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

2,996

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ~ Matthew 18:12 NIV

Last night, Brad and I were talking about how Jesus was willing to leave the 99 to seek and save the 1. As we talked, the conversation shifted to personal reflection for Brad and how he never wanted to lose sight of the 99, or in his case, 2,996. If you haven’t heard the story, my husband was working across the street from where President Bush’s plane was in Sarasota, FL on 9/11/01. As 2,996 people were dying, the Lord was still knocking on the door to my husband’s heart. And on that day, scared and hiding in an office, my husband finally responded to the knocking and invited the Savior in, giving his life to Christ.

Even though it’s been 15 years, that story never gets old and always brings me tears of joy! As Brad and I continued to talk about it last night, his prayer and heart’s desire is that he would never lose sight of the 2,996 so that he’d always remember to give as much emphasis to the 1, as Jesus did for him.

How poetic, that we’d be having that conversation just a week before we celebrate the day that our Savior first came into this world and gave us the opportunity to invite Him into our hearts and lives. As we celebrate Christmas, let’s also not lose sight of the 1 who does not yet know Jesus. Let’s be in prayer that we’d continue to shine His light and love this Christmas season, so that those who’ve not yet opened the door will invite the Savior into their hearts and lives.

Father, my prayer this Christmas season is that those who’ve only ever celebrated the Season, will come to know, worship, and celebrate the Reason. Father, let me be a light for the 1. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

©Heather Potts 2016

Look

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:7 NLT

Due to the struggles we were having getting Savannah ready for school, we started a new routine. Although God has walked us successfully through that season, we’ve continued our new routine. Every morning, we pray an interactive prayer with our girls, asking God to anoint us: touching our heads, we ask Him to anoint our minds; wigging our ears, we ask Him to anoint our ears; and it continues for our eyes, mouths, heart, hands, and feet. The whole prayer is important, but over the past few days, God has shown me the importance of praying for our eyes. We ask God to open our eyes to see people as He sees them and to see into the spiritual realm—to see the Truth—in every situation.

Yesterday morning, I was in a funk and couldn’t shake it, so I opened my journal and began reading through the Truths God has given me over the years, praying that He’d open my eyes to what I needed to know and see. And then I spotted it! In June, 2010, God revealed Himself to me as El Roi, “God of seeing, the God who opens our eyes.”

In 1 Samuel 16, God commanded Samuel to stop mourning Saul’s fall from anointed leadership and to go anoint God’s chosen king. God warned Samuel look—or see—not with human judgement, but through the spiritual eyes of the Lord. The “Lord looks” is the Hebrew word, “ra’ah” meaning to see or behold and is the root word of Roi, the name of God meaning “to see.” My prayer for us today is that God would anoint our eyes, so that we’d see as He sees, in all situations.

©Heather Potts 2016

Expectation

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. ~ Psalm 62:5 KJV

Expectation.

This word has been resonating in my ears for about a week. A friend invited me to a conference, a Princess conference to be specific. She invited me because that’s what Holy Spirit said. I had great expectation of what God was going to do as the conference approached and especially throughout it. There was something specific I was hoping God would do. I didn’t know how or where He would show up, but I fully expected to receive from Him.

The thing I love about God is not just where He shows up, but how, because it’s always more: more than we expected, more than we thought possible. Walking into that conference with great expectations of what God would do, I was not disappointed! Awe, amazement, beauty, and excitement are just a few of the ways to describe it. Because He didn’t just give me what I was hoping for in that moment. Instead, He revealed a path toward fulfilling a hidden desire, one that’s been buried in my heart. And though I was willing to move forward without it, He fulfilled it because He can, because He’s God.

Expectation means to bind yourself—your hope, your expectation—to someone or something. When we bind ourselves to men and objects in this world, we will often be disappointed, if not devastated. But when we bind ourselves, through expectation, to God we will never be disappointed because He is the God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or imagine.

To what or to whom have you bound yourself?

©Heather Potts 2016

Comforted

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. ~ John 14:18 KJV

Something woke me early this morning and the enemy was quick to pounce on me with condemnation. In my exhausted state, it took me a moment to recognize what was happening, but when I did I said, “This is condemnation.” Even though the speaking stopped, the images lingered, until God spoke and I heard my Father say, “Come away with Me. Draw away with Me and leave everything else behind.” I saw Him holding me; I was safe and secure in my Father’s arms. He turned me around, still holding me close to His chest. With a single word, He disbanded all the enemy’s lies. He said, “See. Everything is fine.”

When I got out of bed and into my God-chair, I had a strong urge to read my Bible, to find comfort there, but I didn’t know where to begin because the chapter I’ve been studying felt dry. Holy Spirit led me. When I opened up my laptop, one of the Bible study sites I use opened to John 14:18. Holy Spirit showed me that in this scripture God promises to never send me away from Him, deprived and desolate, bereaving a death, like one without a Father. Instead, He will come from one place and into another for me.

Father, thank you that though the enemy attacks and is ready to pounce, especially when I’m tired and vulnerable, You are greater and You come to comfort me and not leave me comfortless! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

©Heather Potts 2016

What If

He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. ~ Romans 8:27-28 MSG

In the middle of church this past Sunday, God spoke to me and asked me to do something—having nothing to do with the sermon. I’ve been running His words between my hands, as though a slinky was shifting back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. If I do this action, it could be this outcome, or that outcome, or another outcome. After running that slinky several times, I finally said, “God I can’t do it. It can’t be me—it will only make things worse than they are now.” But God said, “What if it’s better? What if it’s more?”

That last question, “What if it’s more,” is where He really got me because the possibilities in God are endless…and infinitely better than I could achieve on my own. But first, I must be obedient. I must make that first move…and take that first step. And it’s actually taking that step—doing what He’s asked—that scares me. The “what if’s” are endless… But He reminds me that the outcomes don’t have to be negative, because He works all things together for good. Every time I begin to worry or fear, I hear Him whisper, “What if it’s more?”

If there’s something that God’s calling you to do, push aside the fear and worry and do it anyway. Though the enemy has already cast thousands of possible negative outcomes, Holy Spirit whispers, “What if it’s better? What if it’s more?”

©Heather Potts 2016

You're a Good Mom

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. ~ Proverbs 12:25 NLT

For over a year now, I’ve been attending Wednesday Morning Prayer at one of our church campuses. One morning, several months ago, a man I didn’t really know walked up and said, “While I was praying, God spoke to me and said to tell you ‘you’re a good mom.’ When I heard that I said, ‘Oh Lord,’ but He said to tell you. You’re a good mom.” Those words really rocked me at my core. Honestly, I haven’t really felt like a “good mom.” I always felt like I was trying to play “catch-up” with all those “other good moms.” I felt like I was on the bottom of the bell-curve. Somehow, the hurtful words of people and the lies of the enemy were easier to believe…

But my Daddy, He says I find my truth, my strength, and my identity in Him. If I believe that He is a good and perfect Father, then I must also believe that what He says about me is true.

Maybe you’ve been like me and you’ve believed the lie that you’re not good enough. Just as a man at a prayer meeting told me, you need to know: You’re a good mom. I can say that because we are made in our Father’s likeness and image and He promises, “I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you,” (Isaiah 46:4 NLT). Though we’re often given more than we can handle in our humanness, God doesn’t give us more than His strength in us can carry…because He’s carrying us.

If someone you know—or even you—has been struggling to believe the truth, remind them that their identity is found not in a lie or some hurtful words, but in their good and perfect Daddy who is madly in love with them.

©Heather Potts 2016