Category: God

In or Out?

Posted on by Diana Brandmeyer

a2z the letter “n”

IN sounds like “N” so go with it.

I’ve had a rough few months in the writing game and spent some time talking with author Staci Stallings. I told her I was afraid. She responded with, “You’re like Peter.” After listening to her I asked her to write a post about fear and Peter. Read it once, then read it again. Staci has shared a lot of wisdom through this piece.

In or Out?

If you’re a Christian, you’ve surely heard the story of Peter out there in the boat on the wind and waves.  Then out from the waves there comes a figure–walking.  At first Peter and his friends think it’s a ghost, and they freak out.

Through the wind, they hear a voice call out:  “Don’t be afraid!”

Okay.  I’m a scaredy cat.  Truly and honestly. In fact, me and fear go way back.  So I can tell you if a ghost came toward me, walking on the water, and said, “Don’t be afraid!” I would probably veer toward afraid even more!

But Peter didn’t.

Why?

Because Peter knew that voice.  It was the voice he had heard many, many times.  It was the voice of his best friend, Jesus Christ.

Have you ever heard that voice?  Maybe it was a whisper in your heart.  Maybe it was someone talking about a dream that’s been on your heart, but you’ve not really listened because it seemed so very unattainable.

Then out there from the waves, the voice calls to you, and you think you recognize it just like Peter did.  So Peter tested the voice (ever done that?).  “Lord, if it is You, tell me to get out of the boat.”

And Jesus says, “Come.”

Come.

Oh, it sounds so simple! Right?

At our church we’ve done this scene in VBS a couple of times, and when Peter starts to get out of the boat, the other disciples FREAK OUT!  “Peter! What are you doing?! You’ll drown!  Don’t Peter! NO! Don’t go!”

Have you ever been there?  Wanting to strike out and follow what God’s put on your heart with your family and your friends trying everything and every way they know how to talk you out of it?  In fact, maybe you are even good at talking yourself out of things.

“Well, I don’t have the money.”  “Well, what will other people think?”  “Well, it probably won’t even work.”

You know Nike’s slogan…  Just Do It?

Clearly you are not alone in this indecision because that campaign slogan is one of the most successful in all of advertising.

Peter made the decision.  Just do it.  Just get out of the boat.  Listen to Jesus. Don’t listen to all these people who are not Jesus.

And now we come to the pivotal moment that trips so many of us up… getting out of the boat.

I’m sure the first touch of his tooties on that water made Peter seriously question his own sanity.  “Wow! Is that water cold!  Maybe this isn’t a good idea.  Maybe being in the boat would be better.  At least there, I’m safe.”

Have you ever been there?  Half in, half out?  Have you ever wanted to get out of that boat so badly you could feel your heart dragging you, and yet…

And yet…

Here is a spiritual nugget of wisdom.  The most dangerous moment of all for Peter was being half-in, half-out of that boat.  With the wind and waves picking the boat up and dropping it, he very likely nearly capsized the whole thing.

What happens a lot is, we as Christians get to this moment and freeze.  Our decision become indecision. Our faith becomes doubt.  And we stop, clinging there.  Half-in, half-out.

I want to encourage you today not to stay there.  Do not let analysis-paralysis set in because it’s a cancer that kills dreams.  Your dreams.  And God’s dreams for you.

Listen to the voice. Make the decision.  Breathe and realize that yes, there are going to be challenges.  This will not solve everything.  But if it’s on your heart to do, God is the One Who put it there.  If you believe through the wind and waves, the fear and the doubt, that this really is Jesus calling you out of that boat, then it’s time to Just Do It!

Take a breath.  Make the decision.  And get out of the boat.

Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_18853347_hands-and-foot-hangig-from-the-boat.html'>arocas / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Don’t stay in that most dangerous moment any longer than you absolutely have to because it truly can and will drown your dreams and you just as surely as staying in the boat will.

The boat will not save you.  Clinging to the boat with one foot in, one foot out will not save you.  The only way to truly be saved, to be truly free, is to be out dancing on the water with Jesus.  He’s calling to you.  He’s waiting for you.  What are you waiting for?

In or out?  Which will it be?

 

Copyright, Staci Stallings, 2013

Love to be inspired? A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, #1 Best Selling Christian author, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from.  Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again.  Every title is a new adventure!

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When God Speaks

Posted on by Diana Brandmeyer

How do you know when God speaks?

Does God speak in a loud voice, show you through action what you want to know, or share His wisdom with you through other people?

I’ve never heard God speak. Not like Moses or the people of Israel or the followers of Christ.

Attending church, Sunday School and reading my bible gives me a lot of information about who God is and who He would like me to be. Through those things I discovered how much God loves me, so much that He sent His only son to die for me. Still even with faith and knowledge I long for a personal message so I search and watch and wait. I spend a lot of time searching for the Cloud Rider in the clouds.

And one day….

while we were driving…..

I stared at the clouds and wondered. “God, I know you are there by faith but can you show me you love me today?”

And this appeared.

When God Speaks
God’s Love Shown

Do you see it? You have to look at the middle cloud. There is a heart. There was an even bigger one to the right but while I was staring in wonder it broke apart. For a moment God spoke to me, showing me His love once again in a form I would recognize. Or maybe instead of saying spoke, more like a hug just for me and I wanted to share that with you.

Where do you see or hear God speak?

 

2 Corinthians 4: 18

Sow we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since wha is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

No Room

Posted on by Diana Brandmeyer

 

No Room?

By:  Staci Stallings

Many Christians lament the “taking over of Christmas” by retailers and the world in general.  They rail about the commercialization of Christmas, how harried and over-hyped it’s gotten to be, how secularized.  They love to tell stories about how their local chain store had Christmas stuff up before Halloween.  Maybe they always have.  I suspect they always will.  But I want to take one small moment and point something out to you.

The “world” has ALWAYS sought to co-opt God.  They have always sought to relegate Him to the corner, to push Him aside, and convince everyone that “there’s nothing to see here… oh, look at this shiny thing over THERE!”

I have been thinking of writing this post for about a week now, but last night I got a stark reminder of it once again.  My hometown of Nazareth (yes, you read that right) used to produce an entire pageant depicting the Christmas story.  You know, the original one from the Bible.  The pageant was written many years ago and has, after 15 years in mothballs, made a comeback this year.  Because they use literally the townspeople, who number about 400 total, and about 125 are required for the play, they have some who read the lines, others who act it out, some who sing, and some who do the technical backstage stuff.  This is no small undertaking.  One cool thing is that they don’t stay with only one Gospel.  They mix them all so you get the full story rather than bits and pieces here and there.  We went to see this awesome production last night, and WOW!  I had forgotten how powerful it is.

Seeing your friends and neighbors as the shepherds in the fields, the angels from on high, the three wisemen, Mary, Joseph, and even Baby Jesus.  It’s just… WOW!

However, the scene that struck me most (because I’ve been thinking about this post) was the scene with the innkeeper.  The song they sing is called, “There was no room for Him… no room.”  It tells the story of that moment, when the Savior of the world was to be born, and no one welcomed Him.  The moment He was sent to be born in a stable because there was no room for Him the world.  Few even knew He had arrived.  In fact, the world said, “I’m sorry.  There’s no room for You here.”  So, you see, this whole, “We’re losing the meaning of Christmas” thing is not new.  It’s as old as the very night Jesus came to this earth.

But the end of that song asks a simple question about if there is room for Him in YOUR heart.

That brings me to this post.

Sure, you can rail about no one saying Merry Christmas anymore.  That’s easy.  But what are YOU doing to keep Christ in Christmas?  What traditions do YOU have that remind you and yours what the season is really all about?  Are you about the business of passing on a legacy of the real meaning of Christmas?  If not, why not?

I love my sister and her husband for a lot of reasons.  One of the reasons is because the are both fanatical (in a good way) about establishing GOOD traditions for their kids, and by extension, us.  Interestingly, the traditions change over the years, but as one falls away, it is replaced with something equally wonderful.

They were the instigators who got us to go to “Christmas in the Canyon” years ago.  That was the cowboy Christmas celebration at the beginning of December.  It was celebrated at a local children’s camp.  We would go down, have supper, go on a nighttime hayride to the edge of the Palo Duro Canyon, sing Christmas carols, make sugar cookies, then come back up and go to this OLD church and sing more songs.  The end of the night was capped off with a sing along around a roaring fire.  It was awesome.

Well, a few years after we started going, they quit doing “Christmas in the Canyon” because the main couple that ran it had a wreck.  So the next year, unwilling to let a good tradition die, my sister and her husband invited us all over to their house for chili, decorating sugar cookies, and a sing-a-long.  That’s our new tradition, and it has stuck.

Some of the traditions I’ve started include singing the old carols with my Sunday School class and explaining the symbols of Christmas to them.  In my family, we always have our Christmas meal.  It’s the only night of the year when we eat on a tablecloth covered table, by candlelight, in the living room.  The kids look forward to it.  After that meal, we open our family’s presents.  The kids always get pajamas so the have something new and fluffy to wake up in the next morning.

We have certain songs we break out every year at this time… some that are traditional, some that are funky, but all are unique to our family.  We have a tradition of going to sit on Santa’s lap and getting a picture taken.  We have a tradition of nice dresses for the girls (the only time of the year they get to go to a “real” store–JC Penney’s for clothes).  We have a tradition of sending out a Christmas letter as my husband and I both have family in far-flung places.

We have a tradition of it being extra-special to put the angel on the top of the tree (this year it was a three person job up high and a two person job to take the picture down low).  We always decorate our tree on December 12.  Why?  Because the year my husband and I got married, I had a student teaching assignment two hours away.  The 12th was the first day I got to be HOME for real.  We have decorated the tree that day ever since.  We have a tradition of celebrating Christmas with both of our families as well as extended “friend” families.

Last night we got to add going to see the Christmas pageant to our list of traditions.

Each tradition, for us, is another little reminder not just that it’s Christmas but why we celebrate Christmas and passing down to our children how important Christmas is, so they will pass it on long after we’re gone.

So, it seems to me that although the world will always try to push Christ out of Christmas, the real question is:  What are you doing in your family and beyond to welcome Christ into YOUR heart?  Or will Jesus find a “No room” sign on your heart too?

To me, that’s a choice only you can make.  And if you don’t have a tradition, start one.  Sit in your living room and read the Christmas story out loud.  Sing a few songs.  Go to church.  Have a special quiet meal.  Whatever it is, find a special way to celebrate.  You will be glad you did!

Copyright Staci Stallings, 2009

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