The Most Courageous

On Valentine’s Day we will give away a DVD of the movie Courageous, several books and also we will give away two framed, The Resolution for men and 2 framed, The Resolution for Women. To win, leave a comment in any post over the next week. That's six different winners.

Out of the Old Testament comes a facinating story. Read it now and allow the Lord to show you something you haven't perceived before. (Numbers 13 and Joshua 1) 

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Joshua and Caleb, believed the Lord could deliver Canaan to the Israelites. The Israelites listened to the negative report of the ten who did not believe. The people turned against God and God was so angry with the people that he wanted to destroy them all. Moses plead with God to save the people and God relented. However God decreed that the Israelites would not enter Canaan until the unbelieving generation had died. The only members of that generation to survive were Joshua and Caleb. They were ready to claim their inheritance but were delayed for 40 years!

In the end Joshua led the people of Israel to the Promised Land and Caleb, at 85, saw the Promised Land and was given Hebron. (Joshua 14: 6-15)

Those two great men prepared a generation to take the Promised Land. They didn’t lose faith, they didn’t leave the people but somehow helped guide a faithful generation.

Joshua and Caleb were faithful to God but because of the unbelief of others they waited 40 years to see the Promised Land. The observation is that sometimes those who love God “suffer” because God’s grace is so bountiful; God persists in offering grace even to those who just don’t seem to get it or want it.

Perhaps God’s grace costs those that love Him. Caleb and Joshua model the best way to behave: they didn’t leave God or reject those who rejected Him. They stayed, created a new generation and saw the Promised Land. Perhaps they understood if God loves sinners they must too.

Something to think about.

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Thoughts? 

Thank you Carolyn who emailed this story to me last week.

Looking forward to your comments and conversation in the comments today. Audatious and brave hugs, Lynn

COURAGE

 

It was a week ago Saturday night. Dineen and I sat in our jammies on the family room couch after our morning together at Sandals Church. We avoided the greasy popcorn and pulled the box of Kleenex close then hit the play button on the remote.

COURAGEOUS

The movie rolled for the next two hours. We wept. And at the same time we were filled with hope.

I don't know about you but watching this movie and the movie Fireproof which was also produced by the same people, is difficult and I think especially so for all of us who are spiritually mismatched. Watching Fireproof reduced me to a puddle of blubbers and that doesn't happen too often to this gal.

That yearning for our unbelieving spouse to one day know Jesus and to stand up and lead our home is always hidden right under the surface.

I shut off the television. I hugged Dineen goodnight and shuffled off to my room.  As I laid in bed  thinking about the movie what impressed me the most was the main character’s decision and motivation which leads to the The Resolution. Now I don't want to give up too much for those of you who haven't watched it yet, however, the main character in the film decides to be courageous and to truly live his life based upon the principles of the Bible.

What truly spoke to me was this man “decided” to be brave regardless of what anyone else thought or said. He was determined to live the truth out in his life in front of his wife, his friends, coworkers, and church.

So, as I mulled this over in the quiet of the night a thought occurred to me. Why must I wait for my spouse to come to Christ for this to happen in my life? Why can’t I take courage and resolve to live these beliefs out loud in front of my unbelieving spouse?

The next morning as I drove Dineen to the airport we chatted about this very thing and agreed, we need some courage. We both felt called to share God’s perspective of living without fear, out of His courage, and to step into a new place in His truth.

Beginning today we are on a two week journey to Courageous Living. We have several posts coming up about living out of God’s courage and what holds us back as well as how to escape the two traps of the devil.

On Valentine’s Day we will give away a DVD of the movie Courageous, several books and also we will give away two framed, The Resolution for men and 2 framed, The Resolution for Women. To win, leave a comment in any post over the next two weeks.

I should tell you that my own story of stepping up my courage began today (Sunday). I went out for an early morning run before church and as I was listening to my Ishuffle I heard God whisper to me, “Lynn, you step out and be brave for me. You do one thing that scares you today.”

Whoa. I hate it when God says stuff like that. Can anyone relate?

Well within a couple of hours I knew the moment when God was calling me to put my courage up for a test. And, wow, it was completely unexpected……

*Okay my friends don't be mad but this post has already gone long. Find me here again Friday as I tell you what happened at church. I’ll give you a peak. My husband went with me. First time since September.

What area in your life do you want God to build your courage? Leave your answer in the comments. My friends, God has started something with this whole Courageous thing. Let’s join Him.

Audacious hugs, Lynn

 

What Do You Say to the Kids and more....

Today we are answering your questions that were posted the week of January 18, 2012.

What do you tell the kids when they ask, "Why doesn't Dad go to church."

Why isn't there marriage in heaven?

How do you parent your kids when you and your husband see parenting so different.

The boundary between submitting and serving vs. enabling.

How do I keep hope alive when I my husband never responds.

Listen in. Then join the conversation in the comments. 

 

 

The Bigger Picture

One of the greatest challenge is a spiritually mismatched marriage is seeing hope when we see none. I think this is true of any difficult and ongoing situation for us as believers AND as human beings. How do we keep going when everything within us says walking away would be the easier choice?

Truth is, it may be the easier choice, but is it the right one? Probably not. Those trials and challenges in our life are there for a reason. God has a plan for all of it—for us and everyone involved. And I’ve never known God to be interested in the easy solution. On the contrary, He’s more interested in helping us become more like Christ and building our character than making our lives easy.

And marriage is one of those training grounds. It’s not about us. It’s not even completely about our spouse. This is about eternity—ours, our spouse’s and our children’s. Even on our roughest days, it’s vital that we step back and view our challenges in the light of two truths:

1. This is just one small view of a giant picture God is building every second of our lives. Our feelings change moment to moment, day to day, even year to year, as do our circumstances. The picture you’re looking at may be completely different next year, next week, or even in the next hour. Sometimes our biggest issue in these times is fear. We’re so afraid of what might be that we forget who’s in control. There’s a reason Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow. When you worry about what could happen (or not happen), you’ve not only stopped trusting God, you’ve completely tinged your viewpoint, your mood and your hope for what could be a turn around you never imagined possible.

2. The bigger picture—what are we working toward? I know some days just seem more about survival and there are times when God asks for no more than that. But He loves us too much to allow us to stay there. We can choose to walk the trials of life and marriage with the goal to learn and become more closely a reflection of who God created us to be—a design that will come to completion when we are reunited with Him in heaven. Or we can choose to stay in a place of stubbornness because we’re more interested in getting what we want now. That impatience is so destructive to our lives from the smallest of places to the largest. You have to ask yourself if you’re willing to do whatever God asks because you love him more than you love yourself.

If you look at every challenge as an opportunity to serve God and make Him proud, then you have eternity in your sights and you’ve centered your hope squarely on God. That’s when we discover victory in our hearts and lives even when nothing around us seems to have changed. We have changed though. Dramatically. This is also where we find that peace that surpasses understanding that Paul talks about and we are operating in God’s strength, not our own. And it’s the hope God has for us every millisecond of our lives.

Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. — Isaiah 49:23 (NIV)

Praying and believing,
Dineen

Weekend Devo — The Promise

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

—Acts 2:36-39

I emphasized that last line because of the truth it holds. The Truth. It holds the promise of Jesus Christ. And right here, Peter tells us that this promise is for us and our spouses and our children and grandchildren and so on.

All who are far off...

Amazing! No matter how far off our unbelieving loved ones might be today, this promise is for them. Jesus is for them and He's calling them. We can trust in that promise.

Praying and believing,
Dineen 

No More Marriage?

Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. — Matthew 22: 29-30

I don’t know about you but this verse has always made me stop and wonder. What does it mean? Why will marriage cease to exist?

Bear with me here, because I had a sudden light bulb moment recently. I won’t claim it to be biblical or swear it came from God, but to me, it makes sense.

Marriage is probably the closest representation we have here as to our relationship with God. It’s a covenant He created and provides a safe “place” for us to connect with another person in intimacy—physically for reproduction and to know each other, mentally to fulfill certain emotional needs and to create unity, and spiritually to grow together in our connection to God and understanding His place in our lives.

Along with life, marriage is a training ground to make us more Christ-like and to prepare us for eternity.

So, let’s talk about eternity. Once there we will be complete in Christ.

In the physical sense: We will know and be known even as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). Thus the separation created by sin is eliminated and we will know intimacy with God as He intended it to be (think of Garden of Eden before the Fall but even better!). And we certainly won’t need to reproduce!

In the mental/emotional sense: I can imagine all our needs will be perfectly met, if we even have any. Unity will be our natural state because we will truly experience our presence in the body of Christ and what that connection means. The barriers that so often hinder relationship will also be gone, like envy, jealousy, insecurity, etc.

In the spiritual sense: In heaven we step into the fulfillment of our spirituality because we are with God. Sin is gone, thus nothing separates us or hinders our closeness to God.

In this light, it makes perfect sense to me that there would be no more marriage, nor will there be issues as far as those who have married more than once. In heaven we are all united as one in God’s family. We are all His and He is ours—equally.

I don’t know about you but the beauty and perfection of it blows me away and is almost incomprehensible.

Now step back and think of your marriage in these terms. How’s it look now?

Praying and believing,
Dineen

Praying & Fasting for 2012

With the New Year ahead, I find myself anticipating what God has planned. If you were with us here at S.U.M. last January, you may remember that we fasted that first week. I will confess that I did not want to participate.

First of all, fasting has never been easy for me. I’m one of those people who struggles with a food addiction so this is a big undertaking for me.

Second, my family and I were traveling from Florida back to California by car that week. Fasting on the road seemed even more daunting. I made up my mind to do what I could. I wanted to at least fast during the day.

So, as the week of fasting approached, I started praying and asking God to prepare me to do this. He above anyone else knows how I struggle in this area. My heart's desire was to honor Him. Plus, I use this first week to ask God for words and Scriptures for myself and my family to guide me in my prayers for the rest of the year.

Finally, the week arrived. Day one of the fast and our first day on the road. I allowed myself only basic liquids, like tea and broth. Evening came and I felt like God was calling me to continue. I continued to pray for strength to continue because what I really hoped and longed to do was fast for three days—something I’d never been able to do.

By the end of this first day, God gave me my word for for 2011: VICTORY. I will tell you, I stand in awe of what God has done in a year that seemed to start out rough but has truly become a year of true victory for my family in so many ways, with some still coming to fruition.

Day two arrived and I continued on. I didn't want to be low on energy because I wanted to help drive and alert for my husband. God amazed me and continued to strengthen and keep me going. As I prayed for direction for myself, God gave me a wonderful verse to affirm my work for Him in ministry and speaking.

Evening came and I felt God's strength to keep going. I was amazed how He provided for me through a bottle of juice and the broth from a bowl of chicken soup from Subway!

Day three arrived and I focused my prayers on my family. God gave me insights and a Scripture to pray for each of them. The one that amazes me the most was for my youngest daughter who still struggled with health and emotional issues from her past battle with cancer.

I have prayed Malichi 4:2 (But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.) this past year for my daughter and claimed this promise from God even when things seemed worse. God is so faithful. My daughter is flourishing and growing in ways I hadn't even imagined possible at this point. She is truly like this calf, leaping with joy from its stall.

When day four arrived, I felt God's release to break my fast. I was amazed. I'd actually done it, even while traveling on the road and stopping at restaurants for meals, which is part of the fun! And my family seemed to understand too. Even my hubby. I already felt victorious as I started my year of victory!

Friends, as we approach the first week of January, will you start praying now for God to guide you in a decision to fast? We will start at sunrise January 2nd and end at sunset January 6th.

You can fast for one meal, just for the day until sunset or as many full days as God leads you to. And that is key here. This has to be about what God is calling you to do. And it can be a fast from food, just sweets, television, the computer or whatever it is you feel God putting on your heart.

As one who still struggles with the discipline of fasting, I can tell you there is something powerful that happens when we align ourselves like this and submit our wills completely to God in order to know His. He loves to meet with us in this most sacred of places. 

Will you join Lynn and I as we take this most amazing journey again? Let's walk this road together and start our year with the strength and guiding wisdom of God. Each day, starting January 2nd, we will meet here at S.U.M. to share a prayer for our unbelieving spouse and our children. Each day will be geared to pray for one person, and we will light a candle each day as our reminder to pray each time we see its flame.

If you're an Advent wreath nut like I am, use that center candle, the Christ candle, each day as your connection and reminder to pray your loved ones into the loving arms of Jesus and His grace. Come each day and share what you feel God is telling you or just to be encouraged to keep going and continue to seek God.

God's love for us is like that candle's flame, only unimaginably brighter and hotter in His passion and pursuit of us. Let's hear what He so longingly wants to tell us for 2012.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

Away in a Manger, Then a Tomb—The Humility of Christ

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” — Luke 1:34-37 (NIV, emphasis mine)

As I read the account of Gabriel’s visit to Mary above, that last line pulled me in and kept there for a while. Here’s the mighty Gabriel telling Mary what she needs to know most of all. In the 1984 version of the NIV, that line reads, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

This is a message for us too and reminds me of the promise in Philippians 4:13: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

God will never take us to a place of seeming impossibility and leave us there! He is faithful, true to His Word and will give us whatever we need to walk all the difficult paths in our lives. We don’t walk them alone. Emmanuel is with us, remember?

Now let me show you something so amazing, that one of my pastors (Thank you, Pastor Alvin!) showed us just this past Sunday. Read these two Scripture references below and let God bring a wave of fresh awe for his grand plan of salvation:

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. — Luke 2:7 (emphasis mine)

Then he took it [Jesus’ body] down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. — Luke 23:53 (emphasis mine)

Jesus’ life and death are “wrapped” in the humblest of means and He willingly chose to do this for us.

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! — Phil. 2:6-8

Christ’s humility is the ultimate example of dying to self. He left the greatest place of power—the Son of God—and took on the greatest form of weakness—a helpless baby.

For all of us. ALL OF US! Believe God’s Word will never fail and trust Him to bring the answer to our prayers for our unsaved loved ones at just the right time.

Just as He brought his Son to Earth so long ago—at just the right time.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

He Came Upon a Midnight Clear—For YOU!

My Bible study group completed our study yesterday. We’d walked the past 11 weeks through the story of David with Beth Moore. On this last day she shared a powerful visual of a staff that had once been a vine. The bottom was straight but about half way up, the thick stalk rose upward in a tight spiral.

Beth Moore then showed how the vine would have grown around a branch, surrounding it, holding it, and referred to Jesus’s words that He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15).

It’s a visual that I will never forget because it so aptly shows how Christ is all around us, surrounding us. This vine that climbed from a small beginning. . .

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” — Matthew 1:21-23

Then He grew up and up and around and around, His purpose clear and true. . .

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. — Luke 2:49-50  

Each year, each day, each moment—from a child to an adult, walking as a man on earth, yet fully God. . .

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! — Philippians 2:6-8

He twines around and through us, giving us breath and life. Giving life meaning and definition. . .

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. — Colossians 1:17

And no matter what we do, He is always there either pursuing us or waiting for us to come to Him. His love never wavers, nor does his faithfulness. . .

If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. — 2 Timothy 2:13

Christ came to give us Himself. He is the ultimate culmination of God’s love for us and His goodness. . .

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. —Romans 8:16-17

His love is unshakable and unending. His Word is His story from beginning to end, the promise of His coming, His arrival and His return.

He came for me. He came for you. Nothing can change that truth or take it away from you. . .

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:38-39

In Christ we are adopted, accepted, blessed, chosen, forgiven and redeemed (Ephesians 1). And it all started with a baby who grew to a man, our God who is ever present, always with us, around us, and in us.

We are his, and He is ours.

Praying and believing,
Dineen

You Thought You Weren't One

The most unexpected thing happened to me yesterday.

Seated next to my daughter and her best friend, I opened my Bible to the passage and listened as the pastor began to read Luke 15. While he was reading this familiar passage, powerful emotion rose up from some place deep within me. He arrived at verse 24 and it was as if the world around me went into slow motion. Every part of me was engaged and experiencing this sentence. He spoke slowly and with purpose, each word emphasized and as I listened, tears welled. I felt the full impact of my salvation all over again.

With eyes spilling, I struggled to control the tide washing over me. I teetered on the verge of becoming a blubbering idiot right there in the extremely quiet worship center. But I determined to spare my 16-year-old daughter the uncomfortable reality of her mother becoming a complete spectacle in front of 500 people.

The 15th chapter of Luke is one of the many stories told by Jesus. And if you read our book, Winning Him Without Words, my introduction begins with this very passage. You also know that I am the epitome of this wayward son. I am the prodigal daughter. It’s no wonder as I sat there in church and the words….

…. was dead and now is alive again. Was lost and now is found…..

My heart lurched, my spirit soared, my mind humbled, my throat constricted. For Lynn Donovan was once very lost in her selfish life, lonely, scared, and deceived.

But…..

God loves redemption stories. His Son, Jesus, refused to let me go. He waited for me on the road, looking, calling out to me, just like the father in this story in Luke. He never gave up on me. Never. Ever.

Hear me now.    Don’t make the mistake and believe this story is not about YOU.

We all squander our inheritance.

We have let fear replace faith.

We have traded exceptional living for mediocrity.

We have replaced God’s truth with lies.

We have exchanged freedom for captivity.

We have handed over our miracles for apathetic safety.

Today, I say, “No more. That is enough.”

I want to be reacquainted with the God of love, the God of mercy, the God of grace. I want to know Him this season in an intimate and personal relationship that I haven’t yet experienced. I want to encounter this Father who waits on the road, scanning the horizon, calling to me, to you, “Come home my child, come home.”

What is your pain? What is God asking you to surrender? Our great God has so much for all of us Prodigals. Every…. Single…. One.

God loves redemption stories. We are His redemption story.

Be blessed, Lynn

Share your praises this season with us here at SUM- Join us next Monday for a unique way to honor God and give thanks. (PS. Get a Twitter account….hint…hint)

Inspired by Keith Potter. Thanks Keith

The Picture-Story of the Foolish Son Who Spent All His Money

Luke 15: ¹¹ And Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, let me have the part of the family riches that will be coming to me.’ Then the father divided all that he owned between his two sons. ¹³ Soon after that the younger son took all that had been given to him and went to another country far away. There he spent all he had on wild and foolish living. ¹⁴ When all his money was spent, he was hungry. There was no food in the land. ¹⁵ He went to work for a man in this far away country. His work was to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He was so hungry he was ready to eat the outside part of the ears of the corn the pigs ate because no one gave him anything.

   ¹⁷ “He began to think about what he had done. He said to himself, ‘My father pays many men who work for him. They have all the food they want and more than enough. I am about dead because I am so hungry. ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father. I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am not good enough to be called your son. But may I be as one of the workmen you pay to work?”’

   ²⁰ “The son got up and went to his father. While he was yet a long way off, his father saw him. The father was full of loving-pity for him. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹ The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am not good enough to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to the workmen he owned, ‘Hurry! Get the best coat and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. ²³ Bring the calf that is fat and kill it. Let us eat and be glad. ²⁴ For my son was dead and now he is alive again. He was lost and now he is found. Let us eat and have a good time.’