Choices

When you get down to it . . . life is a series of choices.  You might say that the Red Sea divides our choices.  I often think of the place that the people of God found themselves in when they exited Egypt.  The great Exodus of all the people, who had been in slavery for hundreds of years was a massive undertaking.  A slave, especially someone born into slavery, has not had an opportunity to learn how to make choices . . . they needed to learn how to make good choices. 

 

How do we learn  to make good choices? 

Learning requires action.

 

So,  the people of God began the learning process when they  faced what seemed to be a lose-lose choice. Their oppressors, the Egyptians, realized their economy would crash without the slaves and went after them.  It wasn’t long before the people looked back and saw the dust rising from all of Egypt’s army chasing after them.  They turned their heads to see the Red Sea before them.  A choice had to be made.

 

How do you make a choice when both directions seem to lead to a problem?

We have all been there.  Nothing seems to be left.  Life seems to come to a stop. A dead-end.  

 

The thing is . . . God is the God of more.  He is has a plan and promises to make a way through the most difficult times:  But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. Exodus 14:13

 

In other words, Moses told the people to choose faith rather than the fear.  History was changed because of their choice . . . the choice of faith.  God opened the Red Sea. Even so . . . when it was time to enter into the land God had promised . . .  the people chose fear.  Fear led to a disconnect with the plan of God.  Forty years later the people made the choice of faith.

So, God asked Joshua to circumcise the men as an outward sign of an-active-ongoing-engaged relationship with him:  At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time." Joshua 5:3 So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. Joshua 5:4

 

Choices . . . the way we live . . . is our outward sign of whether or not we are in an-active-ongoing-engaged relationship with God.

 Make the choice of faith rather than fear.

Align your words and actions with the choice of faith.

 

Be ready for more than what you can imagine . .. the Red Sea will open . . . when you go where God says to go.

 

Learning with you to KICK START the day  with the choice of faith.

Pastor Kerrie

 

(written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

Breathe

They were down-right discouraged.  Their list of hardships included a possible eviction, accumulated debt that totaled more than what it seemed possible to ever earn, a broken relationship with his parents, and sheer exhaustion from the messiness of life.  It was obvious to me circumstances had left them fragile and fearful. 

 

So.  What should they do?

 

Breathe.  Sometimes we need to take a breath, step back, and look at our list of challenges from the perspective that God is present, at work, and will do more than we can imagine.  Study Psalm 46 . . . the first verse turns our attention to God as the world is falling apart:

God is our refuge and strength,
         A very present help in trouble.( Psalm 46:1)

 

We need to reframe our mindset each day, especially in times of trouble.  Before the Psalmist describes the out-of-control circumstances . . . he declares that God is OUR  Refuge, Strength . . . and a Very Present Help.  It shifts how we see and respond to situations when we see that God is not only present but personally involved . . . God will get us through. So . . . breathe.

And then the last verse states the obvious if we believe God is in control and has a plan: Cease striving and know that I am God;
         I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10 )

 

The difference of facing our falling-apart-life with God rather than without God is the difference between life and death. The thing is we need to stop . . . breathe . . . and know God is God.

I think of the time that the people of God could only see the giants that occupied the Promised Land . . . so they backed down . . . decided not to take the risk . . .  and wandered for forty years. What a waste.  If only . . .they had took the time to step back . . . breathe . . . and focus on God.    

 

When they finally believed God and faced their fear of the giants . . . it was obvious that the reality of life with God . . . shifts fear to faith:  Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel. Joshua 5:1

 

 The thing is . . . when we review our times of trouble .  . . the times  we were freaking out with fear  . . . we will see how different life becomes when we breathe . . . trusting God to be our refuge, strength, and very present help.

 

Stop.  Cease striving.  Know God is God.

Breathe. 

Receive God as your refuge, strength, and very present help.

Believe God will make a way through the hardships and trials of life.

Be ready for what more God has planned.

 Keep breathing.

 

Learning with you to KICK START the day . . . breathing.

Pastor Kerrie

 

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

Flying Leap of Faith

God has big plans for us.  There is nothing little about God.  That said, it does seem that we easily get stuck in the details of life . . . the minute-really-doesn’t-matter-kind-of-details . . . instead of  understanding and living like God is well . . . God.  Sometimes we connect more with our to-do list than with the One who does wondrous work in our life. 

So . . . how do we move from the mundane and minute details and focus . . . really focus . . . on what more God is doing?  Most of the time, we need to simply turn away from whatever is keeping us away from fully engaging our life with God.  In other words, we need to take a gigantic flying leap of faith each day.  To get off the ground we must  surrender the mundane and minute things.  Sometimes it doesn’t make sense when we step out and many times others will point blank say it doesn’t make sense.  The thing is . . . when we look back . . . we will see that what really made sense was to live a God-driven and directed life . . . and to not hold anything back from God . . . to give it all . . . and to take a flying leap of faith that God has something more.

Look at what happened to the followers of God . . . they changed the course of their life by choosing to have faith . . . leaving their wandering life in the desert . . . taking an all out flying leap of faith to cross the flooding waters of the Jordan River in order to reach the land God had promised them.  To remember what was important Joshua instructed the people to set up 12 stones as markers of faith: He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God." Joshua 4:24

The people in those ancient days are much like you and me.  They needed to be routinely reminded that God is powerful, fearing or being in awe of God is good. 

Let go of the mundane and minute stuff.

Surrender everything.

Take a flying leap of faith.

 

Learning with you to KICK START and take a flying leap of faith,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

The Radical Reality of Belief

God does what He says He will do.  Okay.  I get that.  I have lived long enough to have experienced things in life that can only be described as miraculous.  I am talking about transformations of the way people think, speak, and live . . . healing of the body, mind, and soul . . . the dried waters of the Jordan River and Red Sea kind of  miracles  . . . when nothing and no one else can explain how something happened.

The thing is . . . I need to look at my response to life in this season of life. . . and ask some hard questions:

 Do I live in belief that God will do what He says He will do? 

I need to look at the stubbornness of humanity and see how long it takes to receive and believe what God says.  Study what God promised to Abraham, long before Joshua was born: Now the LORD said to Abram,"Go forth from your country, And from your relatives and from your father's house,to the land which I will show you; Genesis 12:1

 Is believing God my reality? 

I need to question my reality, because when it comes down to it, I am not always aware that God is at work. God always makes a way through every circumstance.  Look at how God made a way through the Red Sea and the flooding Jordan River when it seemed there was no possible way to go where God said to go.  And . . . God is the Finisher . . . He is always at work completing the good work He began:  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Do I  hesitate and shrink back from all-out-believing God? 

God repeatedly reminds us that He will do what He says He will do.
There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Genesis 28:13

If, I would risk more . . . live beyond comfort and be more radical in my belief . . . then would the universe shift more often? 

To be honest, I know that I must be more intentional in believing that God will do what He says He will do. My tendency is to over-analyze. So, I understand why Joshua told the people that the story must be intentionally told from generation to generation; they needed to remember that their world radically shifted when they finally believed God would do what He said He would do:  "For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; Joshua 4:23

When we focus on what God has done, then, we strengthen our belief that God is doing something in the times that we are unable to clearly see His work. 

Believe God will do what He says He will do.

Live in the reality that God is doing what He said He would do.

Refuse to hesitate in your belief.

Watch the universe shift . . . as you are more radical in belief.  

Learning with you to KICK START in the radical reality of belief,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

Looking For DRY GROUND

He makes a difference.  One man.  I have not met him; however, I have heard about him more than once.  He lives in a fifth wheel with few possessions, working in a lumber mill, serving people, telling them that Christ has made the difference. He is honest about the storms of life that he is weathered; but it is clear that he is living on DRY GROUND . . . a solid foundation. As you might imagine, people want what he has. 

The thing is . . . individuals come into my office tired of the way they are living, wanting to experience life in a different way, knowing there is something more . . . because one man has more . . . living a way that is different than most do, even in the storms of life.  They are looking for the DRY GROUND.

Doesn’t it make you think?  The power of living does not come through the possessions or position that we attain, but rather through the presence and power of Christ. It is God that provides the DRY GROUND, even in the storms of life.

Too often, we become consumed with the stuff of life, allowing the reality of the goodness of life to disappear without a trace.  Sometimes I think we don’t understand that we have an obligation to live the best life we can.

We open the door to the enemy of our soul to kill and destroy our life and allow things into our life to take our focus off of God without thinking about how we are abusing the gift of life God offers.  It sounds harsh; however, what is . . . is.  Jesus told us:   "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Through Christ we can live differently, even abundantly. Abundance can be defined as plentiful and well supplied . . . the DRY GROUND . . . in the midst of storms. 

So . . . look at the people of God in the ancient days in the book of Joshua.  After being convinced to go where God wanted them to go, they needed to cross the flooding, raging waters of the Jordan River.  They would find the DRY GROUND where it does not make sense . . . in the flood.

The whole thing did not make sense then or now . . . the raging waters of a river will kill . . . rather than bring life.  They had to make the decision to step into the water.  And, the incredible happened . . . the waters parted and the ground was dry.  Can you imagine . . .walking across DRY GROUND with the flooding raging river heaped into big walls of water?  No mud . . . no puddles . . .dry.  Oregonians will tell you that dry ground is a gift.

God provides DRY GROUND in the most impossible situations that moves us to the place of abundant living.   

Think what it meant to step onto DRY GROUND: then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' Joshua 4:22

God provided more than what was expected. The DRY GROUND was and is the reality of an abundant, plentiful, well supplied life. 

Refuse to step into the muddy pathways of life that lead to things that destroy and kill your life.

Look for the DRY GROUND that God provides, even in the midst of the storms and raging floods.

Step onto the pathway of DRY GROUND.

Walk on the DRY GROUND.

Learning with you to KICK START the day walking on the DRY GROUND,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/

A Story

Behind our life is a story.  God knows the plan he has for our story . . . a plan of a future and a hope . . . if we choose to enter into it. God has issued the powerful promise: For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

The three words are powerful to think about:  FOR I KNOW.

Sometimes life can be so downright difficult that it seems that God is not present. That said, we can see  God more clearly when we take our focus off of the struggle.  The thing is . . . it is not always easy to see beyond the struggles of life.  The three words bring it all back into focus . . . FOR I KNOW. God knows the plan that is beyond what we can imagine.  

So . . . I look at little Madelyn . . . who has been at home with Tricia and Troy for about 3 ½ weeks.  It is clear that God merged their lives together.  One little baby girl born in China plus two adults from Oregon equals an incredible story of a new family. That said, Tricia and Troy chose to enter into what more God had for them . . . and it was a process to get where they are now.

     God issued their story to be a story of a future and a hope. They entered into the story God had for them.

 The people in the ancient days were not any different than you and I.  They needed ways to remember that God transforms our lives with a future and a hope when we enter into it.  The people finally chose to enter into the future and hope that God had planned for them.  Joshua knew it was imperative to remember what God had done for them. : He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' Joshua 4:21-22

We are transformed when we enter into what God has for us.  Accordingly, there is power in sharing the story of God in our life.  We become stronger when we tell the story of what occurs with God in our life. Others are stronger when they hear that God is faithful to bring a future and a hope to our story. 

Enter into the future and hope God has for you.
Purposefully remember the activity of God in your story.

Mark moments that define a future and a hope.

Tell the story.

Learning with you to KICK START the day by telling the story,

Pastor Kerrie

 (written by Kerrie Palmer © 2010 All Rights Reserved)
interactstudies/ ~ kpalmer@hillchurch.com ~Church on the Hill~700 N. Hill Rd.~McMinnville, OR 97128~503.472.8476 ~www.hillchurch.com~Archives & Daily Subscription: go to http://kickstarttoday.blogspot.com/