by Stacey | Feb 13, 2014 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
The underbelly of our family has been on display since we returned from Chicago. We have a live-in. She has seen sides of our family that have likely etched ugly moustaches and beards over the glossy image on our Christmas card.
It has been humbling to live in TOTAL transparency before her.
Does she sees my heart for God while we live with one foot in St Catharines and the other in Brantford? Is my fierce love for Jesus and my family evident? Does she see a longing to be in God’s presence and true repentance when I mess up?
Or, does she only see the outer. The flared temper, the failed attempts, the enforced discipline?
I know God doesn’t expect my life to be perfect but He does expect it to be different. Even when we are stretched between two cities, two communities, and two lives.
Does my life look different to her?
God expects me to be a grace-filled, God-honouring parent, spouse, and friend during all seasons of life. There is no free-pass due to stress, unhappiness, frustration, or ________. (You fill in the blank.)
I’ve decided that every person needs a live-in during a season that exposes the underbelly of life and what really fills the heart. And if that makes you cringe, well, good. Sometimes what we need isn’t very comfortable.
A live-in. A 24/7 Presence that sees it all, hears it all and knows it all. A Presence that sheds light into those corners hidden from the average eye. A Presence that will not allow me to pretend I have to altogether when I don’t.
And trust me, I don’t.
I need a live in. You need a live in. A Presence who dwells, not in our home, but in US (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17). A Presence who fills us (Acts 2:4; 9:17). A Presence who produces fruit (Gal. 5:22-23). A Presence who washes and renews us (Titus 3:5). A Presence who strengthens our spirits (Eph. 3:16).
If Christ is your Saviour, you have one.
His Holy Spirit.
by Stacey | Jan 30, 2014 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
She blinked.
A fluttering half-second when she inhaled the temporary and exhaled eternity. Ushered away from the presence of those she could never imagine leaving and into the presence of the only One who never leaves. And she finally lives, like she has never lived before.
She is home.
Oh, to lift a corner of the veil and witness her triumphant welcome into eternity! The indescribable love, laughter and joy as mortality puts on immortality.
And we blink.
Blink back tears, grief, a longing for what this world cannot provide.
Pain, although sharp and deep, is a sweet reminder that the earth is not our home. One day, if we trust in Jesus, we will open our eyes in the place where victory swallows death and the sting of the grave is no more.
And those who have gone before will usher us in. We will meet our Saviour and we will know.
We. Are. Home.
by Stacey | Jan 16, 2014 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
Precious and Most Holy God, who knows the beginning and the end, not one created person is worthy to stand before you. You know all that was and will ever be. You knew each one of us before the foundation of the world. You even know our children and their children before one day is lived.
Words cannot capture Your majesty.
It is with great anticipation your bride awaits the coming of her Groom. While our lamps are burning we pray for Your will to be done.
Hasten.
You are the giver –providing everything needed. You are the forgiver – absolving the horrendous sins of our hearts, hands and minds through the innocent blood of Your Son.
We are freely forgiven. Now pour out your grace enabling us to forgive and to love others the way that you love us. Without You, it cannot be done.
Begin in each one of us a faith that will become a heritage of great value to our children. Circumcise each heart. Make it new, make it clean.
Begin in me.
*From the archives
by Stacey | Jan 13, 2014 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
1 Peter 3:1-6
If your defences raise just reading that reference, then this message is for you. I pray you will listen with a teachable heart that desires to hear from God.
1 Peter 3:1-6
English Standard Version (ESV)
Wives and Husbands
3 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
This message is worth the one hour investment, because your marriage is worth the investment. If you are a wife, you need to hear this. If you desire to one day be a wife, you need to hear this. If you know someone who is a wife, you need to hear this.
“Don’t let culture destroy today what God says is beautiful forever.” Robbie Symons.
It’s time that some of us made over our marriages and our attitude toward our husbands. Watch Hope and Holiness for Wives and be blessed. (Next week is for husbands.)
by Stacey | Jan 9, 2014 | Devotionals, reflections, and encouragement
I was sitting at the dining room table reading online articles when it happened. God stitched two seemingly unrelated stories together with the Holy Spirit’s thread. One about gluttony and one about paying off debt. God convicted me of sin in that miraculous moment—that moment when my ears tuned into His voice, ready to listen. I heard from God loud and clear.
Sin hid behind an attitude of need.
The truth is, I need far less than I think. My kids need far less than I think. We live in a society that is constantly bombarding us with the lie that we need more. And I believed it.
Supersized meals. Homes with rooms we never or rarely use. Closets of overflowing clothes.
Excess.
Previously, I’ve likened gluttony to how I feel after Christmas dinner. Stuffed beyond belief. But I’ve been tossing the idea around that biblical gluttony is anything in excess.
“At its simplest, gluttony is the soul’s addiction to excess.” ~The Socially Acceptable Sin, by RELEVANT Magazine.
That brings gluttony far closer to home than I like. Especially right now, as our family searches for a new home in a city more expensive than our last. And now I wrestle with some uncomfortable questions:
Do I really need a bigger kitchen? Do I need more space – or just want it? What are our real, actual, bare bones needs in a new home?
I hate to admit it, but I don’t like the answer.
I’m learning that I want far more than I need. I want to be comfortable. I want to have space. I want, I want, I want. What I need is to want what God wants. To be satisfied with His provision. To praise God in the plenty and the want. To refuse to allow material things or circumstances dictate my happiness.
Because the real truth is, some of God’s greatest blessings are hiding behind that thing that is difficult to surrender.
Does that mean I’m going to stop praying for a house big enough to give our kids enough space to play, to be located on a street where it is safe to ride a bike, in a neighbourhood where they can make friends? No. I’m not going to stop praying for that. But, I am also praying that in the end, I will want what God wants for our family – whatever that may be, and rejoice in His provision of it.
May I lay it all down, hold nothing back, not even my silent hopes and dreams, giving it all to the One who has already granted me far more than I deserve, to do with as He sees fit. Lord prepare my heart to receive your gift with joy.
