The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21

Power, life and death. Let’s linger over these words a little longer.

Power is a God-like word that speaks of super-sized strength and ability.

Life is not just mere mortal life as we know it, not just bills and homework, but the life of Christ in us.

Death is when we agree with the enemy that all is hopeless and helpless.

All this on the tip of our tongues.

So put all these together and you have a dynamite-packed promise from God. Just as He spoke the world into existence, He gives us the same authority to speak, to declare, to choose His life of blessings and favor, or choose a death-like, God-less existence.

II Corinthians pushes even farther and says we have “divine power” to break every stronghold that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. The tongue is a vehicle that drives our decisions, beliefs, dreams.

Therefore speak life. Bless and do not curse. Speak life over your heart, your loved ones, your health and homes, finances and future. And watch God release His power, divine favor and strength into your reality.

Friends,

Spent yesterday on a trail in the Smokies.  At one point I found I was getting tired and I had my head down looking at my feet plodding on the trail, thinking about how hard it was.

And then I sensed the Lord saying, “Jana you are missing the beauty. Look farther down the path, instead of at your feet. That way you will be able to look at the wonders around you as you are going.”

When I raised my head, the view was breath taking, to the left and right vibrant colors, overhead a canopy of autumn glory. My feet may still have hurt but my heart sure was lifted.

So my prayer for you today is that you will look down the path you are on instead of at your feet taking one tiresome step at a time. He knows you are weary. He knows your muscles are sore. But he also knows where you are going. And he has surrounded you with his beauty.

Look for God along the way and you will surely see him.

I was trying to think of something humorous….How about this?

Jana is driving 7 sixth graders
in a 15 year old van that doesn’t go into reverse
to Greeneville today.

Just let your  mind dwell on that for a few minutes.
I will keep you posted….

What does it mean really to do life with God?  What does it look like when your kid falls out of her seat, you need a shower really bad, and things couldn’t get any crazier?  How do you watch for to God show up in the middle of that?

Thursdays are going to be our God-story days.  Stories of how and where we see him show up in both the big and little ways. Join us as we expectantly look for God sightings!

So I have a Great Dane dog named Pearl. That means everything is our dog world is big – very big. Big portions, big bowls, big pillows, big clippers. But that is not all that is very, very big. Did I mention that she is an inside, outside dog?  Or that she is getting old?  So this morning, we got up and put her outside and breathed a sigh of relief that we had caught her before she did her Great Dane Business in the house on our hardwood floors.

We had a cup of coffee, snuggled the girls and Chuck left early for work. Salem, our oldest daughter, went out to feed Pearl but Pearl quickly rushed in the house.  Now the humans in the house think she is coming to get on our bed, which is a very special treat. But she comes in to the bedroom with a panicked look on her face, turns one circle and squats. Walks two steps and squats. And so on.

Life for me began to go into slow motion.

The sweet sounds of our voices singing out “Come on Pearlie, get on the bed” turned into shrieks and yells of  “OH NO! Pearlie get out of the house.”  And out she did go but not before leaving several land mines both liquid and solid. Did I mention that we have carpet in our bedroom?

But after the door slammed and as the stench rose there was a odd, eerie silence. I realized the girls were looking at me, watching me, waiting to see what I would do. My first action was to become a command center: Open windows. Get vinegar. Get paper towels. Lots of them. But after the scurrying died down and I was on my hands and knees cleaning, I prayed, ‘Lord, give me something more than blowing a gasket.’

I got one word: “Pollyana.” God is so funny.

That is an ANCIENT movie but the gist of the little girl’s philosophy on life was to play the “Glad Game,” where you take every hard circumstance and try to find something to be glad about.

“Well,” I said slowly, “I guess we were planning to get new carpet anyway, right? We can be glad about that.” And the girls caught on immediately. “Glad she didn’t poop on the bed,” said Charis, the little one. “Glad I don’t have to clean that up,” said Salem, the realist. “Glad I have lots of paper towels,” I laughed. And Charis took the prize with “Glad Dad didn’t have to be here to do this!”

Yes, I mused silently, the little darling, he missed all the fun. But then, I found I was even glad about that because had he tarried five more minutes he would have missed a really important celebration with dear friend.

Thessalonians says to “give thanks in all things.” Maybe God really did know what he was talking about. Maybe, just maybe, Pollyanna was on the right track to look for the good and glad in life. Because God lives there.

Real Answer #1:

There is a head side of this question and heart side. Here is the head side.

In Psalm 16, God uses the word pleasure. He says that we would find eternal pleasures. Not just the passing fancies, or “Wow’s” of life. But eternal, lasting forever pleasures. The ones that do not fade or spoil.

Psalm 16:11

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Isn’t that an odd choice of words, unless, unless. . . . Unless we are made in his image, so the whole notion or idea of pleasure comes from Him anyway.

So in a heart way, try to remember what you said you would do at age 10, age 15, age 20.  Somewhere in there are desires and thoughts and dreams you had before the world started knocking you around and down. Write them down and pray over them and let God sort, reveal and refine.

Still stuck? Try doing a vision board, a collage of pictures torn from magazines, that express aches, wants, “wish I could” ideas. And let the Lord surprise you over time with more revelation of who you are and what he had in mind for you.

Does anybody else get tired of pat, worldly answers that never hit the deep spots? Even the answers that are wearing Christian clothes but just don’t fit? What about a “Dear Jesus” column? What if Jesus Himself spoke into the real needs of our lives?

In my first WGR class, I asked the women there, “What would you like to hear a Bible study on? What are your questions?”

The answers flew like popcorn:

Sex!
Broken relationships.
What about boredom?
How do you dream?

We try to tackle those questions in class. I’m also going to try to tackle them here. Each Wednesday, I’ll post one of the questions that I get every week from the class, from your emails, and from the women I meet with.  I don’t have all the answers.  But Jesus does. Together, we’ll try to see what Jesus says as we journey together.

In and Through Him,

Jana

Getting ready to walk into a very sticky meeting, one I will talk about tonight at WGR, I shot up an arrow prayer:

God, you here?

The restaurant had a Thomas Kinkade print with this verse under it: Isaiah 55:12.

Isaiah 55:12 (New International Version)

12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

In the WGR class, I taught that we (yes, you and I) are the pearl of great price (Matthew 13-44). Needless to say, there were ricochets of emotions as we discussed our own Disbelief that we hold that kind of value to God. Is it really possible that we are items of luxury, purity, and extravagance – all that pearls represent?

Here, the morning after, I find even more brilliance in God’s analogy. I gave every woman a real pearl last night. But what they did not know is I went to the store, looked at strands of beautiful pearls, ran them through my fingers. There were bowls of individual pearls and I dug my fingers through them, touching them, examining them. All of them beautiful. All of them made from the same arduous effort of strain, pressure and time. Then I chose out of the many the ones that would become my own.

So a woman speaks up and says, “If there are 7 billion people in the world, how can one, namely me, have any value? If there is a whole bowl of pearls, how would one pearl gain any notice?” Perhaps here is an answer.

In the store, for a brief moment, I sensed God’s tender perspective about you and me. Just because there were many pearls, didn’t mean I couldn’t see them. I touched them, observed them, noticed their size, shape and color. Even when they were separated into like groups, I still loving touched them individually. I appreciated the value of each one. Each one had complete worth to me. They were still pearls. I still respected the quality of what they were made of, what they Were. Pearls.

Our God is big. He does not live in same dimension that we do. He readily sees us all. Yet he has the desire and effort to lovingly see, appreciate, and enjoy (!), what he has made individually.

You are an expression of luxury, purity, extravagance. And he has chosen you as his own.