Proud Aunt

Have I ever mentioned that I have the most adorable nieces and nephews in the world? =) They're also SO sweet to their Aunt Joanna! They pray for me, and draw me pictures, and just cheer me up with their tender hearts!
Here are some pictures of a few of them.

unshakable

Hebrews 12:22-24 says,
"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."

This is what is waiting for us. This is our heavenly home. This is a picture of eternity.
Some days more than others, I need to be reminded of this.
Right now, we live with problems, unrest, uncertainties...a world that is shaking. But it is only temporary. Praise God a better day is coming!

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe." -Heb. 12:28

let it rain...

Hebrews 6:7 says,
"Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of the God."

When I read this verse, I picture myself as the land. And my trials are the rain. Do I "drink in" the trials? Do I let them soak into my soul as something useful that will produce a crop? Or do I resist them, causing the water to "run off" and be inefffective in my life?

Honestly, I don't want to "drink in" the rain. But this verse says the land that does so is the land that produces a crop and receives the blessing of God. We already have every spiritual blessing in Christ. But maybe we don't experience them all when we're resisting the rain.


Do you remember the scene in "The Emperor's New Groove" with the waterfall? Cuzco and Pancha are tied to a tree trunk that's floating down the river. Pancha says, "Uh oh."
Cuzco is in the back and can't see, but he knows what's coming. "Don't tell me, we're about to go over a big waterfall?"
"Yep."
"Sharp rocks at the bottom?"
"Most Likely."
Then Cuzco says, "Bring it on!"


I'm not sure I'm able to say "Bring it on!" but I do want to be land that willingly "drinks in" the rain that God sends me.
By His grace, I know He'll produce the fruit in me.
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My Prayer

"You have granted him the desire of his heart...Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken." -Psalm 21:2, 6-7

This is my prayer - that the desire of my heart would always be to be glad with the joy of His presence and to TRUST in His unfailing love.

Think About It

You've probably heard the statement "You don't know what you've got until it's gone." I think this is sad, yet true.

But have you ever considered the following statement?
You don't know what you don't know until someone tells you.

That's something I've been pondering lately.

You've probably also heard that "ignorance is bliss." Whoever said that clearly didn't know what they didn't know. Most of the time ignorance is actually harmful.

If no one had ever told you about Jesus and you were completely ignorant of His forgiveness and love, would you be living in bliss? Not hardly.
If no one ever told you that sugar is harmful to your body (causes inflamation, contributes to fungus growth, etc.), your mind might be blissful without that knowledge, but your body would still suffer the consequences.

So what's the point of thinking about these statements?

Learn to be a better listener. Be eager to learn new things.
(And feel free to tell me something I don't know.) =)

You might be surprised at what you don't know.

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Champions

I really enjoyed watching the Olympics the last couple of weeks. It's always exciting to see people overcoming obstacles, working hard, and finally achieving their goal of winning a medal. I guess we all think there's something special about champions.

At the same time, I honestly cannot imagine devoting my life to a sport. Some of those athletes train up to 10 hours a day, every day, for years. They sacrifice all kinds of things in order to become the best at what they do. I can admire that kind of dedication, but it saddens me somewhat that it's all in pursuit of a sport.

Yet, most of those athletes put the rest of us to shame. They have a greater love and passion for something inanimate and irrelevant in view of eternity, than we often have for our awesome God.

I've been thinking about what it is exactly that makes them champions. I think the answer is that they in essence lay down their will daily. They die to their lesser desires in order to pursue their greatest desire. That is what enables them to work longer and concentrate harder than other people who give in to those lesser desires for relaxation, more sleep, unhealthy foods, etc.

Many times I've thought that I'd like to have the heart of a champion. But I just don't have the kind of drive and ambition for anything on this earth that it takes to be the best at something. However, after seeing things in this new light, I think God also wants me to have a champion's heart. He wants me to daily lay down my will to Him, dying to my own self-centered desires, and to have a greater love and passion for HIM than for anything else.

That's not something I can somehow "work up" on my own. It's something God has to work in me. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:37? He said we are "more than conquerors" - how? "through HIM who loved us."

Through our own efforts or hard work, we still cannot be overcomers or conquerors. But through JESUS living in us, empowering us, I believe we can all be great Champions!