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Just Be

February 28, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

Woman MeditatingBe still and know that I am God.   Psalm 46:10

Sometimes we hear a Scriptural verse so often, it loses its impact.  Take John 3:16, for example.

This was true for me for Psalm 46:10. I have it on my bulletin board near my computer and see it every day, yet way too often I do not  take it seriously. In fact, I am anything but “being still”. I know He is God, but do I let that absorb deep into my soul? Breaking down the verse renewed its meaning for me.

Be still and know that I AM . . . Even though I know He is God, do I let Him be God over my life, or do I, more often than not, put Him on the back burner until I need His presence?
He is my Father and Provider, My Lord and Savior, Omnipotent Creator, King of all kings. When Moses asked Him what His name was, God replied I AM. Jesus told the Pharisees that before there was Abraham I AM. He is here and now, not just in the Bible stories of the past. He is forever present, be it two thousand years ago or two thousand years from now. There is nothing that is more powerful than He, and He is in control.
 
Be still and know . . . know not just with my brain, but with every fiber of my being. To know is to be certain, without a shadow of a doubt, or an ounce of hesitancy. We say, “I know for a fact . . .” when we are adamant about something.  Do I know God?  How can I know Him better? The answer is simple – by spending time with Him. That means I don’t do all the talking in my prayer life, but I stop and listen.  And to listen, I must . . .
 
Be still. . . How very easy, and yet very hard.  To be still is also for me to be silent. Silence is hard to achieve in today’s world. We are surrounded by noise. But often it is only in silence that we can hear the powerful voice inside of us that we know is not from us. Being still requires effort, a conscious act of not being distracted. But, when you get right down to the heart of the matter, this is where you can find God and understand He has always been right there.
 
Be – that is all God requires of us. We just need to be what we were created to be. Jesus’ death on the cross restored the relationship of man to God before the Fall of Adam and Eve. It returns us, through Christ’s blood, to our natural state of grace once we accept Him as Savior  . But, our human nature mucks that up, doesn’t it? So, we need to remember to just be. Our merciful God accepts us as we are, with all our short comings and all our faults, and through the eyes of His Son, sees us as pure, blameless and made worthy when we come into His presence and ask for forgiveness. We don’t need to be perfect- Christ makes us that way.  We only need to be willing to “be”.

If a Bible verse starts to lose its impact, dissect it down. Read each word and find new meaning, with God’s help. Scripture is alive and breathing with His Spirit. We are not to just read it, but to digest it, make it a part of us, and live it.

 

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Clouded View

February 25, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the
mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud
covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the
midst of the cloud.  Exodus 24:14

dreamstime_m_18038487.jpgGod told Moses to wait… and he did. For six days he was encased in a deep fog – he probably couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. Zero visibility. Six days…waiting.

I can relate to Moses’s experience in Exodus 24. There have been times when I have been in a spiritual fog for a while. I’d lost my sense of direction. I couldn’t see where to go. I couldn’t determine if I took a few steps to the left or the right would that plummet me off a cliff? So I didn’t move at all. And it seemed like the fog lasted for an eternity.

It is an eerie feeling when you are waiting on the Lord.  I admit I had waves of anxiousness and doubts. “Why am I here? Why can’t I vision You in my life right now, Lord?” Then, as frustartion mounts, “Why can’t I see a way out of this? What lessons are You trying to teach me?”  And with a trembling lip, “You aren’t mad at me are you?”, as if God was an angry parent who’d put me in time-out.

But, somehow I knew God’s glory was in that cloudiness with me, just as His glory was with Moses.  Which is why I kept praying to Him even though I could not sense His presence.. And eventually, God’s voice led me out of the midst of the clouds. Just as He did with Moses.

We cannot always see God’s working in our lives. But in the meantime. like Moses, we need to wait, watch and worship. God has not abandoned us. He has us where we are for a reason. Trust in that. You can find Him today, even if you can’t find anything else.

 

for more on the In-between times and why God puts us there, consider the Bible Study Between the Window and the Door. Thanks.

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The Manner Worthy

February 24, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

MP900444553[1]     I’ve heard horror stories. I have seen residual pain in the eyes of those who came back from the battle front and told their tale…of how their novel just went through the layered editing process.

My latest baby, Hush in the Storm,  is being dissected, prodded, and critiqued by the editors with Prism Book Group. It is a worthy and necessary process. But, when my content editor emailed me and told me she hoped I had “alligator skin”, my heart crunched in my chest. All week, with fear and trembling, I have emailed my writer friends/prayer warriors to lift me, and my editor, up in prayer. After all, she stated she is doing this for the glory of God, and that is why I wrote it as well. I know her intentions are only to make it the best it can be. I hang on her words that if the publisher accepted it under contract, it must already be good.

Still… a nagging muscle tension has been building up in my shoulders and a slight fog has clouded my brain. I’ve noticed I have to concentrate on inhaling more deeply. My sleep has not been as sound. I hold my breath as I check the emails – has she found anything horrid yet? Is she wondering if this should even be published? How much will she bleed all over my manuscript with her red corrections and comment bubbles?

Then the Lord quietly pops up this verse of the day onto my Smart phone:

I therefore , a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing each other in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesian 4:1-3

I fell to my knees – thank you, Lord Jesus. Contriteness cloaked over my anxieties. God has called me to write- for Him not myself. Once again, I escape from the pride monster  who has been clenching me and chain myself instead to God’s grace, right next to this wonderful editor He has provided..

As she and I journey down this road to make my novel shine for Him, will you pray this off and on for us as well over the next month or so? 

I found God today on my cell phone. Where will He reveal Himself to you?

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Good Intentions

February 21, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

“I know he meant to help.” Jane shook the packet of sweetener like a red flag in front of a bull. “But he folded all the towels wrong. I had to redo them all so they’d hang right on the racks in the bathroom before our guests arrived. I barely had time to get my shoes on before the doorbell rang.” She clinked her spoon in her coffee cup a bit a faster. “If he’d only just do it my way. There’s a reason I do things the way I do,  you know?”

Her friend patted Jane’s hand. “I know what you mean. Bob tries, but I have to constantly go behind him. He just doesn’t clean the way I like. You’d think after umpteen years of marriage he’d have learned. But, noooo…” She nudged the salt and pepper shakers on their table to line up with the flip folder of desert and drink offerings. “Yesterday, I caught him rinsing the dishes with the sponge I use to scrub the bathrooms. Ugh!”

Good intentions.  Sometimes they don’t amount for much. Ah, but I hear you say, “They tried. Doesn’t that count for something? Do their wives have to be so picky? Isn’t it the thought that counts?”ID-100156152

And the poor husbands who tried to help. Bet their heads hung a bit lower. Maybe they sighed and thought, Why bother? I can never please her. Perhaps.  Or maybe they just chuckled inside because, after all, they know their wives.  Human relations are a sticky thing. We each have agendas, and none of us are perfect.

But, what about when we try to do something for God? Do we really know how He wants it done?  We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy will be done.”  Do we mean it,  or do we think more often than not, “Please bless my efforts as I do this my way. After all, it’s the thought that counts.  I am trying to do this for You the best I can.” And when our efforts turn out less than perfect, we sigh and think, Why bother. I am not the right person for this ministry. God, why did you choose me?

The problem is, like the good-intention husbands, we are doing it the best we can, not not the best way He wants. Our Lord is perfect in all things. He knows the most excellent way things should be accomplished. There is a reason for each thing He allows to happen, each turn He wants us to take on the road, each lesson we are to learn along the way. Yet how often do we try to “do it for Him” and help out without asking Him how He wants it done?  If we can learn that His ways are not our ways, and take the time to discover how He wants things done, then the outcome just might be better, don’t you think?

I struggle with perfection, which is silly because, as a human being, that is not a possible goal.  But, I am learning if I do my perfect God’s will, and go in prayer to Him often to discover His instructions for the task He has given me, then its outcome is one more worry I can dismiss from my brain. Good intentions are great, but following directions is better.

What if that husband had asked beforehand, “Now tell me how you like the towels folded?”  I hope that wife would not have rolled her eyes and huffed, “Never mind. I’ll do it.” I hope she’d have the grace to patiently show him. Their relationship would be a great deal more loving if she did. But then, well, we are all human.

However, we can always go to God and not worry about receiving a heavy sigh or an eye-roll. Even if we have to go to Him more than once and ask for instructions again and again. In fact, I think at least in my case, He wants me to do that. He wants to give me the directions step by step so I don’t try to veer off onto my own tangent and think my way is okay. That just leads to the road for disappointment.

Our patient Lord sees our good intentions, but wishes to perfect them in His grace. So He is always there to correct us, guide us and teach us, no matter how many tries it takes to line up our deeds with His will. So, if the things you are doing for God are not turning out the way you planned, go back to Him and reconnect with His plan. Then your good intentions will be God’s intentions.

That’s the message I found today from God. It is in this prayer –

“Give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed..”  from the Collect for the Sixth Sunday in Epiphany

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Unwavering Faith

February 19, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

This is an amazing story of people finding God in the middle of their suffering. Would you have found Him there?

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We never know how strong our faith is until it is tested. When we find ourselves tested will our faith be deeply rooted and unwavering or will it be easily swayed? We find out where our faith stands when we face sufferings.

Romans 5:3-5

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

My dear friends, Robert and Christie, know what it means to suffer. Robert’s ankle was shot in a hunting accident and yesterday he had a below the knee amputation. I was blessed to visit them in the hospital the day before the surgery. Robert and his wife, Christie, are living examples of the above verse in Romans. Their suffering has produced endurance. In the…

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From Carried to Walking

February 15, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

http://www.freebibleimages.org/i“Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralytic man was lying on.” Mark 2:3-4

Has anything ever spiritually paralyzed you? An unexpected death, a job loss, an unfaithful spouse, your own inner insecurities? Maybe it is anger– at God, at someone else, at the world. Is it a guilty conscience that pushes you to try to hide, the way Adam and Eve did in the Garden? Or, perhaps it is just too many “life happens” happening all at once. I have been there. Yet during that time when all was fogged and my mind would not connect to my heart,  when it took all my effort to drag through the day, I felt carried by others’ prayers and concerns.

Jesus is always willing to meet us where we are. But there are times when too many things in our lives have built up like bricks. They form walls that block us from Him. We encase Him in a room deep inside of us, lock the door and then put a “Do Not Enter” sign on it. We hammer in the nails to secure it even more. I don’t want to deal with it now. Wham. I don’t want you to know what I did. Wham.  I don’t want to change. Wham.  I am too ashamed. Wham. I am not sure I believe anymore. Wham, wham. And the biggest nail  – If you really loved me, you wouldn’t have let this happen.

These nails hurt Him more than the ones they drove through his hands and feet on the cross. Yet, He stays cloistered in this room, stands at the door and knocks…Open up. Let me back into your life, my child.

Not yet, Jesus. I just can’t.I don’t have it in me. It hurts too much to try.

We see evidence of Him healing and blessing others – and that paralyzes us even more. Why do I have to suffer? Why can’t I skip and run in a field of faith with the sun beaming down and the widlflowers waving in the breeze?  Why do I have to be burdened with this?

The negative feelings crowd in and keep us from reaching our Lord’s side. Their clamor and clatter can drown out His whisper to draw near and give Him our burdens. That seems beyond our capabilities at the moment. We need other people to carry us through the barriers, even dig through the mess if necessary. Their spiritual strength can make a hole in whatever it is that blocks us from being laid at His feet for healing.

How can people lift us up, dig though our circumstances, and lower us down into the deep place inside us where Jesus lives? Through prayer, through kindness, through tough love. And the cool thing is this: inside the walls we have built, Jesus is not being inactive. His love for us is so strong, His desire for us to be with Him so great, that He empowers our friends with strength and direction. “That’s right. This is the way in. Here is how you can get him or her to me.”

There will come a time in your life when something will block you from Jesus. When life cuts the legs out from under you and you can’t move, call out to Him. He will send armies of angels, true and trusted friends, and prayer warriors to your aide. Through His Holy Spirit, Jesus will give them the tools they need to help you. Let them carry you to Him. 

Once there at His feet, He will shower you with forgiveness and mercy. Then obey His words as He touches to heal you – pick up your pallet, and once again walk. First you may have to hobble by the assistance of others, but eventually you will be strong enough to carry someone else when they have lost the use of their faith-legs. After all, you’ve been there. You know the way into that room, and how to walk out.

Will you find God today in the prayers of others, or in the call to pray for others?

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It’s the Waiting…

February 12, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

My friend wrung the Kleenex between her fingers. “I know God is going bestow His blessings on this situation.” She heaved her shoulders and dabbed her eyes. “But it’s the waiting that’s so hard.”

courtesy duanealley.com Royalty- Free Image by Corbis

courtesy duanealley.com
Royalty- Free Image by Corbis

Oh, how true. Studies show people get antsy after 30 seconds of waiting for the light to change to green, for the microwave to ding, for someone’s voice mail to kick in after four rings. We tap our fingers and roll our eyes if the Search Engine doesn’t pop up the  info in a finger snap. And if there is a line at the check-out, the bank, or anywhere else, we clench our teeth, tap our shoes, or glance at the second hand on our watch every few seconds and sigh, right?

Kids right out of college want the CEO office with the view and the pay check. People want their first home to be their dream home, instead of slowly making it into one filled with memories. We are a drive-thru, get-it-in-an-instant-and-just-add-water society. Chaucer in the 1300’s  said patience was a virtue  and grandmothers have been quoting it ever since. But, he could never understand the fast pace of our world today.

Guess where else we can find great messages about patience?  Yep, the Bible.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge ;and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, patience and to patience, godliness;  2 Peter 1:5

Obtaining a lifestyle of patience surely has its health benefits: lower blood pressure, less depression and anxiety, fewer tension headaches and stomach pains, etc.  But it has spiritual benefits as well, doesn’t it?  It does for me. When I am in the “waiting on the Lord” mode, I am calmer, more attentive to hearing His footsteps  stroll through my day, and more tuned into His whispers into my soul. The silence  when I don’t hear Him doesn’t make me antsy when my faith volume is on high. A peace envelops me. I can also think clearer and react more slowly, which trust me, is a good thing. When I acknowledge the Perfect One, who knows all and is all, is behind the wheel instead of me with my limited vision and easily distracted mind, the stress  level plummets.

There is a reason He often has us in a holding pattern. In time, that reason will be revealed in the way we can best absorb it- by hindsight. Until then,  we need to wrap ourselves in the patience robe, pull the sash tight around us and snuggle in.

Patience is a virtue, yes. It is also a holy directive. One I need to practice daily. How about you?

for more about God’s reason why you may be in the waiting room, otherwise known as the in-between times, consider Between the Window and the Door – a Bible & Life Experience  study

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Abide

February 8, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, Abide in my love. John 15:9-11

????????????????????????????????????????February is the “love” month. The stores are filled with read and pink hearts, candies and flowers. I love going to the grocery on February 14th and  watching the last-minute-planning men standing in line, laden with flowers, cards, teddy bears and chocolates for their wives or girlfriends. They casually glance at each other to see if they have gotten enough, or maybe too much, as if there is some hidden rule of how much you should spend depending on the depth or longevity of your feelings.

How different is God’s unending love for us. It is not based on feelings or longevity. God doesn’t have a check list or ponders –  Hmmm. Let’s see…. I will love her more often because she has been a believer since she was six, or love him more deeply because he reads my Word twice a day, prays often, and volunteers at the homeless shelter.

All of us have the opportunity to abide in God’s infinite, abundant, and generous love. It is freely given, equally and fully, in spite of our emotions or actions.

But, what does it mean to abide? It is more than just accepting it. It is letting it absorb into the very fiber of us like permanent ink. It is a snuggle down, feel secure, dwell in total trust sort of attitude. Here are five steps to truly abiding:

A – Acknowledge He loves us more than we can imagine or love Him back.

B – Be thankful that He loved us enough to take on our sins and die, so we could once again be in relationship with Him.

I – In His likeness, try to love others as He loves us.

D – Dedicate ourselves to His ways being the best, not ours.

E – Establish a relationship with Him through prayer and reading the Scriptures.

Chocolates disappear within days, flowers wilt, cards get stuffed in drawers. Human love ebbs and fades. But there is one gift of love that abides – constant, pure, eternal and faithful – the of love the Father, given through His Son and expressed by His Holy Spirit who dwells in us. All we have to do is accept that gift at any time. No certain day on the calendar, red hearts  or check-out lines needed. So, if you don’t get roses or candy this year, know you have a gift that is worth so much more from the One who loves you so much more. It is available to you every single day.

Abide in the love of your Savior this day, this  month, and for the rest of your life. gods-love-2[1]

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Hardened Hearts

February 5, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

Shelly found a message from God (for us all) in a frozen stream !

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Just as this stream froze as the temperatures dropped, our hearts can be slowly hardened as we refuse to listen and follow the way of the Lord.

Exodus 8:19

 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Pharaoh refused to listen the his magicians who were pointing out to Him the activity of God in his midst. Pharaoh missed it because his heart was hardened. How often do we miss the activity of God because our hearts are hardened?

God is always actively involved in the lives of His people but when we chose to go our own way and do what we want to do rather than what He would have us do, our hearts, like the stream, begin to harden. If we turn away from the Lord and the wisdom…

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Five Minutes to Spare

February 4, 2014 by Julie B Cosgrove

After a two-hour drive, minus one pit-stop, my friend and I pulled up to the church in a strange town where in another month’s time we would be conducting a workshop for the women of my denomination. It had not been a good morning so far. The gas pump ran out of gas. so I grumbled as I had to pay $2.24 and then get in the car, back around, go to another gas station and fill the car the rest of the way. Then, It seemed that every slow driver in a 100 mile radius had descended on the highway in front of me. Grrr. And of course, every traffic light turned red just as I pulled up. And, when my bladder told me I probably should stop at a convenience store before arriving at the church, I grumbled again. “Sorry, I told my friend. I hate to be late, but…”

I decided to get a cup of coffee, because it seemed rude to use the facilities and not buy something. Besides, there was no one else at the counter, so what was another thirty seconds, right? But, of course, I had to wait for the cashier to get more change, As he tapped the bankers roll of quarters, my lips curled into a smile. But my mind screamed, Hurry, hurry.

But, at last we arrived at the church grounds. I looked at my dashboard clock. Five minutes to spare. I asked my friend who rode shotgun, “How could that be when I’ve been running late all morning?”

As we got out of the car, I noticed a woman sitting on a bench under a tree.  At first I thought she might be one of the ladies we were supposed to meet to go over the logistics of the workshop. Maybe she was early, too and didn’t have a key. I said, “Hi”.

The woman’s shoulders almost folded into her torso. She gave me a quick glance, then her eyes darted back to her hands.  “It’s so peaceful here. Is it okay if I just sit?”

It was then I noticed her red nose and eyes. She was crying. I looked at my friend. I think we both sensed that if the two of us approached this distraught person, it might overwhelm her. My friend discovered the door was unlocked, nodded, and slipped inside.

I walked over to the crying young woman and asked if I could pray with her. She shrugged. “I guess.”

She appeared uncomfortable. So, I told her I was visiting from out-of-town and gave her my first name. Her face relaxed a bit, as if she was relieved I might not know someone who knew her, the way small towns often work. She gave me her first name. I sat beside her, put my arm around her and held her. SIlently, I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the words to say out loud that would comfort her. I heard the message, “Tell her I love her.I always have and I always will.”  

As I prayed that, I felt her body ease. After I said, “Amen.”,  she whispered, “Thanks. How did you know what to pray for?”

I blinked back my own tears.  “God did that. He told me what to pray. Trust me, He loves you more than you can ever imagine. He will never, ever stop, no matter what. So, hang in there, okay?”

As I walked into the church meeting hall,  a sudden surge of humility flooded me. I was on God’s schedule, not my own.  By His grace, I arrived just in time to meet this young woman, and pray with her. I thanked God for orchestrating my journey just right so as to put me there when He did– especially after the frustrations of the morning. 

I will continue to pray for that young woman until God tells me I no longer need to do so.  I don’t know why she was crying. I didn’t think it was up to me to ask. But God knew, and He used me to reach into her heart and offer her a ray of hope by giving me the words she needed to hear.

Despite everything else that went wrong that day, He turned it to good by giving  me five minutes to spare.

What will He give you today to let you know He is there, and He cares?

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