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A Little Marriage Advice

August 19, 2015/0 Comments/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

On Saturday I shared in the blessing of watching my niece get married. She’s 22, the same age I was when my husband and I stood before God and vowed to love one another, “Until death parts us.”

That day marked the beginning of a difficult but blessed journey. As I watched my niece walking toward her new husband joyfully clutching my brother’s arm, tears fell freely, tears that mingled the sadness of endings with the joy of new beginnings.

So today I’d like to celebrate marriage and share some words I read while traveling to her wedding. [Taken from the Proverbs 31 Ministries blog, AUGUST 13, 2015.]

The Best Marriage Advice I Ever Received
ALICIA BRUXVOORT

“Celebrate always, pray constantly, and give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. (This is God’s will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed)” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (VOICE)

The best marriage advice I ever received was to stand on a chair and clap.

I was 20 years old with a sparkling ring on my finger and shimmering dreams in my heart. And I was certain my upcoming wedding marked the beginning of my own happily ever after.

I’d made it a habit during my engagement to meet frequently with my mentor about love and life and marriage. We’d huddle together in the back corner of the Student Union, chatting about the challenges of two selfish people becoming one. We’d discussed intimacy and affinity, fighting fairly and forgiving.

And we prayed. Oh, how we prayed over the marriage that would soon change my name and my life.

Then, one afternoon, I asked, “What’s your best advice for a happy marriage?” My mentor cupped her coffee mug and paused. Suddenly, she smiled and looked me straight in the eye.

“Be your husband’s greatest fan,” she said. “Find something to celebrate every day, then stand on a chair and cheer out loud for your man.”

She swallowed a giggle and glanced at her own wedding ring. “It may sound silly,” she conceded, “but it’s worked for us.”

I laughed and promised to refine my cheerleading skills. And, for a while, I kept my word.

As a newlywed, I stood on a battered old kitchen chair in our tiny white-walled apartment and applauded my man with gusto. I cheered when he landed a job delivering pizzas, when he made omelets for breakfast, and when he hauled home baskets of clean clothes from the laundromat. I cheered when he passed his school exams and when he fixed our leaky faucet.

But I wasn’t the only cheerleader in our little family.

My husband climbed on chairs, too. He applauded when I made a batch of un-burnt brownies. He cheered when I survived my first day of student teaching. And he whooped and hollered when I got my first article published in the local newspaper. My man rooted for me when the rest of the world seemed silent, and his cheers drowned out my own internal critic’s noisy clanging.

Time passed, seasons changed and eventually those hands that had clapped with unabashed abandon became filled with babies, bills, diapers and the daily grind. And one morning, five kids and 10 years after I’d promised to be my husband’s greatest fan, I awoke to the hopeless hush of a weary heart.

I watched a sweet older couple strolling hand-in-hand through the park as I sat in the sandbox with my little ones, and wondered how anyone could keep love’s flame alight for a lifetime. I was only a decade into marriage and some days, I felt like the spark in my heart was waning dim.

That night, while my husband worked late, I complained to the Lord about the sorry state of my marriage. As the moonlight cast silver shadows on the dirty living room floor, God whispered, “When was the last time you cheered for your husband?”

I’d rooted for my son when he’d caught a fly ball at his baseball game. I’d clapped for my daughter when she’d made it across the monkey bars. And I’d cheered for my toddler when he’d eaten all of his peas.

But I couldn’t remember the last time I’d applauded my husband for anything.

The image of a beat-up kitchen chair flashed through my mind, and hot tears filled my tired eyes. I dropped to my knees with a tidal wave of conviction flooding my heart and an earnest prayer spilling from my lips, “Dear Jesus, show me how to become my husband’s greatest fan once again.”

In today’s key verses, the Apostle Paul doesn’t mention standing on chairs or clapping our hands, but he does command us to celebrate always …

Not just when we feel like it. Always.

This kind of celebration isn’t a well-planned party or inspired whimsy; this kind of celebration is a choice. It’s a deliberate barrage against ingratitude, a calculated attack on apathy.

To celebrate our spouse always means looking for what’s right rather than bemoaning what’s wrong. We focus on hope rather than wallow in disappointment; we acknowledge extraordinary grace in life’s ordinary grit.

To celebrate always is a daily decision to fan the flames of love in every season of the soul … ’til death do us part.

Standing on furniture and clapping loudly is optional, but rejoicing in good times and bad is not. Of course, if I were you, I’d practice a few spunky moves when nobody’s looking.

’Cause after 22 years of sacred matrimony, I’ve learned that cheerleading may be hard on my kitchen chairs, but it’s good for my marriage!

Dear God, I want to be my husband’s greatest fan. Grow in me a grateful heart and teach me how to celebrate my marriage in all circumstances. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Visit Alicia Bruxvoort’s blog for more encouragement.

A New Kind of Thirst

December 31, 2014/1 Comment/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19

Today marks the final day of 2014.

I wonder, dear one. Was your year what you had hoped it would be? As you look ahead to 2015, are you filled with hopeful expectation? Or do you dread another year approaching with the same disappointments and struggles that plagued you last year?

I’m feeling decidedly hopeful about what may come in 2015. Not because of any resolutions or plans that I’ve made, but because I know a God who keeps His Word.

“Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.” Isaiah 44:2-4

Here’s why I feel so hopeful, dear one. I’m thirsty.

A longing stirs deep within my soul for more of Jesus. I am not satisfied with where I’ve been; He hasn’t allowed me to be. I long to see Him reveal Himself more fully. My soul thirsts for His living water and cries for Him to pour it forth.

And that’s why I feel so hopeful. Because Isaiah 44:3 promises that God will pour water on the thirsty land. And I’m thirsty.

Are you thirsty, dear one?

I pray that you are. You see, God will not pour water on a land that doesn’t recognize its thirst. He pours it on the thirsty land, one that perceives its lack.

The words of James 4:6 come to mind.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

God stands ready to pour out grace to those who understand how desperately they need it.

I wonder. What if our unwillingness to recognize our thirst holds back the outpouring God wants to unleash? Have we pretended to be satisfied, covering our thirst by appearing to be full when in fact we are parched and dry?

What is your heart saying, dear one? Is your smile on Sunday morning covering burdens you’ve been afraid to name? Do you offer “right” answers while wondering at the absence of peace you feel within your heart? Do you speak of the beauty of God’s presence but silently wonder where He actually is?

Maybe your present routine is suddenly not enough for you. Perhaps, like me, something stirs within you, telling you that what you’ve been experiencing of God is somehow less than.

Beloved, what if that stirring comes from God Himself? What if He seeks to awaken us to the “more” He always intended for us? What if He simply waits for us to acknowledge our thirst and cry out to Him?

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”

Oh, how we need the revelation of His Spirit! That’s the only thing that will distinguish us from the lost, dear one. People need to see our lives marked by the presence and power of the Spirit of God. And He will pour out on us as we acknowledge our thirst.

So here’s how I plan to begin 2015. Like Elijah, who after 3 ½ years of drought perceived that God was ready to send the rain, I will drop to my knees and pray for the promised outpouring. And I will not stop until I see the cloud forming over the sea and my flesh feels the first drops of rain.

Will you join me, dear one? We’ve got nothing to lose. God always keeps His Word.

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17

You see? When we humble our hearts and pray believing, it’s as good as done.

God Chooses to Need You

December 10, 2014/0 Comments/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8

God never moves without partnering with people. Yep, that’s what I said.

The enemy would have us believe that God will just do what He wants to do anyway so you and I don’t have to pay attention. We can just do what we want.

But that isn’t what scripture demonstrates. I challenge you to find an occurrence in God’s Word where He intervened to bring deliverance without involving people—either by acts of faith or through prayer.

Even the birth of Jesus involved human cooperation. A betrothed virgin heard the word of the Lord proclaimed through the angel Gabriel and became an earthly conduit of God’s power as her heart came into agreement with God.

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

God doesn’t move without involving people. He can, but He chooses not to. Instead, He waits for willing vessels who will cooperate with Him to release His power.

A few weeks ago, we discovered why that is. God gave dominion of the earth to man, and He never goes back on His Word.

What does that mean for you and me, dear one?

We will see God move as we listen at His gates, discern what He is speaking, and agree with Him through prayer and obedient faith. When we do that, we become gatekeepers (John 10:3), releasing the will and power of God to intervene on this earth.

That’s the authority God gave to man before the fall, and that Christ bought back for the church through the cross. You and I are supposed to partner with God to release His will and hold back the work of the enemy.

In the fifth chapter of James, God challenges us to pray. Verse 16 declares,

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Immediately after making that declaration, scripture draws our attention to Elijah.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. James 5:17-18

The prophet Elijah was a gatekeeper who drew near to God and allowed God to work powerfully through him. Let’s take a look at the passage James refers to.

In 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah made a surprising claim to Ahab, King of Israel.

“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

Pretty bold, don’t you think? Elijah stands before Israel’s king and predicts a drought. What would finally bring the rain? Elijah’s word, the word of a man.

Now you and I both know Elijah alone didn’t have the power to stop and start the rain. What he did have, however, was a relationship with a God who speaks. Elijah simply listened and agreed with what God said. What Elijah spoke to Ahab originated in the revealed will of God.

Let’s see how God finally brought the rain.

After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” 1 Kings 18:1

Three years into the drought, God spoke to Elijah. Essentially He said, “You do this, and I will do this.”

Elijah had to come out of hiding and confront Ahab. When he did, God promised to send the rain.

Elijah trusted God and did as he was told. He confronted Ahab with his idolatry, putting the prophets of Baal to a test against the God of Israel. As Elijah called upon God to come and consume his drenched sacrifice, he said,

“… let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.” 1 Kings 18:36

Elijah’s obedience unleashed the power of God, bringing fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. Afterward, Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain” (1 Kings 18:41).

Three years without rain, and finally Elijah tells Ahab it’s time to celebrate because rain is on its way.

Well, that’s what God said, isn’t it? Elijah had done his part. Now he can just sit back and watch God move, right? But that isn’t what he does. Let’s read verse 42.

So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.

Immediately upon leaving Ahab, Elijah climbs to a mountaintop and begins to pray. And he continues to pray, until his eyes see that what God had already told him would happen had come to pass.

Why the need for prayer, dear one? Because God gave us authority on earth and has chosen to work through people.

It makes perfect sense, really. God always moves through the relationship He designed us for. In order to work through us, He needs us close.

God revealed to Elijah what He desired to do. It was then up to Elijah to open the gate and release it on this earth through prayer.

I wonder, dear one. What does God desire to do through you?

Free to Choose

October 22, 2014/1 Comment/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive. Jeremiah 13:17

For reasons beyond our understanding, God chose to hand the earth He created over to the dominion of man (Genesis 1:28). It pleased Him to give us a say in what happens here rather than force us to cooperate with His desires. You see, love is only love when it’s offered freely.

So He set His perfect will in place over His creation, and He gave man the authority to choose whether he’d walk in those blessings or live according to his own plans.

He chose poorly.

I sure wish Adam had taken hold of the truth revealed in last week’s opening scripture.

“For the simple are killed by their turning away… but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” Proverbs 1:32-33

Adam turned away from the protective counsel of His Creator and walked straight into disaster for us all. Why did He do it? He followed the wrong voice. He chose to trust the serpent instead of trusting God and found himself caught by the terrifying reality of Romans 6:16.

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

The moment Adam did what the serpent desired of him and bit into that forbidden fruit, he became a slave to the one he obeyed. Sin entered his heart and took control of his will, tainting his desires with a bent toward destruction.

I can only imagine his horror as the tide of emotions brought on by his sudden knowledge of evil flooded his mind. Shame, guilt, fear, blame—all of which he’d never known—tumbled into his heart like a torrent.

I wonder if the realization even hit him in that moment that he’d lost his God-given position. One moment—one choice—diminished him from ruler over the earth to slave of the evil one, shattering his perfect world and altering the course of history.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. John 10:10

Indeed. The thief stole man’s dominion and claimed it as his own. There’s a reason evil increases with each generation. The reigning prince of this world manipulates mankind to see his agenda played out here instead of God’s.

And most of mankind blindly cooperates, powerless to stop it. Until Jesus . . .

God could’ve left us here to rot in our sin, dear one. After all, we chose it. But that isn’t what love does, and God is love (1 John 4:8).

So He sent Jesus—destined in God’s foreknowledge to become a perfect, sinless sacrifice— to bear our sin and conquer its power so that you and I could live free.

Do you see it, beloved? Jesus restored our right to choose. We don’t have to be carried away by the encroaching tide of evil. Instead, we have the ability to do what Adam failed to do. Set free by the blood of Christ, we can choose to embrace and loose the will of God.

That’s really what prayer is, dear one.

Prayer is the heart of a human vessel coming into agreement with the will of God and choosing to release it on this earth by faith.

That’s why Jesus instructed His disciples,

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10

According to Jesus, the primary objective of all prayer is to glorify the name of the Father and release His will on this earth as He has already prepared it in heaven. That’s why scripture can make so many extravagant promises about prayer, dear one. True prayer finds its source in Christ itself,

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14

So let’s review. God gave dominion of the earth to man. Man handed it over to Satan. Jesus gave it back to the church. The only thing that can presently thwart the will of the enemy on this planet is the body of Christ releasing the will of God through prayer. That’s where you and I come in.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

And when you and I submit ourselves fully to the leadership of the Spirit, trusting God for His best for us instead of insisting on our own, miracles happen. When we willingly choose to agree with God and let loose His desires through prayer, blessings flow in Jesus’ name.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

I’m game. Are you?

An Invitation to Pray

June 4, 2014/0 Comments/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly . . . and the Lord remembered her. 1 Samuel 1:10, 19

It’s 6:30am on Wednesday morning. Blog day.

I should have something ready to post, but I don’t. I started writing a teaching for you last week—a message on friendship with Jesus—but I never finished it. The hours I set aside to complete it were interrupted by a phone call. Instead, I spent my afternoon with a friend in the Emergency Room.

Perhaps you’ll get to read it next Wednesday.

To be honest with you, I could have finished it up last night, but that would have meant missing my son’s soccer game. And I didn’t want to miss it. Sometimes moms just need to be moms first, especially on the hard days.

You see, people I love are hurting. I’m not talking about my immediate family. I mean my church family. Dear friends of mine are struggling with some hard things. Big things. Things that desperately need God’s touch—like finances, rebellious sons, and cancer.

It’s hard watching people you love struggle. At times the feeling of helplessness seems overwhelming—and that’s just what the enemy wants us to feel. But then I’m reminded that in Christ we are never helpless. We have a powerful gift at our disposal, one that we often take for granted . . . or use as a last resort.

We have prayer.

I believe God wants to teach us a few things about prayer. I mean, if we’re going to be honest, it doesn’t really make sense to us. How can speaking a few words really do anything?

But you and I were created in the image of a God who speaks things into being. He says it, and it’s so. So it only makes sense, really, that what we speak would also be powerful.

Beloved, our prayers release what God has willed in the heavenly realms to be poured out on the topsoil of this earth. In His desire for relationship, He ordained that His people would partner with Him to see His Kingdom come where we live.

I don’t know about you, but it wearies me that it often looks like the enemy is winning. I’m tired of it. I believe the promise of 1 John 4:4,

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

I think it’s time we showed Him we agree.

So I’m doing something a little different today. I’d like to invite you to pray with me. Would you set aside some time for intercession, dear one? Would you offer yourself to Jesus today as a vessel for glory?

He only needs a few minutes of your time and a yielded heart. You don’t need to worry about what to say. You just need to submit yourself to His authority and invite Him to lead. Allow His Spirit to fill your thoughts with His desires for prayer, and then give voice to them.

Amazing things happen when God Himself becomes the source of our prayers.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15

We may just start moving mountains in the name of Jesus.

Week 9: Finishing Strong

March 28, 2014/0 Comments/in On-line Bible Study /by Kelley Latta

It’s here! Our last day of study together. More than anything, I pray that you have grown closer to Jesus. HE IS everything, and growing your relationship with Jesus is the key to receiving every blessing He poured out for you from the cross. He died so that you could have life more abundant. I sincerely hope you have begun to discover that abundance!

Click here to print the prepared note sheet for this video.

Watch the Video

Your Assignment

Your journey through Tested by Fire may be over, but your journey with Jesus has just begun. He desires to lead you into your inheritance and bring forth gold, silver, and costly stones from your life. Are you ready to let Him?

Take some time to read through this Prayer of Commitment. I suggest you print it out and keep it in your Bible. Use it as part of your daily prayers to help you remember what it is that God wants to do with your life and help you stay on the path He has set for you.

Dear one, God wants to do amazing things in and through you. If each of us will cooperate with Him, we will see something marvelous occur. We will witness the rise of Christ’s church! As we become one with Him, we will become one with each other, and Jesus will see the fulfillment of His prayer that night in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:22-23

Could ours be the generation that sees this accomplished? It’s time the world discovers that Jesus is exactly who He says He is.

I’m game. Are you?

Blessings, dear one.

Overcome by the Word of Your Testimony

March 12, 2014/0 Comments/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

“I am sending you.”

The message penetrated my heart in the middle of worship on Saturday afternoon during our annual women’s conference. An image of my friend who is battling end stage colon cancer flooded my mind.

My lips stopped moving as everything faded, the presence of the Spirit commanding my attention. I knew without doubt He was asking me to go and pray healing over my friend.

I wanted desperately to comply. I would like nothing more than to be a vessel Jesus used to heal her. But in the same moment fear and doubt took hold. Who was I? Nobody. Just a friend…a soccer mom…a Bible teacher. Not a miracle worker.

Do you notice how we tend to focus our eyes on our own inability rather than God’s ability? When God calls us to exercise faith, we make everything about us. But the tasks He appoints have nothing to do with who we are and everything to do with who He is. And in those moments, He asks us to trust. “Will you believe I AM who I say I AM?”

It might be interesting to note the theme of the conference I attended: Empowered by the Spirit. The speaker challenged us to Feed on the Word, Believe the Word, and then Live the Word. What good, after all, is knowledge of the Word if we can’t live it in the everyday? What does Truth mean to us if we don’t believe it and put it into action?

“I am sending you.”

The moment passed and we all settled in to hear the final message from the speaker. I found myself challenged by Revelation 12:10-11,

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah.

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.”

You’ve probably felt the weight of Satan’s accusations against you. We deal with the burden of his lies every day. But do you see how these brothers and sisters in Christ triumphed over him? By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Hear me, beloved. Christ’s blood poured out on that cross guaranteed our victory over the enemy. But if you want to experience that victory—if you want to see the glory of God poured out— it isn’t enough to simply rest in the knowledge of what Christ accomplished. You’ve got to live it out. You and I have got to live like the enemy is the defeated foe he is and let the word of our testimony proclaim our victory.

That means we can’t allow Satan to fill our heads with doubt. When God speaks, we must simply believe and take action in faith. The rest is up to Him.

That night I prayed for God to increase my faith. I rose early the next morning and opened the Scriptures, determined to feed on the Word of God and fill myself with His presence. He confirmed His message to me, and I knew I was to go that day. For a moment, I allowed the doubt to creep into my thoughts again. What if it didn’t work? I can’t…

Immediately God spoke, this time bringing a familiar Scripture to remembrance.

“Go in the strength you have … Am I not sending you?” Judges 6:14

I began to weep. I could not deny His message to me, and I determined to believe.

In worship at church that morning, I presented myself to God as a living sacrifice. I confessed my sin, received His forgiveness, and asked Him to anoint my lips with His Word.

After the service I shared my mission with two dear sisters and asked them to pray. One of them asked to accompany me, and we headed together to the home of my friend.

My heart hurt when I saw her lying on the couch. Breathing was difficult due to fluid filling her lungs from the cancer. I bent down to hug her and she began to cry, confessing she felt forgotten and abandoned by God.

I looked into her sweet face and was able to tell her, “He sent me to you. He loves you desperately, and He has not forgotten you.”

I knew in that moment it didn’t matter if I witnessed a miracle that day. God had already provided what my friend needed simply because I showed up. She needed hope. She needed to understand that she was not forsaken. She needed to grasp the height and depth of God’s love.

I read from Ephesians 3:16-21.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I cannot adequately put into words what happened next. The Spirit led us in the sweetest time of prayer I have ever experienced. We laid hands on our friend and prayed as the Spirit moved us. We declared His glory and proclaimed His Truth, surrendering our wills to allow the Spirit in us to pray what she needed. We declared healing, praying for the fluid in her chest to recede. We proclaimed life and invited glory.

Minutes passed unnoticed, and nearly 2 hours had lapsed when we uttered the final amen. His presence was so thick I felt my hands going numb. I didn’t want to move, not wanting to sever the connection we had as we united our hearts in submission to His purpose.

I can’t tell you what the road ahead holds for my friend, dear one. God alone knows what happens next. But I did see Jesus touch her that day, and what a privilege to be the hand that He used.

When we left her, her breathing was less labored and there was pink in her cheeks we didn’t see when we arrived. But above all, she and her husband had hope.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13

Rest for the Weary

November 6, 2013/1 Comment/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

I have nothing to offer you today. Seriously.

I sat at my computer several times over the last few days praying for divine inspiration to share with you. What do they need, Lord? What do you want to speak through me?

Several times I felt I had a direction, and my fingers began to move across the keyboard. They stopped moving after about the second paragraph. Going nowhere.

I have to admit it’s been frustrating. And I’m not used to it. I prefer when God weaves a message together nice and early in advance of my deadlines. Not so this week. Like I said, frustrating.

I have a feeling He’s trying to teach me something. After all, Jesus has been speaking one word into my life for several weeks now.

Rest.

I don’t believe He’s telling me I need to take a vacation, although Scripture clearly points to the need for Sabbath rest. I’m talking about resting in Him.

I think it’s one of those things we talk about but usually don’t know how to do. I’ll admit, it’s my nature to struggle with this one.

But God promises in Isaiah 46:4,

“I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Yet very often we fall short of experiencing that promise. Instead, we find ourselves striving so hard we’re exhausted. And frustrated.

Like when I tried to will a blog into existence. Or should I say, when I tried to get God to give it to me in my timing instead of His.

I’ve discovered that when I try to force my will on God, I always end up weary.

God wants to carry us, dear one, but sometimes we’re so busy trying to make things happen that we don’t allow Him room to move. Our self-sufficiency blocks the flow of His power.

You and I need to learn to rest in Jesus.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Jesus always keeps His promises, beloved. He kept this one to me today.

You see, I’ve also discovered firsthand that He sends us what we need if we will open our hearts to receive it. And He’s always right on time, even if it is Tuesday evening and later than I would like. So when my girlfriend called late this afternoon to share something with me, I didn’t tell her I couldn’t talk because I had to write my blog. Instead, I listened. And we talked. And then we prayed.

And prayer has a way of releasing things.

Phone in hand, I moved to my knees on my living room floor and for a few moments stopped thinking about my own frustration. I let the Lord lead us in prayer for a dear sister and friend who is struggling under the weight of oppression. We wept together in intercession for several people God placed on our hearts to lift before the throne. Precious minutes turned to half an hour.

And Christ met us there. I can say that with certainty because He promises He will.

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

As we finished our time together, my friend prayed for me on the phone, asking the Father to provide what I needed. And God spoke. Just write from where you are.

So I started typing without a direction in mind, without a Scripture to anchor the teaching. I have nothing to offer you today. I just trusted He’d take me somewhere. Apparently, He did, because I seem to still be typing.

Come to think of it, isn’t that what faith is supposed to look like? At least, that’s how it began when God first called Abraham.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

God asked Abraham to leave behind everything he knew and follow Him to a land he’d never seen. He had nothing but a promise to hold onto, “I will show you.”

Faith looks pretty similar in the New Testament as well. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples where they were going in advance. He simply said, “Follow me.”

Dear one, faith isn’t about working hard, or having the answers up front before we trust God. It’s about drawing near to Jesus and trusting Him to lead you into the unknown, beyond the boundaries of what you have planned.

That’s a pretty scary place for most of us. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Because the Lord who promised to lead and carry you means to “prosper you and not to harm you” (Jeremiah 29:11). He intends to lead you into a beautiful future.

It’s only scary if you don’t believe.

The Greater God

October 2, 2013/0 Comments/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

We’ve spent the last few weeks looking at how idolatry and sin bring harmful consequences into our lives. If you’re like me, you may have found the journey a little painful. Well take a deep breath, my friend. Today we’re shifting gears. Let’s take a look a guy who actually got it right.

In a line of many unfaithful kings, Hezekiah received this acclaim in Scripture:

He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. 2 Chronicles 29:2

Refreshing, isn’t it? It gives us hope that it can be done. Let’s see how Hezekiah began his triumphant reign as Judah’s king.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. (verses 3-5)

What was Hezekiah’s first order of business? He got rid of anything corrupting or contaminating God’s dwelling place.

That’s exactly what God has been calling each one of us to do, dear one. Clean house.

Of course, God no longer dwells in a man-made temple. He dwells within the hearts of His people. Those of us who have put our faith in Jesus have become the temple of the Most High God. But though the structure may be different, God’s purpose remains the same.

Getting rid of the idolatrous attachments in our hearts makes room for God Himself to fill the sanctuary! Why is that so important, beloved?

Because the presence of God brings the power of God.

Hezekiah understood that, and he led his wandering people to worship and serve God alone.

This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21

Sounds good, doesn’t it…prospering under the Lord’s hand?

Part of me wants to stop right here. I know what’s about to happen, and you may not be pleased. You see, we delight in God’s promises to prosper His faithful people, but our limited understanding of prosperity makes us balk at the next verse.

After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. 2 Chronicles 32:1

Surprised? That’s not supposed to happen, is it? We could easily understand God allowing Hezekiah to come under attack if he was a wayward king, but he was faithful to God. Doesn’t obedience to God lead to experiencing His favor?

Actually, it does. And that attack on Hezekiah occurred under God’s prospering hand.

But Hezekiah didn’t do what most of us do when God allows something to come into our lives that we didn’t ask for and don’t understand. He didn’t cry out that God had abandoned him or complain that it was unfair. He simply made preparations, knowing he belonged to the only, all-powerful God.

His men blocked off the springs outside the city to cut off the Assyrian king’s water supply. He repaired and built up walls and made large numbers of weapons and shields (verses 4-5). Then he assembled military officers before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”

2 Chronicles 32:7-8, emphasis added

Funny how most of us still try to fight our battles with our own arms of flesh instead of trusting that the God of Scripture will fight for us.

What was different for Hezekiah? How could he so readily believe?

I see a direct link between Hezekiah’s purposeful submission to the one true God and his ability to trust in God’s power. You see, he had cleaned house and removed all the other idols. Unlike most of us, his heart was not divided between God and other sources of security. It was firmly set on God alone. So when an enemy rose against him, he didn’t flail and falter between the various potential gods that could save him. He had only one to turn to. His undivided heart made it easy to believe.

So when a powerful enemy that had toppled one kingdom after another came at Hezekiah, insulting his God and equating Him with the false gods of all the other nations he’d defeated, Hezekiah simply cried out in prayer to his one source of security.

And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.

So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side. 2 Chronicles 32:21-22

Looks like God’s favor to me, dear one. The enemy rising against Hezekiah never once meant God had left him. Rather, it became the way in which God proved Himself present! The people of Judah got to witness God revealing His glory on their behalf. And . . .

Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations. (verse 23)

Hezekiah’s faith was tested, and he came forth as gold (1 Peter 1:7). Hezekiah received blessing, God’s name was glorified, and the world witnessed the power of the one true God.

Do you see what wholehearted devotion to God can do, dear one? Why not give it a try.

Living the “Right” Way

September 11, 2013/4 Comments/in Word on Wednesday /by Kelley Latta

I get to humble myself to you today. You see, God’s been revealing some things to me about myself. That’s what happens when you commit to let God be God and pray Psalm 139:23-24,

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Yep, God loves that kind of praying—when we pray His own Word back to Him with a sincere and seeking heart. He’s been answering that particular prayer of mine for the last 15 years. Funny, after all this time, He hasn’t run out of “offensive ways” to reveal to me. Thank goodness for His infinite love and patience! Obviously, I’m a work in progress.

I recently started a Bible study exploring modern-day idolatry, Kelly Minter’s “No Other Gods.” I got as far as day 2 when God revealed the latest offensive way He wanted to remove. 2 Kings 17:7 served as the springboard for my revelation.

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt (emphasis mine).

I’ve taught often on the parallels between God’s deliverance of the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt to our deliverance through Christ from our own areas of spiritual bondage. Over the years, Christ has freed me from many things, but that day’s lesson offered a fresh look based on the wording of that verse. The commentary challenged me to consider anything that represented a “pharaoh” in my life. Did I have anything that exercised power over me other than God?

To be honest, I couldn’t come up with anything. So I did what I always do, knowing my deceptive heart will never give up its gods easily. I prayed, asking Jesus to show me if I did.

It didn’t take long for Him to answer. Five words surfaced clearly in my thoughts. “You need to be right.”

Well, doesn’t everybody?

I pondered the thought for several moments until realization slowly began to dawn. That “need” I had never been able to name had been a destructive factor in my life, displaying itself in several different areas. But the big one was this:

He showed me I felt so driven to be right that I feared ever being wrong. And that fear made me slow to trust Him.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt Jesus prompting me to take a step of faith and let doubt delay my obedience. Good and logical thought convinced me I needed to double-check with God to make sure I heard Him correctly. Like Gideon, I’d set out my fleece time and again to make sure He continued to give me the same answer. He would have to confirm His will to me several times before I’d finally move.

I thought my motives were pure. I wanted be in the heart of God’s will. I wanted to be certain the idea was truly coming from Him and not from me. I didn’t want to inadvertently step outside of His blessing and favor.

I didn’t want to be wrong.

So I would wait. And pray. And wrestle with my thoughts. And stand still.

Apparently, I’d rather remain in limbo than take a step in the wrong direction. Not so bad, right?

But God was trying to show me something. Inadvertently serving this need to be right interfered with my ability to serve Him.

I was behaving as if I didn’t have the relationship with Him that I have been building for the last 15 years. On several occasions in the midst of my doubt He has had to remind me,

“You know my voice.”

And I do. I’ve learned to recognize it. His quiet whisper penetrating the world’s noise has become my lifeline. I know it when I hear it.

Yet I still question it. My compulsive need to be right—my fear of being wrong— still makes me doubt it. It keeps me wrestling with whether I even heard it. So I don’t move right away when Jesus tells me to. And here’s the truth of it, my friend. Delayed obedience is sin.

I wonder how many times my refusal to move has kept me from a blessing.

2 Kings 17:41 reveals a profound truth:

Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols.

Dear one, just like Israel, you and I can worship Jesus while serving other gods. I did. I was trying to follow Jesus while still serving my need to be right. The power that need maintained in my life interfered with me doing what God was leading me to do. Kind of gives new insight to Matthew 6:24:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and ________________. “

What do you still serve, dear one, that keeps you from wholeheartedly following Jesus? Are you willing to let God reveal your hidden chains?

I’ll warn you. You may be surprised by what you discover. But if you’re willing to take the journey, you’ll find the path leads to peace.

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The Greater God

Because the presence of God brings the power of God.

Funny how most of us still try to fight our battles with our own arms of flesh instead of trusting that the God of Scripture will fight for us.

Living the “Right” Way

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

He showed me I felt so driven to be right that I feared ever being wrong. And that fear made me slow to trust Him.

I wonder how many times my refusal to move has kept me from a blessing.

FROM WORD ON WEDNESDAY

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Posts

The Best Marriage Advice I Ever Received ALICIA BRUXVOORT

Watch the Video

Your Assignment

Because the presence of God brings the power of God.

Funny how most of us still try to fight our battles with our own arms of flesh instead of trusting that the God of Scripture will fight for us.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

He showed me I felt so driven to be right that I feared ever being wrong. And that fear made me slow to trust Him.

I wonder how many times my refusal to move has kept me from a blessing.

FROM WORD ON WEDNESDAY

JOIN US ON SOCIAL

speaking & booking

The Best Marriage Advice I Ever Received
ALICIA BRUXVOORT