Little Miss Scatterbrained

Copyright: Roger Hargreaves Mr. Men and Little Miss

Scattered

I found myself stressed, anxious and on edge for the last few days. I just wanted these feelings to go away! 

The thing I realized some time last night is this: I had not really prayed or gotten in God's presence in the last few days either. 

So I began to worship. I began to sing and lift my hands and my heart in praise. God is so good. I began to mull over Luke 12:26-28. 

"If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

In the last month I have been more obsessed with worry over money, bills, presents, and other little things than I ought to be. In reality, God met every need we had and provided above and beyond every time He moved on someone's heart to give toward my mission's trip.  

It Ain't no Thang

Money is a little thing. Since I have little of it, then I have a choice. I can either choose to obsess over what I do not have and worry about what I am going to do to get things I do not really need or I can trust that my Father would never leave me begging bread and that the least of the kingdom issues (MONEY) is taken care of. 

After all God is the perfect Father and provider. He provides according to His riches in glory. 

I use money as an example of how little things can take over our minds and edge out our faith. Song of Solomon calls these things "little foxes". The things we think on are the things that begin to take predominance in our lives. That is why Paul said this to the church in Philipi. 

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

Paul knew the importance of our thought life. We need the mind of Christ if we are to live the lives of over-comers  If we want to say "I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus" and it be true then we must train our minds to focus on the goodness of God, not the bigness of our needs. 

I had spent way too much time building my unbelief instead of building my faith because I was focused on the wrong thing. 

"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he..." Proverbs 23:7

So I will begin to sweep out the polluted thinking and meditate on the pureness and goodness of my God. His mercy is new everyday.   I will run off the little foxes that try to sneak in and steal the fruit God is growing in my life. I will focus on doing what God has called me to and let Him work out the rest. 

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

I recently heard someone say this: "Worry and anxiety are you meditating on the wrong things. Instead of you thinking on God's goodness, you are focusing on your lack." 

How true this is. 

My Prayer

Father, forgive me for losing sight of You and your goodness. I know you are more than enough. Your grace is sufficient. Father help me to be about your business without getting sidetracked and busy with the details that I should be trusting You for. You are good. You are faithful. Your love never fails. Have your way in my life. Rule and reign in my heart. Lead me by Your ways, and show me what it is to love like you. In the name of Jesus. Amen. 

Join the Conversation

Have you ever battled worry and anxiety? What helped you? 

Have We Strayed?

He loved her. 

Beyond reason or logic, he was overwhelmed by her. She was nothing, a harlot, and he went out of his way to prove his love to her. 

He bought her out of her slavery to her pimp. He brought her into a home full of all the amenities a woman could ask for. He provided well for her, and in the beginning, it seemed like it might be okay. They had three kids, and while their marriage was anything but normal, for a moment, it looked like things might work out. 

Until she left. 

Back to prostitution she ran. Whoring and partying were too strong a pull for her. Domestic, safe, and normal were not her speed. She had to be free! 

Still, knowing that she had run into the arms of others, Hosea loved his wife, Gomer. Eventually, after the consequences of her debauchery and sin caught up with her, she returned to her husband. He treated her as if she had never left. Loving her beyond her worth and showering her with blessings. 

The Lesson

The book of Hosea is not a long one. One of the books of prophecy, it is an allegory for the children of Israel, who had left an exclusive relationship with God and whored around with other nations and religions. God was teaching us something too. 

He is faithful and His love never fails. 

In today’s world, is it much different with us? As Christians do we fully commit to a life fully surrendered to God or do we still want our way, and then ask God to “bless” our plans because we have our lives all mapped out? Do not give God your “plans” and ask Him to bless them, give Him your life and He will bless it. The Bible says, God will make your paths straight. 

I know that I have asked my kids that question so many have asked theirs; “what do you want to be when you grow up?” We have pushed our agendas and the world’s standards on our kids and ourselves for too long. Instead of the godly path, we have pushed the Ivy League path, the military path, or the Hollywood path. Instead of being more loyal to God and His precepts we have cried out for freedom. 

We have been Gomer. 

How can we as a people, called individually as God’s children, and collectively as His bride, get back to where we need to be?

My prayer in the night!

Father, I cry out to you. You, O lord are in Heaven, full of grace and mercy on Your throne. You who dwells in the hearts of man, whose love pours out over the nations, whose eyes roam the earth to and fro. To You I cry and come before You now.


In my soul I am disquieted. I ache with the pain of my lack. I have failed to trust You. I have raised money to a status above You. Forgive me O lord; I know what You have said. No man can serve two masters. Lord, I repent. I have not truly looked to You as my source. I have not relied on You as I should. I repent and I am determined to change.


Change my heart Father God. Renew in me a right spirit. One that is upright before you, one without shame, shade, or turning. Let me be transparent before You now. Cleanse me and purify my heart o Lord. I want You, and the things of You in my life. I do not accept lack, I do not accept my “place” when it is inferior to what You have designed for me. I will not be weighed down by these lies. I deserve more as Your child. You have plans for me. You have a path for me. You o Lord have designed me for a purpose. I am yours to wield.


Where I lack You are enough. Where I need, You are sufficient. You are my supply, and You are endless. YOU ARE MY SUPPLY AND YOU ARE ENDLESS! Your love and mercy are new every morning. You are more faithful than the sun. You are the mighty creator, and You love me. You make covenant with me, you broke Your Son’s body for me; Your love is endless, matchless and without measure. Teach me O Lord to be like You. To trust You. To lean into You. To sit and be still to know that You are here. In your presence IS fullness. I will not go hungry, I will not be left a beggar, In you I have everything I need. In you I LIVE, I BREATHE, and Have my being!


You sing over me, songs of love, songs of comfort, and songs of life. You are all I have needed, and I will look to You. I will look to Your holy hill and know my help is on the way.


Examine me lord. Open me up, lay me bare. Grow me from the inside out. Rejuvenate, remake, remodel me into Your image, as You intended from the beginning. You o Lord are my shelter, my fortress. Under Your wing will I stay and I will trust in you all the days of my life.


You knew me in my mother’s womb, You saw me before I was ever made. You knew all my faults, mistakes, and failings and you loved me anyway. You are so good. I praise you O God! To you I declare my love and abiding faith. In you I am grafted. In You I dwell. In your city, on Your holy hill, I will kneel before You, singing your praise and weeping in Your presence.


You Father know my needs before I do. You are already making a way where there seems to be no way. You are the one whose footsteps I follow. I listen for Your melodic, warm voice as it leads me along still waters. You are the lifter of my head, the lover of my soul, my true and mighty king. You are all I need. I will not forget, but when I do forget, Your Spirit will remind me. You are my help in this and every moment. I love You, I worship You. Majestic Righteous, Omnipotent Savior. Mighty God, in whom I will place my trust! To Him who sits on the throne, all glory, all power, all might. You are great and greatly to be praised. Lamb of God, Eternal Brother, Savior, King. I love You Lord. Amen.

Dreams and Plans- Just one way God shows His love!

I am continually amazed by God. 

First that He loves us. He cares on the deepest levels for you and I: so much so that He sacrificed His son to make a way for you and I to gain relationship with Him when we had no chance of one before. This Love of His even includes the small things too; like what job you take, or where you attend church, or even what you are meant to do with your life. - (No, this is NOT an ad for E-Harmony.) 

Jeremiah 29:11-14 GOD’S WORD Translation (GW) 

11 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster plans to give you a future filled with hope. 12 Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, 14 I will let you find me, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I’ve scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from the place where you are being held captive. 

Now most of the time when someone uses this reference as a scripture to study, you hear a lot about the first three verses. And I must admit, I was tempted to just put only those three in this study, but God stopped me. There is something here you and I need to hear. I will break it down by verse. 

11- God is not a man that He can lie, so if He says He has plans He has Plans. Capital P. He has things for you to do, places for you to be, divine appointments to make and all of this is good: filled with HOPE and PEACE. If you are living life without hope and without peace right now, there is a way to get those things. 

12- We get peace and hope when we cry out to God, because He hears us and answers us. He is faithful to perform His word, and to complete the works He has started in us! 

13- When we search for Him He is there. Ask, seek, and knock. The right door will open: the one that Jesus designed for you in the first place. We must seek Him first though. That is one of the ways I have messed up before. I have put the cart before the horse and sought the dream before the Dream Giver, and God is the Dream Giver. Seek Him First. 

14- He will let you find Him. He is not hiding His face from you. He longs to receive you and I into His presence. When we are out of His will for our lives, and we are not seeking Him and the things He has for us, then it is as if we are captive in lives that go nowhere. We circle the same old mountains, and we feel like nothing will ever bring us back to where we wanted to be. Feeling derailed and off the tracks, we feel like there is no way to go back to what God designed us for, because we have waited too long, or missed the boat. WE HAVE BEEN TAKEN CAPTIVE BY A LIE and He wants to bring us out of that captivity! 

Romans 8 28-30 says Amplified Bible (AMP) 

28 We are assured and know that [[a] God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [of whom He was [b]aware and [c]loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning [foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren. 30 And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being]. 

You are so important to God, that when you truly love Him and are called by Him, (and YOU are) He takes everything, and works it! He works the good for our good; He works the bad for our good: God works for you! 

There is a real life example in the word of Jesus working for the disciples. He washed their feet. He served them. He showed us His heart that day, scrubbing the dirt and dust of life from their feet. He showed us He longs for us to accept His love in all its forms, even something as simple as a pedicure. 

When we walk around with the dust of life caked on our feet, it weighs us down. How can we walk out this beautiful salvation with dust caked on? Let Jesus wash you clean: let Him show you His love for you. Then as you begin to really seek Him, and walk after Him, then you will begin to see that His plans for you are good. 

Now I want to share something with you- I had dreams as a child, and as I grew I thought there was no way that any of them would come true. I listened to outside voices and the voice of the enemy. Some dreams were just childhood fantasy and some were what I call “Design Dreams”. God designed me to dream that way, He put those dreams in my heart. So when He says He has Plans for me, I think back to those "Design Dreams". 

When we are honest with ourselves, we can see those with more clarity because they are the things that have always been there. For me, the desire to be heard and the desire to teach have always been there. No matter what stage of life I have been in, I always seem to come back to those things. So now, when I really seek God, get serious about figuring out my walk with Him, He starts showing me what He intended with my life in the first place. So I ask you this: 

Do you have something that you keep returning to in your mind and saying ‘if only I had done ____’? 

Do you feel like you have too much in your past to ever reasonably reach for those dreams? 

Do you want that to change? 

If the answer is yes to those three things then you must seek God FIRST. Then as you seek Him, He will direct your paths, work on your behalf and accomplish what He designed just for you. 

HOW? That is for Him to know and you to find out. He says His ways are higher, His thoughts are higher. This does not mean we cannot know, it means we must CLIMB! 

I am amazed by God, first that He loves us, and second that He works for us. He is so good! 

Be blessed and be a blessing and remember seek is a verb!

Living with an Attitude of Gratitude

There is a Reason You are Here! 

God has splendid plans for us, plans full of hope and a future that goes beyond tomorrow, it goes on for generations. 

So many of us become trapped by our circumstances that we become bogged down by doubt and we miss out on what that something is. 

Do Not Miss Out! 

It may be because you are hung up on a lie that you were told as a child- “You’re not good enough” or maybe because you don’t have all the physical advantages someone else may have, like money or good looks, or maybe because you feel like time is running out for you because you are getting too old to be doing those amazing things that you have always dreamed of, and now think it is too late for...

Whatever it is that is holding you back it is never too big for our Father. 

Look At David

David was the youngest kid in his family, always stuck with the stinky jobs like looking after the sheep, and being a messenger for his dad, hauling water and food to the battle field for his brothers to have and then being mocked when he wanted to fight for God against Goliath and the Philistines. He was young, he was small, and he was not what people thought of as ‘king” material, but God had a plan for David! God has a plan for you too. Do not doubt it.  

From a shepherd boy to a king, David was a delight to God because no matter what was going on in David’s life, he was humble and grateful. God says David was a man after his own heart. David wasn’t perfect, but he was quick to repent and always thankful for all God had done. 


As he grew as a king, God’s favor was on him and stability came to the land. David began to realize that God had prospered him with houses and wives and children and all he could desire, but while David and his family lived in a wonderful house, God (the Arc of the Covenant) dwelled in a tent.  

God Has A Sense of Humor! 

If you ever doubt our Father has a sense of humor, don’t doubt it anymore. You can hear God chuckle at David in this passage: much like we giggle at our children when they are being cute.

2 Samuel 7 (The Message)4-7 But that night, the word of God came to Nathan saying, "Go and tell my servant David: This is God's word on the matter: You're going to build a 'house' for me to live in? Why, I haven't lived in a 'house' from the time I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt until now. All that time I've moved about with nothing but a tent. And in all my travels with Israel, did I ever say to any of the leaders I commanded to shepherd Israel, 'Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?'

God goes on to tell David that His true house will be established through David, and through the generations God will bear a son from David’s line that will seal both His love and David’s line forever. That son was Jesus. When the prophet Nathan told David all God had said this is what happened next:

18-21 King David went in, took his place before God, and prayed: "Who am I, my Master God, and what is my family, that you have brought me to this place in life? But that's nothing compared to what's coming, for you've also spoken of my family far into the future, given me a glimpse into tomorrow, my Master God! What can I possibly say in the face of all this? You know me, Master God, just as I am. You've done all this not because of who I am but because of who you are—out of your very heart!—but you've let me in on it.

Can you see it? 

David was humble and he was thankful. He was excited and he did not doubt. He knew that God’s word was established and David was tickled pink to be let in on the secret plans God had for his family and his descendants. (We have talked about the secret things of God before. For that click here)

Having an attitude of gratitude is important. In the little and the small things acknowledge God and He will direct us. Do not let the chance to give God the glory pass by you. When we are thankful we are humble, and when we are humble, we are usable. Now we just have to get out of God’s way and obey, but that will be tomorrow’s blog.

Be blessed and be a blessing and remember thank is a verb. 
What are you thankful for?