“The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life, I will advise you and watch over you.’” Psalm 32:8NLT

 Learning that God had a plan for my life was a relief to me.

I hadn’t done such a good job at it myself, making mistakes along the way, living in fear that I’d never get it right. I soon discovered, however, that knowing He had a plan and following it were two different things. I still felt like something was missing. And it was.

~

When I was 18, I had the delight of traveling to Germany after high school graduation to meet my relatives. My German grandparents also happened to be there at the same time, returning for a trip to visit the “old country” and their families they had left many years before. At the end of my visit, I was packing when Grandpa slipped a few pouches in my suitcase.

“I don’t think I’ll have room for these when we leave next week, Janie,” he said as he stuffed them in my suitcase. My cousin Max loaded my suitcase in the car as I searched the house for any forgotten items. At the airport, I waved good-bye to family and grabbed my suitcase to head through the Frankfurt airport. I could barely budge the thing. “What happened to this?!” I thought to myself. I suddenly recalled the bags Grandpa shoved in there, wondering what could possibly be in them.

I dragged that suitcase what seemed like miles to my gate, so encumbered by the weight of it that I wasn’t certain I would make it, arms and back aching. I was never so glad to unload something as I was that suitcase at the baggage check.

Extra Baggage

When I got home, I found the bags Grandpa had glibly tossed in. I peeked inside one of them. BB pellets! Each bag was brimming with BB pellets, weighing about 5 pounds. Ugh. My ultra-frugal grandfather had found a deal on pellets, and I had just lugged them halfway around the world for him.

After spending the previous day dragging around my suitcase, I had learned the lesson of traveling lightly. But it wasn’t until many years later that I realized this truth applies to much more than our physical travels. Thomas A Kempis said, “They travel lightly whom God’s grace carries.” I spent too many years of my young adulthood dragging around 30 pounds of my “BB pellet” past. God was guiding me along the best pathway for my life, but I was so bogged down by my past that I was just inching along.

Finally, the Holy Spirit taught me that I was missing grace — the grace that rids us of what has come before, freeing us for what is now. I already had the grace that forgives all my sins at the cross of Jesus. But I needed to learn how to accept grace for the journey that each day brings, realizing that each day I can choose to walk in that grace and live it. I learned that traveling lightly means I live with open hands that are not full with holding on to the past but are empty, waiting to grasp what God has for me today, now.

And it makes all the difference: Grace means I can dump the baggage of my past, free to run the path God has laid before me. Free to relish His plans. Free to join in His work.

If you’re still towing around your past, it’s time to permanently check it at God’s baggage counter and run with Him down the pathway of grace called Your Life.

Has grace made a difference in your life? Please feel free to share your experience below.

Pray on!

“Image courtesy of iconmac / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.
“Image courtesy of Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

What have you been learning from God lately? And more importantly, who are you sharing it with?

Many of the blessings God gives us are meant to be shared. This isn’t always an easy thing, is it? We often don’t feel accomplished enough or smart enough. We think  others are so much more worthy and could do a better job. That was my viewpoint — until one Sunday in church a few years ago.

A visiting pastor from our sister church in Africa addressed our congregation directly:

“Do you understand the value of the teaching that you receive every Sunday?” he asked us. “Those of you who hear these teachings every week have more training and learning than the average pastor does in my city. What are you doing with what you know?” he challenged us. “Who are you teaching?”

I no longer felt that I could use the “not knowledgeable enough” excuse I’d been hiding behind and decided to earnestly pray about where and how God wanted to use me. I found out that what God wants us to know is that we may not be perfectly ready for what He’s calling us to, but He is! As the saying goes, we should show up “prepared and prayed up” and then let God work.

I know it’s not easy to get past our insecurities. I wrote this poem to remind myself that God’s not looking for perfection; He’s looking for obedience and willingness.

The Vessel

by Jane VanOsdol

I offer you my life, Lord.
As flawed as it is.
As cowardly as I am.
You, who makes beauty out of ashes
and joy out of mourning,
Who breathes life into dead, dry bones,
What will do do with me?

I am the clay in your hands,
the hands of the Potter.
Fashion me into a vessel
that although imperfect on this earth,
is more than adequate for daily use
when you fill me to overflowing
with your Spirit.

You entrust this cracked, chipped vessel
with pouring forth Your Living Water to any parched soul who
will drink of it:  healing the hurting, planting a seed, setting a captive free.

Creating extraordinary out of  ordinary.

Ever since my daughter was a preschooler, she’s been able to memorize things so easily. She put this skill to good use when we enrolled her in Awana. Amber loved working on her Bible verses every week. It seemed as if the verses just effortlessly implanted themselves into her mind and heart and rolled off her tongue. Many of those verses stuck with her through the years, and now as an adult, they’ve become words of life that she is able to apply.

That’s why I love Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” When I stockpile God’s word in my heart, I can easily pull out the “ammunition” that I need at a moment’s notice.

If I’m feeling fearful, I can recall 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

If I am depressed I can recite Nehemiah 8 :10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

If I need wisdom I can meditate on James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

What are you in need of today? The Bible surely has something to say about it. God has given us a storehouse of supplies to draw upon everyday — and amazingly this stockpile is never depleted. The only thing that is limiting us is how often we go to it to replenish our own supplies. We need to read His words and memorize them so that we are fortified for our battle in this world.

Pray on!

Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.  Psalm 25:7 NLT

These words resonated with me a few mornings ago as I was reading them. I had to stop and go over verse 7 a few times to let it sink in deeply.

You see, for years I struggled with seeing myself as the same girl I was during high school, college, and my young adult years. Even though I was changing, moving on, and growing in my faith, when I thought about myself, the image of who I was in those teen and early 20s seemed to haunt me. While spiritually I was growing, my mindset was not letting me fully embrace those changes and was holding me back. It took me years to let go of this faulty thinking.

I hope this verse will convince you to not wait as long as I did, because … verse 7 is a life changer. Perhaps I can explain it this way.

Photographers will often set the F-stop of their camera to a low number for artistic effect. It brings the desired object into sharp focus but everything in the background becomes a fuzzy blur, like in the picture of the brown-eyed Susan you see here.  And you know what, that’s exactly what God does when He looks at each one of us. He sets our F-stop to a low number! Who we are now in Jesus, as one of His beloved children is in sharp focus.Those things we did in the past? Well, to God they’re a blurry blip in the background of our lives. Yes, we may still suffer some consequences from those choices and decisions, but Jesus has removed the stigma from them. When we trust Him to forgive our sins, God now sees us in the light of His unfailing love.

It’s time to move on from old, dead thinking. If you’ve confessed your sins and placed your trust in Jesus to bear the penalty of your sins, then God isn’t the one holding you back. You are. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see the junk in the background of your past. He sees His lovely child standing in front of Him in clear detail. Bask in His love and light today as the person you are now.

Feel free to share your thoughts below, or you can also contact me.

Pray on!

Jane VanOsdol’s work has appeared in Pockets, Small Farmer’s Journal, Woman’s Day, Warner Press publications and numerous online publications. Jane and her sister Mary Kane are the authors of OnlyByPrayer.com and speak together at women’s retreats and seminars. She loves gardening, knitting, reading, biking, and gluten-free goodies. Jane is married to Mark and has a son, daughter, and a son-in-law.

New! Online Bible Study at Only By Prayer

Fresh from our Proverbs 31 Ministries She Speaks 2013 Writers and Speakers conference, Mary and I are flush with ideas God has given us for Only By Prayer. We’d like to share with you one of the big things that will going on here this fall:

Imagine doing your Bible study with your small group without ever having to leave the comfort of your home, dorm room — or back deck. If this sounds like your kind of study, we would love for you to join our first ever online Bible study. This  six-week online Bible study starts on Wednesday, September 11, and will help you to simply your life by:

• Focusing on the One
• Living in the present
• Embracing simplicity

We will be using Cynthia Heald’s Becoming a Woman of Simplicity Bible study. To simplify the process, you will each purchase your own book from your local Christian bookstore. We’ve also included a link to the CBD online bookstore if your prefer to purchase it that way.

Christian Book Distributors:

Becoming a Woman of Simplicity

A Bible Study for All Levels of Maturity

Challenge your faith by choosing one of three levels of involvement.

1. Level 1:  Study. Simply complete the work in your Bible study book.
2. Level 2: Community. Complete the work in the Bible study book and participate in weekly community conversations (blog/Facebook) about what you’re learning.
3. Level 3: Opportunity. Complete the work in the Bible study book, participate in community conversations, and complete application activities that will be emailed to you.

In addition, each Wednesday evening from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. EST, Jane and Mary will host an optional call on Talk Shoe that will include a teaching time on that week’s lesson. But remember, you are free to do your work at any time during the week that fits your schedule.

Sign Up for The Simple Life Bible Study

The cost to participate in the online Bible study (same price for every level) is only $5 (in addition to your book fee that you purchase). If you’d like to join us in this fall’s study of The Simple Life, please click on the button below. You will both pay and register through this one button. Once you have signed up, you will be emailed a link to confirm your registration. You must click on that link to be put on the list for the Bible study.

Thanks so much for your participation. Feel free to invite your friends! Please click on the link below to register and pay. You will be given the option to pay either with Pay Pal or with your credit card. If you don’t have a PayPal account, simply click the option that says “Check Out.” Clicking on that will then open another screen and one of your options will say: “Don’t have a PayPal account?” Click on this option, which will bring up a screen that will let you either pay with a regular credit card or open a PayPal account.

Questions or problems with registration? Click on this contact button to email Jane.

Click Below: The Simple Life Online Bible Study

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3

When I take the time to talk to God in the morning and read His word, it makes all the difference in my attitude and heart.

I am at peace.

One of the other Bible versions uses the words “and I look up” instead of “wait in expectation.” This photo taken in my yard this morning is a reminder to me to do just that.

The cardinal creeper is climbing up reaching for the sun. I need to reach for the Son every morning too.