Blog: Glimmers in the Fog by Kim Stiver

Not Every Good Idea BearS Good Fruit

7/25/2018

LISTEN NOW to this post instead of reading! >>>
Listening / reading time: 10 minutes, 40 seconds
Click the button to the right. If it doesn't play, click here.

Hover over image to share on Pinterest

Sometimes an amazing opportunity or idea can appear at what seems like the perfect time and be naturally aligned with your talents, but it turns out to be a mistake after all. Other times, you can have a deep, intuitive feeling of just knowing that it must be the right thing to do, but it can still be a mistake. Whether it’s a big blunder with long-lasting ramifications and or it’s a small, but frustrating one that becomes a complete hassle to get out of later, these kinds of opportunities and ideas often take you by surprise or pop in your head out of the blue, making you inclined to feel like it’s fate or that it’s the hand of God suddenly intervening in your life. It might be a new career path, a volunteer opportunity, a creative idea, a “once in a lifetime” deal on a major purchase, or even a request from someone you admire to serve God.

Any of these incredible possibilities may authentically seem like the right thing to do — without question, analysis or research. And if you were to even think of passing one of them up, one of your friends or co-workers is likely to ask you, “Why would you pass that up? It’s a no-brainer!” So, the pressure mounts both internally and externally to say yes because you don’t want to miss out on something or feel stupid for not accepting the obvious.

I have made these kinds of mistakes repeatedly in different ways and in each instance it usually ends up costing me an unbelievable amount of time, an exhausting level of effort, significant emotional or relational consequences, or unforeseen expenses in a myriad of formats. Many times, I have learned hard but life-changing lessons through these mistakes, but other times I have missed the point entirely and end up doing the same thing all over again. Sigh. A few years ago, for example, I volunteered to serve in a capacity that appeared to be a “no-brainer.” Saying yes also seemed to be so obvious that I didn’t even pause to wonder what the consequences might be if it wasn’t what God wanted me to spend my time on. I just assumed because the opportunity was offered by a visionary and respected leader that it would be the right choice for me. Long story short, it wasn’t. Not even close. And untangling myself from it once I got deeply involved turned out to be next to impossible for quite some time. When it was all over, I couldn’t help but ponder what better tasks God had set aside for me during that time that I had missed out on.

In the classic devotional book My Utmost for Highest, the great theologian Oswald Chambers wrote extensively about learning to live by the Holy Spirit’s guidance and not our own — from the tiniest seemingly inconsequential decisions to the grandest life-altering ones. Because there is no way I can say it better than him, here is a paraphrased passage from the book:

There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. And sometimes God puts a blank in our lives. Don’t ever try to fill in that blank for Him. Wait on Him to fill it. You may think that you see clearly what God’s will is — a certain action or decision — but never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end up making difficulties that will take years of time to make right. Wait for God’s time to bring it around and He will accomplish it without heartbreak or disappointment. Wait for God to move.

Oswald goes on to talk about the Apostle Peter and his behavior in the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter did not wait on Jesus. In his mind, He had already imagined being tested and succeeding, but the reality didn’t play out that way. He vowed to lay down his life for Jesus, but could not fulfill it as he promised because he did not know himself as Jesus truly knew him. Peter’s natural devotion to Jesus out of his own will and emotions wouldn’t be enough to sustain him when his life was threatened.

The same goes for us. Our natural talents, skills and ability to reason will only carry us so far when making a decision about an idea or opportunity. Yes, God gave us a brain to use it, but His intention was that we submit it to Him for shepherding of the thought process. When we move in the Holy Spirit’s leading, versus our own, every gift we possess has the potential to be empowered by Him. We were created in His image and when we operate within His framework any opportunity or idea can be effectively evaluated through His perspective.

Conversely, there are tireless enemies at work to fool us into thinking that we can — and should — think and react on our own. One of these enemies is ourselves when we operate under the influence of pride. We think that we’re smart enough to handle decisions — especially the tiny ones. And that’s exactly when a tiny thing transforms into a giant ogre and knocks us on our butts. The other enemy has been around since the dawn of time. He slithered into the Garden of Eden with the same bag of tricks he uses today. He whispered a great idea in Eve’s ear. A simply tantalizing and very reasonable idea just popped into her head. The element of surprise is a hallmark of how the Enemy works best. The reason this tactic works so well is that we erroneously think that sudden chances must be acted upon quickly. The Enemy works his evil logic best when we feel that we’re under pressure. “Act now or you’ll lose the opportunity,” he whispers in our ears. Or even more insidious, “This idea just presented itself so suddenly, it must be God talking. You had better obey and do it now.”

New flash for us all, myself included: the Holy Spirit is not a high-pressure salesman. God will always give us time to seek Him. News flash number two: God doesn’t normally provide direction through circumstances alone. If life presents you with a great idea or opportunity, the Holy Spirit will work to provide you with confirmation, usually through specific Scriptures, in prayer, and wise counsel. (If you want to read more about how to hear God’s voice, check out my previous blog post on this topic: part 1 and part 2.)

So let’s go back to Peter for a moment and imagine yourself in his shoes on the night before Jesus was crucified. You have physically walked with the Son of God for three years… seen miracles and even performed some yourself. In your flesh, you might have a feeling that you are “all that and a bag of chips.” You are confident of what God can use you for. You are “mature.” And then, the One whom you believe is the Messiah is suddenly taken from you and brutally beaten. Your confidence is shattered and others look at you with accusing stares. Under pressure, logic tells you to deny that you even know Jesus. After all, self-preservation is paramount at this point. And in an instant, you’ve gone from the height of self-admiration to the pit of self-loathing as you watch Jesus being taken to the cross.

But Peter learned — and so can we — that once we get to the end of ourselves, we will find the beginning of the life He actually intends for us. In John 15, Jesus reveals both the key to letting God make the decisions for our lives and the reward of doing so. Verses 4-5, 11, and 13 say: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing … These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full … Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

In this amazing chapter, Jesus foreshadows His coming sacrifice and simultaneously counters Peter’s denial with the command to “lay down his life.” He also explains that when we abide in Him, God’s plan for us will be fulfilled. We will bear good fruit by learning to literally breathe, think and move within the framework of our personal relationship with Him. As we abide, He will prune us. It will hurt. But operating under His influence we will be able to see the purpose in the pain and visualize His dreams for us coming true, i.e. the fruit, and ripening into joyous sweetness and savory satisfaction. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus brilliantly covers all of the decisions we’ll face in life — from the smallest to the biggest of all, self-sacrifice for others.

Peter’s transformation after the resurrection gives us all clarity into who we can be if we base our decisions on Jesus’s knowledge of who we are and what’s best for us, rather than our own interpretation and reliance on ourselves. We must determine to reach the end of ourselves and our self-sufficiency in order to realize that there is not a strand of ourselves to rely on again. In that utterly destitute place, we become completely fit to be used by God and receive the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and direction.

Charles E. Hummel in his little booklet Tyranny of the Urgent said, “But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency—independence from the rule of God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is actually a ‘going it alone’?”

Our natural devotion, abilities, talents, reason and imagination are not enough to bear true spiritual fruit. And if we manage our priorities and make our decisions without taking the proper time — whether it’s a moment or many days — to seek His direction and confirmation, then we will always be straining to produce fake fruit. It might vaguely resemble fruit in some saccharin or plastic kind of way, and we might feel satisfied for a while. But only ideas, opportunities, work and service generated while abiding in Christ will blossom and produce eternity-changing fruit and authentic joyful fulfillment.
****
If you like this blog post, why not invite others to read it and subscribe to my weekly emails? You will be encouraging them and you will be helping me share the love of Christ with others. It’s a win-win!

0 Comments

Busyness is Not a Badge of Honor

7/18/2018

1 Comment

LISTEN NOW to this post instead of reading! >>>
Click the button to the right. If it doesn't play, click here.

Busyness is not a badge of honor. Sabbath margin is best.

Hover over image to share on Pinterest.

Ahhhh, summertime. As kids, it was the season we lived for all year long. It was a chance to get out of the routine of studying, homework, and packed schedules. And although it flew by, we learned to relish every moment of swimming, ice cream cones, sleeping in, and going on the family vacation or camping trip.

And then… we grew up.

In America, that means we suffered through the reality shock that most jobs don’t offer the summer off. Eventually as college finished and we started job hunting, we also woke up to the more subtle but more shocking fact that in order to be admired by our peers and to build a desirable workplace reputation, we must be as productive and dedicated as humanly possible. Oh, and then we found out that this standard didn’t just apply to our jobs. No, to be truly admired, we needed to be well-rounded and interesting. So in addition to insane work hours, we threw in a hefty dose of cultural and social activities, a fitness regime, plus a measurable splash of volunteerism or activism.

Last time someone asked you how you’re doing, do you remember your reply? Chances are, your response included some reference to being busy. According to multiple studies highlighted in the Harvard Business Review, the vast majority of Americans now view busyness as a status symbol. In other words, the busier you seem, the more likely people will respect you and think that you’re prosperous, highly valued, and hard working. The researchers saw evidence of this perception in social media, interpersonal communications, advertising messaging, and hiring trends. By stark contrast, a century ago, the ability to enjoy free time and leisure activities was universally perceived by most Americans to be a blessing and a sign of success in life. And we are predominantly unique in our obsession with busyness. Studies conducted among Europeans, for example, show that they largely perceive that a more relaxed lifestyle is still a sign of success.

Researchers speculate that this dramatic shift in American culture is partially due the rise of the knowledge economy, particularly fueled by our insatiable appetite for technology. We practically sleep with our smartphones, which means texting, calendar reminders, to do lists, social media interactions, and a host of other time-intensive demands are constantly vying for our attention. Studies on this topic, repeatedly indicate that as a society, we are multi-tasking more and quite literally reshaping our brains to be less inclined toward reflection, meditation, long-form reading/studying, and deep conversations.

Unfortunately, the cultural value for busyness has also infiltrated and tainted the spiritual outlook of many believers to the point where all margin for rest has been entirely squeezed out of our lives. Some of us volunteer to serve until we teeter on burn out. Others of us justify crazy schedules and overindulgences all week long by not working on Sundays. But overall, most of us aren’t doing much better with finding time for rest than people who don’t profess a belief in God.

Four Keys to Getting out of the Busyness Habit
So how do we get out of this busy rut? How do we become counter-cultural when every voice and influence around us is saturating us with seemingly important requirements and demands? Do we have the courage to let God take care of how we’re perceived by others, rather than building up our image by appearing to be busy, needed and validated? Four key things really stick out to me when reading the Word or doing a study about God’s design for rest.

1. Understand the broader meaning of the Sabbath principle. God’s design for rest is much bigger than not working on Sundays. In her study, Breathe: Making Room For Sabbath, Priscilla Shirer says, “God always and eternally intended the Sabbath to be a lifestyle — an attitude, a perspective, an orientation for living that enables us to govern our lives and steer clear of bondage.” She goes on to say, “Sabbath margin is the boundary God intended for us to place around the things we enjoy so that we’ll never be a slave to anyone or anything other than Him.” When I went through her study last year, I was immediately convicted about numerous areas of my life where I had allowed myself to be enslaved to either things I enjoyed or by the expectations set upon me from other people. Whether your time is eaten up by things you love or activities you feel pressured to do, anything that prevents you from having the margin in your life to obey the Holy Spirit on a daily basis should be cut back or eliminated. When we cram all our “rest” into Sundays, versus making it a daily lifestyle, we squeeze out the room for God to show up all week long. If you don’t have any margin in your daily schedule, you won’t have any space for God to bless you. Galatians 5:1 says, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

2. Entrust your time to God and then let Him take care of your reputation. I used to wear the badge of busyness with pride. When I began to recognize that my true worth was found in yielding my time to the leading of the Holy Spirit, versus my desire to please others or get things checked off my list, obeying the command to add Sabbath margin into my life became easier little by little. However, my deep-seated desire to be viewed as an over-achiever has been much harder to release. Jesus wasn’t worried about being regarded for his accomplishments or success. He came to serve and obey His Father’s instructions (John 5:19-20 and Romans 15:8-9). In the same way, we are to do our Father’s bidding and let Him worry about how we’re perceived. Paul also shunned any concerns over his reputation. Galatians 1:10 says, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

3. Have faith in the Biblical principle of multiplication. One of the many reasons to read and study the Bible is to know and feel confident in the character of our loving, heavenly Father. Over and over throughout the Bible, God makes it clear that He will take care of us when we give up something to Him or in His name. When the widow at Zarephath obeyed and gave up her grain and oil to serve Elijah (1 Kings 17:7-24), God blessed her pantry so that her supplies never ran out again during the famine. In Exodus 16, when the Israelites gave up their temptation to collect extra manna for the Sabbath, God miraculously multiplied their portion so that no one went hungry. In Malachi 3:10, God tells us to test him with the giving of our tithes and offerings and He will “open the windows of heaven” for us. The disciples witnessed the principle of multiplication in Matthew 14:13-21 when Jesus miraculously fed thousands with five loaves of bread and two small fish. Our time is no less valuable than our tithe, but many people struggle to let go of the addiction of busyness to generate breathing room for God to move in their lives. But God’s character is something you can count on every time. If you draw healthy boundaries around the stuff and tasks in your life, effectively making your life more flexible for God’s interventions, He will multiply what’s needed to ensure that He is glorified and you are taken care of.

4. Get comfortable saying no with love and grace. Drawing boundaries around a blessing that has turned into an over-indulgence is hard, but telling someone else no is borderline traumatic for some people. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can grow in strength every time we practice saying no. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” When we step out in faith on that promise, God will always be faithful to help us through the discipline of saying no, whether it’s a volunteer opportunity that’s not a good fit, a promotion at work that would negatively impact your family, or limiting how much time you spend on social media or watching TV. Whenever God prompts you to say no in order to leave margin for Him to interrupt your day or spend more time resting in His presence, He will always provide you with a way to obey Him (1 Corinthians 10:13). It may not be easy, but He wants us to depend on Him for the strength, grace and wisdom to follow His leading.

As a recovering perfectionist who has always struggled to stop and enjoy God’s blessings in my life, I still wrestle with needless busyness. But when that familiar frantic feeling creeps into my day, I recall something the Holy Spirit once whispered to my soul: Things don’t have to be perfect to be incredible. My house doesn’t have to be pristine and tidy if it means I am not able to sit and enjoy the presence of family or friends. If guided by the Lord, the words of my blog don’t have to come out perfect to strike a chord in someone’s heart. If the work piles up, I don’t have to get everything done in one night — God will help me get it all done in the right time if I honor Him first with my commitments and boundaries. Jesus gently but firmly corrected his dear friend Martha to stop and rest when she started wearing the badge of busyness. In Luke 10:38-42, He told her that her sister had chosen the “better portion” by sitting and listening to Jesus rather than preparing for and serving their guests. Each day, you and I also have the option to choose the better portion… to leave breathing room for the movement of the Holy Spirit to change the course of our day. Some days it may be harder to do than others, but those moments are blessings within themselves because they teach us to depend on God and His mercies even more. And the more we depend on Him, the less we’ll be in the way of His amazing plans.
****
If you like this blog post, why not invite others to read it and subscribe to my weekly emails? You will be encouraging them and you will be helping me share the love of Christ with others. It’s a win-win!

1 Comment

Every Cloud of Worry Has A Silver Lining of HopE

7/11/2018

1 Comment

LISTEN NOW to this post instead of reading! >>>
Click the button to the right. If it doesn't play, click here.

Hover over image to share on Pinterest.

Every now and then we wake up to a different world from the night before. When we went to bed yesterday evening, things might have been normal, stable, or even occasionally boring. But upon rising the next day, we wake to find out someone or something has changed suddenly, forever altering the course of their lives, ours, or both. A phone call you would never want to receive. A breaking newscast you would never want to see. A routine doctor’s visit that turns into an unexpected concern. A heated or hurtful disagreement with a trusted co-worker, friend or family member. It’s these kinds of upheavals that shake us out of our comfort zones, reveal our delusions, and threaten to create fissures in our faith.

In every one of life’s disturbing moments, we have the opportunity to view everything that happens through the lens of a belief in a sovereign and loving God, or through our own human perspective. Of course, the problem that confronts every single one of us — from pastors to atheists — is our humanity itself. The human experience is all we naturally know or can understand. It is all we can physically see, touch, and manipulate. Sure, for some, an experience with the supernatural occurs. For others, a belief that miracles are possible comes more easily. But for the vast majority of people, we are indelibly marked with the limitations of our physical existence and struggle mightily to trust a God we cannot see during times of suffering, waiting on the unknown, grief, or extreme disappointment.

Ironically, what we each struggle with the most can vary wildly from person to person, yet the ultimate effects on our faith and trust are universally similar. One person may be the most shaken by a health crisis, but weathers extreme financial hardship with relative ease. Another may worry excessively about relationships and pleasing others, but doesn’t fret a moment about going through a job layoff. Yet no matter what particular issue scares you or worries you the most, the challenge is the same: how to trust God and effectively receive His supernatural peace and contentment in any type of hardship or struggle.

Our Natural Inclinations Deceive Us
Perhaps most disheartening is when we think we’ve made progress in our greatest area of "trust weakness,”and then our world is shaken in a way that sends us back to the edge of a downward spiral of doubt, fear, worry and future-tripping. “But, God, I thought I was past this,” we often plead in prayer. And this is it — this is the big moment. This is the place where we are at the most pivotal and potentially amazing point in our journey of faith. Sadly, though, many of us pivot the wrong way. The way we are naturally inclined to go… deep into a pit. Our biological capacity to reason, analyze, speculate, and wonder starts literally screaming at us. Humans do not tolerate the unknown or discomfort easily. The mind is inclined to nag and nag until it can find relief or determine the answer. And because it’s all we physically know, it simply feels like the right action to take. So the pit of worry, despair, anger or discontentment is often lined with shelves stocked with counterfeit “products” promising comfort and peace, like denial, over analysis, future-tripping, wallowing in the past, over-eating and junk food indulgence, drinking too much, gossiping, working too much, and whatever else seems to make us feel temporarily better or helps us forget about our problems.

And there’s one additional thing that bombards us during difficult times — temptation. The enemy of God knows that when we are at the pivot point in times of crisis, we are prime targets to be tempted by false comforts and counterfeit peace. And if he can use any of those tricks to hook us for long-term, then he’ll do it. So if these pivot points represent such great danger, why does God allow them in our lives? If He is sovereign and loves us, why doesn’t He always and instantly flood us physically with His supernatural peace and contentment instead of permitting us to struggle with finding it during times of hardship and mental distress?

Natural Creation vs. the New Creation
Put simply, it’s because our loving Father wants us to learn to pivot toward Him and away from the natural inclinations we have toward the pit. Yes, of course, He could supernaturally turn us toward Him. And there are times where that will happen in life. But He created us with a free will to choose to turn to Him. We can choose to trust Him and love Him… or not. The Bible makes it clear that God created us in His image to have fellowship with Him, not to be robots who only love Him because we have to do so. And this is the paradox of the gift of free will: we can choose to remain in our naturally flawed sinful human state, or we can pursue His promise that when we pivot toward Him we will be a new creation as promised in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The trouble with our perspective is that we can only see through the eyes of natural creation. It is not possible to experience the reward of supernatural peace and contentment without first making the choice to pivot toward being a new creation. This is why Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:1 that the essence of faith is believing in something we cannot see. Our natural state wants instant gratification. We want to feel the promised peace before we take the risk of trusting. God says we need to make the choice to trust Him, obey what He has asks us to do (i.e. not to worry), and THEN He’ll shower us with the supernatural peace and contentment we need to endure the hardship, learn from the experience, grow in our faith, and then love others by helping them through similar struggles. Later in that same chapter of Hebrews, Paul gives detailed examples of faith put into action before the actual promises were fulfilled. From Abraham leaving his homeland to Rahab courageously putting her life on the line for strangers, we are assured that God’s promises are always fulfilled, even when we can’t see or fathom how with our own minds.

Temptations and Promises are Mirror Images of Each Other
I don’t think a single one of us would give into the temptation of worry, anger, bitterness, resentment, despair, etc., if we could experience the real consequences of those sins BEFORE we choose to give in. Even though a temptation may be familiar, it will always be enticing because it appears to offer relief, peace, comfort or pleasure. And our natural minds gravitate toward anything that provides instant gratification versus hard work. Temptations are Satan’s counterfeits of God’s promises. And just like God’s promises, the real impact of indulging in those temptations can’t be experienced before we actually commit the sin. Of course, the real impact of God’s promises is always for our good. The real impact of sin is always to our detriment. Temptations — whether they come from within ourselves or from Satan — are designed to lure us without any resistance and obscure the consequences. That is the very nature of their structure and intention. God’s promises are designed to teach us to love Him better and they clearly declare the rewards of doing so. In either case — temptation or promise — we don’t experience the ultimate outcome until we’ve actually committed the act.

God Gives Us Choices in Order to Bless Us
There is no greater love than what our Father has for us. He gave up a part of Himself in the person of Jesus to ensure that we can make a choice for eternity with Him forever. We can freely choose to love Him, and the more we learn to love Him, the more we will experience glimpses of our eternal home while we’re here on earth. Jesus said we will have trials of many kinds, but every single one of them —without fail — comes with a choice and a promise for those who pivot in the right direction. I’ve pivoted into the pit countless times. And usually it’s the same pit over and over and over. I am sick and tired of that pit. But each time I choose to pivot away from the pit — even if it’s just for a few minutes, a few days, or even months at a time — the Holy Spirit’s guidance, peaceful presence, and empowerment in my life becomes more consistent. Sometimes, my natural mind doesn’t see the spiritual improvement, it easily forgets how far I’ve come, and reverts back to the old creation in a heartbeat. But the grace of Jesus is boundless and incomprehensible. And He always wants me back.

King David pivoted into pits. A lot. And yet the Bible calls him “a man after God’s own heart.” He said in Psalm 40:2, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” This is a promise you and I can bank on. There’s no need to spend time blaming yourself when you revert back into a familiar pit. Instead, kick Satan’s guilt and incrimination to the curb, and give a freedom cry at the top of your lungs, “I have a choice to be free of (fill in the blank), and I choose to love and trust Jesus in this moment.” Believe me, you may find yourself asking for forgiveness for not trusting God many times over. The Holy Spirit will certainly convict your heart to make you aware of that sin, but He will never, ever make you feel guilty for coming back to Him.

Jesus Stood at the Edge of the Pit Too
Trusting in the unseen rewards of God’s promises is hard with human eyes. Jesus never denied that, in fact He was sympathetic to our plight and confirmed His compassion for us over and over while He walked the earth. Even He struggled to the point of sweating drops of blood the night before He was arrested by soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have a loving Father that has experienced what it’s like to be human in the most excruciating circumstances. The pit Jesus stood on the edge of was the greatest chasm in human history. So next time you’re facing suffering, waiting, and hardships of any kind, arm yourself to pivot away from the pit. God gives us the tools we need to learn and grow if we choose to use them. There is nothing that can come at us, that He doesn’t intimately understand and empathize with. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” In context, this means that when we operate in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, He will give us eyes to see what we cannot, if we believe. Through prayer, studying and memorizing God’s Word, and meditating on His Truths, we become stronger and smarter with each choice we make. None of this means, however, that the pits won’t continue to pop up throughout our lives, but it does mean that we will gradually become more like Jesus was in His ability to overcome them.

The courage to face our fears and pivot from life's pits is best summed up by the end of Romans Chapter 8. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Amen indeed.
****
If you like this blog post, why not invite others to read it and subscribe to my weekly emails? You will be encouraging them and you will be helping me share the love of Christ with others. It’s a win-win!

1 Comment

What Do You Want To Break Free Of this Independence Day?

7/4/2018

2 Comments

Happy Fourth of July!
This Independence Day, Glimmers in the Fog is taking a bit of a vacation day to celebrate freedom's blessings and all things summer. But if you have a moment this week to ponder the meaning of the holiday, you might ask yourself, what is the number one thing you would love to break free of in your life. Is there something on the throne of your heart other than God or is there a habit that is crippling your freedom in Christ? It could be something that you are not doing that you need to start, or it could be something in your past that still haunts you. No matter what it is, today can be your own personal and spiritual independence day. A fresh start. A celebration of Christ making you a new creation each and every day that you yield to His Spirit working in your life.

Summertime is the perfect opportunity to start anew with whatever change God is urging you to make. Like an endless blue sky on a cloudless summer day, the promises of God reach as far as you can dream. So take a deep breath and look heavenward for everything you need to move forward. "The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

If perhaps you'd like a little jump start with a particular topic, here are some ideas to get you going.

NEW! Posts Sorted by Topic -- Glimmers in the Fog now features a list of categories so that you can quickly find posts on the specific topic you are looking for. Just look to the upper right on this page for the categories.
Summer Reading Recommendations -- Check out a special list I put together of helpful books on many of the most important spiritual growth topics, such as overcoming anxiety, prayer, trust, and many more. So whether you want to get fit for God or learn how to have joy in suffering, there's a book for you!
Read one of the top three Glimmers posts -- Perhaps you missed one of these most visited posts from the blog or you might want to read them again and share them with a friend. Here they are:

What is your favorite blog post on Glimmers? I would love to hear which one has made the most impact on you! Leave a comment below.

Happy summer reading and growing!
Kim

Summer is a great time to make a change Picture

Hover over image to share on Pinterest

2 Comments

Glimmers in the Fog

Not Every Good Idea BearS Good Fruit

Busyness is Not a Badge of Honor

Every Cloud of Worry Has A Silver Lining of HopE

What Do You Want To Break Free Of this Independence Day?

Search the Blog Archive

Categories

Archives

About Glimmers in the Fog

get glimmers in your inbox!