Tag: prayer

lining up where I shouldn’t

Karla Lees

Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself only to the person you were yesterday. @toddclark

The comparison trap will cause me to believe what I see, and forget what I know. Beth Kinder  www.strongholdthebook.com

I have a problem with my mirror. Maybe you can relate.

My mirror doesn’t show just my reflection, but lines me up beside others I compare myself to, every time i approach it.

In fact, I can’t remember a time besides my wedding day, that i looked in the mirror and just saw me.

Until yesterday.

I decided after having some fun with matching my red undertones for an all over foxy red these past eight months to head back to my roots.  Which are a dirty blonde with i suspect a few streaks of grey.  I am trying to simplify my life, and fussing with hair dye every time my roots show is too high maintenance for me (but that is me, if you can do it, bless you!)

After my daughter helped get all the dye on, i realized that as I was looking in the mirror, I was wondering what people would think if the grey starts coming in as I let my hair go natural.

Then i thought of a few women i know who always have perfect coiffed hair, as my nana would say.  Without a hair out of place.

And as my mind began to wander down that path, this time i caught myself, as i reminded myself of a quote that came to mind:

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

I don’t need to worry or compare myself to others, because let’s face it, everybody is struggling with something.  Just because it can’t be seen on the outside, doesn’t mean it isn’t there on the inside.

I am tired of judging myself by people’s standards, and lining their opinions up beside me in the mirror.

I choose His standard for me, which is Jesus.

I choose His design for me, which is unique.

I matter to Him, because of His timely & costly investment in me.

I don’t have to compare myself to anyone, but rather I choose listen to His heart for me, which is to live free & close to Him.  I choose to change the things He is most concerned about uprooting from me, and embrace the newness He has waiting for me.

Quite frankly, my hair color, or my extra weight, or my freckles, or my naked nails are between God & me.

Stop allowing the enemy to invite other people into the conversation God wants to have with you alone.

It was quite a jolt to my mind to realize where my thoughts naturally start to wander.

And they wandered back to a particularly hurtful grade 7 classmate, who embarrassed me in front of the whole class through her writing about me. Which I believed has been fully dealt with, not!

God reminded me today that the reason there was still an entry point for the enemy was due to my harboring unforgiveness, and shared with me that the person wasn’t trying to be deliberately cruel as it came across, but was very insecure & jealous and was trying to knock me out of competition for our mutual friend’s affection.

By my not forgiving her as a person, but just the action, I allowed a piece of the root to remain, and the enemy has been nurturing it to grow down deep over the years.

I am so done with that!

So i pray,

“God, I fully and completely forgive S___________. I believe Your blood is more than enough to forgive all my sins, and I extend the same mercy to her that You extended to me. Full & utter forgiveness in Jesus’ mighty name.  Wherever she is, I ask You to release Your Spirit to whisper the truths You long for her to hear into her mind, heart & spirit.  I ask You to restore to me the joy I had in being myself, in embracing who You designed & called me to be.  Uproot the enemy plant You have just destroyed, and release a fresh sense of Your wholeness and peace where it used to live.  May I ever delight in hearing Your words spoken over me. May I ever trust in You as the Lover of my Soul.  May i never lose the wonder of knowing how much YOU delight in ME. May I continually bring the things which are breaking me down & place them into Your hands for You to build me up. Where the enemy played for harm, restore Your goodness & purpose in my life.  Blessed be the Lord!  I pray this as one of Your beloved, Abba.  In Jesus’ name, and Holy Spirit power. Amen.”

Instead of letting ourselves see just our outer beauty, let’s join God in seeing His hand & move in our lives.  As children of the King, as the beloved bride of God, let’s allow the Lion of Judah to arise within, and move forward in the confidence of who we really are.

self-improvement

No matter what we look like its who we are inside that truly counts.

His handiwork.

His child.

His delight,

His beloved.

His!

what to do when you catch a glimpse you prefer you hadn’t?

Karla Lees

Yesterday, I decided to walk around the mall I work in, and explore.

As I work on the top floor in one of the professional spaces, I don’t see many of the other businesses, beyond the food court & the stores I pass on the set route I take to catch my bus.

On my walkabout, I was struck dumb by a way larger than life ad from a company I usually have found to not be provocative or rude in their imaging and marketing.

The slogan was brilliant, the image was offensive.

It has rankled within me since I inverted my eyes in the mall, and kept walking by.

Last night, I decided to look up the company’s website to find contact info, and was confronted with the same ad on the home page. Again, shocked but this time not unexpected.

What do you do when you are confronted with something that offends you, or is counter to your beliefs?

1. Turn your eyes away from it. As soon as possible, avert your gaze. It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and as His Kids, we want the spark to set the fire of pursing Him aflame, nothing inappropriate to distract us from our pursuit!

2. If you see it along a route you take, try to avoid it. Take an alternative path, or purposefully read or chat with a friend and keep your eyes fixed somewhere else. Don’t let someone else’s muck cause you to stumble.

3. Complain. Speak up. I tweeted my disappointment to the company respectfully, and informed them of my intention not to return until the ad is down… My voice matters when it impacts sales, period.

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If evil is its source, God calls us to align with Him, and use our voice to point out the truth, no matter what it is.

4. Take your business, and/or presence, elsewhere. Don’t support businesses or buy products that cross the line.
I am a fairly loyal shopper, and I like to support local businesses and companies that reflect excellence, quality and are respectful to their customers.

5. Pray for them. Pray for the companies to listen to those who are bothered by their actions, ads or decisions. Pray for the models or actors who take roles that do not represent them as a whole person.

6. Keep your eyes fixed on Him, keep His Words in your heart & mind. Stay grounded in His truth and goodness, His holiness and love which will last forever vs the temporary thrills trying to trick you into thinking they are in the right. Allow Him to shield you.

7. Decide on a personal or family ‘code’…Let me give you a few examples:

Don’t go to the movie theater without thoroughly checking out the movie you are going to see through a reputable godly reviewer. Have a three strike rule and you are willing to walk out (we do this with dvds too). I have left a theater twice over the years and never had a problem getting a refund when I was offended by content. I also don’t mind missing the first few minutes of a movie if it means I miss the previews, which are the only wildcards left if you did your homework. We recently saw a movie that I didn’t check out through our usual wise reviewer as we impulsively headed to the show, and the last five minutes of the movie ruined it for us with unnecessary smut.

A few years ago, we decided as a family to do away with our cable/satellite TV, as we were constantly turning the channel to avoid a risqué commercial or TV show. I was also tired of spending money on preset programming bundles when we only follow about a dozen shows a year.

Instead, we purchase DVDs (Downtown Abbey!) or episodes online. We no longer watch commercials, spend less time and money watching TV, and are not seeing images we would rather not enter our home or minds. The only time we have really missed it? Major sporting events, but we have family & friends who don’t mind inviting us over to watch the games together.

Filtering what we allow in is not only up to us…

Most importantly #8: In all things, seek to honor Him first. My general rule of thumb: if God would likely take part if He was with me, then it passes. As He is always with me, I need to listen to His prompts and leading over the cultural clamor’s sometimes sloppy seconds.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

9. Break off the impact of that glimpse.
By seeing something that God didn’t intend for us to see, we need to repent, and ask Him to cleanse us from its negative impact.

10. Ask Him to help you stay the course, every day.

We don’t try to be holy because we want to be holy. We become holy when we allow God’s holiness to permeate us from the inside out. Only then will what bugs His heart bother ours.

Keeping yourself from seeing what we know was not intended for us to see is honoring the One who died to separate us from the world. As citizens of heaven, we are to live under His authority & guidance, as He wants the best for us as we live here!

As lights in the world, may we all speak up where we can when evil tries to lure us to the dark side.

Because we know light wins in the end, and we should want that for everyone we encounter, every day.

Steep in His Love

Karla Lees

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:33 MSG

Afraid of missing out?

I know I am at times…maybe more than I am comfortable admitting!

There are days where I don’t get in those things I love to do, such as a freshly steeped cuppa tea to start off or end my day.  I miss my tea when I don’t make the time for it.

lightstock_101455_xsmall_karla_leesThe same can be said for our daily quiet time:  our faith needs daily steeping as well.

The Bible reminds us all that God is there for us in a real, life-altering way.

He extends His hand in a love driven offer for you:
To be with You.
To care for You.
To love You.

Honestly, I  need to reread the above verse from Matthew every day.

For it reminds me He is just waiting to help us.

He promises in His Word to provide for us, in every way we need, each day.

Just like tea, the more we steep in Him for our daily needs, the stronger the faith we will develop!

It’s time to come and soak, and let Him steep the truth of who He is deep within us, as we daily depend on Him to strengthen us, for….

He is real! – we are in relationship with a tangible touchable living God!

He started it!– All things start in Him, and as our Maker He knws how to best help us become the “us” He designed, made & hopes for.

He will provide! – He promises as we seek Him & give Him first place, our needs will be met.

Let Him take our daily rawness, and make something more wonderful as we steep in His Presence.

May we end up a sweet offering, pleasing to our King!

Note: this post was based upon my daily devotion which posted today at Remade Ministries, an organization designed to help women be remade in His hands:

http://remade-ministries.org/devotion/strengthen-your-faith/

The #1 Pain Reliever

Karla Lees

Over the past couple of decades, I have had numerous physical and hurtful issues arise.

I have learned that God is the best pain reliever I can ever ask for…and I first learned that lesson at the same time as how to quickly forgive…. all in one painful incident!

I had difficulties with delivering both my beloved babies, and needed a major repair job after baby #2.  This consisted of opening up the channel, reattaching some innards where they needed to be moved, and sealing it all up with numerous stitches.

I can almost sense you wincing as you read the above paragraph. Yep, it was as painful as you are imagining.

But here’s the clincher.

When I had been interviewed pre-surgery by the pharmacy assistant, she asked if I had any allergies to any antibiotics or pain relievers. And I do, morphine and anything related to it. (Nothing like a freaky trip of seeing spiders all over your newborn for 4 hours as you scratch the hives to let you know ‘hey, you are allergic to this!’)

So I woke up post op from one of the most painful surgeries a female can have (according to my lady surgeon) to find I had no orders for pain medication to be filled.

Nothing.

For about 3-4 hours (until my surgeon got out of her next surgery and checked in with me) I had no pain relief given to me by the hospital.

Let me tell you, the waves of pain were riding pretty high at that time.

The only relief I had was crying out to Jesus.  Praying with every new wave of pain that He would help me to make it to the ebb on the other side.

When my surgeon came in to check on me, I was apparently a little pale but otherwise appeared okay apart from my fists clenched tightly around the blankets.

When I asked if I could have something for pain, my very active always in motion surgeon stood completely still, and asked me what did I mean.

I let her know way more coolly than I felt that I had not been given any pain medication after waking up from the surgery.

Eyes a-blazing, she grabbed my chart and immediately headed out to the nurses station to write an order. I caught part of the conversation as she angrily informed the duty staff she was headed to pharmacy to give someone a piece of her mind. 

I had a pain pill within 2 minutes to help take the edge off.

But God got me through.

The second major time I found God to be the best pain reliever, I was hospitalized for what they think now may have been a gall bladder attack. For 6 days. Not too bad apart from the fact the gal in the bed next to me had an IV battery that alerted it was needing to be changed every ten minutes round the clock. For six days straight.

Not only was I physically unwell, but I was severely sleep deprived and hitting sheer mental & physical exhaustion.  The only relief I had was praying, calling out to Jesus. 24/7.He kept me sane, and somehow helped me to rest in the chaos I was temporarily living in that week.

The last time I will share with you when I found God the only pain reliever possible was for an emotional & spiritual pain that happened right after a family trauma. 

Someone threw a javelin poisoned by the enemy right at my heart, out of the blue, in the middle of an intense sudden loss.

How it hurt.

I could hardly breathe.  I spoke a word of honor in response and immediately removed myself from the situation, leaving my husband to deal with the resulting aftermath.

I collapsed into a sobbing mess of hurt in the corner of that hallway, and with everything within me once again cried out to God. I asked Him to take away the pain, of this wound, but more importantly remind me how much He loved me, right then and there.

(Not even a year prior, I lost my beloved Farmor. My Danish grandmother who I adored….you kinda need to know that for what comes next.)

Not even five minutes passed of me blubbering in the hallway, than a woman who looked strikingly like my grandmother came up to me, loving patted me on the shoulder and said “It will be okay, dear” in a Scandinavian accent.

In that swift encounter, God reinforced He has a great life ahead for me, as loving spoken through a familiar face.

I was able to forgive immediately almost after that encounter, and have not had a jolt of pain about that incident since. 

How do I know God is the best pain reliever?  I can recall each three of these terrible moments in my life (as well as many more) and not have any pain attached to them at all. Zip.

Do I still have physical pain?
Un huh.

Do I occasionally take something to help with pain?

Yes, but not until I have prayed about it first.

I love you, God— You make me strong. God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout.

Psalm 18:1-2 (MSG) are just two of the verses from Psalm 18, one of my go to Psalms I grab when times get tough, and pain strikes.

I find reminding myself as I read them:
•who He is
•what He has done
•where isn’t He?
•when is just around the bend
•how much He loves me

As I press into His Presence, believing He cares about me so much, He is right along side me in my pain, storms and hard seasons. He has been every single time.

I have found prayer, genuinely seeking His Presence, is the best pain reliever there is.

There are no negative side effects,
its free for all, no special training is needed.  He is always available, comes to where You are and never leaves us through it all.

Prayer isn’t the spare tire, but rather the steering wheel into His Presence.

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God can use our pain to reach us, to comfort us, to heal us and to hold us.

There is no substitute for seeking this kind of pain reliever first!

Note: I know if you have a serious illness, medications are needed. I am simply saying that the inner pain of our heart, emotions, broken dreams and wounds cannot be fixed by pills, alcohol or whatever substitute you may be drawn to.  Seek Him first, and follow as He leads.  He is more than enough to help you with whatever pain you are holding onto, or going through. xo

its time to be still

Karla Lees

I was anything but still today.
What I got done today leaves me tired just thinking about it.

And as usual, a few unexpected raised their heads and tried to unravel the day.

My first reaction was to get ticked off. (Honesty before eloquence!)

My second was to confirm a correct response (as sometimes these are needed) with someone who knows about the situation.

My third was to cry out to God.

And once again, in my busyness I bungled up the order of how to deal with the unexpected.

Go to God first.
Pause.
Breathe.
Let it all out.
Wait.
Listen.
Do only if He leads you to.
If you don’t get clarification, that means to wait some more.
Repeat if necessary.

These past several days I am feeling more tired than normal. I am not sensing anything serious, just a need for some more self care and time off.

After getting home from my 12 hour work day, I sat on my comfy couch and popped onto Twitter to connect with a few feeds I am always blessed by reading.

Within five minutes, the following two verses and one quote had all grabbed hold of my heart.

I am listening, God.

My New What to Do When I Don’t Know What to Do List:

Bring it all to God:

Cast all your cares on Him, for He adores you. 1 Peter 5:7

Because:

God is always with us. He will never leave us. He’s always present in the place of need, the place of pain to provide comfort and hope. @jeremycamp tweet, Jan 12/2015 3:05pm

and because:

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In the middle of my longest work day, I needed to remember its okay to be be still.
To wait.
To catch my breath.
To listen.
To expect He is with me.
To recall how He loves me.
To claim the promise He has the best yet to come for me.
To let God battle for me where I am meant to let Him.
To remember tomorrow is a fresh slate ready for me to follow the right path when I don’t know what to do.

For tonight, I go to bed now knowing:

I slipped up.
I confessed.
He restores.
He adores.
His grace & mercy He pours
onto these uplifted hands.
🙂

#hopeinHisPresence

Happy 1st Day of 2015!

Karla Lees

I decided that today would be about taking time to hang out with my family and rest. 

Some worship, some Word, some pondering, some fun.

I will have a long post tomorrow to share, but for now will leave you with a blessing.

May God
Draw close
Be your refuge
Your hiding place
Guide you through the storms
Comfort you in the losses
Delight in your joys
Fill you with His presence
To overflowing
In 2015,
One moment at a time.

#hopeinHisPresence

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Happy New Year!

Karla Lees

I decided that today would be about taking time to hang out with my family and rest. 

Some worship, some Word, some pondering, some fun.

I will have a long post tomorrow to share, but for now will leave you with a blessing.

May God
Draw close
Be your refuge
Your hiding place
Guide you through the storms
Comfort you in the losses
Delight in your joys
Fill you with His presence
To overflowing
In 2015,
One moment at a time.

#hopeinHisPresence

when you are far from Home: 3 tips to help you through

Karla Lees

Like Mary, Joseph & Jesus, you too may feel far from home…. in a strange city, foreign country or in an awkward family gathering.

You too may be longing for the familiar surroundings or faces you are missing.

If you too feel far from home right now, here are a few tips to help you find your way back:

1. Love the ones you’re with:

You are never alone. There is someone around you most of the time- whether family, friend, coworker, barista, boss, server…

If you can’t be at home, make others feel at home around you. Throw out the welcome mat to your kindness.
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2. Ask for help:

If you are struggling, speak up. Get help if you can’t cope. The beat thing I ever did when I hit a sudden depression many years ago was make a list of how I was feeling & what I thought was contributing factors, after praying about things. List in hand, I ran it by a wise person I respected to ask if they thought I should talk to my doctor. She said yes.

My doctor read my list, asked me a few questions to clarify, and then told me he would have been in his doctor’s office getting help if he had half a list as long as mine. Six weeks later, I had improved enough to stop taking meds.

You may not need physical help, you may need spiritual or emotional help. Whatever the help you need, find the right resource and ask.
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Not asking for help when you need it makes you the main problem.

Don’t miss this step if need be to help make it back home.

3. Remember, home is with you everywhere you go.

You carry home with you everywhere you are. All the good memories? With you!

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Tune out the loneliness by taking a trip down Remember Road and reexperience the joy Home brings you.

Have you caught sight that Home is not just a place yet?

Mary & Joseph weren’t the first to bring God home with them at Christmas.

Holy Spirit resides in all who believe. He moves in and begins to make Himself at home.

Home moves outside our walls and within us.

We take Home with us everywhere we go.

As we end this year, and this series, you may be dreaming about when you will get back Home. It may not be about missing a physical place or loved ones. It may go deeper than that.

When you feel far from Home?

A simple prayer invites Him to move in.

God with us.
God within us.
Home.

#TheWhenSeries
#LoveCameDown

PS. Don’t forget to pray before you act. God will lead you, just as He used angels and a star to bring the Carpenters, the shepherds, and the wise men to Himself. If you need another reminder that He is trustworthy? Reread the Christmas story 😉

womb with a view

Karla Lees

This title would not let me go:
Womb with a view.

What else would you call it?

Jesus, one third of the Trinity,
enfolded His divinity
with the help of Holy Spirit
and became flesh,
bone & blood
in a virgin’s womb.

Wow.

Just that action, a flash of a nanomoment in human time, sent shockwaves out across the universe & heaven in an act intended to rock all known existence.

God with us, on His way.

That is mind boggling enough, but here is where I am drawn today…. and maybe, just maybe you might be too.

Jesus, full of Holy Spirit and yet fully human, in the womb.

Could He chat with God from in there?

Could He hear His Father’s voice in the womb?

If so, the womb takes on a whole new significance with Jesus within.

Children in the womb take on the mix of their parents’ traits while developing.

Was Jesus growing with any of Joseph’s physical traits?

Because I suspect after all the shock Joseph has already gone through, and might be up ahead as the father of the Messiah, God would have made Jesus look like Joseph.  Not 100%, as with any newborn, but enough that Joseph would wonder again at the miracle, and his heart would be melted towards His son.  Maybe his nose, or build…

Because God chose Joseph to raise His son, I have to believe His compassion would be for Jesus to resemble His earthly father, enough for tongues not to wag too much about His parenthood.

I wonder how much of Mary was already visible in the baby in her womb? Did He already have her heart for worship? Her eyes?

We know Jesus was fully human & God from the second that creation spark started Him growing in the womb.

We just don’t know what that looked like, really, as He grew there.

I believe He would have had a sensitivity to learning about His earthly parents while inside.  Prayed for them on the hard days, rejoiced with them in the moments of celebration.

I wonder if He tried not to kick Mary too hard as they traveled to Bethlehem.

I wonder if He prayed for a smooth delivery, for God to be with Him in the shock of entering the world, for angelic protection as He did.

All we know: Jesus was fully human, and fully God, all in one miraculous present.

And somehow, God would have worked out all those details of human appearance intertwining with Godly character in the arrival of Jesus.

Who is still in the womb on His way to Bethlehem.

While we may wonder at the view He had in the womb, how He was born of Mary and all God all rolled into one tiny baby is a fact!

#AdventuresinAdvent continue 😉

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when you have no words

Karla Lees

Tonight, I am out of words.

I was blessed to be able to sing as a part of the worship team at my church, and unexpectedly I sang at both services today.

God moved me so much this morning, I needed a nap before the evening service.

The words, harmony & melody flowed and poured out of me, as I came into God’s presence…and now i am empty, almost speechless, unable to put how I am feeling into words. Awe, wonder, gratitude, humbled.

And for right now, in this moment, that is okay, because:

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.

Romans 8:26

It is okay if I have run out of words. God is ready to keep on speaking His Word over me, and into me, as I sleep tonight.

May You hear His Words, and sense His heart for you, as you seek His Presence too.