A Minute In It - Believing

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. 9 As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.

11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.[a] 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,[b] and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! 20 But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.” Luke 1:8-20 (NLT)

 What had Zechariah and Elizabeth been praying for?
How long do you think they’d been praying for this?
What was Zechariah’s reaction when he saw the angel of the Lord?
How specific was the angel when he described the baby?
What was Zechariah’s reaction?
When the angel appeared, do you think Zechariah knew it was an angel?
If Zechariah had been praying for a child and an angel appeared and specifically described the answer to the prayer, why did Zechariah doubt?
When I pray for something and God says he’s going to answer or he starts to line up the answer, do I doubt?
Why?
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you in this story?
What are you going to do about it?

Write the Check

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

Imagine my surprise when I heard God say “Write the check.”

Let me explain. A few years ago we walked through a very difficult time financially. My business almost folded and for a year and a half, I didn’t get paid. As I prayed about finding a job, God said “Wait.” Wait didn’t make sense. I knew I could get a job. As a matter of fact, I could get a job making more than I was making in my business. But God said “No. Wait.” Being unsure of how this was going to turn out, I put conditions on it. “On one condition. I will wait and not get a job as long as You provide. You promise in the Bible that You will provide all of our needs so, as long as you provide, I’ll wait.” (I thank God that He is patient with us when we are learning to trust Him.)

The waiting took a year and a half. We cut back on everything we could cut back on. We lived minimally and over and over again, just as we ran out of money to pay the bills, God showed up. He never showed up in the same way twice but, He always showed up.

One day in the wait, as I was praying, I heard God say that He wanted me to give Him a percentage of the profits from my business. I laughed and reminded Him that a percentage of zero was zero. I didn’t agree at first because when you make an agreement with God, well, you have to keep it. This was a big ask. I prayed about it. The percentage was high. I worried about being able to keep my commitment. But as I prayed a light bulb went off. If God was giving me a profit, he’d work it out. This was not really my problem to handle. My job was surrender all of this to Him. I agreed.

Fast forward a few months. We were notified that the business had won a new contract. It hadn’t started yet so money was still really tight. I was at a church planting/multiplication conference with my church. The speaker was talking about the story in Joshua where the priests are told to cross the flood gorged river. The water was running swift and fast and the water level was very high. God said “Step into the river.” At this point, they had to decide if they believed in his promises or not. Would they step in and see God work? Or would they be the obstacle to seeing a miracle? 

The speaker said “What is your step of faith?” At that moment, I heard “Write the check.” I knew what God was saying. He was saying “Write the check for my percentage.” I said, “There is no money in the account. We’ve only had one little contract and are barely paying the bills.” I heard it again. And then a third time, I said “OK.”

After the conference was over, I immediately went home and ran some reports on the business. And there was a profit. It was more than I expected. I wrote the check. 

Here’s my question for you. What is the step of faith that you are not taking? What is God calling you to do that is challenging what you believe about Him? Do you trust Him enough to take that step?

Believe

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” Luke 1:45 (NLT)

Can I tell you a God Story? As I’ve posted in the past, we are planting a church. We’ve picked a name. We are “Called2Be”. We’ve been meeting since April 1st (virtually). Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor! During our meetings we pray and study the Bible. In July, we felt God say it’s time for an in person. We had a picnic. It was great!

During this time, we’ve been praying about where God wants us to “Be” community. Where can we serve? Where can we go and love on people. When I was praying about this, I kept seeing a building. It had a sloping roof in the front, and a porch. I also saw the back door and when you looked through it, there was a hallway with doors on both sides, and a bright light coming through the other end. I sensed that the front was a restaurant.

It took me a while to figure out that I kept seeing this same building. And I wondered “God, is this you showing me this?” I wondered that out loud to my husband and we started praying. We asked God if it was him sending this to please show us where the building was located.

In the meantime, I ask God what we should do for our next gathering. I heard prayer walk. Now, I probably shouldn’t say this out loud, being a Church Plant Pastor and all, but I’ve never gotten into the Prayer Walk thing. I’ve done it. And there are times when I felt God telling me to prayer walk someone’s house and I did that but overall, not my first choice of activities. But I said “OK. Where?” Nothing.

I kept praying for where and praying that God would show me the building. Eventually God said Called2Be was supposed to prayer walk Purcellville, VA. And like an obedient child I said “God, that’s kind of far away.” Don’t judge me. And then I said “OK. Purcellville it is.” In the meantime, I kept praying about the building.

One Monday, I felt impressed to drive to Purcellville on Wednesday. I had meetings for work strategically placed throughout the day so if I drove to Purcellville I would be rushed. I explained this to God. Late Tuesday evening, the Wednesday morning meeting cancelled.

I got in my car and I drove to Purcellville. I drove all over asking God to show me the building. Asking him which way and trying very hard to listen. Finally, I was getting tired of going all around the little town, up and down the main street and I asked if I could go home. He said yes. I turned my car around to head out of town on Main Street and as I was leaving I passed a building that caught my eye. I didn’t noticed it the 100 times (okay, maybe 4 or 5 times) I drove up and down that street because of the trees in front of it. I turned around and went in the parking lot.

It had a sloping roof and a front porch. “Oh God! It’s your building!” I parked the car and looked in the front door. The building was empty. There is a big For Sale or Lease sign in the front. It used to be a brewery/pub. I walked around to the back door on the side of the building. I looked through the door and I saw a hallway with doors on both sides and a bright light coming through the other end. Turns out it has two back doors. One on each side of the building.

I can’t begin to explain the feelings I had as I realized that God took me to His building. And guess what?! I prayer walked it! I prayed all around that building. That Saturday, Called2Be prayer walked it again and the main street of Purcellville.

I’ve been back to prayer walk it again. I want to hear what God wants and ask him to move. We are all praying! What’s next, God? What’s next?

This weekend I was on a Leadership Meeting for our Mother Church and the Pastor told us that her husband plays in a praise band at another church. The Pastor told her husband that there is a building in Purcellville that is vacant. It used to be a brewery and he feels like God is telling him he needs to do something for the community in that church! These are the same thoughts I’ve been having.

God is doing something. Not sure what yet but I can’t wait to find out! Will you pray with us? Pray for this little down of Purcellville, VA. Pray that people there will know God’s love. Pray that we will share that love in service to the community. Pray for all of our courage. When God moves, it usually takes you out of your comfort zone.

And where did today’s text come from? As all this was happening, I kept thinking “This is crazy. Is this you God or is this my crazy mind thinking things up? And why are you doing this? And what do you want? And this is just crazy. People are going to think I’m crazy when I tell them I saw a building and then found it but I don’t know what to do with it.” And God sent the text above and a few others about believing. Believe. He is alive. He is moving. Believe. I do. With all of my heart.

More Heart

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV)

When I started my journey with God....actually, that’s not accurate. I have been on a journey with God for a long time. How about this? When God decided it was time I went “All In”, Proverbs 3:5 became my life verse.

Life as I knew it was changing. It was falling apart all around me. My business lost our largest contract due to unscrupulous actions of others. I had to lay most of the staff off. I was not going to be able to pay myself. From where I stood, I was about to lose everything. And this is where I, in a panic stricken state, was numbly sitting. And trust me, numbly is the correct word. I think I was in shock. All I could do was pray “Help me.” I was sure everything was going to collapse around me. I imagined losing my home and all sorts of other things.

For three days I just walked around and prayed “God, please help me.” I didn’t tell anyone what was happening. Not even my husband because I felt like if I spoke it, it would become more real.

After about 3 days, I woke up and Proverbs 3:5 was the first thing I heard. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I’m going to be honest. I knew it was a Bible verse but I didn’t know where it was in the Bible. I got up, went downstairs and looked it up. I knew it was God talking to me. The rest of my “All In” journey is a series of awesome miracles with God showing up and teaching me to be “All In.”

Fast forward a few years. It’s been a roller coaster ride with God. We are definitely “All In” (Well, we think we are. I am sure God has more “In” in mind.) As we travel this journey, I pray. I pray that God leads us into a deeper surrender and a deeper walk. I pray that for us and our families.

Recently, my son came and told me God had been speaking to him. He said he needed to start his “All In” journey with God. Those are not his words. They are mine. And I said OK.

There are a lot of scary things in this that I am not going to share because it is not my story to tell but this Mama’s heart was in a knot. What if this? And what if that? How is this going to happen, etc.? And God gently says “Let it go Mama. I am his God. I love him and am calling him.” Trust me when I say “letting it go” is a constant process. 

Isn’t this what I have always wanted? Isn’t this what I have always prayed for? Here’s the really funny thing. When God walked me through the “All In” process, it was scary because depending on God and God alone is well....terrifying. But when it’s your son or daughter, well, it takes scary to a new level. We are always used to helping. And we can’t. Not this time. This is something I can’t do. This belongs solely to God.

And then my life verse shows up and I realize that in this case, when God says “Trust me with all of your heart”, I am. All of my heart includes my kids and my family. Suddenly, trust me is about truly trusting him with the most precious things in my life. And I do. With all of my heart and all of the people in my heart. I know that whatever God has planned for them is WAY better than what I can ask or imagine. 

So here we are.....going “All In” with “All of our heart.”

The Sometimes Me

I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate. Romans 7:15 (GNT)

I am a planner. Probably too much so. I like to plan. It makes me feel like I know what’s going on. When I pray, I ask God for the plan. He doesn’t give me the plan and that’s OK because it would probably scare me to see it. I then ask him to do what he needs to do to get me and my life in line with his plans.

And I really mean it when I am praying it.

And then he does something.

Recently, someone I am close to shared that God had been speaking to him. God was telling him to take a step of faith and do something else. He didn’t have a lot of details. He just knew he was supposed to follow.

So you’d think that if I said to God “Please use me. Please do what you want to do in my life. Please show up in the people’s lives that I love.” you’d think that when he did it I would be thrilled because God was moving. You’d think I’d be excited because he is answering my prayers.

Well, I wasn’t. I was scared. Suddenly, a lot of stuff was changing. My normal was shifting and I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like. And, the normal for my loved one was shifting too. I was not happy. I did not want this to happen, even though it was what I was praying for.

This is the sometimes me. Sometimes I want God to move in miraculous ways. And when he does, I sometimes don’t. I don’t want the change….especially when it is uncertain and I don’t have a plan.

Here’s the thing. All of the emotions that go along with this are real and they are OK. It is OK that I am unsure because I can’t see what it looks like. It is OK that I am scared and nervous. It is OK that I admit that I am not OK. And in doing this I will lay it before Jesus. I do want what God wants and I do want him to interfere with my life so his plan (not mine) is in place.

So today, I will keep walking…..and planning….and trusting until he interrupts those plans again.

Seeing Important

But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. Jeremiah 17:7 (NLT)

Everyday there seems to be something. Lately, it feels like there are a ton of “somethings” going on at work. Honestly, it’s like a minion is in the middle of things stirring the pot. And now that I say that out loud, it’s probably true. Satan likes to distract me from what is important. So he does stuff. He’s a pain in the-you-know-what.

Anyway, yesterday started out as a pretty calm day. There were things I needed to do (as in required) for work but I could not get my brain engaged in the tedious tasks at hand. So, I did what every good procrastinator does; I did other things.

At 4, I was scheduled to spend time with someone who needed human interaction. Today is her birthday so we decided to meet up and walk together. At 3, chaos erupted. My stress level climbed and I was trying to get a ton of things done before I left the office.

I managed to eek out a prayer as I arrived late to the walk but God was good. We walked and talked and it was really nice to catch up. I got back home to more chaos and another scheduled meeting at 7 via Zoom. I quickly went into my office and spun out a few emails trying to control the earlier chaos and then downstairs to set up a separate Zoom meeting for my husband before rushing to start mine. In this chaos, I became overwhelmed and went into “get the tasks done” mode. I am very task oriented. It’s my natural bend to put tasks on a priority list while sometimes completely missing the people involved in those tasks.

As I was rushing to finish one task so I could start the meeting at 7, I completely did not acknowledge someone standing in the very same room I was working in. Walked right past him. Didn’t say hi. Didn’t even look up. This morning when I woke up, God brought this to my mind with the overwhelming feeling that I needed to spend time praying.

The evening before had been a whirlwind of activity. I had stuff to do and I needed to get it done on a timetable. I succeeded in that but I failed in the most important thing we are given to do each day; Love one another.

As I knelt there and rested in Jesus, I asked God (again) to help me with this. There should never be anything happening in my life that causes me to “not see” someone standing in the same room with me. And if I have given my tasks and my day to God, I can rest knowing things will get done the way he wants them to be done. I can stay focused on the people….the most important thing.

As I knelt there this morning, I realized that this is an area I need to grow in. When things get hectic, wait….I should say when things get more hectic, I need to stop, drop and pray. I need to trust that God’s hand is all over my day. I need to have confidence in what he will do and let go of what I think I need to do. When I open my eyes again, I will see more clearly what should always be my focus; God’s children.

This is a journey for me but God is faithful. As Philippians 1:6 says God’s got this until the day Jesus comes.

Dangling Secure

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Not sure if I shared this with you but our church is doing a 40-day fast. We started Easter weekend. As I was praying about how to fast, I was also reading this book called Dangerous Prayers: Following Jesus was never meant to be safe by Craig Groeschel. Great book. Somewhere in the book he talked about a routine of praying about how to step out in faith every day. And that became my fast. Each day, I ask God how I can step out in faith that day and I do what I think he is telling me.

At first, it was easier. Email this person. Reach out and talk to so and so. Introduce this idea. Move forward with this business idea. Then, it started getting harder. And I could begin to see a problem. The problem wasn’t in what God was asking, the problem was in my response.

One day, I was praying about some training I wanted to attend for ministry. I’ve gone before and God always uses this training to grow me as a leader and in my walk with him. Funds are tight though so I was thinking maybe I shouldn’t go. I believe I heard God say I needed to go. My mind wandered back to “there isn’t any money”. And then, I heard him say to submit the form to sign up. (You submit the form and pay a little later.)

As I was praying, I found myself saying “Well, if you submit the form and then the money doesn’t come through, how are you going to pay for it?” I started pondering ways to "make this work”, just in case. And then I clearly saw the problem.

You are not taking a step of faith if you walk to the edge of the cliff and build a barrier around the edge to keep you safe. You are not taking a step of faith if you are doing something you can handle on your own. And if you are figuring out ways to “make it work”, you are doing it, not God. You cannot keep one foot on the ground and the other dangling over the edge. When we do this, we are still relying on our footing, not God’s miracles. That might be faith but it is faith in what I can figure out, not trusting what God will do.

You know the really sad thing. When I have faith in my plans, I totally miss the heart-pounding excitement when I see God move….because I don’t see him move. I see me move. Seeing me move isn’t nearly as much fun! I want to see amazing miracles and in-explainable outcomes! I want to see God in all his glory doing what he does best…take my breath away!

So I submitted the form. I don’t have a plan. I have no idea what’s going to happen but I am not relying on my own understanding. I am acknowledging that God’s got this and I can’t wait to see what he does.

Equipped

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6:13 (NLT)

Good Day! Or is it? These days it’s hard to tell, right? Things are so uncertain and every day we wake up to not so good news. Actually, the news is quite devastating and depressing. I’ve talked to so many people who are overwhelmed and when they listen to the news, it gets even worse.

I was reminded as I read through Ephesians with a friend that God told us there would be battles. As a matter of fact, he gave us tools to prepare for them. Those tools are:

1. The Belt of Truth - We protect ourselves with truth. Everything we do needs to be wrapped in truth. Our truth comes from the Bible and from God.

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness - Righteousness means being right with God. We do this by accepting the covering of Jesus and by living our lives according to God’s plan.

3. Shoes of Peace - As Christians, our hearts need to be at peace because we stand firm in the promises of God and in the belief that he is stronger and mightier than what we see.

4. Shield of Faith - Our faith in Jesus is a protective shield around us. Hold it up! Use your faith to get through the arrows thrown at you.

5. Helmet of Salvation - Cover yourself with the salvation that comes from Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. That was for you. Fill your mind with the knowledge that you are loved.

6. Sword of the Spirit - The sword of the Spirit is God’s Word. Read it. Use it to stab at the negative thoughts that pop into your head….the thoughts that say we can’t survive this. Lean on God’s Word. There is so much wisdom there and reassurance for our hearts. Here are a few Scriptures to ponder today.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NLT)

6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 4:6-10 (NLT)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

Jesus told us there would be battles. But he also said he has already overcome. Trust in that as you navigate today and tomorrow and forever.