Jesus Can Overcome Your Thoughts

I learned that Jesus can overcome my thinking, my doubts, and my misgivings. I was working on a poem expressing the origins of earth-Yes, I did think this. I remembered that in the Bible there was a reference to giants that walked the lands. 

I asked a woman I worked with (whose husband was a minister) if I could meet with them to discuss this reference and talk about my poem. They were very kind to my hippie agnostic self. As I was leaving, the minister said to read the book of John when I had time.

OK. I was cooking dinner, sitting on a bench in my kitchen, and opened my big Catholic Bible my mom gave me when I was married. This is the result:

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." John 1:1-14 

Agnostic eyes read these words. 
My brain translating concepts into thoughts:
Flowing electricity
Through the fortifications of all I knew.
Stunned, I stared at lilac walls,
Laced with the afternoon sun.
I sat, looking at the big book in my hand,
My brain clicking internal binary codes,
Programming inroads
Through disconnected memory files
And suddenly,
Organized sense awoke.
A veil was lifted:
I gasped, “I’m saved.”

(excerpt from my book "Believing is Just the Beginning")

God: My life and breath

You are my life and breath,

My fiber, and the basis of my being.

You are the strength in my soul,

The keeper of the courage in my heart.

In the devastation of broken dreams,

Among the ruins of unrecognized hope, 

You are the foundation for rebuilding and rebirth,

The keeper of the courage in my heart.

Your Word is like a strong arm,

Your will a wall of safety.

You are faith itself, and never-ending hope.

Though earthquakes rock my life

And split my dreams like paper

I cling to You, my constant source of strength,

Oh Lord, my hope and my eternal love.

You own my heart, and all that I have belongs to You.

What thought, or dream conceived,

Does not spring from Your creation?

I am, I am because You are,

Oh Lord. I am because You are.

 From "Believing is Just the Beginning" by Pennee Struckman

What are you trusting God to do? What is your Manna?

What is your manna? I woke this morning wondering how the Israelites felt when they were hungry, following a God they barely knew, and learning to trust Him. As Christians, we see the joy and faithfulness of God, but we still have unanswered prayers. We sometimes battle the doubts that arise in the everyday walk. This is what I imagined it was like for a mother who had no food to feed her children.

The woman could not sleep. She left her bed, checking on her children, then stepped outside the tent. The camp was dark; only a few ember fires were scattered around.

She drew her shawl around her in the early morning chill. What would she feed her family today? The figs and meal brought from Egypt were gone. Her children were hungry.

She looked at the stars, now fading in the transparent light of the dawn. She was born in captivity, and amazed as any at the deliverance from slavery, following a man she didn’t know, but trusting in her father and her husband. This God they listened to, who had parted a river while they passed on dry land, what a joyous moment that was, knowing her people were freed from bondage. But now there was the everyday journey, learning to trust a God she was unfamiliar with. And what would God do to feed her children?

She prayed, “God, I do follow you, although I am still learning. Please show me how to trust you and to know your loving kindness and truth. God of Jacob, God of my fathers, please help me feed my children.”

She walked to the back of the tent, still wondering how to learn this everyday walk with a God she was still getting to know. As she stood silently, gazing out at the vast expanse of desert, struggling to overcome the fear in her heart, she felt a gentle push on her shoulder. She looked to see where it came from.

Her eyes grew wide, and she quickly went back into the tent to wake her husband. “There is bread on the ground,” she whispered. He rose, still sleepy, “What are you saying?” “Come,” she replied.

The couple stood outside the tent and marveled that the sand was filled with bread. “Get a basket”, her husband said, and hurried off to wake the elders.

As I meditate on this, I see my manna and what I asked of the Lord. I am strengthened, knowing that God can supply all my needs. I can rest, knowing that my manna is coming. 

How do you imagine Heaven?

How do you imagine Heaven? I hear about streets of gold, mansions, and pearly gates. 

I picture a white house with all my family in the yard. My mom is holding my infant grandchild, my brothers are playing with my dad, and my sister is walking around the rose-filled garden. There is a pathway leading to the house, where my dad greeted each of them as they arrived.

But mostly, I think of what it will be like to meet God and Jesus. In my thoughts, I am awestruck, just standing there with tears in my eyes, so grateful to be in the Lord’s presence. I don’t believe I will visit the white house or find my mansion. I will sit before the Lord quietly, thanking Him for leading me to this place. 

When I imagine Heaven, there is no greater thought than being with God. I am speechless, peaceful, and happy. 

Who is the holiest in God’s kingdom?

Who is the holiest in God’s Kingdom? Is holiness what we do, or is it where the heart lies?

Salvation is a free gift from God; all He requires is our belief and submission. It is as simple as walking through an open door and as tricky as trying to open a locked door. Over the course of our average lifetime, everyday living bruises us and locks us down. 

Education introduces alternative thoughts on reality. Society promotes self-fulfillment and moral freedom. The truth is housed in shades of gray. My understanding of salvation is a level playing field.

We enter God’s Kingdom by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. God’s love was always with us and didn’t increase because we are now His children. The faith we have was already measured out by God, and now becomes active. In God’s eyes, when we are saved, we are as holy as we will ever be. 

I have been in the Kingdom for more than 30 years. I have observed many ‘movements’ within the body: the faith movements (name it and claim it), the prosperity movement (honoring those who are well off more than those who are not), and the judgment movement (those who have trouble and illness must be secretly sinning).

While faith is the substance of following Christ, prosperity or righteousness is the strength of Christ in us, and judgment exists within our personal relationship with Jesus. God is in control, and these movements have passed away because they were man-made. 

Yet some of these ideas still exist within the individual groups of believers. I met one woman who vehemently opposed Joyce Meyer, calling her a prosperity teacher. I tried to explain that the Word identifies prosperity with righteousness. And this left me wondering: Why is it so hard for people to believe that God wants us to prosper?

I have an illness called positional vertigo. I can get very sick at times and have to limit my movements. Why am I sharing this? Because I met a woman in a denomination who walked up to me and asked me if I had aids because she heard I was ill. I had never really spoken with her and only knew her briefly.

Of all the illnesses a person can have, why did she leap to this one? I honestly can’t look her in the eye. Not because of her question, but because of the heart that sprang from it. Who thinks these things? How can a person go immediately to one of the worst conditions in America just because another person has an illness?

I have met believers who have many rules: don’t wear makeup, don’t go to movies, don’t play cards, don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t fellowship with unbelievers (now that one blows me away, after all, are we only supposed to shine the light on each other?).

I conversed with a young woman who had accepted Jesus as Lord. She was thinking of turning back because she couldn’t conquer all the ‘don’ts’ she was being told to do. I shared my own salvation experience with her. I was told by a woman that I couldn’t be saved because I was a hippie. I thought about the statement, but I knew in my innermost being that Jesus was honest and that I decided to follow Him. 

I didn’t change overnight; it was years of praying, listening, and being cooked in the silver pot, all the dross skimmed off, then cooked again.

Who is the holiest in heaven? God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. No matter what we do as Christians during our journey on earth, we cannot earn a higher place in heaven.

We can always draw closer to God by learning to let our nature, thoughts, judgment, and hearts give way to what God is doing in our lives. For me, that means deflecting my pride, keeping my tongue, being submissive to the rules at work, doing good wherever I see fit to do it, and handing my tendency for melancholy over to God every time I find it swimming in my soul.

It is remembering that we live in an imperfect world, shrouded in darkness, and it is my ‘job’ to shine a light in this darkness. My light is kindness (even when I don’t feel kind), consistency in my actions and reactions (even when I want to slap someone), smiling, and listening for the opportunity to encourage, provide, and perform a good deed for someone. 

And I do this for unbelievers. Imagine that?