Laced With Grace

Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. 1Peter 3:1-2 NLT

This week I attended a woman’s Bible study at my church. It wasn’t my regular study group. I was surrounded by new faces. As each one shared their prayer request, slowly they made their way around the table to the young lady sitting beside me. She was an adorable young mother of two, all smiles and sweetness. But, the moment she opened her mouth to speak her voice cracked and her eyes misted over. “Could you please pray for my marriage. With our newest little one, I am finding no time for my husband. And quite frankly, I don’t want any time with him. By the time I go to bed, I am exhausted. Could you please pray for me?” After our meeting I made my way over to her, knowing the Lord was sending me to her for encouragement. As the mother of four, I knew exactly what she was talking about.

When I went home that afternoon I emailed this young mom and encouraged her to attend a marriage study in our home. What I thought were originally tears from an exhausted mother, ended up being much more.

I would love with all my heart to do this study with my husband and maybe someday we can. But you see, one thing I didn’t tell you today is that he’s not (yet) saved.

Not the answer I’d expected. My heart hurt for her. But, I was grateful she typed the word “yet”, she still had faith. She was believing God for a miracle. I knew how she felt. I was once the only Christian in my marriage. Thankfully, it was a season of less than a year. I know of many who suffer much longer in a relationship where the Lord dwells in only one spouse. I shared with my new friend, the words of encouragement given to me when I was walking the same road. The verse I shared with her was 1Peter 3:1-2 NLT, In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. I went on to add:

And, if I can share just one more thing with you…don’t talk to your husband about Jesus, show him Jesus. Remember, Jesus loved and served the undeserving. On those days you want to scream or cry, or throw in the towel, or throw the towel at your husband (something I’d want to do), ask Him to give you the strength to get through one more minute, one more hour, one more day. He will. He is the one true and living God, and He lives and dwells inside of you. When you call on Him for help, stand back, because girlfriend, He will help.

If you feel like you are standing on solid ground alone, reach out for Him. He is there. And remember, He desires to live inside your husband more than you will ever know. Release your worries, anger, frustrations, disbelief, and impatience to the One who can bear it. Then show your husband the merciful, grace-filled love of Jesus Christ.

Lord, I pray for each woman hurting today without a spouse to share in the saving grace of your son Jesus Christ. I ask that you would dry their tears and fill their hearts to overflowing. Remind them of the days when they too walked alone and ignorant of your love. Place Godly people in the path of their loved one so they will feel their burden lightened. Remind them Holy Spirit, that only you can turn hearts toward Christ. Remind them it is your work alone, and that you are working even now as they read these words.

Blessings friends,

Blessed…

“ restore…the years that the locust have eaten.” Joel 2:25
“Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:5

There is a special weekend getaway that my husband and I like to frequent. It’s an old Victorian home that has been restored to its original condition and turned into a lovely bed and breakfast. We honeymooned there twelve years ago, and ever since then, it has held a place in our hearts.

It is almost difficult not to stare at its beauty. The moment you step through the front door you are transported back in time. I delight in walking across creaking floors, opening heavy wooden doors with their brass doorknobs and keyholes, and feasting on colorful wallpaper and stained glass windows that entertain the eyes. All twenty-two rooms have been restored to their original condition.

While doing a Bible study with my teenage daughter and her girlfriend, I was reminded through some of their questions, of just how my life was at their age, before Jesus. Though my Lord could see the beauty in me, I had allowed sin to tear down the colorful wallpaper of my heart, even allowing some to vandalize those things dearest to me and to Him. Many doors I slammed shut and locked, hoping that none would ever venture to peek inside.

Teenage girls and even adult women can fall into the trap of believing that our mistakes and poor choices will keep our lives from being beautiful again. We believe the whispers that tell us; we can never take away the marks left behind by the dark mistakes we have made.

Lies, all lies.

God can “ restore…the years that the locust have eaten.” Joel 2:25 He loves to do the impossible. “Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:5 He tells his children. I know His word to be true because I have seen it happen in my own life.

Friends, God is the great restorer of beauty. He takes what was once dirty, defiled, and shameful and creates in us a clean, pure, dwelling place for His grace-filled refined royal elegance. A heart that can now stand before him, the King of Kings.
I find great joy in entering a building that’s been restored to its original condition. I find the same joy in watching teenage girls and women of all ages, come to know the great restorer of their souls. He lives and reigns to bring hearts back to their original condition. Won’t you invite Him in today, to work on yours?

Lord, thank you that you make all things new. Help me to see that you are a God that doesn’t expect perfection, only a willing heart. Forgive me for trying to fix things myself. I give you the hammer and nails Lord, change me from the inside out. Make me new again. Restore my soul.

I know it’s already January 5th, but I still have to say it…Happy New Year!

My husband led our morning devotion on New Years Day. He began in the beginning, in Genesis. On the first day of the new year, our family tradition is to have a special time together, and begin in His word.

“In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

Friends, in the beginning God created. The word created, is the Hebrew word “bara”. A verb. The action word, which means to create, shape, to form by cutting, fashion, to transform, cut out, pare down, to give new conditions and circumstances, to polish.

You are reading this today, so you are still here for His purpose. God is creating in you, actively working each day to transform and polish you into something of beauty that will take his breath away – the likeness of His son Jesus.

God is not bound by time or a the first month of the new year. He is the beginning and the end. But, this week for us, it is the beginning of a new year. A new beginning for each of us.

In the beginning of year 2010, no matter what comes your way these next twelve months, He is at work creating something beautiful in you.

Remember that.

Come by and pay me a visit at  Blessed…