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Against All Hope

June 23rd, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment - Add another now!

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”            Romans 4:18-22

My husband, Shane, and I had the privilege of attending a Christian marriage retreat, specifically for coaches and their wives, this past weekend (coachesoutreach.org, by the way;-). It was wonderful! In the worship sessions, we studied the first 5 chapters of Romans. As I was reading along with the pastor, we came across the above verses. It seemed at though time stood still for me as I read these verses over and over again. It was as if they were written in darker ink than any of the other text. The entire day and night, I thought about these verses. Then, God spoke to me and said this would be the post…

You cannot study God’s word without learning about Abraham. If Abraham lived in our world today, he would totally be on the front of every tabloid magazine. Why? Because he had an incredible life story. If you only knew the ending of Abraham’s story, then you would think he had been this young, strong, well-educated man that was from a strong Christian home and had a beautiful young trophy wife to match. After all, who wouldn’t choose this type of man to say he was ‘the father of all nations’? Wouldn’t this type of man be chosen to begin the bloodline of Jesus, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? The truth is, Abraham’s life story is incredible because of one thing: Abraham believed God. That’s it. We find in God’s word that Abraham’s father worshiped many gods, while Abraham worshiped the one true God. So, it wasn’t his monumental upbringing that moved God’s heart. And as for physical appearance, Abraham was an elderly man (and so was his wife for that matter!) when God decided to let the blessings begin. God showed me, after reading this text, that believing Him was the ultimate characteristic He is looking for. Abraham did not only believe God, but he put his hope in God when there was no reason to hope. The beginning of Romans 4:18 says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” So here is a question: How do you hope in God when there is no reason to hope? The definition for the word ‘hope’ in the dictionary is very different from the definition of how ‘hope’ is used in God’s word. The dictionary says hope is: ‘to desire something, yet having no assurance that it will really happen’. The Bible tells us that here, hope means, ’strong and confident expectation’. That’s it. Abraham was confident that God would come through on the promises He had made. Perhaps you are at a place in your life today that you are finding it extremely difficult to find hope ‘against all hope’. Maybe you really wish God would come through, but that doubt that He just might not, takes your thoughts captive. How do we fix it? How can we have this confidence in God that Abraham had? Well, to be confident that someone will come through for you, you have to KNOW them. Right? I mean, would you meet a stranger or someone you talked to every once in a while, and ask them to do something for you and really be confident they would come through for you? I wouldn’t! But don’t we do it with God? We don’t know Him. That is the problem with the hope. Abraham KNEW God. Verses 20 & 21 say that Abraham was actually strengthened in his faith after facing the fact that he was too old for this to be humanly possible! How often do we totally give up when we see how big our obstacle is and we run the stats on if we can get past it? It makes me want to jump up and down when I think about the fact that Abraham knew God so well, that he was ‘fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised him’!! If you read through Genesis, you will find many examples of where Abraham is talking to God. He went to God with his problems. I also noticed that Abraham didn’t forget to praise God in the good times too. The Bible tells us of numerous times Abraham stopped and build an alter and gave a sacrifice to God. This was done because He praised this Almighty God for just being with Him, being faithful. O how I forget to praise Him for just waking me up in the morning. If you feel hopeless about your situation, God wants you to know that He can provide you hope. To me, Abraham was the most blessed person by God in our history. God began a legacy with Abraham; a legacy that gave us a Saviour! God didn’t choose to bless Abraham because of his physical, mental, or emotional characteristics. It wasn’t about Abraham’s status at work or the money he had or didn’t have. It was the fact that Abraham believed God ‘against all hope’. You may say, “Corrie, it’s 2009 and my circumstances are alot different from Abraham.” This may be true, but thank goodness having different circumstances won’t matter… it’s still the same God.

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Lord, thank you so much for recording your journey with Abraham in your word. It makes me feel so much better to know that when I feel hopeless, hope can be found in you. Help me to remember to take the time to get to know you so that I may be confident in who you are and your power. Draw me closer to you so that I may depend on you for my every breath…

Do Not Forget: Part 2

June 14th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments - Add one now!

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”     Galatians 5:16-17

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”     Galatians 5:22-23

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”   Matthew 16:24

 

In the last post, ‘Do Not Forget’, God reminded me just how often I place other things and other people in front of Him. In writing that post, He refreshed my mind and heart in knowing how involved He wants to be in every aspect of my life… if I would just spend time with Him. As Christians, we know this. But, why is it so difficult for us to do this? Why do we find ourselves failing over and over again to spend more time with God? Thankfully, God gives us the answer in the following post. Part 2 begins…

Have you ever been on a diet? I don’t like diets because I don’t do well on them. You know why? I don’t like to NOT eat stuff that taste good! :-) Diets mess with my mind, I think. When I know I can’t have something, it makes me want to eat it even more! I can be full up to my eyeballs and Canaan will leave a couple of chicken nuggets and you know what? I eat them!!! Why? Why? Why? The answer is lack of self-control (yep, I don’t want God to go here any more than you do). But before I can use it in my eating, I must learn to use it in my spiritual life first. Self-control. Not a great topic for us but a necessary one, according to our Lord. This past month, God has opened up my heart to focusing on the fruit of the spirit. He began working with me on self-control. At first, I was confused by this because self-control is the last fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:23. But the more I learned, the more I realized this is the key in strengthening my relationship with God and that’s why I needed to begin here. In Galatians 5:16-18, Paul tells us that, as Christians, we must be led by the Holy Spirit. If we are not, we will gratify our own desires, which are sinful. Several places in the Bible, we find Jesus saying that we must ‘deny’ our self in order to follow Him. Deny, by definition, means ‘to restrain oneself from gratification of desires’. I began to think about that and I realized that there is very little that I ‘restrain myself’ from to follow Christ. What do I deny myself from or when do I exercise self-control with God? God sacrificed His son so that you and I can have a home in Heaven. He wants to be close to me and only asks for my time; Time to worship Him and praise Him before I do something I want to do; Time to ask Him for forgiveness for hurting Him before I need to go somewhere I want to go; Time to offer up my burdens that HE asked me to bring to Him before I spend my time with the very people He put in my life. That, my friends, is simply nothing for me to sacrifice or to deny myself. So, a closer walk with God, (going from an introduction to an intimate friendship) has alot to do with self-control. We must exercise self-control in putting Him first. This is difficult, I know. But God’s word tells us that it is difficult because what we want and what God wants is contrary to each other (makes sense of why it’s hard sometimes to do the right thing). God tells us we will feel this controversy, but we must choose Him. We can’t afford to have distance between us and God, so this is extremely important. When we want to watch TV to wind down at night, we must go to God first. When we want to eat in the morning or get ready, we should spend the time with Him first. I hope you will join me in thinking about your day and night and finding ways to deny our self something in order to put Him above our wants and desires. If you are a Christian (meaning, you have accepted Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior), and you feel that there is distance between you and God, this is the way to close the gap. 1 John 1:5-6 says, “…this is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” Well, if there is one thing we know Jesus did, it was to spend time with the Father. He made time. Spending time with God was everything to Jesus. It must be everything to us. We will set the DVR or rush home early to prevent missing our favorite show. But, seldom do we deny ourselves or move something or someone out of our way if it threatens to come between the time we have with our Lord. I hope that you and I will exercise that necessary fruit of the spirit: self-control. If we do this, we will ‘not forget’ Him. If we are tempted to do something else when God is prompting our hearts to spend time with Him, may we remember Calvary… enough said.

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Lord, I want to be close with you. I hate when there is distance between us. And most of all, I hate that I caused the distance. I want to put you ahead of everyone and everything in my life. You have given so much for me. Help me to use this precious gift of self-control in every aspect of my life. i praise and honor you for my every heart beat and my every breath. May I live my life for you alone.

Do Not Forget

June 4th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments - Add another now!

“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”    Deuteronomy 4:9

“Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day.”    Deuteronomy 8:11

I can’t wait to get to Heaven. We will finally get to see Jesus face to face! We will be able to worship this God we have believed in for so long. And seeing all my loved ones! So exciting! You may laugh at this, but when I get to Heaven, there are people from the Bible that I really want to meet too. I want to meet David (I bet the Goliath story is even cooler hearing David tell it in person!) and I definitely want to meet Paul. I want to sit and talk with Moses for a while. I have a bone to pick with Eve, though (I blame all my pain of childbirth on her! Thanks Eve!–Just kidding). Heaven is going to be a wonderful place where we can worship our Lord. And, we will worship Him along side all these believers we read about in God’s word. I believe one of those people will be Solomon. Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon. If you haven’t read it, I challenge you to do so. It is only 12 chapters, but it is so very powerful. This is Corrieology, but when I read Ecclesiastes, I imagine it is being written as sort of an interview with Solomon on what he has learned in his life. Have you ever heard the phrase, “they’ve got everything under the sun” ? This comes from Solomon. He shares that though he was wise (the wisest man ever, as a matter of fact), had pleasure, power, and wealth, he was empty. He tells us that nothing mattered without God. He says that everything ‘under the sun’ was worthless and that a relationship with God was everything. He mentions more than once, to ‘remember your creator’. Throughout God’s word, we are told time and time again, not to forget God. At first, that seemed silly to me. I thought, “I could never forget God!” Then, I looked at the definitions for forget. One definition really bothered me. It read, “to treat with inattention or disregard”. Wow. Do you know how many times I have paid more attention to something or someone else more than God? Countless times. In Judges, we read the story of how God’s people, the Israelites, disobeyed God when He told them to drive out the Canaanites. The Canaanites were ungodly people, doing their ‘own thing’, living their ‘own way.’ God didn’t want His children to conform. Judges 3:7 says, “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord: they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.” They forgot God. They worshiped something else. Do we realize that we worship other things when we refuse to make time for God? That we are ‘inattentive’ or ‘disregard’ the fact that He wants us to talk with Him when we get up in the morning before we eat our breakfast or drink our coffee. BEFORE. I must stop trying to fit God in where it is the easiest for me then mark it off on my ’spiritual checklist’. This is my creator. As a Christian, sometimes we feel so very distant from God. Satan loves when we feel this way. We feel sorry for ourselves. We get down and out because we think, “God’s just not hearing my prayers.” We must not forget. God is teaching me that when I get into a spiritual rut, I can just go to God and tell Him that I remember. I remember the day He saved me. I remember the day He did ‘this’ for me and ‘that’ for me. And pretty soon, the distance is gone! We are together again. What about you? Do you feel distant from God today? If you are His child, all you have to do is remember. What has God done for you? Satan needs us to feel alone and isolated. He doesn’t want us to remember how God rescued us before. God tells us all we have to do is utter His name and He will run to us. That name is powerful, my friends. That name conquered death! But that name can never be forgotten. I hope you will join me this week in remembering God on a daily basis. There will be a ‘part two’ to this post. But for now, we must not forget our creator. Look at the clock for 10 seconds before you read the rest of this post (Stop here and then resume reading).

(Resume) Now, know that it was God who allowed you to breathe during those 10 seconds… He is sustaining us even when we don’t realize it… we must not forget Him.

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today: Lord, please forgive me for forgetting you. I break your heart so often, yet You continue to love me and bless me. I want to remember Your power, Your love, Your mercy every day. Help me to know I cannot exist without you, nor do I wish to…

 

Five Stones

May 20th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment - Add another now!

“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17: 40

Since I was a little girl, one of my favorite Bible stories is David and Goliath. When I read it as an adult to my little boy, I can’t help but visualize of how that day of battle might have taken place. Let’s look at the story more closely…

I can just see David, this young shepherd boy who came to The Valley of Elah that day, bringing lunch to his big brothers. I am sure when David left, he didn’t think bringing some cheese and bread would turn into such an eventful day! How creepy it must have been to hear the loud, obnoxious voice of a nine foot giant, yelling and screaming death threats! As his brothers shared their frustrations and fears of this angry man named Goliath, David listened. In 1 Samuel 17 verse 26, David couldn’t believe that someone would actually challenge the ‘armies of the living God’. Out of all the things David could have said, he is more worried about this man challenging the power of his God! No wonder the rest of them looked at him like, “This guy is going to kill us and your worried about what God thinks?” But you see, that is why David is known for having that phenomenal relationship with God. David immediately is defensive of his God. How often do we think about God’s feelings in our battles? Then, David stands to basically say, “Well, I’ll fight him.” God’s word says that people around him took this gesture as being arrogant and conceited. But the confidence that David exhibits, comes from the fact that he already knew the outcome of this battle. Why? Because he knew his Lord. David had such a close relationship with God that he knew God would prevail. I don’t think he cared much about the ‘how’, but the outcome was a sure thing. We fail at this time and time again. We have a battle and then we worry and stress over the outcome. Why? Because we don’t know the one who holds the outcome. The more I read God’s word and the more time I spend with Him, the less doubts I find that come in my head. The worry is diminished because I know God is for my good. God has shown me that David agreed to fight Goliath because he knew he was only the ‘body’ that God would use. It was God’s battle; not David’s. David could have made it his battle, but he knew from the beginning and continued to remember that the battle was the Lord’s (vs 45 ). Then I noticed that David meets with Saul because (let’s face it) everybody wanted to meet this fool that was going to take on this giant! Saul gives David an armor. David refused. God then leads David to pick 5 smooth stones for his slingshot. It is interesting to me that David refused the defense the King offered him. Often times, we are in a battle in our life. And rather than trust what God gives us to fight with, we feel we need more protection, so we put on whatever the world suggests. The world suggests alcohol/drugs to numb things just a little; it suggests that maybe we just need to run away from it all; the world suggests harsh words that lash and cut; the world suggests we fight with self-help books and talk shows; the world suggests we hold resentment and put only distance between us and the ones who hurt us. Then we wonder why we feel as though we are drowning and the battle rages on. God gave David 5 stones. Not 4, not 6…5 stones. David had these 5 stones, a staff, and a sling shot. If I were David, I probably would have said, “God, are you kidding? Don’t you think I need at least some kind of little dagger or a sharp- kind- of- something?!!! How about a bigger rock at least!!” David picked up the defense God gave him and defeated that giant. I guess what I am trying to say is that I want to be content with God in battle. I want to trust Him with every single aspect of my life. I want Him to control every part of me; my mind, my heart, my body. With this trust, I will be able to fight with whatever and however He leads. God placed this story on my heart tonight. I know many of us are facing battles in our lives at this very moment. If you are God’s child, He promises to be your defender. I noticed that none of the circumstances surrounding David ever became an obstacle for him. He never said, “I’m too small; I’m too young; I’m not skilled; everybody is talking about me and saying I can’t do this.” David knew none of these factors changed the outcome of the battle. David knew who was ‘really’ fighting this battle. How often we get side-tracked by the obstacles around us. For you see, it wasn’t the 5 stones that defeated Goliath, and it wasn’t the boy who slung them…it was God’s power which came because of David’s obedience to fight the way God wanted. We have to remember that if we ask God to fight the battle, then we have to fight it His way. What are your stones God has given you to fight with? Is it silence in the heat of an argument? Is it forgiving someone who has hurt you? Is it simply waiting on Him? Is it burying yourself in His word for more time with Him? To me, the stones are symbolic of David’s faith and obedience to God in the battle. This story tells me that the reason David won the battle with 5 stones is because David trusted the One who told him to gather them…

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Lord, thank you for this powerful story. Thank you for showing me the significance of David’s 5 stones. Help me to grow closer to you so that I may know you more. Help me to give my battles to you and be obedient to fight with what you tell me to. I trust you with my life, Lord. Be my defender…

Grace > Sin

May 10th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment - Add another now!

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I but the grace of God that was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:9-10

I do not like math. I didn’t like it in school and I don’t like it any better now (and by the way, I don’t use all that math in real life like some of my math teachers said that I would!). I guess when Canaan starts to get past addition/subtraction/ division/multiplication, I will have to call in a tutor! I can remember a section in math that was called: Greater than, less than, or equal to. It had these symbols at the top of the page: > < = Rember those? All I remember of that section was that it was about finding out how one particular number (or X…why X? :-) measured up in comparison to other numbers. This moved me to think about how we feel sometimes. We are given the illusion by Satan that even as Christians, our past and present mistakes automatically make us ‘less than’ worthy to God. Let’s see what God’s word says…

Have you ever compared yourself to other people and then walked away feeling so much less as a person? Perhaps you have said to yourself, “Well, I am just as good as they are.” As humans, we are constantly motivated by the world to keep up with the latest fashions, technology, political issues, music, and the list goes on and on. We even become convinced that our body isn’t like “so and so’s” or that we need a better career, car, house, etc. This concept of comparing can spill over into our Christian walk as well. Many times, Satan preys on God’s children. He tells us that we will never be close with God because of our past. He tells us we can never be the Godly spouse, parent, child, boss, employee, grandmother, etc., because our past sin is too great. When this lie from Satan is re-enforced with depression, an abusive childhood, a rocky marriage, or low self-esteem, distance from God is formed. So, what do we do to block these thoughts from creating distance from the God who loves us? To dispell a lie, one must know the truth. The truth about ‘measuring up’ with God is in His word. Grace is the word that destroys the lie of Satan. What is grace? Grace, by definition, means the ‘unmerited favor’ of God. Unmerited tells us that when we become God’s child by salvation, we do not have to do anything to earn His love. Grace is given to us to help us live in the land of the living. God’s favor is given to us because He loves us, not because of what we do or even who we are. Wow. It absolutely blows my mind that the God of Abraham, the God who knows the number of every grain of sand, wants to favor me! Insignificant, inadequite, me. Perhaps you struggle with feeling ‘less than’ in your Christian walk. God wants us to know that we don’t have to worry about qualities that we do or don’t possess, but that we understand that it is He that works within us. Understanding God’s grace gives us the courage to walk in this old world until He retuns for us. Paul explains grace wonderfully in the verses above. Paul is one of the most renound warriors for proclaming the gospel. But Paul didn’t begin that way. Paul’s past was one of persecuting God’s people. But because of grace, everything changed. Paul simply says that as a human, He is so unworthy. The fact that God worked through Paul, made the difference. Great things were done by Paul only by the grace of God working in and around him. Today is Mothers’ Day. Are you a mother that feels as though she has failed at everything, especially with her children? Are you a mother that feels as though she is always less than other people in every aspect? Maybe you are God’s child that has walked away. If you want to close this distance between you and God, take time to understand the awesome concept of His grace. Perhaps you are burdened by mistakes you have made in your past or even yesterday. Romans 5:20 tells us that where sin is increased, grace is increased all the more. How comforting this verse is to me. Though we must strive to flee from sin, it gives me hope to know that even though I fail in my walk with God, grace is greater than my failure. Grace is greater than sin. You must understand that God works through you to minister to your family. God reaches out through you to help others. God loves through you to your family and friends. That is the greatest news to me today. I know that as long as I stay close to God, Canaan will have everything he ever needs. God will love Canaan through me. What a concept!I hope you will join me in accepting that grace is greater than sin (grace > sin). That is one math concept I can use! :-) Give God your feelings of inadequacies and allow Him to do something awesome through you. Give Him your past so He can give you your future…

Happy Mothers’ Day!

Corrie
My prayer for today: Lord, how thankful I am for the concept of grace. I, alone, am nothing. But with your Holy Spirit living within me and working through me, great things will be done in your name. May you bless each person who reads this post. May they come to you and give you all their fears and failures. I pray that they come to know your grace and allow you to love and work through them…

Mothers’ Day Celebrations

May 10th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments - Add one now!

Thanks to the ladies of New Prospect Baptist Church in Haleyville, Alabama, for allowing me to speak at their Mothers’ Day Banquet. The fashion show was hilarious and God’s presence was sweet as we opened our hearts to His word. I would also like to thank the women of Harmony Grove Baptist Church in Winfield, Alabama, for inviting me to share my heart at their Mothers and Others luncheon. After a time of wonderful fellowship (and the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever eaten!), we learned of the great spiritual responsibility God has entrusted us with, as mothers, until He comes. I had a wonderful time with my sisters in Christ!

Love,
Corrie

Closing the Distance

April 26th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments - Add one now!

(Please read 2 Samuel Chapters 11-12 before reading the post)

“…and they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.”
1 Samuel 12:19 (beginning in the last part of verse 19) – 20.

I love studying the Bible and all the people God chose to let us read about. But, you know what? There is one person that I am extremely thankful that God didn’t leave out… David! I love to study about David. To me, we can learn so much from him. When David was just a young boy, God let him defeat a giant and become a hero! Here is a man that God loved so much that he chose to be Israel’s king. He even favored David so that He allowed Jesus to come from David’s bloodline. Why? God loved David because David’s passion was making his own heart reflect God’s. In order to make your heart mirror someone else, you must know that person very well. David is one person that we can study in order to know exactly how to have a phenomenal relationship with God. That is one reason I am eager to learn about David. The closeness that was between David and God is what I want too. But, I also noticed another reason I am thankful for David’s story being told in God’s word. David shows us what to do when we mess up and how to ‘get it back on the road’ with God. Before God founded my ministry, I would find myself distant from God and had no clue how to ‘get back’ to Him. I kept wondering how I could keep this from happening with me and God again? God began to show me that preventing distance was all about maintaining closeness. Yep…Duh! Anyway, Filling the Gap is all about the relationship with God and learning that even though sin does distance us from our Father, the cross brings us back with Him again and again through forgiveness. Here’s the kicker: God gets all this. We kind of…. don’t. I always ask God to forgive me for allowing sin to come between Him and me but then I fail to believe He has forgiven me and continue wallowing in self pity(all the while keeping distance). Here’s where David comes in as a great example. In 2 Samuel Chapter 11, David sets his eyes on another man’s wife. To make the story shorter, David commits adultery with Bathsheba and then (to make matters worse) plots to make sure her husband dies on the front lines of battle. But then God sends Nathan to convict David of this sinful spiral he is in. Then, David closes the distance between him and God… he repents. David admits what he did was hurtful to God. David’s sin had repercussion. David’s child that he had with Bathsheba (apart from God’s plan) was taken from him by death. Now, what happens next is the whole point of the post that God placed on my heart. David was honest with God about his emotions and pleaded with God not to take his child. But when the child died, when God did what God thought was best, David worshiped Him. Unbelievable. David worshiped God. Why? How? I believe it was because David knew God so well that He trusted God’s plan for his life. It was that relationship that was in place before anything happened. This is the true meaning of Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” This verse does not say “some things” or “only the things we do that are good”. God can even take our sin and work it out to be the very best for us! The question is do you trust Him? Maybe you feel distant with God right now in your Christian walk. We have proof and a road map on how to be close to God instantly. Tell God you want Him to forgive you, work on a new plan to keep from letting it happen again, and move on to worshiping Him. Why? Because God knows the very best for you and me. I want to have faith like David. I want to know that even when I fail the very God I love so much, I can trust Him with all my decisions. I hope you will too. The good news is that when we do trust God with everything, He proves Himself over and over again. David’s proof of Romans 8:28? A spiritual legacy that gave us a Savior!

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Lord, how often I fail you. I am so glad that you are the God of forgiveness and that you run to me before I even realize you are there. Forgive me for placing distance between you and I by not accepting that forgiveness. Help me to be like David. Help me to know that you do what you say you will do…

Heartbeat

April 19th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments - Add one now!

“My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.” Psalm 119:112

I know it has been sometime since my last post. Many of you who know me, know that I ONLY write a post when God Himself prompts my heart to do so. These past two weeks, I kept waiting…wondering. Then, God gave me the post. It came about when my son, Canaan, said something so sweet and innocent, yet inspired by the very God of Abraham, Moses, and Jacob. May God speak to your heart as He did to mine through the wisdom of a child….

“Mommy! I can feel my heart beating,” Canaan said, with his little hand over his chest. ” That’s wonderful babe!” (I said, making a big deal over this as a proud momma does :-) But his next sentence caused me to be almost speechless. Turning to walk away, Canaan looked at me and said, “Mommy, it will just keep beating til’ I get to Heaven.” Wow. I began to think, “Am I really living day to day, with my heart ‘beating’ only for Him? Am I so attached to the world that I forget to see it as only my temporary destination? I searched for the definition of the word heartbeat. It means, ‘one complete pulsation of the heart’. At that moment, it occurred to me that I must monitor my spiritual heartbeat. One complete pulsation… I am not complete without my Lord as the driving force of my day and night. Once you have given your heart to God, He owns it. He possesses it. But the heartbeat of our spiritual life is all about the relationship with Him on a daily basis. We, as His children, must keep ‘beating’ until He returns or until He calls us to be with Him. I must confess that in my spiritual heart, the beat is sometimes so soft and slow it becomes dangerous. My spiritual heartbeat becomes irregular. Irregular, by one definition, means “lacking perfect symmetry.” How descriptive of my relationship with God at times. I so very often lack that perfect symmetry when I am one with Him and He is leading all my decisions, all my emotions, all of my thoughts, resulting in all (not just some) of my words. Yes, it is no mystery that our world is a very difficult place to be. However, it is required by God’s people to be His very heartbeat, reaching out to those who have no hope. You may say, “how can I reach out to others when I, myself, seem to have so much despair?” The answer comes through checking your own spiritual heartbeat before you can be His. It is about the relationship (the symmetry of your heartbeat with His). Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Wellspring means ‘a source of continual supply’. Supply of what? Luke 6:45 tells us that whatever is stored up in the heart is whatever comes out of the heart. Today, will you join me in checking your spiritual heartbeat? Is is faint because of trials you are going through? Is is irregular because it is not one with our Lord in a close relationship? I pray that after reading this post, you will give your heart to Jesus if you don’t know Him as Lord and Savior. If you have accepted Christ through salvation, I pray you check your spiritual heartbeat and run to Him, seeking a close relationship with Him. And then… may it be our passion to “beat” until He comes!

Love,
Corrie

The Egg Tooth

April 5th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment - Add another now!

OLD TESTAMENT:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”      Isaiah 9:6-7

NEW TESTAMENT:

“From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”       Matthew 16:21

 
Easter is one week away. Every year, I find myself more and more excited about Easter. As a Christian, I love to celebrate the birth of Christ, because I know, without that special night in Bethlehem, we wouldn’t have a Saviour. But the day that Savior arose? Wow! The day death was conquered! The day that made it possible for me to have an eternity and be forgiven! Chill Bumps, my friends, chill bumps. So, with that in mind….

The other day, I was making Canaan one of the many snacks that I make for him a day (you moms know what I mean :-) . A commercial came on “his” station and it was one of those teaching/fact things. It said that birds are born with a sharp horn-like instrument on the edge of their beaks, called an egg tooth. This tool, which is given to them before birth (while they are in the egg), enables them to crack out of their egg and hatch. It provides them a way out of a situation that they don’t need to be in any longer. I must tell you, that commercial stayed on my mind all day, all night, and all weekend. When it came time for my post today, I knew God wanted me to sit down and really apply the concept of the ‘egg tooth’ spiritually. You see, before the foundation of the earth, God knew that there would come a day that He would provide you and I a way to be forgiven for our sins. God cannot and will not, tolerate, look at, have any part of, sin. This plan He came up with? Our own “Egg Tooth”… Jesus. It is important for us to realize the strategy behind Easter. It is even more important for us to realize the reason behind the strategy—LOVE. John 3:16 tells us this. God didn’t just look at the world and decide to do something. God knew beforehand. He always knows. Just as He knew the bird would need a way out of it’s shell, He knew you and I would need someone to save us from our sins. We needed a way out of Hell. The scripture at the top of the post confirms this. Before we were born, before Jesus was born, God knew the way out. I wanted us to look at the fact that the plan of the crucifixion and resurrection was set in motion before Christ walked upon the Earth. Isaiah prophesied about the plan. Jesus told the disciples about the plan.What about you? Do you realize you have an ‘egg tooth’? Have you realized that you have access to the greatest gift ever given? I hope you will accept the ‘way out’. I hope you will ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and to come into your heart and save you. Oh. I almost forgot. There is another avenue to the whole ‘egg tooth’. For the Christian, we continue to have a way to break free from the trials of this life. I am not saying the trials will be taken away, but I am saying we are equipped with an ‘egg tooth’ for the trials that come. It is the one thing Jesus left us with when He ascended: The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within the Christian and enables us to have God’s attributes (fruits of the Spirit). For you see, without the Holy Spirit, I (Corrie) am nothing more than a sinner with nothing worthy to bring before my Lord. But with God’s Holy Spirit dwelling with in me, I can be kind, peaceful, forgiving, merciful, loving, honorable, … the list goes on. It is important that we know and remember the distinction. The Holy Spirit allows us to have an intimate relationship with God. It is the only way we can live in the land of the living. As the end of time draws near, perhaps you are going through a trial. Perhaps you are going through a trial that seems so dark and scary, you feel trapped and see no end to it whatsoever. I hope you will remember the ‘egg tooth’. From salvation to the Holy Spirit, God never forgets to provide a way out. If He remembered it for the tiniest of animals, like the bird, He will also not forget you. May we remember our ‘egg tooth’ when we feel the following: ” We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-12.

Love,
Corrie

My prayer for today:
Father, I am so thankful for your wisdom, your power, your forgiveness, and most of all, your love. Before I was ever born, you provided me a ‘way out’ of my sin. I can never repay the debt I owe but because of your heart, I don’t have to. Help me to remember that not only do you provide salvation, you provide strength for my trials. Help it to be enough for me…

Siloam

April 5th, 2009 by Corrie | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments - Add one now!

‘Thank you’ to the ladies of Siloam Missionary Baptist Church in Russellville, Alabama, for inviting me to be a part of their annual women’s luncheon. We came together this past Saturday for both physical and spiritual food. The theme was, “The many hats women wear”, and God truly blessed each heart that attended. May we remember to be wise women who remember to give our ‘hats’ to God….

Love,
Corrie

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