Answered Why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiyQsHKnCvc&list=RDaiyQsHKnCvc&start_radio=1

Blessings Everywhere ~ Elevation Worship

 

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good… ~ Genesis 50:20 NIV

 

People are naturally curious. Sometimes our curiosity leads us to seek out the answers. Other times, it leads us to demand them, feeling it is our right to know:

Why? That’s not fair! Why this? Why me? Why now? Why!

I have often heard my children sound just like that, as have I to God.

 

Personally, there have been many times my asking – or demanding – has been met with no specific answer, and definitely not when I felt it was timely. But then other times, God has brought a very fast answer to our questions to show us that He is still God and He is for us. The latter has been our experience in our current situation. Sparing the details, God made it very obvious that His hand was all over this, including bringing much needed peace in the middle of the situation.

 

The next time you are facing something you don’t understand, ask God to send you in the direction of His peace. It may not lead to specific answers to your “why,” but at least you’ll know you’re going on His path.

 

Father, I thank you that sometimes you answer us, immediately and specifically. But Lord, I also thank you for the times You simply hold us close to your heart, so that we can rest in Your peace. Hold us today, Lord. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

©Heather Potts 2023

Tell Me Your Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TKAN-nAsu8

My Story ~ Big Daddy Weave

 

 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28 NKJV

 

After talking with other women, I’ve realized that we’re all struggling to find our “drive” again: to keep our houses in order, exercise, meal plan, get together, and/or study our Bibles. The enemy was cunning and convinced us all it was a “just me” scenario. We each blamed different things, but after learning the truth, it’s obviously a spiritual attack. Fortunately, we have the “recipe” to win: fight this spirit with an opposite spirit.

 

About 6 years ago, I struggled to remain in the sanctuary of our church. Though nothing had changed, everything seemed to scream at me to leave. When I took my struggle to my pastor, he told me to begin worshipping Jesus before I even began my walk toward the sanctuary. He said the only way to fight this kind of attack was with an opposite spirit. After two Sundays of doing it, I never had that issue again.

 

How do we approach this attack? If unrest is the issue, then rest is the answer. Not sleeping but resting in the arms of Jesus. We get back to that place by falling in love, again.

 

Tell me your story. When and how did you fall in love with Jesus? Which verses drew you to His heart? Even if you fell away, what drew to Him, again? Was it a worship song that reminded you of His love and faithfulness? Whatever it was, go back to it. Spend time just enjoying those songs, verses, and time with your Savior, again.

 

You fight hell fire with Holy fire, unrest with rest, dryness with refreshing springs, and anger with love. This is a fight, one that Jesus has equipped you to win. If you don’t know where to start, then tell me your story. When did you fall in love with Jesus?

©Heather Potts 2022

Quickened by Jesus

What am I supposed to do once she’s gone?

It hurt my heart when Savannah asked that of her friend whose family is moving away next week. This will be the second significant loss of a friend within her lifetime. Four years ago, at the end of this month, we moved from Florida to Wisconsin, leaving many friends behind. Now, one of Savannah’s closest friends is moving away. What do you say?

I’m grateful Savannah easily accepted my help last night, because it was only two days ago that she was sobbing. Just like Savannah, I believe we’ve all asked the question, “What am I supposed to do now?” as our lives change. Change is hard enough when it’s something we want or choose, but when it’s happening to us, not of our choosing… It can be so hard.

If I had not found encouragement in your law, I would have died in my sorrow. ~ Psalm 119:92 NET

Psalm 119:92 is an expression of deep gratitude, the kind that is born out of a trial and a close-knit relationship with Jesus. Based on the surrounding text, the author wrote it while still in the midst of a trial, and not after it. Have you ever felt pain so piercing, you truly believed your heart would shatter if one more thing bumped into it? How do you survive that? Not by isolating or trying to fix it on your own, but by running to the One who can heal and help you. 

I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. ~ Psalm 119:93 KJV

“Thou hast quickened me.” Though written in Early Modern English,  it captures the beauty and sentiment expressed by the psalmist. Just as a broken heart is not given a bandaid, a life in distress needs a quickening spirit, found only in Jesus, (1 Corinthians 15:45). The quickening, referred to in Psalm 119, is a reviving “from discouragement of the spirit; from faintness; from death,” (blueletterbible.org). In the middle of a trial, life can feel like it’s getting harder before it gets better. Part of that may be the dross dripping off as Jesus watches closeby, waiting for the precise moment that He’ll pull you out, as pure gold.

I pray that when life gets hard, we will have the same close-knit relationship with Jesus as this psalmist, whose life and spirit were revived and brought to life out of a pit of deep sorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhoEktYO5w8 ~ Rest, Kari Jobe

©Heather Potts 2021

Gone Fishing

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk5mlyYMOBs&list=RDnk5mlyYMOBs&start_radio=1&t=0

Dear God ~ Cory Asbury feat. Anna Asbury

 Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass. ~ Psalm 37:5 AMPC

When I was 3 or 4, my grandpa took me fishing. He got my line ready and all I had to do was drop it in the water. In less than a minute, I caught a fish! My grandpa took off the fish, rebated my hook, and I dropped it back in the water. Then I caught another fish! My grandpa took the second fish off the hook, rebated it, and my line went back in the water. Then I caught a third fish. As the story goes, this cycle continued another five or six times. But then, when I didn’t catch anything—after about two minutes—I looked at my grandpa and said, “This is boring.”

 I certainly had it made at 3- or 4-years-old. My grandpa did all the work and all I had to do was wait for the fish to bite. God offers the same to us if we’ll let Him. Through Jesus, God has done the heavy lifting in our lives and offers us the opportunity to partner with Him, to share in the experience of the things He’s called us to do and enjoy watching His victorious outcome. Sadly, though, we’re convinced we need to “make it happen” and, as a result, we run ourselves ragged trying to do it ourselves.

In love, Father God looks at us and says, “There’s a better way, dear child.” Psalm 37:5 says we’re to roll each of our cares onto the Lord, then we’re to lean on and be confident in Him, and then He will bring it to pass. The world says, “To get anything done – and done right – you have to do it yourself.” The way of the world is heavy and downright exhausting. God’s way, however, gives us peace, rest, and a burdenless load.

 In life, you can try to do everything yourself – even try to make the fish bite. Or you can partner with God, allowing Him to bear the weight of the responsibility, and just enjoy the adventure He takes you on – even when you don’t catch any fish.

©Heather Potts 2021

Trust pt 2

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! ~ Psalm 40:4 ESV

REST is the result of a decision to believe God ~ Alex Anderson, Pastor and author. The emphasis isn’t believing in God, but believing Him, taking Him at His Word, and trusting it.

Numerous sermons have been given on being Mary (sitting at Jesus’ feet), and not Martha (working at His feet). We all long to be Mary, free to sit and rest in the blessing of His teaching, but too often we find ourselves working, instead. I will confess, as of late, I haven’t been doing such a good job of resting, or trusting. Instead, I’ve been struggling, striving, and stressing. When God told me to go back to work, the first thing I did was to pull out our budget and figure out how much I needed to earn. If I don’t have to pay for childcare, I only need X amount. But if I do, then I need to make Y amount. Understanding the budget is great, but it shifted the focus from God—how He was going to provide—and put all the emphasis on me—how was I going to do it.

Trust: to have confidence in another; to be secure, to fear nothing for yourself. Rest: to give permission for one to cease from labor in order to recover and collect her strength; to refresh. Jesus calls to us in our Martha-mentality and says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls,” (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV). Rest. Trust. Sitting. Freedom. Is it really that easy? YES! We can be Mary, even in Martha seasons. We can choose to shift the emphasis and focus from ourselves and put it back on Jesus, allowing Him to teach us.

Father, forgive me for working, for thinking I had to do it all, when You called me to trust and rest in You. Holy Spirit, remind me to rest, because it’s when I’m attentive to Jesus’ words and teachings that I’ll know what He wants me to do and how He wants me to do it. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

©Heather Potts 2017

FoCUS

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. ~ Isaiah 55:9 NKJV

Plans. My plans included the house we were going to buy before having kids and the one-hour labor and natural delivery I was going to have in birthing my kids. But things didn’t go as I planned. Proverbs 19:21 reminds me, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand,” (ESV). If it’s the purpose of the Lord that stands, how do I uncover it? Holy Spirit said, “Through the Sabbath.”

Rest. When God brought His people out of Egypt, slavery—doing what someone else said, when and how they said—was all they’d ever known. Therefore, God commanded, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” (Exodus 20:8 NIV). The root word of Sabbath means “to take a rest; to sit down, to sit still.” It takes discipline to rest. But the benefits far exceed that of continuous motion.

Busyness. Too often I’m distracted by multiple projects or needs at once, losing sight of the bigger picture. Though I’m constantly active, if it’s not moving me toward the most important things, it’s meaningless. Yesterday, Holy Spirit challenged me to fast busyness. Doing so gave me what God’s been trying to give me all year: FoCUS.

Family First (Keeping my priorities in sight).

others on the outside (Maintaining healthy boundaries).

Christ at the Center (Gluing our family together).

Us United (Making every effort to meet each other’s needs).

Self-Care (Necessary in caring for others).

Honoring the Sabbath gave me a chance to recharge, see my projects from a clearer perspective, and refocus on the important things.

Maybe, like me, you’ve let your plans dictate the flow of your life. A wise teacher once said, “The plan may change a million different times. The plan is not what’s important. Jesus is. Don’t focus on the plan. Focus on Jesus.” It’s time to lay our plans down and seek God’s purpose. When we seek Him with disciplined and undistracted hearts, He’ll reveal His plan and purpose to us, which far outweigh any that we could make on our own!

©Heather Potts 2017

Behold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Q-rslQpPE

Behold the Lamb ~ Bayside Worship

And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” ~ John 1:36 NKJV

It’s normal for me to wake to songs being sung over me (Zephaniah 3:17). But this time was different. The past two weeks have been a flurry and blur for me and each time I tried to spend time with God, something always stole away my attention. No matter what, I couldn’t focus. Yesterday at 2am, the Lord woke me, again with this song, and called me out of bed.

My heart cried out to God, as I felt so distant from Him. Over and over, this song repeated to me and I began to write it down, as it was the only thing I could hear. Again I cried, my desire to be nestled in my Father’s arms, drinking in His every word for me. And still, the song repeated, each time louder than the time before. I continued writing the words, over and over, until peace replaced the anxiety. Then I opened my Bible and read Jeremiah 50, “’In those days, at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it… My people have been lost sheep…They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place,’” (vv. 4-6). That was exactly how I felt. But crying out to God, He called out to me as He sang, “Behold the Lamb.”

The Greek word for behold means, “Don’t miss this! This is new and unexpected!” Sometimes we can allow life’s distractions to steal the fervor we once felt. But as John the Baptist cried out to those standing nearby, “Don’t miss the Lamb of God! He brings something new; not at all what you were expecting.” Don’t become jaded. Instead, turn and fully look into His beautiful face. And when you do, you will behold the Lamb of God.

©Heather Potts 2016

Embraced

Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength! ~ Isaiah 51:9 NIV

The other morning, I was snuggling with my Elizabeth.  She’d thrown up and wanted to be held, comforted by my embrace. When we’re feeling out of sorts, don’t we just want to be comforted by Him who loves us?  But how does Father God hold us?

His Arms provide strength, might, power, help and aid. The islands look to me and wait in hope for my arm, (Isaiah 51:5 NIV).

His Hands provide power, means, and direction. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God, (Isaiah 62:3 NKJV).

In His Palm is power and a place one submits himself to seek security and safety. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me, (Isaiah 49:16 NKJV).

His Bosom is a place of embrace and of acceptance. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, (Isaiah 40:11 NKJV).

With His Face, He turns toward us, regarding us, both hearing and answering. And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken! (Ezekiel 39:29 NLT)

Just as parents hold their babies, our Father holds us. Held in His lap, we are accepted just as we are. We are loved and embraced by our Father who will never drop, leave, or forsake us.  He will give us strength and help us; He will hold us steady and keep a firm grip on us, (Isaiah 41:9-10). We are God’s sons and daughters, held in His embrace, carried close to His heart, (Isaiah 40:11). When Father looks at us, He smiles. And sometimes He tickles us, just to enjoy the sound of our laughter. We are safe, secure, and forever held in our Father’s loving embrace.

©Heather Potts 2016