heartbroken

my heart hurts today. i have a close friend who's spouse is about to tell their children that they are filing for divorce. it's not fair. it's times like this i have to lean on what i DO know about god. i have to remember that we have free will and we can choose to live our lives for ourselves or for god. it seems such an easy choice, but it absolutely is not on a daily basis. i want to grab those children and run with them straight to the father's arms so they'll know the peace that He gives, that they'll know, from an eternal perspective...it WILL be ok some day. but for right now, it burns. it's a pain deeper than i've known and i have known some deep pain. but i can't imagine there are too many things more painful than being completely unable to save the one thing that gives you the most security as a child.
over the last few years, i've seen one family after another split up. the reasons are many and they're all devastating. these were people just like me and just like you, but somewhere along the way, they stopped listening. they started letting their eyes wonder. they didn't submit themselves to the holy spirit as it nudged them gently....beckoning them to follow him. to stay away from the other options. it can happen to any of us. maybe some of us have been right there. i just know that the only way my family has a chance is to keep my knees to the earth, bowed before God, in complete submission. striving to live a life of holiness. it's hard and takes a strength beyond me, & that is why i'm thankful we have the holy spirit.
please pray for these families. pray for reconciliation. for complete restoration. pray for the families in your church, neighborhood, community. there's a war going on and personally, i'm just plain sick of it.

can you rise to it?

holiness has been on my mind ALOT this last year. the challenge of holiness continues to present itself as a constant theme in my circumstances, the messages i hear, and my daily devotions. it's not an easy subject to tame. i think because it's something much easier to sing about than to actually implement in our lives. holiness requires change in us. in the way that we choose daily what comes out of our mouths, what we listen to, what we watch, what we participate in, what we put in our mouths (or more, how much we do,) the way we respond to our spouse and kids.
a thought came to mind the other day about how to do this. do you think "acting" sold out for God would help you to get there emotionally? to rise to the call God's put before us? it seems to work that way in so many other areas of my life.
if i praise God in spite of sorrow my heart will eventually follow.
if i forgive someone who's hurt me, my emotions will begin to align.
when i choose to have faith in a circumstance that seems impossible, i begin to believe.
i've always been a firm believer in the idea that if you act first, you're heart will follow. this theme reoccurs time and time again in scripture AND typically, it's a step of faith that God requires before he'll move in your life.
so i've been challenging myself to do this. to strive for holiness, even if it's not the thing i desire in the moment, because i believe that my emotions and heart will align eventually. it will at some point transition from an occasional desire, to a full time passion in my life.
there's no shortage of scriptures that reinforces the call to holiness.
1 peter 1:15-16 says we are to be holy in ALL our conduct because God is holy.
romans 12:1-2 says we are to present our bodies as holy, to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed.
in ephesians chapters 4 & 5 paul calls us to equip ourselves, to not be tossed to and fro by trickery and deceitfulness, to renew the spirit of our mind, put on the new man in true righteousness and holiness, to let no corrupt word proceed out of our mouth, to have no fellowship w/darkness, and to not even SPEAK of those things which are done by them in secret.
i could go on.
the point is there's never a better time than now. what's more important? the movie you want to see? the place you want to go? the song you want to listen to? all for the sake of entertainment? or being able to one day stand blameless before God? honestly, i don't think many of us care much about that most days. i think we've distanced ourselves from the holiness of God so much that we don't really think much about it and even if we did, the conviction would last but a moment until we stepped back into our normal routines. then we'd be off again, swept away by the cares of this world. it's sad really. it's disappointing. but mostly, it's just plain sinful.
i hope that this year can be the year we take our inheritance seriously. where we can look god in the eye shamelessly. that we can take hold of all that God has for us and no longer take his name in vain, but really live for righteousness. i challenge you to let this year be your best yet. no matter what comes your way, rise to the occasion and be holy as He is holy.