God is the Best Doctor

I was thinking about how we go to the Doctor to get help
when we have a sickness that is beyond our fixing. Or we
go to the doctor when we have pain and we don’t know
where it’s coming from. Another reason we go to the doctor
is when we break a bone or to see if it’s broken or not. I don’t
know if you rush to the doctor right away when your little one
gets a fever or a cough (unless it’s your first child right?!), but
after you’ve had more than one child, you “wait” and see how
the Tylenol works. You wait to see if you can keep the fever
below 102˚. At least this is what I do. If I can keep a handle
on it, I would rather figure it out. Get out some cold washcloths,
drink lots of liquids and pray. I only go to the doctor if I can’t fix
it myself.
I started thinking about how this can look in our spiritual lives. We
can tend to think we are doing alright as long as it’s not urgent- as
long as it’s not an emergency and in need of rushing to the
emergency room! We can be hurting, sad, bitter, angry, envious,
prideful or judgmental, but even to the smallest degree, these
are all sicknesses. In fact, we were born sick, and in need of a
doctor- “The” Doctor- The Master Physician: Jesus Christ. This
doctor has ALL the answers to staying healthy, and if we will listen
and learn and remember to come to Him constantly, we will find
healing and stay healthly! My heart is to honor God, and yet I
find that these little sicknesses constantly pop up in my life.
I also find that if I don’t acknowledge my sickness (sin in
my life), then it gets worse. I am only reminded how sick I
am when I have my visit to THE doctor. It’s in this time that
I spend praying or reading my Bible or asking for the healing
medicine (Jesus’ forgiveness through his blood on the cross)
that I remember that I can be healed instantly.
I’m talking about our spiritual lives & we can’t get healthy
on our own,no matter how hard we try. Even with the greatest
intentions and the best effort, we need to be forgiven by Jesus,
the true Healer and Redeemer. Let’s make sure to visit our
Master Physician on a regular basis and we will be as healthy
as can be!

Matthew 9:12: "Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

seasons

I am soooooo done with summer! I can't wait for the days of chilly mornings, falling leaves, scarves, hot coffee and a good book with my fireplace glowing. Ahhhhhh, can't you smell something yummy baking in the oven? In fact, the other day I was so ready for Fall to be here that I actually baked some pumpkin muffins. Then suffered for the rest of the day because I broke the cardinal rule of NO OVEN during the summer.
I was thinking about seasons and how it is so awesome that the Lord gave us seasons to mirror our lives. Isn't it so true that we pass from one period to another in our lives, just as the earth goes through a changing of seasons. Funny thing about seasons though, it seems we are never quite content in the one we are in. For a while maybe, then we start itching to be in the next one. We love the summer when it comes, but toward the end, we long for a day without heat and enormous air conditioning bills. And the winter brings joys of Christmastime and family gatherings, but eventually we long to sit in solitude and not constantly have another party to go to. This is also true with the seasons of our lives.
I don't know what season you are going through right now. It may be one of joy, and for that I rejoice. But it may also be one of sorrow and pain, perhaps waiting or longing. For you, I have this thought.
Jesus, experienced this too. And for Him, I can only imagine how difficult it was. He experienced a season of time on this planet that lasted about 30 years. Imagine, our Savior, who never before had been held captive by time, having to live minute by minute, hour by hour, year by year. I am so grateful that the Bible reminds us that He is our great High Priest who is able to sympathize with us because He experienced all that we have on this planet. Hebrews 4:13-15
If you are in a season that you are desperate to get out of, I would say ths to you. Call on the loving name of Jesus because He has been there! Only in Him can you find peace, and only in Him can you find joy in the middle of life's most difficult seasons.
Praying for you,
Mariah

Are you taking up your cross?

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up His cross and follow me.” I have heard that all of my life. Growing up in the church means that you hear a lot of scriptures, A LOT of times. It is one that I have quoted to people and one that I have even put on my refrigerator. I have known in my head what this means, but recently, God showed it to my spirit.
I was talking to God on the way home from church the other day. We had just had a great service where Jesus’ name was lifted high. Passion was stirring in me and I wanted so badly for God to have every area of my life. The reality is though, that certain areas are always hard to give up, and just because we say that we want God to have them, doesn’t mean we won’t snatch them back when it gets uncomfortable. (Anyone know what I’m talking about?) Being aware of this, I openly confessed to God, “Lord, I know that until I am made perfect in heaven, I have this flesh that is bent toward sin. I hate it, but I have to carry it with me, so would you please help me?”
A few minutes later, Mt. 16:24 came to my mind. I thought about it for a few minutes. I mean, I REALLY thought about it. This is what we call “meditating” on scripture. Focused, directed thought, put toward understanding God’s Word is usually always rewarded with a greater knowledge and understanding, making the words more than just words, but life to us. This is what the Lord showed me.
Have you ever carried something really heavy? I don’t mean for a second, but for a sustained amount of time? I will never forget the time that I “tried” to carry in a new couch with my husband that we had just bought. It was just a loveseat actually, how heavy could it be? BUT, it was a loveseat with recliners, making it twice as heavy as it looked. As soon as we got it out of the truck and started walking, I knew I was in trouble. After what felt like ages, we finally got to the door, and realized that we would have to flip the couch on its side to get it in. I will spare you the rest of the story and just tell you……it didn’t end well.
When we are carrying something heavy, all of our attention is focused on just that, how heavy it is! We aren’t thinking about what we will eat for lunch, or what time we are going to go to bed. Nothing but the weight we are carrying.
Let’s look back at the verse. When Jesus says that we are to take up our cross and follow Him, how in the world did I ever miss the fact that it would be heavy? But here is the beauty of it. When I choose to pick up my cross and follow after Jesus, my mind is going to be so intently alert at the assignment of following Him, that I will have little attention to give anything else.
This brought me so much freedom because now, I saw the answer to how I had to handle my flesh. Instead of carrying around the arduous task of trying so hard not to sin, I now saw that when my mind is intent on carrying my cross and following Jesus, I just won’t sin.
Now it would be nice if our Christian walk could be like everything else in our culture today, quick and convenient! Put in your hour on Sunday morning, pray before dinner, maybe read a verse or two a couple of times a week, and viola, life is easy as pie! We have bought into this lie for way to long my friends, myself included!
Although completely worth it, carrying our cross means denying ourselves. Denying that very strong fleshly, childish, selfish nature that we all have with us in these bodies. And sometimes, it hurts. So don’t think that it is lightly that I say, “I just won’t sin if I am carrying my cross.” But, if I am carrying my cross and following after Jesus, carefully placing my feet in the dusty imprints of my leader, cautious to not get too far behind and diligent in recording His every move, my flesh won’t be afforded much thought. Oh the victory that comes through that.
So what does this look like? It begins with conversing with God through prayer, reading the Bible, meditating on it and memorizing it. Unless we know who Jesus is, how can we follow Him? I promise you this, (even though I may have just freaked you out,) you will find that carrying your cross is not only the heaviest thing you have ever carried, but also the one thing that you would never dream of putting down. Psalm 34:15 tells us that “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry.” Rich blessing follows us when we decide to forsake all for the glory of living for Him.

Mariah

Have you ever raised your hands in worship? Or maybe you have been in a church service where people lifted their hands while singing and it made you uncomfortable. Perhaps it could even be that you would like to lift up your hands while you sing, but don’t really understand what it means, so you hold back. I shared this thought on one reason we lift our hands in worship at the Unmasked conference at Crossroads Christian Church in March, but I have recently been asked about this topic a lot, so I thought that I would write it down.
When two nations are at war and one side wants to concede to the other, they know that the international sign of surrender is hands raised in the air. I have seen countless pictures of soldiers surrendering in this way. In essence, they are saying, “I give up control. I am giving up what I am fighting for and placing my life in your hands to be at your mercy.” It is a physical outward sign to show what is going on inside.
The next thing that I want to note about this position of surrender is that the hands are high above the head. Why is this so important? I believe one reason is that with the hands high, there is little to no chance that the soldier can reach down and grab at anything. They are completely exposed and bare.
Would you now look at this concept in the view of worship? When we worship God, we have to make HIM the entire object of our worship. But that is hard to do right? I mean, sometimes there are a thousand other things vying for our attention. Menial things perhaps, like what is for lunch or what you have to do before the week begins. Or maybe they are even more pressing. Maybe it is a struggle to worship because you have unconfessed sin in your life or you feel guilty because you are doubting God. Whatever it is, we are not truly worshipping if God is not the focus. So where do we start? Surrender! We have to step aside and lay down anything that is keeping us from looking fully at God and lifting Him up.
Lifting our hands in worship to our King can be an outward expression of what is going on inside of our hearts. We are saying, just like the soldier, “I give up control. I am giving up what I am fighting for and placing my life in your hands to be at your mercy.” Thankfully, we can do this and know that we are safe in the loving hands of our creator who would never harm us.
So hands raised high in focused surrender to God leaves little room for us to quickly reach down and grab at the things of our heart that keep us from Him. It shows the Lord that our goal is to give up our pride, our ego, our thoughts and our plans for His glory and whatever it is He desires for us. It helps to take the “me” out of worship.
Like I said, this is only one reason that we can raise our hands in worship. I am not saying that it is the only reason. But sometimes, broken down, it is easier to understand.
It is my prayer that you would worship God today. He loves to hear the praises of His people.

Mariah