Jana Spicka

No Reindeer Games

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Are you hoping there’s more to Christmas than gifts galore, frenzied schedules and the empty exhaution that follows? Do you find yourself trying to unearth Jesus from under the Christmas cards, shopping lists, and wrapping paper? Do you just really not  have time to care?

Why not try something new this Christmas? Come join the Women Getting Real Christmas Celebration. It promises great food without the reindeer games. Caroling regardless of vocal ability. And a sassy look at why Jesus beats Santa at paper, rocks, and scissors.  This event is open to everyone – guys and girls. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors. It’s free and everyone is welcome. Just RSVP here so we know how much food to make.
 
Blessings!

What a Difference a Year Makes

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One couple, believe it or not, was divorced when they came. Another couple was moving toward divorce.  In fact the only reason the wife stayed was because there were two beds in their room.

Where are they now, a year later?  The divorced couple is remarried! Not perfect but willing to try marriage God’s way. The other couple has had radical life changes as they begin to see how God changes everything. Again, they are not perfect, but they are still together and willing to try life with God as the center.

Other couples came to get refreshed, or reconnected, or catch their breaths.

What are we talking about? The Marriage Retreat of 2010.  And with the deposit deadline approaching for the Marriage Retreat of 2011, I want to challenge you to get off the fence.  Trust God for the money. Take the time to invest in your marriage.

Your marriage affects EVERY area of your life. Don’t think for a moment that this time isn’t well spent, the money isn’t well invested.

Deadline to register is THIS Friday. It’s only $50 to reserve your suite. Renew your hearts with God and with each other.

Register Here

Just in Time for Giving

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Wow! Do I have  a lot to be thankful for…And on the top of my list is the new book, “Dine with Me.”  It is a year’s worth of thoughts, stories, meditations, songs and challenges. It was so good for me to be working on it these last two weeks because it just filled my heart with reminders of God”s faithfulness over the last year.

Hope you will feast on it too.  It is a great way to enjoy the Lord, but it is also a great way to introduce your friends and families into the deeper life with God that’s possible for us all.  Order now. We are only getting limited numbers in the beginning. Cost is $12.

Labor Pains

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It is always good to throw yourself out there. Risk is good for the Christian because it forces us off the ledge and into the arms of God.

So with that preface, here is me running off the cliff.  Our new Devotional Book is to be delivered Dec 12th! And our new worship CD will be released in February 2011.

There is still much to do, much to pray through and much to watch God do. But I am eager to see where all this lands.

Please be in prayer for all the hands that are working in this delivery process.  I told Laura last night as we looked at each other, tired and bewildered, that labor is always hardest right before the baby comes.

So pray for us band of midwives as we seek to deliver these messages of God’s power and beauty.

Sure You Do!

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So Chuck is out of town this week and Charis made him a package of notes and cards. His first one was a doozy. Lots of sweet words and notions, but she ended it with a great question.

Do you miss me? Sure you do!

Chuck and I laughed about her tender heart that is so willing and able to receive love. She just simply can’t fathom why someone wouldn’t enjoy her.

And after I got off the phone with Chuck, I considered that God sends us similar notes. “Jana do you miss spending time with Me? Sure you do!” And He is right. I do. Like Charis, only moreso, Jesus is so willing and able to receive love and can’t fathom why I wouldn’t want to simply enjoy His presence.

Don’t just talk about what you need or should do to strengthen your God connection. Just do it. You both will be better for it. You both will enjoy the time spent together.

A Goal For Your Life Today

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Sometimes we stop everything we are doing to talk about what’s wrong with everything we are doing. You’ll notice, that while evaluation is good, rarely does it change the circumstances.

What changes the circumstances is making willful, conscious choices in the right direction. What improves and empowers our life is surrendering to God’s ways of doing life. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Love your enemy.

These are not analyses. These are action items.

Francis of Assisi said, “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

For me today, that means my Doing what’s Necessary— my confession and forgiveness. I have business in my heart that needs tending to. No amount of talking about it is going to substitute the act of it.

Then when I have done what’s necessary, forgiving myself and others, I can do what’s Possible—loving again.

And suddenly, I am doing the Impossible — moving out of my self-centered drama and into God’s life, His work, His heart.

So what are you waiting for? What’s the first necessary thing you need to start?

What’s Your “Must Have” ?

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Proverbs 2: 9-11
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
   and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
   and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
   and understanding will guard you.

Sometime we get so caught up in keeping the rules, or avoiding them, that we forget to engage our hearts with God. God is the good path. His wisdom changes our lives and the course of our lives. So to grow in wisdom is to see it as a “must have.” More than hair color, or latest fashions, understanding God’s way of doing what is right and just and fair becomes our greatest gain. He promises when we adjust our lives to that end, we will experience great benefit.

Open, Eager, or Desperate?

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Are you ready? Here we go.

To be “open” to something is to acknowledge that your mind is considering new ways and options of thinking. We often use the phrase “open minded.”  We consider such a person to be a broad thinker and willing to be tolerant of opposing or unknown areas.  A think-er is not always a do-er.

Open-ness is not necessarily eager-ness.  With eager comes a kind of desire that pushes you into action. Not just an open-handed consideration, but an eager desire that needs to be acted on.

Now compare being eager to being desperate. Desperation is a driving force that must be  completed, satisfied, answered.  Acts of desperation are done without regard to personal cost.

Now then. Which are you— open, eager, desperate— when asking for God’s gifts, His spiritual gifts?

1 Corinthians 14:1 talks about following the way of love and eagerly, jealously, ardently desiring the works of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul said many times that we are to want all the gifts that God has for us, and to do that in a desperate, driven, longing for fulfillment kind of way.

So, how much of God do you want?

Are You Complacent?

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Proverbs 1 :32
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
   and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
   and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Complacency is a scary word. It means: A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.

When it comes to spiritual blindness, numbness or ignorance, those three things being distinct, complacency is toxic. We don’t look or ask or pursue the things of God because we are content with our own perspective. Yet our perspective is “unaware” of pending danger.

Proverbs is meant for one thing, making one wise. Listen to the way of God. View things through His lenses. Be actively engaged in your world through the power of Christ.  Then you will live without fear of harm.

Running Free by guest blogger Laura Jones

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Hey chicas!  Jana and the band are recording today, so pray that they will sing strong and claim His pleasure over them as they worship and work together.

Jana asked me to post if I felt so inspired, and after her blog about Eric Liddell yesterday, I thought I’d share a recent conversation the Lord and I had about running. 

Among the things I’m trying to learn to do faithfuly is taking a walk with the Lord in the mornings. I was out with Him a month or so ago, and on this particular walk, I felt Him prompt me: Run.

I didn’t want to. Felt silly. I haven’t run since I was like, 12.

But He kept saying, “Run.” So I finally did. At least, I attempted a mini-jog.

Then He told me to speed it up. “Don’t jog. Flat out run.”

So I did.

“Don’t you feel more alive?” He asked.

“Yes, Sir, but I’m gonna die…” I huffed back.

When we got to the end of the trail, I said, “I really don’t like that, but I’m willing if You do.”

“Do you REALLY not like it?” He probed.

“Well, I just feel embarassed, and like I look silly. And I can’t do it.”

Then the Lord brought back Graham Cooke’s voice from a CD I’d listened to weeks before: “God never calls us to what is possible. He calls us to what is impossible. The only thing we can do is yelp, ‘I can’t do this!’ and He says, ‘I know.’ ”

“Ha! Very funny, Lord. So, I guess I kind of do like running. I just feel like I can’t and I don’t like that.”

“Those are two entirely different things.” He stated.

“Yeah, they are.”

So, we ran a little more. Got to the end of the street, and I saw a silver chain in the road. Immediately, my mind went to the song, “My chains fell off, my soul’s set free. My God my Savior, has ransomed me…”

“I’m just breaking your chains off and setting You free.” He said.

“Okay, Lord. Got it.” I thought back to all the old baggage He’s been helping me sort through, and the things He’s been teaching me. The running freely – the broken chain: this was a physical picture of a spiritual excercise.

I added, “But while You’re breaking those chains, could you please hold my heart gently, because it feels like my heart is what’s breaking…”

Then I remebered what Corky Shepard prophesied over me in Zimbabwe: “There are things the Lord is going to want to take off. I’m talking about attitudes and things now. And it may be hard because they’ve been there so long, they feel like they’re part of you. But He wants you to just be you and run free.” Run free. Imagine that. Nearly two months had gone by since Corky said those words, and here God had me literally running. And challenging my attidudes and fears.

In my heart, I heard the Lord saying, “I’m taking off the weight.” Spiritual weight. Physical weight. Chains be broken. Lives be healed. Hearts be opened. Christ revealed.

And my soul sang, “Lord, I wanna run…”

I really do. I want to run. Spiritually and physically. I want to be stretched. To be free. To be willing to go hard places and attempt the seemingly impossible without fear. To run to Him. To run with Him.

How about you?