A Moment with Marlene; 

Do over? Yeah right! 

Have you ever wished you could start all over? Do you ever look back longingly and say to yourself, “If only….”?  Well I have! 

Hindsight has 20/20 vision doesn’t it! And it certainly is true. We can look back on so many situations and messes in our lives with and interesting clarity of what we should have said or what we should have done or how we should have handled the situation. Regret and shame have a powerful way of pulling us into the past. They are enemies to our future, and they show no mercy. 

I absolutely love this passage in Isaiah 43:18,19 “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness. Rivers in the desert.” 

God has a message for you today! He is declaring new things for your life!  One definition of the word new is “not existing before.” The creative power of the Lord is about to do some things in you life that have NEVER been done before!! When we turn to Jesus and give Him our lives, “All things have become new!” 2 Cor 5:17 And…He is going before you to make a way for the miracles of recovery yet to be lived out! 

Learn from your past, but never let it define you! You are who God says you are! The past with all of its pain, will lose its power; and you will be free to be all that God has destined you to be! 

Do over?….I don’t think so! There is still so much to be done! What possibilities lie ahead? Praise God for new beginnings! 

Celebrating New Life Together,

Marlene

The power of a promise makes the body possible:
We can have a functional body only if people within it are able to keep the thread of their identity in Christ through their promises- God never breaks his promises to His people, and we are to do like wise. A person, in the long run, gets this identity from the promises he makes because they are based in the character of Jesus. We know someone as the same person today that he or she was yesterday by the promises that person made yesterday and keeps today.

Some people ask themselves “who am I” and expect their feelings to tell them. Feelings are dancing flames that fade after being stimulated and some people ask who they are and expect their achievements to tell them. But the things we accomplish always leave some of our character unrevealed. Some people ask who they are and expect their human reasoning to tell them of their ideal self. But our human reasoning can only tell us what we want to be, not who we are.

Maybe we can best find out who and what we are by asking about the promises we have made to other people and the promises we are trying to keep for their sakes. Promise keeping allows us to function in the realm of Christ, to actually walk out some kind of dimension of the attributes of God.

It is not only that we know ourselves in the mirror of our promises. If  Gods people, the ones who belong to Him, who depend on Him, also know Him by the promises He has made and what He promised is what we need to be apart of; only if we really know who He is can we live with Him in trust. We need to know Him in the deepest way, not by reading self-help books, but by knowing His power to keep promises and in the power of His Blood.

On a certain level our lives together depends on the power of people to make and keep promises. On a single string—of a person bound to his promise—hangs everything from nuclear disarmament to a family reunion, from a successful revolution to a return ticket to Tacoma to a savior to reconcile God and his people.

Marty Lee Herrick

martyh@trm.org

Prov. 27:17

Here is another beautiful rendering dealing with the hope that lies within from Brandy, a partner here at The Mission:

Inevitably, all of us, will suffer. Nothing can spare us from the confusion and pain that will, no doubt, accompany it. But, as a Christian, I believe I can weather the storms differently by knowing the One who is taking me through it.

If my own struggles have taught me anything it is that my greatest need is to know God better. My efforts, in doing this, have been repaid with joy and power beyond all expectation.

So with my heart strong for God, I can draw courage, wisdom, and determination in the face of overwhelming adversity from the certainty that GOD, truly is with me and HE IS GOOD.

A Moment with Marlene; 

“God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.” 2 Peter 3:9 

God is lovingly patient with us as we strive to change and grow into a better person. But time is running out and the stakes are high! As you are grasping for New Life, that means you are trudging through deep waters of soul searching. That means you are dying to self daily as you sacrifice the longings of your old lower nature that once held you captive. How you think, act, and react is changing visibly! These small daily changes soon create the fiber of your New Life through Jesus Christ! 

Does this mean your old nature will never rear its ugly head? Does this mean you will instantly be able to resist any temptation? No, that’s where God’s grace and patience with us is so precious. As we are earnestly reaching to grow and are faithful in our effort, God sees our heart, and he sees our potential.

 I love the way Max Lucado expresses it; “Compare your new birth in Christ to a newborn baby. Can a newborn walk? Can he feed himself? Can he sing or read or speak? No, not yet! But someday he will. It takes time to grow. But is the parent in the deliver room ashamed of the baby? Is the mom embarrassed that the infant can’t spell…that the baby can’t walk…that the newborn can’t give a speech? Of course not! The parents aren’t shamed; they are proud. They know that growth will come with time.” 

Friends so does God! He sees who you can become! Continue pressing into your recovery faithfully and growth will happen every single day! Healing and change in our hearts and lives is a continual process.

If not now…when? We’re talking about your life! 

Celebrating New Life Together,

Marlene

Freedom comes alive in a promise:
Whenever a person makes a promise; he stakes a claim on freedom. A promise is a momentous claim that the person who makes it has the power to act freely to bring order and dependability into the unpredictable future. If you fear, as I do, our fondness for promise breaking, consider this: it is almost a miracle that anyone should ever dare to make a promise.

When we make a promise we take it on our feeble wills to keep a future with someone in circumstances we cannot possibly predict. We take it on ourselves to create our future with someone else no matter what fate or destiny may have in store. This is almost ultimate freedom.

I am not governed by or determined by the conditioning of my past. I know as well as the next person that I cannot create my own life. I am well aware that much of what I am and what I do is a gift from being delivered from my past or a curse from my past that I have not fully given over to Him. But when I make a promise to anyone I raise above all the conditioning that limits me.

The paradox of promising is that we freely bind ourselves to keep the promises we make. We limit our freedom so that we can be free to be there with someone in his future’s unpredictable storms. The person who makes a vow makes an appointment with himself at some distant time or place, and he gives up freedom in order to keep it.

When you make a promise, you tie yourself to other person by the unseen fibers of commitment. You agree to stick with people you are stuck with. When everything else tells them they can count on nothing, they count on you. When they do not have the faintest notion of what in the world is going on around them, they will know that you are going to be there with them. You have created a small sanctuary of trust within the jungle of unpredictability: you have made a promise that you intend to keep.

A promise, then, is the human essence of freedom after the style of God—it is your freedom to be there with someone even though you cannot tell what “being there” is going to be like for you.

Marty lee Herrick

martyh@trm.org

Prov. 27:17

Here is a wonderful post from Amy, a resident in our New Life Program.  Amen to your message below, Amy!

First of all, I want to make sure that I have the right meaning of “tragedy”, so I looked at the dictionary and according to Webster-Thesaurus version, it means; disaster, calamity, catastrophe, affliction, suffering, and tribulation.  So the question is, “Where is God in the midst of these situations?”

The hard times in life tend to either crush and disillusion or challenge and stimulate us.  It is hard for us to keep going when the going gets tough.  But it can be a real encouragement to know that God is with us in the midst of the trials we face, and that He can use even our weaknesses for His Glory.

In the midst of any “tragedy”, we always say, “God, why me?” “God where are you?” “Please God help me!” My faith tells me the answers to these questions are obvious, clear and concise – actually simple!  God is everywhere! He is always present!  God is always with us when we need Him. His presence is within us.  GOD IS OMNIPRESENT!

    “We are hard pressed on every side by troubles; but not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes we live under constant danger of death, because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4 : 8-11 NLT)

A Moment with Marlene;

Love is a mighty force from the core of our being isn’t it! We all want to love and be loved! But there is no truer in our life than the unconditional love from Jesus! And there is no greater therapy than to just sit in His presence and worship with no strings attached. Just love! It drains our stresses, fear, anger, worry and confusion. It will fill you in ways your addiction never could. It will break down your defenses and melt your denial, because you’ll feel safe. And it reminds us how vital Jesus is in our personal life. We are never alone! We are forgiven! We are precious to Him! Jesus, we love you too! 

I’m being very vulnerable with you today and sharing portions of a love letter I wrote to Jesus, February 28, 2004. I glance at it from time to time and it stirs my passion. Maybe its passion will be contagious to you! I urge you to do the same. Explore and then express your feelings toward Jesus Christ your Savior and friend! Sometimes it’s hard to find the words but it is worth digging deep for this amazing exercise. Keep your letter for future reference; it will become a powerful tool. 

“But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13: 13 

My Love Letter to Jesus 

Lord, I want to declare my love for you today. My heart swells with gratitude that you, are my Redeemer….the magnificent Son of God. I am forgiven by your grace. I am empowered by your unconditional love. I am comforted by your mercy. And I am experiencing a peace that truly passes all understanding.  

I trust in you dear Lord and I give you my devotion. I honor you as my Master; I embrace you as my personal friend. I enjoy you as my daily companion. It is my privilege to serve you and share the good news. My spirit is full of renewed strength. My heart sings from the miracle of it all. 

Thank you for the gift of life overflowing with joyful abundance. Thank you for eternal life and the hope of heaven. Someday I will see your face and be reunited with those I love. There I will continue to serve you in the grandeur that you have prepared. 

 It will be worth it all!

                                  Marlene

Human destiny rests on a promise:

The future of the human family rides the fragile fibers of a promise spoken. One thing assures us that the cosmos will not turn itself into a stinking garbage heap. Only one thing affirms that the human romance will have a happy ending. The one thread by rich everything hangs is a promise spoken and not forgotten; God himself spoke that promise

A man named Abraham burned his bridges behind him and strode off into his unpredictable future as he gambled on the reliability of a promise uttered by a Presence he had scarcely begun to feel. And so the new possibility for history began.

The romance got going again when Moses tried to get a better fix on the identity of this Presence, this invisible Awesome One, and the Ineffable. “What is your name?” he dared to ask. And the answer came (in John Courtney Murray’s provocative translation): “I am he who will be there with you” (Exod. 3:14). This was his name. It was all Moses needed to know; maybe it was all he could know. “I am he who will be there with you; count on it.”

No one on earth at that time could have predicted the spectacular rise and dismal falls of the people who were created by the promise implicit in God’s name. Unpredictable circumstances combined with an uncontrolled compulsion to commit national suicide kept their future in constant doubt (Gods chosen). Only the power of the promise kept them together. The One whose name is “I am he who will be there with you” kept coming back to them.

Then, in an unsuspecting setting, a man from Galilee talked to his friends about sealing the ancient promise in his blood and, a day later, he spilled it over God’s ground on a mound they called Golgotha. “I am he who will be there with you” was there with them, dying, and then rising, and then being there with us to the end of the world.

No one on earth now can predict the future of the natives of planet earth by any evidential data. What will it be, a cosmic garbage heap? Or will it be a new earth where righteousness has finally taken hold? Not a cosmic heap, says Peter: rather, a new earth. How so? according to his promise“ (II Peter 3:13). Again, the whole thing hangs on a promise.

All that matters is one thing: a promise made by someone whose name is “I am he who will be there with you.”

Human destiny rests on a promise freely given and reliably remembered. Besides providing a believing basis for hope, this means that whenever you and I make and keep a promise we are moving closer to being like our Lord Christ Jesus. When you say to anyone that you will be there with them, that is the manifestation of abiding in Him.

Next week the title will be- Freedom comes alive in a promise:

Marty Lee Herrick

Martyh@trm.org

Prov. 27: 17

This is an essay that one of our wonderful New Life Program clients, Alayne, wrote as part of an assignment in our Challenge Learning Services.  I love her outlook…

If a hammer’s ultimate and perfect purpose is to hit a nail on the head, then what is God’s ultimate and perfect purpose for me? When I took that first crack hit, the sense of perfection and ultimate oneness with the world came over me. I thought I had found my purpose in the world. But how could the destruction that followed be God’s will for me?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always; pray continuously; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV) The apostle Paul lays it out for us. God’s will for us is to be happy, pray, and rejoice. In the words of Bobby McFarin, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

Seems pretty simple to me. At least to say it – harder to do it.  Keeping an attitude of optimism is hard in this pessimistic world. But how else am I to remain joyous or happy and be able to rejoice in ALL circumstances? Keeping an open line of prayer is also difficult for me. I just plain forget.

But in all, I know that God is forgiving and as long as I do my best to hit the nail on the head, He will strengthen me and continue to lead me in the right direction.

A Moment with Marlene;

Have you noticed lately how the little things we do, say, or think, are the BIG  ACTIVATORS of our day?  They may seem insignificant at first glance, even subtle, but they can set us in motion. They generate action! They build momentum! 

Here are some examples to think about: 

• Positive Activators throughout our day;

            Good attitude

            Minute prayers

            Gratitude

            A favorite Scripture

            Smile

            Use self control

            Let go

            Take a deep breath

            Think before you open your mouth

            Think before you act

             Have a learning spirit

             Listen

             Encourage

             Co-operate

             Obey

             Mind your own business

             Work hard

             Reach out

             Be helpful

             Be truthful 

             Be loving

             Trust & be trustworthy

             Be peaceful

• Negative Activators throughout our day;

            Bad attitude

            No prayer

            No scripture

            Complain

            Fret

            Thoughtless chatter

            Thoughtless action

            Ignore what’s good

            Rebel

            Be angry

            Judge

            Compromise

            Be lazy

            Lose control

            Isolate

            Be sneaky

            Manipulate

            Lie 

            Be in denial

Simple isn’t it? Well….not really! But think about it, it’s truly about the small stuff! Small choices during our day! It’s up to you and me! It’s our choice! It’s also a powerful truth! It’s ACTIVATION in action taking us down a positive road twards the mountain top, or a negative road down a muddy slippery slop! And it not only effects us, it effects everyone around us. We can be an activator for them too! It’s like the domino effect in our day.

So let’s pay attention! Let’s make a choice today! It’s not easy some days but oh so worth the end result!

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you” Phillippiams 4:8,9

Celebrating New Life Together,

Marlene