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As we are approaching Christmas and the end of 2008, I am currently thinking about what I am going to do in my quiet time in 2009. I love thinking about what I’m going to use as my Bible reading plan. And then, I also like to think about the devotionals I will keep in my quiet time basket to use at different times throughout the year. Finally, I am thinking about the books I want to read through this next year. Right now I’m a bit torn because I am currently studying women in the Bible and would like to continue. So I’ll probably keep reading some of the books I have on that topic. But I also want to study grace, spiritual growth, and discipleship. Now you might be thinking, “Cath, how in the world can you study ALL those things - isn’t that a LOT?” Well, yes, but I will most likely end up on one main topic. I like to have a choice and then, of course, I am looking to the Lord to lead me as I spend time with Him. So right now I’m praying about these choices and then I’ll share in the next week or so what I’m going to include in my quiet time. I encourage you to be thinking through your quiet time for 2009. What is going to be your Bible reading plan? In other words, how are you going to be in the Word of God each day? Have you chosen a devotional Bible or a Bible study book? Or maybe you are using a Bible reading guide. These are trying times and we surely need to be in the Word of God to hear the Lord speak to us and teach us each day. We need His guidance and direction more now than ever before. I included the picture above because I think of the reviving waters of God and His Word through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives - “times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). I’m praying for all of you that God will do great and mighty things in your life. May the Lord richly bless you in 2009!!!

You may have wondered where my blog was for the last six days or so. Well you just won’t believe it - my blog got hacked into and wiped out. Thanks to the great support team at Hostgator who are the best service providers around IMHO, I have an updated Wordpress version and I only lost one post, which I rewrote and posted. I call it a good bend in the road. You know the saying - a bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to take the turn. Well, in a way, I’m glad all this happened because now my software is updated and I have a lot more features. So, in the months to come, I’ll be adding different things to my blog that will help me display more of my photography etc. Behind every picture I post, there are usually at least 25 more pictures I’d love to make viewable. So I’d like to have a gallery among other things. I say it’s going to take me months because I’ve got book editing to do, message writing, and we’ll be filming two new series of messages for my new books on Passionate Prayer, set for release February 1, 2009. So Cath’s Blog is now up and running again. Thank You Lord!

Last Thursday, the Lord gave me the blessed opportunity to share the gospel with 1500 women at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. If I could only share one more message, this would be the one I would share. I began by asking those familiar words from the Christmas song, “Do you see what I see?” And then I said, “I see broken hearts, wounded hearts, burnt-out hearts, hungry hearts, and searching hearts.” And then I talked about a conversation I had with a guy at a restaurant who told me he is an agnostic. He then came out of the restaurant and asked to talk more with me about God! We talked for an hour. Then I shared my own testimony about how the Lord pursued me, knocked on the door of my heart, and finally, one day, I responded to His overtures to me. And my life has never been the same - it moved from a journey to an adventure - what I call, the great adventure of knowing God. I shared how forgiveness of sins and eternal life is the great gift of God made possible by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Son of God came to earth for the purpose of dying on that cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And when we receive Him into our lives, surrender ourselves to Him, trusting Him for forgiveness and eternal life, we are born again and the Holy Spirit now indwells us, makes us a new person, and gives us new life. I then prayed a simple prayer at the end of my message: Lord Jesus I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I ask You now to come into my life, forgive my sins, and make me the person You want me to be. At the end of the evening, women were lined up to meet with the prayer team at the front of the room. I had the opportunity to hug women of all ages who, with tears in their eyes, had sensed the Lord at work in their hearts. A powerful team of women there at Calvary Chapel were praying for our evening, and you know what, I could tell. And this is what I love about ministering together with other women - we are a team - and God is the One at work among us. To God be the glory!

The fog rolled in and I walked out on the porch and saw this amazing sunrise. I grabbed my little Canon camera and started taking pictures. This place where I’ve been writing has a view of the harbor and for the last two days a bunch of ships have been coming in - when they do, they let everyone know with the sound of their horn. Very loud. But the sunrises are incredible shining through the fog. Sometimes the fog is so heavy you can’t see the sun at all. And yet, the sun is still there. Life is like that - sometimes it’s as though the windows are painted black and you are forced, like a ship in the fog, to fly by instruments only. For us, our radar is the Word of God. And God does teach us to walk by faith, not by sight - that’s what it means to fly by instruments only.

Couldn’t resist sharing that comparison of living by faith to the fog. As you know, when I haven’t written on my blog for a few weeks, it can only mean one thing - I’m writing a book. Well, I’ve just finished my new book, A Woman’s Heart That Dances, set for release by Harvest House Publishers sometime in fall 2009. What a joy it has been to write this book and I cannot wait to see it in print. And now, onward and upward.

I just had to share an incredible quiet time I experienced with the Lord the other day. First, let me say, I never cease to be amazed at how the Lord knows my heart - 1 Samuel 16:7 tells us a powerful truth about God - “People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” And oh how true it is. The Lord saw all the way into my heart - He knew that I had been anxious and worried about a few things. And over the last number of years He has been teaching me in new ways how to trust Him more. I have learned that when I entertain a worry then I am not trusting the Lord. That’s why I am SO EXCITED about knowing the names of God because when I know His names, truly know them, then I trust God - it’s a promise in Psalm 9:10 that I hold on to - “those who know your name trust in you.”

Back to this amazing quiet time I had with the Lord. So I was reading in Isaiah 7 all about Ahaz, the King of Judah. News had come to King Ahaz that the king of Syria and the king of Israel had joined together as allies and that they were against the king and people of Judah. Now this was just “news” - nothing had happened yet. But how do you think the king and the people of Judah responded - here’s how the New Living Translation translates it in Isaiah 7:2, “So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.” When I read their response, I laughed and nodded my head. How often have I trembled like a tree shaking in a storm and nothing has actually happened. What is up with that? But I LOVE what the Lord told Isaiah to say to King Ahaz and the people, “Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear…” (Isaiah 7:4). He goes on to call the two kings “burned-out embers” and He also says that the invasion that they are so afraid of “will never happen; it will never take place.” But here are the words from God that just knocked me over and blew me away - listen to this - “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm” (Isaiah 7:9 NLT). Here’s what I see in this - a confident, steadfast life comes from a confident, steadfast faith. I cannot waver and I cannot entertain doubt and nurse all the anxieties and worries. Most of the things that we think may happen, NEVER HAPPEN. If trouble comes, we want to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing our toil is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). And in the hard times, whatever they may be, we need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt us at the proper time (1 Peter 5:6).

What is the secret to a firm faith? I immediately think about Jeremiah 17:7-8 because there we have a description of steadfastness in the picture of a tree that is never bothered or worried by the elements. In fact, even in the heat and drought, this kind of tree stays green and produces fruit. That’s what the Lord expects of us. And what is the secret? Trusting the Lord and making Him our hope and confidence. How can that happen? We need to be like that tree, planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water (Jeremiah 17:8). The Word of God is our source of sustenance and the indwelling Spirit makes the Word come alive and applies it to our heart and soul, transforming us and producing fruit in our lives. And so, the greatest thing we can do is to stay planted in the Word of God. As we read and study God’s Word, we will continue to learn who God is, what He does, and what He says and then we will TRUST HIM. We will be firm in our faith instead of trembling and shaking like King Ahaz and the people of Judah. And so, may we all be like those trees in the picture above, planted by the water, green and flourishing, producing fruit in God’s time and in His way. Blessings to all.

Have you ever thought you were hanging from a precipice in your circumstance only to discover God was taking you to a new place in your journey with Him? Not only does He give a new view along the way but He gives a new strength for His new assignments. In Day 2 of Set My Heart On Fire there is a new view - a new way of looking at my weaknesses. I see that when I am weak then I am strong. Weakness qualifies me for service in the kingdom of God. I loved reading 2 Corinthians 3:5 today: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from from ourselves but our adequacy is from God. That is good news for me today. The next two days are going to be big ones for me and for our entire quiet time team. We have a Set My Heart On Fire Women of Revival conference on Coronado Island (see www.womenofrevival.com). I’m so excited!! But a part of me trembles - it’s a BIG assignment. I have so much I want to say and I am on fire to preach and challenge and encourage. I love this picture I’ve included here in this post. The rope keeps this climber from falling. And so it is for us - the Lord is the one who holds us tightly in His faithful, everlasting arms and never lets go. He is my strength. And though I am weak, in Him, I am strong, for my adequacy is from Him as 2 Cor. 3:5 promises. And so, my cry is “I can’t, but He can!” And may I add, “to God be the glory!”

Today, in Day 1 of Set My Heart On Fire, I read about the journey of the two men on the road to their home in Emmaus. The account of this real life event is found in Luke 24. It’s all about two men’s hearts changed from despair to delight and discouragement to deep devotion. I wonder how many of us are on our own roads to Emmaus today? I thought about my own journey and the ways I am on that same road to Emmaus - where am I dealing with discouragement? What areas might I lean towards despair? But the great truth is that Jesus meets us wherever we are on that road to Emmaus. I love this painting by Robert Zund (1827-1909) because it captures the walking and talking relationship Jesus loves to experience with us. I read in Day 1 of Set My Heart On Fire, “I want to encourage you that Jesus is setting hearts on fire even today. Those whose hearts burn for Him become powerful witnesses of all He has done in their lives. He meets you on your own ‘road to Emmaus’ with a heart ready for a good fire–perhaps dry from the busyness of life or in despair because of a great loss or the dashing of a dream” (p.23). And then I go on to say, “Jesus will explain the Scriptures to you even now through the work of the Holy Spirit in your life” (p. 23). I loved reading that today. Whenever I open the Bible I am meeting with Jesus on my own road to Emmaus. He will explain the Scriptures to me as He did those two disciples (Luke 24:27). And what will be the result? A heart set on fire. The disciples said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us” (Luke 24:32)? May the Lord set our hearts on fire day by day as we draw near to Him in His Word. (You can read Day 1 of Set My Heart On Fire online here and you can listen here to our first radio broadcast of the radio Bible study of Set My Heart on fire aired live on September 24, 2008).

This week in our radio Bible study of Set My Heart On Fire we are going to read about a metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit. Can you picture a sailboat as it turns and the sail catches the wind in such a way that it begins to glide across azure water with lightning speed? Her course has been changed and she is now running before the wind. The sailboat running before the wind is our picture of being filled with the Holy Spirit. I received this sailboat yesterday from my dear sisters in the Lord, Lynne Ford and Jamie Bennett of WBCL as a special encouragement for me as we inaugurated our radio Bible study today. Of course, I was just so overwhelmed and blessed. These are two on fire for the Lord women who are just so amazing. I cannot begin to tell you how much fun it is to share together with them on the radio about the Lord. I will always cherish this special gift and it will sit in a place where I can see it and be reminded that I want to “run before the wind.” May the Lord bless us and help us to set our sails to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit.

Tomorrow morning marks the beginning of a 30 day journey of Set My Heart On Fire with others throughout the world as they tune in to the Mid-Morning Show at WBCL.org. The weekly radio discussions with Lynne Ford and Jamie Bennett will be aired live and then available online. I’m excited for this journey. And more than that, I need this journey. I am faced with impossible situations that are greater than myself. And I think there are others who are experiencing this same overwhelming challenges. And maybe you are feeling as though you could fall into despair or are, as the psalmist said, “so troubled” you cannot speak (Psalm 77:4). So, let’s go on this journey together. I know what’s in this book all about experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit since I wrote it :). What I don’t know is how God is going to use the Bible verses contained in it and the biblical principles to transform our hearts. Every day is a new day. And God is going to do something new in all of our lives. Our 30 day journey will be like walking on a path - that’s why I like this picture so much. I imagine that we are walking through this beautiful valley with green trees. And the Lord is going to teach us Himself from His Word. We are going to learn how He leads us into situations greater than ourselves sometimes. But He never intends for us to handle them in our own strength. No - He intends to meet each situation with His own strength through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then we are able to say “I can’t, but He can!” I need that kind of encouragement today from the Lord. He encourages me to face the day with the words of Paul, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). And so, let the journey begin!

I drove to Newport Beach yesterday for a meeting with my publisher and agent. I was looking forward to it not only for the meeting but also because I wanted to take some special time to be alone with my Lord. And one of my favorite places for just such a time is the ocean. So this morning I got up early and asked the guy who brought my car to the front of the hotel, “How can I get to the ocean?” He smiled knowingly, and gave me directions. I drove to Balboa Island, found a coffee place, and got a piping hot cup of coffee - especially important so early in the morning :). I found a parking spot, grabbed my Bible and coffee, and walked out towards the beach. Before I even saw what I had come to see, I heard the crashing of the waves. And then, finally, there was the ocean, where sky seems to touch water in the distant view. I sat on a ledge and read Psalm 73 and 62. Then, I talked with the Lord for awhile. Then I thought about the handiwork of the Lord seen and heard in the ocean. So I walked out and just stared at the crashing waves for a long time, thinking about the mighty power of God. I committed anew everything He has called me to do. And I gave Him me, all of me, once again. I do believe such surrenders are daily in the course of our everyday lives. I love what Jan Johnson said in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of Conversations about these “monastery times” as she calls them: “The courageous gift of the monastery to me is permission to run away. It’s not an excape, as so many people believe, because we bring everybody else with us in our heads, but we have enough distance from the chaos to quiet them. It’s ’soul school’, a space in which God can speak to us about what it would look like to love the difficult people in our lives and how the neediness of our spirits drives us to do foolish things. It’s a refuge where we know we are loved by God even when we accomplish nothing.” I especially love that last part. I truly believe in such quiet times we are actually accomplishing much more than when we are extremely productive. Investments in heart and soul care with the Lord, opening our Bibles, living there, and talking heart to heart with our Lord, yield eternal results. To God be the glory.