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

1 Peter 5:6-7

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

Being humble under God’s mighty hand, means to know His way works better than ours. When we try to go our own way, we become selfish. Being selfish leads to being prideful. Being prideful leads to sin, and sin will separate us from God.

Pride can and will destroy us. In Daniel chapter 4, we see just how destructive pride can be. Pride keeps us from admitting when we are wrong, and it will rob us of the clarity of God’s plan for our life. You will never regret killing your pride and being soft hearted.

Pride can also block the grace that we have been extended by Jesus, and the grace that He asks us to give to others. To humble ourselves to God means to submit to His will and know we can’t solve our problems and addictions on our own. God has a plan for us and it is a perfect plan. He will cancel our plans to save our lives. His plans are always better than ours.

As Paul writes in Philippians 4:11, when we learn to be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, that’s when God works in our life. In verse seven, Peter tells us to cast every single worry onto the Lord because He cares for us. Verse six tells us to humble ourselves, and verse seven tells us why we should: to know we need Christ in times of struggle.

God will take whatever we are dealing with into His own hands as long as we trust in him. Give him your worries and accept His peace, and He will give you rest. He will carry you and make a way. He always does.

We have to know that we need God during the good times and the bad. If we try to go our own way, He will knock us on our backs to humble us so our hearts will become soft for Him. God will let you hit rock bottom, so you will realize He IS the rock at the bottom.

That’s what is so good about God! He is good all the time. The song comes to my mind, “He’s a good, good Father”. Even though we sin, He gives us grace upon grace, and He never leaves us, even during the hard stuff. We find the best things just sitting with Jesus. His timing is always perfect.

Let me begin with a funny story. Around 30 years ago, two friends and myself decided we were going to sunbathe on a boat that was in shallow water near the shore.  The boat belonged to one of the families we were camping with that weekend. The husbands and children were hanging out by the campers  riding bikes, snacking, playing games, etc.

 So there we were, just moms, relaxing on a boat soaking up some rays without a care in the world.  We spent time having those conversations girlfriends have and of course had all the laughs that go along with that kind of opportunity.  We settled into the warmth of the sun, the gentle swaying lulled us into a state of sluggishness until one friend lifted up her head to look around and noticed we had slowly drifted out away from the area close to the shore. Actually, quite a bit away from the shore. Easy fix right? Just start the boat. However,  it was a “Houston, we have a problem” moment because no one knew how to start, much less, drive the boat!

Our plan was to wave at boats that came anywhere close to us. We assumed someone would see and ride in closer to see what we needed. Well, that wasn’t happening. We waved to passing boats only to get waves returned as they passed by without any knowledge of the help we needed.  But then, we noticed something in the water. It was coming from the area of our campground. As it got closer, we were able to see that it was one of our husbands swimming out to us. I say swimming,  he was lying  atop of one of the kids’ giant alligator floats, paddling with arms and legs as fast as he could. What a sight! But definitely a welcomed sight. He was our hero that day bringing us back to the shore. 

I love the way God can take these events, these moments in time, and bring them to my recollection to give me a smile as I remember some great times with great friends. And oh, what lessons He can teach me through them!

When I think about what it took to get ourselves so far away from the shore, the only answer I could come up with was – it required nothing from us. The natural force of the current pushed us along away from the shore.  Now, had we made sure we were anchored securely in place or tied to something on shore …  but you probably already went there.

I thought about the daily currents in my own life that sometimes can quietly pull me away. I can get distracted with concerns and get caught up in my never ending  “things I want to accomplish” list.  If I don’t pay attention, days can go by and I’ve allowed  prayer and time in God’s Word to become distant. The next thing I know, I’m overwhelmed, dragged out into rough waters and in need of rescue. 

Psalm 107:28-30 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!

That summer memory serves as a reminder that if I stay tied to Him, I will find security in life’s currents, but even on days and times I find myself drifting too far, Jesus is always willing to rescue me. He is faithful to gently pull me back to the shore.