How does the dictionary define Paradox? One exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory aspects.

There is a paradox found in my passion for Jesus. I couldn’t even sleep for thinking about it last night. (Not the ice cream paradox, the Jesus one.) I was deeply contemplating this scripture, found in Isaiah 61, that is a prophetic foretelling of Jesus.

1-7 “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
planted by God to display his glory.
They’ll rebuild the old ruins,
raise a new city out of the wreckage.”

This is the month we begin remembering to be thankful. That’s what got me started…I am so grateful for God’s grace and mercy he so generously poured out on my life. How amazing! Yet perplexing.

See, this is my experience: in Jesus rebuilding me, he shattered the perception of who I thought I was. (paradox)

In Jesus renewing me, I’m no longer satisfied with the things I knew before. (paradox)

In giving me sight, the world has become dim and my desire is now to see more of Him. (paradox)

In setting me free, He captured me. (paradox)

New life in Him is the death of me! (paradox)

It’s no longer about me, but about God’s glory! Crazy, right?

The chapter finishes up with this:

10-11″I will sing for joy in God,
explode in praise from deep in my soul!
He dressed me up in a suit of salvation,
he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo
and a bride a jeweled tiara.
For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers,
and as a garden cascades with blossoms,
So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom
and puts praise on display before the nations.”

Thankfulness gives way to praise. We were born to give Him glory. In and through every part of life, we bring Him glory. Like John, I must decrease and He must increase. I long to disappear even as I seek to put Him on display before the nations. See? There’s that paradox again!

A relationship with Jesus is never boring. It’s exciting! Better than deep fried ice cream! How does this scripture play itself out in you?

I think everyone wants to be noticed. In our fast paced society with often impersonal customer service and on line relationships, people sometimes feel invisible.

Young people are especially susceptible to longings to be seen, noted, and known. Celebrities are on a constant hunt for ways to stand out. (Lady GaGa is a perfect example.)

But even older people, who you would think have found their identity, still search for clues to who they really are. I think we all wake up to the reality that we are not what we do. Our activity doesn’t define our humanity.

No one wants to be invisible.

I am absolutely convinced that we cannot know what we are to do FOR GOD, until we understand who we are IN GOD. If we get the order backward, we find our efforts to be very unsatisfying. Psalm 139 helps underscore the truth of what God is shouting at us through His word. We are His! He formed us beautifully and He loves us more than we can comprehend.

13-15 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

17-18 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!

I’m grateful for authors who try to paint this picture for us in different ways.

Perhaps we need to read it and hear it in many ways over a long period of time to begin comprehending it. I was having lunch with a friend this week who is one of the leaders on my team. She shared with me about a recent meeting she was in, conveying yet again the importance of embracing who we are and sharing the next chapter for the women she leads. A woman who has been in our circle of influence for years was sitting in this meeting. She suddenly gasped! She said, “I get it!”

Why does it take us so long to connect the dots? Because God loves us and has created us for a purpose, we had better get on with that purpose!

I love how this is stated in Micah 4:13. “On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff, be refined of dross. I’m remaking you into a people invincible.”

We are not INVISIBLE! We are called to be INVINCIBLE!

Invincible might look like my friend Nikki, who just ran her first marathon, even though she works full time and has 3 small children. It might look like my friend Gere who went from being a broken widow, to a woman people see with eyes of wonder because she has become so strong. It might look like the single mom I know, who is raising her kids to be in church and to know God even when they fight her the whole way, because she knows she was born for this. Invincible might look like YOU!

Invincible is not always Lance Armstrong or Serena Williams.

What does invincible look like to you?

I pulled into the church parking lot and got out of my car, catching a quick glimpse of my friend Melanie’s car that was parked next to mine. The passenger window was covered in little fingerprints.

I asked her what happened. She told an adorable tale of parking her car in a thunderstorm so she and her boy Liam could enjoy the show. He was mesmerized by all the booming crashes of thunder and unexpected flashes of light filling the sky. He leaned forward putting both hands on the glass, trying to take it all in.

Some would glance at the window and just see smudges but they made a memory that day, and marked it with beautiful fingerprints.

It got me thinking about the smudges and fingerprints we leave on the world around us.

Do you realize that God left His fingerprints all over us?

Psalm 8:3-5
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor. ”

He is mindful of you! Isaiah 49:16 says, “I have written your name in the palms of my hands.” He created you as a one of a kind design. His fingerprints have forever marked you with the glory and goodness of who He is. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Once we, as children of God wake up to the reality of who we are, as His precious sons and daughters, we understand that we are loved, and that we are purposed and positioned for greatness, it changes everything! God has called us and formed us for more! The blood of Jesus covers us and runs through us. It is this very power that will bring these glorious things into being. We no longer can sit on the sidelines of life waiting someone else to be amazing. It’s within us to be amazing! Wow! What a freeing discovery!

His fingerprints are all over us. Because we are so extravagantly imprinted, we have it within our power to put our smudge on the world as well. We are positioned like never before to leave our fingerprints on the earth. We have the ability to be God’s expression to the world around us.

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” John 14:12

We have the ability to be Jesus’ hand extended, leaving His fingerprint on the world through our lives? I don’t know why we are surprised by this. Jesus wasn’t warning us, He was making us a promise!

So what are you waiting for? What or who is in your world today that is crying out for the imprint of God? It’s in your power to leave His fingerprint. I want to be like Melanie’s son Liam, so mesmerized by what’s before me that I lean in, undeterred by the thought of making a mess, and smudge away!

One definition of shell shocked is “Stunned, distressed, or exhausted from a prolonged trauma or an unexpected difficulty.”

I’d say that definition fits.

I believe that our friends and neighbors are looking for answers, which perplexes us even further because we feel so inadequate to bring reason into the situation. We can find no explanation for why such bad things happen.

Do you ever feel guilty when you can’t find the right words to explain things? The Bible tells us to always be prepared to give an answer. An answer for what? The Amplified Bible puts it this way: 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.”

So we should not feel pressure to have an answer for everything, but to have an answer for why we hope in God! We can all do that! Whew! Pressure is off. Right?

Not so fast. Let me tell you what else I’ve been wrestling with. People I love, asking me,
“What is going on in Northern Nevada? I mean really! It’s like a war zone!”

Maybe we are in a war zone of sorts.

For months, many people I am close to have felt something stirring deep in their spirits. Many have been drawn to pray. Some have been planning opportunities for people to experience God. Hope has been rising. We ask, “Will God show up this Sunday? Will revival come to our church? To our city? What will it look like? What will it require?”

For 11 years I’ve heard people say that Nevada is the most unchurched state in the US. There’s never been a big work of God come out of Nevada. There’s too much sin and selfishness in this state for God to be glorified. It’s impossible.

But we serve the God of the impossible! I believe it’s time for us to stop accepting the way it’s always been, and start praying for what only God can do! Oh that God will be glorified in this state, that people will be amazed and mystified at the transformation His power has on a church, a community, a city, and a state. What will it take for us to lay hold of that kind of experience with the Almighty?

In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

What does that mean? Who are these forceful men?

In Isaiah 62:6-7, the prophet, speaking to the workers building the wall in Jerusalem said, “I’ve posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.
Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out,
reminding God to remember.
They are to give him no peace until he does what he said,
until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise.”

God, I want Carson City to be famous as a city of praise!!!

I’m just a girl. Just a scrawny little church lady. No one has ever called me forceful, but maybe it’s time I become forceful in prayer. That I would be a chick who would not let God rest because I never stop praying, calling out, reminding God to remember to make us a city that shines with God’s glory.

We might be shell shocked, but we have also been shaken awake! Romans 13:11-12 says, “The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours…”

Now that we are awake we must not rest! Time to pray, to call out, to remind God, to bring God’s glory to earth.

These are just some Saturday night ramblings. Share your thoughts with me.

I have a confession. My flower bed at the entrance to my home is a travesty. It has been neglected all summer, and it is completely weed filled, and choked of the promise it held in early spring. I had a plan back then. A lovely plan. Colors of the triad were planted, brilliant orange, vibrant violet and lime green. How exciting the spring garden began.

But now I feel like it’s too late. Too late to remedy. It is September, and it’s too far gone. If only I had tended to each weed, one by one, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.

There is a beautiful side of belonging to a sisterhood that I adore. The side that reflects the nurture of God (that we all want to picture him being.) The side that offers encouragement to the lagging. The side that cheers on the struggling. The side that celebrates every victory and cries with every woe. All flowers and rainbows.

But there is also a side I’ve seen, that not many are willing to participate in. Silence serves us well and avoidance is key. This is the side of accountability.

Accountability. Ugh. Even the word is unappealing.

Holding someone accountable is the same as being a good gardener for those around you. See, a lie uses the soil of the human heart to grow. It steals resources, drains life, and chokes out good growth, just like weeds. A good gardener will pull them out as quickly as possible.

I have a friend who is choosing to believe and base her life upon lies. Do you know anyone like that? It’s a scary thing for us to watch. We see trouble coming. We’re faced with a dilemma. Do we shut up and let them crash, do we speak up and risk anger and alienation? Do we simply pray? WHAT DO WE DO?

We are called to be people who discern the truth.

People who study how to spot counterfeit currency do not study fake money, they study the real thing! We should be so steeped in the knowledge of Jesus that we know a lie when we hear it.

Lies are subtle and sneaky and seemingly innocent. Until they squeeze and choke your relationship with God right out of you. When a lie comes up, we had better step up and refute it! For our friends, we should attempt to pull it out. Quickly!

Satan wants to keep us from gathering together. (Church is where God designed us to flourish and gather strength and wisdom.) He would have us believe anything that keeps us from it.

Shame on us for listening to, excusing, and trying to explain the lie! If every true, solid, God-following, sisterhood-loving believer would have hit each lie head on, my friend would not be where she is today. So now what? What of my flower bed? What of my friend?

Winter is coming! I feel it in the air. My hands will not do the job any longer in pulling out those weeds. Only strong tools will do. Tools, or the elements. That’s my choice now. The elements will freeze the weeds, make everything die, and stop the growth of anything in that flowerbed. So I will choose to work. To till the soil while it is yet Fall.

My friend is worth the effort. (Or was it my flower bed I was talking about?)

Either way, pulling weeds is no fun. But a necessary part of a beautiful life.

I feel that I was put on this planet for a purpose and I live for a cause greater than I can even comprehend. I am part of a worldwide movement. A great and mighty army that is out to see the name of Jesus Christ be lifted up on the earth.

Some things that look frivolous, really aren’t. For example, I have these combat boots that I wear. They’re not your typical combat boots. They’re hot pink metallic combat boots. To me they are symbolic of the fact that I am called to RISE. I need to be strong. I need to fight for what really matters, and that doesn’t have to be an ugly process. I can be beautiful, and be a warrior at the same time! Silly? Maybe. Frivolous? Not at all.

If any unsuspecting person were to stumble in to the Our Time Wednesday night Bible Study, they would surely be perplexed. They’d see women crying at times, giggling or laughing hysterically at other times. They’d hear us telling stories. They’d see us getting inked with fleur de lis. They’d see 50 women gathered at any given time, linking arms, hugging, praying and supporting each other. Some people would certainly say we appear to be frivolous.

Under the surface of all those ridiculous things I know women are discovering their worth and value in God. Many, for the first time discover “God came to save ME and set me free!” Armed with that knowledge they realize they had better wake up and make their life count.

Their is no waiting period necessary. They don’t need to ask for permission to change themselves, their situations, their families, or their futures. The time to act is NOW.

Acting to change engrained patterns of behavior takes a great amount of strength and courage. We gain strength from the stories we share. We gain courage from being reminded we are not alone.

No matter what it looks like, I’m so glad to be surrounded by a company of women who are “whatever it takes” kind of girls. Some, like me, wear combat boots. (Whatever it takes to rise to the challenge before us.) Some write themselves messages on mirrors. (Whatever it takes to change.) Some read God’s word like it might soon disappear. (Whatever it takes to have hope and a future.) Some tattoo marks of God’s calling on their bodies. (Whatever it takes to continue to move forward.) Some are smiling- knowing the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Whatever it takes to see Jesus lifted up.)

God is on our side. He is with us, fighting for us. So use every tool you have, stand up and fight. You have a mark to make, a world to change. Wear whatever it takes, Be whatever it takes, and Do whatever it takes!

If you heard that Jesus would be at Starbucks on I-395 at 4:00 pm today, would you do everything possible to meet Him there? Would you bring someone you love with you? I know I’d be tweeting it and face booking it, and getting all my work done so I could be at the right place at the right time. I would not want to miss that meet-up.

So much in our lives is a result of positioning. Being at the right place at the right time. Doing the right things at the best time. Being faithful. Being prepared. Like GPS guides my car, the lines of my life and yours intersect when I position myself well.

Last week, I drove my daughter from Nevada to Missouri to start her new life at a new school, a new church, with new people surrounding her. It certainly felt like a destiny-driven trip. I could sense that more was happening than what was really happening. Through detours and road construction, we were getting her in position for something amazing.

You’ve felt that in your life, right? Where things are clicking, momentum is yours, you are in position for a big meet-up.

I sense that very thing right now in the life of our church. I’ve sensed it within the women of Our Time for a few months. I feel it in our times of worship on Sunday mornings. God is up to something. His presence is real. His work is life changing. He is here.

Will we position ourselves for the big meet-up?

Where Jesus is, is where I want to be. I know that like the woman in the Bible who pressed through the crowds and the busyness of the street she knew if she could just get close enough, she could be healed. She was changed in an instant.

What do you want to be changed in your life? In can happen in the meet-up. Don’t let distractions keep you from His presence. Position yourself in this time, to be forever marked by His grace.

How will you position yourself to meet up with Him today?

Change happens all around us. I’ve never been one to relish being left out or left behind. So I have determined, I want to change and grow too!

As a speeding-toward-middle-age woman, I have choices to make. I can restyle and revitalize my home, nothing wrong with that. We need a sanctuary for our own health and well being. I could get a facelift. A girl’s gotta love the skin she’s in, right? I could go back to school and finally learn a second language. (I’d love to speak Spanish with all my Hispanic friends.) In reality, we all have the ability to make choices that propel us forward every day.

For me, I think the answer will be found in continuing. No big flashy change, just continued, steady forward motion. Although my mind wants an exciting adventure, my heart says “keep doing what God has placed in your hands to do”.

I’ve been walking with God long enough to know that my race is not your race, my job is not your job. Our place in this world is unique to us and we are equipped for each challenge.

The Bible tells me there’s virtue in the continuation. 1 Thessalonians 4:1 says, “One final word, friends. We ask you- urge you is more like it- that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance.” Msg.

For me, that means I will continue to hone my skills for my new job. It means I will keep running, keep training, keep pressing forward with passionate zeal and joy.

I want to encourage you today, don’t get discouraged by people all around you who appear like they are experiencing rapid change and growth when you feel like nothing is happening.

Remember the law of the harvest? “Something is happening when it seems like nothing is happening.” Keep planting seeds. Keep watering. Keep pruning and tending to what matters. Your harvest will come.

Your life has great value and what you see now, is not what you will be! Keep going! Be diligent with what God has given you. Your journey, your mission and your life is to be continued.

I am developing my ear. As a fairly new worship leader, I have been listening to a LOT of Christian music. And I have to say, I find some of it to be quite revolting. (Sorry if you’re a fan of all things “Christian”.) I can tell within the first verse if I will like it. Today I turned on some test CD’s and I heard lyrics like, “the enemy this, the enemy that”. Click. Next! (I will not sing about the enemy, he’s not that important and not worth my time.) On to “I’m living under a cloud, under this weight.” Click. Next! (I do not sing lyrics that feed my weakness. I confess that I am an overcomer! Greater is He who is in me!)

It made me really think about all the noise and chatter we allow to enter our minds by what we listen to. We have the right to refuse anything that does not line up with the wisdom, power and authority of God’s word.

The Bible says, “Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.” (Proverbs 18:15 MSG)

“Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean. (Ezekiel 44:23 MSG)

While we are to be open, listening and learning, we are to also be discerning! Everything that we allow to have access to our lives needs to be examined, weighed and measured. This means movies. This means music. And this especially means words that we soak in from others, as well as words from our own minds.

What lies are you believing and basing your life off of? Have you been believing you’re not perfect therefore you’re not worthy? Have you accepted the lie that you’re not special, not important and just another face in the crowd?

The word of God declares, before I formed you, I knew you and appointed you. (Jeremiah 1:5) You are the apple of His eye. (Proverbs 7:2) He loves you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)

What lies are you basing your relationship with God on? Do you think He’s just sitting in heaven waiting for you to fail so He can bring down the hammer?

The Bible says, He has good plans for you; plans to prosper you, not to harm you. (Jeremiah 29:11) The Father gives good gifts to His children. (Matthew 7:11)

Listening is good. But having a discerning ear is better. We are to choose what we give attention to wisely. If what you’re hearing stinks, turn it off! Even things that aren’t “bad” can be defeating to you. Negativity will squash the good seed God is growing in you. Lies can cloud the truth. If it’s not beautiful, don’t listen!

Do you have a discerning ear? What noise do you need to turn off today?

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” Matthew 13:43 NLT

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! (Matthew 13:43 NLT)

Americans have become very adept at waiting. In fact we have spread this art of waiting all over the world. When my husband and I traveled to Kenya we saw this firsthand. We would drive past empty lots with people streaming through, forming line after line, waiting for matata’s (grafitti covered small busses – their main mode of transport). When I asked our missionary guide why all the people were standing about on the empty lots, he replied, “Oh! They’re waiting in line! You should have seen it before! It was chaos, people pushing and shoving their way to get on a bus. We came and taught them to stand in lines!”

We have grown to expect waiting. Whether it’s at a restaurant, the DMV, or Disneyland, we wait. There are times of waiting in our lives too. We wait for God’s will to be accomplished in our lives. We wait for people to soften their hearts toward God. We wait for opportunity to come to us.

The more experienced I get in my relationship with God, however, the less I am inclined to be tolerant of waiting. Let me give you an example. We’ve heard it from elders before, “Let us wait upon the Lord.” We have the example from Jesus when He was praying in the garden and his disciples fell asleep, he said, “Could you not tarry with me one hour?”

People have this expectation that they have to ask God to come near, to hear their prayers, to wait and wait and wait for His presence to fall, but I have come to expect the opposite.

I see it like this. God created us to worship Him. He loves us. He desires relationship with us. Beyond that, He sent His Holy Spirit to be our comforter, our guide, our companion. When we enter into relationship with Jesus, we gain access to His power, through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us from that moment forward. It is a package deal. A 2 for 1 kind of thing.

In the book of John when Jesus was preparing to leave earth once and for all, he told his friends they would have to wait, because He would send the Comforter. In the account in Acts we read, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised…the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4. Then a few verses later, as the Holy Spirit descended, we hear Peter exhorting, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Acts 2:17.

So if all that is true, what are we waiting for? He came already! The work has been done! Are we simply waiting because we need to set our own hearts aright? Shame on me, if all I’m waiting for is me.

I have determined that I will not take this work of Jesus lightly, and I will not wait. I will confidently walk through my day, knowing that I carry His presence with me. It is tangible and real. I don’t have to beg for it, and I dare not wait to act accordingly.

I don’t need someone else to get my engine revved up before I enter His presence to worship. I don’t have to wonder if He is with me. He is! It’s my job to be stirred up, not His. If there’s any hesitation in my passionate pursuit of God’s glory, the blame is mine. He has done His part.

“I am always aware of the Lord’s presence; He is near, and nothing can shake me.” Psalm 16:8

What will you do with the knowledge of who He is in your life? Will you wait or will you run to Him?

Today, I run!