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K-love DIGGING DEEPER – HOPE Restored in Christ

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hope

 

HOPE Restored in Christ

Excerpt from “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young

 

Come to Me for rest and refreshment. The journey has been too much for you, and you are bone-weary. Do not be ashamed of your exhaustion. Instead, see it as an opportunity for Me to take charge of your life.

Remember that I can fit everything into a pattern for good, including the things you wish were different. Start with where you are at this point in time and space, accepting that this is where I intend you to be. You will get through today one step, one moment at a time.

Your main responsibility is to remain attentive to Me, letting Me guide you through the many choices along your pathway.

HOPE IN ME – GOD

 

This sounds like an easy assignment, but it is not. Your desire to live in My Presence goes against the grain of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Much of your weariness results from your constant battle against these opponents.

However, you are on the path of My choosing, so do not give up! Hope in Me, for you will again praise Me for the help of My Presence.

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!

Psalm 42:11 (NLT)

 

DIGGING DEEPER by K-love – 10 Ways to Teach Your Children to Overcome Obstacles

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23

 

10 Ways to Teach Your Children to Overcome Obstacles

brought to you by 23 Blast

 

 

  1. Be a role model: Kids learn most of what they know about problem solving by watching their parents deal with difficulty. So, demonstrate the deep satisfaction that comes with negotiating a challenge.

 

  1. Equip them with the right tools: Tools such as motivation, self-confidence, perseverance, faith, strength of character, sound judgment, and experience in solving small problems.

 

  1. Play problem-solving games as a family: Scavenger hunts, boardgames, word puzzles. This helps kids understand that obstacles are an important element of a rich and fulfilling life experience.

 

  1. Understand the difference between “childhood” and “irrelevancy:” This is very important! Too many parents offer children neither responsibility nor the respect of expectation. Two truths come out of this point:
  • When we expect nothing of our children, then that’s exactly what we get. Rather than solve problems, they will likely cause them.

 

  • Children who are not allowed to contribute to family life tend to develop other skills instead – and those are typically destructive. It’s important to act as if our children really are an integral part of family life, and that they really do have something of value to contribute.

 

  1. Provide children with practice: Introduce obstacles that kids can deal with; teach them how to develop strategy; encourage them to persevere; and then make a big deal of it when they succeed. Involve children with planning family outings, working out details on vacation, and handling the logistics for other family events.

 

Be a role model

 

  1. Do not reinforce giving up: Never solve a problem for your child that they can (with guidance) solve themselves. Instead, nudge and encourage so that “hanging in there” for success is experienced as much more rewarding than conceding defeat.

 

  1. Be there when failure threatens to overwhelm: This is the other side of the coin. There’s no benefit to abandoning children to failure when the struggle is too huge. Can you help them re-direct? Can you steer them toward success, then back off? Can you be realistic, and counsel with them when an obstacle simply will not budge?

 

  1. Facilitate solution-oriented conversations at the family table: “Hey, kids, what do you think about such-and-such?” “I’ve got a challenging situation – any ideas?” “We’ve decided to slice 10% off the family budget – let’s all talk about what we can do together to make this work.”

 

  1. Volunteer with your children: Find a facility where so-called “handicapped” individuals work hard to overcome obstacles. Participate in community or church projects that call for creative thinking – then let your kids take the lead.

 

  1. Don’t forget balance: Sometimes it’s appropriate to ask for help when an obstacle won’t budge. We don’t drill our own teeth for a filling, most parents need assistance when it comes to funding a college education, and some of us really shouldn’t mess with our own plumbing. Don’t let your children confuse stubbornness with tenacity and perseverance.

 

DIGGING DEEPER K-love – How to Gain Peace for Your Life

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peace

Excerpt from Go Small By Craig Gross

I grew up in California, where you pretty much have to drive wherever you want to go, and since I still live here, I don’t know a whole lot about mass transportation in more compact cities like New York City, Boston, or Chicago.

 

 
But I do know about a man named Clive Jacobsen, and I also know a little bit about how he uses his time on a train that runs from his house in Sydney, Australia, to a town called Shellharbour. Every Sunday, Clive Jacobsen gets on the train with a leather duffel bag, finds a comfortable seat, and settles in for the four-hour journey. He isn’t going to pass the time looking at the scenery out the window, though. Nor will he strike up any conversations with his fellow passengers, read the latest paperback thriller, or scroll through his Twitter feed on a smartphone. Clive Jacobsen will unzip his duffel bag, get out a notepad and a pen, and start writing letters.

 
The letters he writes will eventually find their way to distant countries like Zambia, South Africa, or Thailand. Clive Jacobsen is writing to international prisoners. Criminals.
 He writes to inmates because he was one once. Long ago. Back in the mid-1960s, Clive Jacobsen spent a small amount of time in jail for a relatively minor offense, but he’s never forgotten the sense of isolation and abandonment he felt while he was there. So it seemed only natural that when a letter-writing organization contacted him in 2002 about sending letters to inmates abroad, he seized the opportunity right away.

 
The organization told him he could write to more than one inmate if he liked, so he decided to write to three. As his correspondence went on and he began to develop relationships—however distant—with these men, he began to not only see the massive need for this type of pen pal, but also find some personal fulfillment through it. So he upped it to four. Then ten. Then twenty. Then a hundred.

 

NO ONE IS BEYOND REDEMPTION

 

At last count, Clive Jacobsen now maintains written correspondence with more than 550 prisoners abroad. That is a lot of time on the train. Clive not only sacrifices his time and invites the pain of inevitable hand cramps from handwriting all those letters; he also sacrifices his money. According to Clive, he can spend as much as $200 every month on postage alone, in addition to all the other supplies he uses to organize his correspondence.

 
This guy is an amazing example for all of us, because he’s just doing what God put in front of him. He saw an opportunity to reach out to some of the most marginalized and isolated people in the world and shine a light on them to let them know that no matter what they’ve done, Jesus still loves them and somebody sees them. Clive Jacobsen understands this about them, and his heart goes out to them. In his words, “They can’t undo the crime they’ve done . . . but no one is beyond redemption.”

 
And if you think what Clive Jacobsen is doing does nothing for him, then I would suggest you haven’t thought through this very much. I would imagine that something as small and simple as writing letters to these inmates helps Clive Jacobsen understand his own need for redemption—and reinforces to him how much Jesus has done for him. He isn’t trying to change the world. He’s just trying to bring a little peace into these men’s lives, and in so doing, he brings some peace into his own. And he does it by thinking small.
 Go big or go home? That’s a false choice.
 I encourage you to pull a Clive Jacobsen and go small.

K-love DIGGING DEEPER 01/12/2015

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missing

 

Do You Feel Like Something is Missing?

An excerpt from Transforming for a Purpose By Anita Carman

Questions, questions, questions. They float around in our heads constantly. What will we have for dinner tonight? How will I get this project done by five o’clock? Do I have enough gas to get home? These are all questions that have tangible answers. At some point in the near future, we will have the answers to them.

But what about these questions:

  • What is this constant searching I feel in my heart?
  • Why do I keep falling in love with the wrong person?
  • Why did my mother have to die?
  • Am I on my own . . . again?
  • Does anyone else feel this way?

Do any of those questions strike a chord with you? They do with me . . . because I asked them all at different points in my life. I am just like you. Our stories are different, but we have all felt emptiness, loss, grief, and the emotion that accompanies all of these—loneliness. If you are feeling any of those things right now, know that you are not alone, but also know that you don’t have to hold onto those emotions.

Often, loneliness is a result of the search for someone or something to complete your life. You feel like something is missing, and you are possibly letting life pass you by while you search for something elusive that seems to vaporize before your very eyes. Or perhaps you think you have already found what will complete you, but you are paralyzed by the fear that you will lose it and be incomplete and lonely again. If you have these thoughts and feelings, you are not alone. Everyone seems to be looking for the perfect mate, the perfect job, or the perfect business or ministry partner. We think, “If only I could find my soul mate [or my dream job or the perfect co-laborer], then my life would be complete.”

GOD WILL FILL OUR NEED

Pop culture is notorious for propagating this idea when it comes to the realm of love. Movies tell us that there is one special someone who will complete us. So-called reality television shows depict single people trying desperately to find their one true soul mate in a whirlwind of dates and competitions. Listen to virtually any radio station, and you will hear someone crooning that we are not whole by ourselves. The list could go on and on. But the point is that everyone seems to be searching for a tangible person or thing to fulfill them.

If we buy into the idea that there is one person or thing that will complete our lives, the absence or loss of them can destroy our sense of direction and send our world into a tailspin. The belief that there is someone on this planet who is essential to complete us or to complete our mission in life also puts unrealistic pressure on other people. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Imagine being expected to fulfill all of their dreams, their wishes, their desires. Initially it might make you feel special, but after awhile . . . claustrophobia, disillusionment, and resentment will begin to set in. So is the whole world searching for the wrong thing? Are we looking for something that isn’t possible? God Will Fill Our Need.

The truth is that there is something deep within us that longs to be connected with someone who feels our heartbeat. The fallacy, however, lies in the belief that this connection is only for our personal fulfillment. Genesis 2:15 tells us, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” This explanation of Adam’s mission was quickly followed by God’s declaration that, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). There are two things to notice here. First, God defined the mission—it was to fulfill His purpose, not Adam’s. And second, God gave Eve to Adam as a “helper suitable for him.” God provided the perfect means to fulfill His mission for Adam—and all of mankind.

There is incredible relief in the belief that if there is anyone or anything missing in our lives that will help us complete our God-given mission, God will fill our need. We are not responsible for deciding who or what we need and finding that person or thing according to our timeline. Just as God provided Eve for Adam, He will provide us.

 

 

 

DIGGING DEEPER – K-love – You Deserve a Fresh Start

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dd

A FRESH START TO A NEW YEAR by Jeff Schreve

 

The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” Lamentations 3:22-24

Have I ever told you how bad of a golfer I am? Well, it is true. I am inconsistent off the tee box, can’t chip to save my life, and putt like Herman Munster. That mixture of problems typically results in bad scores. Sometimes I just give myself an “F” for “fun” on the scorecard.

Recently, I was playing golf with a friend. It was a typical day for me on the course, a few good shots and lots more bad shots. After we made the turn for the final nine holes something happened, I started to play better! It was like a scene from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I am sure my friend was wondering, “Who are you and what have you done with Jeff Schreve!” I was on fire!

We got to the last hole. If I shot par on that hole, I would have finished the back nine with a 40, my best score ever for nine holes. Unfortunately, as I stepped to the tee box, the body snatcher left me. The old Jeff Schreve was back, and it wasn’t pretty. I hit tree after tree on my way to a quadruple boogie. UGH! You know what I needed on Hole 18? A do over! I needed my friend to say, “Jeff, that was a bad hole for you. Let’s not count it. Let’s play it again! You need a fresh start to this hole.”

NEW YEAR’S IS GOD’S WAY OF SAYING TO YOU, HERE IS A FRESH START!

My love is new for you to embrace. My compassion is fresh for you to experience, and My faithfulness is great and will never fail you.” How cool is that!?

Do you need a fresh start? Was 2014 a tough year? Did things happen that really messed you up? Did you make some bad decisions that really cost you? Did you get a quadruple boogie on the last hole, so to speak?

Don’t despair! Don’t throw in the towel and quit! God still loves you, and He still has a wonderful plan for you! You can have a “do over” with the Lord.

Listen, my friend, the past is history. You cannot change it, but you can surely learn from it and move forward. Accept the Lord’s love, compassion and faithfulness. Those things from God are not just for other people, THEY ARE FOR YOU TOO!

2015 is going to be a great year IF, IF, IF you will live life with your eyes on Jesus, walking by faith and not by your feelings. What God says IS TRUE! Take Him at His Word! Tee up again, and replay Hole 18. He wants you to. And this time, the results are going to be so much better! Happy New Year!

 

 

K-love Digging Deeper – A New Kind of Resolution

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resolutions

 12/29/2014

 A New Kind of Resolution

By Rachel Olsen, co-author of My One Word:

Change Your Life With One Word

I adore January. Never mind that I usually need to shed some holiday pounds or that I’m no fan of cold weather. The first few weeks of the new year feel pregnant with the possibility that this year I’ll become my best self. Americans love this fresh start feeling. Nearly two-thirds of us make New Year’s resolutions—and I’ve been one of the 90 million who do. What about you?

Any of these sound familiar:

• I’m going to get organized.

• I’m going to lose 10 lbs.

• I’m going to stop running late.

• I’m going to read my Bible early every morning.

• I’m going to be a better spouse … parent … Christian.

Research confirms what you and I have known: Before January ends most of us abandon our list of ways we intended to improve. That ball keeps dropping in New York’s Time’s Square each New Year’s. And we keep dropping the ball on our resolutions to change. That’s because change requires more than a clean calendar page. It takes more than positive feelings or wishful thinking. And transformation takes more than a couple weeks’ effort.

 

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE, BUT FOCUS IS REQUIRED.

 

The problem is our attention is divided. Our lives are fast-paced and demanding. Lots to change divided by busy days (multiplied by frequent frustration) equals little transformation. But there’s a solution equation. Clarity plus grace (multiplied by focus over time) equals transformation.

A Single-Word Focus

That’s why seven years ago I ditched New Year’s resolutions in favor of choosing one word to be my focus for the year. Just one word that represented what I most hoped God would do in and through me in the twelve months to come. I stayed focused on that one word for 365 days. I thought about it, talked about it, journaled with it, and prayed about it. I let it shape my choices and my schedule. And I saw change.

In looking through the lens of a single word, chosen in tandem with God, I found a new approach to personal change mainly because it supplies narrowed focus. In fact, the results each year have been greater and farther reaching than I expected. I want you to try it too. Let me be clear, this is not a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps and will yourself to be different” project. Such an approach rarely works for long. Change, heart-level change – spiritual formation – is an act of God. The human heart is meant to be conformed to His image. The power and provision of God will aid us in that transformation.

This single word will force clarity and concentrate your efforts. And as you focus on your word over an extended period of time, you position yourself for God to form your character at a deep level. Last year my one word was FIRST. It was anchored in the call to seek first God and his kingdom whenever I worried about how I was going to get what I needed or wanted. I encourage you to join the thousands around the nation already choosing their one words for 2015.

 

 

Take Hope in the Manger

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nativity

12/22/2014

Take Hope in the Manger

 

From Louie Giglio’s
Waiting Here For You, An Advent Journey of Hope

Just the Right Time

 

A Savior had been promised to God’s people for centuries. They longed and prayed for rescue. And then on the right day, in the right place, at the right time, Jesus was born.

 

While God rarely comes at our appointed time, He always comes at the right time. All of us are waiting on something, often wondering if God has forgotten us. In your waiting, let the birth of Christ encourage you. Just because God hasn’t come through (as far as you can see), it doesn’t mean He has abandoned you.

HE ALWAYS COMES AT THE RIGHT TIME

To Him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. This very minute He’s working for His glory and for your good. Though circumstances say otherwise, God is going to come through, on schedule, fulfilling His long-appointed plans for you.

 

Don’t give up before the time is right. Take hope in the manger and know that you are loved and prized by the God who stepped down from heaven and arrived at the perfect time for you.

 

How to Remember What Matters Most – K-love Digging Deeper

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what matters most

 

How to Remember What Matters Most

 

Excerpted from The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs

 

It was time. All across Judea people went about their business, trading their goods and tending their flocks, unaware, unprepared. But Mary, Joseph, and all of heaven knew. He is coming. We can’t be certain how close to term Mary was, but definitely “in the later stages of her pregnancy.”

 

Tradition and Hollywood often show her reaching the edge of town at the first contraction, but that’s not found in Scripture. She and Joseph may have been in Bethlehem for some time before she went into labor. With a sigh of relief, we can probably let go of the image of an about-to-give-birth Mary being jostled on the back of a donkey. Even so, she didn’t have long to wait. Joseph and Mary were still in Bethlehem, the streets and houses crowded with visitors, when her pregnant days were over.

 

Like John before him, Jesus didn’t come prematurely but arrived when “the days were fulfilled,” and “she came to the end of her time” at the exact moment God had ordained. Whether she labored three hours or thirty, whether a midwife was present or Joseph alone assisted in the delivery process, Mary gave birth to a son. We have no birth weight, no length, no Apgar score. Were his extremities pink? Was his pulse rate over one hundred? Did he have a strong, lusty cry?

 

He came for those he loves.

He came for you.

 

Here’s what matters most: the prophecies had all come true, the miracle was complete, and the Savior rested in Mary’s embrace. This child of the Holy Spirit was her child too, with ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes, with olive skin and a dark whorl of hair. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” On that sacred day God became more than a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire. He became flesh and blood and bone. He became one of us. Mary focused on caring for her baby while she stored all she’d seen and done “like a secret treasure in her heart.” Some women like to talk their way through experiences; others prefer the Mary approach: “weighing and pondering,” “mulling them over,” and “trying to understand them.”

 

Sometimes the Lord does such a profound work in us and through us that sharing it with others would sound like bragging. Even if we say, “Look what God has done,” others may perceive it as “Look what I’ve done” or “Look how special I am!” God, as always, knows best. The shepherds were noisy, yet the mother of Jesus was quiet. Others would take his story far and wide, encircling the earth with his truth. Mary was called to be his mother—no more and no less. To nurture him, to feed and clothe him, to teach him all she knew of his heavenly Father. As to these things she had treasured up, “holding them dear, deep within herself,” Gabriel had given her quite a list of attributes for this child, starting with “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

 

Whenever she held her baby boy, those angelic words surely ran through her mind. He didn’t look like a monarch, but one day he would be called “Lord of lords and King of kings.” He didn’t have the strength to hold up his head, let alone stand on his feet, yet he is the One “who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” Just as Mary “committed these things to memory,” we can do the same—not only at Christmas time, but all through the year—thinking about who Jesus is and why he came to earth as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. He came for those he loves. He came for you.

 

The Key to an Un-Rushed Christmas

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unrushed
The Rhythm of Rush by Lysa Terkeurst
Not too long ago, I stood at the sink trying to ease the stabbing feeling of stress. I had so much pulling at me. I found myself rushing my husband in conversation. Rushing my kids out the door. Rushing to the next thing and then the next. Rushing to make dinner and then rushing my people through dinner. Exhaustion gnawed deep places in my heart, demanding me to slow down. But how? I’ve made my decisions and now my decisions have made me. Me—this shell of a woman caught in the rush of endless demands.Ever felt like you’ve set your life to the rhythm of rush? Sometimes it takes stepping out of the rush to see things. Not too long after the day I stood at the sink drowning in life, I went to the Holy Land. It was a trip I’d longed to take for years. But as the day to leave marched closer and closer, I wished I’d scheduled it later—another time, a time when life didn’t feel so busy. But the trip was booked, so I went. And I’m forever glad I did. In the Holy Land, busy took a break from chasing me.

This trip forced me to “unrush,” and I discovered I like who I am so much better when I’m not set to the wrong rhythm. I also learned so much about Jesus. His life. His decisions. His lessons. And do you know what the most impactful lesson was for me, personally? Jesus never rushed. He set His life to the rhythm of connection and compassion. With great intentionality Jesus stayed unrushed. This is what I want.
Double Coma
Jesus never rushed
Double Coma
As I stood at my sink that day, this is what I was longing for but didn’t know it. Like Jesus, I must unrush my pace for connection and compassion to take place. As I walked many of the same places Jesus walked, I was struck so profoundly by this. He knew pressure. He knew stress. People pulled at Him everywhere He went. Crowds demanded sermons. Individuals begged for healing. The disciples wanted leadership. Friends wanted time with Him. The religious rulers wanted answers. There was an entire world to save with such limited time.Yet, He didn’t rush. He talked with the woman at the well. He reached out His hand, making contact, and healed the leper. He felt the touch of the woman with the issue of blood and stopped for her. Do you see it? Connection and compassion were central to every interaction. And then for those with whom Jesus was the closest? That’s when He was the most unrushed.

While I was in the Holy Land, I visited the site that’s recorded in Matthew 16:13–20. In the shadow of a pagan temple hustling with unspeakable acts and human sacrifices, Jesus pointed and said, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” He connected truth with Peter’s calling. He compassionately assured Peter that the church would prevail.

I’m sure Peter recalled this conversation many, many times. It must have given him the courage to become one of the most pivotal church leaders in history. And he had this conversation to remember, because Jesus wasn’t too busy to have it. The Lord walked three days out of His way to make one point with Peter. It would seem Jesus was unrushed so He could be incredibly intentional and laser focused on connection and compassion.

If I were reading this right now, I would probably think, That’s great you went to the Holy Land and it helped unrush you, but I can’t do that right now. I understand. So, let this truth from Jesus’ life come to you. It’s not the location that changed me. It was the revelation. Jesus didn’t rush, so neither should I. Tomorrow we’ll talk about an unrushed perspective. But for now, let’s end by praying this very simple three-word prayer: “Lord, unrush me.”