A Life Surrendered Archives - Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel

What. Makes. Your. Heart. Beat.?

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 19:23:00 +0000

I have
been in many conversations lately and really been thinking about the topic of gifts,
talents and the question, “Am I fulfilling my purpose?” I keep hearing the same question. What makes your heart beat?

I am
currently in a women’s bible study and we are studying the book Restless by
Jennie Allen. It has been a really great tool for exploring what it is we dream
about and running after those dreams.

As a
Christ follower, I obviously want my heart to beat for the things and purposes God
has called me to. I want to feel that racing when it comes to knowing that I am
serving His purposes.

But does
it?

What a great question. Take a minute to ask yourself
these questions. What do I get excited about? Where or when do I feel
completely in my element? Is this a time or space that seems to fly by and I
hope I could have more?

As you read about several biblical characters, that
had really significant roles in the history of the bible, the final words or
what I consider a biblical eulogy end something like this.

First one is Samuel, the man whom anointed King
David, ministered to the first King of Israel, Saul, and played out God
purposes for his life time and time again. These are the final words about
Samuel.

Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and
they buried him at his home in Ramah. 1 Samuel 25:1.

When I read over this in my summer study I had to
laugh out loud. We are led through Samuel’s life in the first part of 1 Samuel
and then we get to these three words. Then Samuel died. That’s it. Clearly he
was loved. All of Israel assembled and mourned.

The reason I laughed or chuckled was because I pictured
the obituary in the newspaper and here is a picture of old Samuel and next to his worn out face it just says… He died.

Now I look at King David’s final times. These are
the kind of words I want to be read or printed about me at my death.

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own
generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption (or decay). Acts
16:36

He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and
honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king. 1 Chronicles 29:28

Life is short. Life is but a breath. At the end of
your breath, what will the history books say? He died. She died. Or will they
say, “She (He) served their purposes in their generation and fell asleep. They
enjoyed a long life with honor and died at a good old age.”

I am not saying that you can know that you will live
a long life and die at a good old age. Will anyone, however, be able to say
about you “He (She) served their purpose for God in Her generation and then she
fell asleep.

We all have the same central desire to feel like our
lives have purpose. We all want to feel that in some way we can be significant
or make a difference.

Are you serving God’s purpose in your life?

We were all put here for such a time as this to
serve our generation and make known the Word of God. We are to make known His
redemptive story because it is God’s desire that not one person should
perish.

So with a knowledge of the lives of so many greats
that have gone before us. The desire to serve God’s purpose in my generation before
I fall asleep and being a servant of my Lord are some of the things that Make. My. Heart. Beat.

I do not want waste a moment. I want to follow the desire and
the will of God so that I may set out on the path and the purposes He has for
my life.

I want to be teaching His Word on the path He had
placed before me (which seems to include all of you). I want to have a willing obedient heart that travels on Great Commission Road and witnesses to the ends of the earth.

At the end of my life, I don’t want the words beside
my final picture to be “She died”. I want my eulogy to read she served God’s
purpose in this generation and then at His time He took her home.

What about you?

What makes your heart beat?

Do you
know that you have a purpose?

Do you fulfill the purposes God laid out for you?

Do you even know what your purposes are?

It is a very interesting topic to explore. If you
are left with lots of questions I would encourage to explore your life. Explore
the Word of God. Your Creator has created you for great things. Find out what
those things are and get busy.

Questions you can email me at youresewtrendy@gmail.com

Check out more encouraging posts “Life” My Hope In Him Grace and Mercy

The post What. Makes. Your. Heart. Beat.? appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.

Heart for Worship

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 06:18:00 +0000

Recently, I was listening to a talk show on the radio and
they were talking about the persecution that Christians are facing all over the
world. My heart was breaking for these people as I heard stories of
imprisonment and death. As I was listening to them talk about countries where
people get arrested for simply carrying a Bible, I began praising God for my
freedom to worship Him.

I realize that this is not new news. I realize people have
been facing persecution since Bible times. Jesus himself faced ridicule and
persecution among His own people.

2 Timothy 3:12 tells us Indeed, all who desire to live a
godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

During several conversations about the church, and I don’t
mean a particular church but the Church in general, I see such lack of love for
one another. Persecution among fellow believers. These are just my observations
and well, you can decide for yourself if you see them to be true. These are general statements and obviously there are many amazing believers out there that are men and women after God’s own heart. Many blessings they will receive.

So as I was saying, as I was listening to this man on the
radio, he was speaking of persecution that he has witnessed of proportions we do
not see in this country. I believe that
we face persecution from family, co-workers, and friends. Maybe being shunned
or looked upon as weird but we are not facing this level of persecution.

My question then is this? Why, as a church do we fuss about things of
this world? Things of our desire? Things of the flesh?

We have the opportunity to freely worship a Lord that we
claim to love, yet we live and make other believers live in the bondage of our
own selfishness and personal desires.

Here are a few examples of what I am talking about. We go
to church on Sunday morning, and I believe I am free to say most of us don’t
feel threatened in any way going to church, and we look around to others for
satisfaction. We get there and we begin to complain about the music, we complain
about the attire of the pastor, we complain about who is sitting in our pew, we
complain about the coffee not being the right temperature.

We have the opportunity to worship freely but as a church
body we are persecuting each other and putting one another in a paralyzed
state. We walk in and out of church saying, “Well, I didn’t get much out of
that today.”

We have become a consumer driven society and we have brought
that into the church and if the product isn’t just right, we move on, we
complain, we turn on the people that we are to be building up.

Ephesians 4:14-16 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed
here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but
speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is
the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held
together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each
individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in
love.

We are to grow up in all aspects into Him. We are to work
together, we are to serve each other and we are to build up the whole unit in
love.

Instead of putting each other down for not singing with the
right instruments or not singing the style of music we want, we are to be encouraging each other. We are to be loving
each individual part.

Instead of sending our pastor messages about not wearing the
right color suit today, we are to be praying for him and building him up in
Christ.

Instead of trying to get this or that from our church today,
we are to be working together, serving one another for growth of the whole
body.

Galatians 5:13 tells us: For you have been called to live in
freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your
sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Our sinful nature says, “What can this church do to serve my needs today?

How many of us walk into church with the attitude, where can
I serve today? Who can I serve today? Who can I show the love of Christ to
today?

Whom am I here to worship? Many of us need to check our
hearts at the door. Are we there to serve and worship our Lord and to grow and
strengthen the body of Christ? Or are we there to serve and worship our own
needs and desires?

We are told in Galatians that we are called to live in
freedom, but we are persecuting our own brothers and sisters, for what? Our own
personal desires and to satisfy our own sinful natures.

We are instructed however, to use our freedom to serve one
another in love.

What would the church look like today if believers, brothers
and sisters in Christ, were a body that stood by one another, served one
another, and loved one another? What would the world see? What would
generations of lost souls witness if they saw the church together on bent knee bowing
before their King?

Brothers and sisters, let us live in love. Let us be set apart from the world that tells us to get what we can where we can. Let us be more like Jesus everyday with a servants heart.

Do you need a heart check? I would like to encourage you
before you go to your next church service to ask God to lead the way and ask Him to give you a heart for worshiping Him so from it may flow His divine love.

Read Other Posts: Are You Willing to Forgive? and My Hope in Him

Comment Below and Join in the conversation.

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Dear Younger Me

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 06:46:00 +0000

As I was sitting on my grandma’s front porch swing, one of our favorite places to talk, we were recalling the lives of David and Solomon.

David and Solomon were kings. David was the shepherd boy, who was the anointed king chosen by God. God had sought out a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and chose David. Solomon was his wise son and heir to the throne. Although this sounds like a pretty good deal for both of them, they faced many hardships and trials in their lives.

As we were talking about their lives my grandma said to me, “You know I am pretty old. You know my birthday is next month. Do you know how old I am going to be?” I said, “Eighty, let’s go with eighty.”

One thing I don’t like facing is my grandma getting older. My grandma has been my best friend, my confidant, she is a prayer warrior and the person whom I can talk to endlessly about the Word of God. She has been an amazing source of wise council.

Jokingly, I said to her, “It is not like you have somewhere to be.” We both laughed, and she said, “At least in heaven I won’t have to scrub floors and clean out my cabinets.”

My grandma has passed along a lot of wise words during my life. As I thought about her life and how fleeting it must sometimes seem. I thought about my life, the life of King David’s and the life of his son Solomon.

Often times, as we grow older, we say, “Oh, if I only knew then what I know now.”

So what would I say to the younger version of me?

First off, I would tell her that someday she will be the wife of an amazing, tall, dark and handsome godly man. She will be the mother of three beautiful children who will love her endlessly.

I would tell her that her adventuresome spirit will take her to many amazing places and to remember to love the people while she is there.

I would tell her that she will make many mistakes along the way and for that carry lots of guilt and shame for many years.

I would say that she will have her heart broken more times than she can count and face trials that will seem to never end.

I would want her to know that she will feel a heartache in losing children that will seem incomprehensible.

I would want her to know that life is but a vapor and that always following her own desires is like chasing the wind. No man, no location, no thing will deliver what God alone can give her.

True happiness will come from a God that has redeemed her and paid a ransom for her because she is precious to Him and because HE loves her.

Above all of life’s ups and downs, I would want her to know that in her dwells a God that will never let her go. No matter how far she runs, He will chase after her because He has called her His own. He is a God that has forgiven her and she will need to believe and trust that for herself so she can, in turn, forgive herself.

He will be her hope and her refuge when there seems like no way out. He will be her guiding light when all else seems dark. He will cover her in the cleft of the rock when she is scared. He will be her peace that surpasses all her understanding.

One day, young lady (that is what I will call her because I am older than her) you will look back at all of this and realize no matter how hard it was or how great it may have seemed, it was nothing without God. For in Him, you will find your true purpose, your true calling, your true hope.

I will tell her that I love her because she has a beautiful heart and to treat it well because one day we would give it ALL to our Lord and then our life will never be the same.

And the two of us would hug because we would be crying our eyes out and I would send her on her way to becoming the person that God has made her today. Truly blessed in every way.

So if you had the chance to tell yourself what you know now, what would you want your younger self to know?

Join in the discussion below and Share comments and encourage others in their journeys.

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Am I Giving My All

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 08:03:00 +0000

I want my heart to say…

Nothing
is holding me back from giving God my all.

But the truth is life happens. We get busy. Being a
mom of busy young ones keeps me on my toes. The piles they make seem to get
bigger by the second. I can clean up one mess and a mess is forming somewhere
else.

I have kids to entertain and I don’t want to miss a moment of that. I have a husband I vowed my heart
to and a house to tend and clearly that is not going so well. My heart and my strength begin to grow weary.

Remember that little green Gumby guy you could
stretch in all directions and somehow he would stay in tack. That is my heart
and sometimes my limbs.

The question I keep asking myself is, “How can I
give my whole heart to God?”

It is what He asks of us. To love Him with all of
our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

I wonder if I am doing that right. I wonder if it is
enough. I wonder if I am letting Him down.

I think about God all day long. I wonder how He
could have chosen me. With all my flaws, my insecurities, my lack of godly
virtues at times. Anybody ever sailing this rocky ship with me?

Praise God I am a work of constant transformation.

This
is what I am working on…

I give God – me.
He knows me. He knows my flaws. He knows my insecurities. He knows I am not
always a woman of upstanding character. In Matthew, we are told that even the
very hairs on our head are numbered.

Yet HE chose me.
If you are a believer in Christ, He chose you.
Isaiah 43:1
tells us, “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who
formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called
you by name; you are Mine!”

So in the midst of all my human ways, I can draw on
the strength and power of a living God. Because my Creator, My Lord, the one
who formed me and carefully knit me in my mother’s womb, Now… He says, I don’t
have to fear.

He has called
me by name. He has ransomed me. He has paid the price for me to be free from feeling like things are holding me back from giving my whole self. He says, “YOU ARE
MINE.”

He wants us in the middle of
where we are right now. A mom, a spouse, a co-worker, a friend, wherever He put you, you are there to give Him your whole heart, right there.

A wise woman recently told me, “I don’t have to
worry about letting God down because I
was never holding Him up.” Thank you
grandma for all you’re guidance.

I don’t need to be super-human. I can’t do this
journey alone. I wasn’t meant to. I can look to God’s Word and draw on the
power of The Spirit and there I can be restored.

When my strength begins to fade, I can remember Psalm 28:7. The LORD
is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.

When my soul becomes weary, I can be sure of Matthew 11:28 Then
Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.

When my mind
begins to wander, I can be refreshed by Philippians 2:1-2 Therefore if there is any encouragement in
Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete
by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent
on one purpose.

When my heart feels faint, I can be assured that I
belong to God. Jesus said in John 14:1-3 Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God,
believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many
dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare
a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Oh
Glorious Day!

Surrendering our whole heart, our whole life to God,
isn’t always easy. Take heart my friend. He has gone to prepare a place for us
and when He calls us home, He will call us by name.

What will you do until that day? Will you be able to
say, “Nothing was holding me back from being the one He called me to be?”

Re-Share by clinking on the links below. And Share your comments below so we can be encouraged by each of our stories.

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Anchored In The Cross

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 07:28:00 +0000

Over the past few days I have been having “one of
those days”. I woke up and just didn’t feel quite like myself. No matter what I
was trying I just couldn’t shake the feeling. I wanted to cry, I felt so
frustrated.

Anyone ever have those kind of days?

Of course, I am not alone in my feelings but that is
exactly how I felt, alone. I felt like everything was coming down on me at
once.

My head kept filling with the lies that I wasn’t
good enough, mom enough, smart enough, tall enough, skinny enough, outgoing
enough, enough of a friend, just purely not enough.

I kept reminding myself that God’s promises are
bigger than I am and I just kept clinging to all that I know. I was crying out
to Him, a couple of times literally, for a rescue from these feelings.

I know when I feel alone, I am promised from God
that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I felt, however, like I was
reaching out and grabbing at nothing.

I asked God why I was feeling alone and told Him I
knew this was not true and knew He was by my side.

I began to pray for God to rescue me from these
feelings and I was sure that He would. I continued to however, perpetuate these
thoughts. They began to pull me down like a heavy weight.

Sometimes the assurance doesn’t come so quickly or
as easily as we would like. Sometimes we get caught up in the whirlwind of our
emotions and they begin to take over.

The fact is,

I can
choose to be anchored to these lies…

I can continue
to sink into a downward spiral until I am in over my head…

I can
choose to drown in my self-doubt…

Or…

I can choose to be anchored to the cross.

At the cross, I receive the grace and mercy of a
loving Father. At the cross, I receive the promises Christ has given to his
children. At the cross, I receive the rest I need for my weary soul to be strengthened
for the next step in my journey.

Hebrews 6:19 says: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It
enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain

The hope in the salvation of cross is real. It is
what we can stand firm on when our hearts and our heads begin to get weary and
all of life comes pouring in on us.

This hope is more than I hope it doesn’t rain
tomorrow or I hope the grocery store is having a sale on strawberries.

This hope is grounded in something sure, certain and
secure. This hope is standing firm in the Salvation of Christ and being able to
approach His throne with confidence.

Psalm 62:5-7 Yes, my
soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my
salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor
depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

This Psalm is a beautiful reminder or our Great and
Mighty Lord in the midst of our weariness. In the middle of life’s
complications we can be assured that our hope comes from God alone.

I am not my feelings today. I am not the
circumstances that surround me. My anchor is set outside my rocking ship.

I can pour out my heart to God and there I will
find shelter. I can expect Him to be a solid ground to rest my feet upon.

He is my
rock, my fortress, my refuge, my defense, my salvation,
my honor depend on Him alone. With
God, I will not be shaken.

Does anyone need that reminder today like I do?

Does anyone have a weary heart or head that could
use a little rest and assurance?

Jesus says in John 15:26
says: I will send you the Advocate
– the Spirit of Truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all
about me.

I often times have songs in my head, but only a
couple of lines and I sing them all day. Yesterday, I asked God for help.
Today, I had this song play over in my head, “Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.” This beautiful song is by Francesca Battistelli.

God has sent help, the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth,
the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Christ, He has come to intercede on your
behalf.

He will give you a renewed strength. He will comfort you, encourage you,
and give you counsel in those times when life hurls all it has in your direction.
He
will testify to the truth that Christ took it all at the cross. He will testify
to the truth of God’s promises for His children.

What or Whom will you choose to be anchored to today?

Read last weeks post, Expecting the Unexpected

The post Anchored In The Cross appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.

Expecting the Unexpected

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:48:00 +0000

“I
was expecting this to happen but I never expected this to happen.”

Six years ago I was
expecting. At twenty-one weeks we went to the doctor for our ultrasound. I was expecting everything to be great. We
would see pictures of the baby, everyone would smile and we would go on our
way. What I wasn’t expecting was twins. And to add even more to the situation,
I wasn’t expecting the ultrasound tech to tell me she couldn’t find either of
their heartbeats.

Eleven years ago my grandpa was having trouble swallowing.
He went in for surgery and when the surgeon came to talk to us we were
expecting him to say that everything went well.
What we were not expecting was for him to tell us that he had cancer,
they could do treatments, but the cancer was not curable.

We have a lot of expectations in life. Sometimes
good expectations that turn out seemingly bad and bad expectations that turn
out better than we could have imagined.

Although in these stories we were expecting the best
and they seemed to not turn out so great let me explain them more closely for
you.

God desires a
relationship with us and uses things in our lives to draw us closer to Him. We
have two choices we can draw near to Him or turn away from Him.

In the first story, when I was actually expecting, God used that experience to completely turn my
life around. You can read more of the story in He Can Move Mountains.

You see until that moment I was living the “good
girl” Christian life meaning I was playing it safe. I was going to church on
Sunday and I could talk a good game but I was really living life for myself and
the way I wanted to live.

God used this experience completely for my benefit. Through
His Word so many realities sank straight into my heart. Here are just a few.

Jeremiah 10:23 reminds
us: I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to
plan our own course. I was planning how many kids I wanted. How far
apart I wanted them. How everything was going to go according to my plan. As a Christ follower I wasn’t
doing much following. I was not consulting God in my life and He knew He needed
to redirect my course.

I praise God for drawing me closer to Him and
producing a more steadfast faith. James 1:2-3 Count it
all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that
the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

My faith was shaky and wavering at best. This trial brought me to my knees. It brought
me to my face. It brought me to the point of surrender that Christ knew I
needed in order for Him to use me.

I know it is often difficult to count your blessings
when you are in the midst of trials but James tells us to count it ALL joy because
the result is a firm, determined faith. The
kind of faith that requires submission to a God who is Greater than all our
trials.

In all my shock I kept saying why did this happen, I
don’t understand. I thought with all of the modern technology, why couldn’t
anything have been detected before this point. James 4:14 reminds
us: Why, you do not even know
what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a
little while and then vanishes.

Some lives end sooner than we expect or than we
want. Our days are numbered and not by our own calendar. We are but a breath,
but a vapor, but a mist, and then our life is over. The choice then lies with
what we are going to do with this time.

In those
moments I realized all God has given me. So I give it all back to him in every
way I can.

My grandpa was amazing man. You can read more in a
tribute I wrote for Father’s Day in A Life Like His.

My grandpa was a WWII veteran. He was stationed on
the aircraft carrier the USS Lexington. The Lexington was stationed in Pearl
Harbor. Two days before Pearl Harbor was attacked they went out to sea to do
practice exercises and the Lexington missed all the attacks on that dreadful
day.

Lexi, however, didn’t escape the war unscathed. She
was later attacked, was sunk, and the men had to abandon ship. My grandfather
told how he floated in open water for hours before being rescued by another
ship.

At the time my grandfather was not a believer but
God had plans for him that he could not have seen. My grandfather came home
from the war, later met my grandma, and they both became saved. My grandpa
spent his life serving the Lord even to the end.

Four weeks after my grandfather passed away, my
soon-to-be husband accepted Christ. He saw the life my grandpa had lived but
more importantly he saw how my grandpa died with an overwhelming peace and the
security that he would soon be home in the loving arms of his Father.

My husband wanted that kind of peace. While my
grandpa would be dearly missed, God changed the course for my life with my
husband. I wasn’t expecting out of his passing my husband would gain life.

This has made all the difference in our marriage. We
expected on our wedding day to vow to each other through it all. Beyond our
expectations, our marriage covenant with God has become the glue that binds us
together.

Life doesn’t always go the way we expect. Not many
people need to be told that.

With Christ we can expect the unexpected because he can do far more than we ask or can imagine.

The real question is, what are you going to do in
life’s unexpected moments?

Please encourage others in the comments below with your unexpected moments.

SHARE with friends so they, too, can journey with us.

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The Carpenter’s Daughter

Jaime Wiebel — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 06:27:00 +0000

For the LORD is good. His unfailing
love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Psalm 100:5

As long as I
can remember, my father has been the hardest working man I have known.

My father
has been a self-employed carpenter for 42 years. Although there have been times
he had other people working with him, he has often worked alone.

I know every
time I have “helped him” I am amazed at how hard the work is that he does. Last summer my husband and I had our garage
reroofed and my husband took a few days off of work to help him. My husband,
who also works very hard, said, “I cannot believe how hard your dad works and
he is twenty years older.”

I remember when
I was in school and was in algebra and geometry class I would always think my
dad could do all the equations. I would show him my work and he would kind of
laugh at it. He had no idea how to do equations in a math book.

However, my
dad could build an entire house from the ground up, regularly doing equations
in his head. Measurements, fractions, shapes, angles, and more, he could do in
his sleep. He could take a blank piece of paper and draw a diagram with
everything perfectly in place for building anything. It absolutely amazed me
that he was that brilliant. For us it was the book work we could do and to him
it was real life and he could duplicate it with actual results.

My dad has
always been there for our family. He has always put our family first and loved
us endlessly.

Most people
would say dads of the seventies were different than dads today. My mom likes to
tell people they had four kids and my dad changed four diapers. Maybe not so
hands on in the diaper changing area but my parents rarely left us and had
babysitters watch us. I remember very few
occasions that we were not with them.

Family was
very important. We went everywhere together. We sat down every night for dinner
together and to this day we go to my parents and sit down for meals together.

As my dad
was growing up, his parents took them on family vacations and that was very
important to my dad. There is maybe one year growing up that I can remember not
going a family vacation. Those are very sweet memories I have of my parents and
my siblings.

We still
travel together, now it is just a larger group since all my siblings and I are
married and have kids. There have been years that friends and extended family
have even vacationed with us and we have had fantastic groups of 21 people. It
has been so much fun.

When my
husband talked to my dad about marrying me, some of his fatherly advice was to make
sure to take your family on vacation. There is nothing like escaping your daily
life and just having a great time together as a family. It is time well
treasured.

Four weeks
before I got married my father had a tear in his intestines and became toxic.
He was very ill and spent a lot of time in the hospital. While in the hospital
he got blood clots and his life was threatened again.

Every time I
would visit him in the hospital he would be working so hard walking up and down
the halls because he wanted to come home and he wanted to be able to walk me
down the aisle. I remember visiting him and he said I am trying to get strong so
I can be strong for your wedding.

My father is
strong, genuine, honest, self-sacrificing, generous, hard-working, supportive, funny, caring, and
passionate about life. We have never left his house without him walking us out and waving good-bye.

The greatest
gift my father’s love has given me is helping me know the love my Heavenly
Father. Because of my father I can understand my Heavenly Father’s unconditional
love. I can understand my Heavenly Father’s sacrificial love. I can understand
my Heavenly Father’s unending love.

When I sit down
and read my Bible and read the life of Christ, I can believe Christ would do
what it takes to keep a relationship with me. I can believe God left his
heavenly splendor to sacrifice His life so that I could gain mine.

Christ is
real to me because the love I experienced in my own father. 1 John 4:19 says: We
love because He first loved us. God chooses to love us. It is not
anything that we did or could do.

Growing up,
I was always proud to be a part of my family. Most people didn’t know my name
but they knew whose kid I was. They knew what family I belonged to because of
the love of a mother and the love of a father.

As much as
my parents have lavished love upon us there is no greater love than that of our
Heavenly Father. I have been fortunate to have a little taste of heaven because
I have amazing parents.

1 John 3:1 says, See what kind of love the Father has given to us,
that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the
world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:1
tells us the kind of love our Father has lavished on us is one of honor. It is
beyond a love that we have ever known. Nothing could be greater than being
called children of God.

I am honored
to be the daughter of a carpenter and I am eternally grateful to be The Carpenter’s
daughter.

Please SHARE in comments below about your father. I can’t wait to hear your stories.

If you missed the posts for Father’s Day read more at A Life Like His and Men Like Him

The post The Carpenter’s Daughter appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.

I’ll Give Him All of Me!

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 18:31:00 +0000

He answered,
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.'” Luke 10:27

Is this you or is this something that you struggle
with?

We devote ourselves endlessly
to our children’s activities. We will pay whatever it takes to get them to be
the best or one of the best.

We will give all our time,
days, nights, weekends… whatever it takes.

We will be their biggest
agent and promoter.

Maybe it is not your
children’s activities, maybe it is your significant other or your family. Maybe
it is yourself, maybe it is your hobby, your job, your extra-curricular
activities.

We so often are willing to
give our heart, soul, mind, and strength to many things or many people.

In Luke 10, Jesus is
answering an expert of the law. He wants to know what he must do to inherit
eternal life. He next wants to know what is written in the law and how does the
law read according to Jesus. They were trying to catch Jesus not answering
according to the law.

To them their life was the
law and it was based on their beliefs. They wanted to follow the law with their
actions but not with their hearts. They were the first to point out others
failing, but couldn’t see the failures in their own lives.

Jesus defined the law. Jesus
came to not give more laws but to fulfill the law in giving his life as a
sacrifice for us.

Jesus quickly answered this
lawyer saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind and with all your strength.” Not just with your empty words
or your actions, but with your being.

How many times do we devote
ourselves to all the other things this world offers and we are quickly let
down. We are quickly disappointed. Like these men we are seeking more.

As Jesus answers us here in
Luke our heart, soul, mind and strength are being put in the wrong place and in
the wrong person.

I don’t know about you
but I don’t want to be let down. I don’t want to be disappointed.

So instead of relying on the
things of this world to build me up. Instead of depending on the people of this
word to not let me down, I can do one thing. I can change my focus. I can
change the direction at which I seek my strength.

You may be thinking right now
that I am crazy. You have families that need your strength. You have spouses
that need your heart. You have jobs that need your mind. You have everyday life
that needs your soul. You are so divided. How can you give any more?

Where do you fit God into all
that giving? What is left for The One you are to be devoted to?

The LORD is my strength
and my shield. I trust Him with all my heart. He helps me and my heart is
filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 28:7

I love the promises that we
are given through God’s Word.

So, how can we give the Lord
ALL our heart; why would we give Him all our heart when we feel like we have so
little left to give?

I am not suggesting giving
Him the pieces that you have left. I am not suggesting that you give him the
parts of you that you can free today. I am not suggesting that you fit
Him in for your five minute pick me up. Neither is HE.

Think about your heart, soul,
strength, and mind. That is ALL of you. This is a sacrifice. This is a
surrender. This is putting yourself aside, to gain life.

What is His promise? HE
promises to be your strength. He promises to be your shield. He helps your
heart be filled with joy. So much joy that you are bursting out with songs.

Anyone in need of a little joy?
Anyone seeking out joy or happiness in things and people, just to be left
seeking more.

Daily, Seek Him first. Daily, Seek Him with all that
you have in you. Intentionally, seek Him with all of your might.

Here are a couple of ways to
give your heart.

If you have children, Deuteronomy 6:7 tells
us: Repeat them (the Lord’s commands) again and again to your children. Talk
about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are
going to bed and when you are getting up.

At your job, Colossians 3:23 says:
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord
rather than for people.

With Christ, you have hope.
You can have hope in the present. You can have hope for the future. You can
rest you soul in the moments and trials of this life.

I am a constant work of God
but I can be assured with giving him my heart that He will be my strength. He
will be my shield. He will be my fortress and I can find refuge in Him. He will
never leave me nor forsake me.

Are you ready to give your
heart, soul, mind, and strength? Who will you choose to give it to?

Please encourage us with
comments and
SHARING below on ways that you give your heart to Christ in your everyday
life.

The post I’ll Give Him All of Me! appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.

Who Is? I AM!

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 21:48:00 +0000

I can’t do this.

There must be someone better than I suited for this job.

I am not tall enough…pretty enough…skilled enough…experienced enough…worthy enough… the list goes on.

Does anyone relate to those statements?

You want to take a new step in your life but you feel (fill in the blank) holding you back. Maybe one of the above statements fill in your blank.

Often times we try and build ourselves up. Maybe we talk ourselves into being better. Maybe we look ourselves in the mirror. Like the SNL sketch: I am smart enough. I am good enough and people like me.

I love the story of Moses because I am assured of God’s greatness not my own.

Many of you may know the story of Moses from the popular movie The Ten Commandments.

Moses was a Hebrew baby boy and in his time the Pharaoh commanded all baby boys to be killed. His mother, however, saw that he was special and hid him for three months. When she could no longer keep him hidden she put him in the reeds along the bank of the Nile River.

Along came the Pharaoh’s daughter, she found him, took him into the palace and eventually adopted him as her own.

Moses was raised with all the advantages. He was wealthy. A trained warrior. He was educated. He had all the benefits a man could have.

At this time the Hebrews were slaves to the Egyptians. Moses was out among the people and noticed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man. Moses stood up for the Hebrew and killed the Egyptian and thinking no one was looking buried Him in the sand.

The next day Moses saw two Hebrew men fighting and tried stepping in but one of the men asked Moses if he was going to kill them like he killed the Egyptian. The pharaoh found out what had happened, tried killing Moses, so Moses fled to the wilderness.

If you are wondering if God can use you at this point in your life consider Moses’s training. Moses spent the next forty years in the wilderness before God would appear to him in a burning bush. Forty years.

When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush He told Moses he had seen the oppression of His people and He wanted Moses to go to Egypt and lead His people to their own fertile and spacious land. The land “flowing with milk and honey”.

10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” 13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” 14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh. The God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.

This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all generations. -Exodus 3:10-15 (NLT)

In verse 11 Moses protests with God. Who Am I? I am not… and he immediately tries disqualifying himself as a candidate to do God’s work.

Wonder what Moses was thinking. Well, I know I was a prince and have had training, but you know God I killed a man and then they tried killing me… and… well uh… Who am I?

Can you see Moses trying to talk God out of this task? (Even if he didn’t say it out loud) Sound familiar to anyone?

God doesn’t try to give him a pep talk here. He doesn’t try telling him all the ways he is qualified for the job and how amazing he will be at it. Look back at verse 12 God answers, “I will be with you.”
Again Moses protests to God. He tries again. Well uh… if I say this then they will say, who is it that is sending you?

First of all, Moses sees a burning bush and it is not being consumed by the fire. Secondly, the VOICE OF THE LORD is coming from this bush. I don’t know about you but I tend to think I am going to act on that command from the Lord.

But would I? Do I tend to um well um… around the things God asks me to do, big or small?

Do I start to list all my shortcomings and my inadequacies? Do I start to tell God all the things that make me not worthy to do His work?

God answers him in the most amazing way. Tell them I AM WHO I AM.

He is telling Moses I have always been, I will always be.

What I don’t see is how I am able or worthy to do God’s work. Honestly, I am not.

God is not asking me to go do his work alone. He is not asking me to come with all my super talents and try to impress the world with all I can do.

God answers Moses and He tells us simply, saying I AM.

God wants us to come with a willing obedient heart. Not the best resume.

He will use us for His will and for His purposes and He will equip us to do the work that He asks us to do.

When I come to Him saying I am not… GOD reminds me it’s okay because… I AM.

The post Who Is? I AM! appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.

A Life Like His

Jaime Wiebel — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 22:30:00 +0000

Stop by the next couple of weeks for contributions to honor my
father and my grandfathers, and to my Heavenly Father. I hope you enjoy this little
journey with me leading up to Father’s Day.

For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his
faithfulness continues to each generation. Psalm 100:5

Growing
up, my family and I lived upstairs from my grandparents. We lived in a duplex
house and had the amazing opportunity to see our grandparents’ every day. Growing
up, I always wanted my kids to know these two extraordinary people.

My grandma would be there to give a firm hand when we needed
and claims I am the only one she ever needed to spank. However, when I was
sick, I would go to grandma to be nursed and spoiled with all her attention.
Fortunately, we are blessed to still have her, vibrant and sassy, in our lives
and in the lives of my kids.

My grandpa was the most faithful man I ever knew. I remember
him sitting up early every morning, coffee in hand, and reading his Bible and praying.

My grandparents always served in the church and I can remember
Grandpa singing in the choir and like me he loved to sing loudly and it was
always a joyful noise.

They both served in the AWANA program. They went to Sunday school
and to church Sunday nights. Church was not something they just did out of
habit it was one way they served and worshipped their Lord.

In fact, my grandfather was often times the only one, along
with the pastor, who would show up every Wednesday morning for prayer meeting.
What an example of devotion to God and the opportunity for prayer.

Grandpa would take us to Sunday school every Sunday and if
we were not in the car the moment he wanted to leave he sat in the car honking
his horn until we arrived. We always
thought it was funny.

We would rush to the car and as we got in he would tell us
not to slam the doors. Then he would zip through town in his little car barely
stopping at each light and sign. Apparently, when my grandpa learned to drive,
stopping was more of an option and not necessarily a rule of the road.

My grandma and grandpa were not always believers and didn’t come
to the Lord until they were in their twenties. They became two clear examples
of people who knew what they were redeemed from and were grateful for God’s
redeeming grace.

I still have the awesome opportunity to worship with my
grandma and we are going to be in a Bible study together this summer. My
grandma has been one of my best friends and we have had many times together
sharing our faith. Grandma stories I have to save for another day.

My grandpa was fun, loving, honorable, and faithful. He was devoted
endlessly to his family, had a great sense of humor, and a love for Jesus that
was undeniable. He spent his life giving back all God had given to him.

My grandpa passed away six weeks before I got married. We
were all at the hospital his final week of life. No one wanted to leave him for
a moment because we wanted to absorb every second of life that we had left with
him.

My grandpa was at such a deep peace. He seemed to be the
only one ready to let go. He would call people to his bedside to take the
opportunity to witness to them or give them some final life advice.

He would sit and talk to my grandma and hold onto her for
every moment he had left to comfort her. If he had one concern it was that she
would be okay even though he knew God would take care of her like He always
had.

He would call my mom and aunt to his side to sing an old
hymn or to sing Jesus Loves Me. He would tell us confidently that he was ready
to go home to see his Lord. He was playing cards and loving each and every one
of us until the moment he closed His eyes and left this world.

Even though our hearts were broken they were filled with peace
because we knew he was no longer hurting, he could no longer be sick, and he
was in the most awesome place you could ever imagine being, in the presence of
his Loving Father.

Instead of filling the funeral home with tears and sadness,
it was a time to celebrate a life well lived. It was a time to celebrate the
promises of God. It was a time to remember this world is not our home and
someday we will be able to rejoice, like grandpa, in the presence of our
Heavenly Father.

My grandpa is missed so very much by the people who were
blessed enough to know him. He was a loving example of a Christ-filled life
that we had the incredible opportunity to be a part of.

My grandma told
me that grandpa’s favorite verse (although he loved them all) was John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.

His life was a legacy of a faithful man. One I can look at long
after he is gone and know the reality of the promises of God and the blessings
of a life surrendered. He loved John 3:16 and his life showed that he loved
Jesus for choosing to take our place in a death that we deserved. He lived life
based on the promise of an eternal life. And he lived knowing and showing that it is an
eternal life that starts here. What a blessing!

I thank the Lord for the people that He gives us and hope
that we too can be that someone to the people that we are given to love.

We used to drive to Florida (24 hours) and listen to this song over and over and sing it to Grandpa. Takes me back.

Please SHARE a story about your grandfather in the comments below. I am already excited to read them.

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