Ok, so yesterday I was at Walmart. (ugh, right?) I was actually there on "church business," shopping for some supplies for a demonstration in our youth group. I checked out in the "20 Items or Less" line, and the girl was young and seemed very sweet. (Blaine always makes fun of me for getting their life story while I check out! haha)
She finished most of my stuff, and then grabbed the last item. There were two $15 giftcards stacked on top of the box of sheets as she scanned it. Seriously, there is no way she couldn't see them. She had to hold them down on top of the box to scan it! But regardless, she put all 3 items in the bag and hit total.
Now, I watched her do it. And then I definitely saw the total and knew it couldn't include $30 of giftcards. And so, of course, I pointed out her mistake and had her rescan them.
But to my dismay, my disappointment, and to true shock, would you believe that in that short 3 second span before I corrected her, the thought of "don't say anything" actually went through my head? I'm just being transparent with you this morning, and believe me, I was surprised too! This sneaky small voice quickly piped up and said "Keep it! She had to have seen it, and she's doing you a favor." It said "It's not your fault she missed it." I'm telling you....that voice came out of nowhere and FAST! I was so appalled that the thoughts had gone through my head I probably gushed way to forcefully "Oh you missed 2 things. Here, rescan them!" haha It was like I felt that by just thinking those thoughts I had actually committed the act!
And this is what I took from that: I'm a pastor on staff at a church. I love Jesus with my whole heart. I am honest almost to a fault and never break rules because I just can't take it. AND YET, that enemy that hates my soul was ready in an instant for me to take the opportunity. I almost felt violated! That he would be so present in my thoughts!
And so I left wondering how present is he in my daily thoughts? It may not be thoughts about stealing, but how present is he in thoughts about other people? Or thoughts about my job, or about my husband? How often is he chiming in with an opinion that DOES NOT MATTER? And so I thanked God for that little moment that shook me, and vowed right then and there in the Walmart parking lot to be on constant guard for the enemy and his schemes. I pray that my thoughts would be God's thoughts, and that my actions would always be pleasing to Him! And just like I shut down the ridiculous suggestion of stealing, I pray I would continue to boldly shut down anything that doesn't make me more like Jesus!
That's my prayer for you today too!
Much love!
PS- Don't judge! : )
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Bet Your Bottom Dollar
Sweet Moses. It's July. The LAST day of July and my last post was in March! I am sorry, my friends, for my lack of consistency with my blog updates, BUT I have a sweet little intern who is making it her new priority to remind me about this baby! So here's to lots more writing!
Earlier this week, I happened to be up before the sunrise. This phenom does not happen often, I assure you. But sure enough, there I was up even before the sun. It was dark, obviously. And although I knew it was technically early morning, it still felt like the middle of the night. There was no light to tell if it was cloudy, or if the day would turn into a nice one. There was no light to trigger my "go-on-and-get-moving" senses, and my "seriously-we-should-still-be-asleep" senses had full control.
And yet, I knew it wouldn't be long.
I knew that in just a short hour or two that beautiful ball of fire would begin its climb to the top of the sky. I knew that daylight WOULD come. I knew that a sunrise can not be stopped.
And in that thought, there is something poignant. There is such beauty in the fact that, no matter how dark, no matter how long the night may seem, the sun WILL come up. It is impossible for it not to.
And I thought to myself as I drove to my destination in the early morning dark, that is so God. To give us a daily reminder of His faithfulness. Just like I can count on the sun to come up after even the darkest of nights, I can know that I know that I know that God is ever-present in my situation, and that He alone has the victory in this world. Those words sound a little preachy this morning, but it's the truth. And I find myself picturing God each and every morning anxiously waiting for the sun to peak over my horizon and saying "Told ya."
We serve a big, big God and His daily reminders of His faithfulness are all around. But I hope this one stays with you, as I know it will with me. That just as we KNOW the sun will come out tomorrow, we can have the same unwavering belief that God will show up in our lives.
And of course I have to end this with a timeless classic. (If I can be honest, it's always annoyed me. But I guess Little Orphan Annie hit the nail on the head...)
Earlier this week, I happened to be up before the sunrise. This phenom does not happen often, I assure you. But sure enough, there I was up even before the sun. It was dark, obviously. And although I knew it was technically early morning, it still felt like the middle of the night. There was no light to tell if it was cloudy, or if the day would turn into a nice one. There was no light to trigger my "go-on-and-get-moving" senses, and my "seriously-we-should-still-be-asleep" senses had full control.
And yet, I knew it wouldn't be long.
I knew that in just a short hour or two that beautiful ball of fire would begin its climb to the top of the sky. I knew that daylight WOULD come. I knew that a sunrise can not be stopped.
And in that thought, there is something poignant. There is such beauty in the fact that, no matter how dark, no matter how long the night may seem, the sun WILL come up. It is impossible for it not to.
And I thought to myself as I drove to my destination in the early morning dark, that is so God. To give us a daily reminder of His faithfulness. Just like I can count on the sun to come up after even the darkest of nights, I can know that I know that I know that God is ever-present in my situation, and that He alone has the victory in this world. Those words sound a little preachy this morning, but it's the truth. And I find myself picturing God each and every morning anxiously waiting for the sun to peak over my horizon and saying "Told ya."
We serve a big, big God and His daily reminders of His faithfulness are all around. But I hope this one stays with you, as I know it will with me. That just as we KNOW the sun will come out tomorrow, we can have the same unwavering belief that God will show up in our lives.
And of course I have to end this with a timeless classic. (If I can be honest, it's always annoyed me. But I guess Little Orphan Annie hit the nail on the head...)
The sun'll come out tomorrow.
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun.
And there will be.
Much love!
Jessica
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
One Thing Remains
So we are singing this song this morning in chapel. And it's one of my faves! But as I'm listening to the band practice outside my office, this same song also came on my Pandora. (yes I often have dueling worship music playing in our offices...can't hurt right?)
And as it came on my own computer, I was just struck (again) by the simplicity and power of the words. And of course, decided I had to share.
See, the same thing hits me every time I hear this song. It strikes me as truly unique, amazing, life-changing that in this world where NOTHING stays the same....ok wait pause. Let's focus on that for a second. Literally nothing stays the same! Friends change, cities change, families change, jobs change, you change. People leave you, people change their mind, people disappoint you. Parents may walk out, spouses may quit. Bosses decide you aren't a good fit, schools say you don't measure up. The stock market crashes, your iPhone gets a new update. It snows in May, it rains all summer. Nothing in life stays the same. Nothing is 100% guaranteed.
Except the love of God.
And so, in the midst of this chaos of life, how striking are these words:
Higher than the mountains that I face,
Stronger than the power of the grave,
Constant in the trial and the change,
This one thing remains.
Your love never fails, never gives up,
Never runs out on me.
And on and on and on and on it goes,
For it overwhelms and satisfies my soul.
And I never ever have to be afraid,
For this one thing remains:
Your love never fails, never gives up,
Never runs out on me.
So simple, and yet we make it complicated. We forget in the midst of our situation that no matter what happens, God's love for us never fails. And even if we remember that fact, we often forget that that fact is truly the only thing that matters. God's love for us. God's love that promises us eternal life. God's love that is never ending. God's love that meets every other need.
So let that encourage you today. No matter who or what has let you down, there is one thing that never changes, never ends, never fails.
This one thing remains.
Much love,
Jessica
And as it came on my own computer, I was just struck (again) by the simplicity and power of the words. And of course, decided I had to share.
See, the same thing hits me every time I hear this song. It strikes me as truly unique, amazing, life-changing that in this world where NOTHING stays the same....ok wait pause. Let's focus on that for a second. Literally nothing stays the same! Friends change, cities change, families change, jobs change, you change. People leave you, people change their mind, people disappoint you. Parents may walk out, spouses may quit. Bosses decide you aren't a good fit, schools say you don't measure up. The stock market crashes, your iPhone gets a new update. It snows in May, it rains all summer. Nothing in life stays the same. Nothing is 100% guaranteed.
Except the love of God.
And so, in the midst of this chaos of life, how striking are these words:
Higher than the mountains that I face,
Stronger than the power of the grave,
Constant in the trial and the change,
This one thing remains.
Your love never fails, never gives up,
Never runs out on me.
And on and on and on and on it goes,
For it overwhelms and satisfies my soul.
And I never ever have to be afraid,
For this one thing remains:
Your love never fails, never gives up,
Never runs out on me.
So simple, and yet we make it complicated. We forget in the midst of our situation that no matter what happens, God's love for us never fails. And even if we remember that fact, we often forget that that fact is truly the only thing that matters. God's love for us. God's love that promises us eternal life. God's love that is never ending. God's love that meets every other need.
So let that encourage you today. No matter who or what has let you down, there is one thing that never changes, never ends, never fails.
This one thing remains.
Much love,
Jessica
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Just a little cut.....
Ok so the other day I was washing dishes and I SLICED my hand open on a knife. Well, maybe I just cut my finger, but still it really hurt and it bled like crazy! So I bandaged it up, and went about my day. What is it about a bandage on your finger that makes you completely handicap?? It's like that hand is useless all of a sudden because of a little bandaid! And then the next day, of course, it HURT! Maybe I'm a baby, but I seriously struggled every time I needed to use that hand.
And it got me thinking. That cut on my hand, and the extra space the bandage took up, plus the soreness from the "wound" affected the way I went about my day to day. What if that's us with God? The Bible says that we are to be His hands and feet. Well, if all His "hands" are walking around bleeding, or bandaged from past hurts, or sore from pain in our life we CAN NOT be doing what He has called us to do here on earth to the best of our ability!
I was just walking around with a tiny cut.....imagine how much more handicap I would have been with a REAL injury?
In our walks with God, with have to make sure that we are functioning as His hands and feet with no handicaps, no bruises, no bandages! We need to be prayed up, healed up, and fired up, ready to go/do/be where-ever/when-ever/what-ever He has called us!
Let that be our prayer today. God, heal whatever hurts and bruises that might hold us back from loving others, and walking in your will today!
Much Love!
And it got me thinking. That cut on my hand, and the extra space the bandage took up, plus the soreness from the "wound" affected the way I went about my day to day. What if that's us with God? The Bible says that we are to be His hands and feet. Well, if all His "hands" are walking around bleeding, or bandaged from past hurts, or sore from pain in our life we CAN NOT be doing what He has called us to do here on earth to the best of our ability!
I was just walking around with a tiny cut.....imagine how much more handicap I would have been with a REAL injury?
In our walks with God, with have to make sure that we are functioning as His hands and feet with no handicaps, no bruises, no bandages! We need to be prayed up, healed up, and fired up, ready to go/do/be where-ever/when-ever/what-ever He has called us!
Let that be our prayer today. God, heal whatever hurts and bruises that might hold us back from loving others, and walking in your will today!
Much Love!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Let Me Be Singing....
My heart was stirred this morning....that's the best way I can put it. I was driving to work and saw the sun coming up (yeah Tuesdays are early mornings!) and so I took a picture (because I take a picture of everything!) and then put my phone up and kinda forgot about it.
So I get to my office and I'm "finishing my make up" (maybe I had none on, ok?) and I am listening to worship to music like I always do before chapel. Anyway, the song 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman comes on, and all of a sudden....it's like the world stops.
Have you ever had that moment. It's like the clouds part, everything slows down, and you realize your real purpose here on earth??? Deep for 7:15am let me tell you, but that was the moment I had in my office. (My husband walked through as I'm having my moment and I told him "I'm having such a moment here, I may not be able to finish the other eye!!" #makeupprobs)
If you're not familiar with the song, the first verse says this:
The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning.
Time to sing your song again.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
Ok pause. (and enter my pic of the sun coming up!) What an unbelievable prayer! "Whatever happens today God, let me still be praising you when the sun goes down." How simple and yet, so profound.
Then the chorus says:
Bless the Lord oh my soul, oh my soul.
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul.
I worship your holy name.
We sing about blessing the Lord a lot, and you read about it in scripture. But this touched my heart this morning, because I WANT to BLESS the Lord. After all He has done for me, how much He loves me....what a truly intriguing idea that I could POSSIBLY bless Him in any way! But if I can I WILL! What does that look like?? That's today's mission and challenge! I WILL figure out exactly what that looks like and strive every day to do it to the best of my ability.
Ok, so skip to the 3rd verse, (although the 2nd one is equally good!):
And on that day when my strength is failing.
The end draws near and my time has come.
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending,
Ten thousand years and then forevermore!
How amazing! It just reiterates my need to figure out what "blessing the Lord" looks like, because that is what I was CREATED to do! And it's something that we will be doing for eternity. I love to think that even as the end may draw near, still Lord I will be singing your praises.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes!
Let this be our prayer today, and our mission to understand what it truly means to bless the almighty God! And also, let us remember that wherever we are in life---full time ministry, student, doctor, lawyer, stay at home mom---we were CREATED to worship and bless the Lord. Let's not waste a minute!
MUCH love!!!!
Jessica
So I get to my office and I'm "finishing my make up" (maybe I had none on, ok?) and I am listening to worship to music like I always do before chapel. Anyway, the song 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman comes on, and all of a sudden....it's like the world stops.
Have you ever had that moment. It's like the clouds part, everything slows down, and you realize your real purpose here on earth??? Deep for 7:15am let me tell you, but that was the moment I had in my office. (My husband walked through as I'm having my moment and I told him "I'm having such a moment here, I may not be able to finish the other eye!!" #makeupprobs)
If you're not familiar with the song, the first verse says this:
The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning.
Time to sing your song again.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
Ok pause. (and enter my pic of the sun coming up!) What an unbelievable prayer! "Whatever happens today God, let me still be praising you when the sun goes down." How simple and yet, so profound.
Then the chorus says:
Bless the Lord oh my soul, oh my soul.
Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul.
I worship your holy name.
We sing about blessing the Lord a lot, and you read about it in scripture. But this touched my heart this morning, because I WANT to BLESS the Lord. After all He has done for me, how much He loves me....what a truly intriguing idea that I could POSSIBLY bless Him in any way! But if I can I WILL! What does that look like?? That's today's mission and challenge! I WILL figure out exactly what that looks like and strive every day to do it to the best of my ability.
Ok, so skip to the 3rd verse, (although the 2nd one is equally good!):
And on that day when my strength is failing.
The end draws near and my time has come.
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending,
Ten thousand years and then forevermore!
How amazing! It just reiterates my need to figure out what "blessing the Lord" looks like, because that is what I was CREATED to do! And it's something that we will be doing for eternity. I love to think that even as the end may draw near, still Lord I will be singing your praises.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes!
Let this be our prayer today, and our mission to understand what it truly means to bless the almighty God! And also, let us remember that wherever we are in life---full time ministry, student, doctor, lawyer, stay at home mom---we were CREATED to worship and bless the Lord. Let's not waste a minute!
MUCH love!!!!
Jessica
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Who's With You?
I shared this on our TFC Senior High blog today, but thought it was worth sharing here too! : )
In 2 Kings, Elisha and the Israelites are under attack. The enemy king "went by night and surrounded the city." (6:14) So when everybody in Elisha's crowd wake up the next day, they are (needless to say) freaking out! Picture it: horses and chariots everywhere, angry Arameans prepared for battle....yes let the panic begin!
And so Elisha's servant says to him "What are we gonna do????" And Elisha, the man of God as the Bible often refers to him in this chapter, says:
"Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (6:16)
Ok. Wow.
That hit me like a ton of bricks.
And it made me think, can you say that? Let's break down who's with you....
1) Can you say that about your friends and the people you surround yourself with? When a battle is at your door, can you step back and say, "No I got this because the people I have are more than those who are with them"? And I don't mean like "Yo, my peeps are better than your peeps." But more like, have you surrounded yourself with people who are going to stand firm with you through a trial? Have you surrounded yourself with Godly influences who have your back, and will fight beside you with your best interest at heart?
2) And then of course there's the more obvious thought....and this is where it hit me hard. Elisha's faith that who walked beside him was more than any army, challenge, enemy could bring against him. The Bible says that Elisha prayed for his friend "Lord, open his eyes that he may see," and then the servant was able to see the hills full of horses and chariots of fire of the Lord all around them. GOD'S GOT YOUR BACK. Whether you see Him or feel Him or not, "there are more with us than those who are with them."
How awesome is that????
And so I encourage you to think about that today. Who's with you? I believe 2013 is going to be an amazing year, but it will not be without it's battles. Be sure you have people standing with you in the fight!
Much love!
Jessica
In 2 Kings, Elisha and the Israelites are under attack. The enemy king "went by night and surrounded the city." (6:14) So when everybody in Elisha's crowd wake up the next day, they are (needless to say) freaking out! Picture it: horses and chariots everywhere, angry Arameans prepared for battle....yes let the panic begin!
And so Elisha's servant says to him "What are we gonna do????" And Elisha, the man of God as the Bible often refers to him in this chapter, says:
"Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (6:16)
Ok. Wow.
That hit me like a ton of bricks.
And it made me think, can you say that? Let's break down who's with you....
1) Can you say that about your friends and the people you surround yourself with? When a battle is at your door, can you step back and say, "No I got this because the people I have are more than those who are with them"? And I don't mean like "Yo, my peeps are better than your peeps." But more like, have you surrounded yourself with people who are going to stand firm with you through a trial? Have you surrounded yourself with Godly influences who have your back, and will fight beside you with your best interest at heart?
2) And then of course there's the more obvious thought....and this is where it hit me hard. Elisha's faith that who walked beside him was more than any army, challenge, enemy could bring against him. The Bible says that Elisha prayed for his friend "Lord, open his eyes that he may see," and then the servant was able to see the hills full of horses and chariots of fire of the Lord all around them. GOD'S GOT YOUR BACK. Whether you see Him or feel Him or not, "there are more with us than those who are with them."
How awesome is that????
And so I encourage you to think about that today. Who's with you? I believe 2013 is going to be an amazing year, but it will not be without it's battles. Be sure you have people standing with you in the fight!
Much love!
Jessica
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