FERTILIZER

Did you ever notice that when things are going good and seem to be progressing in different areas of our lives, something happens to mess things up?  There seems to be a monkey wrench thrown into the mix to screw things up from progressing the way you anticipated. Your mind is going one direction. Your heart is going one direction.  Your anticipation is going one direction.  All of a sudden there's a halt. All of a sudden there's a roadblock.  All of a sudden you are blind-sided.  I sure hate that!  But, none of it takes God by surprise.

There are many well-meaning people in this world that get involved in ways that seem right to them. They think they are helping.  Their motives are pure.  Their love for us is deep.  They just want to help us out in our situations.  That's part of being a human being, I guess. They just don't know all the facts.  They may not know how delicate of a situation you may be dealing with.  They just may think they can fix things and help things work out because they have experience.  But every situation is different.  Every person is different.  So hearing the Holy Spirit when wanting to help is of utmost importance when we involve ourselves in other's lives.

You believe you've heard from God and are trying so carefully to take each step only under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  You want your flesh dead.  You want to hear clearly.  You want your spirit-man to reign, not your emotions.  Then something happens to muddy the water.  You've surrender things to God.  You've asked for His direction. You've laid your dreams and plans at His feet.  Somehow things get changed through pure motives and the best laid plans of mice and men.

Sometimes it's just CRAP!  Yes, CRAP!  A pile of stinky mess is laid in the middle of it all.  You wonder what in the world is going on!  You wonder why did God allow this to happen!  You wonder how is God going to fix this!  Here, again, it's all about listening to the Holy Spirit at every turn.  He will mend it all.  He will fix it all.  But we have to ask for wisdom, discernment, and sometimes courage to deal with every aspect of the situation.

What the devil meant for evil, God will turn it for our good!  That's why I titled this "FERTILIZER".  No matter what "CRAP" the devil tries to pile on anything, it's "FERTILIZER".  It will cause maybe a sudden stop of progress, or cause a delay, but SUDDENLY, new roots and sprouts will spring forth. There will be more powerful and quicker growth...just the opposite of what the devil wanted.  That's the good news!  Bring on the FERTILIZER!  God will work all things out for my good and His glory!  He tells me that ALL things work together for my good.

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Don't Play Dead. Be Dead.

Spurgeon is quoted as saying, "Child of God, you cost Christ too much for Him to forget you".   I think that because of circumstances in our lives, there are many times we forget that He is always looking out for us and working on our behalf.  He is always drawing us closer to Him and wanting to give us good gifts as His children.  

Sometimes they don't look like "good gifts". Sometimes it brings us pain we don't like.  Sometimes it goes against our wills.  Sometimes it gives us frustration.  Sometimes we feel alone.  Sometimes we are even angry. AND, sometimes we just want to give up, because we feel that God has forsaken us.

We have to remember a few things.  God is always working to conform us to the image of His Son.  A real project for most of us.  And, that God has a plan for each and every one of us.

Romans 8:29 - For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The Bible tells us that "we are crucified with Christ".  

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

So we are dead!  Dead men don't complain.  Dead men don't have an opinion.  Dead men can't get their feelings hurt.  Dead men don't stir up trouble or strife.  Dead men don't have to have their own way.  That means we are DEAD!  We are to crucify the flesh. 

Galatians 5:24 - And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

That goes against our human nature big time!  Christ says we are crucified with Him when we accept Him as our Saviour.  Christ also gives us opportunity everyday and every moment to "crucify the flesh".  That means our passions and desires for this world and our human trappings need to die. We need "passion and desire" for Him to fulfill our destiny in the Kingdom of God, to fulfill those plans He has for us.

There are a few things we need to do, that go against human nature, but are in step with the Godly nature.

Ephesians 4:32  - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 5:18, 20-21 - And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Not playing dead when it's convenient, but being dead.  Not playing dead when we want to, but being dead by being obedient to the Word and crucifying the fleshly desires, like having our own way.  We need to be "deader" sometimes with certain people in our lives.  Some people bring out our "undeadness".  God is working it out of us. Doesn't sound like a good gift, but it really is a good gift.  He hasn't forgotten you.  God keeps on giving gifts that are not disguised as gifts.  He's working out all things for your good and His glory.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

As we learn and grow up in Christ, we will get "deader and deader" by walking in the Spirit and in obedience to the Word. We will mature and it will get easier.

Galatians 5:25 - If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

God will lead us to new heights and new adventures with great fulfillment in Him as we walk in His Spirit and listen for His guidance in every situation.

Practice being dead in every situation, and pretty soon, you will be dead.  Practice makes perfect at almost everything.  So no more playing dead.  Be dead.

The 12 Minute Commute

My 12 minute commute to my sister and brother-in-law's house was very interesting tonight. During this short time, I encountered a woman walking rapidly down the street clutching something to her chest and crying.  Over two blocks down, going the other direction, I encountered a very angry man walking briskly with anger and hatred and the devil in his eyes.  A block later I was at a 4-way stop with a woman to the right cussing because the man to her right took off first and it was her turn.  And she was drunk.  She drove slowly across the street and almost hit the curb.

At each encounter I prayed.  I asked God if I should stop to console the crying woman, but felt I was just supposed to pray.  When I encountered the angry man, who was probably the cause of that woman crying, I felt I was to pray.  When I then encountered the drunk woman, I prayed again.
Three opportunities for prayer for wounded souls in my 12 minute commute.  It's all around us.  The wounded hearts are everywhere.  We encounter them all the time, but maybe we don't even notice.

By the time I got to my destination, my heart was overwhelmed with compassion for these people. Maybe there is no one else in their lives praying for them. Maybe I am the one to see them, because God was entrusting me to pray for them.  Maybe I was the one to see them because I needed more compassion awakened in my soul.  Maybe I was to see them so I would not get lazy and complacent in my prayer life. We need to be ready for the encounter to be something that alerts us to our shortcomings.  Only God can change us.  Only God can change our circumstances.  Only God can heal our hearts.  Only God can set us free.  Prayer is where we always start no matter what the encounter may be.

I believe there are no accidental meetings in this life.  God orchestrates all our encounters for our good and His glory. We need to pay attention to them all.  God has a purpose for our encounters no matter how insignificant they appear at the time.  He wants to use us, change us, and bless us.  God wants to take every opportunity to change us into the image of His Son and help us grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ to build His Kingdom. He wants to bless others through us.  We are His instruments of choice to bring love, healing and deliverance to a hurting world.

Serving God is an adventure.  He will open doors of ministry at every turn, but we have to be paying attention. We have to be willing to be used.  You don't need a Reverend or Deacon or PhD in front of your name to take these opportunities.  God uses us all.  We are His Body and all have our part in the Body to function as He sees fit. There is never a dull moment when we open our hearts to God's love and our ears to the Holy Spirit's direction.

Peace Be With You

John 20:19
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

As I read this verse and pondered all the implications, my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude for my Savior's love for me.  I was especially thinking about the phrase, "the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of....".

There are a few good lessons to pay attention to here.

Lesson number one:  "the disciples were together". We need to be together in fellowship, doing life together, supporting one another in good times and bad. We need each other for strength and comfort. Even though they had fear together, God was watching and ready and willing to help. He had to work a miracle to get through to this bunch in this circumstance.  We are the same.

Lesson number two:  "with the doors locked for fear".  The same doors that lock out the world because of our fear, lock us into thought patterns and patterns of living that result in ungodly beliefs about ourselves and our circumstances.  These fears also diminish our impact in the Kingdom of God . The same doors lock out help from others. They have to go through great lengths and labor to get our doors down that we've locked out of fear.  The Good News is nothing locks out Jesus.  No matter how much fear, no matter how many walls, doors and locks, Jesus can get through and better yet, He WILLS to get through to us.  He may not come in a form or shape that seems normal.  He will send the most unsuspecting circumstances and people. Even Thomas didn't quite believe it was Him after being with Him three years.  Those he sends us don't always exactly look like Jesus at first. The circumstances don't always seem believable, but in spite of them, Jesus works.

Lesson number three: "Peace be with you!".  Once Jesus appeared THROUGH the door, the disciples were then focused on HIM, not on the circumstance.  Isaiah 26:3, "I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Me".  Once they were focused on Him, they could accept His ministry of His powerful Words and His love.

Let's look at the definition of "keep".  As a noun it means essentials for living, charge or control or custody like a shepherd "keeps" the sheep.  As a verb it means to have or retain possession of, continue or cause to continue in a specified condition, position or course, preserve, maintain, support detain, restrain, save, reserve, to not return, to not give away, to not throw away (Webster).

There is "keep" on both sides of this Scripture.  We are to "keep"our mind on Him.  Don't keep our mind on the fear. Don't keep our mind on the locked door. Our "keep" here is our essential for living. Without His peace we don't have the essential thing we need for living, His Peace. We have charge and control of what we "keep".  If we "keep" something, we don't throw it away.  We reserve it and save it.  We continue in that condition.  We continue in peace. We do what we need to do to maintain that peace and preserve that peace.

2 Corinthians 10:5 
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Philippians 4:8  
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

These two Scriptures tell us how we can "keep" His peace, how we can preserve His peace in our lives and continue in that state of peace.  We are to take possession of our thoughts, tear down those ungodly beliefs about ourselves and our circumstances by thinking on what He tells us to think on in His Word.  He tells us to think on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.

Most importantly He says He would KEEP us.  That tells me if I do my part in "keeping my mind" stayed on Him, His peace will retain possession of me and my life. He will give me His peace, an essential for living a productive, victorious life as a child of God. He will be in control as a Shepherd is of His Sheep.

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

E-book Version of On To The Prize available on smashwords.com

If you did the free download for my book, On To The Prize, you may want to re-download the updated, corrected version.

Many of my previous posts have been revamped and put in my new book: On To The Prize. The book is out as of March 18,2015 as an e-book through smashwords.com and will be available for purchase as a paperback through lulu.com in April. This book is a valuable tool for spiritual growth. We all go through such hard times, but God's Word stands true through it all. I share His Word in a very personal way to help you apply His principles to your own lives through everyday things and situations. My hope is that you will be blessed, encouraged, strengthened, and comforted by these words I share.

"On To The Prize" Foreword

FOREWORD

If you are reading this book, you are probably a Christian. And you’re probably running hard on the track, reaching out your hands for that bottle of water in the middle of the race to the finish line. This book is one of those bottles. It’s a refreshing dose of encouragement for tired and thirsty runners. And it’s written in an easy, friendly, conversational style—as if you’re sharing a cappuccino and a Krispy Kreme doughnut with your best friend.

Renee Hibma is an encourager, an exhorter—a coach. And she is able to “…comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (I Corinthians 1:4). She gets this ability by the Spirit—it’s the result of a life laid down in death to self. That kind of crucified life results in a subsequent resurrection—and not just in the hereafter. It renders a new view of life’s present circumstances, a way of seeing things so that we grow by it in knowledge and character and trust in God. It’s a playing out of Romans 5: “…tribulation worketh patience; And patience, [results in] experience; and experience, [results in] hope…”

And that resultant hope is a new approach to all of life. It is the love of God—a new love FOR God—because we know He’s faithful to bring things around for our good. This love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us when we receive it! We have to LET patience have her perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire. (James 1:4) This is what Renee has done, and she submits the same opportunity to her readers.

I’ve known Renee since we were 13. We went to the same church. We were both gifted musicians, able to pick out vocal harmonies on virtually any song; playing piano by ear…We were really unusual kids, I guess! Our unpopular faith caused us to endure some hardness at school, having been baptized by fire during the “Jesus Movement” revival days, and having forsaken all for the sake of the call; taking our Bibles to school, organizing and attending early morning Bible studies… We found refuge in friends of like mind, and in music.

But the years following our high school graduation would prove us. Music and friendships were not enough, because God was exacting greater things of us. He taught us that nothing satisfies if you’re still viewing the world by the world. Even music—Christian music—can feed the flesh; and Christian friendships can usurp the Lordship of Jesus in decision-making, devotion.

In the confusing world mix of secularism, religion, truth, tradition, temptation and ego, we would find ourselves weighed, but wanting. Over several decades, she and I both learned that the anchor of our souls was not a church, or a gifting, music, or even Christian friends. It was rather the person of Jesus! It took afflictions, persecutions, temptations and adversities to prove our mettle—to try our faith; to pursue our own designs or to pursue the Will of God; to learn to forsake ambition and let God lead. We lived a thousand miles apart, yet both of us were in the same crucible of life, designed to reveal our respective lack, and spur us on a quest for deeper truth. We have both overcome the allure of this world with our faith intact. The empowerment that has emerged from those victories is a way of seeing ordinary things from a spiritual perspective. Renee sees life in this way, and shares these nuggets of wisdom beautifully in this refreshing, unpretentious and practical book.

On To The Prize will help take you to the finish! It’s a compilation of life-lessons rooted in simple observations—things you’ve seen yourself, like bird wings and broken vases, pressure washers and roadsigns. Out of each observation comes unexpected insight to help the reader learn to think differently—it’s not the stuff of this world; it’s a spiritual perspective.

This almost reads like a devotional book, but the chapters run longer and deeper. Safely interwoven with relevant Scriptural references, this book has a solid foundation, and Renee’s personal experiences and insights are well worth sharing. In fact, this book would make a terrific tool for group Bible study and discussion or personal reading.

As you read this book, receive it as a modern epistle from one of the most personable women in ministry today. I know that her heart is set toward empowering the runners in the race, cheering them on, letting them know they can make it to the finish—and, of course, handing them that bottle of Living Water. Take it!

--Susan Parsons Sumner

I Know a Loving Father

I know a loving father.  His son is now 31.  He has been blind since birth, and is severely developmentally delayed at about age 2.  It was his son's birthday, so the father brought pizza, cake, ice cream and balloons to the residence where they care for his son.  The staff told him that it was his birthday, so they were going to have a party to celebrate him. Here's the rub.  The father could not make his presence known.  If he did, the son would get excited and anticipate going home with him for the day and possibly even the night.  It wasn't the proper time, so he didn't want to disappoint his son.  He wanted to protect his son from his own desires and wants, so he wouldn't be hurt.  So, all the father could do was watch the party from a distance and take pictures.  

My heart broke when I heard this true story.  The reason I was overwhelmed is because I could immediately see such a beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father:  His love, His patience, His compassion, His desire for His children, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace, and, yes, God's protection.  All of that wrapped up in this picture of a man's love for his son. 

The Holy Spirit stirred my heart with this story in a very personal way, because He has been trying my whole life to show me how much He loves me. Something I can't comprehend many times. Since I've heard this story, the Holy Spirit continues to show me God's love for me in a deeper and richer way.  I am forever grateful.

His father was there, in the very room.  His father was fully present, very close to his son, but did not speak or get close enough for his son to recognize his presence or sense his presence in any way.  The father was the one who planned the party, paid for the party, and brought the party to his son.  He was the father who watched his son enjoying his celebrations with loving eyes and a loving heart in silence.

We have to understand that God wants to bless us with good gifts (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13).  God wants us to enjoy His gifts.  God wants us to enjoy what He brings into our lives. There are no accidental meetings or accidental happenings.  God is in control.  He knows how to maneuver everything for our good and His glory.  He will work ALL things out (Romans 8:28).  He is present in the moment, and we need to be present in the moment, accepting and appreciating what has been brought before us. Sometimes it's a lesson we need to learn.  Sometimes it's just for our pleasure.  He enjoys bringing us pleasure just because He loves us.

I think about the son's developmental delay.  He cannot understand a lot of things.  His loving father met him where he was in his understanding of life: cake, ice cream, balloons, pizza.  God knows that about us too.  We have our own spiritual developmental delays. God, our Father, knows right where we are in our development.  He knows who to bring into our lives and what circumstances to bring us into and through. The more we develop by reading His Word, communing with Him in prayer, and fellowship with His people, the closer we draw to our Father and the more we will comprehend His presence even in the smallest things.  

I think of the son's developmental delay causing his senses to not be fully developed. Some are probably stronger than others.  But, because of the distractions of the smells of pizza, cake, ice cream, he couldn't smell his father.  In another circumstance, same room, same time of day, same quiet father, without all the party food and activity, he may have sensed and smelled his father's presence. 

The more our senses are developed, as the Bible says, by reason of use, we will have more discernment.  Our senses will be more developed, and we will sense our Father's presence in the midst of distractions, chaos or quiet.  We will sense His presence, but not necessarily understand all we want to understand.

There are times that the Father chooses to be silent.  He chooses to keep information from us, because He knows more than we do.  He is protecting us from ourselves many times. If we get too much information, sometimes we tend to run with that information, leaving the Holy Spirit's guidance out of the scenario and create circumstances that end up being beyond our control. God gives us information as needed. I believe that is called walking by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  The Word says we know "in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9).  That's a good thing many times.  We don't need to be on information overload.  Only the Father knows what will overload us.  We don't. We have to leave it in God's hands.

I will forever have the picture of this story in my heart and mind.  It has been such a strong spiritual lesson for me.  I hope in some way, this blesses others in their struggles to understand.