When I was a little girl, I can remember being so afraid of the dark when I would try to go to sleep at night.  It wasn’t so much the fear of the dark, but of what would come lurking out of my closet.  My mother gave me this scripture to memorize and dwell upon as I lay there each night.

2 Timothy 1:7  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

There have been many times in my life where I have felt Him whisper to my spirit, “don’t be afraid, now is not the time to shrink back, don’t throw away your confidence!”  All scriptures I recall from my childhood as a fear-filled wimp.

I think the common response for most people, regardless of age, when faced with difficulties in life is to be afraid.  It’s one thing to walk through our days ignorant of God’s plan, but entirely another when we realize He has a plan and we choose to do nothing because of fear.  It must really frustrate God.  I wonder if that’s why He has told us over and over and over in His word to not be afraid.

Last weekend I volunteered with a group of about 25 other women to serve the men of our church at their annual crab and steak feed.  There was something so intimidating about being extremely outnumbered in a room full of hundreds of men.  Another friend of mine who was serving with me, said, “you know I hate this, I can hardly breathe, I’m so nervous!”

And it got me thinking about how I am often inclined to submit to God when He calls me to serve humbly and quietly, (for example, baking cookies, or cleaning up after an event) but somehow think it less of a call from God when He calls me to serve Him loudly, (like organizing volunteers, or being super friendly in a crowd).  The levels of service we participate in are not ranked on a scale of more important to less important.  All are important and it’s up to God to determine when He needs us. Who are we to decide what is Godly service and what is not.

Whether comfortable or uncomfortable, I want to serve Him.  Whether easy or hard, I want to serve Him.  With my whole heart and my whole soul, however the need arises I want to be willing and ready to step up!
I love how Joyce Meyer puts it so simply.  She says, “Do it afraid”.  If we simply sit on the sidelines and wait for the fear to subside, most of us will be there a long, long time.  Don’t be a bystander in your own life.  Step out!  Even if you’re afraid.

What if that were your job title?  Just imagine you are at a Chamber of Commerce meeting and when someone greets you and asks what you do, that is your response?  I know we don’t all get paid for our areas of service, but ideally, the fact that we are servants of the King should be at the forefront of our minds, permeating everything we do.

It is easy to feel stepped on, or like we are taking a step down when we stoop to serve.  But in reality, we are never nearer to Jesus that when we do it.  He was the one who gave us the example of the towel and wash basin.  He was the one putting his hands in the dirty water.  He was the one expressing the love that only a Father could give.  Pure unadulterated love and forgiveness.  He filled up the ordinary moment with glory.  He blessed the trivial with heavenly value.

In John 13, you can read the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet.   “So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do.”

It’s our turn!  He did it, then he turned and handed us the towel!  Everywhere we go, we carry this glory and beauty with us.  At first glance, it doesn’t appear as glorious.  It’s dirty and wet and nasty looking.  Ugh!  And it seems so insignificant!  But even the small things we do to serve, when done out of love for our King, become grand.  Our service may not be dramatic, but with the power of God we can do what we’re afraid of.  We can be kind to the mean old grumpy guy next door.  We can sit with our ailing parent when it’s so hard to watch.  We can give to a needy stranger on the street.  What we may think of as yucky, gross, unpleasant, even impossible can be done in His strength.

“…As a result, for her (this woman who steps up), will be a surging increase in the level of confidence she has in God and an ever-increasing boldness in her faith.”

The woman who serves, gains confidence?  She gains boldness?  Through serving?  I know we all want more of that!  This week, let us be found stepping up!  That’s what He calls us to!  We step up by stooping down.

When you begin a relationship with someone, it usually begins with an invitation.  “Hey, you wanna go hang out?”, “Would you like to go out to dinner?”.   The invitation is just the beginning.  It takes thought on the part of the inviter, but it also takes a decision on the part of the invited.

The Our Time Conference is about to begin, and the women are ready to gather.  Friends inviting friends, sisters bringing sisters, and mothers bringing daughters.  Our Time Women have found we get the best response to these things when we personally invite someone. People decide to accept the invitation out of their relationship with us, (and because as girls,  no one ones to sit alone, right?).

I believe God is always inviting us.  The Bible says He calls us by name! He invites us to begin a relationship with Him.  He invites us to His peace.  He invites us to a place where He can give us wisdom to fix the messes we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Ephesians 1:4 in the Message version says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.”

Think about that!  God, the Creator of the Universe scans the horizon of humanity and singles us out, one at a time, in each generation and invites us to be His friend. I used to think, eh, He doesn’t see me, I’m just one speck in a sea of millions.  But He did!  He saw me.  He called my name!  I get to hang out with Him and be His chosen friend.  Not just one day, but everyday.

He is calling each of us to draw near.  He is calling you.  Even in the busyness of your day.  Even in a crowd, He is calling your name.  He has His eyes on you, is watching over you, loves you , and is waiting for you to respond to His invitation.  Turn your focus toward Him today.  Say “yes God,  I am right here.”

I found this verse written in my notes from 1993, Deuteronomy 6:3 “Be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the lord, the God of your Fathers promised you.”

In these notes I wrote about how thankful I was for the place God had brought me to and yet I so badly wanted more. “With God, there is always more.”  I think even in 1993 I felt an urgency about all God was promising me as His daughter.  I didn’t want to miss out on what I was supposed to do.

It’s one thing to do what you know to do, but maturity brings more knowledge. Maturity speaks of deeper understanding, and that naturally brings change.

The Bible says that love and obedience are connected. John 14 is the piece of scripture where Jesus tells his disciples, “if you love me, you will obey me.” He teaches us that though our obedience is never perfect, it is an essential part of our faith that springs from our love for Him.

Through all of our efforts to grow up and mature in Christ, I’m reminded of Samuel as he was talking to King Saul.  He said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, (the translation of that to me, is good works, acts of kindness, giving to the poor) as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”  He said, “To obey, (to seek to satisfy the needs of people’s souls, in salvation, healing, bringing change), is better.”

The message version puts it like this: “Do you think all God wants are sacrifices- empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to Him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.”

We are discovering, it’s not about perfecting the art of looking like a Christian, but about proclaiming God’s greatness in all your life.

Is it possible that as we mature, we can begin to come into a more complete understanding of what obedience and love mean? To hear His heart, and not just His words?  As we love him more, we hear him better, and we can obey him more fully?

I think that when God requires obedience of us, it tends to pull back the layers of our hearts and expose what is deep down inside. We feel that exposure of the soul. Maybe you’ve felt a little raw as God is growing you up.  Maturity causes us to believe that when we respond to Him with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds, He responds to us with His presence and the fullness of all He is.

However, I found the advertising to be a bit disturbing. How the world views the polarization of the sexes right now made me sad. The next day the entire media establishment was appalled by the degradation of both sexes shown in the commercials. It should not be that way!

God made both sexes to compliment and serve one another, not to be in competition for value.

In the house of God, it is so different! I love that the Bible says, “He sets the lonely in families”; It says, “a man is valued by what others say of him”; it says, “we were taught by God to love one another”.

Did you know we have dozens and dozens of men who support and love the women of our church? They set aside their own schedules and agendas to give.  Their encouragement and support are truly gifts to us.  Their demonstration of love is a present to us.

We have men who are buying matching shirts so that they will look sharp at our conference. They give their time and talents to make our event unforgettable.

We have men designing and hanging decorations for us that will take our breath away.

There’s another whole team of talented guys who have been planning and rehearsing songs to perform for us at the after party. This is a gift of love to us!

I know that there are women who walk through life feeling as though they are alone. Uncared for. Average, non-special, women making their worlds run. Keeping the kids fed and in shoes and in school. Women fill a lot of roles and it’s easy for them to feel that nobody sees.

But…When they pull into the parking lot at God’s house however, they are suddenly surrounded by a whole host of men who support who they are. They help communicate God’s value upon them. Women fill a unique role, and they are not only valued by God, they are created to add value to all the others in their world.

When we put God’s word into practice, we become gifts to one another. We are blessed and privileged to do life together.

1 Corinthians 14:12 says, “try to excel in gifts that build up the church.”

What is love without presents? I encourage you to remember that love is made tangible when attached to a gift. So give your gift freely, love generously, and be thankful for the presents God hands you every day.

Within the context of human relationships, in order to become someone’s friend, we must spend time with them.  We must ask questions, and listen for the answers in return, to really understand the heart of a person.  Is that what it takes to be God’s friend too?

What does it mean to really understand that you are loved by God and to love Him in return?  Does it mean we are thankful when He meets our needs?  Does it mean we choose to be obedient to Him?  Does it mean we place Him first in all our decisions?  I think it does mean those things, but also much more.

If we look at this scripture in Psalm 37:5-6 it says,

Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.

It says that we share our whole heart with Him, holding nothing back.  We aren’t afraid to give Him our dirt and our secrets and our desires.   (As if we could hide them from Him, anyway.) It means we trust Him to accomplish His will in our lives, even though we aren’t perfect, and we will never deserve His grace.  It says he’ll validate us.

“Validate”.  That word reminds me of going to the city, and parking in a big highrise structure, enjoying shopping from store to store, and then when I go to lunch, I suddenly remember to I ask the girl at the desk, “do you validate?”  She stamps my ticket and makes it ok for me to be there, and it doesn’t cost me a thing!

I know it may seem like a ridiculously simplistic analogy, but when He validates us, He makes it ok.  His grace and mercy in our lives don’t cost us anything, although it cost Him everything.

I don’t know about you, but I not only approve of my friends, I promote them.  I work hard to help them succeed.  It makes me happy when they do well.  I’m learning that it is the same way with Jesus.  I am striving to be His friend, and He cheers me on.  He wants to see me succeed, but so much more importantly, He wants to spend time with me.  He created me to be in relationship with Him. To know Him…    The way Ephesians 3 describes knowing Him:

¹⁹[That you may really come] to know [practically, ^[a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses ^[b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] ^[c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and ^[d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

I suppose the first step to actually knowing Him is wanting to know Him.  I do. I want to know Him. I want to love Him more.  This being February, the month where thoughts turn to love, I have decided to dedicate my thoughts and more time to understanding what it means to know and love my Heavenly Father.  After all, I am His and He is mine.

We all can think of people we know who have been marked in one way or another.  Marked by tragedy, or marked by blessing, seeming to have a charmed life.

The dictionary says being marked is being “designated or distinguished by a mark; hence; noticeable; conspicuous; as a marked card or a marked coin.”  In Nevada, we certainly are privy to more stories than other places, of individuals who are an “easy mark”.  They say originally, a chalk mark would be placed on the person deemed to be easily swindled so when other people saw them coming, they’d know they were an “easy mark”.

Another definition of being marked is, “being singled out”.

In Ephesians 1:13 the author talks about our adoption.  It says we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus, and we have forgiveness through Him.  It goes even further when it states that we are chosen by God.  It says, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”

So is that saying,  when I was saved, I was marked by Him?

Throughout history, when a letter or important document was finished and being prepared to be sent, wax was melted to close the letter or package and then the signet or ring, the mark of power of the person sending it was pressed into that wet wax.  When it dried, with the impression of the ring it allowed the recipient to know that this did indeed come from the hand of the one who owned the ring, or signet.  The seal authenticated the package.

When we are adopted by the power of God, we are forgiven, redeemed and marked with the seal of God’s Holy Spirit.  The seal marks us with the impression of the Creator, and authenticates us as God’s own.

You carry the family seal of God, the mark of the Holy Spirit.  And it is powerful.  You carry the seal of having been chosen, set aside, and marked for His glory.

Not only do we carry His authority with us, people should be able to see us coming!  We carry the distiction of being favored, blessed, called, and empowered!  It’s a trememdous honor to be marked for God.  I want others to see His mark upon my life in ever growing measure.

If you haven’t heard about it yet, I want to be the first to tell you…You are invited to join me for a conference created just for you!

God made you for a purpose and a destiny.  He designed you to shine!  Together, we will celebrate, be encouraged, and inspired. You will hear great teaching, (Shunna Jones-Moreno from Oasis Christian Center will be our guest, along with her dance team and vocalists and band!!!)You will experience incredible music, enjoy fun surprises, and a fantastic after party Friday night.  You will be surprised at every corner by how much you are loved and valued by God – and by us!

We are also excited to host a baby shower to benefit the Community Pregnancy Center.  So plan on bringing any item you can, to help these young girls who have chosen life!

Grab your friends and bring them to the party!

Tickets are $30.00 and childcare is available both days. Our web page will soon have all the details, but you can purpchase your tickets on line NOW!  I hope to see your beautiful face! It won’t be the same without you.