WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!

“O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
2 Chronicles 20:12

Have you ever been there? At a place in life where the troubles and problems before you are so great and so numerous that you don’t know what to do?

In the Old Testament, good and godly King Jehoshaphat found himself in that uncomfortable place. The enemies of Judah had banded together to make a super army … and they were coming to wipe God’s people off the map. The circumstances were dire and destruction seemed certain.

Jehoshaphat did not know what to do except pray and get his eyes on the Lord. And that is exactly what God wanted him to do. When he took his eyes off his problems and put them on the Lord, God responded in mighty power.

IN YOUR PROBLEMS

Are you facing great and frightening problems today? Is it cancer? Is a layoff coming? Is the marriage ending? Is some destructive addiction taking you down? Is the devil coming at you with both barrels?

What do you do when life seems to be caving in all around you?

You join with Jehoshaphat and honestly say, “God, I am powerless in this problem I am facing, and I don’t know what to do. But I choose to take my eyes off my problems and put them squarely on You.”

You see, you and I are not able to handle the problems of life, but God is able. And God will arise in your trouble IF IF IF you will just look to Him and trust Him, no matter what.

THE POWER OF PRAISE

In the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, it is interesting to note that God told him:

1. Do not be afraid because I am with you.
2. Do not be dismayed because I am able.
3. Do not think this is your battle because it is Mine!

How’s that for an answer to prayer! So, the people gathered the next day to face the enemy. Judah’s army was ready, but they did not have to fight. In fact, it was the choir who led the army out to the battlefield. And when the choir began to sing and praise the Lord, the Lord responded to their praise (their praise was proof of genuine faith) and routed the enemy before their very eyes. WOW!

What to do when you don’t know what to do? Get your eyes on the Lord and praise Him! There is great power in praise! Praise shows God you know He is in control, and you trust Him.

The wonderful old song says it best:

When you’re up against a struggle, that shatters all your dreams.
And your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan’s manifested schemes.
When you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fear,
Don’t let the faith you’re standing in seem to disappear.

Praise the Lord. He can work through those who praise Him.
Praise the Lord. For our God inhabits praise.
Praise the Lord. For the chains that seem to bind you,
serve only to remind you, that they drop powerless behind you,
when you praise Him.

Read 2 Chronicles Chapter 20 today and be blessed as you trust God to see you through.

(Pastor Jeff Schreve)

His Love, New York, & The WIE Symposium

Good Morning fellow 'Hip Girls.' As your guide down the road to a deeper spirituality I am moved by something in particular this morning.

First of all, I MC'd this years WIE Symposium in New York City this past weekend. WIE is for Women. Inspiration. Enterprise. As you can imagine there were plenty of powerful, famous, women present. There were even some powerful, famous, men; ala Ted Turner and Hugh Jackman....ahhh so easy on the eyes and what a lovely man and husband!

Anyway, beauty was everywhere, because in New York City everything must meet a certain criteria for excellence and beauty that surpasses anything else in the world. Truly, walking down Madison Avenue, strolling through Bergdorf Goodman, I was struck by just how BEAUTIFUL and elegant and luxurious the creative aesthetic of this city is. The best of the best in creative vision is all that emerges to the front. The best of the best in thought, service, fashion, and art is everywhere. The city is a collection of the world's finest. And, there will always be a turnout of gorgeous women, Supermodels even, young and younger. Iman, still eclipses them all!

This very complicated and amazing mix of all things beautiful was tremendously eclipsed by another complex, yet very simple, greater beauty. For me there is a deeper truth that is so much deeper, so much more creative, so much more alive than all that I saw on parade.

What I wanted to add to WIE 2011, however, in addition to keeping the business of the day rolling smoothly for my gorgeous and talented friend, June Sarpong, who co-founded the event, was an element of this greater beauty that eclipses all of the most beautiful finery this world has to offer; God's grace and love. I wanted the truth of Jesus Christ to emanate from my eyes and heart like a bright shining light, because after all, why else would the Lord even allow me to be there. I am long past doing things on my own initiative. I don't even care too. I pray first. I listen. I get a yes or a no from deep inside that comes from way up high...and I proceed or back out. Since I heard a yes, I proceeded to hop a flight to NYC for an enjoyable few days in which I was used again, in that gloriously satisfying way that occurs when it's God doing the using. You know like the old song says:

"If it feels this good gettin' used then just keep on usin' me...Until you use me up!"

So, I let His light shine in me and when asked, 100 times what are you working on, I got to explain what inner healing really is. The kind of inner healing that comes from the power of the Word, the mission of Jesus Christ, and the release of the spirit from it's own emotional captivity! Hallelujah!!!

Some women said, "No I mean in television." Laugh. To which I answered "only that which God would have me do." I know they were dissatisfied with that answer. Yet, truly, who cares?! I care that someone was dissatisfied by my answer, but I don't care what I am working on in television. I have a couple things I am actually Executive Producing right now. One very Big thing. But, who cares?! I even have things I am writing and finishing and deals I am brokering for a lot of money, which I like to refer to as a 'bigger tithe!' But, who cares?! Except about the fact that I can give a bigger tithe, anyway.

Really, who cares about exterior beauty, fashion, art, the best of the best in all things luxurious, whose famous, whose not, who wore what, who made what, who designed what, who said what, who was there, who was not there, which restaurant is the most 'in' right now, which car is the fastest, whose dating who, whose coming to the party?! WHO CARES?!

My point? My point is that all that we do, if not done for the glory of God, is worthless! It's idle talk and vanity, at best.

Inside God's will there is no failure. Outside God's will there is no success! No real success. There is just one failed attempt after the next, and a growing hole in the heart, because when getting more worldly success doesn't fix that inner hole, or alleviate those inner fears, or get rid of those inner demons, WHO CARES?!

So, what I am working on is the healing of His kingdom. The sharing of the good news. The binding up of broken hearts and the setting free of captives. I care about what God cares about. And, it's no coincidence that this was the announcement of what Jesus Christ's ministry was all about, because my work, as all of our work should be, is modeled after Him:

"The spirit of the Sovreign Lord is upon me, because the LORD has annointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up (heal) the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners." (Isaiah 61:1)

I firmly believe that if we are about HIS business, He will be about OURS. There is little we need to pursue, chase after, dress up for, or woo...except Him! This awareness has caused me to make Him the object of my affections in such a way that I am moved to the core by my passion and love for Him. This love places a burden on my heart that all would understand the Love that is theirs too in Christ Jesus.

I often share a wonderful song, written by John Mark McMillan, called He Love Us. If you lose yourself in the truth of the truth he is singing about you cannot help but understand...

He is jealous for me,

He Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain ANY regrets,
When I think about, the way…He Loves Us

If I can share, or shared, ANYTHING that reflects the power of His LOVE then I have succeeded. So, as the MC of an extremely successful event in worldly terms, my success in it was found in those who listened with curiosity in their eyes, and hugged me back with love and acceptance, and saw something in me that they couldn't explain.

Was it my Gucci leather slacks? No, who cares?! Was it the fierce Chanel over the knee boots and matching handbag I wore?! Doubtful, who cares?! Was it even the amazing Nina Runsdorf diamonds twinkling on my person? Nope, who cares?!

You see I am a child of the King. What it was, was the light of redemption, the ocean of grace, and the realization of how much He loves me that causes me to emanate love for others. That's what you'll see in me, as MC of a TV show, an event littered with the rich and famous, or walking across campus at my sons school in Kansas. Him in me is the magnet that I know attracts anyone to tell me what a great job I do when I am working or doing. It is all of Him that you see surfacing that touches people in an inexplicable way.

I don't take credit for anything except that He loves Us!!! How can I care about anything more than that?! His grace is an ocean, and I sank long ago!!!

Love to ALL Of you today and every day...May His peace and truth bless you...

Always,

Your resident Hip Girl guiding you to truth in your spirituality!

Your Thoughts Have Wheels!

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7a (KJV)

The day started off just fine, but ended with confusion and tears. As a timid middle-schooler, I climbed the steps of my school bus eager to get home after a long afternoon.

Sitting quietly in my seat, all of a sudden I got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Although my surroundings appeared to be the same, something was not right.

The bus was the normal sunshine yellow. The seats were standard black vinyl, displaying rips and tears from years of students. The floor was littered with the usual misplaced pencils, erasers and wadded-up papers. Yet, I felt out of place.

That's when I realized I did not know any of the kids sitting around me. And I had never seen the bus driver before. Frantically, I searched for anything familiar. My cheeks grew hot and my heart raced with panic as I realized I was on the wrong bus.

Although I WAS headed somewhere, it was NOT where I wanted to go.

I'd been distracted by conversations with friends, thoughts of sleepovers, and how much homework I had. My thoughts were not focused on where I was going. The actions that followed caused me to end up somewhere I did not want to be.

Thinking back on that day, I've considered how our thoughts determine a lot about the direction of our lives. Like my school bus, our thoughts will always take us somewhere, but it may not be somewhere we want to end up.

If we spend time thinking about how our boss does not appreciate us, our thoughts will take us straight to a bad attitude at work and possibly poor performance.

If we focus on how much we do for others and how little we feel appreciated, our thoughts will take us to a place of resentment, with lack of patience and love.

If we spend an entire day fuming over something our husband or kids did, and mentally practice the harsh words we plan to say to them, those thoughts will lead us into a place of arguments, hurt feelings and damaged relationships.

If we dwell on why God has allowed certain problems in our lives, we will transport ourselves into a state of insecurity and unhappiness as we stop trusting God.

If we focus our thoughts on money, career, success and pleasure, we will find ourselves in the land of the lost—feeling frustrated and discontent.

Our thoughts are powerful and require great self control. If we allow them to run rampant, focusing on things that lead us away from God, then we will wind up at a destination we would never deliberately choose.

In today's key verse, God shows us why we should choose carefully what we think about, because our thoughts determine who we are and how we live.

My childhood memory reminds me to consistently ask God to help me keep my mind on Him and on the thoughts He has for me. That way I can live according to His plans and with His perspective, seeking to be acutely aware of where my thoughts may lead me.

Our thoughts really do have wheels. Where are your thoughts taking you today?

Dear Lord, please help me take my thoughts captive, and focus on things that are pleasing to You. Please give me the desire to honor You and abide by Your Word in any area of my thoughts I am struggling to do so. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Application Steps:
Make a list of all the negative or sinful thoughts you may have had lately. Ask God to help cleanse you of those emotions and start anew, with a fresh attitude and a positive, Godly perspective.

Reflections:
Have I been guarding and guiding my thoughts, or have my thoughts been leading me to a place I don't want to go?

Is there anything I need to remove from my thought life?

Power Verses:
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." (NIV)

Romans 12:2a, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (NIV)

Ephesians 4:23-24, "Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy." (NLT)

This was from an excerpt by, Tracie Miles, and it's an awesome reflection and exercise to help you with those negative thoughts that threaten to drive you into a wall instead of the positive thoughts you need to drive you into your joy filled destiny!

OH HOW HE LOVES US! OH HOW WE DISS HIM!!!

The most amazing thing hit me in the last couple days.

We go to God, especially as parents, and ask Him to care for our kids and bless them with every good thing. Yet, we treat God's son, like crap on a regular basis. Many don't seek to know Him. Many don't really have a real desire to serve Him or tell others about how cool He is. We treat Jesus, God's SON, like someone it's best not to talk about because He's controversial and we want others to like us, more than we want Him to. After all, we can't SEE Him right?! So, who knows if He is really real, or there at all. We have a major faith problem in this country but that's another issue!

This morning I woke up and I was hit with a CNN blast about Hurricane Irene so I immediately checked on my girlfriend, Nina in NYC. She was OK although she woke up to the ocean at the back door of her beach house in the Hampton's. Since her house is 5 blocks from the beach that was a little scary. Then I checked on a basketball coach friend in North Carolina.

I was soon on auto pilot, with the day crashing in on what should be first thing first; morning time with God to start the day. I made a coffee, and began scanning the Restoration Hardware site for new furniture for our place in Kansas. Oh, then I had a thought about my mom, so I called her to chat.

Eventually, my husband called and we decided to say morning prayer. I begrudgingly turned the computer off and we began. Not, 5 sentences into prayer I asked God to bless my son's day and began my to do list of gifts that I expected from God for my child for the day.

And, it hit me. Deep in the gut.

I had totally ignored His son, yet I wanted Him to pay CLOSE and FULL attention to mine AND with an armload of victories and blessings for the day, of course! I basically told GOD that my kid was more important than His. Basically. Sugar coat it in your own life, if you want, but that's what's going on amongst believers DAILY.

Because I TRULY desire to please God, shame, regret, and fear flooded my heart. I almost stopped there but the Holy Spirit urged me to move forward and not get stuck THERE. I apologized to the God I fear, yet love even more. I expressed my shame, felt tears in my eyes, and asked, no begged for forgiveness and mercy.

I am pretty sold out for Jesus. I live a fairly full life of service and am trying and growing daily in my efforts to really SEE myself and my actions through God's eyes. I value my relationship with Him and I realize that the way to really see God is by gazing deeply into the life of Christ.

Yet, even I, at a decent level in my walk, make the mistake of letting the auto-pilot of the day occur and the cares of the world easily flood in and before I know it I am off to the races without saying; Thank you Father, Thank you Jesus. Thank you. I have so much to be thankful for.

In my case, thank you that my Friday night was spent with my 19 year old and his teammate and their 2 girl-friends in church praising Jesus and then driving around campus laughing as we picked drunk kids up and witnessed to them about the love of Christ before dropping them safely off at their sororities or dorms. A VERY different College experience than my own I might add. These passengers, on our first Friday night experiment, were shocked that 2 Kansas basketball players were picking them up, not drunk, filled with the light of Christ, and helping them out. It was like Mick Jagger driving by and offering you a lift and then telling you about a really cool dude, whose our Savior! My son and his teammates are seriously rock-stars on campus, because they're on the team, and I think the weightiness of this really hit my son squarely last night. I saw the lightbulb flashing in his mind, and the wheels spinning, and he was forever changed. In a world where most kids, and I was one of them, spend Friday nights getting drunk, high, and looking for love in all the wrong places, my kid and his friends were loving Jesus and laughing and hanging out having good, clean, fun...with ME, the mother.

God blessed me with this relationship with my son, in spite of the madness he has seen, and I KNOW what a miracle I have been given. I have much to be grateful for.

But, back to the point. We have to stop treating God the Father like we don't truly love His only begotten Son, whom He has given us salvation through. This is very serious. If you come to me, saying you know my son, I am gonna receive you and listen...but if you then charge off by ignoring my son in the room, and treating him like he is second to your desire for me to take care of your son, I am gonna kick you out! Fast. Thankfully, I am NOT God. I have yet to arrive at His level of mercy, forgiveness, and love. I am trying. But, you get the point.

So, not to beat you up, because by this point you should be feeling pretty small and horrible, but here's the question.

Shouldn't we show Jesus how much we love and respect Him for his gift of love to us? Shouldn't we adore our Heavenly Father and shower Him with love and gratitude for doing something we could NEVER do, tell His only son to die for us; a bunch of folks who would forget Him, not find Him very cool to talk about, and treat Him like a secondary friend at best? Second to the laundry, the emails, the telephone and the TV! Shouldn't we?

I say we should. And, after I came to this monumental reality this morning I dared not ask for anything today, except mercy and forgiveness, and the ability to live in love for Jesus.

The kind of love that makes Him first in my day and in my heart in a real way.

Seek first the Kingdom of heaven and all God's righteousness,' and He will do as He says and 'add all the rest' of your needs, wants, and desires, to your day. He will handle your business if you're about understanding His. It's a simple deal that He has NEVER not honored in my life, so I am diligent about these little lessons that show me what I do that in any way dishonors who I want to be before Him.

In His presence is where your true value is determined folks. And, in His presence I challenge you to ask yourself if you have valued Him enough to be there. We all fall short. Yet, when you care, you change. Be grateful if you're feeling rebuked right now. It's good to be lovingly chastised into realizing these seemingly minor, yet huge character flaws, for our father only rebukes those whom he loves as His children.

And, even we forgive our children and our friends and ourselves often. How much more does He forgive all of us?! What a mighty, loving, forgiving God we are privileged to know and serve.

This Hip Girl is off to lunch, happy that Jesus is my guide!

GREAT EXPECTATIONS!!!

“And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.” (Mark 11:13) (NKJV)

Jesus lifted his eyes and saw a fig tree in the distance with leaves on it. He got excited. A fig right about now would really hit the spot. It was time to eat! In that culture, trees on the roadside provided good sources of nutrition for weary travelers. This situation was no different. Mark’s Gospel gives us a little bit of insider information. At the time Jesus walked along this roadside, it wasn't the season for figs.

Jesus was expecting the unexpected and was disappointed.

Why did he expect the unexpected? Because of the presence of leaves on the fig tree. In Palestine, fruit appears on fig trees before the leaves. So when Jesus saw leaves he got excited. Leaves were there. Surely leaves on the tree signified that there was also fruit on the same tree. In fact, the entire purpose of a leaf on a tree is to make and nurture fruit for the entire tree by trapping light energy and converting it to chemical energy. As Christians, we are, as Mark’s Gospel demonstrates, trees in leaf. In other words, we are showing our leaves. We are built in such a way, spiritually, that we are to trap the light of Christ and convert it to energy, in order to produce fruit. That fruit is the fruit of the Spirit:

"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."-Galatians 5:22-23

Please keep in mind, just like the fig tree in the passage:

Jesus requires us to produce fruit in and out of season.

Recession? Produce fruit. Anger? Produce fruit. Sadness? Produce fruit. Frustration? Produce fruit. Irritation? Produce fruit. Tumultuous relationship? Produce fruit. Somebody’s getting on your nerves? Produce fruit. Being mistreated? Produce fruit. Situation getting out of control? Produce fruit.

Do you know that this tree could have enjoyed the privilege of providing Christ one of his last meals before His act of love on the Cross. This passage occurs right before he enters Jerusalem. Instead Jesus was met with disappointment when it failed to meet his expectations.

What kind of tree are you going to be? More importantly, what kind of fruit are you going to produce? When we demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit to others, we meet Christ’s expectations. May we be ever mindful of His great expectations and go to great lengths to properly display our fruit.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." - John 15:1-2 (ESV)

Gratitude Is Always The Right Attitude!

Psalm 106:7
Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

"I want it!" She screamed.

Her father turned to where the little girl stood red-faced and defiant. He looked at her and said, "I don't want to hear another word. I bought you a toy last week, and I told you not to ask for anything else. You've had ice cream and I took you to see the pets, now you straighten up. Do you understand?"

Whether she understood or not may still be in question, but her behavior is all too familiar.

Some of us want what we want when we want it, and we really don't care whether we're being ungrateful or not.

God has showered us with blessings, and sometimes we stand defiantly demanding more. God is willing to give us many good things, but not when we refuse to value what we've got.

Christian maturity requires that we learn to be satisfied with what we have. It is pleasing to God when His children say "Thank You," instead of "More."

So, today I say Thank you. I forget how gracious and giving You have been, O Lord. Forgive my lack of gratitude and appreciation. I have no reason to desire more. I have more than I truly need already. Help me to use my abundance for the sake of others. Help me to be happy for others with less when life gives them more. Help me to realize that the more it appears they have, is still quite possibly less than I have. And, help me to understand that the more I need will always be provided, but the more I want is a reward that comes from my gratitude for the more I need that I have already been given. Amen.

We Have The Majority!!! by Charles Spurgeon

"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings 6:16).

Horses and chariots and a great host shut up the prophet in Dothan. His young servant was alarmed. How could they escape from such a body of armed men?

But the prophet had eyes which his servant had not, and he could see a greater host with far superior weapons guarding him from all harm. Horses of fire are mightier than horses of flesh, and chariots of fire are far preferable to chariots of iron.

Even so is it at this hour.

The adversaries of truth are many, influential, learned, and crafty; and truth fares ill at their hands; and yet the man of God has no cause for trepidation.

Agencies, seen and unseen, of the most potent kind, are on the side of righteousness.

God has armies in ambush which will reveal themselves in the hour of need.

The forces which are on the side of the good and the true far outweigh the powers of evil.

Therefore, let us keep our spirits up, and walk with the gait of men who possess a cheering secret, which has lifted them above all fear.

We are on the winning side.

The battle may be sharp, but we know how it will end.

Faith, having God with her, is in a clear majority: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them."

And, He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world!!!