Taste and See (Join Me Over At The Pure Sacrifice)

Today, I have the sweet privilege of being a guest blogger over at  The Pure Sacrifice,' the blog of a wonderful young woman and sister-in-Christ, Deanna Wiseburn.  

Deanna and I 'met' here in the blogosphere last year, and I've not only seen the tremendous growth in her relationship with Christ, but I've been taken aback (in a good way) at how Deanna has obediently stepped WAY out of her comfort zone to serve our Lord in ways she probably NEVER imagined!  To me, Deanna is living proof of Philippians 4:13 -- she CAN do all things through Christ, who strengthens her!

My hope is once you've finished reading my post, 'Taste And See', you'll spend time looking around and digging deeper into Deanna's inspiring and thought-provoking writings. She has a humble, sincere and gentle spirit, and writes from a heart surrendered completely to Jesus Christ.

But hey...don't just take my word for it. Please click here to head on over with me to The Pure Sacrifice and check it out for yourself.

Graphics credit

See you there!

An Addendum to 'A Slow Fade'

'Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties. And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' ~ Psalm 139:23-24, NKJV

After writing and posting 'A Slow Fade' the other day, and receiving private messages from those who wondered if this post was indeed about them (it wasn't), I felt an overwhelming need to respond here and speak the truth, in love.

First of all, let me sincerely assure everyone: if I am EVER going to write a post that is unequivocally about YOU and a specific, serious experience or a deeply personal struggle of yours, I would most certainly ask your permission FIRST before ever typing a word, while most humbly and respectfully submitting and adhering to your response, should you say "No."

In composing 'A Slow Fade', I tried to be as vague as possible, not naming names or sharing specific details, even though it is highly unlikely that the one whose situation became the catalyst for this post about compromise and disobedience will ever read it. It's my understanding that at this point in time, they wouldn't be in a position of mind or of a heart attitude to desire to do so.  I don't think they're even aware I HAVE a blog. In addition, I did not want to cause any further pain and heartache to those closest to this situation, nor did I desire to promote gossip. 

That being said, please understand that when I write, I'm not just writing about and referring to another's experiences and struggles with something (be it a temptation, a sin, an addiction, a hurt, etc.) for the sake of having something to post, but to relate them to my own similar issues as well, or what lessons I've learned from them.  I, too, am a student and a first partaker of these lessons as much as, if not more, than my faithful readers. 

Earnest Prayer, by C. Michael Dudash

Because believe me, dear ones, with the life I've lived, I am in no position to ever specifically highlight another's faults, flaws or failures with the intention of condemning them, or causing them pain and public humiliation here. I certainly wrestle with enough of my own imperfections and demons on a daily basis not to be so self-righteous that I feel the need to condemn another.

However -- if you clearly felt deeply convicted in ANY way, shape or form by 'A Slow Fade' (or any other post here for that matter), please know that is the Holy Spirit's nudging and conviction, asking you to open up your heart to the Lord God, allowing Him access to search it, reveal the struggle with sin within, give you time to confess and repent, and then heal and cleanse you of it.  

It's my sincere hope that the messages the Holy Spirit inspires me to share on this blog through the written word will somehow make a difference in someone's life and perhaps even

• encourage and inspire them
• offer them hope
• alert them to an area of compromise or disobedience they are walking in
• challenge them to make a change
• invite them to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ

Because in reality -- it's not me being able to do any of these things, but our beloved Holy Spirit. I'm well aware now that I'm merely His conduit -- and again, a humble student -- of every message He sees fit to send through my writing. 

The Comforter, by C. Michael Dudash

The Journaling Genesis

My bloggy BFF Dawn, over at Beneath The Surface  and HER bloggy pal Susie, from Recovering Church Lady  have joined forces (picture a bloggy Justice League!) to create "Random Journal Day" (insert fanfare here), where those of us out here in the blogosphere who also journal can select a random entry from one of our journals (be it new or ancient) and share it with each other.


I must admit, I initially balked at Dawn's invitation to give it a shot, post an entry and link up.  Who, me?  Really?  I know this sounds ridiculously childish. Because it is.  I mean, c'mon -- what's the big deal?  Here I am with a blog to which I frequently post stories of tears, fears, joys, victories, blessings and burdens -- and sometimes, things I'd much rather keep hidden away in the deeper, darker recesses of my heart and soul.  So what's the problem? 


Maybe I'm afraid that I'm not going to do this linking up thingie right. I've never done that before.  It's all new to me, and while I know that change is good, I generally shy away from it. 

Or maybe it's because I'm slightly embarrassed. When I began journaling in earnest, back in 2002, I hadn't really written ANYTHING since my high school days (way back before there was electricity, according to my darling teen daughter).  Looking over these early journal entries, they look so....crude, adolescent and amateurish.  I shared with Dawn that to me, this was akin to me jumping off the high dive -- but not being able to swim, while the hunky lifeguard is distracted, totally engrossed in convo with some little bikini babe.


But -- enough whining and hedging. I'm holding my breath and diving in!

Ok, seriously now....how pathetic is THIS?? My first journal
and this is what I grabbed for?  My creative spirit must have
been in a dead slumber at that moment.  Not a picture or sticker
to be found on this bad boy. 

November 7, 2002 -- My first journal and an entry made two weeks after receiving my diagnosis of an aggressive form of breast cancer at age 45 AND less than a year after coming to know Jesus as my Savior.  A dear friend who was my neighbor and the director of my children's preschool, had been given her own cancer diagnosis not long before mine.  She encouraged me to start a journal, simply writing down what was going on in my life, what I was thinking and how I felt, etc.  But it actually became so much more than that; it became my journey to a closer walk with Jesus:


"Happiness comes from smooth and happy circumstances; but real joy comes from trusting in Christ.  Joy is a quiet confidence, an inner peace that comes from knowing Christ.  We can lose our happiness when trouble comes into our lives -- and it WILL come! -- but it can't take our joy away.  As long as we have faith, hope and trust in the Lord, and continue to seek His face.


The most powerful testimony I can give is a godly life -- to let my life be an example of Jesus and His love.  Especially now, with this diagnosis of breast cancer.  What a curve ball I've been hit with that could fell me if I let it.  I could turn inward and become an angry, bitter person, shaking my fist at God and handing out engraved invitations to my pity party.  Or, I could give this ALL to the Lord -- leaning on Him, trusting that He knows what's best for me, and showing everyone, by how I present myself to them, (how I talk and how I react to the sure-to-come difficult situations), that Christ is in me.

Wow -- that was 10 years ago, and I'm happy to say, I'm still cancer-free, praise God!  But WHAT a long, unexpected journey that turned out to be. There were lots of dark, mountainous roads, pitfalls and scary detours.  Many, many times my walk with Christ looked more like a limp and on my worst days, a slow crawl. Yet those were the days that I felt His Presence the most, carrying me through.  And there were also so many joys, blessings, victories and lessons learned along the way. Journaling through it all helped me to keep my perspective -- my mind centered on what and Who was most important, my eyes on Jesus.


I often wonder what my life would have looked like, dealing with cancer, had I turned down Jesus's invitation to come to Him and turned away from His promise that "you will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13), choosing instead to do it all on my own.


I shudder to think of how things could have turned out. And thank God for how they actually did.     

My Precious Moments keepsake statue; a gift from a friend
during my time in Cancer Land. It's called, appropriately
enough, "Life Is Worth Fighting For."

And even though I’m walkin’ through 
The valley of the shadow 
I will hold tight to the hand of Him 
Whose love will comfort me 
And when all hope is gone 
And I’ve been wounded in the battle 
He is all the strength that I will 
Ever need 
And He will carry me ~ He Will Carry Me, by Mark Schultz

Something To Say

The other day a friend emailed me, encouraging me to not give up writing my blog, after I'd let it be known that I was struggling with this thought.  She said, ‘The world needs to hear from Pam Manners.’ I’ve been thinking about that this morning and wondering ‘Why? What can I possibly say that a thousand others out there haven’t already said as well as or more eloquently than I ever could on blog or devotional sites and in books?'

   
Yet, that should be of no concern to me, because my friend is entirely correct -- the world does need to hear from me. Ok, let me step in immediately here to assure you I am not saying this to brag or boast about myself. Actually, what the world needs to hear or read is God’s message through me, through the words with which He provides for me and inspires me to place onto this blog.  God speaks. I am merely to be His humble, obedient scribe.

In the Bible’s Book of Numbers, there is the story of Balaam, a man summoned by Balak, king of Moab, to put a curse on God’s own people, the Israelites, after they had encamped nearby. In my study Bible, Balaam is described as a prophet who always relied on God to guide his words. When confronted by Balack to do his bidding, Balaam answered him by saying, “But can I just say anything? I must speak only what God puts in my mouth” (Numbers 22:38) and “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” (Numbers 23:12)

And in the Book of Jeremiah, when the young, would-be prophet gave God his fearful, hesitant and lame excuse as to why he couldn’t do what God had asked of him -- “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child” -- God reprimanded him by saying, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you” (Jeremiah 2:7), and “Stand up and say to them whatever I command you.” (Jeremiah 2:17)

And so it must be with me. God’s called me to be His wordsmith and He’s given me this gift of writing to share His messages with those who need to hear them. He doesn’t want to hear my laundry list of Moses-like ‘What if?' excuses:

*What if someone gets offended by what I write?
*What if people think what I’ve written is dumb and make fun of it?
*What if no one likes my blog?
*What if no one reads my blog?
*What if I I’ve got nothing to say?

In God's grand scheme of things, all of that really doesn’t matter. So what if someone’s offended by what I’ve written? Maybe what they’re actually feeling is conviction instead:
’For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’ (Hebrews 4:12) So what if people think what I’ve written is dumb and make fun of it? I’m in good company, for the apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that ‘the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing’ (1 Corinthians 1:18), and ‘For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21).

So what if no one likes my blog? Paul says, this time in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 & 6, that when we speak (or in this case, write) with God’s approval, we do so to please Him, not others, nor are we to seek or expect praise for it. And so what if not many people or nobody at all is reading my blog?  God has made it crystal clear to me that I’m to continue writing  anyway. In Ezekiel 2:7, God told His prophet Ezekiel, regarding the Israelites, to ‘speak My words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen.’  And those times I feel I’ve got nothing to say?  Not to worry. Look, if God can put words in a donkey’s mouth (flip or scroll on back to Numbers 22 and check out THAT part of the story!), He will certainly put the right words in my heart and head and allow them to flow from pen to journal, from fingers to keyboard to blog site. I have to say, I’ve been utterly amazed at and humbled by how God has done this and how He continues to do this with me. I had absolutely no intentions of writing what you're reading here today…..it was completely Holy Spirit inspired.

So, there you have it.  Thanks to my friend's email and God's persistent nudging me towards these eye opening verses from His Word, I'm pressing on with my writing, no matter what. 

Today, what is God inspiring YOU to blog about, speak about, sing about, write a prayer about (and perhaps send along to someone to bless and encourage them)? Sit quietly, wait patiently and listen to what He’s telling you. And if He’s given you something to say -- then just say it -- because someone, somewhere needs to hear it.

Come on and let your life be heard today,
You’ve got something to say;

If you're living, if you're breathing
you’ve got something to say,
you know if your heart is beating
you’ve got something to say;
and no one can say it like you do
God is love and love speaks through
you got it, you got it,
you’ve got something to say ~ Something To Say, by Matthew West