Share Your JOYS and ACHES

Jesus wept. – John 11:35

In a recent Bible study, I asked a group of fifty women, from their mid-twenties to early eighties to write down, on one half of a heart-shaped piece of paper, one or two things that filled their hearts with JOY.  On the other side of the heart, I asked them to write down a current heart ACHE.

Now it’s your turn.  What brings you JOY?  What causes your heart to ACHE?  

When I later sat down to read the hearts I’d collected, my own heart was overwhelmed with both thanksgiving and grief.  I thanked God for their abundant joys, then cried out to Him for the deep aches of these beautiful women.

I was deeply moved by the pain they openly expressed.  When I sorted their joys and aches into categories, it quickly became apparent that the most common cause of both their greatest joys and deepest aches were their closest relationships.  (With more than 75% of these coming from their families.) 

·      We love our spouse and JOY abounds after thirty years of faithfulness.  But when we lose our spouse to death or another woman, the ACHE in our hearts almost unravels us. 

·      We receive so much JOY from raising our children or grandchildren.  But when bad influences steal their innocence or drugs rob them of God’s plan for their lives, we ACHE from shattered dreams.

·      We adore our family celebrations and vacations when JOY is shared.  But when cancer comes or dementia debilitates, we ACHE with what the future holds.

As I read the joys and aches of these women who I adore, I wept.  As the tears fell, I remembered the shortest verse of the Bible, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).  I could see Jesus sitting with Mary and Martha whom He loved like family.  The sisters mourned for their brother Lazarus.  Jesus was moved by their heartache and wept with them.

I believe that when we weep, Jesus weeps with us, as He did with Mary and Martha.  Let that reality wash over and comfort you.  Yes, you can be comforted by Jesus’ closeness when your heartaches start unraveling you, when your dreams are shattered, or when the future looks desperately dark.

Jesus was fully man while here on earth so He understands our joys and our aches and, as God, He rejoices with us when our hearts are full of JOY and He weeps with us when our hearts ACHE.  Jesus was and is our Savior. After weeping with Mary and Martha, He looked up to God, thanked His Father in Heaven, then raised Lazarus from the dead.

Like the sisters, we can thank Jesus that He alone can save us, give us eternal life, and comfort us every day. 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Seek & Find

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13

Do you remember playing Hide & Seek when you were a child?  I vividly remember the entire floorplan of my grandparents’ house in Tipton, Indiana because when all the cousins came together for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I searched every inch of that old house looking for the very best hiding spot.  Our version of Hide & Seek was called, “Big B” because we always made our oldest cousin, Brad be the seeker first.

We might think playing Hide & Seek is only for children.  But if we really think about it, haven’t we been playing a form of this game our whole lives?  Do we search for the perfect school or job believing it will secure our future?  Do we pursue a particular position in hopes it will satisfy our desire for power?  Do we constantly seek other people’s approval to gain a deeper sense of belonging?  

What if God designed us to be seekers because He wants us to seek Him, instead of positions, power, or people?

The prophet Jeremiah clearly communicates how we are to seek God.  He writes in Jeremiah 29:12-14, “You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me will all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD.”

Through this passage, we discover our part to play in God’s promise.  We are to seek, come close, and pray.  When we do, God promises to listen and be found by us.  When I was trying to picture in my mind what seeking looks and sounds like, it was helpful to learn its definition.  To seek means to search or pursue.  It is to make an effort to find, or an attempt to discover.

Just like the seeker in the game Hide & Seek, seeking God is active.  We have to make a strategy and then work the plan.  We take our desire to find God and put it into action.  We carve out time to read His Word.  We learn more about Him from listening to sermons or asking others who know Him intimately hard questions.  We pray at 3pm and invite God into our busy days.  We talk to Him at different times of the day and night.  We worship Him with songs and praises.  And we thank Him in all circumstances.   

How do you actively seek God, besides Waking Up to Him every day at 3pm?  Each day holds endless possibilities to pursue God.  What is your strategy to seek Him?  God promises that when we do our part and seek Him, He will be found by us.  Once we find God, then we can live closely and love intimately.  

Instead of Hide & Seek, God plays Seek & Find with us.  

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Woman at the Well

Jesus asked the woman at the well, “Will you give me a drink?” – John 4:7

A wonderful group of women at my church are studying the seven I AM statements of Jesus.  We are following Lysa TerKeurst’s Bible Study, Finding I Am.  Lysa is a dynamic teacher and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She traveled to the Holy Land of Israel seven times to research, write and film our study.  If you’re seeking to know Jesus more, join us on this journey. You can order the study guide and DVDs from Lifeway online.

I can’t wait to see the Holy Land up close one day.  I dream of walking where Jesus walked.  I long to see how big the Sea of Galilee is from the water’s edge. I imagine the mountains to be bigger than mine in Colorado, and the fields to be green and lush, dotted with peacefully grazing sheep.  In my mind’s eye, I see Jesus standing with the woman at Jacob’s well, pouring out His kindness and elaborate love.  A love like she’d never experienced, even after six husbands.

Let’s look into that dramatic afternoon at the well (John 4:1-26) and collect some incredible truths about Jesus:

• Jesus came for ALL people.  Most Jewish men would have walked around the country of Samaria, where this woman was, because the people living there were considered “half breeds.” They had abandoned their Jewish heritage by intermarrying with the Samaritans, so they were rejected and hated by many Jews.  But not by Jesus.
• Jesus stepped over every boundary. Jewish men did not speak to women, let alone a non-Jewish woman.  Jesus looked the woman at the well straight in eyes and asked her for a drink of water.
• Jesus knew her sin and loved her anyway. When Jesus asked the woman at the well to go get her husband, He knew full well she was entangled in sexual sin. It was obvious, she had traveled to the well in the heat of mid-day to avoid other women’s whispers. 
• Jesus shared His true identity with an outcast.  Jesus revealed to the woman at the well that He was the long awaited Messiah.  The One speaking to her was the great I AM in flesh. 
• Jesus used a shameful woman’s testimony to save many others.  The woman at the well walked there ashamed.  But after meeting Jesus face to face, she left renewed, full of boldness and faith.  She ran back to her village and told others to “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?”

Jesus stepped over cultural barriers, spoke the truth to a sinful woman, and used her story to save lives.  He wants to do the same with you.  You can know that:

Jesus came for you. You are never too far from Jesus that He can’t reach out and touch you or speak to you.  

Jesus loves you.  No matter you’d done or become, Jesus’ love is unconditional and unfailing.  

Jesus will use your story for good.  Jesus can take your biggest messes and mistakes and turn them around to positively impact people and change lives.

The big question is: Will you allow the great I AM to meet you right where you are, love you completely, and use your story for His glory? 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Filled Up

Jesus said, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 

– Matthew 4:4

What’s your relationship with carbohydrates?  Are you mesmerized by the thought of bread, pasta, cakes and pies, or do you view them as the enemy of your waistline…like rocket fuel for putting on pounds? 

My stepfather loves to have bread with every dinner, no matter what’s on the menu. My youngest daughter orders mac-n-cheese in a bread bowl whenever we have lunch at Panera.  Those two carb lovers can’t go a day without bread. I don’t have a strong opinion when it comes to eating bread but Jesus sure does.

Not only did Jesus teach us to pray to God each and every day for our “daily bread,” but He also fought Satan’s temptation in the desert by quoting Deut. 8:3, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from God’s mouth.”  When Jesus said this, He had been fasting for forty days. Satan tried to test Jesus’ power by tempting Him to change stones into bread to satisfy His obvious hunger.  Jesus looked to God’s word to sustain Him, not a quick fix of carbo loading.

Taking a closer look at Deut. 8:3, we find that Moses was reminding God’s people of their forty-year trek through the wilderness, when God fed them Manna, bread from heaven that He supplied daily.  Moses prompted them to recall how God was fully responsible for their survival and satisfaction.  Without God and his daily Manna, they would have died only a few days into their epic trek.  

Because the “bread from heaven” would rot after one day, God used Manna to teach His people that they could not store up provisions or fill their stomachs and souls by their own hands.  They had to depend on God daily to be their supplier and satisfier.  He is still trying to teach us just that today, thousands of years later, on our own journeys.  

What are you nourishing your soul with?  Are you filling shopping carts with new things?  Are you filling bank accounts with money?  Are you filling the gas tank of a fancy car?  Are you filling a refrigerator full of comfort food to combat an ache in your heart?  Or are you filling your calendar with events to crowd out loneliness or silence that scares you?

Eventually we’ll Wake Up and find our closets are over-stuffed, the money is never enough, the expensive car is filthy, the refrigerator stinks, and our calendar is exhausting us.  God will use our depleted, dry, and desolate souls to awaken us to what will truly satisfy: Himself.

When we look to Jesus to fill our souls with His daily presence and power, then we’ll stop doing laps in our self-made wilderness and step into our “Promised Land,” the plans God has for each one of us. 

Fill your soul daily with the Bread of Life that fully satisfies. 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

A Recipe for Rest

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” 

– Matthew 11:28-29

Aren’t some days heavier than others?  I love the ones that unfold easily and enjoyably, but unfortunately, today is not one of them.  Today feels like I’m slogging through two feet of mud carrying a hundred pound backpack.

I blame Facebook.  Before pouring my coffee, it sent me a prompt to wish my friend Alice a Happy Birthday.  I flipped my phone over to hide the screen, because I’m sure even Facebook hasn’t yet figured out how to deliver birthday wishes to heaven.

Then, before leaving the house to drive my daughter to school, I received an urgent prayer request for a family friend’s teenage son who is lying in the ICU, fighting for his life after complications from his lung transplant surgery. I shook my head to try and displace the thoughts of his family pacing the hospital floors, desperate for a miracle.

Two hours later, the phone rang and one of my dear Bible Study friend’s daughter was on the line. She got right to the point and told me that six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation were now absolutely essential for her mother to battle her fifth relapse of cancer.  She is the fourth woman in my Women’s Bible Study over the past two years to be fighting cancer.  We’ve already lost three battles.  We have to win this one!

My knees were wobbly.  My heart was aching.  I raised my white flag and called it quits and headed home.

At home, I could openly cry out to Jesus and say, “This is too much.  I miss Alice. I need her help here.  Why aren’t you answering my prayers?  I hate cancer!”

As the tears started, I remembered the passage in Matthew where Jesus says “take my yoke.”  That passage had confused me for a long time, but now I see clearly what Jesus wants us to do when our burdens are heavy. Jesus says…

• Come to me.  
• Link up with me.
• Learn from me.

When we do these three things; pour out our hearts to Jesus through prayer, draw strength from His closeness, and follow His ways, we experience Jesus up close and personally.  His presence is gentle. He listens to our heart’s cry. His power is strong and steadfast.  He longs to lightens our burdens and give us rest.  The kind of rest that our souls long for on heavy days.

When your day is hard and heavy, remember Jesus is waiting for you to come to Him, link up with Him, and learn from Him.  That is a three-part recipe for rest we all need for our souls.  

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Runaway Thoughts

Let the Spirit change your way of thinking. 
– Ephesians 4:23 (CEV)

Does your mind sometimes surprise you?  A thought pops into your head and, like knocking over that first domino, sets off a chain reaction.  Before you know it, the last domino falls and you’ve reached some ridiculous conclusion, leaving you wondering, “how did my mind get here?”

This happens to me all the time.  Here’s a window into how my mind can run away from me if it’s not being controlled by God’s spirit.  

• My husband comes home from a run without our dog. He says that Henry probably just chased a deer into the woods and will be back when he gets hungry. I quickly conclude that Henry’s been eaten by a mountain lion, and all that we’ll find of the best dog ever is his black and yellow collar.  I don’t think I can bear to search for him. How will I ever forgive my husband?

• My close girlfriend for more than ten years doesn’t return my texts or calls for several days, therefore she must have moved on.  I bet she thinks I’m too boring.  She’s found better friends then me.  I start to mourn the loss of our friendship.  

• Our daughter comes home with her hair dyed pink, purple, and blue.  Uh oh, she’s running with the wrong crowd.  She’ll start doing drugs, stop playing sports, drop out of school, and get pregnant.  I’m going to be a grandmother before I turn fifty. Crap, I just gave away the porta-crib!

Am I the only one who jumps to crazy conclusions when I let my mind race?  How many times have you worried yourself sick about something that never even happened?

The good thing is that we can STOP our thoughts before they run off the rails.  God reminds us that the Holy Spirit living within us can change our way of thinking (Eph. 4:23).  We are to take every thought captive and make sure it follows Jesus (2 Cor. 10:5).  

Rethinking the three situations I described above, if my thoughts had been more aligned with Jesus, then when the dog was missing, I would have prayed for Henry’s protection, not labelled Dan as a negligent dog killer, and believed that he would be ok.  (It turns out that he was just playing with another dog in the neighborhood and was home before Dan had the chance to shovel out the car to go looking for him.)

When my girlfriend didn’t respond for several days, I could have asked God for direction and lifted her up in prayer. I knew she had recently taken on more responsibilities at work.  She needed my prayers and patience. Sure enough when she reached out to me, her message was full of love and apologies.  

And when my daughter came home with colorful hair, it would have been much more like Jesus to ask her great questions like “Why did you choose those colors? Do you like how it looks?  Is it permanent or temporary dye?”  I would have learned right away that it was slumber party silliness and would wash out in a few weeks.  She was still in school with good grades and not even dating anyone.  Good thing…I’m not ready to be a grandmother.

The next time your thoughts start to run away from you, STOP and ask God to step in and slow them down.  He can keep the crazy train on the tracks.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Have a Dream

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for. – Hebrews 11:1

Today, across our nation, many schools and businesses close their doors to honor Martin Luther King Jr’s powerfully influential life.  

As a civil rights activist and Christian preacher, Martin Luther King Jr. had experienced firsthand the hatred, prejudice, and evil of the racial struggles our nation faced in the 1960s.  So on the day King gave his most famous speech on Capitol Hill, he made sure to weave in God’s love, truth and hope.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech will be quoted today more than anything else he spoke from a podium or pulpit.  Here are a few examples of how he proclaimed God’s truths:

When King voiced “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” he was encouraging Americans to see each other the way God sees them.

1 Samuel 17:6 - The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

When King proclaimed, “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, every rough place will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight,” he was quoting Isaiah the prophet whose words comforted God’s people during their captivity.

Isaiah 40:4-5 - Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed and all mankind together will see it. 

As King concluded his speech, he called for freedom to ring throughout our nation; from the north to the south, from the east to the west.  He also called God’s children to unite across racial and religious boundaries.

God promises in John 8:36 - If the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed. 

God teaches us in Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Today, allow yourself to dream big like Martin Luther King, Jr. did over fifty years ago.  

• Who do you love and long to see soar?
• Where do you dream of seeing freedom from captivity?
• Who do you believe will one day unite?
• How can your faith spur you on to link arms with others and love across barriers?
• What are your biggest dreams?

Write down your dreams.  Written dreams become spoken dreams, and spoken dreams, with the power of God, can one day become a reality.  

Here is my big dream that I’ve written down, spoken out, prayed for God’s power, and trust in His time will become a reality. Please believe with me.

I have a dream that One Day…. across our nation and around the globe, people will unite to give God thanks and praise every day at 3 o’clock. 

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Thank You, God

Give thanks at all times. – Ephesians 5:20  

Do you ever hope, dream and pray for something to happen, then when it does, you quickly move on without thinking about it.  In the blink of an eye, you’re on to the next task, thinking about the next idea, or dreaming the next dream.

Our fast paced culture pushes us be forward thinkers, big dreamers, and high goal setters. I’m guilty of grabbing the gifts I’m given without even taking a moment to say, “Thank You, God.”

Every once in a while, God stops us in our tracks to remind us of His important truths…even when we’re on vacation.  

Recently, twenty members of my extended family met in Costa Rica to celebrate the Christmas/ New Year’s holidays. While driving, I stared out the window amazed at the sometimes overwhelming poverty. I would see large families living in tiny dilapidated tin-roofed shacks, stray dogs scrounging for food, and shirtless children playing in the dirt without toys. I wasn’t prepared for these snapshots of poverty. 

One thought kept scrolling through my mind, like a song stuck on repeat: None of us had a choice.  They were born poor in Costa Rica and I was born “rich” in America. 

Then I remembered the Bible passage that states, “To whom much has been given, much will be expected” (Luke 12:48).  But what could I possibly do?  The scenes of poverty kept flashing through my mind as I unpacked in our beautiful vacation “Villa,” leaving my stomach in knots and my head spinning. 

The only prayer I could pray was, “Thank you God.”

Then it hit me.  Before the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call, I rarely thanked God. As a young child, I didn’t thank God for my safe, warm house in America, my own bedroom full of toys, for clean water, or a refrigerator full of food.  These were just parts of a normal life.  I didn’t recognize them as gifts from God.  But as an adult, God has woken me up to the truth that He is the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17). 

When we give God thanks…

• He gets the credit for the good in our lives and we appreciate His goodness.
• He gets the glory and we are humbled.
• He gets the honor so we can’t become prideful.  

The quick moments we take to thank God multiply into a powerful mind altering habit that keeps us grounded and in our “right place” on this complex planet.  It’s from here, in this place of gratitude, that we can be generous, gracious, and kind to others who have so much less.  

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement

Rope of Hope

When I am afraid, I will trust in You.

– Psalm 56:3 

My husband signed me up to go zip-lining through the jungles of Costa Rica over Christmas break.  “It will be a super fun adventure with the family,” he said, purposely leaving out the fact that we’d be over fifty feet above ground.  I’m deathly afraid of heights.

When the guide clipped me into the first rope, I felt panic brewing in my belly.  Before I could call it quits, he shoved me off the wooden platform and I was completely out of control.  I couldn’t slow down, jump off, or stop myself so I did what every terrified middle-aged woman would do, I screamed, “OH MY GOD!”

Let’s face it.  We all have fears.  Some people would rather endure physical torture than speak in public.  Some people drive for days because they’re too afraid to board an airplane.  And some people hide in the back of the room, sweating because they might be called on to read aloud or answer a question.  Even if they know the material cold, hearing their name called upon would be terrifying.

What are you afraid of?  When was the last time you had to step out in faith and jump?  

David, who slayed Goliath and later became King of the Israelites, had to flee for his life when the previous king chased him into enemy territory.  David found himself surrounded by men who wanted him dead.  In Psalm 56, David cried out to God and declared that he would trust God not matter what.  

David gives us the steps to take when we must face our fears.

• Call out to God and remember His presence.
• Proclaim your trust in the LORD.
• Praise God for His power to help you and save you. 
• Thank God for being with you every step of the way.

I accomplished the first step as I screamed out to God while zipping across the jungle.  When fear overwhelmed me, I gripped the rope so tightly that when I came to a stop, my fingers felt numb and my legs wobbled like Jell-O.  I told my family how I felt as I planned my escape.  But when one of my teenagers reminded me of a blog I wrote last summer where I referred to myself as the Jell-O woman, something clicked in my mind.

If I am encouraging others to face their fears and step out in faith to follow Jesus, then I’d better walk the walk, even if the path takes me high up in the middle of a jungle. I looked at the ropes of the challenges I’d be facing shortly.  I whispered this prayer to Jesus, “I place my hope in You, not the ropes. Help me face my fears and guide me through this coarse. I will trust You.”

Not only did Jesus calm my fears, He gave me one of the most exciting days of my life.  I had a blast!  

When my 3pm alarm sounded that day, I was free falling into a mountain pool after zip lining through a beautiful waterfall.  I emerged from the cold pool, looked up at the canopy above, and thanked God for being my rope of hope.  He powerfully replaced my staggering fear with strength and faith.  

Call out to Jesus today.  Give him your fears, place your trust in Him, and thank Him for extending you a rope of hope no matter where you are.  

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement