Keep it BIG

Keep it Big

“Keep the big things big and the small things small.”

Loren Thornburg

A magnifying glass is really helpful when you are trying to see more clearly that which is small. Much like a microscope it allows us to make sense of things that are tiny in size. Yet, when we do this with things in our own lives we perceive them to be bigger than their actual size. As we focus on one thing too long it seems to grow in size much like a magnifying glass might do. It can increase, filling our minds and lives until that which once was small is now big, leaving no room for the big things. I find myself in that place in the busyness of the Christmas season, yet wanting to keep the big things big and the small things small. I want to let what’s most important to me in this season remain biggest in my life by the way I spend my time and the way I celebrate, before it’s too late, before the time has come and gone. Let’s keep it to size. What would it look like if the big things stayed big and the small things stayed small?

“His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him--though he is not far from any one of us.”

Acts 17:27 NLT

God never changes. He is always BIG! He always has been and always will be. A BIG God comes with a BIG purpose...that we would seek Him and know Him. In remembering Jesus and the unfolding of His story, of Him coming down into our story, let us not miss the purpose. He wants to be near to you. He wants you to know Him as the BIG God that He is. He wants to fill your sight and your heart as you celebrate. As you interact with friends and family, as you give gifts, as you wrap presents, as you eat together, as you do all that you do may God stay BIG in size and strength in your life.

Devotional Book

"There is light up ahead. Though you walk through the dark, enter In."

Well it's about that time...for another devotional book.

I want to thank you all again for your encouragement and support in writing the words God has placed on my heart. It is such a blessing to see how God uses them to speak to others and bring His voice of encouragement and invitation to ENTER IN.

The proceeds from this book are being used to spread the gospel throughout Asia through Competitive Edge International, a ministry that uses softball to share the love of Jesus.

The devotionals will be similar to the emails you receive on a weekly basis. I have edited and formatted them to fit the page and I have added questions for further reflection. There is a page following each of the devotions to add your own thoughts.

I am sharing this with you now so that you can order some devotionals to give as Christmas gifts. I am asking for a starting donation of $10 per book. As the book is in its final stages of completion, I am asking for pre-orders including your check or cash so that your books may be sent to you before Christmas.

SO HERE'S WHAT YOU DO:

Reply to lorenquinelle@gmail.com with...

-Your Name

-the address you would like it sent to

-the number of copies you would like sent

ENTER IN

Heard

“You have a voice, so let it be heard.”

Loren Thornburg

There is much power in being heard. Having lost my voice I realized how important a voice is and how limiting it feels without one. Communication is key to relationship and connection. Without those it is lonely and abundant life is hindered. Thankfully there are many ways that we communicate beyond speech including writing, smiling, touching and our actions. In addition to the frustration of not being able to connect, there is also the frustration of not being heard. In the midst of speaking (or trying to speak) and finding people couldn’t hear me or understand me I saw how this frustration extends beyond our physical voices to the ways that we often don’t feel “heard.” It correlates closely to our worth and our purpose. I pictured the young boy I saw at the coffee shop sitting a part from his mom who was in a conversation with a friend. The mom did not want to be interrupted. You could see the hurt on the face of the child, longing to be heard, longing to be noticed, longing to feel important enough to receive space from his mom to be “heard.” We all want to be heard, to have a voice, to feel like we have something to offer. When we are heard we hear more than our voice, but our heart hears that we are worth it. We all have something worth being heard, worth someones time, worth that is intrinsic worth. You have a voice. You have much to offer. Let it be heard and let others be heard. Be someone who hears so that someone else might know they are worth being heard.

“And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to His will, sure that He’s listening.”

1 John 4:14 MSG

In the midst of having lost my voice I realized I have never lost my voice in my relationship with God. It may not have been my preference to not be able to be involved in the ways I would have chosen because I couldn’t speak as clearly, but no lack of voice kept my prayers from being heard. I don’t need words with God. He knows my heart, He hears my thoughts, and I am “heard” when I am talking to Him even when no one else can hear, He does. I free to come and to come boldly. Not because I have something to offer but because who I am is worth it to Him. In His presence I am free in knowing that He is listening. He paid the price that we could have eternal life, that we could come boldly and freely because we are worth it. You are worth it to Him. So come. Ask in His will, for His will, knowing you are heard.

Muddy Trails

“There’s more to the trail than the dirt. Look Up.”

Loren Thornburg

I love walking on dirt trails, especially ones that come with a view. The only problem is that unlike paved trails, when it rains they take a while to dry and thus become muddy. Sometimes I still venture them in their muddiness, but what I find is that I am so focused on navigating the muddy spots that I forget to look around and enjoy the view. It seems this is not much different from the trail of life. When there’s been rain and things get hard to navigate we get so focused on the muddy situation in front of us that we lose sight of what is around us and the beauty that remains. These hard situations definitely need our attention. If I were to walk the trail without awareness of the muddy spots I would come home even more a mess. Yet, mud does not have to keep me from enjoying the view. In life too I can stop in the midst of the tough spot and enjoy what’s around me. I can look past myself, past my situation, past the mud and into the beauty that has become through the storm. We can navigate the hard spots and still enjoy the beauty. Don’t miss it because of the mud.

“When I took a long, careful look at your ways, I got my feet back on the trail you blazed.”

Psalm 119:59 The Message

It’s easy to get focused on the trail and miss the God who made the trail, who blazed the trail and is blazing the trail. As we are focused on the trail God is focused on us, inviting us to turn our focus to Him. The trail is only a means of our relationship with Him. Yes, He wants to help us out of the muddy trails we find ourselves on, but more than that He wants us to trust Him in the midst of the mud. He wants us to enjoy Him and His ways whatever trail we find ourselves on. Unfortunately we miss Him because our focus is more on the mud than on His ways. Yet, ironically the best way out of the mud is looking to Him and not the mud. Let’s get our eyes off of the mud and onto the One who is blazing the trail.

Key Ingredients

“Thankfulness is one of those key ingredients that you should add into everything.”

Loren Thornburg

As we start cooking we gather our list and head to the store making sure each ingredient it accounted for. Some ingredients are more key than others so that if they were forgotten or missing on the day of cooking we could make do without them. However there are other ingredients that are crucial in the combination. Fruit salad without the fruit, mashed potatoes without the potatoes, pumpkin pie without the pumpkin. Those dishes just don’t work without the basics and neither do our lives. Sometimes in the midst of making shopping lists for dinner we forget the things we most need to make sure we have for our lives. Thankfulness is one of those ingredients. It’s like butter. It makes everything taste better. With more thankfulness in the mix you can’t help but find a little more joy and a little more life. There is so much to be thankful for even when things get really hard. What are the ingredients do you need in your life right now? Don’t forget the thankfulness when you look at the recipe of your life.

“Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Good News Translation

I am so glad God isn’t asking us to be joyful ‘for’ everything or thankful ‘for’ everything but to be thankful ‘in’ the midst of those things. There are some things that I am not thankful for or joyful for but God is asking that I would chose to look to Him and remember that ‘in’ Him I can be thankful still. I can still pray ‘in’ Him even when times are hard. I can still find joy ‘in’ Him even when the outcome doesn’t look good. I can still be thankful ‘in’ Him, for who He is and remember the gifts He has given me even in the circumstances that look beyond repair. This still doesn’t mean that I have to be fake about who I am and how I am doing, but that I can choose to remember who God is and the life He has given me in Jesus above and within the things that are hard. I can be both walking through a hard season but finding joy and thanks. I can have union with Jesus and all that Jesus is and all that Jesus brings; in all the peace, joy, life and freedom. Those things are offered to me. That is reason to see joy, reason to pray, reason to be thankful. This is what God wants from me because He wants it for me.

Held Together

“There is a union, a companionship by which we are held together.”

Loren Thornburg

Picture with me, what was described to me...an elderly couple on the dance floor, trying to keep up with the square dance calls that require as much mentally as physically. Now the wife is not up to par with the other dancers, but that doesn’t stop the husband from taking her by the hand and leading her each step of the way to keep her on track and on the dance floor. This is true companionship someone with whom you share experiences with. It also reflects the archaic definition, “a raised frame with windows on the quarterdeck of a ship to allow light into the decks below.” This speaks into the depths of the picture of the union of companionship, of someone who allows light into the places that would otherwise be dark. We all need this. We all have these dark places in our decks below that don’t seem so dark when we have someone willing to share that experience with us, to partake in it with us. In doing so they allow light to come in. This is exactly what this husband did as he took his wife by the hand and helped her to dance. There is a union, a companionship that we were made for. We can’t do it alone. We need someone to allow the light in that holds us together.

“So his companions led him by the hand…” Acts 9:9 NLT

“I, John, your brother and companion (sharer and participator) with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance which are in Jesus Christ…”

Revelation 1:9 Amplified

In Acts we see the story of Saul, blinded on the road to Damascus by God. Saul fell to the ground at the sight of the light beaming down on him hearing the voice of God speak to him. Those traveling with Saul didn’t understand what happened, but they continued on with him, leading him by the hand. I love this picture and how it applies to us at times when although we are not physically blind, we need help being able to see the way through our hard times. It is as John describes himself in Revelation as a companion, a sharer and participator not only in the times of celebration, but also in those hard times that require endurance and patience. God gives us these companions at different seasons in our lives as a reflection of His perfect companionship that truly holds us together. At times we experience this more than others with him and with others but that doesn’t change the fact that we are held. He is our dance partner that loves to show us the next step even when we can’t keep up. He knows us, holds us and leads us by the hand. He invites us to share and partake in life with Him in a dance where we don’t have to know the next step for He will lead the way.

Silence Speaks

“Silence is the platform on which we can hear.”

Loren Thornburg

Have you seen the big noise-cancelling headphones? I am a big fan of mine. I never realized how loud an airplane is until I take my headphones off. Similarly I don’t realize how loud my life can be until I stop for silence. At different busy seasons of my life I find I am filled with thoughts I didn’t know I had until those moments that I lay my head on the pillow for my first moment of silence in the day. Not an ideal time for those thoughts, as that is the time I want to sleep. Yet, it is upon those moments of silence that we can hear that which is going on within us and through us. Without the silence we don’t hear and without hearing we miss the things that really matter in the depths of our hearts beyond the surface of the busyness of our day.

“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.”

Psalm 85:8

God gives what is good as the psalmist reminds us of later in this psalm. He is about what is good for you and for His kingdom. Sometimes I think we keep from silence and from listening because we are afraid of what we will hear. But, we are promised throughout scripture, like in this verse, that the voice of the Lord brings peace. The other voices that we hear are not the Lord and they lead to our folly, which is marked by foolishness and purposelessness. Though our fear of these voices keeps us from entering the quiet of the silence we can turn to Jesus who is for us and for our good. In the Message version the psalmist “can’t wait to hear what he’ll say. God’s about to pronounce his people well. They holy people he loves so much, so they’ll never again live like fools.” God is about us! He loves us and wants to pronounce us well and speak good things to us. Don’t miss them in fear of what the silence will bring. Invite Jesus to speak into the silence of your life. Make room for Him to do that. He wants to speak to you and bring peace. Risk the fear of the silence and listen for His voice of peace that silences all other voices.

Open Up

“You have to open up to be free.”

Loren Thornburg

Twice a year I go for my routine teeth cleaning. Not because anything is wrong but to prevent anything from becoming wrong. It’s rather awkward with my mouth wide-open and a dental hygienist up-close and personal in my face. The whole thing is not what you would call fun, but if feels so nice and clean afterwards. Sometimes, even though you have had no pain or symptoms they find something that needs to be addressed before it gets worse. Sitting in the chair I wondered if I do this with my heart. I do it with my teeth that although are very important, matters of the heart have an even greater impact on my life. The heart affects everything, in every way, in every day. Yet, how often do we take our hearts for a routine check-up or even allow them to be opened up and looked at when we do have signs and symptoms. It’s not as clear as a toothache to know we are overdue for a visit. It’s not as quick as a 30 minute routine cleaning, but it’s affects stretch farther and wider than any dentist visit. Bitterness, anger, frustration, discouragement, depression...you’re overdue for some time alone, being still and letting the issues of your heart surface. If left unattended they will only continue to grow and cause havoc just like an unaddressed cavity would. You have to get close to get clean. It’s never what I would call fun but always worth it and always freeing.

“Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified

David was willing to open up. He invited the Lord to come in and do a full examination and cleaning of his heart. Not because he didn’t know how hard it would be, but because he knew how much he needed it. He knew how much he needed the Lord in order to walk in the freedom and the life that God had called him to. Now God already knows. It’s not a surprise to Him when we invite Him into the places in our hearts, when we open up our lives. Yet, when we allow Him to enter in He allows us to see what is already there and then invites us to follow Him out of the junk to the way everlasting. It probably won’t be as quick as a visit to the dentist but the rewards will be greater, fuller and higher. Stop and invite Him in before the pain forces you to. It’s never too late even if the pain has settled in and is coming out. Let Him come in and He will do a thorough work to lead you to life, life and more life.

In Process

“We are all in process and sometimes it looks messy.”

Loren Thornburg

I was sitting in front of the mirror after having my hair washed before it was going to be cut. With the towel on my head I was so glad only the people in the salon could see me and most of them were focused on other things. I wasn’t looking put together yet. Then again with most of my hair clipped on top of my head so the stylist could cut each layer just right I had the same thought. Yet, at no point did I think something was wrong. I knew that it was all a part of the process. In that moment I wished I could see the rest of my life like that. Usually I see my moments when I don’t look put together and things look a mess as a problem to be fixed rather than as part of the process. We often think it’s not okay to be in process. We forget that we are all in process between who we were and who we are becoming, between where we we’ve been and where we’re going. As we enter into the freedom to be in process we allow others to do the same. We are all in process and at different times in our lives we see and feel it more. Let’s see others with the grace of being in process and live with the freedom to be in process.

“...you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ who created this new nature within you.”

Colossians 3:10 NLT

We have been clothed with a new nature, no longer subject to the sinful nature within us. This is true and yet it is a continual process of renewal that happens as we know Christ more. It’s a process. We are in process between the sinful nature that ruled us and the new nature that is free for humility, love, gentleness, patience and all the things we hope to be. Often times we are so aware of the old nature that we forget there is still a new nature within us waiting to be clothed around us and renewed in us. As God calls us and invites us to walk in more of His nature He is okay with the process. He doesn’t see us as “not there yet,” but with a love for who we are right where we are inviting us to more of Him. He could change us in an instant if He wanted us all put together, but He doesn’t. He just wants more of us. Whatever part of the process we are in He sees more than the mess, He sees how the mess is bringing us more of Him.

Meant to Live

“You were meant to really LIVE. That’s the really real life.”

Loren Thornburg

To live by one definition means to remain alive. Yet, it also means having a fulfilling life, an exciting life. We were meant to do more than remain alive, but to really be alive with fulfillment and excitement. There is a huge gap between these two and often many of us live in the gap rather than in the midst of the really real life of abundance. We settle for less than we were meant to, less than we were created for. You were created for a life of fulfillment, a life that feels alive, which can’t be found in many of the places we settle to live. Take a butterfly for example. You would think it a waste if the butterfly stayed in the cocoon and never came out; or if it came out only to keep crawling on the ground like a caterpillar; or even still if it walked around. A butterfly has four beautiful wings and so we expect it to fly. It was created to fly and anything less would not be really living as it was intended. We have our own beautiful wings that bring fulfillment and life. They don’t look like the butterfly. They look like our different giftings, unique to each of us and changing in different seasons. Parenting, writing, mentoring, painting, creativity, hospitality, teaching, leading, we could go on forever. You were created for these things. You were meant for the really real life. You were meant to LIVE!

“Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus then you’ll live as you were meant to live.”

Acts 16:31 Message

Who knows better the things that you were created to do than the One who created you. He certainly did not create you for less than a life of fulfillment. God made you just as He intended with different gifts so that when you operate in those you find life, His life. He designed you so that you would have life. He designed you to find the really real life in His son Jesus. In His life you find an aliveness that fills you to really LIVE. When you put your entire trust in Him you find you are doing exactly what you were created to do. He leads you into those things that fulfill you and He fills you with all that you need to live the really real life...HIM.

Looking Back

“You are not who you used to be. Look back to before.
You have grown, you have changed. You are becoming more and more.”
Loren Thornburg

I love those moments when you realize you are not who you used to be. You have grown and changed into someone greater and more free. Now that is reason to celebrate. Sometimes we miss these things in the day to day. We see ourselves and know ourselves every day and it can be hard to see the ways we have changed when they have happened little by little, one day at time. Often we are encouraged not to look back in fear of dwelling on past mistakes. However, it can be good to look back so we can see places of victory and growth that may go undetected and uncelebrated otherwise. Different events in our lives can serve as a natural way to look back. Birthdays, holidays, a new year, a new season or there might be places that we go every year that serve to do this as well. In these spaces we remember the time before and who we were and how we have grown and changed. These are reasons to celebrate. Don’t miss any chance to celebrate big or small. Look back to see. See how far you’ve come, the victories you’ve won, and the ways you’ve changed. Celebrate!

“But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…”
2 Peter 3:18 AMP

We are encouraged to grow, especially in knowing more of Jesus. This includes knowing more about Him, but expands into really KNOWING Him. Knowing Him means being more aware of His grace, understanding how He loves you with this undeserved favor and finding more of your strength in His spiritual strength. It is different from how many might identify growth. It doesn’t look like promotions, awards, or even financial increase. Instead it looks like freedom where you are free to receive grace, free to give grace and free to recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior. When we are truly seeking the Lord this is a byproduct. You don’t have to work at it because as you seek the Lord you come to know Him more and as you come to know Him you can’t help but be changed by His grace and freed by His grace. Can you see it? Look back. When you’re following Him you find more of Him and His grace. That is more than enough reason to celebrate!

Price of Beauty

“The beauty of freedom doesn’t come free but it’s worth every penny.”
Loren Thornburg

Beauty is something we revere highly in our culture. From fashionable clothing, to makeup, to diets, to jewelry, to name brands, the list goes on. We all know this comes at a price of money, time, and sometimes pain. Yet true beauty has less to do with the outside than it does with the inside. Beauty involves features that are attractive. Although there is something very attractive about looking good on the outside if that is not also found on the inside it leaves us forever unsatisfied. The most attractive beauty that lasts is a heart that is free. Not bound by burdens, bitterness, pride, restlessness or doing, but a heart free to be with or without the latest fashion. Now, there is nothing wrong with being in style and looking good unless that is where you are finding your beauty. It won’t be found there...at least not for long. Beauty is found in a heart that is free, but the beauty of freedom comes at a price too. We have to be willing to let go of our burdens, forgive those places of bitterness, humble ourselves when prideful, rest when we are restless and trust that we can be and that is enough. This beauty doesn’t come easy either, but it lasts. Find freedom and you will find beauty that remains.

“God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 NET

God wants us to be free. Not just to look free, but to really be free from the inside out. We often confuse this as the outside in, but God is different. He sees beauty differently than we often do. Beauty of the heart is what is attractive to Him and He knows just how to free us to that beauty if we will let Him. It sounds crazy not to want that or to let Him do that, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. It means letting Him into those places of pain, places of shame, places that we would rather ignore or keep hidden. For those places are keeping us from freedom, they are keeping us from Him, they are keeping us from others. Yet, what great beauty if found that attracts others in a heart that is free. Free to love, free to risk, free to be...it’s possible if we let Him. It comes at a price but the investment is eternal and you will never regret it.

Weight of Waiting

“It is of great weight if you can wait without the weight of waiting.”
Loren Thornburg

Waiting can feel like such a burden, like a heavy weight that we are carrying around with us. There is the weight of waiting to get married, to have kids, for our kids to mature, to get a job, to make more money, to have more time, to be happy. We are all waiting for something and depending on how we wait determines the weight which we carry. Yet it doesn’t have to be a burden that weighs us down. It can instead be the strength of which we carry. There is a way of hope in waiting that takes the burden and turns it into contentment. There is a way of trust in waiting that takes the burden and turns it into security. There is a way of peace in waiting that takes the burden and turns it into freedom. There is a way of waiting that finds life in the waiting. Don’t bear the weight of waiting. Put down those weights so you can pick up security, contentment, freedom and life.

“What would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”
Psalm 27: 13-14 Amplified

David knew the weight of waiting on the Lord. He knew that was the only way to find life in the midst of waiting. To wait on the Lord is to cling to Him, to adhere to Him, to stay close to Him, to be bound together with Him, and to trust Him. It is knowing, trusting, patience, security, satisfaction, and believing with contentment. It is being aware that our need for God is greater than our desire of what we are waiting on. We need to cast our weights on Him. That is the only way we can wait without the burden of waiting. David sees this as being of great weight knowing that had he not he would have become something so different from the man of worship that he is in this Psalm. Yet, he realizes that this takes courage and does not come easily. We must determine to wait on the Lord, to cling to the Lord, to cast all of our weighty burdens on the Lord. Let us wonder like David what would have happened if we didn’t do that rather than what might have been possible if we had.

Made for Light

“You were made for light and to be made light.”
Loren Thornburg

I am reminded on every gloomy day how I was made for light. Now, I enjoy some rain every now and then, especially when it comes with thunder and lightning. However, there is something about the lack of sunlight that affects me. I feel tired and I just want to snuggle up on the coach ,which isn’t an option sometimes. There is scientific backing to our need for light and the Vitamin D that we get from sunlight. Without it our bodies become weak emotionally and physically. As I was trying to get something untied in the darkness of my room it felt so difficult, but when I brought it in the light it seemed so easy and obvious on how to untie it. We need light! It stimulates sight. It makes things visible. We were made to function in the light, yet so often we find ourselves trying to untie knots in the dark. At times we are drawn to the things that keep us from being able to see. This can come in hundreds of ways...fears and concerns, harmful activities, secrets. Yet when this is all done in the light where others and yourself can see there is a “lightness” that comes. It doesn’t feel so heavy. We were made for light...it makes things light.

“For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.”
Psalm 36:9 NLT

God is the light and life. Without light there is no life. Those two go together and you go together with Him. You were made for Him. He is the light by which we can see truth. It is by Him who is truth that we can see things as they really are without tainting. If He is the light by which we see, without Him we are living in the dark. I think about times I have tried to do things without Him and how hard those were compared to times where I have invited Him in. Not that things got easy because He was involved, but that there was a lightness and a freedom in the midst of the struggle. For His “burden is light.” It is a fountain of life that never stops. His life is the way that we can see things through. Without Him we are stumbling in the darkness still trying to untie the knot that could be untied with ease if we would step into the light, His light. He never stops being light. He never stops helping us to see. He never stops bringing life and more life. He never stops and you never stop being made for light. When you have His light in you He shines that to others that they can see too. You were made for light and to be made light.

What Really Matters

“Perspective is found in the face of disaster.”
Loren Thornburg

It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago. It feels like yesterday that I first heard of the tragic events of our country. For weeks it flooded the news and our lives. Some more than others, but it was hard not to be affected. There is something about those times, when we are face to face with disaster and loss, that we can’t help but gain perspective of what really matters. We see the fragility of life and remember we have no guarantees. In this perspective shift we begin to find a new level of thankfulness and gratitude. We start to make the things that really matter priority in our lives. However, over time we often lose sight of this again. Life demands so much from us that we start to let other things take center stage. Rather than waiting for the next big disaster let’s let this anniversary remind us what really matters.

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…”
Phil 3:8 NLT

Paul, referred to as Saul before having an encounter with Jesus, came face to face with disaster and loss. He was going about his day when an encounter with the Lord dramatically changed the course of his day and life. He was blinded. Saul was completely dependent on those around him to go anywhere and do anything. So when his sight was restored you can only imagine his thankfulness. Yet, more than being able to see, he now saw Jesus in a whole different light. Having once persecuted those who believed, he now “immediately” began preaching about how Jesus saves. Paul saw what really mattered and he kept seeing it and sharing it throughout his life. He continued to remember what was of gain and what was of loss by comparing it up to Christ. This doesn’t mean we have to go preach or be missionaries. It doesn’t mean only going to church and reading your Bible are worthwhile. Much the opposite, it means that everything done with Him at the center, so that He may be seen as worthy is a “priceless gain.” Don’t wait for disaster to strike to start seeing that what really matters is knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.

Under Construction

“Life is a journey that rarely takes the roads and ways I would have chosen. And for that I am thankful.”
Loren Thornburg

It seems that everywhere I drive there is construction. It wouldn’t be so bad except that construction often means more time for me to get where I am going. Not able to appreciate the bigger picture of the ways that the construction will be worth it when it’s complete, I get annoyed and frustrated. Yet, I don’t get annoyed when it’s finished and things are running and working smoother than before, saving me time to get where I am going. Like the roads my life is often “under construction.” Not usually by choice, but often like the roads, it leaves my life running smoother and working better than before. It is really hard to see that in the midst of it. Through all the orange cones and flashing lights it’s hard to see what is on the other side of completion. I want to learn to see through the construction in appreciation for what is being built. A me that is more functional, more free, and more able to receive construction as a chance for more.
The construction is and will be never ending, yet I don’t have to see it as something to be endured, but enjoyed.

“...God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus.”
1 Corinthians 1:8 MSG

God is in the construction business. He is about building His people and His church into the likeness of Himself. Being invited to be in His family, to be His sons and daughters, is also an invitation to become “steady and on track.” Unfortunately to get there some changes need to be made and construction of our hearts and lives are needed. Yet, God Himself is right alongside us to see that to completion. As Ecclesiastes 3 says, “there is a time to tear and a time to mend.” It won’t always feel like tearing. There will be times of mending and enjoying the freedom of a mended life. However, there will continually be times where we feel under construction. Then, like the time before, God Himself will bring us through staying right beside us, giving us the strength we need. Lord teach us how to enjoy the construction and the invitation to more life with You right alongside us.

One More Thing

“Contentment is found before the one thing you’ve been waiting for.”

Loren Thornburg

“The Can’t Live Without It List” caught my attention on the cover of a clothing catalogue. A list of things you need to be happy, that you can’t live another day without. It’s everywhere, including within ourselves, that we hear this message in one way or another. We are waiting for that one more thing before we are content. Waiting to be married, to have a house, to get a promotion at work, to have more money, to achieve our dreams, and on and on. These aren’t bad things but it is an endless cycle of things we need to be satisfied, yet they never fully satisfy. Maybe for a moment there is a temporary excitement but when that fades we are left needing one more thing and thus stuck in the trap of waiting for contentment. Maybe actually we need one less thing. With all the “things” we have we lose track of the thing we really need. It’s hard to break free of the cycle and the voices that call us to one more thing. Yet until we do we will be bound to the can’t live without it list. Break free into contentment, where you are free to live without it!

“Just think-you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale.”

1 Corinthians 1:7 MSG

You’ve got all you need when you’ve got Jesus. Oh it doesn’t always feel like it. The voices and the temptation for another thing that we can’t live without are still there but there is another way, there is another choice. We are not bound by the endless cycle but free to find endless satisfaction and everything we need. God gives us everything that we need. The confusion comes however when what we think we need and what God defines as our need look different. So let’s cling to this reminder of truth. All God’s gifts are right in front of you. Yes, you’ve got it all!! You don’t need a thing. Contentment is here for the taking in Him.

Cleaning is Messy

“Freedom is worth the mess.”
Loren Thornburg

We are in the process of cleaning out some rooms in our house. The thing is, you wouldn’t know how much we have gotten rid of because the cleaning creates a mess before it is complete. It is the hard part of cleaning. Things tend to get worse and messier before they get better. As I see the piles around the house I am reminded that my own life looks like this sometimes. In the process of cleaning out some of the junk of my heart it gets messy because the junk that was once hidden behind closet and doors is now at the surface and easily seen by myself and others. Although it is on it’s way to being cleaner and freer, it looks and feels messier than ever. I begin to wish for things to go back to how they were before. Even though there was junk, it seemed more manageable than the mess. In the middle of the process it seems like it will never be over and things will never be clean again. Yet, things will find their place again if we continue to work through the piles little by little. It won’t get clean in a day, but as we continue it will get better and we will wonder how we ever functioned with all of that stuff before. We will wonder why we didn’t do it earlier because it feels so good and so free. Cleaning is messy but it’s worth the process.

“After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.”
Romans 8:30 MSG

It’s in His nature. He is a faithful God who completes what He has begun. He is faithful to invite you into the abundant life of freedom and walk with you each step unto the very end. It is a process. He calls you by name, sets you on a solid basis, establishes you, and stays with you. Did you notice who is next to you on the solid basis? It’s Him. God Himself is with you. He is committed to you. He is with you in the mess you are in and the piles you see, but He doesn’t seem them the way you do, as piles and messiness. No, He sees freedom. You are one step closer to freedom. This is not to be confused with being loved more by your Father. He loves you as you are, which is why He is calling you out of the junk and into freedom. He can’t help it. He can’t help but be faithful to stay with you to know more freedom and life. So stay with the One who stays with you.

Settle but don't Settle

“Settle on what is real so you don’t settle for what’s not.”

Loren Thornburg

A young boy on the plane would not stop crying. He was offered food, comfort, toys, and everything the dad and grandmother could think to do. The only thing that would satisfy him it seemed was going to be his mom who was absent. I was struck by how the young boy would not settle for anything except his mom. Even the grandmother, although having incredibly motherly qualities, was not going to satisfy his need. I was reminded that we need to be a little more like this boy. I don’t mean we should cry until we get what we want, but that we should not settle for anything less than the real thing. So often we look for comfort in places that are only temporary fixes, leaving us with no other option but to continually be dependent for more, because it is never enough. Instead, we can look deeper, beyond the surface or the instant comfort to that which we are truly longing to find. First you have to know what that longing is to be willing to search and wait for it. Don’t miss the real thing. Settle on it and don’t settle for anything less.

“You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

1 Peter 2:2-5 NLT

The Lord is the real thing. He gives us the “pure spiritual milk” we are longing to find. Peter is encouraging us to cry out for the real thing now that the people have tasted of the Lord’s kindness and know how good it is. Although they faced different times, we face similar temptations; to find satisfaction in places other than the Lord. We look to food, friends, TV, music, success, accomplishments, anywhere and everywhere to find purpose, satisfaction and comfort. These things are not bad things. The Lord can use all of these things. However, they were never meant to be what we often look to them to be...everything. Only the Lord can fill that place in us, that place that is crying out for fullness. Look to the Lord, cry out to the Lord, settle for nothing less than the kindness of the Lord. Taste of it again and again. It will always be enough. Settle on the Lord for He is settled on you. He is settled on bringing you to fullness of salvation and abundant life now and forever.

Closer than You Think

“Hope is often so close that we don’t recognize it.”

Loren Thornburg

In the midst of things it’s hard to tell what is going on. It reminds me of a type of painting known as Pointillism. Small dots of color are used to form an image. If you stand up close to the painting all you can see are dots of color, however from farther away the dots come to life, forming an image. I am finding much of life is similar to pointillism. Each day is a dot forming the story and the image of my life. I live it up close, unable to see the beautiful painting being created. The difficulties and problems are so close that I can’t see the ways they are making something beautiful. In this pain I don’t know that the other dots I see are forming a picture of hope. It is in these times when I am closest to the hope, yet it’s hard to see it for what it really is. From time to time we get to step back and see that the dots are more than dots, the pain is more than pain, and what we thought was destruction was instead our saving. Hope can finally be seen as more than dots. Look for it. It may be closer than you think.

“...They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.”

Acts 14:22 NLT

I found myself kneeling at the foot of a cross. I looked up and all I could see was a pole. I knew I was at the foot of a cross but I realized although I was about as close as you can get to the cross without hugging it, it looked less like a cross than it had when I stood farther away. It reminded me of times when in the middle of suffering Jesus seemed so far away, but then in looking back I was able to see He was actually holding me through it all. When we look at the truth of the gospel we see how closely suffering is tied to following Jesus. It was through His suffering in life and on the cross that we have come to know our greatest hope. Paul and Barnabus are reminding the believers of this truth that believers today need to be reminded of as well. I so often need this reminder. Tribulations are not God’s abandonment of us, but they are His invitation for us to enter His Kingdom. So we can cling to the pole trusting there is a cross, a greater picture of hope. Hope that saves us, hope that holds us, and hope that never leaves us.

Hide and Seek

“Hidden in life’s trials are the treasures we’ve been seeking.”
Loren Thornburg

Hide and seek is a popular kids game where everyone except the person designated as “it” tries to find the best hiding place to avoid being found first and being “it.” What I find from that game is the hide and seek of life. Often we need to be “it” more, seeking the things of life that are hidden. They hide in unusual places that we would not have guessed. It’s not as simple as looking under beds and behind closet doors. Maybe we need to start looking in the places we thought least likely or least desired...the trials that we face. For it is there that I am finding I have found the things that become treasures. What I thought was a set back becomes great provision. The relationship break up that frees us to find someone better fit for us, the job we didn’t get that keeps us seeking to find an even better one. There are blessings to be found. Don’t miss them. They might be hiding.

“Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ--that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective...be content with obscurity like Christ.”
Colossians 3:2,4 MSG

We need to be seeking the things the Lord is about. That means we need to see things from His perspective which is so vastly different from our own. It won’t be found right in front of us. Christ is hidden in obscure places. He is calling us to seek and find Christ for who He is and not for who we want Him to be. It may seem odd or obscure but it is always good and always better, we just don’t always see it as He does until later. The more we learn to seek Him the more we find Him in His obscure places. He is not trying to remain hidden but He is inviting us to real life which is hidden in Him. In hide and seek there is a version where there is a home base that once you reach you are safe and escape being “it.” God gives us a home base in Him. The best part of the journey to see things from His perspective is that all along the way God invites us to be hidden in Him, escaping trouble. He is the ultimate home base. The Lord hides and the Lord hides. He seeks us and finds us that we may be hidden in Him and see more of His perspective. What once seemed hidden and obscure becomes our greatest blessing...more of Him. Hide in Him and Seek His ways.

Increase by Fire

“Increase comes through hot, hard places.”

Loren Thornburg

Heat can be dangerous and yet when applied and used well it can greatly increase the value of something and someone. Silver is one of those things. There are various methods by which you can attain pure silver. These combine heat in a special furnace and other elements to refine and purify silver scrap into something of great worth and value. Without this process it would remain scrap, missing the beauty of what it could be. Our lives are much the same. It is those hard places that purify us into something greater, into someone with even more to offer. There are different methods of this process, different ways of getting there, and it is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. But, the results remain the same...beautiful. Although there is beauty and usefulness in scraps, in who we are and who we were before the fire, it is the fire that brings increase and helps us to more. Why remain scrap when you can be silver?

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them…”

Zechariah 13:9 AMP

A remnant would be saved. God is in the business of saving His people. The hard part though is the hard parts. His saving looks much different from what we would expect it to. It looks like refining and it feels like fire. Yet, in the Lord’s hands it is good. He knows what we need more than we do to bring us to great increase. Who better to do that than the One who created us. With Him we are always in a special furnace, a place where we can know that if we let Him, God will use whatever trial we face for our purification. Furthermore, pure means more free for we are no longer weighed down by unnecessary elements. I want to be pure as silver, free as pure, but that takes some fire.

Sooner the Better

“Life is like dirty dishes. The sooner you deal with the junk the easier it is to clean.”

Loren Thornburg

Doing dishes is one of those parts of life that we have to keep doing over and over. As long as we keep eating we are going to have to keep cleaning. One thing I have found that makes it easier is cleaning sooner rather than later. The longer the dish sits there with the junk on it the harder it becomes to clean and the more energy and time it takes to get it clean later. I see that things in life are like this as well. The sooner we can address the junk the better. Whether that be relational conflict, lies we believe, or illnesses we face, still it remains true that if we can catch these things early on they will have less time to develop and therefore be easier to address and resolve. The more we let them harden the harder they become to overcome. Lets get it early...and not just the dishes.

“Disciples so often get into trouble; still, God is there every time.”

Psalm 34:19 MSG

The message has never been, ‘don’t get dirty,’ but rather, ‘don’t stay dirty.’ God never expected us to be perfect. He, more than anyone, knows our sinful nature and our weaknesses. He is the One who formed us and made us and He knows how dirty we’ve been and how prone to get dirty we still are. Dishes that we use can’t help but get dirty, but they can still stay clean as long as the junk is continually removed. It’s easier to remove if too much time doesn’t pass in between. So often we hide our junk and dirt thinking God is ashamed of it and of us. Yet, the contrary is true. He loves us with our junk; He expects us to get dirty; and He is there with us in the midst of it, dirt and all. He more than anyone can make us clean, no matter how many years or layers of junk we find ourselves beneath. He can make us more than clean, He can make us new. So why wait...the sooner the better.