I can only imagine...

Sunday night we went to listen to Mercy Me live. It was beyond words. His voice... their performance... all of it... AMAZING! Of course they sang "I can only imagine!" This is my favorite song! How can you not get emotional, feel the spirit to your depths, cry? Can you imagine? Can you see yourself walking in the Son? I can! I can only imagine how wonderful, how beyond words it will be. A day with glory and grace, no pain or suffering, no sadness or hurt. Only me and Jesus! What a day that will be! What will Jesus say to me and what can I possibly say to him besides "Thank you!" Have you ever thought about it? I do, I think about it often. I try and imagine it, sometimes it seems so hard. Really Lord, a day with no pain? For me that alone is heaven. A day with no suffering, no feelings of loss or loneliness? WOW! It will be fantastic, heavenly you might say! But, until that day comes I continue to praise His name here on earth, work toward that final goal. When I stand in front of Him I can only hope to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matthew 25:23 What will Jesus say to you? Are you doing all you can to bring glory to His name? Are you ready to meet your maker and relish in His glory?

When I went to http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/heaven.html#n63 I found this, "the Bible says that we will reign with God in heaven. Exactly what this reigning entails is not defined. However, we will also be serving God directly. Although this may sound boring at first glance, it obviously won't be, since we will have direct access to the Creator of the universe. The book of Revelation specifically says that Jesus will be our shepherd, who will personally lead us. Paul in 1 Corinthians says that we will see Him "face to face" and "now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." In essence, this verse is telling us that we will have the full knowledge of God, even as He currently knows each of us. This is amazing! Why atheists would not want to be part of this baffles me. Hebrews describes heaven as consisting of "thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly." So, heaven will be a big celebration. However, we know it will also be a place of righteousness and peace. The Bible says that we cannot imagine what heaven will be like, but that it will exceed our expectations. Each of us in heaven will be "revealed in glory."
Amazing right? So what can you do today to get closer to your Lord? What can you do to prepare your place at the throne of God? Take a minute to try and imagine your time with Him in heaven, and think how wonderful it will be to hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

Trust

Trust, such a small word with such big meaning. The definition of trust as shown in the dictionary, "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something." "Trust is a valued character trait that is often lacking in today's world." According to the revised standard version bible, the word "trust" is mentioned 147 times! Wow, it must be important!

What do we do when that trust is broken, where do we turn? Chad and I have been struggling with this. Someone we trusted broke our trust and it cost us not only financially, but emotionally. It has been one of the most difficult challenges I have faced, one of the most trying times I have had to work through. Each day brings new emotions. Anger, sadness, confusion, tears. What am I supposed to do God? You tell us to trust You and forgive them. I'm trying Lord, but I'm failing. I pray daily for guidance, understanding, patience, forgiveness. And yet, I fail. I fail to understand why someone would hurt us so deeply, I fail to forgive their mistakes, and I fail to trust again. In Joshua 1:9 You tell us "have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." I need your help God, I am not strong! I am discouraged! Help me to forgive, and trust again.

We all face moments when we lose trust in someone, or something. We get hurt, we cry and we ask for help. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding" Proverbs 3:5. I do trust God. I trust that he sends me trials to strength who I am and what I believe. I know that at the end of this journey I will find peace. I know that God is there to guide me, catch me, lead me. I can't do this on my own, and God doesn't want me to, He wants me to rely on him!

Do you have a hard time trusting others, do you have a hard time trusting God. I once again encourage you to read what Max Lucado has written. He really is my go to man when I have questions and need help!

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/201209/20120917_whotrust.html

Read his words, soak that in, WOW! Remember we are all sinners, and we are all forgiven! Trust the Lord and all that He does for you!

 

"Lord on this trying day, I ask You to give me trust! Grant me the ability to forgive those that have broken my trust. I trust that You are leading me in the right direction. Help me to sit back and enjoy the ride created just for me. Help me to enjoy all the peaks and valleys of this ride and trust the road ahead! Amen"

Where two or three are gathered

This past weekend our family was blessed to spend the 4th of July holiday together. We get together most holidays so this wasn't much different. Every time we gather, there is always lots of fun, food, laughter, and of course a few tears (mostly from the little ones.)
Growing up I never fully appreciated my family. We were just another family. But, as I get older I realize just how blessed I am. I am blessed to have two loving, caring, honest, God fearing parents. This weekend there were several times I was just PROUD of who my parent's are. And, they still love each other! And even though the grand kids think it's "gross" they still show each other affection! That makes me proud! They are still very involved in our home church and visiting as a family brought back many wonderful memories and a few tears! My parents are not afraid to get dirty with their grand kids and the hoots and hollers of laughter we share is amazing! Most of all they are not afraid to show us love! Sometimes love means hugging and crying, sometimes it means stern words that only parents can dole out, and sometimes it means just listening. I am blessed! I am proud!
 I am also blessed that they graced me with two awesome siblings. How do you sum up two wonderful humans? One cares for people physically and loves what he does as a doctor, the other nurtures youth mentally and loves what she does as a teacher. This year they have both been given honors! My sister as teacher of the year, my brother as a promoting face of  Rapid City Regional Hospital. I cannot think of anyone who is more deserving of these honors. It brings me to tears when I think how proud I am to call them my siblings!
This is my family, mine! I get to claim them and fortunately they claim me! I adore that my children grow up with these people. These wonderful people are helping to form my children. They are helping them grow into kind, loving, beautiful children of God! I am so grateful that God blessed us and chose us to be the "Knudson family." Do we have our moments? Most certainly! I can still make my sister mad, which always hurts my heart! Our kids can fight and cry and scream. Our parents can still make us mad. We make mistakes, because we are real. We forgive, because we are family! Nothing changes that, and nothing breaks that. We forgive, just as we have been forgiven. We love just as we have been loved. Today I encourage you to thank God for your family, whether by blood or spirit. Get honest, get real, get goofy. Laugh a little, cry a little, love a little! Be proud of who you are, of who your family is! Claim them just as Christ claims us!

 

"Thank you Lord for this family I call mine! How blessed I am to walk the path of life with loving, honest, kind people. Help us to continue to grow stronger as a family and stronger as Christians. Continue to bless our time together as a family God and as this next generation grows up, help us to feed the seed of You in them. I pray in your name, Amen."

The breath of life

Last night my daughter and I went outside to look at the full moon. It was breathtaking!  It was full, bright, and glorious. We sat in quiet awe. Then my daughter went scurrying off. When she came back she had binoculars! "Mom look at the moon, you can see everything!" As I looked through the binoculars I was just amazed. What a big, beautiful wonder. God created that, breath that in! He created that moon! Just like He created you! The wonders of ALL that makes me speechless.

I remember when our first child was born and how simply amazed we were. When our pastor came to visit us he commented that it's hard to be an atheist after watching a delivery. Truer words have never been spoken! How can you watch a person enter this world and not praise God? He made you, you were made for a purpose. If you have a minute I encourage you to read what Max Lucado has written. He truly is my favorite author. His words have a way of moving my soul and bringing me to tears.

Imagine What May Have Taken Place On That Day

Chad and I read this just this morning, simply moving, tears streaming, speechless. Today on this day thank God for the gift of life. He made you and He made you for a reason, for a purpose. Don't ever forget that, don't take that lightly! He breathed life into you, out of dust we were born. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7

"Thank you Lord for taking the time to form me, to mold me, to make me whole. On this day help me appreciate all that is of You, all You have created. Out of dust, You make beautiful things. Your breath is in me, let me breath it back out into the world."

Your Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet

When I told my mom I was going to start a daily devotional she asked me "what happened to prompt that writing." My only response was, I don't know! I only know its been put on my heart and I feel the pull to put it out there for anyone to read. I had this vision that it would be like a creative spiritual daily journal for myself, but what I hope is that God writes through me and encourages others. Each day I look for something to express, some wisdom to pass on. When it comes time to write I ask God for the wisdom and the strength. As I write, I look up passages and I do some reading of others thoughts on those verses,  and then I pray. "Please God help me do Your name justice, help me point the light to You." It's very scary. I'm scared I won't be able to express myself correctly. I'm scared my grammar isn't correct. I'm scared others will laugh, critic me. What I need to remember is that this is for me, this is my time with God. And I am really enjoying my time. The quiet time to think, to study, to pray. I have always been a Christian, but a pretty complacent one. Now that I am finding my voice I am trying to sing! I wish I could encourage everyone to spend the time in quiet, with God. Now, I have to say, I don't think I could have done this with small children in the house. Ours are 7, 10, and 13, and they pretty much entertain themselves. But I've been there, running around not showered, with yesterday's clothes on trying to feed a child while rock another one! All I can say is there will come a day when things will slow down, and when they do I encourage you to do some religious seeking. I think you will find the time very enlightening. Do some reading, not only of the bible, but of what others have done to dissect the word. Search, explore, read. I actually went and bought a sketchpad and colored pencils and when I am finished writing I take the time to write out one of the passages that moves me the most. It is similar to the bible journaling that has become so popular. Don't know what bible journaling is, look it up. It is beautiful! I have pinned many cool pages on pintrest of others bible journals. People are so creative! I was more than intimidated to journal in my bible so I chose to go the sketchpad route, it's kind of like my practice bible. Then when I get the courage up to actually journal in my bible I won't be as nervous. I also have plans to print out my words and put them in my sketchpad,  my own personal devotional book. Today I challenge you to find some time to talk with God. Start your own sketchpad of bible verses, or start a journaling bible. I think you will find it enlightening and refreshing. 

"Father help me receive Your word and treasure it. Help me to seek, grow, learn. As I sit in gentle quiet, I am inspired by all You are. Thank you for helping me to sing and not be so complacent. Your word is a lamp unto my feet! Amen!"

Keeping up with Jesus, not the Joneses

Yesterday I started on a project that has put me in a little slump. I have this wonderful craft room downstairs that is my creative room. I painted it in a beautiful apple green color, and it is my space! Well, all that is going to change. You see we have two boys, 13 and 7, and they share a bedroom. Unfortunately the time has come where the 13 year old wants and needs his own space. So what do we do as parents, we give up what we have for them. To say I'm okay with this would be an understatement. I don't want to give up "my space!" And, I don't want to go through all the clutter in my room. It seems I have a knack for storing projects that I want to complete. Will I ever get to those projects, yeah in about 20 years when the kids are gone! Will I still want to make those projects then? No. So I am taking a hard look at all I have "collected" and am cleaning out the clutter. And now that the process has begun I have to say it feels good to get rid of the junk. I am looking forward to cleaning up and de-cluttering. In fact, I think I will tackle the closets next!
Sometimes we need to de-clutter our lives because we end up with too much "stuff." De-cluttering is never easy, we drag our feet, we moan and complain but when the task is complete, satisfaction! Americans are very good at "collecting stuff." We try to "keep up with the Joneses" as they say. It gets very costly to keep up. These items not only cost money, but time. Time we could spend with family, friends, God. What if we spent as much time trying to "keep up with Jesus!" I'm not saying you need to get rid of everything, but look around. Do you have some "stuff" you are saving for later? Are you really going to use it? Can you get rid of it and use the time and money you save for good? Jesus told us to "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where your treasure is there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:20-21 What treasures are you storing up, are they treasures or just "stuff." Can you de-clutter and work on your heavenly treasures? Paul tells us "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. " Colossians 3:23-24 Today let's de-clutter and work on those heavenly treasures!

Heavenly Father,  you know I am just a little crabby about this de-cluttering process, help me to be a cheerful cleaner. Help me to de-clutter and start working on my heavenly treasures. I know my reward is in heaven, help me to focus on that reward not my earthly one. I know that I am blessed to live in a land of plenty, help me to not store up too much, to share with others, to "keep up with Jesus, and not the Joneses! "

The suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.

Do you ever feel you have been given a cross to bear? I often tell people about the cross I carry, a congenital birth defect that has forever changed my life. In 2005 I was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, also known as Arnold–Chiari malformation. Chiari is a condition that affects the brain. It consists of a downward displacement of the cerebellar tonsils through the opening at the base of the skull. As a result there is an obstruction of spinal fluid. With the obstruction comes headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, nausea, tinnitus, impaired coordination, and, in severe cases, paralysis. In 2005 I was dealing with all of this and trying to raise 2 very young children. On February 23 of 2006 I went in for a three and a half hour brain decompression surgery. I spent 3 days in ICU, none of which I remember. I do know my husband, parents, and sister prayed as if there was no tomorrow. My mother tells me she called home to our church Sunday morning and asked them to pray for me and that afternoon I came out of my fog! The power of prayer! Today I am so glad I had the surgery, but because there is no cure, I hope and pray that I don't  ever have to have another surgery. This is my cross. A cross that causes mental fog, memory loss, and extreme physical pain. I see a pain management doctor all too often and live on many medications. The reason I tell you all of this is because this is what brought me to my knees physically, literally. I have spent many hours praying and talking with God. I don't know why I was brought to my knees, I only know that it has brought me closer to my Lord. I once read that "suffering is a gift entrusted to us, to sharpen our focus." I not only believe this, I KNOW this. "The suffering is as much a gift as the trusting." When I am in severe pain I pray and try to focus on God. I pray for relief, for patience, for understanding. Would I pray and talk to God this often if I wasn't suffering, NO! Is it a gift, YES! Do I get angry, absolutely! Do I cry, more than you know! Do I give up...NO! I believe it is okay to get angry with God, to question God. I think this makes my faith stronger. It pushes me to find answers, to seek, to grow, to trust.  Do you have a cross you are bearing, physically or mentally? Is it dragging you down?  Take a moment to stop and talk to God about it. Cry your tears, get angry, and then pray. Remember to be a living sacrifice. Bear your cross, moment by moment, day by day. And then when all the tears are dry and all the anger gone, thank the Lord for the gift of your cross because it helps to sharpen your focus.

"Heavenly Father I want to take a moment to say thank you! Thank you for my cross. Carrying my cross brings me closer to You and closer to understanding Jesus' suffering. When days get hard and pain is present I drop to my knees and seek You out. Thank you for my time, time to pray, seek, worship, focus. I trust You Lord, I thank You Lord, I love You Lord! Amen"