God's Creativity

God’s Creativity

He is the God of all creativity! Praise Him! One step at a time!

Have you heard about the Parable of the Mule?

It is a picture of creativity in the midst of adverse circumstances:

An old mule fell into a well. The farmer found it but thought neither the well nor the mule were worth saving so he called friends to help him shovel dirt into the well to bury the mule and put it out of its misery. At first the mule was hysterical as the first shovel of dirt hit his back. As this continued, it occurred to the mule to shake it off and step up. This he did blow after blow. Shake it off and step up. No matter how painful the blows or distressing the situation seemed, the mule fought panic and just kept right on “shaking it off and stepping up”. You guessed it! It wasn’t long until the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of the well! What seemed like it would bury him alive,  actually blessed him…all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.  (author unknown)

The moral? If we respond to our problems with positive actions, refusing to panic, become bitter or wallow in self-pity; then God will use those adversities to our benefit and bless us!

But how do we do that when the trial is painful, overwhelming, consuming?  

Learn from the mule: Get active and do the right thing, one step at a time!

Philippians 4 are the “steps we can take”

Where to start:  

Verse 4 “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice” 

Facing a trial with THANKSGIVING, PRAISE and HOPE are excellent ways to “shake off the dirt of a trial”  Take the first step.

Take action and step up:

 Verse 6 “Be anxious for nothing , but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”   

As the trials of life pummel us, we have the option of being buried alive in our anxiety or to take “one step at a time”  by praising and praying.  Pouring out our requests before God……like David did, throughout the Psalms.  He was not shy to share his heartache, God was not shocked, and delivered  David from his sorrows.

Psalm 34:18–19“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all”

The result:  Verse 7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus”

God is triumphant when we experience His peace and step over the wall of our trial!

Shake off the dirt, step up and climb out of the ‘well’ in which we find ourselves…….ONE STEP AT A TIME. 

Be patient, the mule did not get out of the well with one step.  It was a process.  Sometimes a long and painful process……but because of the promises in God’s Word, He will help you:

 “He will deliver you out of them all”…..but you must take the first step,

“Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, again I say rejoice” 

James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”

Our loving God “permits what He could prevent”.  He has prevented and protected us from so much; and we thank Him. However, there is something that takes more faith and a deeper trust—and that is to thank Him for what He has permitted. Rather than questioning, ‘How could a loving God allow this to happen?’ How could He allow our children to experience a failed marriage? What about children who are left behind when the parents are killed in a tragic accident? Can we thank Him and praise Him still? If we choose to see God in the midst of our circumstances, and remember His creativity in weaving trials, events and losses ---that He permitted--- to bring about our salvation; then we can fully trust God to bring about his purposes and plans through the things He allows to happen in our lives and in the lives of those we love. He is the God of wisdom and as we praise Him for what He, in His wisdom, has allowed; it becomes the first STEP toward acceptance. Peace will come to our hearts as we accept the fact that he has EVERYTHING under control! And His plan and purpose is well thought out by a very creative God who “works everything according to the purpose of His will.” (Eph. 1:11)

A quote I read some years ago says it best: “The pressure I feel…is but the squeeze of God’s hands on my life as He is shaping me.” (author unknown)

It is a reflection of Isaiah 64:8

 “You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.”

How secure I feel when my focus is on Him as my Potter and I am His clay! I know that He is fully trustworthy no matter what He permits or prevents in my life or the lives of my loved ones.

And when a trial comes……….TAKE THE FIRST STEP………..and rejoice in Him!

He is the God of all creativity! Praise Him! One step at a time!

I would love to hear from you!  Please send your comments or questions

dianne.doty@hotmail.com

LIVING THIS MOMENT, IN HIS PRESENCE

Have you ever thought about the fact that we only have THIS MOMENT?
We don’t have a moment from now—that is in the future; and we don’t have a moment ago—that is in the past. But we have THIS moment and we can choose to live in His presence one moment at a time.

In fact, I came across a couple of verses this morning as I was reading God’s Word that reminded me that not only am I to seek His presence continually, but that He is seeking mine!
1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

God has a drive for intimacy with us and is continually seeking us; desiring to reveal His heart and life to us! When we read His Word our hearts should be delighting in Him as David said many times throughout the Psalms. This will cause us to want more of Him.
Specifically, David desired to ‘gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple’ Psalm 27:4. St. Augustine said, “I have tasted Thee, and now I hunger for Thee.”

The more we taste of His revealed truths [truths He reveals about Himself] the hungrier we get for more—and the more He satisfies that hunger for Him—the more we desire to dwell with Him—the more we receive His promise of joy…….as we simply live in His presence, “ in your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm16:11)

The more we taste….the more we hunger…..the more He satisfies…. the more we dwell….the more we experience the ‘fullness of joy’----simply by living in His presence.
I don’t know about you, but that is where I want to be!

Regardless of life’s circumstances, we can experience the joy of the Lord as we dwell in His presence. The more difficult our situation, the more we need to dwell with Him, moment by moment. This moment.

David Roper’s book, Psalm 23: The Song of a Passionate Heart, quotes Brennan Manning
“When I am in conscious communion with the reality of the wild, passionate, relentless, stubborn, pursuing, tender love of God for me, then it’s not that I have to or I got to or I should or I ought; suddenly, I want to change because I know how deeply I am loved. One of the wonderful results of my consciousness of God’s staggering love for me as I am is freedom not to be who I should be or who others want me to be. I can be who I really am. And who I am is a bundle of paradoxes and contradictions: I believe and I doubt, I trust and I get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel good, and I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty if I don’t feel guilty…It is the real me that God loves. I don’t have to be anyone else. For 20 years I tried to be Brother Teresa. I tried to be Francis of Assisi. I had to be a carbon copy of a great saint rather than the original God intended me to be. The biggest mistake I can make is to say to God, “Lord, if I change, you’ll love me, won’t you?” the Lord’s reply is always, “Wait a minute; you’ve got this all wrong. You don’t have to change so I’ll love you; I love you so you’ll change.” I simply expose myself to the love that is everything and have an immense, unshakable, reckless, raging confidence that God loves me so much He’ll change me and fashion me into the child that He always wanted me to be.”

WHAT FREEDOM!

David Roper says in this book;
“God can never be understood through the intellect. Insight arises from purity of heart—from love, humility, and a desire to obey. It is the “pure in heart who see God,” [Jesus Matt. 5:8]. “If the value of our times alone with God depend on our emotional state, we will always be troubled. We should never worry about how we feel. Even when our minds are confused or our hearts grow cold, we can learn from our solitude. Don’t try to make your heart love God. Just give it to HIM.”

WHAT REFRESHING ADVICE!!!
God continually reminds us of this truth, over and over in His Word!
“I Am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35)
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37)
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

An illustration I heard years ago reminds me of our life in Christ.
Picture an egg. There are three parts—the yolk, the white and the shell.
Now consider Col. 3:3 “…your life is hidden with Christ in God”
The shell is God, the white is Christ and your life is the yolk.
You are loved, cared for and nurtured as you are surrounded by the life of Christ in the protective hands of God!

You have all of Him you will ever need! You need nothing more!
LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE TODAY AND EVERYDAY…..MOMENT BY MOMENT
AND EXPERIENCE THE FULLNES OF HIS JOY!

A Willing Heart

What IS a willing heart? How is it identified?

As I consider these questions, I thought of Isaiah 1:19 where the prophet promises, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
God is very eager for us to enjoy life as He intended.

John 10:10 “Jesus came to give us life and give us life more abundantly”

God did not leave this to chance, He gave us very clear direction through His Word; how to live and respond to His commands and instructions. If we read and study His Word we will have a choice to make:

Will we respond in obedience to those instructions and experience the abundant life He promises?
Or will we choose to resist and rebel against them?

It’s our choice, because He created us with a free will to choose whatever we want—BUT He has not given us the freedom to choose the consequences of our decisions. That is His choice. If we choose to resist His way there will be negative consequences; and that is what Isaiah promises is this verse. In essence he is saying, ‘If you choose to willingly obey Him, then you’ll be blessed, but if you resist His way and go your own, it leads to death.’ Maybe not physical death, but certainly death spiritually—dead in your spirit toward the things of God. Or emotional death, resulting in apathy, bitterness, anger, depression, etc. A willing heart identifies the ‘right way’

and follows it, willingly.
Jesus is the ultimate example of a willing-heart, when He faced death on the cross for our sins and said, ”Father, not what I will, but what You will, that’s what I want.”

Mike Wells book, My Weakness for His Strength, says :
“Why do we keep our hands on? There is only one reason, unbelief. We believe Humility has laid aside all strength, embraces weakness and surrenders to God…we worry over all we need to do and never move into the supernatural to experience that He can do. The secret is that when we place our anxiety upon Him, not only does He carry it, but He also picks us up and carries us to new places…In my weakness I give my worries, and in weakness Jesus imparts His strength. “For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you.” (2 Cor. 13:4) To be willing he says, “Jesus, I cast every anxiety on You. I take my hands off, and I know and trust that

I HAVE A GOD.”

In thinking about having a willing heart, I ponder Deuteronomy 30:19- 20,
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life”

So our struggle in the Christian life is with our willingness to choose HIS LIFE—instead of our own. Recognizing that choosing our way, doesn’t work and leads to death.
Elihu told Job, “God is mighty, but does not despise men; He is mighty and firm in His purpose…He does not take His eyes off the righteous… He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.” (Job 36: 10-13)

Choice is a wonderful thing that God has given us! When I was a young believer I used to pray,” Lord, make me ‘willing to be made willing’ if I am not”. God has given me a willing heart and the knowledge that in my weakness He is strong. Without Him I can do NOTHING—even try to make my heart willing—only He can do that! And I am so grateful when He does that for me.
Finally, as I read Proverbs, I am reminded of the difference it makes in my life when I choose to have a willing heart.

Proverbs 1: 27-33, “When calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

It’s a choice to have a willing heart.
Ask God, today, to give you this gift……it’s a blessing!!

How Do We Get A Whole Heart?

“The only whole heart is a broken
heart”—I heard this quoted recently and as the days have passed I
have considered the truth of it. Here are some of my thoughts:

A heart that has been broken is the only one that can truly understand another whose heart has been broken. The supreme example here is Jesus. “He was wounded and crushed for our sins”--Isa 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” His heart was broken so ours could be healed. The Psalmist says in 34:18—“The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

We can sympathize with another who
has a broken heart. We can share words of encouragement, a verse of scripture
that has been meaningful to us, but to truly enter into the feelings and
emotions of a person whose heart has been broken, we have to experience a
broken heart ourselves. Have you noticed how God leads you to people who need
the message of hope that you can bring because of your experience of a broken
heart? He doesn’t waste those experiences, but prepares us through them to
share the healing and hope we have experienced through him with others.

When I was a young believer I remember sitting in a meeting where we were sharing verses that had been meaningful to us. One man stood, quoted the following verse and sat down
without comment. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the
desert these forty years; to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” My life was forever changed! From that time since, it has given me understanding of why God allows broken hearts—our true hearts are revealed in brokenness! “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Brokenness
draws us to God and His Word for true nourishment! How blessed we are to have His Word!

When we have embraced the brokenness we invite Jesus to fill the empty, shattered places in our hearts. And He fills all those cracks and crevices—and heals those bruised and bleeding
places.

Several other Scriptures come to mind in describing what our Lord does in us through our broken hearts:

Job 5:18 “For He bruises, but He binds up. He
wounds but His hands make whole”.

Proverbs 20:30- “Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
as do stripes the inner depths of the heart”.

Isaiah 30:26 “…the LORD binds up the bruises of
his people and heals the wounds He inflicted.”

Hosea 6:1"Come let us return to the LORD. He
has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind
up our wounds”.

Jeremiah. 30:17 “‘But I will restore you to health
and heal your wounds’, declares the LORD…

All of these verses reveal to me hat God is in our brokeness! He as a purpose and a plan in it all!

Acts 13:22 says that, “After removing Saul, He made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' David experienced brokenness so many times in his life, but God used those experiences to give him a heart that desired to do everything He wanted him to do. That is the kind of heart I desire, don’t you?

In Ezekiel 36:26 God promises: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” This is what God is accomplishing in our hearts through brokenness!

And I love Matthew 5:8, where Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. He is purifying our hearts so we can SEE HIM in all the circumstances of our lives! Praise HIM!!!!

Finally, we are commanded in Deuteronomy 6:5-6 to “Love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Through our broken hearts He alone brings healing so we can truly love Him with our HEARTS MADE WHOLE BY HIM!

Be My Vision, Lord!

There is an old Irish hymn, “ Be Thou My Vision“, written in the 8th century. The author is anonymous, but in the One Year Book of Hymns for June 10th, it says,

"The word vision is used to indicate not only what we focus on but also what we strive for. As we strive for a goal, we gain a long-range perspective that helps us see today’s disappointments as trivial when compared with the heavenly vision.”

In other words, when God is our Vision, we see Him in everything that happens in our lives and we are content. The Psalmist expresses his thoughts this way:

“I have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; from You alone comes the good I enjoy…Lord, You are my allotted portion and my cup; You maintain my boundaries: the lines fall for me in pleasant places; I am well content with my inheritance…You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.” Psa. 16:2, 5, 6, 11 REB

Here I have paraphrased some of the thoughts expressed in the hymn. ‘Be my vision, Lord. Nothing else matters to me but You…You are my best thought day or night—Your presence is my light…Be my wisdom, Lord. You are my true word…You are living in me and I in You…Be my battle shield…my dignity and my delight, my soul’s shelter…I don’t desire riches or man’s empty praise; You are my inheritance… always first in my heart…my treasure. High King of heaven, You are my victory…Heart of my own heart, whatever happens, still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

’This Vision is—seeing that the object of His grace is not only our happiness but our holiness so that we would carry out His purposes in the world around us. It is recognizing the priestly heart He’s given us—a sympathetic heart in which we are motivated to please and honor Him in the way we live and respond to life’s circumstances so that others will want to know and come to enjoy Him too. It is also recognizing that “apart from Me you can do nothing”—He lives IN US so we have His power to do the work He’s asked us to do. We are utterly dependent on Him and His promise is, “He who abides in Me bears much fruit.” He makes it happen!

When He is our Vision, Mark 12:30 becomes a reality: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” NIV As Andrew Murray says in ‘God’s Best Secrets’,

“He needs us wholly for Himself. Our love, our prayers, our consecration, our trust, our obedience—in all these there must be an unreserved surrender to God’s will and service.

‘With all your heart’—with its longings, with its affections, with its attachments, with all its desires.

‘With all your soul’—with its vital powers and the will as a royal master of the soul.

‘With all your mind’—its faculties of thought, of knowledge, of reasoning, and its powers of memory and imagination.

‘With all your strength’—this is nothing less than the sacrifice of everything and the putting forth of our utmost endeavors. All for God, for God alone, and our one desire must be to love and serve Him perfectly.”

What a wonderful God it is who has such a right to expect so much from us!...Is He not indeed worthy, ten thousand times worthy, that all that is within us shall love and honor Him with all our strength and all our heart?”

I think of the wonderful promise in 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24TLB “May the God of peace himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong and blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again. God, who called you to become his child, will do all this for you, just as he promised.”

As we enter a new year may we know more fully what it means to experience Him as our Vision!

HAVE YOU OPENED YOUR GIFT YET?
Jesus gave His life as a gift to you!
You didn’t have to ask…He offered it to you without cost.
Have you discovered what’s in it?
His LIFE that is—what did He give you?
Let’s take off the wrapping and see!

• PEACE: I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And THE peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid (John 14:27)

• ETERNAL LIFE: Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the ONLY true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:3 NIV)

• WISDOM & KNOWLEDGE: In HIM lie hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3NLT) As we search the scriptures it’s all there for Him to reveal and for us to discover. This is the treasure He’s given us, WOW!

• POWER: His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him. (2 Pet. 1:3NKJV) EVERYTHING WE NEED TO BE GODLY—that’s a pretty comprehensive gift! Think about it!

• BLESSINGS: And He has already “blessed us with every spiritual blessing because we belong to Christ (Eph 1:3 NJKV) When we receive Him we are given EVERY spiritual blessing! Can you even begin to comprehend that?

• REST: Come to ME, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take MY yoke upon you. Let ME teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light (Matt 11:28-30 NLT)

• TRUTH & DIRECTION: Jesus said I am THE Way and THE Truth and THE Life (John 14:6 NIV) There is only One Way… His way, One Truth… His truth, and One Life… HIS LIFE and it is…. His gift to YOU!

Have you ever considered the fact that everything God brings into our lives is a gift?
A friend recently encouraged me with these words: ”we are to delight in all God’s gifts no matter the packaging.” Some come packaged as burdens and some as blessings, but when we are yoked with Jesus they all fit perfectly! He knows just what we need to make us what he wants us to be and to give us “life to the fullest” (John 10:10)
Well, we’ve started unwrapping a few of His gifts together, but I encourage you to keep going—there’s lots more—IN HIM!!!

Because HE IS THE GIFT and He wants us to know Him!

Did you notice that the gift is all-inclusive? Nothing is left out?
He gives us everything! The gift is complete, because it is HIM.
Read through the scriptures above and take note of the inclusive words God chose:

THE peace, not like the world’s
ONLY true God
ALL treasures
EVERY thing we need
PERFECT yoke
EVERY spiritual blessing
THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life

Can you see it?
Jesus is the perfect gift!
’THE-ONLY-ALL-EVERY-PERFECT-BLESSING’
He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE
He is the free Gift, offered…..at no cost to you!

If you have never opened this Gift and would like some direction visit our H.O.P.E. page at lovelybranchesministries.org. Please let me know if you made a decision to receive this Gift for the first time or if you are returning to this perfect Gift today or what new things you have discovered about the Gift as you search scripture on your own.

I would love to hear from you!
dianne.doty@hotmail.com

Seeing God through A Grateful Heart

Have you ever recognized that God is the One who brings certain people across our paths? Some touch us a little, but others touch us more significantly. Mike Wells was one of those people that touched my life with truth, in a very profound way. When I heard him speak, the lights went on in my mind and heart as he described

‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’;

as he shared that

‘Jesus is the Way and every other way is not the way’;

and that

‘there is no problem that the nearness of Jesus cannot overcome’.

Mike died on the mission field this month; but “the Jesus” he proclaimed lives on. Mike’s faithfulness to share the life of Jesus, changed my life forever.

He wrote several books, which have greatly enhanced my understanding of living life IN Christ—recognizing that Jesus lives that life through me, and ‘without Him I can do nothing’. Truly, JESUS IS MY LIFE! And I am so grateful to know this fact and to experience it more and more each day as I grow in my relationship with Him.

When I received the news of Mike’s death I was surprised, but not shocked or saddened. Jesus, the one Mike talked about, had taken him to be with Him; but the Jesus he talked about is alive in me forever! He wrote, Side-tracked in The Wilderness and Problems, God’s Presence and Prayer, among others; and the soon to be released, My Weakness for His Strength. In each book, he talks about how God uses the circumstances of his life and the lives of others—he tells stories of the things all of us experience—to teach that Christ is our Life, as we abide in Him. Mike’s ministry reaches more than 108 countries and impacts pastors in very remote areas of the world. I encourage you to visit his website to learn more, as he ‘shares about the life of Jesus in us’ at http://abidinglife.com/2009/

At his memorial service this week he was described by one of the speakers as “a clear window to see Jesus through”. That is how I saw him, too! He was nothing in himself, and never claimed to be. He had problems, and struggles that he constantly dealt with, but His life was Jesus and his desire was to abide in Him and help others learn to do the same. My husband and I had the privilege of ministering with him and his wife, Betty, in Fiji for several years on short mission trips. I am very grateful to God for bringing Mike across my path.

One thing that God began to teach me through Mike is to recognize Him in all that happens in our lives. This week I had a small stroke and immediately began to ask God to help me see Him in the situation. Very gratefully, on the way to the hospital He began to assure my heart with His truth: “Diane, I planned every day of your life before one of them came to be” “I work everything according to the counsel of My own will” “I am good to everyone and My compassion is intertwined with everything I do” How grateful I am to God for teaching me these truths, because I also know that when I become weaker it gives more opportunity for Jesus to pour out His strength in and through me—because……….

“His strength is perfected in my weakness”! 2 Corinthians 12:9

I pray, that because of this experience, my life will be
A CLEAR WINDOW FOR OTHERS TO SEE JESUS THROUGH!
To God be the glory!