Posted on Saturday, February 13, 2016

Fools Rush In

Wait For Your Mate

The heartbreak of being lonely temporarily is far less painful than the heartbreak of giving your heart to someone permanently and then discovering they didn’t deserve it, leaving you broken and left to start over again.

You don’t even have to walk down the aisles filled with chocolate covered hearts to see that Valentine’s Day is around the corner; the heart-shaped balloons rise above the shelves while splashes of red and pink spill out over the endcaps and shout out with offers in checkout lanes.

If you’re single, the temptation is label your quiet nights as loneliness and exchange the peace in this place where God has you for the romanticized role the rest of the world plays during this time of year.

I want to challenge you to change your pout into praise.

He sees your pain but it’s His love that is keeping you out of the wrong relationship. It is His favor that is telling you ‘no’. He loves you too much. It’s His grace that is protecting you. He is saving you some time if you’ll wait and listen.

God has a significant plan for your life.

His love for you is specific and exclusive to you. He loves you too much to get caught up in writing your story the same as those surrounding you.

He’s working behind the scenes moving some things out of your life right now.

When we hurt, it’s easy to someone into the deep cracks of our heart because their smooth words soothe the aches. But here’s the problem. One day we may realize that the pain is still there and their words were just words, with no substance to hold us as we heal.

Hurting hearts attract other hurting hearts. If you’re hurting, here is your destiny.

A healthy heart attracts the reflection of healing and wholeness.

So let the Creator mend those broken places and bring the right one to you, in the right time.

Taking it one step further; be careful not to let this ‘loneliness’ lure you into platonic relationships that don’t hold you to being a better version of yourself.

You want someone who is encouraging but who also isn’t shy to ask the challenging questions. A friend who will sit with you in the slums of life but who also doesn’t let you stay there.

Every relationship needs filtering through the voice of God and the Word of God over your life. If they don’t fit, they don’t need to remain. Do you trust the Lord, your Provider, to bring you the right team in the right time?

Get direction from God on who’s in your life. Sometimes we forget that even Jesus had to pray about who He surrounded himself with.

Do you want to please people at the expense of your own destiny?

Hold your ground in trusting the Lord to work it all out in His perfect timing.

Posted on Thursday, February 11, 2016

Travel Light If You Want To Go Far

If you want to go far, you’ve got to learn to travel light.

We all have baggage to some degree hanging around from the last journey. Part of you will want to stuff what’s familiar into your bags ‘just in case’.

But picking up the weight you had on the last trip will only be a burden on this road to where you’re heading now.

Where you’re going requires freedom to jump into new opportunities.

You need a clear mind and alertness to dodge the casualties up ahead.

A humble heart is your guide to accepting direction from those who’ve been on these roads before.

My best advice for those looking to travel far in life is to pack light.

Take off all your pride and selfishness, the envy and unforgiveness, and leave fear behind.

Posted on Monday, February 8, 2016

When You Lose Your Enthusiasm

When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step.

Just to take a step to the table to receive His Word, you need His grace.

To lean into your family life when the demands are mundane and never seem to end, you’ve got to have His grace.

To press in for more community and the pursuit of friends when everything in you wants to pull back… it is absolutely necessary to have His grace.

When you lose interest in the things around you and everyday life seems filled with the trivial tasks, it is by the grace of God that you can persevere.

Receiving His grace takes a greater awareness of drawing nearer to Him.

The only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask Him to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Heavens, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you.

And be cautious of thinking that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do. Remind yourself of the example of Christ.

May your heart unfold and the petals of your spiritual devotion, family life and community of friends blossom in this fresh light today, and may all your dreams take flight.

Posted on Monday, February 1, 2016

Do You Love Me

This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep. (John 21:17)

The hurt here described the questioning from Jesus to our souls, do we really love him? This isn’t a physical pain, but a soul searching suffering. It’s a deeper hurt that questions our desire for Jesus.

The devil can’t inflict this kind of soul pain because he cannot read our thoughts or know the deeper things.

Sin can’t cause this kind of hurt and human emotions can’t even touch it. The brokenness from a heartbreak in an earthly relationship has nothing on the piercing of Jesus’ question to our soul, ‘do you love me?’

I picture myself standing there, here, and Jesus is saying, ‘do you love me?’

The immediate response from my lips is, ‘yes!’

And then he asks me again, ‘do you love me?’

And now I start to look back over my day to find the proof that when I said ‘yes’ the first time, it wasn’t just a reflexive word; I’m looking for evidence.

I examine the motives behind my work because wisdom tells me He doesn’t just want a list of deeds. ‘Lord, you know that I love you. I rise early with the DESIRE to be alone with you, not just out of a habit or duty.’

But then he asks me a third time, ‘do you love me?’

And at this juncture, I don’t think I’m standing face to face with Him anymore. I can feel the painful questioning sink my body like an anchor. My knees hit the floor, it hurts too much to respond because I think that I do and yet I know that I don’t, fully.

Between the tears, I still say ‘yes’.

Do you love me? This was Jesus’ question to Peter, yet He asks us the same thing. Is there a conviction of love in your soul that propels your hands and feet and compels your entire being to reflect love?

It’s easy to confess with our mouths the revelations we have had or testify how much we love God, but he’s asking to ‘pour yourself out’ to the sheep who can’t take care of themselves, the ones who get pushy and on your nerves, those that look filthy and it’s hard to touch, and every single one that has gone astray.

Human emotion will get you into trouble here. God’s love does not operate out of your understanding.

Lock eyes and love lavishly to every last one.

It’s impossible to exhaust God’s love, and it is impossible to exhaust your love if it flows from the Spirit of God within you.

Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2016

Your Influence Changes Lives

who are you influencing, influence, setting hearts on fire, the love of God grips us, trishakeehn.com

I wonder what the flame looks like when a changed heart passes the torch and sets another on fire, and another and another…

All because the love of God gripped your heart and you weren’t willing to let up. I just wonder what it would look like…

In the fifth grade, a pastor and his wife offered me a ride to church every Sunday and Thursday. We’d pick up other kids too. There was a lot of love, and joy and usually some kind of adventure along the way. These quickly became my favorite days of the week.

Summer camp came, and this couple urged me to come; the church paid for my week there. This is where Jesus became more than a bible story and I felt His spirit stirring. One night I surrendered my life around those campfire flames.

Returning home, this couple took that Holy Spirit spark and started to fan the flame by asking me to help out with the children’s programs in town and around more campfires.

The love of God gripped their hearts and they weren’t letting up.

Larry and Peggy Nilson encouraged me in strengths that I didn’t see there. They filled my heart with flavors of hope I’d never tasted before. This kindness, the joy and crazy love showed me what the grace of God looks like.

What if you gave someone a ride to church today? What if you encouraged someone in their strengths?

I wonder what these campfire flames look like from Heaven when even just one life is being changed forever?

All because the love of God gripped your heart and you weren’t willing to let up. I just wonder what it would look like…

Posted on Saturday, January 30, 2016

Take the Limits Off God

It’s tempting to ask for the strength to endure the demands in front of you, but the next time you come face to face with a fight, I challenge you to ask for the courage to expect more than enough from the hand of God.

You were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. Be careful that your vision doesn’t twist your expectation.

Your circumstances can cause you to come to the throne praying for a ‘barely get by’ solution when you’re asking an ‘abundant’ God.

It’s tempting to ask God to make a broken vase useful while He holds the power to give you five new ones.

Let’s take the limits off of God and pray for His promises; full restoration of your health, fulfillment in your days, beauty for the ashes, joy in the morning, surrounded by favor, blessings that will chase you down, goodness and mercy following you all of your days, that whatever you touch will prosper and succeed, you’ll be paid back double for the unfair situations, and you’ll be given the desires of your heart.

No more ‘just help me’ pleas. Trust Him. And expect His promises to propel you into your purpose beyond your circumstances.

Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Failure Is Why You Will Succeed

You said it was the end. Bankruptcy. Foreclosure. Pregnant. An STD. Divorced. Fired. Homeless. Jail. Cancer.

Maybe you’re single and can’t remember the last date. You may be a new small business owner that’s barely scraping by. Or perhaps you quit your job, launched a dream working for yourself and the projects are just not taking off as you imagined they would.

It could be that you moved to a new city with hopes of finding joy and making friends but you come home feeling lonely every night. Or you woke up to 100 pounds overweight and feel overwhelmed by the work it’s going to take to lose it all.

When life doesn’t lay out the way we planned it, it’s easy to surrender to failure with negative thinking. Here are a few folks who walked through failure and have come out with a positive message for you.

“The next day after I got fired, literally the next day, I started a new company. Life is too short to spend your time avoiding failure.” MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.” OPRAH WINFREY

“I would say the advice I would give myself, or any young person, would be, ‘Keep your head up in failure, and your head down in success.'” JERRY SEINFELD (He forgot all his jokes on his first night of stand-up)

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” TRUMAN CAPOTE (writer & actor known for Breakfast at Tiffany’s)

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” STEVE JOBS

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” BILL GATES

“I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the gam winning shot, and I have missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” MICHAEL JORDAN

“You’ve got to get a real job and get a real career, and you’ve got to go to work. And, you’ve got to live. And, you’ve got to succeed and fail, and suffer, a little bit, or see suffering, heartache and heartbreak and all that before you really have anything to write.” JOHN GRISHAM

“You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are.” JOHN LENNON

“The higher up you go, the more mistakes you’re allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered your style.” FRED ASTAIRE

“It’s the way of all ancient stories. The young man must go ‘down’ in order to find the right path for going ‘up.’” SIDNEY POITIER

“One who fears the future, who fears failure, limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again. There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail. What is past is useful only as it suggests ways and means for progress.” HENRY FORD

“Most of us are acquainted with losing. Very few of us ever win.” CHARLES SCHULTZ

“I do not live for what the world thinks of me, but for what I think of myself.” JACK LONDON

“I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” TOM LANDRY

“To bear up under loss — to fight the bitterness of defeat and the weakness of grief — to be victor over anger — to smile when tears are close — to resist evil men and base instincts — to hate hate and to love love — to go on when it would seem good to die — to seek ever after the glory and the dream — to look up with unquenchable faith in something evermore about to be — that is what any man can do, and so be great.” ZANE GREY (author best known for making the ‘Western’ genre popular)

One lasting thought…

“At some point, you are bound to stumble. If you’re constantly pushing yourself higher and higher, the law of averages predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to remember this: There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. Now, when you’re down there in the hole, it looks like failure. When that moment comes, it’s okay to feel bad for a little while. Give yourself time to mourn what you think you may have lost. But then, here’s the key: Learn from every mistake, because every experience, particularly your mistakes, are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are.” Oprah Winfrey

You thought it was the end, but it’s only the beginning.

Save this post so that the next time negative thinking comes knocking at the door of your failure, you can declare all the great successes that are about to come from this ‘defeat’.

Posted on Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Love A Friend Today

Go next door and say hello.

Write a letter; “Hey friend, I want you to hear this from me… I’m a better person because of your beautiful soul in my life’.

Make a phone call and splurge on the anytime minutes just to share a breath together.

Find a cheap plane ticket, buy one and show up.

Open your heart to the possibilities of what love can do and wrap your arms around someone who means the world to you today.

There is only one thing we live for – to share with others the love of Christ. It’s the only thing that will bear fruit in our lives. And it will always leave the mark of God’s power.

You can only share the love that is in your heart so ask the Lord to draw you in a little closer and thrill your soul a little deeper with His love so that the overflow will spill out and flood the places you land. May the Lord infuse your words and actions with the expression of His grace today, and allow you to soak up the experience of it all.

It’s a great day to get up and step into the adventure of loving a friend lavishly!

Posted on Sunday, January 24, 2016

A New Way of Seeing Things

One’s destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things. – Henry Miller

The lacing of snow gracing all that is within sight is just stunning. Snowbound in Nashville, and temps in the teens/20’s, inspiration came knocking at my door, asking if I’d like to come out and play.

Just because something is here one day, it might not be the next. This heart inside is adorned only in the beauty of journeys we take. Friendship with ourselves is recognizing that I deserve to live this adventure. So I said ‘yes’ to the proposition of this mysterious guest and bundled up tightly. There were drifts, stacked by the foot, of snow to climb through; I don’t even own a pair of boots for crying out loud.

The streets were bare of human beings. Only the crunching of snow beneath my feet filled the hollow echoes in the atmosphere. I said, ‘hello’ just to hear the sound of something other than silence. Nothing moved. When the apocalypse happens, is this how it would feel to be on the outside?

The cold was quite critical to me. The tips of fingers and toes were now numb, yet in this moment, I felt understood. My mind negotiated through the uneven terrain of contradictions I believe and buried wounds decaying inside.

There were times the heart had mistaken me for a distant friend and tried to slide through the conversation too fast, thinking I won’t notice the parts we were skirting.

So I circled the questions one more time. Secrets that had stayed concealed in the valleys between the words now started to surface.

For fear of feeling like my soul had been dragged out here to suffer in the cold-hearted truth, I listened for the company of its own compassion to warm my thoughts again.

And in the stillness, I heard love. The Spirit gathered kindling within and lit the embers of a cozy fire. The Divine had awakened and came running to welcome me with it’s tender affection.

Peace and joy interrupted what pain I had stirred. The warmth of their embrace sheltered the vulnerabilities between us, as we shuffled through the snow together on the way back home.

Love your soul. When this mysterious guest of adventure shows up, often looking like a giddy child in the cold, I pray you’ll abandon what is comfortable and spring at the delight of awakening the Divine. May it unlock what is hidden deep within you and bloom into a beautiful, transparent life, laced with love.

Posted on Saturday, January 23, 2016

The Luckiest

Lucky people are open to meeting anyone, anytime.

They smile and engage —

opening up their minds to

chance meetings with strangers

where one thing can lead to another.

Bob Miglani, ‘Embrace the Chaos’

Trisha Keehn

Living in the midst of gravity and grace. Biblical perspective for when life doesn't make sense.