Book Review for 'Life, In Spite of Me'

Life, In Spite of Me was the wonderful, grace-filled story of Kristen Anderson. At 17 years old, after numerous tragic events in her life, Kristen felt that life was so overwhelming that she had reason to take her own life, by lying on a railroad track in front of an oncoming train, 33 cars at 55 mph, to be exact. This book is her story of survival after being run over by the locomotive and losing both legs.

Although not immediately transformed, Kristin goes through several more trials over the years to bring her closer to who God wants to be. Kristin gets involved in a faith family and eventually gets baptized. She does not let her disability dictate her success. This is such a powerful message that so many need to hear!

Very well-written and impacting! Her story serves as a wonderful testimony to God's love and power. The method of writing and "story-telling" format was very enjoyable. Being introduced to Ruth Ann and the other people who had impact on her life through the years made her story become very relative. Also, hearing that she took life as God led her and decided to go ahead with her ministry even when she didn't feel that she was completely prepared was very encouraging to me, as a person in that same position. So glad I chose to read this book!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Going without Knowing (Joshua Study Post 10)

Going without Knowing!

Read Joshua 3:9-17

We read in these verses that the Lord gives specific instructions for the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to lead the way as the Israelites enter into the Jordan river. He tells them further that as soon as the priests carrying the Ark step foot in the river, "its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."..... He doesn't tell them HOW the water will be stopped. He doesn't tell them HOW their miracle is going to happen. Just that it is going to happen. That so relates to our lives, doesn't it? How often does God ask us to trust Him, even when we don't know where our miracle is going to come from? I was discussing last week with a few young ladies that I had breakfast with about how we try SO hard to figure out WHAT the plan is that God has for our lives. We pray to know what it is. We pray for it to happen...it's a big deal (as it should be!). But I told them that I was starting to consider that maybe God doesn't want us to try so hard to figure out WHAT the plan is...maybe He is waiting for us to just trust that there IS a plan. So it was with the Israelites. They knew God had a plan. Joshua told them what God planned to do. Just not how He planned to do it! Once again, the priests and the Israelites remained faithful! Not knowing, they still did as they were instructed and stepped into the raging river that looked like it wasn't going anywhere, and once again, God proved His faithfulness and power. He was calling the Israelites to step out in faith while the water was still raging. So many times we want the ground to be dry before we even step out.

Parting the waters and causing them to "cut off and stand up in a heap" wasn't the only miracle that happened when they crossed the Jordan. The Word also says that God allowed the Israelites to cross over on dry ground. The ground that had just, moments before, been a riverbed was now completely dry! When the Israelites stepped out in faith God made it so that they didn't even have to cross over through all the mud and muck of a wet, soggy riverbed. How great is He??

Now, just a bit about the Ark of the Covenant and the symbolism I see here in these verses...We already know that the Ark of the Covenant represented the very presence of God. In this instance we see that the priests stand holding the Ark allowing all of the people to pass over....in essence, saving their lives. I think that we can liken this to what God gave us through Jesus' life on the cross. Jesus (the ark) held back death (the Jordan) so that we could be saved. The Israelites had to trust Joshua and keep their focus on and follow behind the Ark that was holding back that river so that they could cross over into the Promised Land. Just like them, we have to keep our eyes on and follow our victorious Jesus and OUR river of impossibility will dry up so that we can cross over into our Promised Land! I know i've said this before, buuuutttt..... I love that! I love finding stuff that is "hidden" in the Word!! :)

So, as we think about the trials and "mud and muck" we are facing in our lives, maybe we should pray and ask God to help us have the faith and focus of the Israelites. Courage to step out, in faith with the river still raging, and trust Him to dry it all up and lead us into the plan He has for us.....even when we have no idea what it is!

Following Instructions (Joshua Study Post 9)

Following Instructions

Read Joshua 3:1-6

I am filled with anticipation as we begin chapter 3!! The Israelites are so close to finally going into the Promised Land....I can only imagine the excitement they felt as they camped on the very banks of the River Jordan for 3 days. The very river that stood between them and their PROMISE...

What I want to talk about tonight is the instructions that Joshua gives to the Israelites as to how they are to cross into their land. We can probably safely say that by this point they were sitting on ready...they more than likely didn't sleep the night before b/c they were SO excited because they knew that this promise that they had been waiting soooo long for was about to be fulfilled. They would probably have just took off running towards their promise just because they were so ready to receive it after all this time!! Or, they could have let a little fear creep back in. They knew they were supposed to be crossing this river, but for the last 3 days they have looked at the waters as they flowed. they have noticed, over and over, the size of the river. I can't say for sure how they were feeling...But once again, there is a seemingly impossible task blocking their way. However; Joshua asks them to be patient...be obedient....be faithful....once again. He asks them to follow a specific set of instructions. Instructions that initially sound insignificant. But we know better than that by now! ;)

Let's take a look at the instructions he gave them;
First, Joshua tells them
3“When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 

Joshua didn't send his strongest warriors first. He didn't tell all of the strongest warriors to take the front line...Joshua realized that this battle was a spiritual one and not a physical one. He realized that the priests that carried the Ark of the Covenant, which was the visible representation of God's presence among the Israelites, had to be their fist line of defense.

So many times we want to attempt to fight our battles ourselves. We think "we got it". We think we know what is best. Only to find out that we are completely wrong. Then, when all else fails, we decide to give God a go at it. All the while we are fighting with our own strength, God is just waiting for us to let Him go before us and fight our battle for us! (and we're only on the 1st instruction!! :) )

Second, Joshua instructs them to
4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”

Joshua instructs them of this for 2 reasons. In order to respect the holy nature of the Ark. And also so that everyone had a clear view of the Ark...So they could keep their eyes on the presence of God. They presence of God was leading them. How much more victorious could our lives be if we let the presence of God lead our every decision?

And Lastly,Joshua tell them,
And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

"Sanctify....... (Consecrate, Purify, Cleanse, make yourselves holy) for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."....The Israelites were a l m o s t ready to enter into the promise God had for them...but there was just one more thing to do. God needed to get them prepared spiritually. He needed them to purify their minds and hearts completely so that they were ready to receive ALL He had for them!

Couldn't it be that God is saying the same thing to his us today?
Sanctify yourselves.
Purify yourselves.
Consecrate yourselves
for tomorrow I will do wonders among you!!

I believe that God has got a new level for our lives to go to.
He’s got bigger authority for us to realize.
He's got more work for us to do!
He's got more friends for us to share our story with!
He’s wants to enlarge our vision, enlarge our purpose.....
But first, before these wonders will come, he says  “Sanctify yourself.”
The word, Sanctify means the process of becoming pure and holy, just as God is pure and Holy.
Cindy Jacobs says that “Sanctification is a process in which you become more Christ like."
In a nutshell, It means you make clear decisions in your life.
It's all about making a decision to not let sin have a say in your life any longer.
You make a choice that you will not sin.
You make a choice that if you are addicted that you will get help.
You make a choice to not entertain temptation.

I believe that God uses this story to make it clear that; a) we all need instruction. Just as the Israelites needed instruction before crossing the Jordan. b) that sometimes all that's left to do is surrender our life completely to Him in order to walk into our promise. All that may be left to do if you are still waiting on your promise, is for you to surrender to God's instruction for your to sanctify yourself!

Salvation Stories (Joshua Study Post 8)

Salvation Stories

Read Joshua 2:21-24

How were you saved? Did you grow up in church and accept Jesus in a Sunday School classroom at a young age? Were you a teenager at a youth event? Were you an adult who turned to Jesus as your last resort? Were you alone in your room? No matter how you came to know Jesus, there was a chain of events that led to someone, somewhere telling you about His scarlet red blood that would change your life forever! Thank God for those that are bold enough to proclaim the truth!

Tonight we read about the covenant that Rahab makes with the spies. We also read that the spies go back and tell their commander in Cheif "all that had befallen them". This means that they went back and told Joshua and the rest of the tribe all about what they found in the promised land. They tell them that all of the people there are afraid of them. But they also tell them all about their experience with Rahab, the prostitute.

We read back in verse 9 of chapter 2 that Rahab had already heard of the things God had done for the Israelites. Now, because of the dedication of the spies, Rahab comes to know, first-hand, the truth and power of God. And through her display of courage in believing and protecting the spies, she would hang a scarlet cord from her home that would link her forever to her Messiah. The spies promise to protect Rahab and her family also promises her adoption into the "family" of the Israelites. Since the Israelites will be inhabiting the whole land, this must mean that Rahab and her family will dwell with them and become a part of them! That takes the promise to a whole new level, doesn't it!! Just as I don't believe the chain of events leading to your salvation were circumstance, I don't believe this chain of events was either....

Let's go back a little further. A couple of posts ago we learned that Joshua told the people they had 3 days to get ready before the entered the promised land. Now, Joshua had just wandered around in the desert for 40 years...why do you think he would need 3 additional days before entering the land? God did for Rahab just what He did for me and you when He sent those people into our lives to show and assure us of His promises. God used those 3 days to have Joshua send 2 spies on a reconnaissance mission that was so much more than they realized it would be!! Their ultimate purpose wasn't just so they could scope out the land....It was so that they could meet this lost soul, Rahab, and comfort her fearful heart. So they could assure her of the Lord's promises. So they could offer her protections and she could have the opportunity to prove her faithfulness. Using Joshua and the spies as tools, for those 3 days, God was just patiently waiting for one more soul's conversion.

How humbling that He loves us so much that He would create a specific order of events JUST so we come to know Him? Even more so that He would choose to use us as tools in the events that He uses to bring others to know Him.

Lord, help us to be faithful and courageous when you call us so that we never miss a chance to be part of something so much bigger than us. Let us look at every opportunity as an opportunity to be a part of someone's "salvation story"!

If anyone is willing to share, I would love to hear your salvation story

Scarlet Red (Joshua Study Post 7)

Scarlet Red

Read Joshua 2:14-20

In these verses we find out that the spies make a promise to Rahab. They promise her that as long as she protects them that they will return the favor. All she has to do is leave the scarlet rope hanging from her window and her and everyone in her home will live. Life for life.

Now, today, I want to focus on something a little different. I want to focus on the rope.  I (and I pray you too!) believe that every word in the Bible is alive. I believe every word was breathed & inspired by God. I also believe that every detail in the Word has a meaning. I don't believe that it is just coincidence or happenstance that this rope was red...scarlet red. This Scarlet Red, the color of blood, is woven through the history of God's people. It begins with the first animal sacrifice in the Garden of Eden. Made by God Himself to cover Adam & Eve's nakedness and restore fellowship with Him. Later on the blood of the ram took the place of Isaac, Abraham's beloved son, on the altar of sacrifice. We see this scarlet thread woven through time into the captivity in Egypt when the River Nile turned Blood Red. We see it again on the day that the door posts are stained with the lambs' blood so that God would passover the homes and spare the Hebrews' firstborn sons. We see it at the dripping altars of sacrifice made to atone for the sins of a wandering people. We see it again and  again....over and over, even up to the ultimate scarlet red sacrifice of Jesus' blood. I can not accept that God did not intentionally do this to show us something.

These spies found shelter in the home of Rahab, a "scarlet woman," who heard what the God of Israel had done when he parted the Red Sea, how blood had covered the battlefield when the Israelites encountered the Amorites. This courageous (remember COURAGE we talked about a few posts ago??) woman was protected by the scarlet cord and ultimately became part of the BLOODLINE of Jesus Christ.

Artists know that red is a dominant color. Even a small drop in a painting will draw attention in its direction. Rahab tossed out a scarlet cord to capture the spies attention and proclaim; SAVE THIS HOUSE!!
In somewhat the same manner, God threw out the scarlet lifeline, through Jesus' blood on the cross to capture our attention. He offers us the opportunity to be covered by that scarlet blood. By doing so, we then capture His attention and proclaim to Him; SAVE THIS SINNER!! Accepting that opportunity and being washed in that blood allows the Father to see us transformed from scarlet red into pure white!

Thank God for His redeeming blood! I know that it has been my source of hope on many occasions. Just knowing that His scarlet blood was shed for me is more than my heart can hold! what a joy and honor to be His child!! Let me hear your thoughts and insights on this topic! I love hearing what all of you have to say.

Remaining Love

Opening the door
Stepping out into it
Out in the darkness
Blinded with selfishness and sin
Still you remain

Dirty and bitter
Beaten and bruised
Turning my back
Putting you last
Still you remain

Confusion
Hate
Pride
Lies
Still You remain

Broken hearted cries
Guilt-ridden sobs
Remorseful tears
Too ashamed to turn to you
You still don't go
Still You remain

Knees buckling
Heart racing
Life breaking
Arms reaching
Still You remain

Catching
Holding
Forgiving
Loving
Still You love me. Still You want me. Still You believe in me. Still You remain
You will always remain
No greater love have I ever felt than Your unfailing, unfaltering, unrelenting
REMAINING LOVE.

Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 The Message

4 Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, 5 Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, 6 Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 7 Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

8 Love never dies.

I am so overwhelmed by this whole 'love' thing as of late...I mean, I have always believed in love! It's always been a huge part of my life... I thought that I was a pretty loving, compassionate person. I don't have a problem accepting others or doing things for others. I enjoy helping people. I even would say that I thrive off of helping others. I try to be nice. I try to observe the "Golden Rule"....but I've come to realize lately that it's not enough. It's not the kind of LOVE that is described in the above verse. If I dig deep and really search myself, there are usually selfish reasons that I do the things that I do. Not necessarily bad or wrong or malicious reasons. But still selfish nonetheless. Whether it be to fulfill my desires or to cause people to like me or even to make someone else happy...none of those are portraying the PURE LOVE that Corinthians 13 tells of.  That kind of love is not something that you DO....i have realized that it must be something that you ARE...wow...It has to become a part of you. So that in every circumstance, with every person you ARE that love. The love that "never gives up...cares for others more than self.....doesn't keep score....puts up with anything....TRUSTS GOD ALWAYS..." That kind of love takes a transformation. Not only in your heart. But in your head as well. The world has taught us such a warped, jacked up view of what "love" looks like and feels like that we have to concsiously work to change our way of thinking concerning it. The world tells us to follow our heart and do what it tells us, but the Bible tells us that

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out." Jeremiah 17:9.

and

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

So, that tells me that we have ruling over our heart. It does not rule over us. Wherever WE place our treasure, our HEART follows. We don't follow our heart. It has to follow us! I have been in the place where my heart has deceived me. I have been in the place where I felt like I was following my heart and it lead me down a dark, dangerous, deadly road that, in the end, only lead to pain and suffering and brokeness. I am now longing for this Corinthians 13 kind of love at work in my life. I want to have that kind of love for others. I want to BE that kind of love! I know that God has surrounded me with some people that are living it out and I plan to glean from every bit of wisdom and guidance that they give me. But moreover, i plan to seek Him for it, and learn from Him about it. I know that it is something that only He can do. No one can BE that kind of love without His help. It's tough....but I know it is so worth it!

Loved

I wish I could take credit for this, but I can't. I don't know who the original author is, but this is beautiful to me and speaks so much truth...i had to share....

I made her. She is different. She's unique. With love I formed her in her mother's womb. I fashioned her with great joy. I remember with great pleasure the day I created her.

(Psalm 139:13-16)

I love her smile. I love her ways. I love to hear her laugh and the silly things she says and does. She brings me great pleasure.

(Psalm 139:17)

I made her pretty and not beautiful, because I knew her heart and knew she would be vain. I wanted her to search out her heart and to learn it would be Me in her that would make her beautiful and would draw friends to her.

(I Peter 3:3-5)

I made her in such a way that she would need Me. I made her a little more lonesome than she would like to be, only because I want her to turn to Me in her loneliness. Only because I need for her to lean to and depend on Me. I know her heart. I know if I had not made her like this she would go her own way and forget about Me, her Creator.

(Psalm 62:5-8)

I have given her many good and happy things because I love her.

(Psalm 84:11 and Romans 8:32)


Because I love her, I have seen her broken heart and the tears she has cried alone. I have cried with her and had a broken heart too.

(Psalm 56:8)

Many times she has stumbled and fallen alone, only because she would not hold My Hand. So many lessons she has learned the hard way, because she would not listen to My Voice.

(Isaiah 53:6)

She is mine. I made her then I bought her because I love her.

(Romans 5:8)

I have to reshape and remold her, to renew in her what I want her to be. It has not been easy for her or for me.

(Jeremiah 29:11)

I want her to be conformed to My Image. This high goal I have set for her because I love her.

(2 Corinthians 2:14)

Standing

I stand here, in this box; in my 'safe place'. I look out...afraid to take a step. Afraid to stand still. Anxious to move on, look forward, but still afraid to look into the eyes of the world...the people i've let down, the people that i've hurt.

I can only look up. I look up and into the face of my Heavenly Father. Crazy as it may be, i can feel His forgiveness...I can see His grace. I can bathe in His love.

I know He is the most important to gain forgiveness from. And I am so greatful for it. I just don't know how to make my flesh be ready to take the next step. To get back to the things I know He has called me to. To get back involved in the lives of those that I love so much. To be able to laugh and talk to people without this cloud of guilt smothering my every breath....In Him, I should be strong and courageous, but instead I am scared and ashamed.

I don't know what they will see when they look at me... What they will think.... I have been surrounded by only love and forgiveness from so many, yet, i know that they don't forget. I know that they can't help but think about it when they see me...they are human and we don't have a 'sea of forgetfulness'.

I am leaning on the promises and the Word of God now, more than ever. It, along with the wonderful husband and family that God gave me, is all that I have that is solid and true. Romans 8:26-28 The Message translation says;

 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good

That's my promise. My hope. My future.

I am so thankful for His love and His forgiveness and the love and forgiveness of so many others. I will continue praying and seeking for His strength to forgive myself. To let go of the guilt and place it at His feet for good. Through this season, looking into the mirror has been the hardest part of it all. I need His mercy and grace renewed every morning. Until I can take that step with courage, i will just stand. I'll stand in His promises. I'll stand in His grace. I'll stand in the shower of His love. I won't sit, or fall or turn around...He has brought me so far and I know He will bring me out. He will give me strength. I know it will come. He told me it would.