Tag: remade

timeless living

Karla Lees

Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (ESV)

Stand in line at the checkout, and the intimate details of people’s lives are exposed for all to see. In this know-all world, it is refreshing to read today’s verse where God is calling us to live the opposite of what we see about us.

When I first read this scripture, I thought it was referring that we should keep to ourselves, like a hermit or a lone wolf. Upon rereading it, I spotted through His eyes that it is a reminder on how we are to be of the world and yet not in it.  

We are to be His hands and feet to those in need, yet we don’t need to know all about one another, like the tabloid at the checkout stand would suggest.  

We are to instead follow His lead to live quietly but with purpose.

We are to be dependent upon Him alone as His children, not the world and its systems.

We are to use our hands to further His call in our lives, to bless one another as we depend upon Him for everything. This dependence will attract those who don’t yet know Him, who are seeking their true Home, and looking for rest. His ways have stood the test of time and will continue to do so forever!

Pause and Apply: Evaluate where we are getting our directions. Are we first sitting at His feet and listening for His voice? He has wisdom for your life and direction for your decisions.

Prayer: Help me quiet myself to hear You over those clamouring for my attention. I desire to see Your timeless plans instead of the world’s limiting standards.

This post first appeared yesterday over at remadecommunity.org 🙂

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Paid in Full

Karla Lees

I’ve wiped the slate of all your wrongdoings. There’s nothing left of your sins.Come back to Me, come back. I’ve redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22 MSG

You know that list you have been keeping in secret? That running tab of all the wrongs you have done? All the things you failed at, failed to do or failed to stop yourself from doing?

It’s time to let Him wipe your tab clean.

Whereas we may keep a running total, God doesn’t work that way.

When Jesus went to the cross, ALL your sin was wiped out in the avalanche of loving grace and holy blood that was shed for our wrongdoings. All of them. Ever.

We can allow that list we are keeping—which has already been marked fully paid—to hold us back from drawing close to Him.

God reminds us in this verse that He wants nothing to keep us from Him. So much so, He cleared the way home for our return.

Run home, friend.

Allow your Father to fully embrace you and clothe you in the pure garments He has waiting for you when you trade in your list for His loving grace.

#ReturnHomeProdigals

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This devotion first appeared at: Remade Community.

Remade

Karla Lees

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The past several days, God has been peeling back some of how I look at things.

And I am being changed as He does.

Early this year, I virtually met Beth Kinder of Remade Ministries, and became a writer for their team teaching out to minister to women. Something a bit surreal at the same time as exciting and a step beyond what I had been expecting.
I sensed I was to say yes without fully understanding why.

God has been slowly revealing that why to me.

This weekend, I got the revelation that although I may have talent as a writer and a singer, a wordsmith as it were, my best words are His, and come out my best through community.

I was meant, designed to be part of a team. To co-lead, so to speak.
The times when He uses me best are when I link up with the teams He has for me to be part of, for His purposes.

And when I do, another layer within me becomes remade as He desires.

For God knows I need community to help keep me on track and focus in the hard seasons.

Because I have the tendency to lone wolf and isolate myself in the storms, leaving myself open to remaining stuck where I am.

I need the rest of the team of keep me focused on God, listening for His voice & following where He is leading me. I need their prompts, encouragement, and suggestions when I begin to falter or wallow.

Community for me is a blessing: both a gift and a necessity.

I am so thankful that God has been revealing this truth to me in deeper levels as He continues to make me new in the areas where I so desperately need Him to.

My former self used to be a walking sarcastic chip on her shoulder. I couldn’t receive constructive criticism for fear of my tightly around emotions unravelling.

My new self has accepted I need to continuously be learning, repenting, listening, following & becoming new.

Instead of running in fear from going deep with community, I am trusting in the One who is making me new.

Despite my trepidation at becoming remade, I know His plans for me will make me the best me He hardwired me to be. And how those He has blessed me to be in community with, along with Holy Spirit, are the tools He is using to reshape me.

I am so grateful for His timing, and the support of the communities He has gifted me with.

This week, I am leading. But not on my own, as part of team. And i am excited at the thought of what He will do through me, as a part of that unity.

Now is the time to be Remade, Beloved. Each day we have a fresh opportunity to learn, grow & become remade at His hands.

all things new

Karla Lees

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness… Isaiah 43:19

God makes all things new.

The sunrise every morning, the sunset every night, the wildflowers in the field, the new greenery on the trees after winter, the uniqueness of each and every snowflake, a newborn child arriving into the world!

Every day, we can see evidence of His newness around us, and not always acknowledge all the wonder in what He is doing.

If God spends time carefully crafting everything He makes, imagine how much more so He is going to re-create and re-craft the children of His heart?

He makes all things, including you and I, new!

Feeling stuck in a rut?

Ask God to make this verse come alive in your life, for God is known for making a way where there is no way.

He is the Trail-Blazer of heaven, making His path clear for those who seek His way!

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time after time

Karla Lees

Today, I am both humbled and grateful to have been invited to guest blog for Remade Ministries. Beth Kinder and I met on Twitter this fall,  both passionate about God & seeing women be set free into the fullness He has for them.

Guest blogging for the first time was a wee bit nerve wracking, but a great experience for me to press in to God for the message He wanted me to share.

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As a result, please click the link below to visit the lovely Remade Ministries website to read today’s blog post about mistakes, and His grace:

Time After Time- Guest Blog

I hope to have Beth guest blog here one day soon, for I am sure you will love her as I do!  You can start to follow her on Twitter at:
@remademnistries and/or sign up on her website for encouraging emails, bible study and to follow her blog.

It never ceases to amaze me how God can take what we have to offer, and do so much more with it when we follow His prompting!