Who walks with you

by Sharon O | Feb 6, 2014 | Uncategorized

Following my last writing and continuing the sermon notes.
Pastor was sharing about Saul and how his life was changed in an instant as he was approaching the road to Damascus.
Pastor said, “The company you keep holds you up or pulls you down.”
Who do you choose to walk beside you?
Saul was not alone in this journey he had companions (close friends) walking with him.
How did they help him during the life altering moment?
The men stood speechless.
(meaning that they had no opinion to share)
Finding him alone and blinded in the dark they didn’t leave him there.
Acts 9 vs 8: So his companions led him by the hand (to Damascus).
We don’t know how far that was for them to walk but they had to trust in the process of leading and he had to trust in the process of following not knowing where he was going.
Reversal of roles is often hard for us if we are used to being a leader.
Companions don’t always have answers.
They lead by the hand and wait for the final results with us.
Touching is a part of leading by the hand which is a close ‘physical presence’ in the same room.
It is not just saying, “I will pray for you.”
It is going to the person IN person and helping them out where it is needed.
Leading by the hand requires trust and patience and long suffering.
It is a commitment. A promise to stay.
Realizing Saul was now blind and could not see they had his best interest in mind.
They were going to find Ananias and whatever it took for them to do that, they would go and face the dangers together.
Saul had to trust in this process in the dark not knowing where they were leading him.
It could have been a very rough journey for them.
Companions don’t mind being inconvenienced.
It was not in the plan for them to lead Saul but they knew there was no choice.
Companions are cheerleaders and encourage.
Companions often lead us to a place of healing and refuge.
The meaning of refuge:
(protection, a source of relief, help or comfort in times of trouble)
Companions can be a life saving anchor for us.
Saul could have given up.
Afraid. In the dark. Unsure.
Companions see potential.
So often we don’t have confidence or we are unsure of ourselves.
Companions help us see the positive and cheer us on towards our goal saying to us as we journey, ‘let me remind you, God wants to restore you.’
Companions affirm our identity over our activity.
(Saul was touched by God and his past no longer mattered)
Companions aide us in seeing perhaps for the first time.
Our new truth.
Saul was going to become a different man.
Companions partner with us and help celebrate our new life and new changes.
They are happy for us and rejoice with us.
The question for us is this:
Who walks beside you and are they a good companion to you?
Who is with you during your transformation?
Who is a positive voice in your life leading and cheering you on?
Do you have someone like this in your life?
I think it is something for all of us to think about.

God transforms and changes us

by Sharon O | Feb 5, 2014 | Uncategorized

Our Pastor was doing a teaching on Sunday and I was taking notes as I always do.
He was sharing the story about Ananias and Saul in the book of Acts in the New Testament.
Saul had been arresting and persecuting the new believers and in the effort of getting his attention God blinded him.
It was powerful and shall we say it was a ‘life altering’ moment to not be able to see?
Saul was on his way to find believers to persecute and arrest them.
vs 3. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”
“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.
And the voice replied,
“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Chapter 9: vs 8 – 10
Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind.
So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 
He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
In a split second and a moment in time he was dependent on others.
I found it significant that he was blind for three days the same amount of time Jesus was in the tomb before his resurrection.
I also thought of the trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Three is not an accidental number.
In complete shock and helplessness he had a lesson to learn.
What a change that was for him as he was a man of power and authority and now he was blind and in the dark taken down to a level of dependence and fear.
(kind of like God giving him a time out in the dark to do some thinking)
vs 7. The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someones voice but saw no one!
In the background God is already setting the scene up for Ananias to go find Saul.
Now we already know the history of Saul.
He was a bad man and he was feared by many.
vs 10. There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias.
The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” 
“Yes Lord!” he replied. (I found that fascinating because the only way he would know that it was the Lord is if they had a relationship and he was used to hearing the ‘voice of the Lord’ or maybe it was just a knowing in his spirit.)
God told him to go find Saul.
“He is praying to me right now. And I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”
(He was praying most likely for his eyesight to come back to him)
Ananias argued with God and told him how bad Saul was.
He knew that to get close enough to touch him would be taking a risk.
God said GO and he did.
He was obedient and trusting even with his fear alongside him.
He found Saul in vs 17-19. He prayed over him and the scales on his eyes fell off and Saul was able to see again.
The whole point of this story is layered.
It is about obedience. It about trusting. It is about letting go.
It is about listening. It is about the restoration of hearts and health.
It is about transformation.
It is about God doing a work in our lives without our knowledge to bring us to a place where he wants us to be.
It is about God using others to help change and transform us.
It is about how God will do what he has to do in order to stop our bad behavior.
I am sure Saul never forgot this lesson on the road to Damascus.
To be transformed from light to dark then to light again is life changing.
He is a God who transforms and changes us so we can become better people.
He is a God who doesn’t give up and who will get our attention and rescue us because of his deep love.
So the question for us is this:
Has there ever been a time when God pursued you towards a place of healing?
Did you know in the end it was God who directed your ‘change of heart?’
This is definitely something for us to think about.

Let’s begin now

by Sharon O | Jan 29, 2014 | Uncategorized

Yesterday while doing the laundry, watering plants and just putzing around I turned on the movie ‘The Bucket List’.
I didn’t realize it was just starting and rarely do I allow myself time to watch something like that during the day especially since I had seen it before.
During the ‘watching’ I had forgotten how good the story line was.
The main actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson seem to be an unlikely duo yet they end up becoming very special friends.
The whole purpose of the movie is to challenge the thought process about dying.
Just because someone has a diagnosis of ‘pending death’ it does not have to mean stop living right now.
The concept of making a bucket list is a wonderful one.
The question to ask yourself or those around you.
What would you want to do in your life at some point in time before you die?
What would you want to see or experience?
In the movie the men made a list of what they wanted to do.
Some were pretty amazing and even perhaps dangerous but when some one has a terminal illness how dangerous could life be?
The choice to live it…was a profound and good choice.
I think it was positive and the concept showed a great way of adapting.
I like the challenge.
So often someone will get a bad ‘phone call’ from the doctor and then all the ‘protocol’ takes place to ‘heal’ the person and sometimes the attempted cure is worse than the initial illness.
I am not putting down chemotherapy or radiation or any other ‘ways’ to manage a serious illness.
I have seen people in my life do both and they gained time by doing them.
The question is what kind of quality time?
It just seems like the ‘reality is’ we need to begin to live fully in the best way we can right where we are… today.
Live more fully. Love more intensely.
Write letters of closure if one needs to do that.
Write letters deep from your heart.
Perhaps for the first time say what you really feel and share it with someone.
A bucket list is a wonderful concept perhaps even if no one is terminal.
We each have a life and how we choose to live it is our challenge.
Let’s not wait until we have a ‘reason’ to create a bucket list.
Let’s begin to live now.

Hillsong – Came To My Rescue [with lyrics]

by Sharon O | Jan 21, 2014 | Uncategorized

Our stories

by Sharon O | Jan 21, 2014 | Uncategorized

The (In)Courage teams are challenging us to tell our stories.
There are very few things as personal as sharing your own personal journey.
Everyone of us has a story to share.
It’s true because having a testimony is good and real and powerful.
But also knowing that you have walked steady and strong for many years is good too.
You don’t have to have a powerful story in order to share with others your life lessons and experiences.
My husband has said to me on many occasions,
“I wish I had a story, a testimony like yours.”
I have said back to him,
“I would rather have had a family like yours than a story like mine.”
It is all about perspective.
There are many parts of my story that are untold and maybe always will be, we don’t have to expose everything in order to be authentic and real.
Does it matter that we share matters of our hearts and places of healing with others?
To walk alongside someone who is in the same place where you have been is good and powerful.
When can you share from what you know and have experienced.
You both become stronger.
You strengthen each other just by the act of trusting and sharing.
When I was in a ‘group’ for women who had been through rough places growing up we had a sister hood because we understood the pain of another.
Our stories are healing not only for ourselves but for those who are listening.
Some people need to hear ‘our hope’.
Some need to hear ‘you can make it too and not stay stuck in dark places’.
I have talked to women who could barely walk putting one step in front of the other.
Fear gripped them and they could not bare to think of the future.
Hope gives us freedom and courage and the ability to say,
“I am stronger than this pain.”
When I was going through rough emotional places within my spirit
I did not have the choice to give up.
I knew I had to press in and press forward.
The saying “the only way out is through” is very true.
Kind of like exercise or any other thing we must push ahead and find courage to complete.
Our stories are not just for us.
They are given to us so we can share.
So we can inspire others who walk behind us.
So we can cheer them on and become encouragers.
Are you ready and or willing to share your story with others?
It is something for us to think about.

Friday’s challenge

by Sharon O | Jan 14, 2014 | Uncategorized

The challenge given last Friday was to write for five minutes on one specific word.
Do not edit or revise. I have to admit it took me a bit longer than five minutes.
The word given was see:
Psalm 34:7-9
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
O fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
I have had this verse in my head for several days now.
When I read this passage it brings comfort to me.
The angel of the Lord encamping around us protecting us from harm.
We saw a show the other day called the march of the Penguins.
It was amazing to see.
They were recording the way the mama and the daddy penguin would protect the little egg away from the cold and the harsh climate.
They would spread their wings or whatever they are called around the little egg and hold it deep around their feet doing everything in their power to allow that little egg to hatch alive and not become frozen.
I see this very similar to us.
Because of his love we are rescued and kept safe.
Once we know and experience that love we never want to leave or let it go away.
It is peace and comfort and safety for us.
His tenderness along with his power makes us feel safe.
Those large penguins were very careful to not drop or crush those fragile baby eggs.
In the same way perhaps God is that way with us.
Maybe that is stretching it too far as we all know calamity and harm does happen.
But we are promised a place of rescue and a place of peace within.
O taste and SEE that the Lord is good.
I think it is a beautiful way for us to know and remember that we are not alone.