Love like Jesus

Have you ever had your spirituality challenged? And I don't mean by smiling when you'd rather frown, or getting out of bed for church when you'd rather be lazy, I mean a deep down challenge of everything that Jesus taught about loving one another.



36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40



What?? Does Jesus not see this person driving me crazy?? Deliberately taunting me?? Surely Jesus you didn't mean to love this person too, I mean really I think you should rephrase the Bible to say: and love your neighbor as yourself as long as they are lovable! *Sigh* but that is not what my Abba taught, therefore if I am going to call myself a Believer and Follower of Jesus than I can't pick and choose which parts of the Bible I like; it's all applicable and mandatory for my life. So, where does that leave me in this particular situation? 28 Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Luke 11:28 I have to put it into practice!! Wow I love that NLT translation. How do I put it into practice? I already pray for this person, but pray some more I must do, guard my mouth, thus far I have not "popped" off at this person; but in my mind...tsk tsk! If I am a child of God, which I am, then this person is too. Jesus died for their sins just as much as mine, so we are siblings in the Kingdom. I have prayed for God to filter my mouth, let only the words He chooses for me to speak be spoken, I don't want to say anything that my Daddy in heaven would look down and say "Nickie, Nickie, Nickie whose words were those"?



For now, my prayer will be for God to use me in this person's life so that God will get all the glory, I will pray that I will genuinely love them with the love of Christ, I will pray that the next time I am challenged I will remember I'm not in a "Believer-Bubble" and that proving the Gospel of Jesus to be true means living it, breathing it, and loving just as He loved.



I'll keep praying, and ya'll pray for me :)

Nickie Subach © 2010-2011

Taking it all back...

There is a great song by Tye Tribbett and part of they lyrics go like this:
Devil if you only knew what I was gonna be after the storm You wouldn't have even bothered me Yeah (But now i'm) stronger (And I got more) power (I'm a little bit) wiser (And I got more) strength (I got thee) anointing (Got God's) favor (And we're still) standing I want it all back.

When I entered the worst storm of my life in 2008 I didn't think I would ever understand why, I looked to God and said: "Lord, I serve you faithfully, I love your people as you do, I don't do the things judged wrong in your eyes, I am raising Godly children, so why Lord...why"? As the storm raged on I started to rage on the inside, from the lack of control I felt over my life; it was disheartening and terrifying. And then there was quiet, calm, stillness, peace, and a voice that said: "Dwell in me my love". Five simple words that would change my life forever, uttered when I least expected it. I began to thank Him for the storm, He was the calm in the midst of that chaos, to praise Him for giving me the strength to hang on when I felt like letting go, He was the Rock, the Chief Cornerstone I leaned upon, to thank Him for providing food, shelter, and sustenance through His Word, He was Jehovah-Jirah in my midnight hour, my friend when I needed someone to stick close to me, who better to understand the bond of friendship than my Jesus who allowed the one who would betray him to kiss his cheek, my Abba-Daddy when I was fearful, who better to hold me in His lap than the one who created me, my husband, who better to trust my heart to than the one who until his last heartbeat was thinking of me? Now devil I understand why you tried to make me a feel like a failure, you wanted to beat me to the ground, oh but you should have left me alone because out of the storm arose the woman God created me to be. The woman who is elevating God's Kingdom daily, the woman who pours her heart out to her Maker, and teaches others just who their Way-Maker is, the woman whose children call her blessed and honor me for my rightful place in their lives, the woman whose bond with her own Mama is like a three fold chord that can not be broken. So to you devil I say: Thank you for coming after me; it sure has made all the difference in the world...and ultimately to the world one soul at a time!
So now some 2 years later where am I? I am in the best place I ever thought possible, smack dab in the middle of His Will for my life, and that pesky need I had to control, what sweet relief to give it all up to Him. I am happy, loved, blessed, humble, growing, and taking as many people with me to Him as I can. I skip along to the beat of my Savior's Heart, I walk in the footsteps of the One who goes before me, I love with His unfailing love, I talk with His peace in my words, and He accepts all of me! How lovely it is to be the woman God created me to be.

Snapping my fingers to His tune,

Nickie Subach
Copyright 2010-2011 ©

Resting in Him

Why is it that when a woman thinks of resting, its synonymous with bedtime? God desires time with us, not only in prayer but in rest or Sabbath. This has been difficult for me, if I sit down long enough in my house I'm sure I can find something that needs to be done, so taking a Sabbath at home is a challenge. Then there is the issue of privacy, I have three teenagers at home, need I explain that further? *smile* However, there is a certain day of the week that all of my kids are at church at the same time, for an extended period of time. It was one such time a couple of weeks ago that I developed a migraine and I stayed home alone; normally I am with them at church as I have practice that night too. What I discovered when they all left and there was blessed quiet...my head quit hurting; all of sudden my Jesus sat down in the room with me and I felt the urge to lay back against Him and deeply breathe in His very essence. I began to pray, to cry a little, and I felt such a deep sense of relaxation. He loved on me, and I felt sleepy, until my mind creeped up and said: "girl, go do some of your laundry already, its piled so high". I got up to do just that and I heard Him say: "rest Nickie, that is what this is all about, rest in Me, you don't do that, you pray to me, sing to me, talk to others about me: But you don't rest in Me". Oh how my heart broke, my Savior desires to rest with me and I find myself too busy to slow down long enough to feel that, what kind of Believer am I, I thought. Even Jesus during His time on Earth took time to go to the Father and rest, who was I that I should not do the very same. Well, now that I realize how thoroughly comforting and spiritually refreshing it is to rest in my Savior, I heard Him call me out of a ministry that will allow the time to Sabbath with Him totally, (more like confirmation, He said it weeks ago, I just wanted to hold on to the ministry) it's a bittersweet moment in my Christian walk, I am heading into a new dimension in Him, yet I will leave a piece of me behind as I step forward. This is what our walk is about though, deep calling unto deep, new levels in Him, and seasons that change. My blogger friend Michelle opened my eyes so to speak about being an in-season believer and then she wrote about it in her blog, what a wonderfully wise friend I have in her: Thanks Michelle.
I encourage whoever reads this to learn the art of just resting, it's okay the house will not fall apart, the kids will be fine, your mate will understand: Jesus is calling: It's nap time!

Until next time, I will keep learning as I go :)
Nickie

©2010-2011 Nickie Subach

Success

The Measure of Success

A big house-check, new cars-check, plasma TV-check. These are just a few of the ways the world views success, and there is nothing wrong with owning material things, after all if you work hard for them you deserve them. I live a much simpler life in comparison . I have been a single mother for a very long time, and while we live simply, we never seem to do without that which we need; He takes care of us like any good parent would, He also provides those desires of our hearts perhaps not all, but definitely those we really want. (Psalm 37:4) When I think about the successes in life I look at it a little differently.

Success is:

Seeing a Facebook update where my friend's daughter has that dreaded stomach virus: She lifted her little head and said "lord please help me stop throwing up. I am the healed of the Lord". That says a mama has surely taught her daughter how to pray.

Or when I am teaching a ladies Bible study and my 18 year old daughter is there with me, how humbling to sit in the same room with my daughter and know she really wants to be there. She is not only there but she wows with me with her wisdom as she shares her thoughts.

Or when my son says to me: "Mom, why does it seem like people who don't serve the Lord have everything and bad things don't happen to them, yet we serve Him, but we have so little"? He asks this with tears in his eyes and I begin to let him know how blessed we are, even with "little" by the world's standards we are rich with the love of our Savior, we are rich with family as well as a church family, we are rich with friends who truly love us, and I remind him of the times we need and God provides on time every time, and finally I remind him that we are the "lucky" ones, we have a paradise in eternity waiting for us, a promise of life forever with Him...and I tell him we should pray for those who have everything because they lack the most important thing: our Jesus.

Or when my good friend Michelle blogs how my son has enriched her daughter's life, how he led her to Scripture of how beautiful she is, how she was fearfully and wonderfully made just as she is. Her daughter in turn has helped my son immeasurably. The prayers of two mothers sent up at different times for our children to find a truly Godly friend who will help them through this maze of teenage mess: and just like that my Jesus leads these two into a wonderful friendship.

Now to the world that may not seem like much, but to me it says that my life, my kids lives, and those around me are rich in love, rich in happiness, and for me that is success.

Measuring life by His standards,

Nickie

©2010-2011 Nickie Subach

Breath of God

I have heard the Bible being described as "the living breathing Word of God". I picture God literally breathing over the scrolls as the various authors of the books were writing. That very breath breathed life into Adam (7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Ge 2:7) We carry the breath of God in our bodies, we share lineage with Adam for one thing, for another, Believers have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. When my world seems crazy, and things stress me out I feel like I can't take a deep breath: Yesterday was a very bad day so I will use that as an example. I felt moody, irritated over everything, and generally didn't want to be around anyone. I almost in my moodines skipped church (I know shame on me), however I went, per the usual it was GREAT. (Awesome Pastor that I have and all). I noticed when I sat down that I took a deep breath and exhaled, and almost like "magic" I felt relieved, happier, calmer, and relaxed. I wondered to myself why this instant gratification? I know I prayed this morning, what was the difference in my terrible day and being at church? Then it hit me (I tend to be slow), my prayer has become dare I say it? Routine, auto-pilot, could say it backwards and forward...I felt ashamed. Here is my wonderful Savior washing away my day's stress with His breath, but not one time during the day did I say: Father, breathe into me: I was going it alone.

When I get so busy, or my prayers are just the routine I follow, that I can't slow down long enough to allow Him to settle my frazzled mood; then I have not only hurt myself, I also didn't give Him enough credit to know how to fix it. I am not a brand-new Believer either, but I feel like I miss the very obvious sometimes by not slowing down.

I decided today will be different: I took a deep breath this morning , pointed my face to the sky and I imagined breathing in His breath, and just like Adam I was face-to-face with I AM. Yes, today has been a much better day.

Start breathing!

Nickie

©2010-2011 Nickie Subach