LizChatter

The Holy Spirit has been preaching to me about how often prayer time centers around things that concern us which more times than not, has little or nothing to do with God being glorified and more to do with our comforts and earth-bound desires. Since God is concerned with the things that are about us, we can be concerned with the things which about Him. I sense that this is a healthy foundation for long-lasting relationships in any case, and with God most especially. It is not that He suffers from our poor attempt at a relationship with him, but our spirit will definitely suffer and in the long run so will our witness. Too many are unwittingly focused on how their relationship with God should benefit them; this is a sign that the pride of life has not been addressed in the heart of a believer. When one sees Him as worthy, despite earth-bound struggles, the focus is on His fame and His honor, on His glory... rather than on how our lives will benefit from a relationship w...

Hi friends! As usual, I'm posting from a transparent place about a recent personal experience with being reminded of a deep truth that I was forced to rediscover. And that is... WORDS MATTER To use our words carefully and wisely can sometimes be a struggle because of the internal battle(s) that we all seem to have. There's the battle between what we, as Christians, hope to desire (based on an eternal perspective) and what we sometimes actually desire (based on a temporal, carnal perspective). There's the battle between wanting to accommodate our feelings at the moment and wanted to take care of the hearts around us. These battles wage day in day out, and moment to moment; because of that, our words are often geared toward soothing a crisis of feeling, releasing a chaotic emotion, or some other need for relief or maybe even just a distraction from the mundane. Unfortunately, we are often short-sighted in the realization that words create - they create for the speaker a...

It was this Wednesday that I had stayed home from the office. I was doing some household things, vacuuming, dusting, and such while listening to the Modern Day Hymns playlist on Spotify, when suddenly the Spirit of God gripped my heart and spoke. I sat down under the weight of it. If you have ever felt this you know of what I experienced. Looking back, it's as if the weightier the message - the weightier the Presence.  This was a powerful experience and a powerful Word in my life. An hour or so passed before I felt release from the weight and the urging of the LORD to share what He'd given me. I'll share what I heard from the Lord, and I'll also share the convictions I came away from that experience with.  Here is what I heard from the Lord:  "Be mindful when voices place a question on following my direction. Some will miss the fullness of my Plan for consulting the flesh over what I have spoken. Honor your Leaders and know them. Not all are visionary, not ...

My thoughts this morning are around authenticity... which is not unusual.  I'm thankful that the Lord equips us to function for meeting the need in front of us, and this is often - Very. Often. - the case for me.   I cannot and will not attempt to  take any credit for outcomes because all I do, quite literally, is cooperate with God. He says, "Do this." and I do this. He says, "Do that." and I do that.  I mean, from my perspective I'm actually here to deliver some cheese (😀) and to satisfy my curiosity about front-line action in the Kingdom. The fact that a giant confronted God's people at the same exact time I ended up here was not something I planned.  You know? Just let me find 5 smooth stones and this thing will be settled, God's way. 

Calling vs. Comfort When I think about comfort, I can't help but think about things/people/places that are familiar to me. In my comfort zone, I know what/who/where is in my future.  I guess knowing is something that represents "comfort" for me.   In my comfort zone, I don't have to worry about being without, left out, judged, or etc. In my comfort zone, I have a sense of control, a sense of knowing. Knowing is the ultimate place of comfort for me.   As I unpack the idea of comfort zones, I realize that there too are comfort zones within my spiritual life. In living life with God as my One Thing.  In my life, being comfortable looks like: Safety - knowing that there are plentiful resources to keep commitments Belonging - knowing that there is space for me in ministry Respect - knowing that the people will hear me and receive from me  So this list above isn't necessarily bad, right? Right. Are these things a hindrance? ...

Today I sat with three gentleman with varied experiences and motled past(s). We laughed, made jokes and each celebrated our growth journey in the new life that Christ has provided to each of us. There were abundant smiles and levity of chatter filling our meeting time.  What grace! What peace! What HOPE!!  There is nothing quite like the realization that Holy Spirit is simultaneously working seamlessly in & through multiple individuals in a single moment of time. He's always doing that, but I'm not always in tune enough to catch it... today I was though and the realization hit me so intensly that I forgot to breathe there for a moment.  In this case I feel it is a most appropriate use of the word "Awesome" .

Sisters,  Do not assume any role in "catching" your man or "settling" for some half interested fella. Too many of my sisters are living frustrated about their guy's flaws, his passive nature or wandering eye. It's heart-breaking and all too real for me.  The checking off of that "relationship" box on your life list is not worth the turmoil of a dysfunctional relationship. You can trust the truth of that statement! I literally know what I'm talking about.  So you feel the fire of passion and hormonal chemistry? You're not the first one to deal with that... afterall we're all here aren't we. J ust look at your feelings as biological science.  "That doesn't help", you say?  Okay then, here's an old phrase we learned in elementary school to help us learn how and remember how to put out a fire.  STOP! DROP! ROLL! Remember that one?   STOP! Let God work in you and in your future spouse to bring out your fla...

Dear family, I just cannot stop thinking about a quote TF Tenney posted recently. He wrote that as he was maturing in ministry an old prophetess told him something to the effect of "...when you begin to love souls more than doctrine God can really use you." Often the arguments between the family of faith have been disparaging. And although I realize the necessity of purity in following the Word, let deeper understanding come as the Holy Spirit reveals it. When this is the case, Jesus will always be the central point of the Gospel rather than this dogma or that. Generally speaking, babes in Christ are not ready for theorizing and matters best described as subjective ideologies; they need the nutrition of the pure Gospel which is Jesus, always Jesus. Now, since seeing that post, we discuss this regularly; the ministry team God has placed around me. "When we get to the place in our walk with God that we can truly focus on souls more than on doctrine, we will be used m...

Today is affectionately known across Christian circles on social media as #worshipwednesday and as  a worship leader, I like to put choruses together and create a medley of choruses from writers and artists that may never actually get the chance to work together on a project.  These two choruses came together for me during some private worship moments earlier this week. Thanks for allowing me to share them with you for Worship Wednesday. There is none like You No one else can touch my heart like You do I could search for all eternity long and find there is none like You I searched all over couldn't find nobody Looked high and low still couldn't find nobody Nobody greater, nobody greater  Nobody greater than You I do not own these choruses or the rights to them.

The lighting is terrible on this video. And it's painfully clear why most videos are not taken from a downward angle. Seriously! Those shadows got me looking like I'm 60 years old. LOL!! Team #nofilter in th' house.  And why am I always sniffling in my videos? Good grief. Allergies are a real issue people. That's okay though, it's not about me just about the message. If you've taken time to watch this, I hope it helps you in some way.  With tons of love!  Your friend,  Liz 

What if the measure of success is not actually found in the usual suspects: "likes", "hearts", relationship status, "shares", followers, comments on your posts/blog/vlog, position, statistical outcomes, human interest, fame, wealth... What if God views obedience, simple (yet not always truly simple) obedience as real success? I believe someone needs to know this! No matter the messiness of current circumstances, keep with obedience; this is the undisputed champion of ways to bless God's heart. Thanks for stopping by. Love, Liz

  We all have opportunity to grow through trying times in life.   I've found the best way to stay optimistic while going through a difficult time is to view the situation as temporary - and it is temporary as long as we are cooperating with God. In fact, we stay static, stuck or stagnate in situations were we (perhaps due to shortsightedness) have become uncooperative with what God is doing.    Have a "season" mindset. Realize there is a purpose in the test, trial, and temptation. Much is accomplished in your cooperating with God!

https://youtu.be/A-n4HHDhAqo

For my brothers and sisters in Eritrea, Egypt, and other countries where Christians are being persecuted and even martyred; You are in our hearts and our prayers! Do not be afraid and remain faithful. 

Many Christians understand worship as a specific time in the scheduled gathering of believers when the band plays, and someone at the front of the gathering leads the congregation to sing, lift their hands, etc. The word "worship" is so often used to describe this time of the gathering together that the general understanding of the word has seemingly shrunk to meet the most common uses of the word.  Sometimes church leaders will use the word "worship" to describe a posture of the body, but even that still limits the fullness of what worship really is. Blame English language speakers, if you like, as English words are reassigned meanings by various generations and often used in ways that limit all of what that word could relate. So here’s a bit about me… I am called a "worship leader" so I know reference that is being made when terms like "worship service", "time of worship", "worship leader", are used. In fact, I use thes...

Seriously though, I have no clue! That deadpan look in my eyes right there... that's a real moment in time. Go ahead, laugh it up! I sure did. You may never get another opportunity to see me purposely post such an absurd picture of myself.  I know there are plenty of gals out there that totally get football speak and can talk it with the best of them, but that is not me. It's all foreign to me except for the basic terms like, touch-down.... that's about it. I know what a touchdown is.  This gets me to thinking about other groups that use terms specific to their community. Like the church community for example.   Church speak, otherwise known as Christianese can be pretty specific all the way down to the kind of church one attends. Those of us raised in and around general Bible-belt church talk, totally get the terms. That's not the case though for many who hear us toss around terms like "slain in the Spirit", "filled with the Holy Ghost"...

"I'm so tired of this!"  or  "I can't believe I said that!"  or  "What did I do to deserve this?"  or  "God do you see what's happening here?" Have you ever said things like this? I certainly have. Usually in response to dissatisfaction on how something ended up. There are times we end up unsatisfied, angry, or embarrassed at the outcome of a decision. Sometimes a decision even results in injury inflicted upon someone we love and are responsible to care for like children or a spouse. Have you experienced this as the doer? I'm not surprised if you answered "yes". It's happened in my life; yes, this happens for those in Christ. If you're anything like me, you've experienced this with outcomes ranging from insignificant to catastrophic. Depending on where you are in your journey with Christ, you may believe that it's luck, chance, or you may have a 'que sera sera' attitude and stick your head i...