Thankful

A week-and-a-half ago, I fell in the shower, bracing myself with my left hand.  I got up, thought, “Wow, I’m glad I didn’t hurt myself,” and went on about my day and night.  The next day I started feeling the effects of the fall, and began tossing and turning at night in pain instead of sleeping.  By the weekend, I was in severe pain.  Two ER visits, two shots, and three prescriptions later, I began getting some relief.  Thankfully, nothing was broken - just a lot of internal swelling & pressure on nerves.

Fast forward to today.  I’m getting angry because this could’ve happened at a better time.  Our son is getting married in 5 weeks, it’s both year-end close and the start of a new semester at the community college where I work, Mark’s just gone into business for himself, a few other irons are in the fire, and I JUST DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!

Then it hit me.  Why am I angry, instead of being thankful for what I do have?  There are people who have completely lost arms and legs, yet have overcome, with shining enthusiasm and thankfulness.

Today, I repent of my negative attitude.  I am thankful for the trials that only serve to make me stronger, and thankful for the blessings that make life sweeter!

Peace,

Davina

Who's the Favorite?

Yesterday, we attended a family reunion in the small resort community of Hilltop Lakes, Texas.  We had such an amazingly great time with some awesome people to whom we’re privileged to be related – not only naturally but also spiritually.  Not every family has that claim.  We have much for which we are thankful.  But that isn’t even really my point today.

My sister, Diane, and me, discussing who's the favorite.

There was quite a bit of laughing and teasing about favorites.  The favorite daughter-in-law, the favorite niece, the favorite sister … each one of us wants to feel, to believe, that he or she IS the favorite.  (By the way, we all know that I’M the favorite!)  Seriously, though, we each DO have that claim in the family of God.  How?  God is big enough, He IS LOVE enough, to love each one of us in a very special and unique way, without detracting anything from any of the rest of us.

Read the Gospel According to St. John.  Many times in the book, the writer speaks of the “one whom Jesus loved.”  Who was this disciple?  John.  Who wrote the book?  John.  Either he was very stuck on himself, or he understood something that we need to grasp.  I believe the latter to be true.  It was this John who wrote, “For God SO LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him, would not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).  John knew.

Consider Adam.  He not only sinned, he caused the fall of the whole human race.  But God still liked him so much that He went looking for Adam when it was time for their evening walk!  (There's a whole separate message in this about the whole sin-separating-us-from-God thing, but we can talk about that another day.)

And finally, what about Paul?  Before his conversion, when he was a fire-breathing, Christian-killing, Jesus-hating machine, God loved him.

Whatever your story, know this.  There is NOTHING that can separate you from the love of God.  He loves you.  He gave His son for your COMPLETE salvation.  You are favored.  You are irreplaceable.  You are indispensable.  You are unique.  You are loved.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38,39 NASB).

Peace,

Davina

Ruts

There we were, the four of us, seated around a small contemporary table, in a bustling room filled with professionals, housewives, college kids, and our sales rep, Yazmin.

She really was quite the sales person.  In our two hours at the store, she pulled out all the stops to sell us the most, the latest, and the greatest equipment.  One such device was an iPad, which I had been “needing” because of its cool music apps & recording capabilities.

After much debate with myself, I heard these words come out of my mouth, “If I go ahead and get it, I won’t have any excuse to not spend time in the music room working on my music.”  Ah, the truth.  Sometimes it just flies right out before we realize, doesn’t it?

And isn’t that just the way it is?  Often we are more afraid of success than of failure.  We may be in a rut, but at least we KNOW the rut, and it’s more comfortable than the unknown.  The rut doesn’t require any hard work, any education, or any risk.  But the rut also holds no glory, no promise.

In whatever rut you find yourself, be encouraged.  Get up and get out!

Peace,


Davina

Band Aids

When I had completed a course of study in secular psychology, a friend asked me, “What did you learn?”  Summed up, this was my answer.

1.  Find the root.  Our troubles, most of the time, really are rooted in an event or series of events.  These events become the foundation for a belief system that carries through the individual’s life.  Most of the time a good psychologist can find the root.

2.  Apply a band aid.  Now, after you find the root problem, secular psychology is well-equipped with a variety of band aids.  There’s behavior modification, medications (which, actually, a psychiatrist must prescribe), self-help, and so on.  But these are all coping mechanisms.

Before I go on, let me say that I don’t presume to have all the answers.  But I do know The One who does!  This is where the world of secular psychology misses the mark.

There is an attempt to diagnose and fix problems, without consulting the Maker.

Think about that statement for just a moment.  Pretty ridiculous, huh?

There is a better way.  What I have experienced myself, and the way I have even been able to help others find release, is this:

1.  Find the root.  With the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we can identify the root, or lie, that has become a way of thinking or looking at the world.  It has been built upon by the enemy to create a strong hold in the mind.

2.  Allow the Holy Spirit to speak truth.  No band aids.

3.  Live free!

In the future I will share some of my own freedom experiences on this blog.

Peace,


Davina  

Pieces of Glass

“Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday.  There's too much of it.  It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?” (John Coffey, The Green Mile, Directed by Frank Darabont, 1999).  In this movie, John Coffey had a special gift that allowed him to heal others, but it also gave him extraordinarily long life.  This quote comes at the end of the movie, when John has lived too long and seen too much.  His knowledge has caused him, as the writer of Ecclesiastes says, much grief, “Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain” (Ecc. 1:18 NASB).

I think that maybe this is why God told Adam to not eat from the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good & evil.  He wasn’t trying to keep anything from his children; rather, He was trying to protect them from pain.  It was because of His love that He said, “Don’t eat it.”  When our children begin to grow up and learn about the world, they learn that it is a painful place.  It hurts them, and it hurts us to see them in pain.

The Apostle Paul clearly understood this when he wrote, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor. 15:19).  But this Apostle also knew that there was – no, IS – a hope for the believer!  Keep reading this chapter:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so IN CHRIST shall ALL be made ALIVE.  But every man in his own order:  Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming.  Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.  For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death!  (1 Cor. 15:20-26 KJV)

Friend, there is pain in this world.  But the hope in Christ is greater than any pain.  Remember:  You are righteous through faith in Christ (Phl. 3:9); you are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8); you are His workmanship (Eph. 2:10); you can handle whatever comes your way (Phl. 4:13); you overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by your words (Rev. 12:11); you are an ambassador of the King of Kings (Eph. 6:20); you are a King-Priest (Rev. 1:6); you have His peace (Jn. 14:27), His joy (Rom. 15:13), His name (Jn. 17:6), and His love (Jn. 17:26)!

Keep shining!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:13 NASB).

Peace,

Davina

Depression

What is depression?  According to Merriam-Webster'sonline dictionary, it is “a pressing down,” a “state of feeling sad or dejected,” or simply “low.”  We’ve all been there at some point in our lives.  Believers and unbelievers, men and women, the old and often the very young, experience depression at some point in our lives.

I listened to a teaching this week by Dr.Ray Vinson entitled Six Steps to Defeating Depression, an audio CD produced by The Institute for Biblical Leadership.  What a timely and excellent teaching!

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived, but he also experienced depression.  We find his story in 1 Kings 19, right after his great victory on Mt. Carmel, where he challenges the 450 prophets of Baal in a splendid display of God’s power, and not only wins the challenge, but “smokes” the competition (pardon the pun)!  So after this awesome time of showing Baal & his prophets for the fakes they are, he receives a threat from Jezebel.  She’s going to kill him.  So he sits down and says, “That’s it.  Why even try anymore?  I’m all alone.  I’m done.”  I think we could say that Elijah was depressed.

So how did Elijah get “un-depressed?”  Here are a few things that I noticed in this chapter … I’m not saying this is the all-out iron-clad formula for beating the big “D” … No, these are just some things that I noticed.

1)   Verse 5.  He woke up.  He decided to live.  When we’re depressed the first step to getting out is to make a decision to get out.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Not so simple when you’re in the pit, but I believe this is the first step.

2)   Verse 6.  He ate.  We must feed ourselves (spirit, soul, and body) with things that are beneficial.  This can include eating right, taking supplements, reading books, listening to excellent teachings, reading the Bible – things that provide nourishment.

Mark with Rosie

3)   Verse 6.  He rested.  We, too, need adequate sleep, as well as restful activities.  For some, painting provides rest; for others, it may be playing a musical instrument or horseback riding, taking a nature walk or fishing, or playing volleyball.

4)   Verse 8.  He went when God said to go.  This is where the first three become vitally important.  Elijah had a very long journey, and he needed all the determination, rest, and nourishment that he had been taking in.  We need to be ready to carry out whatever task that God gives us to do.

5)   Verses 9-18.  He communed with God.  This involves both listening and answering when God asks a question.  Prayer is not a one-way street; it is a two-way conversation with our heavenly Father.

6)   Verses 19-21.  He turned his attention to Elisha.  Now, maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it seems to me that the final step in defeating depression is to focus on someone else.  It’s funny, isn’t it, that Elijah thought he was the only one left who was serving God, but the last thing recorded in this chapter is his calling Elisha to follow him.  Maybe the lesson is this:  When you think you’re the only one left, go find someone and make a disciple!

Beloved child of the Most High, I pray this helps you.  Be blessed!

Peace,

Davina

Throw it on Him!

“…Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).  This verse has been my rock this week, and I want to share it with you.

People of God, look at the first part of the verse – “cast” means “to throw upon.”  That’s a little different from the picture of someone taking their troubles and laying them at Jesus’ feet (where we can pick them up again at will).  No, Peter says to throw our cares on Him.  Well, we know Jesus isn’t here in the flesh today, so here’s a visual/literal thing that you can do.  Get a print of Jesus, and write your troubles on little sticky notes, and prayerfully put them on the print.  Put it in a place where you will see it every day, several times a day.  Then when you think about it, instead of asking God to take care of it, just worship Him.  The combination of the action of putting the sticky note on the print, the daily visual reinforcement of seeing the print with the problem on Jesus, and the worship going into the atmosphere (and back into your ears) changes the way you think about the problem.  When you change the way you think about it, you will change the way you pray, and the problem will begin to shrink.

Now, blessed ones, look at the second part – He cares for you.  There’s much more in this verse than just saying that God gets a Holy tear in His Holy eye when you have trouble.  He takes care of you, because He is your father.  Understand that your problems are not yours alone; they are His problems.  It is an orphan spirit that comes to tell you you’re all alone, and that you have to work out your problems all by yourself.  Jesus told the disciples in John 14:18, “I will not leave you comfortless (bereft of a father or parents, orphaned).”  Now, I don’t know about you, but when our kids were in trouble, even if it was something that they caused, we didn’t throw them out of the house and tell them, “You’re on your own now … good luck!”  No, even today, as they’re on their own, if they come to us with a problem, we do our best to help them however we can.  God is so much bigger and better than we – why would we think He would desert us and leave us to handle our own problems?  I believe He’s sitting there at times, watching us struggle, saying to Jesus, “Oh, if ______ would only throw that on me!”

So, friend, what are your struggles today?  Just throw them on God, and leave them there.  Worship Him.  Trust Him like a little child trusts Daddy.

Peace,

Davina