Sea Glass

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””

John 16:33

Tribulation. 😳. I read it as not fun.

The Greek word is thlipsis which means a pressing, pressing together, pressure. The same word is used in the Bible as persecution, affliction, trouble, anguish…. You get the picture. We will be pressed, but ultimately because of who we serve it will be for our good.

It makes me think of sea glass. Sharks teeth and sea glass are top priorities when I go to the beach. I search for the clear and light green glass. Sometimes I get excited when I see one, but when I pick it up I know it’s not ready. I can tell because it’s too shiny and the edges are still a little rough. It’s the right color, but needs more time in the water. It needs time for the waves to do their work, washing the glass against the sand to make it beautiful. So I toss it back in.

Tribulation can be like that. I just want out. O. U. T. out, but in reality the Lord is doing a work. He’s there in the waves with me rubbing off those sharp edges. He’s teaching me contentment, perseverance and patience. He’s increasing my faith and putting His faithfulness on display.

So the next time you feel like you have been tossed back in the waves keep your eyes on the One who is in control. Allow your faith/confidence to build to the point that you know that you know He has overcome whatever tribulation you are facing and is perfecting you in the process.

Preaching to self per usual.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6

After I read Ezekiel 37 last week, the images were on auto replay in the following days. I could almost see Ezekiel looking out over a valley FULL of dry, dead bones that belonged to the unburied dead, left as food for scavenging birds. (Awful image, I know.) When God asked Ezekiel if the bones could live, Ezekiel had no reason to think that they could live. However, Ezekiel had hope in God and said (v.3), “Lord God, You Yourself know.” Next, God tells Ezekiel to “prophesy over the bones” and to tell them to “hear the word of God” (v.4). Ezekiel prophesied over them, and dry bones began to rattle and come together. I can almost hear the rattling, can’t you? Then God gave the bones tendons, flesh, and skin. God was doing a new thing, but the bodies did not yet live. God then told Ezekiel (v.9): “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘The Lord God says this: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, so that they come to life.’” Ezekiel prophesied and breath entered the bodies and “they stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” (v.10)

Commentaries tell us that the bones represented the house of Israel who had forsaken the Lord their God and chased after idols of other nations. God allowed them to be exiled (several times), and many died in captivity. Perhaps, Ezekiel even saw some of them fallen along the way. Their disobedience had led them to the valley of dry bones. The spiritual truth here is that God will one day redeem His chosen people. In verse 14, God says: “And I will put My Spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’” As believers, let us give thanks that we have been adopted into the family of God’s chosen people, bought with the price of our Savior’s blood.

I think there are personal applications because each of us has dry bones in our valleys. Sometimes, our bones have names: failure, broken relationships, unforgiveness, anger, hurts, unmet needs, inadequacies, prodigal children, death, illness, addictions, sinful tendencies… But God wants to do a new thing in our lives, too. He invites us to look at our dry bones through His eyes. We can trust that our God knows the way ahead for each of us and that He is the God of impossible things. We may only see dry bones, but the Lord over all things and all people sees life. Jeremiah 29:11-13 reminds us: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’” 

Lord, help us to trust You and to speak Your Word over the dry bones in our lives. Holy Spirit, come and breathe life into them. Help us to be ever listening for the rattling of dry bones. Charles Spurgeon said it this way: “Since, apart from the Spirit, we are powerless, we must value greatly every movement of his power. Notice, in this account of the vision in the valley, how the prophet draws attention to the fact of the shaking and the noises, and the coming of the sinews and the flesh, even before there was any sign of life. I think that, if we want the Spirit of God to bless us, we must be on the watch to notice everything he does.”

We are SEATED.

Not striving to be with Him.

Not rushing to keep up with Him.

Not pushed to perform for Him.

Ephesians 2:6 says, “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

Because of Jesus, we are seated.

Through Jesus, we are seated.

By Jesus, we are seated.

I feel that I have forgotten this lately.

Can anyone relate?

I am several weeks into summer “break”, but the brakes aren’t working. I feel like I’m cruising high-speed downhill with no way to stop.

The wheels won’t stop spinning.

My hands won’t stop working

My mind won’t stop racing.

In hopes of finding rest and breaking free,

I did a deeper dive into Ephesians 2.

Here’s what I found.

The Greek word for seated is sugkathizó:

to make to sit together

to place together

to give or take a seat

We see this word used in Luke 22:55

describing Peter sitting down around a fire.

And again in 1 Peter 3:22, “Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.”

Because of our identity in Jesus and unity

with Jesus, this is our present position.

This is our posture.

This is our power.

While our feet our on earth,

our spirit sits with Him in heaven.

A seat that was given by grace.

A seat that was bought with blood.

A seat that has His authority.

A seat that has victory.

So, here’s my invitation today.

Will you take your seat, please?

Father,

We thank You for making a way for us to abide in You and rest with You. We are sorry for times we forget where we belong, seated with You. Let us return to a posture of rest, purpose, power, and victory, and invite others to join us 🪑🤍

Amen.

Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another”

Growing up I was always in church but never really paid attention. I knew I woke up early to worship our Lord, but I never took the time to learn his word. Although I knew this, it didn’t stop me from getting baptized on the same day as my older brother. The older I got the more it left a sour taste in my mouth. Whether it was being so young, or thinking that I had time to change, I never put my faith back in the Lord.

My family stopped going after my dad started working out of town. I went through many highs and lows throughout this time, but I still denied our Lord. Of course, if anyone asked me, I’d lie and say that I was a believer in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t until November of 2023, that I started going back.

New people came into my life who were enamored with Jesus Christ. I looked to these people as heroes. I started going to Freedom Fellowship, and a couple of months later I was baptized again. It wasn’t as easy or simple as it sounds. It took A LOT of prayers and time to get to where I am now. After praying one night, God spoke to me immediately after saying amen, and all the doubt, and anger I had went away. I knew at that moment that our Lord was real.

I still struggle with sin like every other person, but truly believing that Jesus Christ died for us, makes me want to worship and spread the word of God. I say all this to prove that the people you put around yourself have an influence. It could be for the worse or the better. Find people who serve the Lord and will build your faith.

Hope. Love. Faithfulness. Solid ground.

These are just a few of the many words that come to mind when I think of our Lord and Savior.

Psalm 62:5-6 tells us, “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”

Today is a day that comes around each year for myself and my family that I am always able to reflect back on the hope and faithfulness God gives us. He wants to give us rest if we can just trust in Him. He is truly our rock and solid ground to stand on when we need Him the most. I am so thankful.

Today, June 14th, marks 8 years that my mom has been cancer free. I give all glory and praise to Him who brought us through that time of worry and grief. When my mom told us she found out she had cancer, I was just 21 years old and my youngest sibling was only 7. The crippling fear and worry as we waited for results of what was to come was something I will never forget. What I also will never forget, is just how faithful our God was that day, today, and everyday. My human nature was to fear and worry, but our Lord stepped in to give us rest and peace in knowing He had it all in His hands.

If you are going through a tough season, here is a reminder to stand firm in your faith that He is in control. He will bring you out of this valley and you will look back someday and realize how much stronger you came out on the other side. I feel so blessed to now rejoice on this day, 8 years later, that my mom is still here to spend time with her family, including the 3 grandchildren she has gained since that day. I also feel so blessed to have a mighty God who never leaves us or forsakes us.

Thank you, Lord, for your hope, love, faithfulness, and solid ground that you provide for us, always. I felt it was no coincidence that I had the privilege to write for Rays of Sunshine today – June 14th. Today is a great reminder that He is so, so good.

I’ll end my writing with this – my favorite hymn that always reminds me of the goodness of God. When I hear this hymn, I think back to my times of worry and fear. I always remember how God is our peace and comfort in times of trouble. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus, our troubles on earth will fade away, and we will see only His glory and grace.

🎶 “Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in his wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of his glory and grace.” 🎶

From the very first moment we surrender our heart to God, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in ours. We are committing the rest of our lives and our whole heart to our Lord and Savior.

What does it mean to surrender our whole heart to God? The definition of surrender is when a believer gives up their will and submits their thoughts, ideas, and actions to God. That means we give full control of our lives over to God for the rest of our lives. I think that we can sometimes forget what a lifelong, life changing commitment we have made. We want to take back certain parts and only give God some control. We sometimes miss the whole point.

Surrendering our whole heart to God means to give Him EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING! Of course the first thing when we surrender is to admit to Jesus that we have sinned against Him, ask for forgiveness and turn away from our old life.

With that comes everything else we must give Him all the good in our hearts and also the bad!!! This includes our talents or calling, service, joy, happiness, love, faith, compassion, our wants and desires, our thoughts, our actions, our sins, anger, bitterness, rejection, fear, jealousy, pain, anxieties, grief, control and the list goes on and on. It’s like I said everything!!!!!

We can just lay them all, good and bad, at the feet of Jesus! Then we get to experience the love of God so much more clearly! We can actually rest and have peace because we have no control, but HE does. We have access to His guidance, wisdom, and His will for our lives. His ways are so much higher and His will so much more pleasing and perfect than we can ever imagine or think!

I imagine we all have something we need to let go of and let God be God! My prayer is for God to give each of us a clear vision of what we may not want to fully surrender to Him and that we have the hearts and minds to hear Him!!

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

Sorry. Saw a typo in the first one

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,”
Colossians 3:23 NKJV

I love Colossians 3. We recently did a study of it in our small groups at church and it fired me up all over again. It’s been a life chapter for me for a long time. There is a well worn path that connects me to it because it is a guide to Christian living.

It tells me who I am in Christ, who I was without Him and how I should act because of that. It ends with how to practically apply those principles. That’s where it gets dicey.
…………Dealing with others ……………..

The last thing our flesh wants is to be last in any situation. To willingly put ourselves in subjection to others just goes against the grain.
We serve in an upside down Kingdom so living in submission is exactly what I have to do and lately it has been a struggle.

I mentioned our small groups earlier and Pastor Tera shared this in a group I’m in.

“Refining our understanding and actions to align with what we know is right brings about our spiritual growth. Hopefully, that alignment occurs sooner rather than later!”

It struck such a chord in me about my reactions. The Lord is faithful to get our attention. He reminded me that I know what is right and that I was willfully following my flesh.

Colossians 3 ends with reminding us that all we do should be for the Lord. If I focus on what I know is right (according to His word) and imagine He is the one standing in front of me then that keeps my fleshly reactions in check.

I thank the Lord for His faithfulness to me. He never gives up on me and is always my perfect example to follow. Thank You Jesus 🙌🏻❤️

Last week as I was reading a book, I read a short sentence that really resonated with me. The words have been on my mind since encountering them. It read, “Why did the everyday-ness of my life sometimes feel constricting when the everyday-ness was everything?”. 

Sometimes it can feel like every day is the same. Every day I get up at the same time. I go through the same routine to get ready for my day. I go to the same office, to do the same job with the same people. I return to the same home with my same family, do the same evening routines before bed only to get up the next day and start it all again. 

As I scroll through my social media feed and see all the wonderful things that other people are doing, I can easily find myself filled with envy as I compare my ordinary days to their special ones. The thing is, we post the highlights, but we LIVE in the everyday. We may long for the next adventure, but God does His most amazing work as we serve Him in the ordinary moments of our lives.

I sure needed this reminder of the importance of our everyday-ness. It reminded me, and I hope it reminds you too, to rejoice and be grateful for all the ways God works in us and through us in the simplicity and everyday-ness of our lives. 

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

**The quote is from the book Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan