Loving Those Who Hurt Us by Sarah Goebel

I was just thinking about some experiences from my past. You know, as we journey through life it is inevitable that we will be hurt from time to time. When someone hurts us, whether they did so intentionally or not, our first impulse is to lash out at them. We want revenge. But Jesus says in Matthew 5:39, “Do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

Let’s face it, we all know this is not natural and in our own strength, it is impossible. But as children of our Father who is in heaven, we are enabled by His life that lives in and through us to respond to others in this supernatural way.

We find a way to do this in Matthew 5:44. Jesus said, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. How do we forgive
those who hurt us? How do we love them? We simply pray for them, and as we do, Christ’s love is released through us.

Is there someone in your life today, who has hurt you? Someone who needs to experience the mercy of God through your life?
When you get on your knees for that person, you are releasing the love of God into their life, just as God released His love to you,
even when you were at enmity with Him. Go ahead and do it now. As you pray, you will not only release that person to God’s care,
you will set yourself free from the misery that results from being held captive to unforgiveness.

God is so good to us. He is love and He has poured out His love on us and in us that we can love Him and one another!

For Christ’s Glory,

Sarah Goebel

Unspoken Words

Elijah as a Puppy

Do you have pets? Today, I was thinking about how much joy my dog brings to my life. I love Elijah – my large, lovable, black, soft, and fluffy standard poodle. He is smart, playful, and he makes me laugh with his whimsical mannerisms. Just by living with us, he has learned how to communicate many of his wants and needs, and he has gained a tremendous recognition of many of our commonly used words spoken not only to him, but to one another. The only problem is he doesn’t always understand our words in context. For example, I might ask my husband, “Did you go to the post office today?” Elijah, hearing the word “go,” hops up from his nap, tail wagging, and eagerly runs to Jon in anticipation that they are getting ready to go somewhere. He is confused and disappointed when he discovers they are not. But you have to admit, he is quite intelligent for an animal!

Animals do communicate, and some understand much of our communication, but as amazing as it is, they are still very limited in their ability. Actually, humans are the only creatures God made that have the ability to communicate by complex language, arranging words into sentences and sentences into expressions of abstract ideas. For most of us listening, speaking, writing, and reading are skills we use extensively as we attempt to communicate our thoughts and ideas to one another and to our God.

God was not satisfied to just communicate to us through His creation, although He does do that. He came to us in the flesh as Jesus Christ to communicate to us face to face. He has and continues to speak to us today through His written Word – the Bible which He authored but penned through the personality of several of His followers. He also uses the actions and words of our close, personal friends and faith community members. This happens a lot when we need help to interpret various things He may be trying to get across to us when we are having listening problems. Anybody, besides me, ever experience stopped up ears?  God also speaks to us through those non-personal relationships. For example, although we may not personally know the author, don’t we love to read books that display God’s redeeming love and power through the lives of fictitious characters that we can relate to? Don’t we experience God’s message through such? And, don’t we also love to attend those gatherings where our favorite Bible teacher unfolds the Word of God to us? Although God may use many different ways to communicate to us, He also speaks to us directly, up close and personal. God as Spirit communicates to our spirit impressing His thoughts within us. This level of communication is available to us because we are created in His image and made alive in Christ Jesus. What a marvelous thing it is to be in relationship with our Creator. We can enjoy His fellowship 24/7 – any time, any place.

I believe, too, that humans are the only creatures in God’s creation that have the ability to communicate on a spiritual level to God. We can communicate with Him – spirit to Spirit, without a single audible or visible word. How amazing is that! And, God always knows the intents and thoughts of our hearts. This is important, because sometimes we try to communicate and we say it all wrong. Sometimes we just don’t know how to put our thoughts – whether of extreme joy, or of anguish and desperation – into words, so we say nothing. When communicating with people or pets, this can be a problem – but not with God!  We can rest assured that God never, ever misunderstands us. We can know He always hears our unspoken words; and, He hears even that which is hidden in the deepest depths of our soul. What a great privilege and opportunity we have as children of God to be able to enjoy intimate and perfect communication with our Father.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

INTERACTION:  Just for fun, if you have a pet and a story about communication as I shared about Elijah, please share it with us. Then, every time your pet does that thing again, let it remind you that God always understands you perfectly, even when you say it wrong or are unable to say it at all!

Giving Selflessly to Those Who Need It Most

Tomorrow is Christmas, but I must admit that Christmas Eve has always been my favorite time of year. When I was a child it seemed “magical,” as we waited for Santa to bring us the gifts we would open the next morning. I know now, that though Jesus most likely wasn’t born on the night of December 24, the real gift of Christmas is what we celebrate on this most loved of holidays. I also know, as a former biblical counselor on a large church staff, that this is the time of year that heightens all our emotions–whether joyous or heart-wrenching. Right now I can’t help but think of the many families impacted by the most recent school shooting. Regardless of where they stand on the purpose for Christ’s birth, this has got to be the most difficult time for them that any human can experience.

We’ve all lost loved ones at some point in our lives, but our children–torn away by a murderer’s bullet? No pain can compare–except perhaps that of the Father, as He watched His only Son suffer and die at the hands of His own creation. And that’s the answer I give when asked, “Where was God when this horrible massacre took place?” He was where He always is, sitting on the throne in complete control and yet weeping with those who weep, hurting with those who hurt, mourning with those who mourn–because He’s been there and He knows better than anyone the tragic outcome of evil, selfish choices. The Scriptures say that God bottles our tears, and that one day in heaven He will wipe them all away. Until then, He stands waiting, His nail-scarred hands extended and ready to carry us through to the other side.

I see practical and creative ways popping up all over where we can offer assistance to those who are experiencing grief beyond imagining right now–places to donate meals, money, flowers, etc.–and I encourage you all to take advantage of those opportunities whenever possible. But I also encourage you to pray, not just now when the pain is fresh but for a long time to come because this isn’t something anyone will get past quickly or easily–possibly not ever on this earth. We may never personally meet any of those who have lost loved ones in this shooting, but we can give them a selfless gift at Christmas–a commitment to pray for them for as long as we have breath to do so. Then one day, when we have “graduated to heaven” and met those precious little ones who went on ahead of us, God will wipe away our tears as well.

A very blessed Christmas to you all, beloved.

How to Create a Prayer Covering

In my last post about how to avoid great expectations that lead to disappointment in the new year, I promised to post today on what a prayer covering is and why I’m so passionate about it.

I’m not the first to think of the idea.

My inspiration came from Christian novelist RobinLee Hatcher. In an undated interview with Focus on Fiction, she explained her prayer team, and how she counts on their prayers. She noted it was intercession from prayer warriors that “carried her through.”

Before I put a word on paper or typed on my keyboard I decided I was going to do two things.

1. Commit my writing to God. Write as He leads. No more, no less.

2. Create a prayer team. 

I believe a prayer team is key for Christians, no matter what they do each day.

Maybe you’ve heard of the Presidential Prayer team. Perhaps you received updates from missionaries as part of a prayer coordination. Well, I think the prayer team should be expanded. I think if you have proclaimed Jesus Christ as your Savior, you should have a prayer team. I think you need a prayer team whether you are a pastor or a teacher. A banker or a real estate agent. A stay at home mom or a corporate VP.  Anytime you represent Jesus at home, work or ministry there will be forces against you.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:19-20, NIV

Having a prayer team gives what I call “intercession protection.”

Matthew 18:20 states,“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

I’ve read the missionary accounts where missionaries were surrounded by crowds filled with evil intent and suddenly the crowds disappeared. Turns out believers were praying at the exact time the missionaries were in peril. Later on one of the potential criminals reported seeing such a band of warriors surrounding the missionaries, they fled. Those warriors were angelic protection sent by God thanks to prayer.

Executives who committed to serve God in the workplace felt peace when budgets didn’t balance. Teachers learned strategies to share Godly principles in a creative way. These are byproducts of having a prayer team.

Here is my prayer team experience:

I promised God I would write for Him in fall 2006. I prayed and believed I was meant to create a prayer team.  Each fall I pray for names of believing women who might want to join the team. Since that first year, my writing ministry has seen crazy favor. Most peers seek publication. Months after making the commitment to write for God an author contacted me and asked to use my story in her book. By fall 2007 I was invited to a book signing. It took reading the invite three times before I realized I was one of the authors, not the one seeking signatures!

Before the prayer team my family was in the midst of chronic sickness and transition. Within months our daughter moved out of steady therapy to a pre-school program where she became a help to others with special needs situations. I can’t tell you the times I’ve been anxious and then I’m flooded with peace. I give God the glory for all these things.

Yet I believe part of the call on my life is to encourage you to build a prayer team.

There are a few things that I think set apart a prayer team for success. Please prayerfully consider starting and implementing these things with your team.

1.Pray about whom to invite.

It’s important you only invite people who have made a proclamation for Christ. Salvation is essential. Believing in God is not enough. As soon as one enters into a committed prayer ministry there is an element of spiritual warfare.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8, NIV

The Holy Spirit will guide you to the right person or people. I’ve never had the same amount of people to invite each year and not every person I invite accepts. I truly believe God leads and I trust Him through the entire process.

2. Only invite people of the same gender.

This is obvious and yet the articles I read on emotional affairs show me women are sharing too much with men who are not their husbands. Do not think you can keep boundaries by including someone on your prayer team that is of the opposite sex. Prayer is such an intimate act and this is a special ministry. Don’t play with fire.

 

3. Discourage those that want to invite themselves

I learned the hard way accepting an enthusiastic praying person into something so personal, private and with boundaries is not a good idea. I don’t discourage prayer by any means; I just don’t randomly allow people to invite themselves. If someone wants to pray but you don’tbelieve they are someone to invite, thank them and ask they pray for your general ministry.  For me, I ask them to pray for my writing. It doesn’t give specifics, and yet it is a true area I need prayer. By allowing anyone to join, even with the best of intentions, I believe boundaries will be skewed.

In my instance, the person felt they had the right to tell me what to write or not write and if I became in their eyes disobedient, they were angry. It’s not the way to have a prayer team. Learn from me and prayerfully invite your team members.  Everyone else, keep it general.

4. I send out invites in November and ask them to prayerfully respond before the end of December.

I emphasize them praying about it. Their praying is a ministry. I even suggest they create a prayer team.  I believe prayer teams need a domino effect. My first prayer team was hit hard in every possible way.  It was a battle for them and yet their prayers yielded so much fruit. I don’t want anyone to accept lightly. I’ve let the ladies know I’d rather they decline and be honest than think they have to accept to please me and take on a burden they were never meant to carry.

5. I outline the boundaries in the invite so they know what I’m expecting.

My guidelines are that my praises and prayers are confidential. I do give specifics on the writing ministry. It is a lonely life and sometimes I share personal details or specifics on a project that is not ready for public promotion. I let them know I have no expectation they be on their knees praying every day for hours on end. I think the most active intercessors are the busy moms praying during a diaper change or folding laundry.  I tell them as my name and writing pop in their heads, lift up a prayer.  Each month I send a list with praises and prayers for their use if they want it. If I’m able, I send each member a thank you, often a book.  So far, I’ve invited each previous team back for the next year. Most re-commit, but not always.

That’s it! It’s not complicated but I believe creating a prayer team is life changing for the intercessor and the person requesting prayer. You’re worth it. No matter what your vocation or status, why not take a leap of faith and start your team today?

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Surrendering the good, the bad, and—maybe one day—the chocolate

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Let God Talk to You Review by Yvonne Ortega

Some people believe God doesn’t talk to people anymore. I’m grateful He still does. What a privilege to have the opportunity to hear God speak to us.

Many of us go to God with our long list of requests. We know what we want, and we want it now.

However, how many of us expect God to talk to us? How many of us stop our hectic pace and sit in silence to hear from God?

Becky Tirabassi writes with passion and conviction in her book, Let God Talk to You: When You Hear Him, You Will Never Be the Same.

She takes the readers step by step and explains not only that God talks to us, but also why, how, what God says, and when. She starts in the Old Testament, moves through the New Testament, and onto the present.

The author weaves in Scripture, examples, and detailed information on how to set up a prayer notebook to help readers prepare to listen to God. She calls the notebook, My Partner Prayer Notebook.

I challenge you to read this book, follow the steps and sit expecting to hear from God. He will talk to you, and I would love to know what happens.

I read Becky Tirabassi’s book and set up my partner prayer notebook. I cut out TV, the newspaper, and social media for a week. Relax. Becky didn’t say to do that, but I felt led to do so the week before Christmas. God talked to me, and I heard Him. He told me what He wanted me to do in 2012 and what He wanted me to cut out. Unfortunately, one of the things God wanted me to cut out was posting on Christians Read.

I’ve been blessed to be part of this ministry and have enjoyed posting about the many wonderful books available.

May God bless you richly as you read this book and hear God talk to you. He loves you so much that He’s waiting to talk to you.

Yvonne Ortega www.yvonneortega.com

How to Avoid Great Expectations in 2012 by Julie Arduini

With Christmas behind us, the conversation of the week seems to be about resolutions. People are reflecting on their year and making goals for the new one. I giggled watching Live with Kelly as Kelly Ripa mentioned resolutions and how she avoids the gym for the first three weeks of the new year. Her observation is that new members with great intentions take over the facility those first three weeks. But day after day the numbers drop until that third week when it’s pretty much back to the regular members. I can relate to that.

I’ve read that it takes 21 days to form a habit, good or bad. When I talk with friends about resolutions, one thing stands out—they have great expectations. They place a huge burden on a single month, expecting immediate transformation. For those who have a personality like mine, all or nothing, this is a plan destined for disappointment.

My take is to prayerfully take stock of your life and see what God has for you. He knows you best of all, why not ask Him what He wants for you this year? His answer might surprise you. Whatever your 2012 goals are, why not implement this strategy into making these goals success stories—

1. Eat that elephant one bite at a time. I have a writing friend who received great news, but with her contract came a formidable deadline. When she looked at the end date and total word count, she grew anxious. The task was daunting and the more she looked at the big picture, the more she felt she would fail. After praying she realized to scale things down. She looked at how many words a day she needed to write to meet that deadline, and factored in days where life would get in the way and she might not get a lot of writing accomplished. Turns out she needed 1,000 words a day to meet that goal. That overwhelming task was now manageable. She’s well on her way because she took that elephant and as the joke goes, she ate one bite at a time.

2. Make it your job. This is for the all or nothing personality. I look at what I want to accomplish as a wife, mom, writer, and ministry leader and break each category down. Last year I wanted to lose weight but knew from previous failures just saying I wanted to lose wasn’t going to be enough. I researched methods and chose following Lysa TerKeurst’s Made to Crave online study. The principles in that book gave me the “want to” and I watched the weekly webinars for additional support. I knew I needed accountability so I started teaching the study in a small group study. I put in my Outlook calendar tasks for my goals, breaking them down to quarterly, monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily deadlines. I’m someone that needs to see small goals in writing, and I love checking them off when completed. Although I’ve slacked off during the holidays, I hit that initial weight loss goal. I got specific, set deadlines, researched methods, and looked at my strengths and weaknesses to implement the tasks. If you are a details oriented person, make hitting your goals  your job. Don’t just randomly announce your resolutions.

3. Pray! It’s so simple we miss it, I know I do. I’m someone who writes and speaks on all things surrender, so you’d think I’d pray first when starting something new. I’m a firm believer that prayer changes things and can make the impossible possible. I’ve had too many diagnosis and negative events that looked like obvious failure on paper turn into the biggest success stories of my life because I believed God through Christ. My next post will expand on this to explain why I’m a believer in creating a prayer team to cover you no matter what you do for the Lord. Prayer is the foundation of everything I do—writing, marriage, parenting, and everything in between. Start the new year right with prayer.

My goal is pretty much to keep on keeping on. I want to return to the high fiber eating I adopted in 2011 and remember regular exercise. I have this broken down and hope to start even before the ball drops.

I want to keep working on my contemporary romance, listening to the Lord’s leading as I wrap up sharing it with two critique groups. Perhaps this is the year I seek an agent.

I believe praying for others will be a big part of the new year, and I want to make sure I’m spending time with Him and His word so that I’m filled. I overextended myself this year and I don’t want to burn out again. The word I believe God has for His people this coming year is “Justice” so I’m reading up on that and want to be open for His leading.

How about you? Have you set yourself up for disappointment but creating great expectations for the new year? What are your goals for the year and how do you plan to implement them? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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The Truth About Prayer Habits by Sarah Goebel

Whatever exercises we practice in the Christian life, they are in vain if done without the reading of Scripture and prayer. Yet sadly, most Christians go through life without an active prayer life. They worship, they go on mission trips, they serve in the church but many seldom pray. Donald Whitney in his book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, tells about a survey done in the 1980s. “More than seventeen thousand members of a major evangelical denomination were surveyed about their prayer habits while attending seminars on prayer for spiritual awakening. Because they attended this kind of seminar, we can assume these people are above average in their interest in prayer. And yet, the surveys revealed that they pray an average of less than five minutes each day. There were two thousand pastors and wives at these same seminars. By their own admission, they pray less than seven minutes a day.”

On the other hand, can we really pray continually as we commanded in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Yes, we can do this because Scripture is not speaking here of prayer as an activity. This is important for us to understand.  “Pray continually” speaks of relationship. My friend, Jennifer K. Dean in her book, Heart’s Cry, explains that God is calling us to live a praying life versus a prayer life.  She calls this lifestyle “living behind the veil in the presence of God throughout our days, living in Christ and Christ living through us. Prayer is in this sense living in an unbroken awareness of the presence of God as we move through our day.” It means you may be concentrating on another activity at the moment, but at the same time, you are aware of God’s presence and the need to return your attention to Him. In other words, you never really stop talking with God; you just have interruptions in your conversation. Praying continually is chatting off and on all day long as we take care of our responsibilities and enjoy the activities we are involved in as though God is our companion, traveling right along with us. The thing is – He is. We simply fail to acknowledge it.

Living a praying life does not mean, however, that we never set aside a particular time for devoted prayer. We are told in Colossians 4:2, we are to devote ourselves to prayer. When we devote ourselves to something, we make it a priority. God wants us to live with a continual awareness of His presence, communing and communicating with Him while doing life as well as to have focused dedicated times of prayer. His expectation for us to pray flows from His love for us, not from a heart to put us to task. To illustrate, when I travel, my husband expects me to call him when I arrive at my destination. I expect the same from him. We don’t put this expectation on one another as a means of control or distrust. The one traveling communicates to put the other’s mind at ease by informing them they are safe. Besides, Praise the Lord, we are still after all these years eager to hear one another’s voice when we are separated by distance. My point here is just as our expectation to phone one another flows from our love, God’s expectation for us to pray is also born out of love. When we set aside special time alone with God where our attention is all on Him, we are in a place of intimacy where God can reveal to us His most intimate secrets.

So how is your prayer life? Does it seem lifeless or alive? Do you receive direct answers to your prayers? Are you experiencing the reality of God’s continual presence in your life?

To develop a praying life lifestyle combined with special times of dedicated prayer starts with a decision to do so. God will help you once you commit to it. I would also highly recommend you read Heart’s Cry: Principles of Prayer and Live a Praying Life, both by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. Regardless where you currently are in your walk with God, I truly believe these books will set you on course for a deepened intimacy with God and a more powerful, answered prayer life.

            

To end this post, I want to share one exercise I have found helpful to developing a praying life relationship with our Father. Spend 5 to 10 minutes in prayer each morning upon awakening before your thoughts become clouded with the day’s plans. Thank Him for your life and day and ask Him to be Lord over it. Focus your thoughts on Him and His love, sovereignty and majesty. This should help you to remember He is with you from the time your feet hit the floor and as you go through your busy day.

How about you? I know we have many readers who walk closely with God. Do you have an exercise you could share that has helped you to live a praying life or increased your intimacy with God?

Crying With God by Hannah Alexander

  Okay, I hate to begin a post showing a beautiful picture of crosses at sunrise with a discussion about roadkill, but that’s how it’s going to be. So stick with me here. Many of us have tender hearts. Not, perhaps, as tender as God’s, but occasionally we grieve at the suffering of another, be it human or animal. I can get depressed driving along the road and seeing an animal of any kind lying at the side of the blacktop. I’ve teared up at the sight of a dog or cat, possum or even, on vulnerable days, a skunk. I mean, after all, they can’t help what God made them, can they? I have to admit I once cried when I spotted something dark and mangled at the side of the road ahead of me and tears burned my eyes–don’t worry, I can cry and drive at the same time. It turned out to be a lost retread tire. Not my finest moment of grieving, and I was glad  no one was with me in the car at the time, but since I’ve already spilled it to you, that doesn’t matter now, does it?

So it’s established I hate roadkill. I hate suffering of any kind. I tend to place myself in the position of the sufferer, and literally ache for them. I remember reading through the Old Testament once–can’t even remember which section I was in–but once again the Israelites had turned against God. Rejected Him. I burst into tears for Him. He had chosen these special people to love and gift, and they turned on Him. Kind of like I do when He’s doing something special in my life that doesn’t feel special. In fact, it feels kind of like pain, and loss, and possibly like being run over by a semi. I turn on Him. I rage at Him. I can’t understand why He would allow such pain if He loved me, and it doesn’t matter if He’s proven Himself to me time and again, I don’t care, because I’m in such pain I don’t have the strength to recall any other time. Yes, I learned faith the last time something like this happened, but that was then, and this feels different. It’s almost as if He hates me this time, and I just feel…you know…hated by God.

Then something happens. A prayer someone else is praying for me gets answered. Or I receive an email from a stranger who tells me God impressed upon her heart to email me and let me know there are good things ahead and He loves me. I’m halfway through realizing this is just one more of those special learning experiences when I think about how much I’ve dishonored God in my life. I’ve grieved Him. And then I cry with Him. When will I ever learn? How disappointed in me He must be, but instead of showing me that side of His heart, He shows me joy, and hope, and His own brand of love. Me, I’m still stuck back there grieving about what I’ve done to Him. My best friend. The Love of my life. My maker. I cry for Him.

Have you ever cried for God? Can you remember a time when you grieved because you know that you, or someone else–possibly the whole world–has caused Him grief? Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this.

You can contact me here, or at http://www.hannahalexander.com