirty-three year old prayer; a prayer I had actually given up on… but God didn’t. Thirty three years. Some of you aren’t even that old!

The other represented much more intense suffering over a much shorter period of time, though it felt like an eternity (at least for me), but forced me to complete surrender because there was literally nothing more I could do for the situation…. and then God showed up.

Both are the culmination of God’s question. “Will you trust me when it gets really tough?” the inaudible yet unmistakable voice of God asked. With my faith tested but not shattered, I trusted God, but could have never imagined the answer He had waiting. He truly is bringing all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

A couple of years ago, one of my mentees was complaining about Matthew 28, where Jesus commands his people to “go and make disciples.” “Why is it MY responsibility”, she said, “to tell others about Jesus??” In as loving a way as possible, I replied, “it’s because you haven’t had a real encounter with Jesus yet. When you do, and you see the power of God first hand… when God answers prayer for you in such a way that you KNOW if could only have been Him… you will WANT to tell everyone about it.”

I’m so in love with the God of the Universe and I really want everyone to know! I literally feel like shouting from rooftops, “hey world! Can’t you see what God has done here??? He’s changed lives!!!”

May you be blessed today, my friends.

SB

I am amazed by God every single day of my life.   I remember a pastor who used to tell us that we were designated by God to be in exactly the place He wanted us at exactly the time He wanted us here — that we could have been born at any point in history, but weren’t – could have been born any time in history, but we weren’t. God put us right where He wanted us to be.

I’ve been watching posts on Facebook from a guy I went to school with – actually as far back as first grade.   We weren’t necessarily best friends or anything, but he was part of my class the whole way through elementary school and into junior high.  We probably lost most direct contact in high school, but were friendly enough with one another and are connected on Facebook.  Over the past couple of months, I’ve seen him post positivity memes, and memes about surviving tough things.

Today, I decided to reach out just to let him know I noticed – and to tell him God cares about him.  He shared with me some personal things he’s gone through over the past 10 months – something that really threw him for a loop at first, but he’s managing to work through – he said he is really a fairly positive guy so wants other people to be as well – despite hard circumstances.  He was thrilled that someone noticed and took the time to reach out.

I asked him if it was ok to add him to my prayer list – he said “sure”.   My prayer list is long enough to spend hours in prayer each day – I guess that’s the idea, right?

I’ll be praying for John.

blessing to you!

SB

You may have seen this meme circulating in social media as I have. It makes me laugh every time I see it, but there’s so much truth in it.

One of my favorites quotes from author Mark Batterson is:

“Work like it depends on you…Pray like it depends on God“

I’m learning a lot about prayer and I love talking with Jesus. I am trusting that Hod will direct.

Be blessed

SB

Yesterday’s Tomorrow

is Finally Here

Tomorrow’s Tomorrow

is Nothing to Fear

SB   Copywrite Journey-For-Life 2019.

 

A few months ago, my dear friend gave me a book called, When God Winks, written by Squire Rushnell.   If nothing else, a name like Squire should make you want to buy his book.  The book is a collection of real-life “coincidences”  – or, as one dictionary entry puts it: “a mysterious event that is not a coincidence, but of divine origin”.  In the author’s note at the beginning of the book, he acknowledges that Godwinks are signs of hope.  There are times in life when we just need a Godwink.

Over the past 12 months, my entire life has been a Godwink.  Eventually, it will all unfold in the sequel to Masquerade.  I have actually laughed (and cried) to my closest friends that my life has truly been a made-for-TV movie.

The past 6 weeks of my life, in particular, have been a whirlwind, to put it mildly.  I will spare some details so that he can share himself, but my dear friend and business partner (Which was a Godwink in and of itself) had a bad reaction to the immunotherapy drug he was taking for cancer, which had a tremendous affect on his cognitive abilities until the doctors were able to figure out the cause.  During the weeks of confusion, well-intentioned (for the most part) people were trying to inform the doctors of his symptoms, habits, medical issues, etc, to try to paint the clearest picture to help the doctors the best they could to determine what was wrong.  I went to the hospital every single day for a week straight to be present when each of the doctors – and he had an entire team of them – came in to discuss his condition.   He went through a battery of tests from CT scans, MRI’s, to spinal taps, etc. There were several times throughout the process where the doctors seemed to make a conclusion of his condition based on verbal feedback from family members despite medical evidence they had to the contrary.   I fought tirelessly to try to help the doctors see they needed to keep looking for the root of the problem – so much so that family members were upset.  During this time, several close to the situation, who claimed to be Christians, became extremely ugly and attacked my character.  In a time when I felt it was important to unify in Christ, and come together to be his support, there were those so fueled by jealousy and bitterness that they sought to destroy, and they made it perfectly clear they weren’t interested in unification.  I was particularly despondent because I knew they were Christians.

I truly reached a point where I could no longer be his advocate.  Those of you who know me well know I don’t give up easily.  I’d like to think of myself as person pretty capable of getting things done, but I found myself in a situation that I could not control at all…  his health was 100% out of my control.  I HAD to allow God to be the advocate for his health, and for the ugly family circumstances that truly broke my heart.   I HAD to release it completely to God and trust that God WOULD be his advocate (and mine!)  Oh, I knew God COULD be his/my advocate, I just didn’t know if He WOULD. I sort of felt as though I wasn’t worthy for God to work miracles.

It was in this same week that I decided to return to a Bible Study Ap that was recommended to me over a year ago.  I opened the Ap and it returned to where I left off – in the book of Gensis, studying Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  The first couple of days of the study were filled with lessons that Abram/Abraham learned as God was testing his faith – and I learned that he failed some of those tests!  Not only that, but God was patient with him as he learned from those failures, and gave him more tests, not to give up on him, but to allow him to grow and learn to trust God completely.  Returning to this study was a Godwink for me.   In a time when I felt I was failing tests God was giving me, I needed to know that He is continuing to develop me into what He needs me to be for His purpose.

With no other choice, I found myself praying differently…  truly praying without ceasing that God Himself would advocate on my friend’s behalf, that He would lead the doctors to the right conclusion.. truly praying that God would bring healing where healing was needed, in ALL circumstances, and believe me, it’s needed in A LOT of places! I found myself having to rely completely on God…   and sometimes that’s just the place He needs us to be…

In the afternoon of the day I reached out to my friends to let them know I was REALLY losing the battle, (Bridge notes…. losing the battle), my friend called me and asked me to come and talk to him “about the next ten years”.   His voice sounded so weak that I wondered if he’d even make then next 10 days.  I hadn’t planned to visit, but made arrangements to be able to and headed straight for the hospital.  I was visiting with him when one of his doctors came in and described what he thought was going on – I remember asking him directly if he thought it could be stopped/reversed and he said he was hopeful.  Over the next few days, the doctor team seemed to align on the cause of his medical issues – the very drug that he was taking to treat his cancer.  They put him on a strong steroid to counter-act, and his cognitive skills began to improve.  He had to go to a rehabilitation facility to learn how to walk again as he’d been bed-ridden for over a month.

Yesterday, he learned that he will be coming home tomorrow!  By the grace of God, my friend has been given a new lease on life.  Even better than that, he knows completely, without a doubt, that it was God who touched him and healed him, advocated for him when he couldn’t, and has dedicated his life to serving the One True God.  He has told me, and everyone else he can, that he just wants to be a disciple of God and do what God directs him to do.  God has given him opportunities to share his story all through his rehabilitation center, and, in doing so, he is allowing himself to be a Godwink to someone else who needs it.

I suspect his road might get a bit bumpy, especially because the devil will be unhappy about his zeal, but one thing the past 6 weeks have taught me (again) is that being in the center of God’s will is the best place we could ever be.  I messaged him this morning to say I’d be praying that God fills him with an unquenchable thirst for God’s Word and that He reveals the next step of His purpose in his life.  I’m truly excited to see God work.

There are really a lot of details I’m leaving out – and Godwink’s throughout the past 6 weeks.  In due time, they will be shared.  In the meantime, I am enjoying reading the book, When God Winks, and suspect that I will continue to read others in the series.  There are still unresolved plots in my story, and not everything in my story has been a fairy-tale with a happy ending, but I can truly see that God’s hand is over my friend and over me – and over you – and over every situation which we face – being out advocate even when we don’t know it.

Be blessed today, my friends!

In Him,

SB

As I sat in the chapel at Crown College this week, thinking about the lives of some who are close to me literally transform before my eyes after facing tremendous darkness, I was reminded of a blog from nearly two years ago…   click below to visit.

Metamorphosis 

Ironically, the scripture verse the speaker gave this morning was Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6 New International Version (NIV)

⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Enjoy – be transformed by the renewing of your minds…

SB

 

“The journey between knowing sometimes intellectually and allowing it to transform our lives is 1,000 miles”

“Jesus is better than our most painful experience”   Dr. Jason Esposito, Deeper Life Conference, Crown College, 2019.

 This morning, Dr Esposito described his early education years, how inadequate he was as a student, how he was made fun of for his coke bottle glasses, his absent-alcoholic father, how people told him he’d never amount to anything.

He graduated at the bottom of his class and was barely accepted to college in academic probation. In his freshman year, he was invited to. Bible study by a friend, and he felt the Holy Spirit drawing him to go “all in” for Jesus.

He began to read Romans 12 every single day, and read it daily for a whole year. Over the course of the year, being very intentional to meditate on scripture, God began to transform the way he saw himself into the way God sees him… he began to see his scars not as marks that defined his failures, but as marks that showed him what God can do with him, not only in spite of who he is, but because of who he is.

He talked about the “grooves” we form in our brains with our thought patterns, both positive and negative… the deeper the grooves, the harder to change them… which is why addictions are so difficult to break.. He talked about it being essential to intentionally “Re-groove” our brain… by focusing on Gods word and allowing it to transform our spiritual mind.

Jesus wants to use us because of our hurts, and our painful experiences become our ministry when we allow God to transform us.

It occurs to me that Gods timing is always perfect.

As he took the stage this morning, Dr Esposito mentioned that God had switched up the message he had planned overnight. He said it was literally the first time that had happened to him in nearly 20 years of ministry. He told the tech crew to ignore the PowerPoint slide he had put together because God had a different message.

Having just lived one heck of a personal storm, I am still in the process of standing to my feet, dusting myself off and looking at my battle scars. Coincidentally, God has arranged for me to visit my son during their Deeper Life conference and God redirected the speakers message to one that speaks directly to me.

My God is truly amazing. He is so amazing that He is the ruler of the universe and cares so much about me that He would bring a message to my ears that I absolutely needed to hear.

I wanted to share it with you all while it was fresh. There may be others who are emerging from a cocoon after a direct hit, or perhaps still in the middle of the storm. I want you to know that God’s got you… even if you don’t see or feel it now… Allow God to transform your mind by intentional focus on His word.

I am truly blessed, my friends, and want you all to be blessed, too!

I heart you all!

SB

The other day,  I mentioned that I was going to have a therapy session with Jesus, which I did on Saturday. At first, I sat in the peacefulness of my studio.  I absolutely LOVE to be alone, and almost never have the chance to, but I met a new instructor at our studio on Saturday, and after she left, I stayed.  I find the studio to be peaceful, so I sat quietly in my favorite wing-back chair in the lobby, just preparing my mind for the experience. 

It occurred to me after a few minutes that my best prayer time is while playing the piano, and there I was in my music studio, with multiple pianos to choose from.

I sat down at the bench in the studio I use most often and just began to play and pray. I played and prayed for hours, visualizing walking alongside Jesus, talking about every hurt I’ve ever had. I visualized Jesus listening patiently walking beside me, allowing me to pour out my spirit to Him, neither judging nor chastising me for anything I shared with Him.  I systematically relived every time my heart had been broken, every time I had failed, every time I had sinned (well, in truth, probably not EVERY time, but at least the biggies…).  I literally played for hours – just played – beautiful runs and arpeggios, mostly in minor keys, fingers meandering over the black and white keys, flowing gently and sometimes not gently, as the waves of the ocean greeting the sand. 

Hours flew by quickly, and with every note, every chord, my burden lightened as Jesus began to lift the burdens weighing me down.  I simply let the grace of Jesus wash over me, washing away my anxiety, washing away my pain, visualizing it leaving, visualizing me getting up off the ground, dusting myself off, and getting ready for the next battle. 

My therapy session with Jesus was like no other therapy session I could have had.  

I am grateful for those wonderfully empathetic therapists, who chose a profession out of caring deeply for other people.  The older I get, the more importance I place on holistic health, including that of our mind and soul. I believe in breaking down walls of stigma that used to exist (and probably still do) for people who regularly seek therapy.  But spending a therapy session with Jesus was probably just the thing that I needed to renew my spirit. 

I’m looking forward to my next therapy session with Jesus.  

Blessings, SB

 

After an incredibly difficult month – quite honestly, one of the most difficult of my entire life – I had a “therapy” session with my mom….

and just a quick aside – there may be some people who get frustrated with their moms, can I just say that, as a mom and a daughter, there is no stronger human love than the bond of a mother..

My mother has displayed incredible strength in her life.  She has faced some ridiculously difficult situations, from losing my brother in a fire when he was three to losing my dad to cancer when I was eight. Though she’d been battered, she never once faltered (at least outwardly).

Last Saturday night, in the middle of a crisis moment, she came a long side me and shared with me some of her darkest moments, after losing my brother and dad, where she just bowed before God and sat in silence while she visualized herself walking in a garden with Jesus, and talking through all of her hurts and pains, and He simply stayed with her, allowing her to pour her heart out to Him.

Mom said she didn’t know how long she sat in that “therapy” session with Jesus, but she was able to release ALL of her hurts to Him, and He brought her peace.

Years later, she and I took a trip to Paris and visited Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.  I fell in love with it.  I know it sounds strange, but it was such a peaceful place!  Anyone I know traveling to Paris, I always recommend they go there.   She didn’t tell me at the time, but last Saturday she shared that when she saw the garden paths in the cemetery, she recognized it as the place she visualized walking with Jesus as He healed her hurts!

Today, I am doing that.  I am sitting in the lobby of the studio I moved into in June – the studio that my business partner says brings him peace.   I am going on a journey into the deepest, darkest, recesses of my mind and soul, asking Jesus to come along with me, and sharing all of my life’s hurts and brokenness with him today, starting with the very earliest memories of the pain of losing my daddy.

 

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Be blessed today, my friends,

SB