Decide to Abide

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

How many times have you stood in judgement of others, only to later find yourself walking down that very same path?

I once told another mother that I thought she was absolutely crazy to allow her two kids to attend two different high schools in our hometown.  Years later, wouldn’t you know it, she was the parent volunteer showing me around our son’s new school after we transferred him out of the one he had attended with his sister across town.

Eating dinner at a friend’s house, with country music playing loud and proud in the background, I told my husband that I hated country music.  It wasn’t long, though, before country music became the soundtrack of our own family gatherings. 

Today while driving, listening to country music of course, Tim McGraw sang “Always Be Humble and Kind.”  Thinking about what it would actually take to always be humble and kind, my mind flashed to the Holy Spirit.  I shook my head back and forth and said out loud, “Without you God, there is NO WAY I can be humble, kind, loving, joyful…or anything good.”

I was reminded of Jesus’ teaching about God being our gardener, He is the vine, and we are the branches.  If we remain, abide, and stay close to Him, then we will bear the fruit Paul talks about in Galatians 5:22-23.  

The fruit God hopes to produce in your life is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Wow!  That’s a powerful list of life-giving fruits.  Raise your hand if you want more of those in your life.  Me too!

Our first step to living a fruitful life is to make a daily decision to walk close to Jesus.  How we do that will be unique, because God wired each one of us differently, but the first step is the same: Decide to abide.

What if… 

• You started each day by remembering that your relationship with Jesus is the most important one in your life. 

• You began a conversation with Jesus before talking with anyone else in your house.

• You continued talking, sharing, and discussing the events of the day with Jesus asking Him for guidance, help, reassurance, and confidence throughout the day.

By the time 3 o’clock in the afternoon rolls around, giving Jesus thanks will seem completely natural.  You will be able to see how your closeness with His “True Vine” is producing lasting fruit in and around you.

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

U-Turn

My God turns my darkness into light. – Psalm 18:28

God is masterful at bringing good from our troubling times, miserable memories, and most difficult days.  Although we may desperately want to forget, God often uses them, in time, to teach us or touch others.

• Who better to comfort a young mother mourning a miscarriage than a woman who has also lost a baby.

• A perfect prison ministry leader is the man who spent twenty years behind bars.

• It makes sense that the woman who walked alone for fourteen months while her husband endured cancer would be the one to start a non-profit that cares for cancer patients and their families.

• The teen who has won her grueling battle with an eating disorder is perfectly placed to gently steer a friend away from this well-travelled path.

• A disabled person, whose parents encouraged her to play sports, is a natural cheerleader for any athlete courageous enough to step out on the track.  She is a fantastic ambassador for the Special Olympics.  

• And the man who grew up without a father makes a great Little League coach to father-less young boys.  

What if God wants to take the hardships of your life and bless others’ hearts?  How could God use the messy or miserable moments of your life to create a vibrant “ministry”?  

God not only wants to carry you though your pain, He also desires to mold your character along the way.  He is preparing you for a great work.  Though He cares more about your character than your career choice, He might just lead you into one that surprises to you… because you are the perfect fit.

Are you ready for a U-Turn? Be radiant, right where you are, by allowing God to turn your darkness into light.

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

Fiery Darts

Praise the LORD… He is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to God in song. 

– Psalm 29:6-7

I have already told God that I would like to sing in the most magnificent choir when I arrive in heaven.  Here on earth, the best place for me to sing praise and worship songs to the LORD is in my car, alone, with the windows rolled up.

I may not have the gift of singing, or honestly any musical talents at all, but I do have the “Gift of Gab.”  I love talking!  Anywhere, anytime, with anyone, talking is how I come alive. For me, sharing stories is super exhilarating.  Processing out loud lifts my mood sky high, and stepping out on a big stage to talk about the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call is one of my highest hopes and dreams.

I know many of you would rather stick a pencil in your eyeball than speak in public.  Not me, I can’t wait for God to open the door to the Pepsi Center or Mile High Stadium.  Then I’ll tell everyone how a simple 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call can remind them to give God thanks every day, and that this daily thanks has the power to transform their lives and change our world!  

That is one reason why I listen to sermons and talks from some of today’s greatest faith leaders every day. While running, cleaning, cooking, or doing the laundry, I’m learning from the best.

Erwin McManus has taught me to share my faith stories boldly by always pointing to Jesus as the One who is mighty to save. Rick Warren has been a father of the faith to me, concisely coupling God’s truths to real-life applications.  And Brian Houston consistently testifies that God’s timing is perfect, His plan is trustworthy, and laughing at ourselves keeps us humble.

This week while studying how “God is our Shield,” I was reminded of a sermon Brian Houston shared a while ago when he was teaching Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6). He shared exactly how his father, also a pastor, had preached this text with boldness and conviction many years before.

Imagine with me…Brian’s father was on a roll, preaching about each amazing piece of God’s armor.  He made sure they securely placed the helmet of salvation on their heads to protect their minds from lies.  That they buckled the belt of God’s truths tightly around their waists. 

He enthusiastically continued describing each piece of armor in detail, spurring on his congregation to get dressed for battle every morning. Everyone was transfixed when he finally picked up the Shield of Faith.  However, instead of instructing them to lift the Shield of Faith to defend against the Devil’s Fiery Darts, he urged them, instead to boldly raise their Shields of Faith to fight off the Devil’s Diery Farts.  

Hopefully, like me, that story will never let you forget that the Shield of Faith is the protective weapon we need to lift up daily to fight the good fight of faith.  The enemy is constantly sending fiery darts in your direction, so get dressed today with the full “Armor of God,” and be ready for battle.

Helmet of Salvation – Protect your mind from lies.  You are saved by grace.

Belt of Truth – Know God’s truths.  Live by His truths.

Breastplate of Righteousness – Protect your heart.  Know who you are to God.

Footgear of Peace – Walk in Peace with God and others.  Choose peace every day.

Shield of Faith – Defend yourself against attacks, insults, and setbacks.

Sword of the Spirit – God’s Word is your only offensive weapon.  Know it, believe it, speak it.  There is power in the name of Jesus to bring you victory in every battle.

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

You Are Enough

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

When my husband dropped the mail on the kitchen counter in front of me yesterday, I saw that the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue had once again arrived uninvited.  “You won’t believe this,” he said, (with a little too much enthusiasm, I thought), “Christie Brinkley is back for the first time since I was in middle school, and she’s posing with her daughters.”  

With that, I couldn’t just dump the magazine into the recycle bin like I’d always done.  I had to look.  Christie Brinkley, my husband’s pre-teen crush (though he won’t admit it), is now 63 years old.  I was expecting to see her fully dressed as a stately matron next to her twenty-something daughters.  I wasn’t even close.  There she was, on page thirteen, proudly sporting a tiny black bikini looking like she was in her thirties.

Even in high school, I wasn’t thin enough to strut around in an “itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini” at the beach.  Even in college, while teaching daily aerobics classes, you would never catch me in a tummy-exposing tank top or a sleeveless dress.  I wasn’t tall enough to pull off long dresses, or skinny enough to show much skin.

Why do we constantly compare ourselves to others, repeating comments in our head like: I’m not thin enough, smart enough, rich enough, pretty enough, or good enough?

God must look upon our crazy comparisons, shake His head, turn to Jesus and say something like, “Have they forgotten how precious they are to me… again?”  

He’s right, we get stuck in unhealthy, destructive patterns because we forget who we are to our Creator.  He made us in His image.  He saved us from our sins.  He takes great delight in watching us become more like His son.  He loves us with an everlasting love, and He rejoices over us with singing.

Isn’t that enough?  

When we find our true identity in God’s truths instead of our looks, bank accounts, or number of Facebook friends, we are set free from the destructive trap of constantly comparing ourselves with others.

It’s a purposeful process that requires daily decisions.  Will you thank God today for how He made you?  Will you see yourself as beautiful and enough in God’s sight?  Will you focus on His unending love?  When you do, His presence moves closer to you. Living close to God increases our joy.

After writing this, and reminding myself of what I needed to know, I rejoiced. Dancing into the kitchen, I slam dunked that Sports Illustrated straight to the bottom of the recycling bin, burying it deep enough to never be seen again, and smiling because I am enough. God says so.  I am enough.  And so are you!

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

Because of the Great "I AM," I am...

When was the last time you played a silly game that caused you to laugh your head off? Isn’t laughter such a wonderful mood lifter and attitude shifter?

My Bible Study has been learning all about Jesus’ “I Am” statements through Lysa TerKeurt’s latest study, Finding I Am.  While focusing on Jesus as our Good Shepherd, Lysa lists the real life characteristics of sheep.  She writes, “sheep are prone to go astray, have poor eyesight, follow other sheep without thinking, and are stubborn.”

As I pondered the sheep’s intellect, personalities, and behaviors, I couldn’t help think, we’re a heck of a lot like sheep.  To drive this point home.  I asked women in the Bible Study to answer these two questions: 1) How are we similar to sheep? and 2) Which sheep characteristic do you most identify with? 

We laughed out loud while sharing stories of our “sheep-ness”; how often we wander off and follow the wrong influence, particularly while shopping and spending money.  It was a silly activity but quite humbling to think about how many times our own stubbornness gets us into big trouble. 

To offset the ”We Be Sheep” cloud of insecurity hanging over our heads, I handed out the following list of who God says we are.  I asked each woman, as I ask you today, to read the list and discover which I AM statement has the greatest influence over how you see yourself.

Focus on this truth - I AM all that I AM because JESUS is the Great I AM!

Claim these truths about yourself.

I am chosen by God, holy and dearly loved. (Colossians 3:12) 

I am reconciled with God and blameless in His sight through Jesus’ blood shed for me. (Colossians 1:22) 

I am saved by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

I am called to a holy life. (2 Timothy 1:9) 

I am a child of God. (1John 3:1)

I am loved by God. (1John 4:10)

I am rescued from darkness. (Colossians 1:13)

I am forgiven. (Colossians 1:14)

I am set free. (Romans 8:1) 

I am more than a conqueror. (Romans 8:37)

I am a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

I am a daughter of the King; co-heirs with Jesus. (Romans 8:17)

I am a child of light.  I do not belong to the darkness. (1Thessalonians 5:5) 

I am filled with the Spirit of God. (Romans 8:9)

I am being changed into the likeness of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

I am confident that God will be faithful to complete the good work He began in me. (Philippians 1:6)

I am God’s masterpiece, created to do good works. (Ephesians 2:10)

I am Jesus’ friend. (John 15:15)

I am faithful. (Ephesians 1:1) 

I am blessed. (Ephesians 1:3)

I am the salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13)

I am the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14)

I am called to bare much fruit. (John 15:16)

I am running my race of faith with endurance because my eyes are fixed on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

I am joyful always, praying continually, and thankful in all circumstances because that is God’s will for my life. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Which I Am Statement grabs your heart and gives you a Godly confidence that you are so much more in God’s eyes than a silly sheep?  Our biggest challenge is to see ourselves the way God see us.  

Giving God thanks for who you are will begin to lift your mood, shift your attitude, and change your identity.  You are who you are because God says 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

Treasures to be Thankful For

God is faithful. – 1 Corinthians 1:9

Have you ever sorted through a drawer or cleaned out a closet and found something that immediately flooded your heart with emotions long past? 

This week, I opened my friend Alice’s edited copy of the first 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call Bible Study. Her handwritten suggestions caught me off guard, causing tears to cloud my vision.  

Two winters ago, Alice sat in my Bible Study, putting her journalism skills to work by secretly editing the pages before her.  Like a professor improving her student’s work, she drew arrows, crossed out redundancies, changed verb tenses, rewrote paragraphs, and even left exclamation marks of encouragement when I’d “hit the mark”.  

I had no idea how much those secret arrows and edits would bless me now, once I finally mustered up the courage to read them. Alice left my first large-group Bible Study, lovingly edited, with a post-it note addressed to me on her writing desk.  It is a priceless treasure today because Alice is still encouraging me from heaven.  

Have things happened in your life that make you question God’s timing or wisdom?  

As I held Alice’s edits in my hands this week, I asked God WHY her life ended before our work on earth was completed? I told Him that if I was in charge, Alice would have lived as long as her mother, who passed away last week at age 94. 

But God is faithful.  He gently reminded me that I’m not in charge and nudged my heart and mind, like He so often does, to give thanks instead of complaining.

It is in the moments of thanksgiving that we see more clearly.  

My husband is now my editor.  This working relationship knits us together as we laugh and joke about his “grades” of my blog posts.  He simplifies my sentences, moves texts around, and sometimes, like Alice, makes changes in secret. I get to make fun of him for errors of punctuation and grammar he occasionally makes when he’s edited after working an overnight shift.  It’s a priceless partnership that we both treasure. 

Instead of complaining about things that didn’t turn out the way we’d hoped, we can instead be thankful that God is always faithful.  

He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it. (Philippians 1:6)

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

Love is in the Air

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  Are you looking forward to lavish plans with your “love,” or do you dream of crossing the entire “Hallmark holiday” off the calendar?

Seeing the seasonal red, pink, and white carnations in the stores brings me back to some pretty cringe-worthy memories of adolescence.  Around Valentine’s Day at my middle school, for a dollar, you could buy a carnation for someone you liked, loved, or admired.  Different colors were supposed to signal exactly how you felt about that person.  You gave a RED flower to proclaim your LOVE.  A PINK flower meant you LIKED them, and a WHITE flower you sent as a SECRET ADMIRER.  

It seems silly now, some thirty years later, but I vividly remember the stress acne and soaked armpits of my Izod shirts caused by sweating over those colored carnations.

Days prior to passing them out, the questions would start…

• He says he loves me but does he really?  Will he send me a red one?

• I know she told me she’s buying me a pink one, but maybe she’s just saying that so I’ll buy her one, then she’ll get more than me.

• What if she doesn’t receive any flowers?  Maybe I should send her a white one and not tell her so she won’t cry like last year.

Aren’t you thankful God’s love for us is constant, unfailing, and unconditional?

At weddings, we often hear 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind…” but is that love completely possible in marriage?  

I don’t want to burst your romantic bubble but I believe that passage of scripture is truly about God’s love for you.  We can strive to love others the way God loves us, but we’ll eventually fail because we’re not humanly capable of loving with God’s intensity or consistency.

Today, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, let’s focus on God’s true love, thanking Him that it is:

• ALWAYS – Patient, Kind, Truthful, Protecting, Trusting, and Hopeful.

• NEVER – Envious, Boastful, Prideful, Rude, Self-Seeking, Angry, or Vengeful.

So no matter what your plans look like for tomorrow; a hot date, a gathering of gals, or by yourself on the couch with a blanket wrapped around you, know that God loves you more than any person on this planet ever can or will.

If God sent you carnations, He’d send you more red ones than you could count, because His love is deeper, higher, wider, and longer than you can even imagine (Eph. 3:18).  He’d also send you some pink ones, because He knows everything about you and still likes you, inside and out.  Lastly, He’d send you one white carnation to remind you that you are pure, forgiven, holy, innocent, and His beloved bride.  

Maybe carnations can remind us of what it divine, eternal, and entirely good: God’s LOVE.  

Happy Valentine’s Day my friend!

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

Never Alone

Those who know Your name (who have experienced Your precious mercy) will put their confident trust in You, for You, LORD, have not abandoned those who seek You. – Psalm 9:10 (AMP)

Have you ever royally messed up a relationship?  Can you think of a time when, even unintentionally, your words or actions hurt someone’s feelings or sabotaged their day?  Once you realize how long it’s going to take to rebuild trust, the uphill climb can feel overwhelming. 

When my oldest daughter was in the third grade, I went hiking with a friend during the school day.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  Not for the great friendship or the beautiful weather, but instead for the gut-wrenching feeling I got when I realized, too late, that I had missed her scheduled parent-teacher conference.  While I had been enjoying a “Colorado blue day” in the mountains, my daughter had been sitting alone outside the principal’s office in tears, wondering why her mother had forgotten her.

My daughter, now seventeen, enjoys reminding me every once and a while of when I “abandoned” her at school.  The thought of her sitting alone waiting for me, questions forming and disappointment mounting, still makes me cringe and question my heart as a mother, almost as intensely as I did all those years ago.

How could I have been so absent minded and not looked at my calendar?  Why was I so selfish, hiking instead of being where I was supposed to be?  The ridicule rioting in my mind built up to the point where, finally, I sat down with my daughter and apologized from the bottom of my heart.  Simple words, “I’m so sorry,” spoken in love and truth, began to restore our relationship.

Aren’t you thankful that God never abandons us?    

God said “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5

God keeps His promises.  He is with us and for us… always.  We may not recognize His mercy in every moment, or hear His voice every day, but once we believe in His word and walk in His truths, our confidence grows and our trust increases.  We begin to rely on His promise and count on His presence.

Once you’ve accepted God as your Heavenly Father, then you know His name and He calls you by yours.  God woos you in specials ways, unique to your heart and mind.  God might play a specific song on the radio, right when you need to hear those lyrics, or He might cause you to open your Bible to a particular passage and remind you that you are not alone in this crisis. Or, God might use someone close to you to speak the words He desires your heart to hear.

One thing is for certain, your Heavenly Father will never abandon you.  He’s the only perfect parent in the world, just ask my daughter.  

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

Keep it Simple

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” – John 10:14

Do you ever get accused of complicating things?  When was the last time someone told you to “keep it simple!”  To me, those words often sound more like criticism than advice.  

When I walk in the door at 7:45pm after a long day and my husband sees me pulling out pots and pans to start dinner, I often hear “Laura, let’s just keep it simple.” I really want to make a big pot of pasta with roasted vegetables, grilled chicken in a pesto cream sauce, but we both know that if I do, we won’t be eating until 9:15pm.  So instead, we pull out the leftovers (again)…keeping it simple.

We can also over-complicate our faith in Jesus.  By incorrectly believing that we need to spend forty minutes a day studying, memorizing the Psalms, contemplating the Trinity, and praying scripture, we forget that all Jesus really says is, “Come and follow me” (Matthew 4:19).

If we see Jesus as our good shepherd, this relationship simplifies our faith in Him. Think for a moment, what do sheep really need?

Sheep need to know their shepherd’s voice.  We get to know Jesus’ voice by inviting Him into our busy days.  Before your feet hit the ground in the morning, you can simply say, “Jesus lead me through this day. I will follow you.”  Then you can walk and talk with Him all day long.  When your 3pm alarm sounds, thank Jesus for being right there with you.  Spending every day life together is a simple and sure way of staying close to your good shepherd.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. – John 10:27

Sheep need daily protection.  The enemy sets up many distractions, detours, and dead ends trying to move you off God’s good path.  But if you stick close with your good shepherd and ask for His help, He will fend off the enemy and guide your steps around the traps.  

The LORD is my shepherd, He guides me along the right paths. – Psalm 23:3 

Lastly, sheep need food and rest.  The good shepherd knows what depletes you and what fills you up.  He leads you to be still in His presence and reminds you that He is your faithful provider.  Your soul is nurtured by remembering God’s good and His grace. 

The LORD is my shepherd, He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. – Psalm 23:2-3

The next time you’re tempted to complicate your faith in Jesus, just remember “keep it simple.”  Jesus is your good shepherd, simply follow Him.

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

Thankful and Thriving

Give thanks with a grateful heart.  Give thanks to the Holy One.  Give Thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His son.  – Henry Smith songwriter 

I grew up in churches with stained glass windows, wooden pews, and hymnals.  As a child, I remember singing Henry Smith’s song, “Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart” many times.  The song reminds me of my mom’s father, Papa, because he was a gratitude kind of guy.  When Papa entered a room, light, joy, and gratitude were his constant companions.  His bright light lifted spirits within seconds. 

I believe if Papa were still on this earth, His phone would ring out every day with the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Call.  He’d tell everyone he knew about his granddaughter walking in his grateful footsteps.  (“It certainly took her a long time to discover the greatness of gratitude,” he might think to himself, correctly, “but now she’s sold on its life changing power.”)

Have you discovered how giving God thanks everyday can and will ignite your faith and change your world?  Are you surprised when thankfulness reduces worry and increases trust?  Are you amazed that such a simple act has the power to realign your heart and mind with your Savior?  

When you give God thanks…

• God’s awesome presence surrounds you.

• God’s power awakens within you.

• God’s great plans come alive for you. 

Psalm 7:17 reminds us to give thanks to the LORD because of his goodness and righteousness.  We are to sing praises to the LORD Most High.  By giving God thanks, our daily lives become a song of praise that is pleasing to Him.  

What’s the chorus of your life song?  Could it be “Give thanks with a grateful heart.  Give thanks to the Holy One.  Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His son”?

No matter what’s going on in your life, you can choose to be thankful.  Count your blessings and count on God’s steadfast goodness and love. Wake up and see how thanksgiving awakens your spirit to thrive one day at a time. 

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