Tag Archives: Fretting

Holy Habitation

The Tireless, Ongoing Spirit of Praise

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“Over the years, I’ve become convinced that praise sets up a mantle of protection around the people of God. Praise is an atmosphere through which the Adversary cannot move.”

These are my words, written on my heart. I didn’t write these words. They come from the pen of Jack Hayford. But I could have written them, for this is my truth, too. Is it yours? More from Jack’s pen…

“If you and I really entered into this truth, it would transform our lives. And it’s not simply because praise can insulate or protect us. It’s more than that. It’s because God is worthy, . . . worthy of the best of our praise, the depths of our thanksgiving. As you ask the Lord to teach you more and more about the tireless, ongoing spirit of praise, it will change your circumstances, and it will change you!”

Jack speaks my over-and-over-again experience. Change comes when we quit fretting, fearing, and dreading, look up to Him Who loves us, and turn our hearts to knowing Him, trusting Him, and believing He is able; He is faithful; and He loves to amaze us. At just the right time, when all hearts are where He desires they be, His will comes to pass and we rejoice in awe of His wonder at the glory we walk into.

Holy Habitation

Longing for Free Fish

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“The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”” Numbers 11:4-6 NASB1995

Oh how dangerous it is and can be to look back at the past and long for it. Here the people of God long for fish they “used to eat free”. They forget their slavery. They worked and died for those “free” fish. An old song I remember called it owing one’s soul to the company store.

The problem with longing for the past is we too readily forget the bad as we covet that which we see as a “good” lost. And we refuse the good of God we possess and are going toward when we long for old days. Longing for the old also robs of power, focus, and success in realizing the new God has for us. We cannot be all we desire to be in Christ while longing for old days and old ways.

Eyes up. Focus now. Press forward.

Numbers‬ ‭11:18-20‬ ‭‬‬

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Seven Healing Balms for Exhaustion – 4

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Healing for the exhausted begins with a life surrendered to Him as Lord. It requires an adequate diet that feeds the body its need rather than feeding its fleshly indulgence that is set to steal, kill, and destroy an effective life of surrender. And the body needs to move. Exercise aides ones ability to truly rest. Today, as we continue our look at the seven healing balms to heal the exhausted, we see our need of restful sleep.

Sleep! Oh how it seems to elude us when we need it most. It sounds weird, but exhaustion can actually hinder ones ability to sleep. One, it makes us feel like we can’t sleep, our mind being unable to relax. And exhaustion messes up the body’s chemistry, truly robbing our ability to sleep. Two, exhaustion robs our desire to cook or to eat in healthy ways, causing bodily issues that hinder sleep. And three, it robs of energy to move, causing us to sit too much, which makes our bodies ache, and robs our ability to enter the type of sleep cycle that aids restoration.

Sleep is important, and the lack of it makes one dysfunctional. I don’t know of much worse than being so tired, I can’t function, and I am that a lot these days. Like with food, the right type of sleep fuels the body’s needs. During sleep is when everything from cells to organs, go through a time of recuperation, rejuvenation; the old goes out, behold, new things come.

With Johnny’s schedule (working 8 or 9 AM to 9 or 10 PM, Monday through Thursday), coupled with his health issues that threaten his life, leaving us to desire to spend as much of our precious time together as possible, we go to bed late and get up early. However, sleep is necessary for health and healing, and the type of sleep needed begins with entering God’s rest.

God calls us to His rest, which is necessary for health and healing. We sleep best when we are good at entering that rest. Entering God’s rest requires two things of us (see Hebrews 1-4): the first necessary thing on our part is faith that flows out of trusting belief in God. Second is our obedience to Him that flows out of our love for and faith in Him. When we fail to enter this rest, that is when we most frequently fall prey to an uneasy conscience, worry, fretting, questioning, plotting, and planning that robs of restful sleep.

We must be still and know that God is God. Then we must go to bed. Father is showing me my need to not allow myself to be the cause of our staying up later than is necessary. When it is necessary to be up late, a nap the next day is a good habit to follow.

Sleep is necessary, and the right type of sleep that cycles normally through all the stages of sleep is vital to healing rest. Our body cycles through wakefulness, light sleep, deep sleep, and REM (Rapid Eye Movements), where dreams occur. All that we have covered thus far aids and fuels that healthy cycle: a surrendered life that enters his rest protects the mind so it can sleep. Right foods that feed the body its need protects from discomfort that hinders sleep. And moving the body through exercise and rewarding work heightens our body’s ability to enter a restorative rest cycle. All we have covered thus far works together as allies to restful, restorative sleep; and sleep may well be the greatest, most needful healing balm for the exhausted mind, body, and soul.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation, Prayer

Protection in the Night

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The long night: it’s hard for me to see myself as being in a Long Night. I’ve been in a night of true darkness, but in this one, though I know the darkness threatening to overwhelm me, the Light is very near and dear. At the same time, I know of little more difficult than the threat to the life of a mate, except maybe the loss of a child. And being in a place to trust God while not knowing which way His healing will take gets long and can bring a deep weariness we don’t fully know how to handle. So God leads my heart in prayer today through song.

Today, as I cried out to God, needing His clear touch, He led me to Jericho my town while listening to my favorite worship playlist. Hitting the mix option, each song came in perfect order to minister to my heart and form my prayer in this night-watch. Now I thought God was changing the preplanned focus for today, but He isn’t.

Beloved, in the Dark Night Season, when we struggle to find the light God illumines all around that darkness, that is when we are most vulnerable to the lies and misdirection of the enemy that hides out in dark, waterless places. We can believe we are useless to God here. We can beat ourselves up for every flaw our deceived heart points to. We can blame self for every evil we see in our sphere of influence. We can forget that God is with us. Such struggles as these and more can make the dark, darker still. Today we pray for those in dark places to know the truth and be protected from the false.

Songs to pray through:

Still, by Hillary Scott

Glow in the Dark, by Jason Gray

Hope in Front of Me, by Danny Gokey

Scripture in context: 1 Timothy‬ ‭4:1-10‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation, Prayer

Possess Hope

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Good morning, Beloved. This verse came this morning in a daily verse email. Job, in His darkest hour, points his hope at The Savior. The story of God’s work in the life of a man called Job, in the oldest book in our scriptures, from my understanding, during one of the harshest recorded night seasons, remembers his greatest hope. In the midst of pointing fingers trying to shame him unrighteously, he remembers and points his friends to his redeemer and the assurance of His coming to us.

Job’s heartbroken wife, on the other hand, shows us the anger and bitterness that can grasp us in the midst of such horror when we lose or fail to possess that eternal perspective. “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”” Job‬ ‭2:9‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Going through a night season is difficult enough without adding to it the loss of hope, along with the anger, bitterness, and anguish of hopelessness that makes a dark time darker still. Today we pray for those in a long night to cling to their hope, and for those around them to have the wisdom and ability to help them do that.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation, Prayer

Perseverance for the Long Night Seasons

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As I seek the Father in continuing a daily thought for praying over those long night situations, He leads my heart to Paul’s letters to Timothy. Paul’s greeting in 1 Timothy begins our daily focus.

Beloved, our greatest need in long night issues is perseverance. To persevere in faith; in assurance of God’s love, care, and presence at work there; in determined purpose to remain faithful in focus, in living, in the practice of godliness, etc. These three works of God found in Paul’s greeting equip our success in perseverance.

– Grace – provides strength beyond our own in the wait, equipping and enabling our faithful perseverance .

– Mercy – covers us when we fail so that…

– Peace – that passages understanding prevails, protecting us from worry, fretting, anxiety, and the bad and desperate decisions such turmoil brings, leading us to unrest as we kick against goads and try to fix what God alone can fix.

Pray today for perseverance and for this resource of God that empowers our successful waiting-on-the-Lord.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Watch Your Peace-o-meter

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“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Colossians‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NASB‬‬

Why would Paul link thankfulness so closely with peace? I believe it is because peace requires contentment, and contentment cannot be achieved where grumbling and complaining rule.

Thankfulness toward our trustworthy God is the counter to a heart of grumbling and complaining. Today, if you find peace of heart disturbed or stolen, look quickly to see if thankfulness is missing. Find something in the situation to turn the frown upside down, and watch peace walk back in as trust in the Lord’s goodness restores contentment.

Devotional Series, Holy Habitation

Holy Habitation: Living Continually Seated at God’s Feet ~ My Daily Portion

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction’” ~ Exodus 16:4.

Today, as I seek the Lord to make Himself known and to minister to the need He sees in me, He begins by speaking to me concerning the habit of fretting tomorrows issues and needs. Fretting wastes time, energy, and supply meant for use in this day’s need, giving it to things that have not and may never come to our lives. Praying about where to begin on our journey to holy habitation with God, He reminds me of the next portion of the Lord’s Model Prayer, and through that, He leads me to the verse above.

In the Lord’s Model Prayer, we looked at the need to begin every prayer with realization of God: who He is, how He works, His might and power and supply available to us, surrendering to His sovereignty. Next Jesus instructs we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:9-13).

Remember, Jesus, in His Model Prayer is giving the people an outline to help their understanding of how to properly approach God’s throne of grace. He begins with leading the people to realize and acknowledge all the glory of God, His power and sovereignty, so they realize that He is the one able to respond to their every need. Then He says, “Now, with this understanding, pray for your daily bread.” Bread / food is a need common to all. Here Jesus is saying to trust God for our daily food supply, but it is more than that. He is more fully instructing us to “trust God for Your daily supply to meet your every need.”

God-Jehovah, in ministering to His people, Israel, promises them His supply to meet their daily need of bread. The daily manna is a symbol of God’s supply for what He sees as our daily need. Whether it is food, finances, strength, grace, wisdom, instruction, or whatever the need, God is the source of our supply, and He sends it to each day as needed. The example found in Exodus tells us that God often only sends what we need for each day with His instruction for its proper use, and He does so for the purpose of revealing whether or not we will follow His instruction.

Fretting and worrying misappropriate God’s supply given for our today. Fretting and worrying tends to miss the opportunity before us in this moment. Fretting and worrying shows lack of faith to trust God’s daily, moment of need, supply. Fretting and worrying denies God’s sovereignty in life and puts us in danger of running rogue. Fretting and worrying too easily leads to our taking things in our own hands, denying the sovereignty of God, and His supply for life’s challenges and opportunities.

God is telling me today to realize His presence with me, leading, Jesus003guiding, supplying my need moment by moment, and empowering me for this day. He is reminding me to trust Him for each day yet to be and to partner with Him in the now as His child, ready to walk with Him in accomplishing His purpose in this day. He reminds me that He knows me and my need better than I know myself. He is my first most vital need and necessity in this life. He is my portion. I cannot make it through a day without Him. In holy habitation with Him, He gives me my true need.

(Numbers 18:20; Psalm 16:5; 73:26; 119:57; Ecclesiastes 3:22; 5:19; Isaiah 61; Lamentations 3:20-25)

Overcomers

The Cure For Destructive Fretting

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One thing God’s Spirit said to me this weekend that I sure wish I had written His wording down, goes something like this: “Just because someone is busy with life does not mean that they are free from fretting while they do it.”

072The thing I understood immediately upon perceiving that thought from Him is this: we can push ourselves to get busy in an attempt not to think about the things that bother us, the things we are trying to surrender or think we successfully surrendered to God, believing thinking about other things ends the fretting. However, when the stress over the things we are concerned about dictate or fuel our actions or eating, we are truly in the heat of destructive fretting.

I am one who stuffs my face when stressed and fueled by fretting. A friend cleans and scrubs everything in sight: TWICE. Her activity would appear more healthful than my eating would, but both are destructive. They do not alleviate the stress, but often add to it.

Our Pastor’s wife tells us that when she is stressing something, the best place she can be is working in her garden. Tending to her flowerbeds help her to get peaceful. Therein lies the difference between my friend and my habit during stressful times and our Pastor’s wife. Her activity leads her to embrace peace, aiding her to let the stress go, refreshing her and strengthening her to deal with the trouble. My friend and I feed the stress with our frenzy, wearing ourselves out, weakening our bodies, leaving oneself ill-equipped to deal with our issues.

I am so grateful God spurred this pondering in me. Life is hard on several fronts right now, and though I am trusting God’s promises for the things going on, quickly turning to Him when tempted to fretful thinking, watching earnestly for His hand to move, the stress has me out of control in my diet. Since hearing the word behind me instructing, “This is the way, walk in it,” my diet is better, my activity more peace oriented, and I feel better (Isaiah 30:21).

Beloved, what are you stressing? If it is something for which God is giving direction for addressing, do the things He says and watch to see what He will do. If it is something that you can do nothing about, check the power behind your actions. Is the fuel behind your activity an agitation that just increases the stress? This too is fretting. Fretting is destructive enough without adding fuel to the fire through our activities.

God’s word in Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying” (NLT). Rejoicing 073with confidence in the hope God gives and learning patience as we wait on the Lord increases peace and destroys fretting. Find that place where distraction leads to peace.

I’m not talking the local pub for too much ale, nor any other place where addiction is fed; this too is a destructive action fueled by fret’s stressing. Where are you able to live life to the full, enjoying where you are in peace, while trusting the Lord with the things that are hard. What helps you leave things with God while continuing a life lived in His peaceful pastures? Let that be the place from which you watch for the Lord to deal with the issues that tempt you to fret.

Godly Principles, Kingdom Living, Practicing His Presence

In the Hearing of the Lord: Series Introduction

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“Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord and the fire died out. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them” ~ Numbers 11:1-3, NASB.

Near as I can figure from the timeline of events, and I could be off some on this, but I don’t think by much: God led Israel through the wilderness, taking about a year to get to the Mountain of God which was about a 13 day journey going in a straight line there. He then took most of another year to give the people the laws and instructions they needed before entry into the Promised Land: leading them to build the Temple, and numbering the people for the purposes of service assignments as priests and warriors.

Why so long? Why not just cross quickly and head into the Promised Land before all this complaining began? Not wanting to get too much into this subject, as lead-in to our subject for this writing, here is what I see as the reason for God taking the long way to get to their destination:

  1. The people were weak from their time as slaves and needed to be built up mentally, physically, and spiritually.
  2. The people were divisive, each thinking they knew a better way, and they needed to be brought to one heart and mind, God’s; and to the ability to follow His lead through the leadership of men He anointed and appointed.
  3. The people were filled with the falsehood of Egypt and needed to have Egypt worked out of their system of belief and wantonness.
  4. The people needed to grow in their ability to trust God to do all He told them He would.
  5. The people needed to learn obedience in order to cooperate with God in seeing the promises fulfilled.

Don’t confuse these events on the timeline of Israel’s wilderness experience with the 40 years that follow. It was failure to believe in, trust in and rely upon God with the first approach to entering the Promised Land that led to Israel’s 40 year wilderness wanderings.

At this point, I am sure that there is more that can be gleaned from a two year jaunt to make a 13 day journey. But as I consider where to go in introducing our subject matter in this writing, these things listed above come quickly to mind. The point is that God always has good purpose for any adversity and every storm He allows to touch our lives. Yes. Always. And His purposes are for our good, to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

It has been years since I have not had a storm raging somewhere, at least on the outskirts of my life. It seems when one situation dies down, another flares up or begins again. Sounds horrendous, doesn’t it? It may even sound familiar. But the reason I can pronounce a storm to be on the outskirts of my life – sometimes touching life, maybe stirring things some, but not destroying life, is because throughout all the storms to date, God has taught me how to enter into His rest and remain in the eye of the storm, where calm waters dwell.

Our focal scripture that leads to this writing reveals that frequent complaining over adversity stirs up the winds of the storm, and can even put us in the midst of a God-driven Firestorm. This is the beginning of a rather lengthy, two-part series on dealing with life’s adversity that I believe, if you will read all over these next three to four days, Walking_on_wateryou will find it worth the time.

Through this study, we will look first at the things I have learned that are vital to entering into the Eye of life’s storms and remaining there (see the next two to three posts). Then we will look at this “firestorm” sent by God and discover what it may consist of and why He would send such into our lives.

I look forward to visiting with you again in our next post as we begin to look at “In the Hearing of the Lord: The Eye of Calm Waters”.