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On The Anvil.

I've been reading a book by Max Lucado titled: On The Anvil. It's a great daily devotional. A couple of days ago the subject was about thudding or singing. Ok, so I know that doesn't make much sense, but let me give you the background story. When a potter has baked a pot in his oven and wants to make sure it is fully finished he thumps it. If it thuds it needs to go back in the oven so it can be cooked some more. If it sings it means that it is completely done baking and is ready to be used. The Master Potter is Jesus, and we are clay pots He is molding and baking to serve a certain purpose. So when he pulls us out of the over and thumps us with trials and challenges, do we thud or do we sing? Do we grumble, groan or turn away from him? Or do we praise him in the midst of the storm?

So this isn't from me, but it expresses my recent thoughts exactly and thought everyone would love this as a reminder...

In Joshua cpt 17 The forest was blocking Manasseh’s ability to see the entire scope of the land that had been given to him. His eye had stopped at the problems and he was focused on the wooded mountains and wilderness. He felt that his potential was being limited by his circumstances, and his thinking had become stuck in all the reasons why it was not going to work.

Isn’t it interest that our eye stops and focuses on the problems and obstacles more than the possibilities? We posses tremendous potential when we live by a supernatural mindset but our natural mind can be a limiter and a great hindrance to the things God wants to accomplish in and through our lives. Faith seeks out the possibilities and opportunities in hostile environments, whether that be sickness, or business, relationships, or leadership.

2 Corinthians 4:18
We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things that are unseen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Just as Manasseh had to cut down the trees in the wood in order to see the bounty of land he had been given, we need to cut down unbelief in our lives that prevents us from see the possibilities in our current circumstances.

1 Corinthians 2:9 No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him but we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his spirit.

The life you have today is the life that God wants to work with. Don’t desire what someone else has but let your mind be lifted into the realm of possibility. Ask God to help you see what He sees and for the strength to walk through the challenges.


For an expanded version on Joshua 17 go to faithforeverydayliving.wor

So I was reading "The Shack" today. And I came across something that really struck me. Mack, the main character, is taking a walk with Jesus and they are talking. Jesus asks Mack where he spends most of his time in his mind and Mack tells Jesus that he spends it mostly in the past or in the future. But were are created to live in the present. Then Jesus says: "When I dwell with you, I do so in the present- I live in the present. Not the past, although much can be remembered and learned by looking back, but only for a visit, not an extended stay. And for sure, I do not dwell in the future you visualize or imagine. Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you?"
How true is that? How often did I in the past imagine my future and I can't think of one time where I pictured God there with me! Right after I read that I started to wonder why I did that, and then as I kept reading I got a pretty cool answer. Jesus again is talking to Mack and he says: "It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can't. It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn't even real, nor will it ever be real. You try and play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try and make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear."
It's so true! And thinking about it I know exactly what I fear. I fear being alone. Some women aspire to be brilliant businesswomen, or astronauts, or own their own business or other grand things. What I really want is a family of my own. I want to work with youth. I don't need to be famous or super successful. I want to serve others in the background. I want to be the mom who is there for her kids, I want to be a role model for the youth I lead. I want to serve God in the little things in life. Those are the things that have meaning to me. But because this dream depends on a counterpart (aka a husband), it's such a fragile dream. I fear I won't meet the right man.
I need to focus on the here and now. I need to focus on my walk with Christ. I want to imagine my future from time to time, but I want Christ to play a major role in it!
God is good!

Isaiah 42:6-7