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Are you really settled and secure in God’s love? As believers we know the words, the Scriptures about God’s love, but have we learned to truly rest in it? Are we still somehow seeking His approval? The capacity with which we are secure in God’s love will greatly affect our relationships with others and our own ability to love. Years ago, God brought me to a crisis of belief about His love. I knew all the right answers, but circumstances involving relationships in my life were exposing my inadequacy in loving others well. I went to the Lord. I wrestled with His Word. In the depths of my soul I knew that the words I had spoken about God’s love were not really settled in my own heart and until they were, I would never be able to offer that love to others. I truly believe our ability to love others well is dependent on our understanding of how Jesus loves us and how we live in the reality of that truth. In recent months, I see the same issue coming up in my conversations with others. Many are struggling with relationships, but often the root of the issue and pain is their grasp of God’s love for themselves. I wonder if you are struggling with relationships in your life, too? We can’t really move forward with God’s purpose for our lives to be a display of His love until we get beyond quoting the Scriptures and choose to soak in them so that they take hold of us and ultimately transform us. I have been singing for weddings since I was seventeen. I lost count of how many long ago. At many of these weddings I was continually reminded of how we are to love as the familiar Scripture 1 Corinthians 13 was read at the ceremony. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (NIV) - Read this slowly, even if you know it well. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  How often I have left the ceremonies inspired and recommitted to love as the Scripture exhorts us to love. But I had a significant encounter with God’s love as I prepared to write a study on the attributes of God’s character. I came across an account from the Bible scholar Gordon Fee about his commentary on 1 Corinthians. He wrote that when he came to this passage he sat a long time, wondering what he could possibly add to the most sublime piece of love poetry ever written. What else was there to say? “And then God spoke to him: “Gordon, do you understand, this is the way I love you?” “Yes Lord.” “Gordon, what if it were not so?” And Gordon Fee, a big man, loud and brash, cried like a baby for an hour.” I found myself in tears as I read this account. What if it were no so in my life? What if God loved the way I do? When it suits me. When I feel like it. When the other person is easy to love, or seems worthy of my love, or when I feel obligated to love. What if He loved cautiously as I so often do? What would I do if He loved me that way? I couldn’t face another day if I thought I couldn’t rest in the security of His love. My encounter with the Word that day forever changed my perspective of God’s love and how He calls me to love others. It's a faith lesson I continue to learn. His love for us isn’t bound by our behavior or swayed by our imperfections. His love for us is faithful when we are faithless. When I am keenly aware of my own sin and recognize my desperate need for God’s love and mercy, I want to extend that same love to others.  All of us long to be loved. That need that we have to know that we are loved is evident when we examine our lives and the choices we make. There is One and only One who is capable of loving us perfectly. We have to go to the Word when we are seeking to understand the love of God. For our ability to trust in God’s love can't be based on our experience. We must be careful not to limit His love by the evidence of it in our own circumstances or by our own personal definition of love. I know that many of you reading today have experienced great suffering and struggles in life. Can I still proclaim Him as a God of love when I’ve faced the death of a spouse, endured the pain of cancer, lost a job, been betrayed by a friend, watched my own child suffer, seen my dreams disappear from reality, endured a divorce, faced loneliness, depression, or financial disaster? What is your personal struggle? What is your honest answer? We must wrestle with these questions if we are to present an authentic, passionate faith in a loving God to a searching world. God often doesn’t express His love as we would choose.  How do we learn to rest in a love that is not only lavish, compassionate, faithful and sacrificial, but also heartbreaking, radical, and unpredictable? I only know one place to begin. I go the the Scriptures for answers. The Bible is our only sure standard of truth in a world that is rampant with confusion and compromise. Take a few moments and let the water of the Word wash over you.       Or read Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 5:8, Romans 8:31-39, John 14:21-23, John 17:22-23, and on and on we find His Words of love in Scripture. Ultimately, we must come to the place where we simply choose to believe. You will never truly embrace the journey into intimacy with Jesus until you rest in the truth that God is good and He loves you. I spent many years painting my own portrait of God. It was a mixed up picture in which I limited the love of God by my own experiences and feelings. It will be the great journey of our lifetime to study God’s character in His Word and surrender to His work in our lives. I often left those wedding ceremonies full of sentiment, but God’s love for me is fierce. It rises above sentiment and pierces my heart with its passion, faithfulness and tenderness. It’s patient when I’m not. It’s kind when I respond with an ugly word of self-defense. It’s boundless when I dole it out in proportions that seem worthy of my time and energy. It keeps no account. It delights in me, rejoices in me. Jesus longs to show you and me how to love. His love is made complete in us. When we choose patience, we begin to understand His patience with us. When we offer kindness, we begin to understand His compassion and kindness toward us. When we choose forgiveness, we begin to understand, even if just a little, the cost of the forgiveness He offers to you and me. Consider exploring some Scriptures this week about God’s love. This is love: He allows us to experience the pain and joy of life, but journeys with us all the way. This is love: A God who seeks beauty among the ruins of an adulterous woman (1 John 8:1-11) This is love: A God who humbles himself and washes our dirty feet (John 13:1-16) This is love: A God who knows everything we’ve ever done and offers living water instead of shame and guilt. (John 4:1-30) This is love: A God who forgives our sin and failures and offers us the privilege of being part of His kingdom work. (John 21:1-19) This is love: A God who pursues us to the point of sending His own Son to die for our sins. (John 19:16-30) This is love: Jesus rose from the grave and runs to embrace you and me (John 20:1-18, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)  "God completes His love in us when we love one another. The only way we can get to the place where we rely on the love God has for us--where we rest in it-- is by loving. He calls us, you and me, to be His kiss, His touch, His Word, His embrace, and by doing so to also be assured of His kiss, touch, Word, embrace." Mark Buchanan Jesus empowers us to love by His standard when we submit to His Spirit. God is love. That Love lives within us.... always trusting, always hoping, always persevering --never failing. Grateful for His love, Kathy Resources: Living Water Bible Study by Kathy Drake, Scripture Images Pinterest, Mark Buchanan, The Holy Wild  Be sure to join us each week for Monday Musings. Feel free to share on your social media. 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I want to be up front with you concerning todays blog. It will not be one that will be quickly read. I encourage you to set aside a few uninterrupted minutes to read, to ponder your life, and spend serious time listening & conversing with the Father. Ask yourself some life changing questions...you will be the better for it! Most of today's blog comes from an excerpt from a book that I am reading. I know you will be blessed and hopefully changed forever! When I received my “word for the year” from the Lord, I knew it was going to be a year of stretching, heartache, pain, and great growth! Oh Joy! Literally! But the Lord is precisely and continually showing me that nothing can truly bring joy but basking and embracing His presence wherever I am and with whatever is seemingly going wrong. With Him comes the power to overcome, the responsibility to share His great love and deeds with others, and to live a life that is truly rich in redemptive love! Honestly, I’ve been struggling the past few months and concerned about “what shall I do with my life!” I don’t think age stops us from thinking thoughts like this. I cannot really call it a “mid-life crisis” because frankly, I’ve always thought about this, which could be one reason why I find myself doing a vast number of things. I’m still trying to find myself, so to speak! Not only do I struggle with inner turmoil, I look around my home and everything seems in disarray and in desperate need of repair. It’s overwhelming! So much brokenness yet life still yanks me around as if I am a ragdoll in the mouth of a playful pup. Tossed. Chewed. Strung along. Trampled. A plaything. Used...only to satisfy the needs of others. The sharp teeth are not intended to hurt but yet damage happens. This week alone, my refrigerator went out, the sunroof on my car will not close, and the toilet seat broke! I know. Go ahead and laugh. I did! Seriously?! All parts of my life have been affected. Sustenance, transportation, emotions, and “personal” business! Oh yes, and I’m in desperate need of a haircut! My emergency fund is now drained and honestly, my car moves along by a wing and a prayer every time I drive! That’s angel wings of course! I know that is not the heart of the Father to yank me around, for His intentions for me are with a pure love and a desire for me to know Him more intimately. That is why I try to see joy in all circumstances. I promise that it is not easy. As John Ortberg says, “It’s morphing time!” God’s plan is not to simply repair what is broken within us, but to make things NEW! And as I look around at all of my mess, it is nothing compared to what others have had to endure. I am seriously thankful for that! ...and rejoicing!  I’ve been reading, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” by John Ortberg. It is about spiritual disciplines for ordinary people and I highly recommend that you read it. While sitting on the porch reading this morning, I found myself sobbing! I mean really sobbing! Oh my! All I could think about was that I needed to share this story with you. I also saw the “Women of Faith” movie last week. My come away was WOW! What passion. Do I live a life that is seriously and totally passionate about sharing my love of Jesus? When others engage me, do they come away from a time of gazing into the face of Jesus or see Sherry trying hard to do life? If we are passionate, truly passionate about living for Christ, we morph! Our mind is transformed. Our heart is transformed. Our soul is transformed. Our desires are transformed. Our actions are transformed! Our passion is not quiet. As a bonus, we engage curious minds and suddenly have a platform of ministry. It is then that we live a joyous life.  The following excerpt is from J. Ortberg’s “The Life You’ve Always Wanted.” It is a Case Study: The Morphing of Mabel. Grab a tissue for you will need it! “It can be helpful to see how God brings about transformation in the lives of ordinary people, so I would like to introduce you to a friend of a friend of mine. Her name is Mabel. This is what my friend Tom Schmidt, wrote: The state-run convalescent hospital was not a pleasant place. It is large, understaffed, and overfilled with senile and helpless and lonely people who are waiting to die. On the brightest of days it seems dark inside, and it smells of sickness and stale urine. I went there once or twice a week for four years, but I never wanted to go there, and I always left with a sense of relief. It’s not the kind of place one gets used to. On this particular day I was walking in the hallway that I had not visited before, looking in vain for a few who were alive enough to receive a flower and a few words of encouragement. This hallway seemed to contain some of the worst cases, strapped onto carts or into wheelchairs and looking completely helpless. As I neared the end of this hall, I saw an old woman strapped up in a wheelchair. Her face was an absolute horror. The empty stare and white pupils of her eyes told me that she was blind. The large hearing aid over one ear told me that she was almost deaf. One side of her face was being eaten by cancer. There was a discolored and running sore covering part of one cheek, and it had pushed her nose to one side, dropped one eye, and distorted her jaw so that what should have been the corner of her mouth was the bottom of her mouth. As a consequence, she drooled constantly. I was told later that when new nurses arrived, the supervisors would send them to feed this woman, thinking that if they could stand this site they could stand anything in the building. I also learned later that this woman was 89 years old and she had been there, bedridden, blind, nearly deaf, and alone, for 25 years. This was Mabel. I don’t know why I spoke to her-she looked less likely to respond that most of the people I saw in that hallway. But I put a flower in her hand and said; “Here is a flower for you. Happy Mother’s Day.” She held the flower up to her face and tried to smell it, and then she spoke. And much to my surprise, her words, although somewhat garbled because of her deformity, were obviously produced by a clear mind. She said, “Thank you. It’s lovely. But can I give it to someone else? I can’t see it, you know, I’m blind.” I said, of course, and I pushed her in her chair back down the hallway to a place where I thought I could find some alert patients. I found one, and I stopped the chair. Mabel held out the flower and said, “Here, this is from Jesus.” That was when it began to dawn on me that this was not an ordinary human being. Later I wheeled her back to her room and learned more about her history. She had grown up on a small farm that she managed with only her mother until her mother died. Then she ran the farm alone until 1950 when her blindness and sickness sent her to the convalescent hospital. For 25 years she got weaker and sicker, with constant headaches, backaches, and stomach aches, and then the cancer came too. Her three roommates were all human vegetables who screamed occasionally but never talked. They often soiled their bed clothes, and because the hospital was understaffed, especially on Sundays when I usually visited, the stench was often overpowering. Mabel and I became friends over the next few weeks, and I went to see her once or twice a week for the next three years. Her first words to me were usually an offer of hard candy from a tissue box near her bed. Some days I would read to her from the Bible, and often when I would pause she would continue reciting the passage from memory, word-for-word. On other days I would take a book of hymns and sing with her, and she would know all the words of the old songs. For Mabel, these were not merely exercises in memory. She'd often stop in mid-hymn and make a brief comment about lyrics she considered particularly relevant to her own situation. I never heard her speak of loneliness or pain except in the stress she placed on certain lines in certain hymns. It was not many weeks before I turned from the sense that I was being helpful to a sense of wonder, and I would go to her with a pen and paper to write down the things she would say… During one hectic week of final exams I was frustrated because my mind seemed to be pulled in 10 directions at once with all of the things that I had to think about. The question occurred to me, “What does Mabel have to think about-hour after hour, day after day, week after week, not even able to know if it’s day or night?” So I went to her and asked, “Mabel, what do you think about when you lie here?” And she said, “I think about my Jesus.” I sat there, and I thought for a moment about the difficulty, for me, of thinking about Jesus for even five minutes, and I asked, “What do you think about Jesus?” She replied slowly and deliberately as I wrote… “I think about how good he’s been to me. He’s been awfully good to me in my life, you know… I’m one of those kind who’s mostly satisfied… Lots of folks wouldn’t care much for what I think. Lots of folks would think I’m kind of old-fashioned. But I don’t care. I’d rather have Jesus. He’s all the world to me.” And then she began to sing an Old Hymn: Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all. He is my strength from day to day, without him I would fall. When I am sad, to him I go, no other one can cheer me so. When I am sad he makes me glad. He’s my friend. This is not fiction. Incredible as it may seem, a human being really live like this. I know. I knew her. How could she do it? Seconds ticked and minutes crawled, and so did days and weeks and months and years of pain without human company and without an explanation of why it was all happening-and she lay there and sang hymns. How could she do it? The answer, I think, is that Mabel had something that you and I don’t have much of. She had power. Lying there in that bed, unable to move, unable to see, unable to hear, unable to talk to anyone, she had incredible power. Here was an ordinary human being who received supernatural power to do extraordinary things. Her entire life consisted of following Jesus as best she could and her situation: patient endurance of suffering, solitude, prayer, meditation on scripture, worship, fellowship when it was possible, giving when she had a flower or a piece of candy to offer. Imagine being in her condition and saying, “I think about how good He’s been to me. He’s been awfully good to me in my life, you know… I’m one of those kind who’s mostly satisfied.” This is the 23rd Psalm come to life: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” For anyone who really saw Mabel-who was willing to turn aside-a hospital bed became a burning bush; a place where this ordinary and pain-filled world was visited by the presence of God. When others saw the life in that hospital bed, they wanted to take off their shoes. The lid was off the terrarium. Then the turn came, with the catch of the breath, and the beating of the heart, and tears. They were standing on holy ground. Do you believe such a life is possible for an ordinary human being? Do you believe it is possible for you? This is promised in the gospel-the Good News proclaimed by Jesus: “The kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” The good news as Jesus preached it is that now it is possible for ordinary men and women to live in the presence and under the power of God. The good news as Jesus preached it is not about the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven when you die. It’s about the glorious redemption of human life-your life. It’s morphing time.  We are all ordinary people, and as Christians, we have extra-ordinary power! It’s resurrection power!! I don’t want to live a luke-warm life. So I am faced with opportunities to morph…transform…grow my passion for Christ…live an abundant joy-filled life. Each evening’s reflection of how I spent my day is filled with this simple reminder: His mercies are new every morning! That is redemptive love. And so, I’m growing. Yes, there are growing pains but my perspective and passion far surpass wallowing in the mire of brokenness and in hardship. New is on the horizon. New is here. New is a certainty for believers. He makes all things new. In this hope, we grasp joy and hold on tight!
Be encouraged this new week. Begin again. His mercies are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 The Lord’s loving-kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Live a Passionate Joy-filled life! Sherry Resource: John Ortberg, The Life You've Always Wanted. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 22-26.
It is a joy to welcome guest writer Margaret Kemp to our Restore Monday Musings Blog today. We all face circumstances and "giants" in our lives when we need courage to press on through fear or pain. I know you will be encouraged and inspired by Margaret's beautiful words as she shares some truths about the true meaning of courage discovered through her own personal journey. Not too long ago I received a gift from a couple of my friends. It is a Willow Tree “Angel of Courage,” a simple six-inch statue of an angel with wire wings. Her fists are clenched and her arms are thrust high into the air. My first impression was of someone lifting her hands up to the sky in victory, as an Olympic gold medalist might do. She seemed to be saying, “I am brave. I am invincible. I can do anything.” After contemplating my little angel for awhile, though, I have a different image in my mind. I see a toddler first learning to walk. She is reaching up and holding on to her father’s hands as she takes each faltering new step. That, I believe, is a better picture of courage, because courage is not the lack of fear; it’s stepping out in faith even though you’re shaking in your boots.  “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Joshua before he led his people across the Jordan River to take possession of the Promised Land. What was the basis of Joshua’s courage? After all, ten other spies saw giants in the Promised Land, so it wasn’t as if Joshua was going to be able to walk right in and tack up signs on the cities saying, “Under new ownership. Property of the Israelites.” But Joshua’s courage was to be based on the fact that God was with him, and that he was walking in obedience to the Lord. Joshua 1:7 says, “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” David had his own giant to face. So what made this teenager think he could take on a nine-foot tall champion who was protected by incredibly heavy armor? In David’s words, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” I Samuel 17:37 David wasn’t trusting in his own strength or ability. He was trusting in the power of the almighty, living God. “Fear not” must be one of God’s favorite expressions because He repeats it so many times in the Bible, maybe because He knows us so well and knows our tendency to tremble in the face of danger and uncertainty. The definition of courage is “the ability to do something that frightens one.” Other definitions describe courage as: “the strength of mind to carry on in spite of danger.” “the spirit or quality of mind that allows one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution.” So fear comes first, but we carry on, we don’t fall apart, we are resolved that we will not be defeated, and we have confidence that God’s grace is sufficient to see us through the trials. (II Corinthians 12:9) My sister sent me a card that read, “When the going gets tough, the tough get waterproof mascara.” That card spoke to me as I am presently facing health challenges. It reminded me that it’s OK to cry. I don’t need to pretend that I’m not struggling, but I still need to put on my mascara—my happy face---and go out and do the things I need to do.  “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed.” II Corinthians 4:9 So many things cause us fear, and there are so many opportunities for courage.
When fear creeps in, we need to RALLY. R - Remember - We need to remember God’s faithfulness to us in the past. David remembered that God had delivered him from the lion’s paw and the bear’s paw. I remember trials in times past when I cried every day and didn’t think I was going to survive. But God brought me through those trials and restored happiness and joy in ways that I never would have imagined. If God did it before, He can do it again. A - Appreciate - We need to cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving for the way that God continues to bless us in the midst of our struggles. I am thankful for air-conditioning and a comfortable bed, for the birds outside my window and the bunny that has taken up residence in my yard. I’m especially thankful for the phone calls, messages, and kind words, and helping hands that have come at just the right moment. L - Look to God’s Promises - Joshua went forward in faith with his eyes on the Promised Land. God promises us that He will be with us. (Matthew 28:20) He promised He would supply all our needs. (Philippians 4:19) He’s given us a spirit of power and love and self-control. (II Timothy 1:7) Entire books have been written listing promise after promise. L - Listen to God - Joshua’s promise came with the condition that he must be obedient to all that God commanded. We need to be in tune with God so that we can hear His instructions and receive His guidance. That means taking time to read His Word and talk to Him in prayer, and then doing what He tells us to do. Y - Yearn - If we’re going to be courageous, we can’t be passive or half-hearted. We have to yearn for His Presence, His power, His provision. It takes fervent prayer and effort. “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.” Isaiah 26:9 “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 27:13 “Do not be slothful in zeal; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:11-12 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 There is that picture again: God the Father is extending His right hand down to us, His little children, and we can hold on to it while we take those wobbly steps of faith. We can reach up and grab His hand while we walk into unfamiliar territory. We can hold on to that righteous right hand when we come up against the giants in our lives, knowing that He will never let us fall, He will never let us down, He will never leave us nor forsake us.      Holding His Hand, Margaret Kemp Resources: Images from Pinterest  Be sure to join us each week for Monday Musings. Feel free to share on your social media. Join our email subscription to receive the blog automatically each week in your email. Sign up at the top right of this post. A giant gift bag containing a big red wicker tray accompanied her and my sister as she walked in with the biggest grin on her face! Proud of what she had chosen as a perfect gift for me, her eyes sparkled with delight. My niece knew that I was in need of a large tray. One large enough to put teacups, a teapot, and all of the trimmings for the many times I play the hostess with the mostess! She knew she had found the perfect gift! As I pulled the bright red tray out of the bag, she proceeded to tell me that she found the perfect one because it was my favorite color! Smiling and thanking her for her thoughtfulness, my puzzled thoughts, with cocked head, caused me to ask her why she thought red was my favorite color? I thought everyone knew my favorite color was green! "Aunt Sherry," she said, " It's your favorite color because it's everywhere in your house!" What?! I was taken by surprise. I'm thinking that red falls right in there with the pastels and yellows that are truly my least favorite colors - surely she was mistaken. I would never decorate with a color that I would rarely even wear! Laughing as to not hurt her feelings, "No Kaleigh," I exclaimed, "red isn't my favorite color and no, I don't decorate in red!" "Yeah you do," she said and then she began to list all of her observations! With that grin that shows all of her teeth and wide-eyed astonishment at my ignorance, she exclaimed, "You have a big red wall in your stairwell and red carpet. Your bedspread is red and you have a red love seat in your bedroom! In your piano room, you have red drapes and a big red sculpture on the wall. You have two red ottomans in the piano room and one in the bedroom. You actually have red everywhere!" Amazed at her observation, and my lack thereof, my jaw dropped and the breath within sighed out. My minds eye danced rapidly into every room as I took a virtual tour. "You're right!" I declared. I didn't even realize it! Now these are no small items.. Big...Red... and they stood there slapping me in the face and I was oblivious!
  How is it that we live with ourselves day after day and so often, we cannot see the obvious! Our gifts, strengths, and weaknesses are things we live with everyday and yet we waltz around wondering who are we...really? It seems that others know us better than we know ourselves. I had no clue that I was attracted to red as much as I thought! It just shows up everywhere in my decorating. With little to no effort of my own, it comes from the depth of who I am and Kaleigh saw it! There are many things throughout my life that others have pointed out that I am unaware. Sometimes there are good things, and I'm sad to say, sometimes it is things or behaviors that are undesirable. Those least admirable observations are usually reserved and revealed by family members and very close friends. All in all, people are observing you all of the time, unless they are self-consumed and oblivious to the thoughts and feelings of those surrounding them. In every case, I find it surprising! So, I began to think about this revelation...and saturated it with intensity and a deeper level of musing.
I think these are some pretty hard questions, especially when they prelude interactions with others or precede final thoughts of reflection for the day. The last question was really an eye-opener for me the first time I heard it! It was a day I didn't even want to be around myself! It has made me be sure to conduct myself in a way so I can answer that question with a warm fuzzy instead of a cold prickly! You know, this little color episode can be perceived in two ways: God has given us each our own personal gift, uniquely designed for just us. We act in it or work through it often without even realizing it. Like my decorative color red, it comes naturally from the depths of our makeup. Others, take delight and seek to nurture it. They try to help grow it, display it, and group it within a place that enhances it's beauty and share it with other like objects. Just like Kaleigh giving me the red tray to match my house, meet a need, and surprise me with her thoughtfulness. She saw something of me that I didn't see in myself. She was sensitive and observant! The other perception could be viewed as this: We can deny what others see and reveal to us. I assuredly exclaimed that there was little red in my house! When the facts were laid out, I was ashamed that 1) I didn't believe her or what she saw 2) I was oblivious to my own design 3) I was a little insensitive to her wanting to add to my decor and probably not as thankful as she anticipated me to be! How my heart aches when I see that others are unaware or don't believe that the gifts God has given them are actually from Him and designed uniquely for them, and them alone! What is worse, is knowing that of your own life! How often I reject or do not acknowledge His beautiful personal gifts to me? How in the world could I do___________(fill in the blank)...there are others more qualified or "gifted." Unfortunately, I am also often oblivious to my own design that God has created within me. Of course, living and responding from a natural obliviousness keeps us humble, but how much richer and full would our lives be if we intentionally worked in our gift instead of always trying to discover what it actually is? Let me challenge you. Know who you are! Know whose you are! Know that what He gives you is personal and from a heart of love. It is intended so that you are better equipped to bring Him glory and lead others toward Him. That's the bottom line! As I look back and think about her anticipating my response and thankfulness, likewise, I wonder if the Father awaits our reaction in the same way…with joy and excitement at what He has uniquely picked for us?! As I am writing this blog, I began to remember that in April 2013 I blogged about gifts. Here is the link incase you’d like to go back and read it http://www.restore-ministries.net/blog/gift What God has gifted you with is not for you to hide away or never discover. It is given for you to build up the body of Christ. Let it pop like the color red! Vibrant. Rich. Courageous! Exercise it, nurture it, protect it and use it only as He has intended. I love to see someone using or wearing a gift that I have given them. It confirms to me that it they are thankful and delighted to have it. Shouldn’t we think of gifts from the Father in the same way? James 1:17New American Standard Bible (NASB) 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or [a]shifting shadow. Go...explore your gift...develop it...embrace it! When God looks at us, let a look of delight fill His face because you are enjoying His personal, unique gifts designed for only you! Be Blessed, Sherry  Be sure to join us each week for Monday Musings. Feel free to share on your social media.
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