February 14, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Blessings and love on Valentine’s Day
Praying that whether you are single, dating, or married, today brings you much love and blessings.
There are three things that remain
—faith, hope, and love—
and the greatest of these is love.
I Cor 13:13
January 25, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Discerning dreams
I read a wonderful blog post by Miriam Rockness today that spoke so strongly to issues I’ve struggled with this week.
She quotes from the book, Adventures in Prayer by Catherine Marshall. I’m posting the questions here in the hope they might help someone else discern if something they long for is truly God’s will for them.
Questions to help one determine if one’s “dream” springs from selfish human will or the will of God:
1. Will my dream fulfill the talents, the temperament, and emotional needs which God has planted in my being?
2. Does my dream involve taking anything or any person belonging to someone else?
3. Am I willing to make all my relationships with other people right?
4. Do I want this dream with my whole heart?
5. Am I willing to wait patiently for God’s timing?
6. Am I dreaming big?
I’m pretty sure reading that, where I’ve been coming unstuck is #5!
January 10, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on A very personal prayer
Yesterday, I found that wonderful prayer by Allen Arnold for surrendering our creativity to God.
I’ve had a difficult week, lots of personal challenges, a small household tragedy, feeling overloaded, struggling to write. Struggling, because I’ve closed my heart to God, in my anger and grief, instead of surrendering even deeper to Him. Today, in my quiet time, I filled the page with a prayer of my own. It’s raw. It lacks the lyrical beauty of Allen’s prayer. But I’m posting it here just in case it touches someone’s heart the way it’s touched mine.
Please help me to write for You Lord. Help me to focus on You, to open myself to You, and just let the words come without criticizing or judging. I know I haven’t found the core of this story yet and I need to be okay with that and write regardless. The only way out is through. I need to dive into the story recklessly, with abandon, trusting in You. I love that feeling. Thank You Lord!
Please, help me to do that. Help me to forget all else but You and the story and write free and wild and joyfully and thankfully. Help me to write with trust and faith and freedom, knowing that You write the story, not me. I doubt myself, yes, but I have no need to doubt when it’s You doing the work. Thank You for that. Thank You that I can trust and rely on You. Thank You that Your burden is easy and light.
Help me to surrender all the burdens I’m carrying Lord, that make life feel so heavy and hard. Help me to hand them all over to you, let them go, let them slip from my shoulders with a relieved sigh, as You place your soft gentle light yoke on my shoulders instead. Help me to seek to serve You, not myself. Help me to measure my success in how much I am serving You, not in worldly goals like book sales or making money. Help me to make it more about You and less about me.
More of You, less of me. That’s what I need, dear Lord. That’s what I need. I love You. I want to live for You. That way is peace and joy and love and an overflowing heart. Struggling on my own is no fun. It hurts. It closes my heart to love. Help me to open to You. Help me to trust in You. Help me to abandon myself to You. You are my light and my life. You can fill me with rivers of love, overflowing, blessing all around me.
You can do all things, and in You, I can too. But without You, I am nothing. I am lost. I am loveless. Help me to always choose You Lord, to choose love, to choose life. You are the way, the truth, and the light, and in You, all things become new.
Including me.
January 9, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on A prayer to consecrate our creativity
A wonderful and much needed prayer by Allen Arnold to help us to offer ourselves and our work to God, no matter what our creative calling is. There’s an entire blog post that goes with this, and it’s heart-and-soul-touching, uplifting, God-centred reading.
I love the sense of joy and play and co-creation in this! And I know the dryness and aridity of trying to create without God. I’ve lost myself in that desert more than once! When we are with God, all things are possible.
Creator God
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
You created me with this unique passion to create.
You invited me into this calling.
Breathe into me.
Your presence here.
You have broken my chains.
Rescued me from the desert.This is not about me.
This is not up to me.
Slay my striving.
Replace my productivity
with your presence.Help me not look to the world for inspiration –
but to your boundless imagination filled with
truth, goodness, nobility, grace, love.Help me not look to the world for validation –
for you have given me this calling.
Even deeper, you’ve given me my identity.
I am first your son (or daughter).So I consecrate my identity to you.
My creativity to you.
My heart to you.
My life to you.Reign over it all.
I hunger for you God.
Your mystery. Your wildness. Your holiness.We get to do this together.
To create with words, songs, art.
Images and stories of freedom.
Of healing. Of hope.I want to run with you. Ride with you.
Write with you. Sing with you.
Create with you.May our time be blazing with life and light.
I cast out the enemy and any spirits of
distraction, despair or disheartenment.
The enemy has no place in the life-giving
process of creation.
He is the author of lies.
You are the Author of life.Grant me your peace.
It casts out all fear.Grant me your presence.
I am never alone.If you’re not here, I call the whole process off.
I can’t do it without you.
I don’t want to do it without you.
May my face glow from your presence.Let me taste your goodness.
Give me a glimpse of the eternal songs, stories
and images only seen by those
in the kingdom of heaven.May my creation reflect you as Creator.
May my calling reflect you as the Caller.
May the work of my hands make you smile.
May we do this together, Father.
In the name of Jesus,
I give you…me.
Thank you Allen for the blessing of this prayer!
And thank You Lord that You call us all to be co-creators with You in this world, whether through creative work like writing and painting, or through parenting, or through baking love into our cupcakes, or tending our gardens, or doing whatever work You’ve called us to with a full heart and a willingness to serve. You are the reason for it all.
January 1, 2015
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on God’s grace is enough!
Last year, my husband surprised me by challenging me to choose one word to set my intention for the year.
Neither of us can remember the word he chose, but I blogged mine so I have a reminder!
Here’s what I wrote-
It’s the perfect word for me to set as my hope and intention for the coming year. I’ll joyfully embrace that as my theme.
Renewal spiritually, strengthening my relationship with God and allowing Him to make me new, cleanse me of all that separates me from Him and from truly loving others.
Renewal emotionally, as I move away from resentment and self-criticism into love and acceptance.
Renewal physically, as I find His plan for my health through right diet and exercise.
Renewal professionally, as He helps me build my new career of writing to inspire and bring joy to readers.
Renewal in relationships, especially my marriage, as He helps me to come from love and acceptance not criticism and blame.
Probably far more renewals that I don’t even suspect yet.
I feel so blessed by that one simple word.
So, it was the perfect word. God worked powerfully in my life, as I went deeper on this journey of surrender to Christ, handing Him Lordship of all of my life. I’m still such a long way off being perfected! My walk with Him feels like it will always be two steps forward, one step back, thanks to my stubborn self-will. But I can feel how far I’ve allowed Him to bring me in the journey, too.
So, yesterday a friend and I were discussing this year’s word. I asked God, and the word “enough” came to me.
Since then, I’ve prayed over it.
Asked God to help me to seek His will and to serve Him. To show me what He want me to be doing. To help me to feel the word He gave me for the year.
Both enough as in I have enough in material terms, not to look at my book sales and feel disappointed, wanting more instead of trusting that He will provide enough for me.
Also, enough as in trusting that His Grace is sufficient.
But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” I Cor 12: 9 ERV
I’ve sought to build up my own strength, using my own power, but that’s not how it works.
His grace is sufficient.
I don’t need to work harder or do more or be more. I can step off the treadmill. All I need to do is to rest in Him and trust in Him. That is enough.
Knowing that is a wonderful blessing.
Enough.
BTW, my husband’s word for the year is “hope”. 2014 was difficult for him, full of challenges, so I pray he does feel hope, and God’s loving hand in his life.
December 31, 2014
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Happy 2015!
Hopes and prayers for a joyful and blessed 2015!
May we all surrender more fully to God’s great working in our lives. Love, forgiveness, faith, joy.
November 27, 2014
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Give thanks!
Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.
Let all the earth tremble before him.
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Cry out, “Save us, O God of our salvation!
Gather and rescue us from among the nations,
so we can thank your holy name
and rejoice and praise you.”
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who lives from everlasting to everlasting!
And all the people shouted “Amen!” and praised the Lord.
Via incourage.me
October 21, 2014
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on On Hope, Expectations, and Trusting God
Guest blog today at International Christian Fiction Writers -on hope, expectations, and trusting God.
But those who trust in the LORD
will receive new strength
They will fly as high as eagles
They will run and not get tired
They will walk and not grow weak
Isaiah 40:31 (NIRV)
September 24, 2014
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on Hope
September 17, 2014
by autumn macarthur
Comments Off on On patience
You know what I’m being like with my life right now?
A little kid on a long car journey.
The first few miles are great because they’re going somewhere and it’s all new and different and exciting and there are things to see out the window.
Then the “Are we there yet?” whining starts and there’s still another 100 miles to go.
Until even the most loving parents are ready to scream.
They can try and show the child the route on the map, try to make them see where they are on the journey and how far there still is to go.
But the child, all she knows is that she isn’t there yet and she wants to be there, not here. Those lines on the map don’t mean much to her, she doesn’t have a grown up enough mind to imagine yet what the map means in road travelled and road still to go.
She still can’t understand why they aren’t there yet and why they have to stay strapped in their car seat and why they can’t stop and play at every pretty destination along the route. Only the parent knows where they are going and why and how long the trip will take and the reason the route is the way it is.
I’m that little girl.
God says, “Trust in Me. Trust that even if you don’t understand, I do. I’ve give you a road map. Travel my route, and you’ll get there faster.”
Thankfully, He never gets impatient when I ask Him for the hundredth time today, “Are we there yet?”
