It’s Difficult to Walk in Clarity with Clutter

I have a friend who calls me an efficiency expert. Ever since I can remember, sifting, sorting & organizing makes my heart sing!

This morning, I read Mt. 11:19 & had fresh revelation about the connect between order & wisdom.

Jesus says this little sentence as a conclusion & transition to the next topic: “Wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”

Another version says, ”Wisdom is proved right by her children.”

It begs the question, “What sort of offspring have my decisions produced?”😬

I suddenly realized that it’s not so much the efficiency I love, but the intentionality that results FROM it.

There is a massive freedom that falls when someone chooses to:

• See less to see more

• Have less to have more

• Do less to do more

We’ve all heard how multitasking might FEEL productive, but it simply provides opportunity to mess up multiple things at once & take longer to do it!😂

The definition of wisdom means clear or clarity.

It’s difficult to walk in clarity with clutter. Sometimes we need to elinminate the unnecessary so the necessary may speak.😉

When our schedule is packed, our mind is racing & our lives are filled with things that demand our time, talents & finances in such a way that we don’t face the Father, there’s a problem (or one just waiting to happen!)

As we look back on the first 2 weeks of 2022, ask:

👉🏽What sort of offspring have my decisions produced?

👉🏽Are my weeks marked by clarity or do I need to spend a little time removing obstacles standing in the way?

Efficiency makes things run smoother, but it also frees us of things that deter from living lives of intention.

That word, “intent”, means to sift. If we were to take our lives & place it in a metaphorical strainer & slosh it around, what unessential things might fall away so that the intentional might remain?

Father, we want to live lives of clarity & purpose. Bring to mind anything in our home, time, relationships & mind that need be removed so the offspring of our decisions may be marked by wisdom!

Time is short & the days are filled with distractions. Give us laser-like clarity to live a life of purpose, on purpose & for the sole purpose of revealing You to a watching world!

#OneYearBible #clutterfree

January 16th One Year Bible Readings

GENESIS 32:13-34:31

MATTHEW 11:7-30

PSALM 14:1-7

PROVERBS 3:19-20

When Circumstances Cause You to Question, “Are You Really The Coming King?”

There is somebody, somewhere that needs to hear this today:

The shallow breaths

The white knuckled grip

The racing thoughts

The sleepless nights

God sees them all & sighs.

His love for you is beyond comprehension, so much so that He won’t force you to receive it.

Our omnipresent God sees all & knows all because He created all. He is the beginning & end of all, but He is not the author of corruption, chaos or confusion. In fact, He’s the answer to it.

Today I read about Jesus’s thriving ministry. The blind could suddenly see, the deaf could miraculously hear, the lame could leap & the dead were brought back to life! Yet, amidst all of those inexplicable things, there is another inexplicable thing happening.

Jesus’s cousin, John, is put in jail.

John spends his entire life as a prophetic proclamation of, “Make way for the coming King!” & yet here he sits as a prisoner while the very thing he prophesied begins to unfold outside the prison walls.

Shortly after Jesus reminds His disciples that they need not be afraid of “those who want to kill your body for they cannot touch your soul.,” a messenger arrives.

He is sent by John who sits alone in a dark, dank jail cell, to ask: “Are you the Messiah we’ve been looking for…?”

This question comes from the man who:

• Spends his whole life telling others to prepare for the coming Messiah!

• Baptizes Jesus in the Jordan river & hears the Father declare, “This is my son in Whom I am well pleased.”

• Whose very head would soon be placed on a platter for King Herod…

This post may FEEL awful sad, until we remember what Jesus promises. John may have lost his body, but his soul would soon be purchased by his Savior to make Way for John to spend eternity in heaven!

There may be moments when we wrestle like John & ask, “Are You really the Messiah?’

And yet we need not hold our breath, grip fear like a friend, let our thoughts race or lose sleep over the hard things we face. The Father knows everything, down to the very number of hairs on each of our 8 billion heads! We need not fear anything except forgetting His inordinate love for us! We can trust Him even unto death because we know the King Who has & is to come!

#OneYearBible

January 15th One Year Bible Readings

GENESIS 31:17-32:12

MATTHEW 10:24-11:6

PSALM 13:1-6

PROVERBS 3:16-18

Sometimes Restraint is the Greatest Show of Faith

Trusting God requires restraint.

And sometimes?

Sometimes showing restraint is the greatest sign of faith.

Have you ever known something is about to change, needs to change or downright HAS to change?

I’m not talking about something we can 100% control, but something that requires deep-seated faith.

That was the case for Abraham & Sarah & their grandson, Jacob, & his wife, Rachel.

Both wives were seemingly barren & yet God promised something extraordinary: Abraham would have as many descendants as the stars in the sky  & Jacob’s would be as numerous as the dust of the earth.

I find it fascinating that the same sin that tripped up Abraham & Sarah was the same sin that snared Jacob & Rachel: the sin of unbelief & the subsequent impatient action to make “it” happen!

Both wives, during  the wait for the promise to be fulfilled, offered their handmaiden to their husband to bear children on their behalf.

They “made” the promise happen on THEIR timing & in THEIR way, but they also created consequences that impacted their future family which could’ve been avoided had they simply trusted God. In some ways, those children were a counterfeit fulfillment of the promise. They were sons, but were also the result of God’s permissive will & not so much His perfect will.

The amazing thing about God’s Word, however, is that it never returns void.

The couples’ sin & impatience didn’t impede God’s promise.

There is something I’m facing this AM where I’d like to take decisive action…I want to see a circumstance changed SO much that I feel itchy with impatience!

And yet, I want God’s perfect will orchestrated in my life FAR more than His permissive will & the subsequent consequences that follow MY will when I follow MY way in MY timing!

Father, I love that You love us so much that You give us freedom to follow. You are not a tyrant Who mandates what we must do. You woo us to Your Way & yet sometimes? Sometimes, it’s hard to choose faith-fueled restraint over outcome-driven action. Holy Spirit, remind us when we’re itching to take action, that restraint is a sign of great faith! Fill us with your fruit of self control & help us wait patiently on God’s perfect timing.

#OneYearBible #patience

January 14th One Year Bible Readings

GENESIS 30:1-31:16

MATTHEW 10:1-23

PSALM 12:1-8

PROVERBS 3:13-15