Tag: hear

timeless living

Karla Lees

Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (ESV)

Stand in line at the checkout, and the intimate details of people’s lives are exposed for all to see. In this know-all world, it is refreshing to read today’s verse where God is calling us to live the opposite of what we see about us.

When I first read this scripture, I thought it was referring that we should keep to ourselves, like a hermit or a lone wolf. Upon rereading it, I spotted through His eyes that it is a reminder on how we are to be of the world and yet not in it.  

We are to be His hands and feet to those in need, yet we don’t need to know all about one another, like the tabloid at the checkout stand would suggest.  

We are to instead follow His lead to live quietly but with purpose.

We are to be dependent upon Him alone as His children, not the world and its systems.

We are to use our hands to further His call in our lives, to bless one another as we depend upon Him for everything. This dependence will attract those who don’t yet know Him, who are seeking their true Home, and looking for rest. His ways have stood the test of time and will continue to do so forever!

Pause and Apply: Evaluate where we are getting our directions. Are we first sitting at His feet and listening for His voice? He has wisdom for your life and direction for your decisions.

Prayer: Help me quiet myself to hear You over those clamouring for my attention. I desire to see Your timeless plans instead of the world’s limiting standards.

This post first appeared yesterday over at remadecommunity.org 🙂

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Sunday Psalm: Be Still, Seriously?

Karla Lees

Oh Lord
Inside I am racing
like a car engine revving up
for its heat in the big race,
go go go
get ‘er done
check it off the to do list
Peace is feeling farther & farther away with every new task I take on,
with the situation I face
causing me to spin in place
until
miraculously
i hear Your whisper
Your voice breaking through
the chaos of my bustle
the anxiety of my hustle
and You simply say
Rest.
Be still
I got this.
You are in My hands.
Nothing can take you
away from Me.
Nothing you can do
will make Me love you more
Nothing you can say
will change My love towards you
You had your chance
to do it your way,
now its time for the best
to be released
My way
My timing
My help
in My strength
with My purpose for you.

Had enough of spinning your wheels?
Come to Me
and rest.
Tired of a listless spirit?
Come to Me
and live.
Weary of what’s holding you back?
Come to Me
and be free.

Ready to make the change
to never be the same
to live fully in My Name
as i rearrange you
from the inside out?

Seriously,
its time to be still,
and let Me in the driver’s seat.

I know where you are headed.
I know the safest route.
I know how to guide you
through every turn, dip or stop.

Come,
be still.
Rest in me.
Lay your burden down.
I am here waiting for you.

Our next part of our adventure
together is waiting
for you.

Come,
just come.
I’ll take care of the rest.

You only need to be still.
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when seeking knowledge fails to find the answer we want

Karla Lees

We don’t need
more intelligence,
we need more
Presence!

One of my loved ones is seeking all the knowledge they possibly can for a problem which is not easily resolving.

Their belief that more knowledge will solve the problem demonstrates they are missing one small piece of wisdom in all the seeking going on…

They are not seeking the Source of all wisdom & knowledge in all their searching.

Without Presence,
intelligence gathering serves
no eternal purpose.

They are just facts, like a canoe without a rudder. Just there, but not headed anywhere in particular.

Because we are really battling on the spiritual battlefront, not just a physical or mental or emotional one.

And without His Presence,
we will not find the answer we are seeking to win that battle.

I am not saying if you have a medical condition to not seek help. I am suggesting we tend to go to God last, instead of first.

The One who made us should have some idea about how to help us, shouldn’t He?

The One who is all wisdom might have an inkling, yes?

He knows all, and since He does, He knows what we need in the moment, and how to help us get to where He has planned for us to go.

All the fact gathering we can use our time on means little compared to spending time with the One who can reveal in a moment what we can spend years seeking for in vain.

He promises to give wisdom to all who ask Him for it. And reveal purpose to us as we do.

Our answer may not come in our search for knowledge itself, but the Answer He whispers as we draw close to Him in our search.

Discernment and direction are the keys to taking knowledge from your head and putting into practice where it is needed most.

If you, like my loved one, are seeking answers, please consider Him first.

There is a peace that comes with knowing the One who knows you best, loves you the most and has only good plans in store for you- no matter what is going on in your life.

You may not get the answer you were looking for, but He will answer you,
guide you,
love up on you,
comfort you,
teach you,
support you
as you walk together through the step ahead.

There is a freedom which comes with releasing ourselves from the belief that everything centers around us.

When we give Him first place, things fall into alignment with His truth, and we are able to see what we may not have been able to before, because He opens our eyes & ears to see and hear Him when we seek Him.

Not only does He give us wisdom, discernment and an answer, He is there with us.

Presence.

Because facts are just that, facts. Pieces of information.
Cold, impersonal.

Presence breathes life into us.
He brings the truth to life,
breathes new hope in us when we night have to wait,
comforts us when the answer is not what we expected,
delivers us from what may be holding us back,
illuminates the way to go,
battles for us in the heavenlies,
and sticks with us
closer than crazy glue
through it all.

Its time to seek Him first.

And hear the fullness of His plans for you first hand.

That will move knowledge beyond facts into living truth.

Life is always better when we know we are loved and not alone.

The truth is: He is always waiting for us to come to Him, to seek Him, to ask our questions, to pour out our prayers. He is longing to pour out His love and answer us in response.

The fact is: He is waiting for you and I to come. Its our choice whether we fact gather or Presence seek first.

Seek Him first and all you need will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

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Image from Pinterest

freedom in belonging

Karla Lees

When you know where you belong, you open up a freedom you may not have known you needed, let alone wanted.

I was always on the outside looking in, I felt, as I was growing up. A fish out of water, or a black sheep standing in sharp contrast to the flock of white ones in the same field.

You know how you just can’t put your finger on that nagging difference or missing part, and that thought sticks with you until you can resolve it?

Kind of like that, a piece looking for the rest of its pizzle.

That reality whispered into the recesses of my mind fairly regularly as I grew up. It took on a whole new aspect when I moved to Quebec, and came back to Ontario six years later fluent in French to a small town that was filled with almost anyone but another French speaking person unless they were a teacher!

So through primary school into middle school into high school, this feeling I don’t quite fit continued to hang around…unless I was singing, playing an instrument or writing. Even so, I played almost anything I touched, which spoke to my giftedness but isn’t as common in a small town.
I read ferociously, loved to learn, wore glasses and suffered through 3 years of retainers and 4 years of braces. I made friends, especially with fellow musicians & artsies…but still felt like a misfit. I was sensitive, but not sure why.

When it came time to head to university, I felt I wasn’t ready for “it” yet, so I headed to a differently structured high school for a year, and discovered something shocking.

At this school, I first experienced feeling like i fit. The structure and classes and fellow students- 90% made for me. I began to hope that after high school, I could find my place in this world. Closer to where I was meant to be.

But getting to know yourself better doesn’t necessarily help you belong.

I spent a few years wandering after high school. Unsure of what I wanted to do because I didn’t know yet who I was.

Then I met Jesus, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

I have a few gifts that are not as common, and one of the “side effects” is feeling set apart. Like all of us, I am hardwired to hear God’s voice. For me, at times, quite clearly. The Word shares how this is known as the prophetic. Which ties with that sensitive feeling I had struggled to come to grips with.

And in the bible, most of them were known as being “odd or misfits.” They didn’t quite fit, having one foot in the heavenly places with God, and the other here on the earth.

When you tell people you made a decision based on God’s telling you to go that way, you tend to be looked at funny, and avoided by those who don’t know what to do with you as a result.

The prophetic can be a lonely place to be, just you and God.

But here’s the thing.

I found my place after those years of searching:

I belong to God.

What a price He paid for me, to buy me out of my broken, lonely, lost in the pit of my despair. He set my feed upon solid rock, whispered words of love, and clothes me in fresh white forever robes, naming me Beloved Daughter of the King.

I belong to Him, with every fibre that’s within me.

But I also belong with Him.

Spending time in His Presence reminds me that though I walk on this earth, it is not where I belong. My place is heavenly, in the courts of my King, in the arms of Jesus.

For now, I need the constant reminder of Spirit whispers, reminding me who I am to Him.

So although I have a great family, wonderful church & friends, good jobs- I don’t belong here. I never really did, for He designed us to be with Him.

So whether I feel like I fit is no longer relevant.

My heart is already tied to His, and wherever He is, that’s where I belong.

Home is where the heart is.
You have my heart, God.
And one day
You will welcome me home
forever, and I will live
where I have longed to be,
eternally where I belong!

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static

Karla Lees

There is almost nothing more frustrating then trying to manually tune in your radio to only hear static instead of the station coming in loud and clear.

Whether talk radio or preferred tunes, static grates on our nerves when we can’t access what we want.

In older days, or if you live in an area not allowing your to access digital TV, the same annoyance can occur when trying to get a TV station by adjusting your set He rabbit ears. 

Static is loud.
Annoying.

Yet on the other end, the station in question is sending out the correct signal for you to pick up.

The error happens with the receiver,  not the sender.

Like a deep water buoy ringing out over the waves during a storm, the signal is still doing its job, whether you can hear it…or not.

The same can be true of God.

God not only designed all the natural beauty of this world we enjoy, He made each and every person who has, is and ever will walk upon earth, and all the creatures we share space with.

He put the sun, moon & stars in place. Filled the oceans, lakes, rivers with water. Designed the seasons, landscapes, every sunset and sunrise…even every thing we need to eat.

Details upon details, even down to leaving His mark upon each face.

Then, if all that was not enough, He reached out to to Adam & Eve, walked with them, conversed with them, loved them. Even when they tuned in to another station, causing static to enter the world, He made a way for them, cared for them, loved them.

When people began to wander, He spoke clearly to those who we still tuning in to hear His voice:
Abraham
Jacob
Joseph
Moses
Joshua
Samuel
David
Solomon
Sampson
Deborah
John the Baptist…
Jesus.

In Jesus, God broke through the static and tuned into our frequency with startling accuracy and results.

History was irrevocably changed as a result.

With John’s loud cry in the desert, the static was pierced.

With Jesus’ walk and words on earth, static was warned it was on borrowed time.

With Jesus’ death and resurrection, static’s former hold over the world was shattered.

Once and for all time…

Yet again, static depends on the receiver to keep going.

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If we are not tuning in, we miss His signal. His still small voice does not want to compete with the world’s loud distractions or putting yourself first all the time. Aligning with sin moves us from His true & pure signal.

It is not God who moves away, its us.

God’s signal does not waver because we don’t tune into it. He never changes. His signal has been, is and will always be strong and available to all.

God is standing with a never ending song streaming from His heart: “Come to me. Listen for my voice. Feel My love for you.”

Are you tuned in?

Or too busy missing His signal for following the alternate signals trying to keep you from tuning in, and finding the whole life God has waiting for you.  A life filled with hope, heart, Him.

You may be far off the station signal, or in need of only a slight tweak…either way, you are missing out.

Its time to tune in again.

Hope waits.

abandon

Karla Lees

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I want to rush with reckless abandon into Your embrace

My first waking thought is to run to You

Within just a few minutes
I have abandoned that thought, jumped into the must do’s
And onto the daily treadmill.

I am abandoning my old mindset,
Where I am weighed down from the guilt of my fickle thoughts.

Instead I am embracing grace.

When my thoughts wander, I am learning to catch them more quickly and turn my focus back onto God, not solely the task in front of me.

I am trying to listen more, keeping my bears open for what He may whisper to me.

What He whispers tells me more about who He is, who I am, and how He wants me to bless those in my path.

Tonight, I felt prompted to go into a store where I was waiting for something on order. I knew it wasn’t ready yet, but right before I asked, the sales gal got a call with the unfortunate news her nephew has been hit by a car. I got to share how I would pray for her nephew, her & the family that all would turn out OK, and they would all be kept safe. She then shared how her other nephew has just recovered from brain cancer, and they are still emotionally dealing with that.

She needed to hear someone was praying for her. She went right back onto the phone as we left, arranging coverage so she could head to the hospital. As soon as I stepped out of the store, I prayed out loud for her.

A few years ago, I would have been chicken to do so.

A knock on the head almost two years ago changed all that. A very mild concussion seemed to knock more sensitivity to what God wants and less care for how it looks to others loose within me.

I am the better for it.
And more open to God as a result.

When I allow God to speak and move more in me, I am drawing closer to abandon…

To being one with God.

One day, beloved.

For now, I draw close.
I seek His presence.
I worship with passion.
I listen with expectation.
I open my eyes to His vision.
Where He goes, I follow.

Living a life where I abandon myself to what He has for me, I find my true self.

The one I was designed and meant to be.

So I abandon that which will distract me from my purpose: being with the one I love.

All I am is all of Yours.