More Than

Recently I memorized a verse as part of reading through the book Made to Crave. I was dealing with cutting out some bad eating habits and the book was a great help to getting my mind wrapped around the spiritual impact of committing the struggle to God and applying His truth to it. The verse is Romans 8:37 and it says,

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

I shared with my Bible study group that I would actually say out loud, NO, when I felt tempted and then quote the rest of the verse. It was definitely a powerful way to confront the issue.

Last week I woke up with the verse running through my head. That's when it hit me. I kept thinking of the verse in light of being victorious, beating the temptation. That's great, but there is more…Look at it again.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

God's Word isn't just promising us victory, it's more than that. It's the ability to move on from what we've conquered. The New Living Translation of the verse says overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. I need that reminder today. The power of Jesus living in us makes us more than.

I am more than a conqueror over my desire for sweet food.

I am more than a conqueror over feeling ill-equipped.

I am more than a conqueror over my impatience.

I am more than a conqueror over ________________________. (You fill in the blank!)

Present

The New Year has begun and I decided to choose one word for this year. I found this site last year and shared my 2011 word here in this post. My goal with choosing one word is to have it be a filter that I view my life through in 2012. My 2012 One Word is Present. I want it to remind me that God is present...all the time. Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."

God is an ever-present help! That's pretty amazing if you stop and think about it. The problem for me is that I don't often stop to think about it. I tend to freak out, worry, fret, wail, etc, etc, etc. It's not pretty and it's not very mature. It is the truth sometimes for me, unfortunately. All is not lost though.

Since deciding this was my one word a few weeks ago, I've realized that it also means for me to be present, in the moment. To deal with things as they come up. Not to dwell, replay and relive. Not to reason why or why not and talk myself out of something (I do this a lot!). To deal presently…in the moment. Practicing this these first few weeks of the New Year has been life changing for me. Things that would normally become toxic in my life are not. It's very refreshing to not have all the "stuff" spinning around in my head. Deal with it and move on.

Do you choose a One Word for the year? I'd love to hear about it.

With

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23

Today I found myself humming a Christmas song that talks about Immanuel, God with us. It's my favorite name of God. It reminds me that I'm never alone, never without His presence.

Just typing that seems unreal, impossible even. It's not. Jesus came to Earth to be with us and when He left, God sent the Holy Spirit to be with us.

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- " John 14:16

This time of year it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, shopping, running to parties, and planning meals for all the guests. Sometimes we miss the point of being with each other.

We miss the reason that Jesus came-- to be with us. Be intentional this Christmas about spending time with Jesus and with your loved ones. It's the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Have a Little Talk

My daughter and I have a routine we follow most days when she gets home from school. I say, "Hi honey, how was your day?" She responds and then says, "How was your day?" Recently I responded with, "I'm wiped out! I had an argument with my friend." To which my sweet girl replied, "Moma, they need to talk to Jesus!" It made me smile, because my girl was so quick to take up for her Moma.

It also reminded me of a song that I grew up singing in church. And at the risk of revealing just how far in the South I grew up, it was called "Just a Little Talk with Jesus", I think! Here's the words to the part I remember:

Now let us have a little talk with Jesus

Let us tell him all about our troubles

He will hear our faintest cry he will answer by and by

And when you feel a little prayer wheel turnin'

And you will know a little fire is burnin'

Find a little talk with Jesus makes it right

So I took my sweet girl's advice and had a little talk with Jesus about the argument with my friend. God is good and brings restoration and reconciliation if we're willing. He did for me and my friend and used my teenager to help me see it was possible. Amazing.

For those of you wondering about the song, look what I found on the wonderful web. Click here for a treat, Elvis style! Be warned, you made feel the need to tap your feet. Just make sure no one is watching. Enjoy your day and have a little talk with Jesus everyday.

Shine

I had the privilege this past weekend to speak at Shine, an event for women at Hilton Head Island Community Church. It was such a blessing to see God moving in the hearts of these women to start small group Bible studies at their church. We talked a lot about the importance of making connections to the body of Christ as believers. Those connections are what hold us accountable and keep us grounded in God's Word. We used the model of the early church found in Acts to set-up what a small group looks like and how each of us can participate. Acts 2:42 taught us that the believers were devoted to:

• The teachings of Jesus (the study of God's Word)
  


• The fellowship (the small group and the church)
  


• The breaking of bread together (communion and sharing of meals)
  


• Prayer (for each other, the small group and the church at large)
  

As someone who has been involved with small groups for over half my life now, it was a great reminder for me. I just finished Max Lucado's book, Fearless, and in it he has some great thoughts about the desire for the church to connect physically to the body of Christ. He reminds us that it is possible because the church is the body of Christ. He says, "When you interlock your understanding with mine, and we share our discoveries…When we mix, mingle, confess, and pray, Christ speaks." That alone should make the sacrifice of our time and energy worth the commitment.

I am so thankful to Cynthia Cullen and her team for having me and my family with them this weekend. We are blessed.

Footloose

On Friday, I took my 13 year old daughter and her friend to see the movie Footloose. No biggie, I thought. It'll be fun to see the remake and to see if my daughter likes it as much as I did the first time around. In the opening scene, the music starts blaring the song Footloose. So like every other person in the theatre (and it was packed full), I started singing along. My daughter was mortified. I don't have this great voice but it couldn't be that bad. No one could hear me anyway…it was very loud. "Stop it mother, just stop!" Hannah was more than a little upset with me. I cracked up and told her to just listen…everybody else was singing along too. It was pretty funny.

Later I realized that I had justified my behavior the same way I tell my daughter not too. Oops! More often than not, I counsel her not to make choices based on what everybody else is doing. Rather I tell her to be intentional about what she's doing and to really consider what she wants.

Last week in Bible study we looked at a similar lesson in the book of Ruth. Towards the end of the book in chapter 3, Ruth goes to Boaz in the night and essentially asks him to take her as his wife. Boaz is a kinsman-redeemer, but he's not the closest one. Boaz could have done several things but he chose to do the right thing. He could have embarrassed Ruth, but he chose to protect her character. He could have taken her as his, but he chose to follow the customs of the day and bring the matter to the appropriate person. He does the right thing.

It was actually a message in the movie too! The young folks could have chosen to rebel and keep sneaking around. **Spoiler Alert** In the end, they choose to confront the real issue and be honest about what they want. And at the risk of being totally honest, I sang again at the end of the movie….'cause everybody else was! A work in progress, that's me.

Trust

Every day that I take my children to school we pass a police officer directing traffic. At my daughter’s school, the officer stands at an intersection that is pretty busy. The road the school is on runs perpendicular into a really busy street.
Once I drop my daughter off and head back towards the intersection, I’m usually going left. Some days the officer just motions for me to keep moving. It feels really strange, because technically I’m running a stop sign. But the officer told me too. (That sounds like my kids saying the dog ate their homework!) It’s true, at least in my case, that the officer told me to not that the dog ate my homework.
Some days I hesitate. Some days I completely stop and look for myself. And then some days, I roll right on through. It’s a matter of trust. The police officer wants the flow of traffic to run smoothly. His goal is safety and protection for those of us who pass through this intersection. I know that and yet some days I don’t trust it.

The same is true in my walk with Jesus. I know that He loves me and wants my best. (See John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11) I sense His direction and leading. He opens doors and provides opportunities. Some days I hesitate. Some days I do what I want to. And then some days, I roll with it. It truly is a matter of trust.