Come Follow Me over at Simple Truth!

Another new post on my new blog.
Please take a moment to follow me there, by clicking on the link and clicking "follow" on the new blog site.
Or choose to follow on Google+ as well!
Thanks so much!

Simple Truth

It's Official: I Don't Deserve Christmas.

Check out this post at Simple Truth!
Come peasant, king to own Him...

Follow me to Simple Truth!

Hi readers! I finally decided to simplify my blog site url...so that means the I am merging my "For His Glory" into my new blog, "Simple Truth".

 Over at "Simple Truth", I will continue blogging-hopefully more frequently- about all the hilarity, truth, adventure that is my life and what the Lord shows me in the midst!
I hope if you are already a follower you will come on over to
www.juliemcneely.blogspot.com
and join me in the moments ahead as the Holy Spirit reveals Simple Truth.
Life is complicated.
Live #simpletruth.

Batteries Required

"Batteries Required. Not Included"
There is nothing more frustrating than bringing home a product you are ready to use, only to realize that you failed to notice this "minor" detail.
Especially when it calls for a 9 volt, or "D" battery...the ones you never have on hand.
And so, you pull it out and pretend to use it, right?
Or...you try to generate your own power to make it operate, right?

Yeah...let's hope not.

You either drive back to the store, or you stick the product back in the box until you can get a hold of the necessary power source.
Why? Because batteries are required.
Necessary.
It just won't work without them.

Have you ever asked this question of yourself:
"Do I live a life that requires God?"

Think about it.

If the Spirit of God was removed from your life, is there anything that you are striving for, involved in, attempting, believing for, etc., that absolutely could not be accomplished with human effort alone?

I know this seems a drastic scenario, but it is one that has made me look at my life through the honest lens of the Holy Spirit.
All too often, I begin with the best intentions, seeking to fill my life with God things-not just good things-but then, I set out to accomplish them apart from Him.

I forget so easily that being a true disciple of Christ isn't just about trusting Him to impart the plan; it's also about trusting Him to impart the power to accomplish it.
Otherwise, bringing the plan to fruition gives glory to me rather than God.

I believe Him for the revealing the way, then I default to trusting my own will to walk it out.

Comfort zone.
Safety net.
Failsafe.
Operating from that place of, "Just in case God doesn't show up, I will be ok."
Face saved, and all that.

It just seems simpler and safer to live a life that doesn't require a power source.
That is...only if you enjoy living in the dark.
But God calls us out of that confusing, powerless, comfortable place:
"for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."(Ephesians 5:8)
Light.
Power.
Holy Spirit required kind of living.

How can I be content with living a life that minimally requires the presence and power of the One True Living God?

Even worse...how can I be content living a life that repeatedly functions without Him altogether?

I want to live a life that requires all that He is replacing all that I am.
I want to live a life that screams "Impossible!",  so the world sees that, "With God all things are possible."(Luke 1:27)
I want my life to shout HIS glory, not mine.

I want to live a life labeled: "Holy Spirit Power required."
A life that just won't work without Him.

"Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You; 

let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified!"

Psalm 40:16(AMP)

NOW!

  

                                               
Now.
It's when a baby wants its bottle
It's when my kids want their iPods.
It's when I want to fall asleep.
It's when my belly wants food.
It's when I want to lose weight.
It's when I want all the good things to begin and when I want all the stress to end.
Now.
It is the craving of so many categories of life.
Now seems like an unreachable fairy tale status.
Every part of life demands it, and we are keenly aware of how we are unable to deliver.
Yes, the now is in high demand.
And usually, we respond by ignoring the now.

We plan for days ahead and
we pine over days past,
forgetting that each of those are shaped in the very moments we are choosing to ignore.

Now is where the power lies...where the capacity for power increases exponentially, as we look face on at each moment.

We dream.
We wish.
We hope about the way things could be.
But the difference between a wish and reality is action:
Action in the now.

So, instead of excuses of why the future can't be what you hope,
and instead of excruciating remembrances of a past you wish you could erase,
start by taking a look at the now.

I, too, am guilty of ignoring the now.
Why? Because I am too busy stroking the later and beating up the past.

I have been asked so many times how to walk close with the Lord, how to get in His Word.
Most of time, a complicated answer and/or immediate major life overhaul is anticipated.
But the answer is simply this:
Do SOMETHING now.

Today, choose a moment to do something differently than you did the day before, the moment before.

Things don't change just because of a plan or a goal; they change when you do something in the now to move toward that goal.

If you want your destination to be a certain place, then the choices you make day to day have to be those that will put you on the path to your desire.

Instead of focusing so much on what you hope to be,
or what you have been,
stop and decide what you will do NOW.

NOW is laying the foundation of your future.
NOW will also become your past.

The actions that come to define our past and set the trajectory of our future all happen in the NOW.

NOW is the time of action.

What one thing will you
choose
to
do
differently
NOW?


"...Indeed, the 'right time' is now. Today is the day of salvation."
2 Corinthians 6:2

"So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless...we are shown to be right with God by what we do, no by faith alone."
James 2:17, 24

"For I am about to do something new. See I have already begun! Do you not see it?..."
Isaiah 43:19

Well, What Do You Expect?

It's like a wall.
A clear plexiglas wall, that everyone is trying to pretend isn't there.
The Church, the Body of Christ as a whole, has grown comfortable with this unseen reality.

Even worse than the fact that it is accepted, is the fact that it is what is expected.

And when expectation is sucked out of the atmosphere, true worship suffocates.

Our words set to melody are canisters for life, but they depart from our lips empty, void of the ability to resuscitate and revive because they rise from malnourished, power starved lives bogged down in the pride of mediocrity...and viciously unwilling to let go.

The stench of death permeates the room.
The sweet aroma of living sacrifice is painfully absent.
And we label it "worship".

So...we grip the pews,
gripe about the form and formula,
gasp when the unexpected makes an appearance, and
gawk at those hungry enough to embrace it.

No style or form of music or service can diminish or enhance our One True God.
He is the same yesterday, today and forever.(Hebrew 13:8)
God is not more worthy of praise in one setting than He is in another.

So why, then, is worship with abandon an endangered species?
We are more dazzled by the how and the what....and we have forgotten the Who that leads us to the why.

From traditional, to contemporary, to modern, to private...it may look different...but the pattern of low expectation amongst the individual Believer persists.

Platforms, performance, pleasantries, and practicalities become paramount.
They sneak in and taint the path.
These thieves allow us to see the way to worshiping "in Spirit and in Truth"(John 4), but scream out caution to our flesh that embracing anticipation is a path to reputation suicide.
We are warned by their presence that crying out in authentic expectation could possibly lead to an avalanche on this mountain of religious comfort we've created.

And so...we secure what we see as our plexiglas wall of protection, when in fact, we have just constructed a spiritual prison.

Predictable, proper, popular, and protected-this prison starts to look like home.
We take up the residence of limits.
We are consoled by the false comfort in familiarities.

Anticipation is a fading memory, if not a term completely undefined.

We expect nothing more than the prison we've constructed.

We are callous.
Numb.
Untouchable.
Hardened.

And the scariest part?
We are pleased.

After all, isn't that what authentic Christ Worship is all about: our pleasure?

What do you expect?


"The Lord says:
These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men."
Isaiah 29:13

"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
John 4:24

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship."
Romans 12:1

"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
'Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts...'"
Hebrews 3:7,8

Rocky Places

Today, I walked barefoot on a slimy, rocky river bed.
It was a completely unexpected adventure, but a necessary one all the same.
So, I rolled up my pants, ditched my shoes and waded into the cold water alone, as my family stood watching, safe and dry on the shore.

A razor cut, fresh from the morning's shave, stung like a thousand needles.
And then, the rocks.
It didn't look so bad, but the sharp little suckers were hidden from sight under the sludge of sandy river bottom...but not hidden from the tender soles of my feet.
I felt every one.

I don't like the rocky places.

Being barefoot, sole exposed, on the smooth sandy places, now that's where it's at.(excuse the grammar)

But when the path gets rocky and painful to the exposed soul...ahhh becomes ouch, and every step reminds: this is not a smooth place.

And so steps are taken with intent and care, but still bearing the weight and the pain...always, the pain.

The necessity of the rocky places.
None of us long to embrace that necessity, but it calls us to all the same.

As I stepped gingerly across the rocks, an image I recently took came to my mind.

It was a geode.
At face value-ugly, forgettable, even worthy of disdain beneath the feet...but when time is taken to look at the rock, turn the rock, treasure can be found within.
Crystals-shimmering beauty-reflecting light with brilliant color, yet, all hidden to the sole too focused on the pain of it's rocky outter surface.

These hard places that bruise our souls are rocks of purpose placed beneath our feet.

If we will take time to see them as just that-treasure that enhances the path-we may come to discover the beauty of the rocky places.

So, when you find that its time to wade deep into the cold, unexpected waters of life, even if it is all alone...roll up those pants legs, ditch your shoes, and know...
...know that there is beauty and purpose ahead for your soul.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
James 1:2-4 ESV

"You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God."
Isaiah 62:3 ESV