Tag: walk

what is fueling your hope?

Karla Lees

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.  Isaiah 40:31

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Hope is fuel and passion fuels hope. Christine Caine

How is your fuel tank?

Are you running low from all the running around you are doing, and not stopping long enough to sit as His feet?

I am coming to realize that if we make seeking Him foremost eac day, somehow everything we need to do gets done with more grace.

It’s part of the Kingdom of Heaven, how spending time with God fuels us up.

Hope is intertwined with passion in a circle which continuously redirects us to the other as we seek Him.

For its in the pursuit we discover our passion, which fuels us to pursue all the more, elevating our levels of hope in such a way we are even more fueled to keep pursuing.

Our energy feeds off this combination of passion and hope, calling us to grow deeper, soar higher and leap all the steeper.

We can become, do, see more than we ever imagined possible when we allow the fuel of Heaven to be our drive.

Jesus showed us this kind of empassioned hope fueled living while with us on earth.  He knew who He was in relationship to His Father, placing His desires before His own, and walked empowered by Holy Spirit wherever He was lead.

My prayer for you and I?

For us to catch that this was not an isolated incident in the life of Jesus; but a daily moment by moment occurance, one we too can live out.

Weary from all the running here there and everywhere? Low on hope? In need of a top up of love and passion?

○Head to your Father’s embrace.
○Sit at the feet of Jesus.
○Allow Holy Spirit to whisper their love deep into your very being.
○Soak in their Presence.

And then, in their power, refueled with their love, you will be ready to roll with fresh hope and passion for the day ahead.

For we, you and I? We are meant to be the ones who soar, who can stay on course in the race without losing our focus or source of fuel. 🙂

So let hope rise up and darkness tremble at Your Holy light, for every eye to see Jesus our God, great and mighty to be praised.

the gifts along the path

Karla Lees

I wanted the gift of the shortest and easiest path. Instead, He gave me the gift of holding me close and strengthening me for the hard path. It took me a long time to understand that both were gifts. And as I embraced the second, my need for the first lost its tormenting grip.

– Sharon Hinck, the Deliverer
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When I am fearful, worried or anxious, I have a tendency to want an instant fix to the problem facing me.

As much as God loves me, He doesn’t always answer my prayers the way I wish He would.

I can only see the wisdom in His ways with the hindsight which comes from the passing of time.

Over the past five years, our family has had more come at it than I could have imagined as a writer.

And my walk is stronger and my faith the deeper for it, which I can now see.

Because the only thing that matters on the paths He has for us?

The company we keep, and who keeps us in their company.

If all you can focus on in the swirl of emotions and stresses in the moments is the difficulties ahead, you send out the signal that you are a victim.

Which is where the enemy wants you to stay: Frozen with fear or indecision, so you don’t move anywhere.

When we forget who wants to be with us, we lock ourselves on the path we create, instead of reaching for the hand of the One who wants to guide us on His pathways through the hard times.

But when we take His hand, keeping our eyes fixed on His loving gaze, He can leads us deeper into His ways, as He embraces us with His Presence and purpose.

For even though we may be scared or unsure of what is ahead, God isn’t.

For God is the wisest of all, more loving than imaginable, and knows He plans He has for us.

And He wants to walk with you, right beside you, speaking to you through His Word and Holy Spirit, and show you the way for you to go.

If you are unsure of what may be ahead, you can rest assured:

God is for you.

There are blessings ahead beyond what you could grasp know or imagine.

God is with you.

He will never not be with you, Beloved. He is always with the ones He adores.

God is waiting for you.

In every high or low, He is waiting for your invitation, for you to ask Him in, in all His fullness.

God delights in you.

As a writer, painter, musician or artist pours his/herself into what they create, so did God when He made you in His image.

And He likes whom He made. In fact, He absolutely adores you, and has nothing but His best to offer you. He proved it on the cross.

God is the best companion you could ever have as you journey through this life. He Himself is the gift we can discover along the way!

May you remember that nothing is too big or too small to remind Him about, for He already sees it all.

He is one prayer, one conversation away.

Allow Him to light the way as you hold His hand on your path.

on course

Karla Lees

People lose their way when they lose their why.

– Michael Hyatt 

You & I have something that millions of people out there do not have and long for.

We know our why.

We know why we are here.

We know who made us.

We generally know what He desires for us, and when we spend time with Him. we begin to learn what He wants for us in the moment, right where we are.

We know His love, His blessing, His grace & mercy, His forgiveness, His restoration.

When you know the One who made you, and why you are here, you can walk confident along the way He has for you.

When we know our Why, we can walk His way.

We are here because He purposes each of us to be.

Each of us has a way to walk which He has planned for us, while He walks alongside us.

Our Way is not just a destination but a person.

Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, and the truth, and the life. 

John 14:6

He is not only the way back to God, He is the reward we get to enjoy forever at the end.

When we live our life the way He long for us to live, we know our why….

Being in relationship, walking, with Him.

When we know the Way, our why, we can make it through the hard times of questions, grief and doubt which can take us over & try to suck us under.

Because He’s got us through it all.

Our Way never lets go of His whys.

Each of us is why He died & rose again.

Jesus was able to walk the path He had to take for our redemption because He knew His why.

And it was you & I.

Let’s follow in His footsteps, deepening our faith as we walk, knowing we are His why & He alone is our Way.

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snapshots along the Way: Betrayed

Karla Lees

As I have been rereading the Easter story, I have been struck anew by one word today: betrayed.

Jesus was betrayed to His death.

That sobering fact is not a simple one, but rather a way more complex than I have ever pondered and mulled over before.

Jesus was betrayed.

By one of His closes friends, one of the 12 He held most dear and invested countless moments, stories, and relationship building with over the three years they were together.

Judas was not a stranger, but a friend Jesus knew well.

That betrayal must have hurt Jesus deeply.

All of us have had someone betray us, but here is the clincher: Judas didn’t get that they were going to kill Jesus. He thought that Jesus would reveal Himself in power if His hand was forced, and the Kingdom of Heaven would come earlier to Israel.

I believe it is the grief of his misbelief mixed with his genuine love for Jesus that led him to His suicide.  Judas had no idea of what was to come, but Jesus did. And He knew it would hurt more than just His heart.

Yet he was not the only disciple to betray Jesus.  All the disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested.  Even Peter denied Jesus three times when asked if he was one of His disciples.  Like sheep without a shepherd, they didn’t know what to do when their leader was abruptly taken from them.

And all this occurred right after the first communion, where Jesus revealed His love to those closest to Him. Those He had lived & traveled with, those who had seen His miracles, and broken bread with, turned and ran at the first sign of major conflict.

Then you have the Jews. In particular, those in religious authority over Israel.  Those who spoke as God’s intermediaries to the people.

The very ones who knew the written Word inside & out missed the Living Word walking in their midst.

And because He didn’t fit with how they felt a rabbi or prophet should, they too betrayed Jesus by asking for His death.

Not only did they betray their countryman, their brother in the faith out to Rome, they betrayed their God in the most personal way possible – to His face, and to the death.

Pilate, the overseer in Jerusalem as assigned by the occupying Rome, knew Jesus was who He said He was.  And in refusing to stand up for what was right, he allowed a crowd to sway him to release a dangerous convict, a group of religious leaders to convict an innocent man, and betrayed Jesus to a horrible death he knew He didn’t deserve.

Betrayed by His loved ones.
Betrayed by the people He loved.
Betrayed by the one with the power to stop it all.

I believe part of why Jesus poured out His heart in prayer so fervently to His Abba in Gethsemane was because He knew the anguish He was about to feel in His heart over the layers of betrayal about to take place.

But there is one more level of betrayal to this story.

Because almost the whole world has heard of this Jesus, and what He did for everyone.

And when people refuse to take in the nail pieced outstretched hand offered as a free gift to all who accept it?

We become one of the betrayers.

If Jesus is who He says He is, then our refusal to accept it places us somewhere in the Easter story we would rather not be….one of the crowd who started out singing “Hosanna,” then began to chant “Crucify Him.”

This Easter, I am giving up keeping silent about Jesus.  For I don’t want to deny the One I love when asked about who I follow. 

I don’t want to break His heart by not acknowledging all he has done for me.

I don’t want to be a betrayer, or deny-er in God’s story anymore.

And because of what Jesus did on that cross, I am free not to do so anymore!  I am His, and He is mine.

His sacrifice makes me whole again. I don’t need ever head down the path of betrayal if I walk with Him to the cross.

#snapshotsalongtheWay

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rehoping

Karla Lees

I am not sure if I just made up the word “rehoping” or not, but it fits with how I have been feeling lately, so I am running with it!

A question was posted today on Twitter on how we find our hope?

Here is my response….

Spending time in His Presence restores my hope, 
refills my love cup, 
refuels my faith & 
realigns my perspective. 
@HopenHisPresenz

Only God can restore my hope for my hope is built on Him, the eternal One. Not on anything else, for all else fades into the past, save God.

Only God can refill my love cup within. My heart needs His love daily in order to keep my hope afloat. When I sense His love, I feel hopeful, and my trust in God wanting the best for me deepens. Because when you are in love and feeling loved, our sense of anything is possible and wonder grows along side!

As a result, spending time with God refuels my faith.

Because only He is able to see the big picture, as God is not caught up in living through time the same way we are. He is timeless, forever. His perspective is thus unique, perfect and the one I need to make sure I am in tune with. Spending time with God realigns my perspective.

When my hope is low, God uses these four aspects to buoy my hope again: time with Him, sensing His love, seeing His perspective, trusting who He is.
Depending on how close I keep myself to Him depends on how much hope I can maintain.

Spend time with God if your hope is in need of an infusion from on high.

After we hang out? God never fails to leave me more peaceful, focused and hopeful.

Is it time for an increase of rehoping in your life again too?

Find your #hopeinHisPresence!

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census honeymoon

Karla Lees

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. 

Luke 2:1-5

Poor Joseph. No sooner has Mary come back from visiting Elizabeth, the angel told him she was carrying the Messiah & to marry her, which he did, and they have just settled into their new home, than the government calls for a mandatory road trip.

In those days, a census meant you had to travel to your documented ancestral home…in Joseph’s case, Bethlehem, as he was of David’s lineage.

Not going was not an option. 

When the Romans said go, you had to go.  The good news? The Romans had built up the main roads, which likely cut back a bit on the rough terrain. The bad news? Mary was getting close to the end of her pregnancy.

But, duty called.

Not drawing any more attention to themselves than necessary, as they likely knew via the Spirit they would need to keep the coming Messiah safe, they prepared for the long journey.  Joseph would have had to finish his current carpentry jobs, maybe buy a donkey, and Mary prepare the food & bedding they would need.

Now by today’s standards, the distance between Nazareth & Bethlehem, approx. 102-147 kilometers (minimum 63.43 miles) could be driven in a few hours depending on the traffic & speed limit.

A pregnant woman on foot (or more likely donkey, as too much walking could bring on early childbirth, and Joseph seems like a kind man) would need to stop often to relieve herself, so we are guessing they didn’t walk more than 5-10km a day, meaning this was likely a 20-30 day trip.

Not necessarily the honeymoon expected for these newlyweds.

Sleeping outdoors, picnic food, jostle jostle jostle, blisters, bad weather, rough terrain, bugs, potential bandits, traffic…. this was not a fun excursion.

I am sure they had a lot of time to talk about the miracle of John, the prophecies of the Messiah, and how on earth were they going to raise Him?

Its interesting to note that in this book, Luke refers to Mary still as Joseph’s fiancee.  Until the marriage bed is consummated, the marriage was in name only. I am sure Joseph would have felt too funny/uncomfortable about lying with Mary until after the Messiah
was born, which both birth accounts mention slightly differently.

So not only do we learn from these verses that Joseph was married to Mary, he was a caring (considering her physical wellbeing) and honorable man (following his duty) who likely was very concerned about the timing of this trip.

After all, traveling with a very pregnant woman could be filled with the unexpected. Especially one carrying such precious cargo!

To be honest, this narrative also shows me something I suspected earlier. 

The fact that Joseph brought Mary along demonstrates his great love for her. I think he would have missed her too much to leave her behind at home.

There would have been no shame in going on his own for the census.  I believe these two were spiritually knit together by their common experiences with the angel, and daily seeing the baby grow.  Not wanting to spend any time apart, they had already become a close team at this point.

God chose well.

Jesus was in good hands with both His earthly parents.

The #AdventuresinAdvent continue….

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when the road seems long

Karla Lees

Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live. Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.

Psalm 107:4-5

Some of us wake up feeling this way, don’t we?

On the brink of sheer exhaustion, running on empty, in desperate need of spiritual feeding, parched beyond our imagination.

At rock bottom
emotionally
physically
mentally
spiritually

We can be so obsessed with our need, we forget to look to the Source of all our aid. So we wallow in our need, unknowingly making the situation even worse with our independent thinking and short sightedness.

Some of us need to hit rock bottom before we will be able to look up.

When we look up, and ask for His help? Cry out with all that is within us?

Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God. He got you out in the nick of time; He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live.

Psalm 107:6-7

He rescues us. Plants our feet on solid rock, and helps us as we journey towards our eternal Hope at the end of the road before us.

But God doesn’t stop here, He offers even more:

So thank God for His marvelous love, for His miracle mercy to the children He loves. He poured great draughts of water down parched throats; the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

Psalm 107:8-9

Feel like the weight on your shoulders is too much?

You can’t go one more step the way you have before?

You are ready for God to move mightily on your behalf, if you will turn to Him and but ask.

Your Hope is always waiting.

On the days when the road seems long, don’t give up.

Look up.
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who’s pursuing who?

Karla Lees

And when I walk away
You take off running
and come right after me
It’s what You do
and I don’t deserve You.

Plumb – Don’t Deserve You

Pursuing You
I have come to realize
is only the result
of Your pursuit of me

And when I walk away
You follow hard after me
calling me
chasing me
as I follow the call
of other than You

Even when I wallow
and waste my inheritance
listening to foolish council
You never stop sitting
of the home front
waiting for my return

Ever watching
You send Your Spirit
to whisper
how much You love me
how much grace is mine
how Your mercy never ends
no matter what I have done

Since I said yes to You
all the roads I wander on
lead me back to You
for wherever I go
You are there
wherever I run to
You are waiting
Always

All ways don’t start off
with You in mind
if I am being honest
But as I tune my heart
to hear Your voice
I make the necessary changes
to my inner GPS
and realign my path
to walk along side You

Who’s pursuing who?

I couldn’t follow You
without Your love
paving the way in the first place.

I don’t deserve you, as the Plumb song goes, but how grateful I am that You never stop pursuing me!

The more I get to know You,
the more I want to pursue You.

Is that how it works for You, God?
Because You know us so well, You can’t help wanting to be with me?!

The most important part of the pursuit?

Finding what you were hoping for in the journey:

You pursuing me
the apple of Your eye
the Bride You long for
the one You love

My pursuit of You
the Lover of my soul
The Saviour I adore
the One I long for.

Waiting here for You
as You wait for me.

Let’s have a coffee date
Chat, hang out
and connect
as You share Your heart
for me
and I pour out my heart
to You.

A momentary lull
in our pursuit
as we meet face to face

How Presence
makes all the difference,
being with the one you love.

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So every so often regular words don’t flow out of me, and a little poetic je ne sais quoi arises to the surface! Maybe that happens to you too? I have learned to go with it, and give myself grace for stepping out of my comfort zone :)

walk with Me

Karla Lees

You can’t deepen any relationship without a few key ingredients:

1. Spending time together.

Whether a few minutes or several hours, we get to know someone over time. Say no to this required element, say no to deepening.

2. Walking through the ups & downs together.

It is very true that we can truly observe another’s quality when they are under duress. Either their inner diamond will begin to shine, or they fall apart under the pressure.

3. Listening to one another.

Hearing what someone says both verbally & physically, and doesn’t say, gives you insight to who they are.  Being listened to develops trust, which in turn leads to more depths of sharing.

4. Knowing when to forgive.

Everyone out there will upset you somehow, whether a real slight or offense, or a believed one.  Forgiving them as soon as something pops us is a key ingredient to a good relationship.

5. Love them.

The final necessity to a great relationship is love.
Loving the other person for who they are, helping them develop into who they can become, and being there for them in the storms and heart breaks along the way.

These five ingredients are necessities to a successful relationship.

And the best example we have- that of God.

He started walking with us in the Garden, before we turned away.

He always wants to spend time with us.

He is with us through thick & thin.

He hears all, knows all we are experiencing, feeling, regretting, hoping for. He asks us to tell it all to Him because He loves to hear from us in conversation.

He knows when to forgive, and can help us do so when we need to. After all, He has forgiven us all through Jesus.

What love. A love that knew we couldn’t come to Him with all the weight of burdens, sin and hurts we were carrying, so He died in our place to show us how to truly live.

Jesus demonstrated man could walk with God, and change the world as a result.

If you want to deepen in your relationships, spend time walking with the One who designed you, and knows you best. He can guide you in any relationship, helping you to listen, love, forgive each step of the way. He is worth our trust, which you will learn as you get to know Him better along the journey.

When we are near the ones we love, our hearts are full.

When we are near the One who loves us, we know:
We matter.
We belong.
We are loved.
We are enjoyed.
We are never alone.

Take a walk with Him today.

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(Jesus Calling, by Sarah Evans)

walk a thousand miles….

Karla Lees

Tonight I enjoyed hearing some of my favorite songs reintroduced with a Celtic flair at a free local concert.

And I cannot get one of the songs off my mind, despite another CD playing here at home in the background.

“(I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles” by the Proclaimers is resonating within me…but not just because its a great song.

There are only a few people I know who would give what they could if I was in need. There are several I would do what I could for in an emergency. Close friends & family.

Fewer still would I go to battle for.

The difference between supporting a friend and dying for one is love.

Love amplifies the value of the one we love.

Jesus showed us just how much He loved us by dying for us.

You don’t die for someone unless you love them.

The reality is most of us are way too selfish and protective of ourselves to think long and hard about how we would answer this question.

I would walk 500 miles, then i would walk 500 more to be the one who walked 1000 miles to fall down at your door?

Really?

The answer is once love begins to seep into the crevices of our hearts, the more likely it is for us to say yes.

For my hubby & kids, my best friends, I would go to the far corners of the earth and back.

For my God, I will lay down my life.

Yes, you read that right.

I would die for love.

The love that died for me deserves nothing less in response.

Love shows the one it loves its devotion.
Constantly.
Relentlessly.

Unstoppable love.

This is the kind of life changing love that can change the world.

In fact, it already has.

The road to the cross must have felt like 500 miles, maybe 1000 miles, yet Jesus’ love for us kept Him on that path, step after step, to lay it all down for us.

If you don’t know how much God loves you, crack open His story of love for us all, the Bible.

God has never stopped walking through human history trying to reach us with His love.

Knowing that kind of amazing love, I will walk anywhere He leads me to show Him just how grateful I am, and how much I love Him in return.

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