Not About Me

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

—Philippians 2:2-4 NIV

Do I offer hope? Do I encourage others when they are unable to encourage themselves? Am I sensitive to someone's hurt, or do I unconsciously throw fuel on the fire of their pain with casual words? Do I put the needs of others before my own, or do I find a way to “just do enough”? In my words or actions, I speak either encouragement or defeat to another person. I speak life or death to another heart.

As much as each one of us might like it to be, His life in us is not about what we want or how we feel or how we might like to prosper. It is about what He desires for us to sacrificially become for the sake of others. His desire is for us to love others as He loves us—to tenderly and compassionately give ourselves away expecting nothing in return. Freely He gave. Freely we care called to give. He desires for us to encourage and speak life to those trapped in despair and pain—to bless those who are down-trodden with the healing presence of His love.

Now I look at my life. Whose needs do I talk about—who am I concerned about? Does my heart break for anyone other than myself? If my life is only about me, I offer nothing of value. If I want to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His Spirit, I give myself away. I put another life before my own. I love with His love, and encourage with His grace and truth.

I want my life to be broken and spilled out as He was broken and spilled out for me. I want no masks that veil my heart. Revival of heart never holds back. It is always seen in loving action. I long to bring Him joy by encouraging with the love and grace He has brought me. I do not have to be perfect to give myself away. He uses my brokenness. If I encourage from my own weakness, I will strengthen my own heart. It is in giving myself away that I shall receive. And it is in receiving that I am blessed to give again.   

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

I Have Him

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

—Hebrews 13:5b (NIV)

No matter what I face, I am never alone. He upholds me.

No matter what my weakness, I have His strength. He gives strength to the weary.

No matter what I feel, I have a spirit that rests in His Truth. Feelings will waver. His Truth stands firm.

No matter what my struggle, I have peace that He is in control. He takes care of what I was never meant to handle.

No matter what my failure, I have victory in His purpose. No weapon that tries to defeat me will prosper.

No matter what my sadness, I have joy in His unchanging promise. His timing is not mine.

No matter what my lot, I have faith in His faithfulness. He will always take care of the concerns of my heart.

No matter what, it doesn’t matter.

I have Him.

—Form Me, Fire Me, Fill Me

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

His Light to Guide

Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.

—Psalm 119:105, NKJV

It would be wonderful if life was consistent, but life continually presents challenges. As my father journeys this road of loss, nothing is constant. We never know when we walk into his room what we will find. Sometimes he is able to communicate his needs. At other times he exists in a world that we can’t fathom. We are challenged each day to trust God to take care of what we are unable to understand—to guide where we are unable to go. There is nothing we can do to change the challenges that are faced each day, but there is something we can do to walk this path in peace. We can surrender the struggle of heartache and despair, and trust God to steer us safely through the unknown.

When His Word guides and empowers my life, there is no problem or circumstance or difficulty that has the power to destroy my faith in Him. His Word gives direction to handle each circumstance that arises, but for the light of His presence to guide me safely through each moment of life, I surrender all of my will to His. I surrender not just some of my will, but all of it. If I try to handle whatever I face alone without His guidance, I will ultimately fail in my attempt. If I allow Him to direct each decision that I make and each step that comes, I will follow Him safely and securely into a future that He alone knows.

Circumstances lie ahead that I would never be able to handle in this present moment. Worry about what is unknown only destroys the peace I have in Him now. He gives me strength to handle what I face now, and He will give me strength for what I will face later. If I trust Him, I have peace in the present, and peace in His promise to take care of my future. As He accompanies me along my path, His light reveals only so far ahead. The path, as it twists ahead, is unclear and shadowed. It is darkened because the light of His presence lights my way now. When I reach another bend in the path, He will light my way then. I need not worry at what might come. As today passes into tomorrow, He will walk with me. The same light which has guided me–the same power–the same peace will continue to guide my way.

Today's path starts to dawn, and I anticipate my father’s needs. However life has a way of changing those needs. The path may suddenly bend with an unexpected challenge, and I must surrender to its lesson knowing the light of His Word—the light of His presence—will reveal, sustain, and guide me. Even though the path of life always changes, God’s strength and support are always constant. He never changes. I trust Him for my moments now, and I trust Him for those that are around the next bend. I agreed to this journey many years ago without knowing the pain it would one day bring. But it is my journey of commitment to not only my father, but to God. I will walk this path, with His guidance and peace, straight through this life right into the next.

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

Choose Faith

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

—2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

“Where is my Daddy?” the little woman in the wheelchair asked me. She reached up and grabbed my arm. Tears poured down her face. “Where is he? I’m late. I need to call him or he will be mad at me.” She was afraid of something that was very real to her. Impossible in the real world, it was very real in hers.

Do you live in fear of what has not yet happened or of scenarios that your mind creates in response to problems you face? Perhaps your fears have a basis, or perhaps they have as much truth as this dear lady’s. Whichever the case, they have no power over you in Jesus Christ. He is greater than your fears. In her mind, this lady had no reality to grasp. Perhaps you feel you have no reality to grasp, but, in Christ, you have a reality that asks you to believe in what seems impossible—which asks you to choose faith over fear—which asks you to deny what your mind deems as being real.

Faith always defeats fear. God has not given you a spirit of fear—but one of power, love, and a sound mind. But do you live in fear of Him? And of everything real or imagined? Have you asked for forgiveness, but do not feel forgiven?  New Covenant grace that flows from Calvary is your only answer, and that grace speaks power and love to your tired mind and heart. You do not have to feel you are forgiven to be forgiven. If you believe in your heart that He has forgiven you and speak it, you are His child. You are forgiven. You have received His grace. You are free. Keep choosing to believe, and feelings will come with spiritual growth. Self and fears will be defeated. A sound mind filled with faith will be your reality.

I could not allow this little lady to cry in fear of a father waiting to punish her because she was late getting home. God does not want you to live in fear of His punishment, either, because you are late getting home. He always waits with open hearts to gather you into His embrace. 

“Your daddy loves you,” I told her, and she stopped her crying, and looked at me. “He forgives you.” 

Something in her little lost mind clicked. “He does?”

“Yes,” I said and stroked her arm. “He forgives you with all the love He has just for you.”

She smiled. For a moment she had received. Her moment of understanding can be your lifetime of knowing. Choose the gift of Calvary. Choose faith.

©2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

Free in You, Lord

You have given me so much responsibility, Lord, that I often don’t feel capable of handling your trust. I feel lacking, tired, and pushed to the maximum. But in the midst of all this pressure, you call me to realize that my burden is not heavy. It is light. You carry what I am unable to carry on my own. You carried the weight of my sin to the cross, and because of your love, I can know the freedom of your Spirit structuring my days—empowering what you deem important—letting me know when something is not a priority or when it is. The things that wait to be handled—both the real and perceived responsibilities—are in your control when I allow you to direct my days. 

 “Trust in the Lord and do what is good,” the psalmist wrote. “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desire. Commit everything to Him. Trust Him. He will help you. Be still in His presence, and wait patiently for Him to act” (Psalm 37:3-7). I trust you with all my heart—not just a portion of my heart, but with all of it. I surrender my understanding for yours. I seek your wisdom instead of my own. I look beyond my failures and weaknesses and realize you are my only strength. Fear is never my master. You are. I choose to delight in you, Lord. I choose to praise you in the storm. My sacrifice of praise is my gift to you. In my offering I discover that you have taken the weight of responsibility upon your shoulders. The things you have called me to handle are yours. If I allow you to guide and direct and choose what is important for each day, I am no longer overwhelmed. I am no longer lacking.

I will trust you. Not just say it, but live it—breathe it. I will not carry the weight you never meant for me to carry. I will rejoice and delight in you. You are faithful, and you never fail me. You never change. You are constant, and I can always rely on you. I commit every decision and every responsibility to you. I give you my tired heart, and I rest in your purpose. There is no rush. There is no struggle. There is no need to make something happen that perhaps you never intended. My will is no longer at war. It is free for you to make your own.

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

Top of Form

If Not For You

Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

—Psalm 69:15-17 NIV


There are days when life floods me with so much responsibility that I feel one more need will break me—one more painful crisis will swallow me up. But when the pit of despair attempts to pull me into darkness, Lord, your spirit within my heart cries out to you. You pray within me the need that my mind cannot perceive—the spiritual answer that is beyond my mind to comprehend in moments of traumatic stress. You come, Lord, and answer me from the goodness of your love. You never hide your face from me. You answer me in the time of trouble when the weight of responsibility is so heavy. You reach down and lift my load upon your shoulders, and my burden is lightened.

Your great mercy turns to me again and again. Peace beckons in my pain, and summons me to continually pray with thanksgiving that you will handle what is beyond my ability. Lord, I lay my weakness upon your altar so that I may rise up in your powerful strength to walk through each day with a joy that sustains no matter what may arise. I am your servant, and you, my Master, direct and guide and handle and manage. With no weight but the joy of your hand upon my life, I serve in peace. I rejoice in the journey which would have engulfed me if not for you.

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

Endurance

You know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

—James 1:3-4 NLT

The years have flown. I will be seventy next year. Some days I physically feel my age, but most days, my spirit soars past how my age declares I should feel. The prospect of something new is always on the horizon. I see the past in shades of gray—never to be experienced again nor past mistakes needing to be redone. The past, though still in memory, does not hold me in bondage. Because of Jesus, I am free. I live the present in joyful anticipation of whatever He decides will come. Years of perseverance through many trials has taught me that I lack nothing in Him. He is all I need. I have His peace as I watch my father slowly slipping away before my eyes, and yet life is often a bursting wave of surging emotion that threatens to sweep me off my feet. God has granted me the gifts of peace and feeling in the same breath. My heart swells with grief, but in the same moment, I know that all is well—with me and with Daddy.

“Endurance develops strength of character,” Paul wrote, “and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 4:5, NLT). Hope is a gift which rises from within the human spirit. Through Jesus, hope springs eternal. It is resilient, strong, and irrepressible. It abounds with His promise that endurance grows character, and character produces hope—not only hope of an eternal promise of life to come, but also hope for abundant life now. Disappointment cannot stand in the face of hope.

“Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you,” the writer to the Hebrews imparted. “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36, NLT). I am living His will for me—walking this road with my father. It is not easy, and I can honestly say that I get weary and tired. But I know what endurance is accomplishing in me. I am changed. I am not the person I was yesterday or the day before. Life becomes more about what God wishes, and less about my own desires.

Is my heart being stretched in a hundred ways worth this journey? Absolutely. When tested I have the opportunity to grow into His vessel that lacks nothing. I feel the loss of my father, but I know I do not feel it alone. Jesus feels it with me. God has given me the Holy Spirit to comfort—to carry—to strengthen—to encourage—to fill my heart with His love. And this is where my story begins and will one day end—in His love which looks beyond the gray of my past and sees the colorful promise of a future that I cannot even imagine.

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com

Beyond Yourself

Are you discouraged?  Perhaps, you have done what the Lord desires, but you have seen little result. If you have done God’s will, the result of your effort is not your responsibility. It is His. He will bring about what He desires from your obedience.

Now is the time to be encouraged. David, the writer of most of the book of Psalm, knew discouragement. “My strength is dried up like a potsherd,” he cried, “and sticks to the roof of my mouth” (Psalm 22:15a, NIV). Called beyond his own strength, David chose to believe in God’s purpose and promise. When there was no one to build his strength, David encouraged himself in the Lord. He allowed the Lord to develop this valuable trait. Waiting for the fulfillment of God’s will, David feared for his very life. Chased by Saul—hiding in caves, he cried out, “You hear, O Lord, “ the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and in oppressed, in order than man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more” (Psalm 10: 17-18, NIV).

David had faith that God would give him the strength he needed for whatever he faced. ^“But you, O Lord, be not far off,” he cried. “O my Strength, come quickly to help me” (Psalm 22:19, NIV). And then David reached beyond his weakness—his fear—his despair, and promised God his praise. ^“I will declare your name to my brothers,” he promised. “In the congregation I will praise you” (Psalm 22:22, NIV). Praising God increased David’s trust in God’s provision for His promise.

David surrendered his discouragement and believed in God’s purpose—in his promise—no matter what his eyes saw or his ears heard. “Through Jesus,” the writer of Hebrews declared, “let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15, NIV). Reach beyond your feelings, and surrender just as David surrendered his feelings. Speak God’s faithfulness. Encourage others, even when you least feel like it. Only through Jesus’ sacrifice can you offer a sacrifice of praise. God will honor your surrender by encouraging you. And you along with the psalmist will be able to declare, “I run in the path of your commandments, O Lord, for you have set my heart free” (Psalm 119:32, WEB).

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

Have Confidence

From: Form Me, Fire Me, Fill Me

Book Signing Tonight 6:00 - 8:00, Edgewood Church, Anniston, Alabama

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

—Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“You are never alone. I am with you,” He gently whispers. “Don’t worry about what tomorrow holds. Today is enough for you. Don’t dwell on what has not even happened. I keep your future from you on purpose. Your faith is precious, and it cost me my life. Don’t sacrifice my love for you by not trusting in me. Trusting and having faith in me comes by hearing and knowing my Word. It comes through an intimacy with me that creates absolute certainty in my faithfulness to you. Learn of me. No problem will be too great or horrible for you to handle. You will soar above whatever might come because you have waited on me instead of trying to take matters into your own hand. You have sought me. You have found my truth. You have taken my Word, and it has become your very life. No matter what your future may hold, it is secure in me. My ways are higher and greater than any other. I am your unassailable defense. Trust me—and nothing shall break the faithful confidence you have in my plans for your life.

—From Form Me, Fire Me, Fill Me

© 2017 Lynn Lacher

Lead Me

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

—Proverbs 3:5–6 (NLT)

I trust in you with all my heart, Lord—not with just a little bit that I allow, but with all of it. I surrender all of my heart—all of the struggle—to find my own way through life. I surrender the pain of all my own failure to you. I surrender the hurt that has tortured my heart and the thoughts that have claimed my mind. I’m tired of holding on to all that I can’t control. I’m tired of insisting on my own way. I’m tired of trying to make happen what I desire. I have nothing left right now. I have nothing left but you. And you are exactly what I need now that I have been emptied of me.

Come, Lord Jesus. You are my Savior. Reach down and lift me from all that consumes me. My heart submits to you. When I’m drained of all strength, I trust in you. When I am empty with no purpose, I trust in you. When I am lost in a valley of pain and suffering, I trust in you. When my heart feels like it can’t take another blow, I trust in you. When I have lost that which I hold most dear, I trust in you. When I am so tired I can’t take another step, I trust in you. When I can’t hear you or see you or feel you, I trust in you. When I don’t understand why, I trust in you. I surrender all of me to know all of you.

Lead me, Lord. Lead me out of the valley. Whether it be of my own making or not, lead me out. I need you to make my path straight. I need you to show me the way to move forward. My hand is in yours. My heart rests in you. Your heart beats in me. You are my guide in all that lies ahead. You are my joy and my victory. Lead me, and I will follow. Lead me to the Rock that is stronger and so much higher than I am. You are my fortress, Lord God. You are my mighty tower. You are my deliverer.

—From Form Me, Fire Me, Fill Me

© Lynn Lacher 2017

www.lynnlacher.com