Author: Jana

Is He Weak or Uncaring?

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Recently a reporter was interviewing a controversial Christian author and his first question to the author was, “Is God all powerful but uncaring about the tragedies in Japan, or does He care but is not all powerful and  so can’t do anything about it?”  The Christian author stumbled around and somehow mumbled a reply that we live in a state of paradox in our faith.  The squirming author did rescue himself slightly by saying that whenever we shed a tear, God does too.

It was  a trap for sure. But what do you say to all the things you see around you? Some say it is a sign of God’s wrath and judgment. It’s not a popular view, but a valid option. The Bible speaks clearly about the devastation of end times. What about the view that God is all powerful but uninterested? An atheist once described God as a great watch maker who set it to ticking and then walked away. 

Can God be all powerful and all loving and yet let all this happen?

When you are watching Youtubes of calamities from the comfort of your own home, with electricity, and hot coffee and a fridge full of clean food, it is easy to give God a big thumbs up. But when your house is a pile of giant pick up sticks and the crops you sell have been contaminated with radiation, then what do you think about the goodness of God?

I can only give you one fellow pilgrim’s perspective. This world is not our home. We live in a war zone, on the battlefield of the greatest search and rescue mission ever attempted. God is redeeming our world and His enemy uses whatever he can to destroy it. What is our response?

See to it that you focus on what Jesus said to focus on. “I am with you, even to the ends of the earth.” Don’t take that for granted. Bank on it. Put the weight of your own life and existence on that one fact. His death and resurrection made it possible for you to be rightly related to our Father, to be washed of your guilt, and to have the very nature of God living inside you through the Holy Spirit.  This is no small matter. Unbelievers do not have such hope. They feel utterly alone and abandoned, destitute with nowhere and no one to turn to for help. This is not your truth.

You have the arms of God around you at all times. We are “hid” in Christ. This is a supernatural reality. Even in times of complete devastation, He is still God and still holding all things together. We can and do look for the miraculous nature of God to be revealed in and through our lives every day. Regardless of where we live, whether we have food or not, whether governments do the right thing or not, we have God. He has us.

And that is more than enough.

Fountain Springs Community Church presents an Unhindered Encounter

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Join Us for a two day event.

A candid conversation about how we’ve formed our definition of beauty, what it is costing us emotionally, how it effects our choices in relationships, how porn poisons our perceptions and how God has more than pat answers to offer to all of this.

Its a powerful weekend to be washed by Truth.

March 18th, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

March 19th, 8:30am -1:00pm

Ticket includes a goodie bag, snacks and two days of teaching.
($20 in advance and $30 at the door.)

To learn more about the Unhindered Encounter click here.

He Has Given Us Eternity

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Just wanted to share this beautiful expression of hope from Salem. It makes me think of 1 Peter 3:15, “always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” May you be comforted as well.

 

He Has Given Us Eternity


What is life without love’s desire?
A smoldering, dying fire.
A faded shadow of one’s self.
Dreams left collecting dust on the shelf.

He has given us eternity.

To wake another morning,
Looking to see the sun rising,
And think, “‘Tis only one more day.”
No man was made to live that way.

He has given us eternity.

We’re made to dance, and given hope.
We don’t hang by a fraying rope.
We are steadfast in our belief,
That we live under His mercy.

He has given us eternity.

So, jump into the raging seas.
You may drown in uncertainties,
But He stands on the shore.
Go, run to your true Father, for,

He has given us eternity.

–Salem Spicka

Be still…

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I have been recuperating, reveling, and rejoicing from all the events of late. There are so many God stories flying around, that I can’t keep up. Women set free, redeemed. Romanced for the first time or in a long time.  At the same time there are so many needs. Homes to sell, backs to heal, relationships to mend. But this morning I am sitting in awe of Him.

Be still. And know. That He is. God.

Be still. Stop the noise. Turn off Facebook, email, phone, Itunes. Just for a moment listen for the sound of Him breathing on you. Blowing away your fears. Whispering your name. The closeness of Him.

And Know. Without holding back, or doubting. With full consent of your heart, soul and mind. Believe with childlike faith.

That He is. God is alive and well. Happy, victorious, powerful and loving. He knows all and holds all of your life together. He is for you, with you, in you, in love with you.

God. The maker of the universe, the one who formed you in the secret place. God of all gods. Mighty and tender. Different from any other source in your life. Altogether lovely.

Take a deep breath. And let Him fill your lungs today with His life. He is the air we breathe.

Connecting the Dots

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God is about instructing us. “Instructing” comes from a Greek word, paideia — meaning faithful instruction of a believer for a whole person transformation.

I love that. No boxes to check. No stone unturned. Not selective grooming, but a total makeover inside and out.  God is after the transformation of the whole person.  Now look at this perhaps familiar scripture, and then let’s play “connect the dots.”

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  Philipians 4: 4-8 NKJV

What comes first?  Rejoicing or worship. Transformation is always preceded by worship because we have to get our hearts aligned with Who Truth really is. After worship follows gentleness. Worship has a way of softening hard hearts, watering hard soil. Once the ground has been softened and hearts become gentle, truth can enter in. Who is entering? The Lord is at hand.

He is here among us so that we don’t have to be anxious. This is confidence, that God is among us and for us.  So with confidence we can ask and believe. What comes next? His peace. A peace that acts as shield and covering for our hearts and minds, not our manufactured peace but the supernatural peace of Christ. And once the peace of God is in place, then comes focus. Focus of our thoughts, intentions and attitudes. God wants to instruct us to think about what we think about. Whatever is. . . true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue, praiseworthy, think on these things. This is God’s loving instruction to simply walk in truth, in God’s perspective on things.

Worship comes first, then gentleness, then confidence in Him, then peace, then focus. . . Meditate on these things.

The Other Side of Asking

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It was one of those 4 a.m. wrestlings.  I was rolling around and around about this relationship and that problem. “Lord, help me, help me.”  And His voice came so clear to my spirit: Do you Receive My grace as much as you Ask for it?

What?? Then He tutored me on moving from always asking to simply receiving the Yes and Amen of His heart: His Grace is His promise to me, to you.  So I went back through my list and re-stated my prayers: “Lord, I receive Your grace for this situation. Lord, I receive Your grace for this relationship. Lord, I receive Your grace for the unknown of this outcome.”

I do a lot of talking to the Lord, which is a good thing. But after this revelation, I realize the Lord is leading me to a different place of believing in Him.  Remember Graham Cooke said that we work “from victory not for it.” So in the same way, we not only ask for grace but we Receive it. Do I believe this? Do you? It is one thing to ask, it is another thing to believe He hears and responds. Yes, we may not see the end result immediately. (It’s called walking by faith not by sight.) But will we walk in the belief of and rest in the Yes of His Grace?

I got the best picture of two people talking. The first person asked for  a present from the other person. But just as the second person began to hand the first a gift, the first person turned her back.  The first person kept turning in circles and continued to ask for a gift.  All the while, the second person was trying to get the attention of the first person to give her the gift she asked for.

Sound familiar?  Maybe today, modify your prayers from “Will You Lord . . . ? to “I receive Your grace for . . . .”  He loves to be our Yes and Amen God.

Following You

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In honor of Valentine’s Day and a momentous two year anniversary, I want to play you a song that is on the Real. Life. worship cd.

The two year anniversary marks one of our darkest seasons when Chuck and I were both stepping back to assess whether our marriage could be salvaged. We were separated and seeking the Lord for resurrection power. This morning, we prayed together with hearts full of gratitude that He indeed  had resurrected our lives out of the ashes.

What’s ironic is that I wrote this song in the first year of our marriage almost twenty years ago. I had no idea the prophetic word it would be over our lives.  God has done exactly what the lyrics say:  Burn us up/ melt us down/ create a gold that’s new.  I see that it is our following Jesus that has brought us to this point of gratefulness and joy.

I love Him. I love that He loves us so. Thank You, Lord, that You did not shy away from the heat of loving us. Amen.

Following You

Words and Melody by Jana Spicka
Guitar Framework by Roselynn Spicka

Acoustic Guitars: Stephanie Sapp

I’m following you through the fire
I’m following you through the fire
Of a burning churning love affair
I say you and you say me

We say you, me, you
It’s a fire of a lifetime
Of days turned  gray with age
and years of burning love

Stronger than rivers
Carving out canyons from stone
Stronger than tremors
Cracking the face of the earth
Greater than thunder
Rolling the passions of our souls

I’m following you through the fire
And I know we’re really scared
I’m following into the fire of hearts
and we’ll make a new home there

Burn us up and melt up down
and create a gold that’s new
It’s a fire of a lifetime
I will not shy away from the heat of loving you

Fire and flame
How we change
Past the pain
We shall rise above

Through days turned  gray with age
and years of burning love
Stronger than rivers
Carving out canyons from stone
Stronger than tremors
Cracking the face of the earth
Longer than mountains
Falling from the weight of time

Following you through fire
fire and flame

You’re My Beloved

/ Jana / 1 Comment

It is so perfect that Valentine’s Day falls so quickly after the last Unhindered Encounter. Watching God literally sweep women out of their pews and off their feet is truly “supernatural.”

You heard Him clearly. You didn’t hear Him clearly. You are messed up. You are naked and exposed. You are confirmed and affirmed like never before. So I wanted to offer this bit of coaching for the “now what” phase we all enter.  The only thing I can tell you is let go. Let go. Continue letting go. I told a friend of mine this morning, “Just fall into His arms.”

When I get bound up in questions like, How do I look?, Is this right? Am I on track? — my eyes are still on me. It is a lot  like when you are learning how to dance; you watch your feet. But when you look at the face of the person you are dancing with, you let go of getting it just right. Look into His face. Sure you will stumble and step on His feet, but His arms steady you. Over time, you will begin to feel the rhythm of the music, the feeling of His embrace. If you will let yourself go,  you stop worrying about what your feet are doing because you just want to move to the music. Move to His music. And keep asking for more.

You know what I am going to do today? I’m going to make Him a Valentine card. I want my heart to be His. So I thought I would stretch and see what happens when I ask Him to be my Valentine.  Remember it is about the dancing, not the feet.

Just enjoy the process of discovery. He sure does. “I am my beloved’s and His desire is for me.”

Unhindered Encounter – February 12, 2011

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‘…it feels like Jesus has washed my face. He has carefully but intently scrubbed off the lies, heartache and rejection caked on my face then rinsed it with his living water. And with my face cupped gently in his hands, he smiles and whispers, ‘Oh there you are’.” – from Unhindered, by Jana Spicka

Go Deeper.
Real Life. Real God. Real Freedom.

Radical definitions of beauty, intimacy, life. Experience a true love story.

Join us for a one day woman’s event hosted by Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church and Women Getting Real Ministries.

Lead by Author/Speaker Jana Spicka and the Women Getting Real Team.

Ticket prices includes: 4 teaching session, live worship, lunch, the Unhindered Worship CD, and more.

Register Early for Discounts!!!

To find out more about the Unhindered Encounter event and hear personal testimonies click here

Reality Check: Sessions include candid conversations and mature themes in media

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