Call Out

Recently on an early Saturday morning, I drove to Atlanta for a meeting. I left my house a little after 6 a.m., tired and yet refreshed after a Friday night of God-time with a dear heart-friend. I was actually excited about the trip for several reasons. After the meeting, I was going to spend the next couple of days with my former college roommate in Gainesville. Boating, swimming, a worship service, good food, laughs, it was a set up for a fantastic get away.


However, I was also cherishing the two hour drive.  It was going to give me some much desired alone time with the Lord. Worship music on I was singing and praying. The Holy Spirit’s presence was so real, He was beautiful. When I got to Atlanta I was going to be sharing a devotion, but I wasn’t worried because the Lord had clearly shown me what I was to share. No questions, no doubts – it was that clear. (Wish it was like that every time!) I knew the only preparation needed at this point was to be saturated in His presence so that what hopefully would come out would be the overflow of time spent with Him.


As I got closer to Atlanta, the traffic was getting thicker, which was no surprise. I was in the middle lane with cars and trucks surrounding me and we were going at a pretty good clip. Only about 10 more miles and I would arrive at my destination. Up ahead between the lanes of cars, I spotted a weird object. About that time, a car hit it and it went flying high up into the air. It was a shovel. Not a flimsy, tiny ground breaking shovel, not a plastic snow shovel, this was a ‘let’s go out and plant a big tree’ shovel. It was like time stood still as I saw that as it began to fall it’s trajectory would put it directly through my windshield with the head of the shovel landing on me. When I saw this I didn’t swerve, thankfully because there was no place to go other than into other vehicles and cause a massive wreck.


I did the only thing I knew to do. I called out “Oh, JESUS! HELP! Not the windshield.” At that point, the only way I knew to describe it is as if something swatted it because the handle came down first (defying gravity from a heavy steel blade), and it hit the vanity plate, then my hood and then the blade hit the hood, directly in front of me. It left two big gouges in the hood, damaged the wiper and some other parts in that region, and it scratched my windshield. I had just thought it was gunk on the windshield, but in my line of vision, there it is – a scratch from the blade.


Funny what goes through your head in those moments. Things like “Death by a flying shovel?! You’ve GOT to be kidding me?!” After it hit, I made my way to the shoulder of the road to see what damage had been done. Do I call the cops? What do I do? I got back in my car and drove to the church. I had a message to deliver. Something rose up in me – a determination – maybe a mandate - to make sure that I was there on time ready to speak not my words, but His. I was trembling as I pulled into the parking lot, ran in, got sick, went back to my car. In the privacy of my little Civic, me and the precious Holy Spirit that had so invaded my car earlier had a moment together. Shalom came, the tremors left, the strength of the Lord arose within me. Initially I didn’t tell anyone what happened. I listened to people talk about their week, and when the worship time came, my thankfulness to the Lord rose to a whole new level. When I stood to speak, I told my shovel story and then I delivered what I knew I had been sent to share. I believe lives were touched, not by my words, but by His that day.


Some people may see my car and think, that’s no big deal. As I got the estimate on the repairs and had two men tell me how truly lucky I had been, I was able to tell them, the only thing I believed helped me in that situation was that I called out the name of the Lord and He heard and answered my cry.


I believe something shifted in me that Saturday morning. I looked at that shovel and realized how thin that line is between this life and the next. I’ve known it in my head, but now it’s in my heart and my passion for God and for His saturating presence has only been amplified.


I know this – you can whisper, cry, shout, mouth, or call out His name and HE will answer, He will come to you, He will RUN to you. Whatever you are facing, from flying shovels to whatever life is hurling at you – remember – HE IS JUST A BREATH AWAY!  Call out!


Deluge has a song called Whisper His Name (check it out on YouTube!). The lyrics are these:


Whisper His name Whisper His name Whisper His name And He will answer you
Whisper His name Whisper His name Whisper His name And He will come to you
Call out His name (Jesus) Call out His name (Jesus) Call out His name (Jesus) And He will come to you
Shout out His name (Jesus) Shout out His name (Jesus) Shout out His name (Jesus) And He will run to you
For when we lose our selfish pride and when we fall down on our knees
For when we lift our hands And say You’re all I need
Oh God we lose our selfish pride Lord we fall down on our knees
We lift our hands to You And say You’re all we need

You’re all we need You’re all we need You’re all we need
Glory to You in the highest place Glory to You in the highest place Glory to You in the highest place

Magnolia

I had always wanted a home with a magnolia tree in the yard.  I do live in the south after all and in my head it only seemed fitting.  When we bought our home over 15 years ago, I was a bit disappointed that on the almost 4 acres of very wooded land there didn’t seem to be a magnolia tree.  I wanted a house with a magnolia so much, that we even named our dog Magnolia and called her Maggie.  Silly, but true.

One day when Cameron was walking on the back half of the property, he spotted a tiny little seedling of a magnolia tree.  He carefully dug it up and replanted it in the front portion of the property near the house hoping it would take root and be in a place so we could watch it grow.   Well, it took root and it has grown into a tall and lovely tree that brings me joy every time I see it.  The only thing that has bothered me about this tree is that regardless of its large size, it has never produced a bloom.

      

Going down the driveway yesterday I looked up and as I was passing the tree, noticing just how tall she had gotten and there it was - a massive bloom.  Simple, white, full, and stunning.  I slammed the brakes and screamed “It bloomed!!! Look! The magnolia bloomed!”  I parked the car and we jumped out.  We had to get a picture.  Cam took pictures and I called Amanda, because I had told her just days before that I wish our magnolia tree would bloom and it had!  She peered out her bedroom window. She could see it and she laughed.  The tree was holding that bloom up tall and proper.  It was as if the tree was just as proud of this first fruit as we were.

This excitement may seem a bit much, but I cannot begin to express what seeing that bloom did in my heart.  I had looked at that tree for years knowing the potential that was inside.  My longing for that potential to come out had grown with each passing season.  I had recently begun verbalizing my restlessness at its seeming unwillingness to simply let what was in there come out.  Would it ever bloom? Was it just not time? Questions I was asking that perhaps were reflecting things closer to my own life than I was willing to admit.   And then, it bloomed.

With that bloom - hope rose, joy was released and the awesomeness of Creator God shone forth.  It was a testimony of waiting, timing, expectation and surprise.

Thank you Abba for the lessons you teach and the joy you splash on my world when you surprise me with gifts that only you can give.  I cannot wait to see the rest of the blooms that you are allowing to spring forth all around me. I am joyfully waiting. I am hopefully expectant. 

Finding the Table

Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. 
2) He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3) He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
4) Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
5) You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.
6) Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23 is such a familiar passage that we often quote it without drinking in the words of wisdom that are encased in every section. Maybe we are drawn to the peaceful streams, or are clinging to the knowledge that his rod and staff are there protecting and comforting. 
     Maybe we need to stop and re-think our interpretation – maybe walk around to the other side of these passages and get a new perspective. Several years ago while in Israel, someone was reading verse five and they said "If you are so focused on the enemy, you won't find the table." That grabbed me. The table is the very provision of God. It may be right in front of me – but if I am looking at the wrong thing – I have the potential to miss the very thing God is preparing for me or maybe what he's already spread before me.
     The enemy of my soul sends a world of distractions - some real, some contrived, some tangible, some in my own head or heart. All clamoring for my attention, steering my thoughts, my attitudes – its hard not to look. But, if it is true that what I focus on, I empower, then I have to set my focus the right thing, not on the distraction.  Phillipians gives us a tremendous guideline for this by saying, "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
      May the aroma of the feast of His word capture my very being so that I find the table He has prepared. I wanna sit and taste the goodness of my God and drink of the new wine He is pouring even now. I wanna- let my cup overflow.

No More Sippy Cups!

I woke up in the wee-hours of the morning with the word sippy cup in my brain. This is my early morning ramblings about a heart cry that I see rising not only inside me but inside those around me.

This is NOT Sippy Cup Religion

If you need reminding of what the Sippy cup is.  Inside the cup you put small doses of water, juice or milk and then attach a tight spill-proof lid that toddlers then drink from, only getting a small amount out at a time. 

   Too often once someone has gotten saved and taken some of the milk of the word – we only graduate them to the preverbal sippy cup.  Continuing to offer them milk from the word – because we are afraid they can’t handle the meat, or juice because they might not be ready for the true wine of anointing, or water because if they got too much of that it might make a mess. And of course – we ourselves are often content drinking out of our sippy cup – because it is safe.     Are we honestly content with a sippy cup experience limiting us to small doses as if there is a limited supply?!

  My God – Our God – can no longer be confined to our sippy cup religion.  He wants to give his children more – and we are THIRSTY for MORE.  More than even a ‘big gulp’ experience we once had.  We want a torrent of living water…from an ever-flowing fountain.  We are crying for the water.  Deep is calling to deep – FATHER - let us hear the ROAR of your waterfall!!!!

    There is a cry to be allowed to stand and soak in His presence – to stand under the waterfall, so that it splashes all around.  There is a cry to be cleansed and saturated and soaked so that when we walk we slosh.  When we touch or hug someone – they get wet & some of what we have gets on them!    LET IT BE EVIDENT.  In our walk, our talk, our integrity, our presence, our passion!!  

    When you’ve gone to an amusement park – remember seeing the people you know had just gotten off the big splash water ride at a park? – You didn’t see them actually on or even near the ride - but you knew by their very being that they had an experience that got them soaked!  SOAK US LORD!!!!  SOAK ME!

    I want what I experience to be so saturating that everything and everyone I touch is affected. That when I walk, I leave prints!  I don’t want to dry off!   I don’t want to live off a one—time drenching from days gone by…….because I know if I am away from your life-giving water long enough – I will dry up!  Nor do I want to receive only a doled out sampling offered in a sippy cup at a scheduled snack time.  I want MORE.  I want to play and dance and sing and run and laugh and cry in the river of My God. 

   Father – pop the lids off the sippy cups and POUR out your water on us and show us the way to MORE.   Lead us by your stream into the waterfall.    We want more not for ourselves so we can say we’ve been there but no Father – so that we can offer more to this generation and to this dying world and to this drying, dying modern church.  We want to let them know that they have access to a God that longs to cleanse and overwhelm and saturate them with his miracle working, life-changing presence. 

MORE LORD – More of YOU –

DON’T LET US SETTLE – DON’T LET ME SETTLE FOR LESS THAN ALL YOU HAVE!

(Blog originally posted in 2007 - thirst continues)

Restoration

My heart is so full at this moment, I’m not quite sure I can articulate what I sense inside.

In December of this past year, I really felt the Lord saying that in 2011 we were going to see Restoration. Another friend had heard the word Fulfillment. I believe we are seeing both!

It is no secret that restoration is a process. Whether we are talking about furniture, an old car, an old house or an individual life – there is a tedious and oftentimes long process involved. It’s not all easy or comfortable or pretty. There is so much hard work involved that most will never see or know about. Sadly, too many give up before the completion.

I am a sucker for the big reveal. I love seeing a photo of the old vs. the new or the before vs. the after. Whatever kind of makeover it is, there’s something genuinely exciting about getting a glimpse of the former state and then the amazing transformation afterwards. There’s something in most of us that are intrigued by that. Look at the final 10-15 minutes of shows like “What not to Wear,” “Divine Design,” “Clean House”, “Hoarders”, or even the grand finale of “Biggest Loser.” They give you a look at the former state of a person or home and then boom – the grand reveal. Oftentimes, the transformation is so amazing that it’s hard to believe it is the same person or house. In fact, in the case of “Extreme Home Makeover,” often it isn’t the same. They simply use the same ground, raze what was there, and start completely over.

I believe spiritual restoration is often like this too. We don’t see the hard work, the tears, the pain, the sleepless nights, the days of turmoil, the sense of despair.

However, all is not lost. Just like the story of the potter in Jeremiah. The clay was flawed even in the hand of the potter. The potter watched, he knew, he was fully aware, and yet he did not throw it into a refuse pile. Rather, the potter formed it into a vessel that was pleasing to him. One translation of this passage says that the potter “crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.”

So, what is our role as friends, as family, as members of the body of Christ?

Well, Galatians 6:1-3 (Amplified) powerfully puts it like this: “If any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also. Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it]. For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.”

God is a huge advocate of restoration! He longs to see the restoration of the nations and of people.

Maybe you are someone that is in process – going through the behind the scenes difficult threshing floor with God times. If so, it’s almost reveal time! Don’t give up!

I believe that we are about to see restoration on so many levels. Are we ready? I have already seen restoration in more than one situation. I am seeing the fruit, the result of God working the lives of individuals and circumstances.

Don’t miss it. Watch for it! When it happens – give God ALL the glory for it is His handiwork!

God is restoring sons & daughters. God is restoring families. God is restoring hope. God is restoring dreams.   And that’s just for starters!

-----May this be a precious reminder in this season of God’s heart out of Joel 2:12,13.


“Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored].
   Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met].” (Amplified version)

----Can’t wait to hear more testimonies! (feel free to send me your restoration story at donnamcfisher@gmail.com)

FIRST

The word FIRST alone conjures up so many meanings and images. 

It’s a word that doesn’t need a lot of definition. However, out of sheer curiosity, I looked up its meaning.  It serves as an adjective, an adverb and a noun and the basic meanings are:  being before all others with respect to time, order, rank, importance, in preference to something, the beginning, winning position in race or competition, product or goods of the highest quality, above all else, at the outset, immediately, before anything else.

It’s the first of the year, and naturally, many of us stop to think about the potential of the days that lie ahead.

For me, in the final days of 2010 & now at the onset of 2011, I have been feeling challenged spiritually.  This has been stirring in me for a while, but yesterday it was solidified in me as I sat in a service and the minister dealt with that very issue.  Isn’t it interesting how God uses a myriad of things and people to underscore the very things He’s saying to us? 

I had remembered the passage in Revelation 2 that talked about losing our first love & have been admittedly convicted on that issue. But, I had forgotten that the church at Ephesus was at first affirmed and commended for their perseverance, discernment, good deeds and hard work for the sake of God. They had not grown weary in well doing. All tremendous attributes, all things that earn really good brownie points…but then God announces that he has something against them.  Really?  They seemed to be doing the right stuff!  And yet, they were called out and commanded to repent for losing and abandoning their first love. In other words, I can be doing good things, even godly things, and if he isn’t FIRST in my thoughts and the purpose for my actions, then I’ve totally missed it.   He must be my obsession. My desire must be for Him above all else.  Above even the good stuff.

This is not a new thought process for me.  It is a war that battles in my heart and head more often than I am proud to admit.  It means I have to continually be laying down my agenda, my interests, my relationships, and making sure that even the good I might attain to do is not superseding the very thing that He has called me to and that is Himself.  It is making sure that Matthew 6:33 is an active part of every day, that I am seeking His kingdom that I am seeking Him.

So, what does that look like?  I can’t say what it will look like for others, but I can speculate what it should look like for me.  For starters, it is intentional time with Him. Talking to Him, sure, but sitting to listen even more.  It is choosing to focus my affection on Him.  It is making sure that He is my first thought in the morning and my last thought when I lay my head on my pillow.  It is choosing to worship rather than worry and to pray rather than try to go through a million scenarios in my head of how something should be worked out.  It is placing my worship of Him back into a place of priority as I find new ways to tell this beautiful and incredible God just how much I truly do love Him.  It is making sure that I am pliable, teachable, and open to the things that He is wanting to still form and shape inside of me. 

I am grateful today for the reminder that the call to love God with all of my mind, heart, being and strength is greater than any other calling or vision or dream.   

When I think of the word first - may my mind and heart be drawn to my love for this God who has chosen to first love me.

Love & War

   The words Love & War conjure a myriad of images in most minds.  They certainly do in mine.  So, when I saw that John and Staci Eldredge had written a book by that name, my interest peaked.  Then, I’ll admit, when I saw that it was about marriage, I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to venture in to read it.  I mean, I’ve been married a long time and have read a lot of books and articles on the topic over the years.  Not that I  believe my marriage is perfect or couldn’t use some occasional encouragement – but really – after awhile – I figured I had heard it all.  However, something just kept nudging me to just give it a shot.  If I didn’t like it – it could go into the bin of ½ read books I gave up on.

     So, the book arrived in the mail and I was semi-excited about reading it.  The biggest selling point to me was that it was written by the Eldredges.  John’s book Waking the Dead had been extremely impacting so I was open to seeing what insight they might have to offer.

     On our 26^th anniversary, just one month &; one day before our son was getting married, I began reading.  I don’t believe the timing was coincidental.  Especially when I read that they had been married 26 years when the book was written. 

     Transparency is a trait that always draws me into a book.  When the proclamation that marriage is hard and how it is embarrassing to admit that – I totally understood and opened myself up to pay attention to what was on the pages.  I was appreciative that this book solidified what those us who have been married longer than a nano-second know - marriage isn’t just about the romantic warm fuzzies that too many weddings and predictably sappy movies are made out of.   Marriage is indeed war.  Not a war with each other – but a war that we have to agree at the outset that we are willing to enter into with and for each other.  It is ordained by God and therefore disliked by satan.  Far too often, this realization doesn’t hit until well after the ceremony of bliss and the euphoria of the honeymoon has worn off and all the little annoyances you thought you could put up are larger than life.  We too often forget that each person enters into the marriage bond, not just with all their glorious – can’t live without – qualities – but with all their brokenness, too.  It is as one of the chapter subtitles stated “Romance meets Reality”.

     Yes, this book dealt with the blatant honesty of issues in hearts and marriages, it also offered some tremendous reminders:

    “We are entrusted with their hopes and dreams, their wounds, and their fears.”

    “Being married costs you everything.”

And, it offered wise counsel, from the heart of two people who admittedly went to the brink of divorce more than once.

   “  “Jesus said, “ Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).  This is a love story, after all.  And what does learning to love look like?  Well, for one thing, it looks like compassion for your spouses’ brokenness while choosing to turn from your own self-protective style of relating.”

    I especially appreciated this small line, tucked somewhere mid-way through the book, “The secret of happiness is this: God is the love you are longing for.”  Well said.   Marriage – another person - was never intended to fill the places only God can.  The truth is, if we have that place filled by God, then he can lead us into a very exciting adventure with our spouse and with the family that God has ordained.

The writers admitted that if they were pressed to choose their “top three things that would help your marriage,” they would come down to the following list:

1.         Find life in God

2.         Deal with your brokenness.

3.         Learn to shut down the spiritual attacks that come against your marriage.

Wise counsel indeed.

   This book is great.  If your marriage is struggling and you are walking through hard times or know someone who is - its worth reading.  It solidified in me things I already knew and showed me somethings I hadn't seen before.  Bottom line is this -  the enemy of our souls would love to destroy the marriage that God ordained – but greater than that God is FOR us!  It is war, but it is a war worth fighting with God’s love.  After 26+ years of marriage – I am glad Cameron is the one with me on this adventure!  

   For my son, Grant and his lovely bride Nichole - with God's help this can be a tremendous and beautiful adventure through good and bad.  Know that we are there alongside you, but most important God is FOR you.

   For my daughter, Amanda and my young friends who have yet to embark on this marriage journey – I want to encourage them to truly hear God before they go down this lifelong path.  No compromise.  If there are red flags in a relationship – don’t assume they will ‘work themselves out.’ Have the courage to heed the warning signs and get out before you say  “I Do”.  You know what those checks in your spirit feel like –this is not the time to ignore them!   By the same token, when God’s mate for you comes into your life – you will both know and be willing to love unconditionally, grow a family with, be in community with, help each other reach the God-given potential inside, and fight for each other in the natural and especially in the spiritual...Just Sayin….