Hey! Where's my coffee?

It's been a WHILE since I posted anything, but I wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about the 2014 blog challenge. No really....I didn't!

Wait, did I leave my coffee mug in the microwave again? (I am prone to do that more often than I'd like to admit. LOL)

This challenge has still been on my mind and I've been learning so much about who I am in Christ. This year, it has become painfully obvious that part of my identity is that I am an enemy of Satan. In March, I was hospitalized for asthma and bronchitis. I've never been diagnosed with asthma before and never really had a major issue with it...until March. For a while, my family wondered if I'd even survive. I wondered that myself for a little bit, but then God reminded me who likes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Ah, yes. Him.

Then something strange happened. I remembered that Scripture tells us to count it all joy when we face trials and persecution. Those trials and that persecution don't always come through people and this year I have experienced my fair share of attacks. I had a soft, gentle reminder that it is an HONOR to be under attack from the enemy and I suddenly felt humbled and unworthy of my attack. I know that I am far from perfect and I don't always get it right (ok, I rarely get it right), so I couldn't understand what Satan saw in me that was worth assaulting.

It wasn't me. He saw JESUS! He saw my new identity. My frustration and fear turned into joy and peace! My lips began to praise the Father at every chance I got.

{insert Rocky theme song here}

I began to fight, not in my own human strength, but with the strength of a child of the King. Spiritual battles are way different when you remember and walk in your new identity in Christ! Praise Jesus!

So that battle was over and others began. It's not like he's going to give up, but neither does God. My most recent battle was financial. Someone got access to my husband's bank account card and used every last cent we had in there. I've never seen my husband so crushed, broken, and violated. It was heartbreaking to watch, but then again....something strange happened.

Normally, I am the one to fall apart when finances aren't feeling very safe (you know women and their need for security), but that Divine strength flowed through me again and whispered, "It's OK. It's all going to be fine. I've got this."  Boy was that true! We shared our prayer request with a few friends and family members and God got straight to work. So many sacrificial gifts were given to us to help us through this rough time. From gas and toilet paper to funds and prayer support, God took care of every single need and then some! We have been so blessed and emotionally overwhelmed at the goodness of God and the generosity of his people who were walking in THEIR identity.

Realizing and walking in our identity as Christ followers is a beautiful thing! It blesses others, glorifies God, and puts the devil in his place. So here is my charge:

1. Be fierce in the way you follow and chase after God!
2. Be fierce in the way you walk in your NEW identity in Christ!
3. Be fierce in battle with your enemy!
4. Be fierce in your trust of and obedience to the Father!

{insert your own Rocky theme music here}

GOD IS GOOD!

Mr. Know-It-All

We all know one (at least one) person who thinks they know everything. These are the obnoxious people who correct you when you weren't even wrong only to tell you how you could have been MORE right. They throw in needless information because they feel that the conversation is somehow inadequate without their contribution. Here in the south, these people end up earning a nickname: Mr. or Mrs. Know-It-All. While some people would love nothing more than to be called that in public (for everyone to hear), I assure you, it's not a compliment. 

There is One who is the ultimate "know-it-all" and He is God. The proper term is called "omniscient." It means that God knows everything. It sounds like it means that God is just really smart and knows all there is to know, but it's deeper than that. Much deeper.

Let's take a look...

Psalm 139:1-6

1 O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. 3 You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. 5 You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know!  

It gets a little more personal when you realize that God knows everything about you. He knows your thoughts, your words, your motives, your secrets, your sin, your weaknesses and your strengths. He knows when you stand, sit, walk, run and kneel (ahem). He knows your limitations and when you need to rest. He knows when you've had all you can take and when you can push a little further. He knows all of your wounds, heartaches and brokenness, but He also knows all of your pride, arrogance, and selfishness. Wherever you go, He has gone before and will go after you.

I don't know about you, but that is a pretty scary thought. The God of all creation knows EVERYTHING about me. I mess up. I am FAR from perfect and I don't always do the right thing. I'm a human who was born with a sin nature just like everyone else on the planet. I am hopeless without Him. I know how easy it is to slip into sin and how hard repentance can be. I look at all the things I know about myself and all things God knows about me and I am humbled...especially by the last part of verse 5 in the previous scripture. It says, "...You place your hand of blessing on my head."

Such knowledge truly is too wonderful for me and too great for me to know! He knows it all...AND YET. Those are two of my favorite words because it means that in spite of us, God can do some incredible things that are Anything But Typical. It's not typical to love people who betray you. It's not typical to bless people who curse you. It's not typical to offer life to those who are dead in sin...but He did because not only does He know your past, and your present, but He knows what you CAN be with Him.

WOW! Even though we are miserable wretches without God, He still extends His hand of love and blessing. He knows all of our sin and yet He loves us anyway! I am so unworthy!