Let go my wandering spirit part 1

April 30, 2018May 1, 2018 carriedinthecross1 Comment

My absolute favorite quote from Tolkien is: Not all who wander are lost.

This statement makes me dream of far off places and uncharted road trips. I can imagine and visualize deep woods thick with ancient trees, their boughs reaching to me as if to guide me along my path. I picture chill mornings by a soothing campfire with a hot cup of coffee in my hand, my dog nestled on my knee and morning doves starting to sing a greeting to the day. Beautiful thoughts these may be, but what if we take a closer look at that phrase? Not all who wander are lost. Tolkien became devout Roman Catholic so there are Christ like connections to His novels and His quotes (whether he intended them or not). Many have written devotionals linking the “Hobbit” and “the Lord of the Ring” with the Bible; no one could possibly know if Tolkien would have approved of these derivative works or not but I doubt he would have minded. Looking at Tolkien’s Faith I wonder what He meant when he said “not all who wander are lost”? Scripture talks about a heart that is prone to wander from the will of God and from God Himself, but that is a different wandering than Tolkien meant here; Tolkien speaks of a physical wandering, a “letting go of the feet” if you will. Here is the point I get from “not all who wander are lost,” not all who wander physically are lost spiritually. Some of us have what may be referred to as a gypsy soul, a restless spirit that makes it so we must constantly be on the move. This may be the result of seeking a longing that only Christ can fill, a longing to know Him because we have wandered from Him, or never knew Him to begin with, but it may also be a need to wander set in us by God.

Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · searching

Setting your mind

March 5, 2018 carriedinthecross2 Comments

In one of my favorite movies the main character loves the song ‘country roads’ and rewrites the lyrics to it. The new version has a line that says:
Determined to live alone but fearless, my constant longing is to be courageous. Loneliness is bottled up inside, going down this path that I must try.

It’s a beautiful description of who she is. She knows herself and is willing to allow that to be enough for her. She knows her path is lonely but she takes it anyway with determination to contain that feeling and not allow it to control her. She is fearless and longs for even greater courage. These simple lyrics could apply to many of us. We all have a path to travel and we all have struggles along the way; some we can foresee others we can not, it’s how we handle these struggles that define us. Will we take them on like a ship breaking through a squall, heading for the light? Or will we shrink back inside our cabin and hope that it all goes away? Maybe we try to run from the storm, but we know that that never works out, just ask Jonah. However we face our troubles, however we take on our paths, God knows what He’s doing. He saw these squalls even before you were born, and He also saw a way through them. Some people fear asking for courage because they think that it will add turmoil to their lives, but lives will have turmoil whether you ask for courage or not. Isn’t it better to have already built up your courage before the big struggles come? If you haven’t then those times when you feel you’ve hit rock bottom will be harder to overcome. It’s not easy to look down the road ahead, feel the wind grab your hair, feel the hard path beneath your feet and take off your fear like a cloak throwing it over your shoulder, stepping off the threshold of your comfort zone at a run and smiling about it. Those who have done so have had the chance to touch their stars, yours are still waiting for you. When you look at those who have left their fear behind and taken hold of their path you will see a person scarred. Their cloths may seem torn and their skin marred by the hard falls, but you will also see a brilliant smile of triumph on their faces and when they walk by they drip of starlight, because they have touched the heavens. Why? Because they trusted God would lead them and never doubted His perfect, guiding hand. Do you see starlight in your future? Your future as an accountant, a plumber, a teacher, a doctor, an electrician? You don’t have to be an artist to gleam, you just have to give what you are meant to do everything you’ve got and trust that every time you fall a nail pierced hand will be there to help you back up.

Devotional · dreams do come true · encouragement · Jesus · searching

Sometimes the beast turns out to be the dream come true.

February 22, 2018 carriedinthecross2 Comments

I love how in Beauty and the Beast Bell’s greatest fear becomes her one true love. How often is this the same for us? I know none of us tend to get lost in a forest and then locked in the dungeon of a dilapidated castle. If you do you may want to consider new hobbies. What I mean is look at your life. How many times has the road ahead of you seamed like a big, scary monster? The chance to sing professionally, the attempt to send your manuscript or art work off to a publisher, sometimes even the struggle to stay put at the job you’re at even when everything in you says there are greater possibilities out there. Any dream, desire, want, need can seem like a looming dragon with fire oozing from it’s scales and the promise of destruction etched into it’s gleaming golden eyes. But look close at those eyes, you will see yourself looking back. You may even see the fear the dragon holds as he looks at you, because he shares your fear. Even though it may seem as if the dragon is your fear in truth he is just your excuse. If you walk toward him you will see him move aside and transform suddenly into a beautiful road leading to your future. Like I said sometimes your future is where you are, doing what you are doing, and sometimes it’s out there behind the horizon, because no matter what your future is it is almost always beyond what you can see. God has this huge, amazing plan for you that may seem like nothing as you live through it; but somehow that plan is doing amazing things for the world wheather you see it or not. You may be the single difference that makes the most important change. Only God knows what you will cause and do while on this earth, you just have to not be afraid of the beast and realize that he is your dream come true.

Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · Uncategorized

If only they’d look closer, they’d find out there’s so much more to me.

January 14, 2018 carriedinthecross1 Comment

Don’t you ever wish that people would look closer, that they wouldn’t judge simply from an off hand meeting? People don’t see the real you until they take the time to get to know the real you. Jesus looks closer right away, he never judges even after He sees the true man/woman behind the mask, He loves you no matter what you are like. If only people could be more like Jesus, often times you wont know what the person is like until they feel comfortable to bring down their barriers and stop hiding behind the front they put up. True, some will prefer the false you and like you less once they get to know you, but others will like you even better when they see the true, genuine article. Don’t be afraid to look closer at people before you decide if you like them or not, Jesus wasn’t, He has always seen us with all our flaws and loves us even more for them, because the flawless can’t be refined.

Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · Uncategorized

Mistake

November 27, 2017November 27, 2017 carriedinthecross2 Comments

You are being yourself and a person questions your character, your dream, what you are doing, your goals and suddenly your concerned. Maybe they’re right, this person is a stronger Chritian than you are, they work at food drives and go on missions trips and live the Christian life that seems to be right. So are you wrong?

Guess what, what that person thinks or says, does not matter! Yikes, I know right, can you say that about someone else who is a brother or sister in Christ? Yes you can. Constructive criticism is a good thing but these people don’t know what your life is supposed to be all about. They don’t know who God made you to be. I once heard it said that life is a guessing game. And it’s true. Even if you’re a Christian you don’t know what your life is meant to be, and you look at the options guessing, wondering which is right; the difference between a Christian guessing and a non-Christian guessing is the Christian knows the one who knows the answers. Do you know why God gave Moses a burning bush? Because he would never have done what God needed him to do without such a sure sign. Even after all of the wonders God did through him when God asked him to go talk to Pharoh again Moses said, “oh, I don’t know God, even your own people won’t listen to me so why should Pharoh?” God stood there and shook His head, ” seriously Moses? We’re going through this self doubt thing again? What more do I have to do to show you I have this under control?” Then God gave in and again sent Arron to help but the miracles were done through Moses. Do you have any idea how many people told Moses he was a failure, he was wrong, he was doing the wrong things? I bet Moses said to himself more than once, ‘why didn’t I ignore that bush and keep going? I had a good, quiet life as a shepherd and now I’m stuck in the desert with all these complaining, negative people!’ However God had a big plan for Moses. Moses wasn’t a dreamer, that was Joseph, Moses never dreamed of doing all the things he did, but God had planned on it and was leading him to the right bush at the right time. Not everybody can see your potential and they may be down on you because they just don’t get it. Moses simply followed what he saw God leading him to do and when he didn’t see he prayed and God said ‘see that staff of wood in your hand? Stretch it out toward the sea.’ Guess what, that sea parted right down the middle and never again has anyone seen anything like it, even Pharohs sorcerers couldn’t copy that one.

So ignore negative voices and don’t take anything to heart that sounds like it’s not from God. He knows His dream for you, no one else does. Thank you Jesus for you dream for me. Amen.

Christianity · Devotional · dreams do come true · Jesus · Uncategorized

The courage to stand

November 12, 2017November 15, 2017 carriedinthecross4 Comments

You will not have to fight this battle; take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.- 2 Chronicles 17

When we are down and are having a hard time seeing something we are after succeed what is the first thing most of us do? We look for a way to make what we are after happen; because why shouldn’t it happen right now? Why shouldn’t we get that raise and make more money? Why shouldn’t that play we’ve written get produced today? Why shouldn’t the healing we’ve been asking and waiting for happen now? And all that happens is we start to worry more and more and more, until we are consumed by fear. Sometimes God isn’t wanting us to work to attain the things we are after, sometimes God simply wants us to stand. To wait. To trust that He will take care of it all.

It’s funny how doing nothing except praying is often the hardest thing we can do. It should be simple but it’s frustrating and makes us feel restless. That doesn’t change the fact that God knows what He’s doing, and being annoyed and afraid is not going to make our desires happen faster. Sometimes we just need to have the faith to stand firm and trust God. Our dreams can and most likely will happen, just not in the timing we desire or exspect.