Where Do Your Feet Fail

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

This is one of my favorite songs by Hill Song . Many of you know it. It's an awesome praise song that we
sing as part of our worship but I would bet the person who wrote it lived it first and then it became a song 

We sing it with all our hearts, but do we mean it? Do we really want to trust the Lord without borders? Do we really want to walk upon the water? Do we really want to go deeper with the Lord?

The Lord asked me this very question a while back and I said yes,  that was right before we moved onto Storm Road.....

Gems the only way to go deeper with Jesus is to go with deeper with Jesus.

Many times in my life the Lord will use things in the natural to coincide with things happening in my spiritual world. 

For example, when Jessica and I first moved to Florida many of you know we moved in with friends. The Lord told me it was going to be a time for me to rest. He said He was putting an umbrella of protection over  us where everything we needed would be provided for us. The Lord said I was to enjoy the covering and rest. What I don't think I ever told you was we moved into a house on Parasol  Lane. 

God has such a sense of humor.

About 5 months ago the Lord moved us into another house but this time we moved onto Storm Rd.

2014 has started with some major storms for me and my family. Storms that cause you to go deeper. Storms that makes me call out to Jesus as I try and keep my head above the waves for fear I will drown.

Storms where the Spirit's leading is taking me deeper and with each wave I remember He asked me if I wanted to go and I said yes....

I'm not going to share all of the storms with you but I want to share one that we are in them middle of right now. My oldest daughter Amanda was called to the mission field in Mbale Uganda. She was very excited about it and I was trying to be. Africa is very far away!
She was only there a few short months before the storm began. Amanda had a small lump on her neck that was rapidly growing into a big lump. It got to the point where it was causing her problems breathing so she decided to see a doctor. It was determined she was going to need surgery to have her left thyroid lobe removed. I of course thought this meant she would be coming home... she didn't.
She said she felt God telling her to stay and have the surgery done in Kampala.
Now if you know me you know my mind can be CRAZY! The vision in my head of this surgery looked something like this. A guy sitting on a stool with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a dirty knife in his hand. Over his shoulder was a woman holding a flashlight and 2 men at the door holding a cooler to put my daughter's organs in.
I warned you I'm crazy.

I tried my best to talk my daughter into coming home but in my heart I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me she would be staying there. A dear friend offered me her frequent flyer miles to be with Amanda but the Lord said NO.
He was calling me deeper.

My daughter had her neck cut from one end to the other and before either one of us had a chance to comprehend what happened the next wave came, there was cancer and she would be having a 2nd surgery to remove the other side of the thyroid and a tumor. A second surgery in less than 10 days! An ocean away and nothing I could do to fix it.  I felt like I would drown! He
was calling me deeper...

I will call upon Your Name
Keep my eyes above the waves.

The only way to go deeper with God is to go deeper.

Gems the thing is we sing about going deeper and we say
we want to go deeper but the truth is we don't. The minute things get a little uncomfortable we bail. The minute we have
to rely on that faith without borders we jump back into our life raft. The minute it's totally out of our control and we can't figure out how it's going to work out we cry UNCLE! 
I can't tell you how many times people tell me God told them to do this or that and they are so excited about their upcoming journey with the Lord.  I see them a few months later and the plan went out the window and when I ask why? They tell me God must have changed his mind. Really?
It sounds more like your feet have failed. Gems don't ask people what God is thinking. If He changed the plan He will tell you. This is the only way your faith can be made stronger you have to go where He calls you.

The sad truth is we want to go deeper but we don't want to hit any real storms. We want to skip over the hard part and just have all the provision before any waves come. The problem with that plan is you get the glory not God and He is all about His glory!
We want it to be easy but God never said it was easy to be in the center of His will.
What He did say is He will make a way when there seems to be no way, IF we trust in Him. 

I don't know what ocean your in right now but I can tell you, you can trust the one who made it. God wants to go deeper with everyone of us. He told me "the bigger the problem the bigger my glory." I'll be honest I'm no super human without fear, my first response was I'm not ready for bigger glory especially when it's my child we're talking about. God knows all to well what it's like to give a child for His glory.
Gems if we are truly going to be the bride of Christ we better start looking like her. These can't just be songs we sing they must be lives we live. Get in the water, go through the storm and let's walk on these waters where we know our feet will fail because it is only then that Christ will carry you.  You can rest in His embrace.

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Comfort Tomb

I was having a Nana day with my grandson Lucas and he was telling me the story about Lazarus from John 11. As he retold the story to me in Lucas version he said “And God called Lazarus out of the grave, out loud so Lazarus would be the only dead guy to come out.”

Gems at that moment I had a mental picture of a bunch of mummies sitting up, looking at each other and saying me you me you????

This of course got me thinking that God does call each one of us by name. We may not be called to raise someone from the dead but we may be called to raise someone’s hopes from the dead.

 I think sometimes we think if we don’t have some huge calling that we are not being called at all but that my friend is a lie from the pit.

I love the story of Elijah when he wanted to hear from God.

1 King 19:¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: ¹²And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire 

Gems most times it’s the still small voice inside of you that is telling you what God wants from you but you are in your comfort tomb, wrapped up tightly in your garment of security and you don't want to come out.

A few months ago a new woman joined my weekly ladies Bible study. Her name is Karin and as I introduced myself I felt the Holy Spirit say “be a good friend to her.”

Karin seemed like a nice enough woman but the truth is I could tell she was a bit older than me so we wouldn't have much in common and my plate was full right now. I had a pretty packed tomb and while I had no intentions of being a bad friend I didn't ask the Holy Spirit what He meant by being “a good friend” because knowing Him He would tell me. Bottom line Jesus was calling me out of my tomb. 

Over the next few weeks I couldn't help but grow closer to Karin. She had the sweetest spirit and was a genuinely kind person. We had a bond knit together by the Holy Spirit and I couldn't be happier to be her friend and knew she was my friend too.

One Wednesday she missed our Bible study and I ran into her at a store that afternoon. I told her we missed her and being the nosy person I am I asked where she was. Karin told me she was just coming back from Moffit Cancer Center. I had no idea she had cancer.

Over the next few weeks I would get together with Karin at her house as her condition seemed to worsen quickly.

I would visit her on weekends and my days off from work. We would pray together and I would read the Bible to her. Sometimes I would read one of my jewels, did I mention she was a Gena's Jewels fan :)  My stories seem to encourage her as we had a lot of the same family issues.

Hospice was eventually called in. It has been hard watching my dear friend deteriorate right before my eyes. In spite of her condition she always had a great attitude and NEVER complained! As I would read God's word I would look up to see her small fragile face with the most angelic smile on it.

 She absorbed God's word and He was so faithful to tell me exactly what passages He wanted read to His beautiful daughter. They were having a very personal experience

together and He used me to be His mouth piece. He took

me from my tomb to let Karin know the tomb could not contain Jesus and it wouldn't contain her either!

A few days before she died I was able to sit with Karin, actually I climbed into bed with her. I stroked her soft hair and sang songs quietly into her ear. I reminded her how much Jesus loved her and how He was waiting for his sweet bride to come home to the room He had prepared for her.

Her still small voice asked me if we could do communion one more time. As I held her fragile head in my hands and lifted the tiny cup to her awaiting lips to partake of our Lord's supper it brought her such comfort. She understood that Jesus shed blood was her promise of eternal life.
Gems it was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

It was at that moment I heard the Holy Spirit thanking me for being a good friend to His sweet servant. 

I wept as I thought of my initial response to stay in my tomb and not be imposed on.

I was honored Karin and her family allowed me to be a small part of Karin's last trek on her journey home.

Gems I'm not telling you this story for any praise on my part but to remind you that we all get comfortable in our personal tomb and God is calling each one of us to come out.

We so often think ''someone else will do it” but God has called each of us for a certain purpose. Don't miss yours, don't stay in your comfort tomb when Jesus says out loud

“ your name here COME OUT!”