Stewart's Surgery

Today, as I'm sitting in the waiting room of Regional One Outpatient Center, I think back at how quickly things have changed in my life. You never know what God has in store for you. Stewart went from never having injuries or surgeries to constant, religious visits to Regional One Medical Center. We've had to adjust to the dressing changes, multiple medications, garment fittings, laser surgeries, and much more. My "not-so-medically-educated" family has become pros with burn patient recovery. God has blessed us with such an amazing team of doctors and nurses, who Stewart has befriended and looks forward to seeing with every visit. 
This morning before getting her IV I asked if she wanted to hold my hand before they stuck the needle in. All the nurses kinda gave me a weird look and Stewart laughed and said, "Sissy you know I've done this a time or two..." 
I'm so proud of how far she's come and her positive attitude about the long road she has ahead of her. I know God is preparing my sister for something great. She's going to use her accident to minister to the lost and broken, and even now I see how The Lord is placing people in her life to allow her to do so. 
Stewart just came out of surgery-  Dr. Hickerson said everything went great! She is still very tired and currently in recovery with her favorite team of nurses. 
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and will continue to do so! 
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Difficulty

God does not tell us that life will always be easy. We will face difficult situations but we have Him to help us through them. In John 16:33 it says,"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” In that verse we are reminded of who really is in charge. 

God is always making a way for us to do His will in the world. But so many times there are obstacles that get in the way from us fulfilling his purpose. For instance, you want to volunteer for some organization but your schedule tells you that you’re too busy. You want to lead a bible study but you’re too afraid to speak aloud in a group setting. You convince yourself over and over that things are too difficult to do at this time. 

Difficulty is the barrier that is stopping you from doing God’s will. Difficulty loves to remind you about the potential hurdles and burdens that will affect your life. Difficulty has been around since Moses. When he led the children out of Israel difficulty was present the entire time. And Difficulty doesn’t leave when things are over either. Difficulty lurks and hangs around-- he was there in the desert when there was no food, no water, and no clear path to the Promised Land. Just think if the Israelites had turned around and gone back to Egypt, they might still be slaves and building the enemy’s kingdom. Don’t let Difficulty keep you from going out and going where God wants you to go.  

God made a way for the children of Israel again and again for more than 40 years. When they got to the Promised Land, God had Moses send out 12 scouts to go and see what was ahead. He did not ask his scouts if they could posses the land (God already told them they were getting it), he asked them to consider how to go. They came back, not understanding their directions, and reporting that all they could see were obstacles and giants and that it was going to be impossible. However two of the scouts did what they were told. They had kept their eyes on God and not just what was right in front of them. Rather than seeing all of the impossibles, they saw what was possible. They knew the miracles God worked to get the children of Israel out of Egypt so certainly He could get them into the Promised Land. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Whenever Difficulty is bullying us, we must remind ourselves that we are well able. Psalm 18:29 says, “For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.” 

We need to get our eyes off of Difficulty, and onto God, who promises us nothing is too difficult for Him. 

Fear

Everyone fears something. 
I myself am a very fearful person. I fear tight spaces, heights, cats, someone kidnapping me... the list goes on. Of course there are some healthy, rational fears like walking across a high tightrope or bungee jumping off a building but I’ve come to realize that fear can cause you to miss out on so much in life. When your fears become the forefront of your life, they consume you. You start living your life saying “what if this..” and “what if that..” happens. When fear runs your life, you could miss out on an opportunity that God is calling you to do. 

God tells us 350 times in the Bible to “fear not!” He puts us in situations to confront a fear and take a risk. 

• He stands by our side before, during, and after. 
• Psalm 27:1 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
• He tells us He will never leave us.
• Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
• He tells us to not be discouraged. 
• Isaiah 41:10 says, “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I know many people are getting ready to go off to college for the first time or are just graduating college and looking for a job. This is definitely a time where you can choose:: either to let fear rule your life or to allow God’s inevitable power to free you from your fears and direct you in the path He has paved specifically for you. 

God knows that fear will not get us through danger. However, love can. When you have the will to persevere even in the face of fear, it can show unbelievers the faith and trust you have in Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” If we love truly Jesus, we are supposed to keep our eyes on Him and believe in what He has created for us.”

So starting today, let Jesus take you out of the places in your life that bind you to fear, and you will begin noticing opportunities in your life that will cause you to focus on Him and fear not. 

Oceans

I’m not sure about y’all but sometimes as a Christian I feel like Jesus has just dumped me into an ocean. This earth that he placed me on is like an ocean constantly drowning me. The waves of sin, the people pulling me deeper and deeper into this secular world. However with enough faith, Jesus gives us the opportunity to walk upon the water... to allow him to lead us endlessly wherever he desires. When the waves get higher, as long as I keep my eyes above them, looking towards Him, then I will not and can not drown. 

If you listen to K-Love at all, you definitely have heard the song, Oceans. Hillsong United is one of my favorite bands and K-Love has been almost (over)playing this song quite a lot recently. The lyrics are great and it really is encouraging what faith can do when you find yourself drowning in this world. 

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown where feet may fail

And there I find You in the mystery

In oceans deep

My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace

For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters

Your sovereign hand

Will be my guide

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me

You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name

And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace

For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your name

Keep my eyes above the waves

My soul will rest in Your embrace

I am Yours and You are mine

Hebrews 12:2 says, “..fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

You can allow the ocean you’re living in to keep pulling you under or you can rise up above the waves--keeping your eyes solely on Jesus.

Scar Tissue

Scar tissue forms whenever our body’s tissue is damaged. 
When something hurts us we want immediate newness and fixing. But healing doesn’t happen over night. Some wounds heal but scar tissue remains. We want God to fix us and heal us quickly without pain but that is not reality. Sometimes what is stopping us from healing is the fact that we haven’t dealt with and accepted our wounds. 

Scar tissue is something my family has dealt with firsthand over these past few months. Stewart’s accident has caused a great deal of thick scar tissue on a large portion of her leg. 
What we’ve realized is Stewart needed to work through the emotional scar tissue just as much as she did the physical scar tissue. She had to fully accept the accident and everything that came with it, in order to move on. 
God is to be trusted because He IS the Great Physician. 

To overcome scar tissue we must trust in God instead of ourselves. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” At all times we should trust in Him and follow His lead. 
Secondly, we must stay in the present moment and think on the future. Instead of focusing on the past, we need to focus solely on what God is doing in our lives at that current time. We need to let go of the past and accept that it is over. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”  
And lastly, we must believe our wounds can make us stronger. 2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

Your past hurt and pain can give someone else a future. God does not want us to be damaged or paralyzed by the past. However, He doesn’t waste one experience in our lives--everything is used to help someone else. In the Bible over and over again He picks the imperfect people, those who have been physically and emotionally wounded. He prepares them to serve and sends them out, with their weakness still showing, so that His strength can be made perfect in that weakness. God works in us so that He can work through us. 

2 Corinthians 1:4 "..who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."

I challenge you to face the fears that come with overcoming your own scar tissue and set out to find the people who God has planned for your past to influence--show them how their scar tissue can make them stronger in their walk with Christ.

Crucified

As Christians we tend to only read about and study the death and resurrection of Christ on the week leading up to Easter. However, it’s so important that we remember and continually think about the sacrifice that was made for us and what we need to do to fulfill God’s command. I love the following verse that the Apostle Paul wrote to us in Galatians 2:20, 

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

What did Paul mean when he said we had been crucified and resurrected with Christ?

1. “I have been crucified with Christ.”

- Christ was crucified "for" us and we are crucified "with" Him. 

• Christ was crucified “for” us. We know for a fact that 2000 years ago a man named Jesus was crucified. (1 Corinthians 15:3 "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.") There's concrete evidence that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and was nailed to that cross for each of our transgressions.

• We are crucified “with” Him. We understand that Jesus died for our sins, but sometimes we fail to realize that we died with him. When Paul says "I am crucified with Christ.." we know he wasn’t physically crucified that same day as him because he lived 30-40 years after the death of Jesus. He is saying that the life you see is not of my own, it is Christ living in me. We must die to ourselves daily and pick up the cross that Jesus left us. (Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”)

2. “Nevertheless I live!”

- Basically Paul is saying--we died with Christ; we were buried with Christ; we were raised from the dead with Christ. 

• Dying with Christ: Baptism is the most important form of this. We know that only thing that can wash away our sins is the blood of Christ but baptism is such an important and sacred symbol of that. The purpose of baptism is taking on the identity of that into which it is baptized. 
• Buried with Christ: You bury a body because it is dead. Jesus’ burial meant that one: he was dead and two: his work in his body is done. But we are buried in Christ because we are dead to sin. Our old ways are done away with. 
• Raised with Christ: We die with Christ and are buried with Christ so that we might be raised with Him to walk in the newness of life. 

3. “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

- That does not mean we will no longer sin. There will always be sin. But as long as Christ lives within us, we can do our best to resist that sin. It is so important we try our best to be dead unto sin and alive unto God. Because until you do that, you will continue to serve sin. All it takes is confessing your sin, asking Christ for forgiveness, and turning to Him for guidance.

Starting right now, die to yourself and pick up that cross…follow Jesus and watch Him work in major ways in your life.

Easter

I know most people will be spending time with their families tomorrow so I decided to post something a little early about Easter!

When I think of Easter the first things that come to mind are pastel colors, a new dress to wear to church, hunting and dying eggs, and finally being able to wear white jeans. And all of those things seem to rank importance in the secular world that we live in. Yes, it’s exciting to get a nice Easter Sunday dress and finally pull out those white jeans you’ve been staring at for weeks, but when you think about the real reason for this holiday, all of the other stuff becomes so minimal. 

Jesus Christ was tortured, beaten, and brutally killed on that cross. But three days later HE ROSE! The tomb was empty.  There are so many encouraging truths that we learn from the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

First, we can be free and forgiven by Jesus’ death. 

Romans 4:25 says, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.” 

Second, Jesus defeated death so we don’t have to fear it. 

Acts 1:3 says, “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”

Third, God loves us unconditionally. (I mean he sent his ONE and ONLY Son to die for each one of our sins. If that isn’t love then I don’t know what is!)

John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Fourth, God has a greater purpose for our lives.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

And lastly, we can be certain of a future in Heaven.

Romans 10:9 says, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

When you find yourself wrapped up in the worldly things of this weekend, take a second to remind yourself that Jesus’ burial and resurrection is the true reason to celebrate.