Instead

“Instead of worry...find faith

Instead of trouble...find peace

Instead of fear…find joy

Instead of despair...find hope

Instead of darkness...find light

Instead of how it’s been...find another way.”

Loren Thornburg

Instead is by definition an alternative or substitute. It means that another possibility is available. In a gluten free house we have had to learn to find other options for wheat. There are many alternative ingredients for our recipes. Instead of wheat flour you can use things like rice flour, almond flour, and tapioca flour. There are different ingredients in our lives as well. However, sometimes in the midst of things we forget that there is another option. In the midst of a difficult situation worry seems the only option , but you can find faith instead. When finances get tight you don’t have to live in fear you can find joy instead. There is another way. When your dreams feel out of reach you don’t have to despair, you can find hope instead. There are more possibilities. Trade your worries and get joy instead.

“So don’ be afraid and don’t worry. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life.”

1 Peter 3:15 NLT

The apostle Peter is writing here to encourage persecuted believers to respond well in the midst of their suffering. Although our persecution and suffering may look a little different from the believers of the early church the emotions remain the same...worry, fear, anxiety, and despair. In situations like theirs and ours it makes sense that we would respond that way. Even more, most people would expect and understand for you to respond in that way. However, there is another way. Instead of whatever you are feeling you can worship Christ as Lord of your life. For in Him there is hope, in Him there is peace, in Him there is joy, in Him there is freedom, and in Him there is truth. Although you may have all the perfect ingredients for fear, you don’t have to...you can worship instead!

Call for Time

“There is reason to be thankful. There is reason to hope. There are reasons...take time to see them.”

Loren Thornburg

In sports you can call for a time-out. This is a time where the game is stopped so that the team and coaches can communicate and strategize. We see this in many sports at important moments in the game to ensure everyone is on the same page and to re-focus. It’s easy to get caught up in the momentum of the game where things begin to spiral out of control. Let’s take up the strategy of coaches in our own lives and call time. We all need time to stop, rest, and reflect on what has happened and what we want to see happen. As we look back there is much to be thankful for. As we look forward there is much to be hopeful for. The start of a new year is a great time to do that. It’s a great time for thanksgiving and hope. As you look back what are you thankful for? As you look forward what are you hoping for? Lets call for time as we begin this new year and let that become a part of our whole year. Keep calling for time in the midst of your day, in the midst of your week, in the midst of your season. Call time for thanksgiving and hope!

“On your feet now--applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people, his well-tended sheep”

Psalm 100:1-3 MSG

God loves time with you! When we call for time to be with Him things change. If not our circumstances then our hearts. Yet sometimes as we take time thanksgiving is no where to be found. Don’t let that keep you from coming, but rather there in that spot “sing yourself into his presence.” For whether you see reason for thanks or for hope or not one thing doesn’t change: God is God! God, the One who made you! He says that you are His and you are well-tended. Yes, you are His well-tended sheep and that is something to be thankful for, that is something that gives reason to hope even now, even still. So on your feet! Applaud God for who He is! He not only sees you and knows you but is attending to you well. Keep singing until you see you have so much to be thankful for and so much to be hopeful for. Take time with Him, the One who loves time with you.

Invited

“Invited to dance, invited to sing, invited to celebrate...you’re invited to take time to enjoy life.”

Loren Thornburg

There are many invitations this time of the year. To parties, to get togethers with friends and family, and to many different gatherings and functions. There are also other kinds of invitations. Invitations to spend money here, spend time there, to be busy with this or occupied with that. An invitation is a request inviting someone to go somewhere or do something. Sometimes things get neglected with so many other invitations at the forefront. So in the midst of so many other invitations let me invite you to take time. Take time to be thankful, take time to rest, take time to enjoy, take time to take in all that this season of celebrating brings. The more I face hard things in my life the more I see my need to enjoy and celebrate every chance that I get. Don’t miss it...take time...you’re invited.

“… “Who needs a doctor: the healthy of the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders--an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.””

Luke 5:31-32 MSG

Jesus had an open invitation. He was always inviting people to join Him. In this story in Luke He is surrounded at a dinner party by many that the Pharisees thought unworthy of their time, yet Jesus saw them as first to be invited. This is an invitation to something more than dinner, more than a good time, more than an evening, but to a lifetime of LIFE with Him. It starts with dinner, it starts with an invitation to gather, but the greater invitation that Jesus gives is to a changed life from the inside out. In this time of celebrating He is inviting us to Him. We are invited to join in the celebration of the gift of His birth that doesn’t stop with His birth but only begins there. And you’re invited. We all have places that we feel like the outsider yet Jesus came to invite you. Yes, you’re invited! Come join Him!!

It's a Gift

“Take it for gifted not for granted”

Loren Thornburg

Granted has many uses and meanings. One of those is the common phrase of ‘taking something for granted,’ meaning we fail to appreciate someone or something that is familiar or obvious (Oxford). It’s a common phrase in part because it’s very common that we do that. We miss it, we don’t see the full worth of the good things that are in our lives. We become accustomed to having certain things and begin to feel entitled, forgetting that they are a gift. Your family is a gift, your friends are a gift, your provision is a gift, your life is a gift, today is a gift. So many times we don’t know the full worth of our gifts until they are taken away. Don’t wait for that to happen. See your gifts now, as what they really are, for their full worth, in their full weight. You have been gifted, don’t take it for granted.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

THE gift of God. God has given us many gifts, many great gifts, yet salvation is referred to here in Ephesians as the gift of God. Part of what makes a gift truly a gift is that you have been given it without doing something in return. God has given us the ultimate gift in true gift form for it is “not your own doing.” You did nothing to earn it. That’s why it’s called grace. It’s God’s favor by no merit of your own but simply, solely and truly His favor on your life to give you eternal life. At times in our faith we get glimpses of how more than great this gift is, yet so many times we forget. It becomes so familiar, so common, so obvious that it loses it’s weight in our lives. Ask God to remind you of His gift, THE gift of salvation. He did it for you. He gave you THE gift. Let that take your heart to joy and thanksgiving.

Receive Your Calling

“You’ve been called...it’s true

You’ve been called...you can

You’ve been called...grab hold

You’ve been called...so go”

Loren Thornburg

Everyone has a calling. Yes, that means you! We all have different callings. Often we think of callings as our jobs or vocation which is a part of it, but there is more. Calling is more than just what we do, but who we are. You may be called to be a leader but this can be leading a household, leading a group of friends, leading in the workplace, or leading with the job title. Regardless of the job title a leader is called to lead. Now we may be called to a specific vocation like to be doctors and lawyers but even still we are called to be that in different ways because we are each different and unique. There is no set way, no set rules, except that you have to receive it. No one else can fulfill it quite like you have been called to. So you must embrace first that you have been called, that you can because you’ve been called, and go then go with it. You’ve been called...so go.

“Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11 NLT

God is calling you. Even in the midst of not knowing your calling He is calling you. He is calling you to be you in the places He has placed you right now. A new season may be coming but right now He has called you. What is He calling you to in this place? Whatever it is, do it as though He were doing it through you...because He is. Do it as though He is giving you all you need to do it...because He is. Whether He is calling you to step out into something big and scary or calling you to wait and rest, He is calling you to that place and will provide you with all you need, so let Him. Receive your calling as if God Himself were calling you...since He is. Since He is calling you, since He is doing it, since He is giving you all you need then give Him the glory. Give glory where glory belongs. All glory and power belong to Him, the One who is calling you.

Purpose Now

“There is pain now but there is purpose now.”

Loren Thornburg

You have purpose now. Even if you’ve made a huge mistake, even if you find yourself in the middle of divorce, even if you’re in the midst of sadness, even if you don’t have a job, even if you’re single, even if you’re lonely in the absence of people you love, even if your world seems to be falling apart, even if nothing major is going on, even there you have purpose still, even now you have purpose. Pain and purpose can coexist. However, sometimes it seems as if they are oil and vinegar at polar opposites. Pain seems so often to bring confusion and disillusion which are not words often used in a time where we see purpose. Our attention gets focused on the pain, unable to see past it. However, our not seeing purpose does not keep it from us. It’s like walking with your headphones on where all you can hear is your music unable to hear the sounds of your surroundings. It can be so hard to see past the pain to the purpose that is going on deeper beyond the surface. Regardless of the headphones of pain you find yourself in there is still purpose in where you are and where you are going. You still have purpose beyond the pain. You have purpose now.

“So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you.”

1 Peter 3:15 NLT

Peter is writing to encourage the people in their persecution and the pain of the persecution that makes it easy to give up in their faith. Although we may not face the same persecution, the struggle to see past our situation to our God still remains for us today. Thus, we can take the same encouragement that Peter spoke many years ago. Even now God will never fail you. He made you. Who better to trust you with then the One who made you and therefore knows you? He not only knows who you are and what is going on in your life but He knows your heart, your thoughts, your dreams, your desires. He made you on purpose for a purpose even now. You have purpose now. You can trust Him now. He will never fail you, not even now.

Covered isn't Clean

“Don’t just cover it, clean it.”

Loren Thornburg

To drink out of a dirty jar you first must clean it. I wouldn’t just fill the dirty jar with clean water thinking it would cover up the dirtiness. Similarly, to heal a dirty wound you couldn’t just put a bandaid over it. Although that might protect it from additional infection it would only keep the current infectious elements closed up for further infection. Yet we try to do this with our lives. We just put a bandaid over the wound or try to get clean water from a dirty jar. We want to just cover it up rather than deal with the dirt, the wound, and what is causing the infection. Sometimes we even use things that are good to cover it up, but good isn’t best and covered isn’t always clean. This is true of our hearts and minds. Unless we get rid of the hurt and lies you will never be the clean and free as you were intended to be. The problem with only covering is that it doesn’t go away. It comes up and out in different ways and eventually it can grow to something bigger than a bandaid can cover. So deal with it from the inside out.

“What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new true life.”

Psalm 51:6 MSG

God is after truth from the inside out. He can see past whatever we try to use to cover things up and He is not impressed nor is He fooled. He not only desires that we proclaim what is true but also that we confess and get rid of that which is not true. It’s good to have that which is true on our lips and in our thoughts, but it is better when those things dwell in our depths as well. The only way to do that is to let Jesus come in, to enter us, and fill us from the inside out. He loves to do this. When we confess the lies and things we are holding onto which are not true He has more room to enter with all His truth and new life. Let His truth reign from the inside out.