Is this "The END" or "The NOW" ??

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say:

My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Isaiah 46:10 (NIV)

Walk with the Lord for a little while, and you'll soon realize that the only way to find true joy and peace is to be in the center of His will, obeying His calling for your life.  I've been wondering, pondering, praying over His will for my (and my family's) life.   He pre-packed us for the specific journey He has planned for us to take.  Each of us have gifts, abilities, special ways to serve Him and bring glory to Him while we live here on earth.  We're here for His purpose, not our own.

For months now I've been so focused on "what IS The END?"  What is Your purpose for my life?  I got caught up in trying to figure out what was going to be The END.  How foolish and exhausting!  I guess it's our nature to try to "figure it all out." (especially if our earnest desire is to please Him and live out His purpose for our lives.) 

Have you noticed that focusing on "the END" tends to blur the NOW?   Yesterday, I read in My Utmost for His Highest (by Oswald Chambers) that we tend to get so caught up in "the end," wondering about His purpose that we fail to see God is more interested in our NOW.   How are we responding to this situation now?  Are we trusting Him now?  Are we praising Him in the midst of it, now?  Are we seeking others' counsel or HIS counsel now?  Are we anxious now?  Are we running to His Word now?  Are we growing now?  Whew...these are the NOW results that God is after.  Sooner or later, He'll eventually get us to that "end"-- or "the REASON" we've been placed on this earth.  Remember:  It's the time spent in the desert, being so parched and thirsty for HIM; the being ALONE with Him in the mountain-top AND valley moments---these are the moments in which He is preparing us for that END, or that special "purpose."  

Being shaped or conformed into His dear Son's image, (in other words being a "vessel in the Potter's hands") is sometimes uncomfortable isn't it?  The stretching, the pressure from all sides, the having more "clay" dumped on us, the dizzying affects of spinning around and around on that Potter's wheel---all of these things takes a toll doesn't it? 

This summer is quickly coming to a close, and another chapter of my life may be too.  A new one is beginning.  Do I have "the answer" I've been calling on and waiting for over the past several months?   Well, at first, I was looking for that specific END:  WHY AM I HERE, FATHER?  What is my purpose "for such a time as this?"  I've not really come to "THAT end" yet.  However, I HAVE come to a conclusion..and it's this:   Why rush to "The End" when God is after "our Now"!   The journey, the lessons, the learning to LET GO and TRUST HIM, and LEAVE IT TO HIM to get me to that specific "end" or purpose---THAT is what life as a vessel in His hands is all about---for it is in the NOW that He is shaping us into the image of His OWN Son.  (Did you catch that?  N-O-W....O-W-N.)  We are His OWN special purchase and He's not going to throw us out!  He's going to conform us into the image of His OWN Son, Jesus.  No matter HOW long it takes!  The time is NOW!

Thank You Father, for these wonderful, eye-opening lessons You're teaching me.  We're all a vessel in Your precious hands...and You gently ask us this simple question:  "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, *O house of Israel (You want us to put our name there.)  "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Tammi."  Shape us, add more of Your OWN dear Son into our vessels, take away the dross, purify our hearts and prepare us Father...for one day You will use these vessels of clay to take forth the message of Your Love and Grace, Your OWN Special Son, to others.  You're preparing us NOW for The End.  Thank You for being the Alpha and the Omega...You're the Beginning AND the End...and ALL the In-Between too!  In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Are You Fed Up with the Delivery?

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.   Psalm 37: 3

 

Have you been holding on to something so tightly, and not being willing to let go?  Sometimes our unwillingness to let go stems from a lack of trust--full, wholehearted, trust in Him.  Lack of faith blinds our eyes.  II Corinthians 5:7 says, "for we walk by faith and not by sight."   It seems that having a lack of faith actually blinds our spiritual eyes from seeing the truth in God's Word:  His unfailing promise to never leave us, to provide for us, to shelter us, to lead us, to protect us, to strengthen us, to uplift us, to comfort us--you name it, anything we could ever ask for or need, He's promised to meet that need by His All-Sufficiency.   In our unwillingness to trust Him, we "think" we are walking by "sight," but we're really walking blindly.  

 

The only thing we see is our circumstances.  But we fail to realize that our circumstances are just the "wrapping paper" enclosing a hidden blessing from our Lord.  Looking at our circumstances from that perspective should stir us to run TO our circumstances instead of running from them.  Embrace the storm, and go for the blessing that is within--in the midst you'll find Him there!  

 

Everything comes with permission from our Father, Who has promised to work them out for our good and His glory (if we desire to serve Him) (Rom. 8:28)  And it's all coming to us as a gift from Him.  He purposely wraps them in "not so desirable" paper to test our faith...do we really trust that THIS is coming from our Lord, with a hidden gift and purpose for our growth in mind??  

 

Instead of getting "fed up" with these "special" deliveries, we should trust in the Lord, and do good--because He promised we will dwell in the land of promise and surely be FED.  :o) 

 

Trust Him.  I'm in the learning process too.  In this land of promise where I'm dwelling, He is surely feeding me.  I'd much rather be "fed by Him" and grow, than simply "fed up" with life's circumstances and blindly miss the gift He sent to me.  In this "letting go, yet embracing the hidden gift" process, He gave me a special arrangement of "Only Trust Him."  To take a listen, just click here..Only Trust Him  (it should load automatically.)     

If you're hungry for more out of life, embrace this life and its being wrapped in "brown-paper-bag" circumstances, and be fed by our Lord. 

 

 Dear Father, Please help us..help me...as You're teaching me to let go of "life as I know it," help me embrace the hidden gift of blessing You're sending my way.  But I will go so far as to ask for You to help me share this gift with as many people as You see fit.  Please let these lessons, sometimes difficult as they may be, be given for not just my benefit, but for others' benefit as well, and most of all for Your glory.  One more thing, Father, it would we very wise for us to remember that the greatest Gift You have sent to us is Your Son, and the salvation He offers to us was wrapped up in the most unattractive paper imaginable---the grief and pain of a brutal death on the cross.  To receive this requires us to embrace Your gift of salvation by faith, and "only trust You!"  Thank You, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, for being Our Greatest Gift!   In Jesus' Name, I humbly pray, Amen.

Until He has Control

  And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, 'Samuel, Samuel.'

Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

I Samuel 3:10

"Until He has Control"

No value am I to the Master

Until He has control.

All sufficiency must be of Him

In body, mind and soul.

He loved us enough to redeem us.

He set the captives free.

So now if we'll just yield to Him,

He'll use such as you and me.

It may not be outstanding,

It matters not at all:
As long as our hearts are in tune with Him

And we're listening for His call.

Written by my Grandmother, Belle Sandefur

"Play Me"

An instrument...this could be something used by a doctor to perform surgery, a tool used by a mechanic, or anything that a skilled person uses to perform a specific task.   Even in music, an instrument is used by a skilled person to perform--or to make beautiful music.

When I read Romans 6:13, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God," I imagine the Lord as being a skilled Musician.   Then I apply this verse to my heart.  Am I an instrument in His hands?  I want to be an instrument in His hands used to make beautiful music.   Do you? 

Of course, instruments require some tuning every once in a while.  Thankfully His ears listen to me every day and can tell when something is not "sounding right."   In order for Him to make something beautiful out of my life, He needs to tune me first.   I need to yield to His every "twisting and turning" of the strings, and let Him "pluck the strings" until they sound just right.   After I have yielded myself completely to Him in the tuning process, He will begin to make music out of my life.  

Tuning takes time----so if you find yourself in the process of being "plucked," just be patient.  Sooner or later the Skilled Musician will begin to make a sweet sound from you, others will be blessed, and the Master Musician will be glorified in the masterpiece He has created!

The key is to just yield..and whisper, "Just Play Me."