“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 1:1

Creating is a very godlike thing to do.

I like creating many different things such as scarves, hats, home decor, watercolors, blogs, skits and memes. I am also legendary for creating my delicious  secret-recipe Fresh Strawberry Cream Cake—made from scratch. Despite my many creative endeavors, God is the master creator. In fact, we can say, creating is His specialty.

In the first book of the Bible, front and center, we learn of God’s penchant for creating … God created the heavens and the earth. Bara’, the Hebrew word used for create in verse 1 means “to shape, fashion or create, always with God as the subject.” Only God has the power of creation. 

And every time God creates, man is the beneficiary.

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What does He create?

Planets, galaxies, flowers, mountains, animals and oceans. He also creates relationships, opportunities, legacies, covenants, circumstances, dreams, hope, love, joy, peace and faith … the list is as endless as He is eternal.

From what does God create?

I like to create with the freshest ingredients, the finest fabrics, and the most vibrant watercolors. But God can create from nothing; the Great I AM simply speaks and something is. His Words drip with life and overflow with the breath of the Spirit. At other times God gets His hands dirty and creates beautiful valuable things from common ingredients like dust, dirt and clay … things such as man. This is good news for those of who’ve felt like dirt, or have been treated like dirt or who’ve been the dirt beneath someone’s feet. God creates beautiful things from dirt.

Bara’ also means to create by cutting away.

At first glance creating and cutting seem to be inharmonious. Can these two concepts possibly complement each other? Think for a moment. We can cut away activities from our schedule to create room for God. God creates in us a clean heart by cutting away sin and sickness. God cuts covenant with us and creates a way for us to be with Him forever in eternity.

The Creation Remix

God speaks His Word and scatters seeds of life into the dirt and clay of our hearts and souls. Damaged marriages, broken relationships, forgotten dreams, and tired ambitions receive new life from a fresh sowing of God’s Word. Will we nurture the seeds with Living Water?

God speaks and dead things spring forth with new life.

Nothing becomes something. Ugly becomes beautiful. Useless becomes useful.

Shadows to substance. Death to life …  a Lazarus awakening.

He is the potter and we are the clay. He forms, shapes, smooths, and fires us in the furnace of adversity until we emerge, covered with the fingerprints of God. Pure. Beautiful. Useful.

Action Points:

1. Speak His Word. God has instilled His Word with life and power and has given us the privilege of speaking His Word into our situations and challenges. What area of your life needs a redo? Your relationships? Your career? Find a Bible verse that applies to your current situation and pray it forward.
2. Create some margin. OK, you need this one … we ALL do. Stop saying you’ll be there in 10 minutes when you know it’ll take 20. Stop adding more stuff to your already too long to-do list. Everything takes longer than you think. Add ten minutes to every task on your list for today. If you have children add 20 extra minutes — for each child ; ).
3. Create something. Take some time today to create something. Create a poem, sketch a picture, write a blog post, try a new recipe, or create some time to take a nap, a walk or an afternoon off. And after you have created something, step back and say, “It is very good!”

Life is sweet. Create!

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We live very close to Lake Michigan.

While we go to the big lake most often in the summer months, we enjoy it best in the fall and winter, after the tourists have gone home for the season. This winter the Midwest experienced days of turbulent wind, especially along the lake shore. The waves reached incredible heights, crashing the coast and pounding the beaches. Churning. Tossing. Stirring.

Big storms mean big change.

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They reshape and sculpt the landscape. Yards of beach can be gained or lost during the stormy season. Houses built too close to the shore are at risk. Every year some are lost to the lake. Expensive, beautiful homes tumble down to the surf like so many houses of cards. Why? Poor construction? Cheap materials? No, wrong foundation – they were built upon the sand.

Sand is unstable—it shifts beneath our feet causing us to stumble and trip. Sand stings and whips as it is whisked away by the winds.

I have built upon the sand:

Crumbling castles of pride and foolishness.

Misplaced trust.

Wrong motives.

False doctrines.

A relationship that never should have been.

Habits of sin.

 Dreams I built upon the sand came tumbling down.

I stood among the rubble, thinking all was lost—not realizing the false had been washed away by the waves to make way for the True.

Storms of life reshape the landscape of our existence—sculpting the substance of our souls. Underneath all the turmoil God is at work. The Holy Spirit, the breath of God, blows away the sand and reveals a Rock—a firm foundation.

While the wind and waves bring devastation to the house built upon the sand, we see a strange phenomenon for the house upon the Rock. The house is not wrecked or ruined by the waves—it is refined. Jagged edges smoothed. Rough surfaces polished. Sharp corners chiseled.

The storms no longer destroy—they transform.

We no longer have to fear the storms. God uses them as an effective tool to conform us into the image of His Son. We can stand upon the Rock with the assurance that because He stands, we also will stand.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

3 signs you are building on the Rock.

1. Are you building on the Truth? Can everything you are doing be traced back to Scripture? Is God’s Word at the foundation of all your decisions and actions?
2. Do you have a good supply of building materials? Are you filling your mind and heart with God’s Word? What needs to go? What do you need to add?
3. Are your current projects, relationships, and ideas built upon rock or sand? Will they stand the storms of life or are they destined to fall with a mighty crash? It’s never too late to make a change.

Life is sweet. Build on the Rock.

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“But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

Luke 11:15-17

I am starving.

The prodigal in the verse above had the same problem.

What is the cause of spiritual hunger?

Yet so many of us try to serve others on an empty stomach.

Action Points:

1. Consume God’s Word. How can you get more of God’s Word into your heart? Are you consistently spending time with God? If not, why not? What needs to go so you can schedule more time with God?
2. Some to spare. Do you have enough knowledge of God’s Word so you can share it with another hungry person? If not, what do you need to do … join a Bible study group, find a good church, or ask someone to mentor you?
3. Someone to share. Who do you know who needs to hear the truth? Who in your daily life needs Jesus? What will you do today to share your Bread with another?

Life is sweet. Share your bread.

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Bitterness or Betterness?

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

Matthew 12:34b-35

When I was little, I was fascinated by treasure and treasure maps. I loved reading books about buried fortunes (Nancy Drew and The Quest of the Missing Map was a favorite). How exciting to follow a parchment map to the foot of a tree, and with spade in hand unearth a treasure.

Buried. Beautiful. Valuable.

X marks the spot.

Treasure is a key word in Mathew 6:35. In the original Greek it transliterates as thesauros, which means a place to collect things and the place in which good and precious things are collected and laid up. Interestingly, thesaurus also means a casket. Think for a moment.

A container for good, precious things or a casket for dead, lifeless things.

In my living room I have a cedar chest, a place where I collect precious things. It holds treasures of the past. Corsages … diplomas … love letters … a wedding bouquet … baby booties … scribbly pictures … handmade Mother’s Day cards … funny little birthday presents from funny little sons.

Why do I store mementos in my cedar chest? So I can remember; so I can relive again and yet again the beautiful memories my keepsakes invoke. As I hold a treasure in my hands, it continues to move and change me, to mold my soul.

The heart is like a cedar chest—a place to collect things. We decide what to fill it with. Good things. Lovely things. Beautiful things. But, we can choose to fill the heart with bitter things, reliving them over and over, wounding ourselves afresh with every remembrance, shredding our heart and shattering our soul. Bitter memories will also continue to change and mold us.

It seems then we have a choice.

What shall we store in the heart? At times we choose bitterness. Why?

I prayed for insight and an answer came clearly to my mind. We treasure bitterness because we feel something is owed to us, something feels unfinished.

But, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” bitterness died on the cross. It was never meant to be stored in the heart to taint and poison. Give bitter memories to Jesus and trust Him to use them for good. Then, fill your heart with His life-giving Word. Hide it deep in the soil of your heart. His Word becomes buried treasure.

Precious. Beautiful. Valuable.

The Cross marks the spot.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:35

The choice is yours.

Action Points:

1. Ask God to search your heart and remove any bitterness lurking there. He promises to remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
2. Check your heart by examining your tongue. What are you saying? Are you speaking words of life into your relationships, challenges and trials or words of bitterness and death? “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
3. Pray the Word. Find scriptures that address your current challenges and pray them into your life. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” Joshua 1:8

By Mary Kane

copyright 2016

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Princes also sit and speak against me, but your servant meditates on your statutes.

Psalm 119:23

I have struggled with the fear of man for a long time. For many years it got the better of me and cost me plenty: lost sleep, decreased fruitfulness, and lack of peace. Fear of man has caused me to blindly stumble by sight instead of walking by faith with my Savior.

The fear of man.

The fear of man is a horrible way to live—peace depends on the acceptance and affirmation of others. And those who don’t affirm and accept us, own us. Like puppets on a string, we jump and dance, striving to gain approval. Our mind, heart, soul and energy are focused on keeping them happy, and they will never be happy. The only One who can be trusted to own us is Jesus.

When we are in bondage to the fear of man, we are not free to serve God.

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If we follow God, men will not be happy with us, and in some cases, Christians will not approve either. The key to freedom, however, is embedded in the verse above. Instead of meditating on what men say, we purposely and intentionally shift our focus to what God says. Focusing on God’s Word frees us from the fear of man, and when we fear God, He blesses us.

The choice is ours.

From the verse above, we see we have a choice; we can either meditate on the lies and slander of men OR the truth and grace of God’s Word. Man’s word or God’s Word? Man’s word kills, steals and destroys, but God’s Word creates, builds and empowers.  Even when He rebukes us, He’s busy developing greater character, faith and fruit in our heart.

Meditate=Create

In Hebrew the word meditate transliterates as siyach, which means “to put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing.” It also means, “to talk to oneself.” In addition, siyach means “to produce, to bring forth, to germinate, to put forth shoots and buds.”  Do you see the progression? Whatever we choose to focus on will produce fruit.

Our Choices:

 The Words of Man

1. We hear what others say about us.
2. We think about what they say about us.
3. We tell others what they said about us.
4. We TELL ourselves what others have said about us.
5. We focus and act on lies.

We cooperate with the enemy as he works to destroy us.

 The Word of God

1. We read what God says about us.
2. We think about what God says about us.
3. We tell others what God says about us.
4. We tell ourselves what God says about us.
5. We focus on God and act on truth.

We cooperate with God as He works to transform us into the image of Christ, and further His Kingdom on earth.

If you are like me, you sometimes have trouble eliminating the lies echoing through your mind. How do we silence the broken record of the lies?

5 Ways to cultivate the fear of God.

1. Get a new broken record. Memorize scripture and say it over and over in your mind.
2. MEDITATE on what God says about you. Whenever Satan attacks you with a lie (he often does this through other people), speak scripture in your mind and out loud.
3. Reboot your mind. When a depressing thought enters your mind or your self-talk turns south, immediately shut it down and go back to step 2. Replace lies with truth.
4. Hold your ground. Do step 3 as often as needed.
5. Praise God. Turn the temptation to despair into opportunities to praise God. Say something like, “God, thank you that You are using what so-and-so said for my good. I thank you that You are stronger than this situation.” Satan will be silenced.

Repeat steps 1-5 as often as needed. There are days when I carry my Bible verse cards with me every where I go.  The enemy can be that relentless. But God has given us the victory, if we will only hold our ground and walk by faith.

Life is sweet. Fear God.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Luke 9:23

Anyone.

Anyone is welcome. Anyone can come. Any tribe, any tongue, any religion. No one is excluded. All have sinned, but all are welcome. Anyone can come to the foot of the Cross, take up his cross and follow Jesus.

I used to think only special people were really welcome in the kingdom of God. You know who I’m talking about. The pretty people … the smart people … the popular people. The people who’ve been Christians since they were able to talk. Perfect lives marked by wise choices, good decisions and smart moves.  They were the ones God really used.  A-list people with first-string capabilities. Everything I was not.

I barely made the cut. I flew in under the radar—allowed in heaven, but better seen and not heard. I had already messed up God’s perfect will for life, doomed to live on Plan B (or in my case plan Z) until God called me home.

But God says,

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Forget Plan  A.  God says anyone is welcome.

Anyone. Broken people marked by sin and shame—welcome. Shattered people scarred by hurt and hardship—welcome. Plain people with common lives—welcome. Anyone may come.

But. we must deny ourselves … of what?

The right to live safe.

The right to stay small.

The right to live unforgiven.

The right to excuse ourselves from abundant life by focusing on our wounds instead of our Healing.

But when we deny ourselves, we indulge the Spirit.

With self out of the way, there is room for the Spirit. Blessing, power and energy flow unchecked from the hand of God to the heart of man. Any man, any woman, anyone who will  follow Him.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17

Action Points:

1. Do you believe anyone is welcome in God’s kingdom? Do you believe you are welcome? How can you better live the truth anyone is welcome?
2. Is there any people group you avoid witnessing to, or praying for because you believe they don’t deserve God’s grace or love? What can you do to change this attitude?
3. Is there anyone, anytwo, anythree or four  in your life right now who need to hear they are welcome? How can you share the love of Jesus with them today?

Life is sweet. Anyone may come. Anyone.

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Copyright 2015