Monthly Archives: October 2016

Thankful Thursdays: We Have Such a Cloud of Witnesses

Posted October 27, 2016 | Karisa Moore

How did I go from complete isolation, to this cloud of witnesses cheering me on to the mark God has set before me? Some of you were already there, but my depression became blinders to the help you offered. To my newer friends, or strangers who plant seeds in my life as we pass each other in our journeys, thank you for listening and acting on the Holy Spirit’s counsel. My life is changed because of you!

You all matter so much! Don’t think for a split second that I don’t see you. More importantly, God knows your kindnesses to me! Matthew 25:40 And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me. Do you think that I could withstand the onslaught of this storm alone? Do you think that the living room full of people the day my son died was just a tiny blip on the radar? The effect of their presence is still with me. There are many days, when the darkness draws tighter around me, but God brings your hug, your card, your touch to the forefront of my mind and reminds me that I am not alone!

Today I am thank you for YOU! For your love, support and journeying with me. I’m thankful for my friends encouraging me right now towards better health. I’m grateful, though all that I have may crumble to the ground, God you are faithful. I praise you that my kids are learning this in a mighty way. I’m thankful for Compassion’s pray list that is teaching my children to pray for others around the world. Thank you Lord for your word, that reminds me of who I am, your sovereignty and grace, and who my neighbors are.

Thank you for opening my spirit, mind and body to a new path towards health. Thank you Jesus for not fitting into my box!

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Thankful Thursdays: My Basement is Flooded and I Still Choose to Praise

Posted October 20, 2016 | Karisa Moore

So I was thinking Job today and God gave me Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving instead.

1 Samuel 2:1-10 Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 2“There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. 3“Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. 4“The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. 5“Those who were full, hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes. 6“The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. 7“The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. 8“He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap. To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them. 9“He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. 10“Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

This is a woman who knows God’s sovereignty and our freedom to walk humbly with our God. She is barren, despised by her community, but she prays and God gives her a son. She gives that son right back to Him! Her son Samuel will one day anoint David as King, and ultimately leading to the birth of Jesus! To know that what God will do in our lives is far greater than our suffering, our circumstances even our accumulated wealth, and our kingdom is a rare wisdom.  Do you and have it? Are we willing to humble ourselves, submit to God’s authority and wait on his answer? Do we accept that he is limitless?

I raise my hands to the heavens and declare: You Lord know what you are doing! Wow! Oh Father I give you praise that my husband, kids, and I are drawing closer in the midst of our storm. I praise you that we can laugh! I praise you that the sun rose again. I praise you for keeping Brian and Natalie safe as they drove through the flooded streets last night. I praise you that my house is still standing. I praise you that we are still standing! You are a good God. I praise you for the friends who love and support us. Thank you for making our path straight.

Thank you Jesus for our salvation! Amen

 

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Testimony Tuesday: The Most Exhilarating 5 Minutes

Posted October 18, 2016 | Karisa Moore

Luke 10 …40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!” 41“Martha, Martha, the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. 42But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”…

This morning was getting away from me. I was dressed to care for everyone else, but as I removed my bike from the van to put it away, I hopped on instead. As I peddled up our street, hair blowing in the wind, I praised God. The chaos that sought to control me was blown away by the fall breeze. I was smiling as legs stretched and I became winded. A quietness settled my anxious heart because I took 5 minutes to remember, my body matters to God. Because I took 5 minutes, my day looks a whole lot different.

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Mood Ring Mondays: Intentional Peace

Posted October 17, 2016 | Karisa Moore

Isaiah 26:…2“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, The one that remains faithful. 3“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.

Today has been an intentional day of adjusting my mood when it first begins going sour. The strangest result: as I remain calm my family seems to recalibrate their own moods. Pretty cool!

I took the time for a bike ride and my hip only complained once.

Lord, I pray for healing and wholeness for my husband, children and myself. Amen

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Thankful Thursdays: Taking a Praise Shower on Friday

Posted October 14, 2016 | Karisa Moore

Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

This morning I was an explosion waiting to happen. Just light the fuse and shrapnel everywhere! Yet another night of pain and not sleeping. The cortisone shot doesn’t seem to be working. I had intended on recording my thankfulness yesterday, but felt it all stopped up by the struggle and pain of functioning. As I read my Unglued devotional this morning the thankfulness began washing over me!

So Lord, I praise you this morning!

  • What great music you are playing for me on the radio! (Air 1)
  • My husband and I laughed this morning
  • I get to bundle up and go watch a high school football game tonight!
  • My in-laws have my kids for the weekend
  • I didn’t come unglued, instead I acknowledged my anger and released it
  • Dishes are complete!
  • I get to write!
  • The cardinal that landed on my deck
  • That I don’t have to rely on my own strength
  • Your daily love notes in scripture: Today meditating on Psalm 73:26
  • Friends

What can you praise God for this morning?

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Wise Wednesdays: Do I Really Matter?

Posted October 12, 2016 | Karisa Moore

God cupped your matter in his hands;

shaping body, soul, and mind.

Breathing life into atoms.

Your worth cannot be destroyed–

only repurposed and transformed.

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Testimony Tuesday: The Relationship between Pain and our Spiritual Health

Posted October 11, 2016 | Karisa Moore

In a previous post on perseverance I spoke about pain as a necessity so that we pay attention, change, and care for our bodies. Some of us, have pain that goes above and beyond the norm.

I just found out that my discs are deteriorating and my hip sockets were not formed right so my cartilage is wearing away. The orthopedist called me a “tween” I am in the teenage years of hip replacement. Right now the goal is pain management but I have surgery in my future. Daunting prospects, because I’ve cared for patients who have the level of pain I currently have and watched their spirits deteriorate along with their body. But, I’ve also watched spirits increase and abound in other patients who chose to open themselves up to Christ being enough in their pain. So how do we meet pain with the balm of spiritual discipline?

1. Acknowledge the pain and our needs

2. Put it in right context: believe

3. Repent of any sin contributing to our health

4. Surround ourselves with a cloud of witnesses

5. Act on the opportunities given for health and wholeness

6. Bless others who are suffering

 

I know I’m only scratching the surface today, but I’m working through this as I go. We’ll talk more as

I journey through.

Matthew Henry’s commentary on 2 Chronicles 21;12-20, a rather gruesome prophecy given to King Jehoram, but unheeded, is contrasted with  very good news for those who believe even while they suffer.

Good men may be afflicted with diseases; but to them they are fatherly chastisements, and by the support of Divine consolations the soul may dwell at ease, even when the body lies in pain. To be sick and poor, sick and solitary, but especially to be sick and in sin, sick and under the curse of God, sick and without grace to bear it, is a most deplorable case. Wickedness and profaneness make men despicable, even in the eyes of those who have but little religion.

 

 

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Monday Mood Ring: Strangely Peaceful

Posted October 10, 2016 | Karisa Moore

Mood Colors: I’m Yellow today–I feel open to the possibilities of the day.

After an indescribably severe headache last night, I feel strangely peaceful this morning. Today will be what it will be. What color is your week starting with?

E-motions are a part of our transportation system, meant to take you to new places, but not meant to carry you away. God in heaven feels, and Jesus in the flesh certainly felt emotions. God would not have placed emotions in us, if they were not as important and as vital as our physical functions. Don’t ignore them or elevate them to god status. Let emotions join wisdom and reason in decision making. Logic without emotion tends to become cruel, and emotion without logic becomes lazy.

John 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

There is so much to learn here! How differently this miracle would look if Jesus had arrived, dismissed the emotions of the grievers and preformed the resurrection of Lazarus. That would have been to glorify himself. Jesus knew what he was about to do and yet his emotions matched the sisters and mourners grieving for Lazarus. Jesus’ emotions were just as logical as his knowledge that his heavenly father was about to do a great thing! His emotions made him relational to mankind and his logic puts our circumstances in the context of God’s perfect will.

We want to know: DOES GOD REALLY CARE ABOUT OUR PAIN, AND WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

God chose to become a baby, who smiled, giggled, and cried at the often painfully stimulating world. He had moods, and yet he chose to place those moods in a broader context of God’s will. You and I may struggle with our emotions, but as we place our experiences in the context of an all powerful God who is relational, our emotions and logic become a powerhouse of love.

 

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