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Writings by Elisse Thompson

It's all about Faith!
(written in August 2006)

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:7-8

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:22-24

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

I have a pretty incredible story to tell which confirms these verses, though I am sure that God will perform even bigger miracles in my life in the future!

Last week, as I was on the train back to London from Lancaster, I was listening to my iPod as always when I noticed it had very low battery power. After all, I hadn't been able to recharge it from the over three-hour trip to Lancaster, and I'd been on the train another two hours since then. The battery indicator was so low it was red - not green as usual.

If you've ever traveled in England, especially by yourself, you know that making long train journeys is desperately dull. The train carriage is often dead silent, and I don't have the very coveted ability of being able to read in trains or cars without vastly unpleasant consequences. I was still over an hour away from home when I noticed the red battery light.

Bugger.

Instantly the Lord reminded me of the John 15 verses. So I diligently asked, in Jesus' name, that my iPod stay on until I got home.

Nothing happened.

I waited. Through a whole song. Another one began.

The red battery light glared up at me.

So, I turned off my iPod to save what little battery there was left, thinking, "Well, if it shuts off, that means God obviously didn't want it to stay on."

The Lord immediately answered my thoughts. "What are you doing?"

"Um..."

"Don't you believe I can keep that iPod on until you get home?"

"Of course, Lord!"

"So turn it back on!"

I did.

It was still red. Rob Thomas picked up where he left off.

I sat nervously looking at the red battery light.

Then the Lord spoke to me again. "You asked me in Jesus' name. You followed My Word. Now believe that I am going to do it for you!"

I've always said I believed. I tout that phrase - I BELIEVE - around as the biggest mantra of my existence. But until that moment, I realized just then - I never really had.

In that instant, my heart changed. It wasn't me who did it - if it had been, I'd have done it long ago. I can't explain it any other way than by saying He changed my heart in that instant. All I know is that there was not a doubt in my mind that that iPod was going to stay on for the rest of my journey. Instead of just claiming it - praise God! - I really believed it. It wasn't my brain that thought it or my mouth that spoke it, as it had been all those other times - it was my heart that absolutely did not doubt it. I was convinced.

When the song was over, I looked down at the battery light again.

It was green.

And yes, obviously it stayed on the whole time - and then some!

Is there anything else I can say but HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD?!

And I know that is just a millionth of what He will really do for us if we have faith.

Why? Because all things are possible with God.

Believe it!

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Don't worry...be happy!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

"Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

"I said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.'" Psalm 16:2

Our society is notorious for pushing the "be yourself" adage. While in one respect, the ulterior message of it, namely "don't go with the crowd," is a good one, I think it has more layers than just that. If you're a Christian, a real one, you're not going to go with the crowd (of this world) anyway. You've hopefully got that one covered.

Sooo...what am I on about?

I was thinking the other day about the state of our world. Pretty pitiful, isn't it? Pretty shameful and sad and disappointing. And I thought, God is all-powerful. He's in control. How on earth did we get ourselves in so deep?

And the answer came to me - we're on earth!

"The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." Revelation 12:9

The devil is the prince of this world - everything of this world is from him - but every good and perfect thing is from God!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Jesus, John 10:10

Be yourself. Think about that.

I don't want to be me. I know me. I am the most judgmental, bitter, lazy person you'll ever meet. I hide it well, but it's there. Mostly, though, I'm a huge chicken. I'm absolutely terrified of everything. If it were up to me, I'd spend the rest of my life watching sitcom reruns in my parents' basement.

Good thing it's not.

More than anything else, I seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. To have more of Him and less of me. Why would I want to be me - cowardly, lazy, apathetic, and sad - when I could be filled with the power, strength, courage, and ambition of the Lord? It's not me at all - it's Him!

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13 is one of the most-quoted verses in the Bible. ALL THINGS. That's pretty cool! Nothing's going to stand in my way! Look out, world!

But look at the second part of the verse - through Christ who strengthens me. Too often we focus on the Things rather than the Strengthener.

I love it when there's more of Him than me in my personality. People call me things like hilarious and talented. They say I'm going to go far. I've gotten "incredible," "amazing," and "wonderful" before. If only they knew.

It's not me! And I don't want it to be! I can't even begin to take any credit whatsoever.

If it were up to me, I'd be asleep. If my humanness took over, I'd be way too scared to ever leave the small town in which I was brought up. I'd probably never even leave the house!

And let me tell you something. He's just barely started in my life, because I'm just now allowing Him to do it!

The world ain't seen nothin' yet.

But it's totally all Him. On the days when I write well, when I'm funny, when I get those wonderful adjectives...that's all Him. On the days when I throw temper tantrums or whine around or worry more about my shoes than my Savior, that's me. Don't get us confused.

How about you?

Why wouldn't we want more of Him than ourselves? He's perfect. We're not. End of story.

I love Him, and I love who He makes me. It's like glimpsing a little piece of Heaven.

And I just have to say...wow. Heaven is going to be one amazing place!

So...be yourself, or be more Him than you. Be more perfection than imperfection. Be more who He wants you to be rather than who you think you want to be.

Is there really a question?

Poems

~~To Jesus - By Carolyn Henry~~
April 2007

I fell in love with You again today.
My breath caught -
I saw you in a whole new way.
Your beauty
Your Majesty
Took me by surprise
Your greatness
Your holiness
Made me realize
That I have never
Loved like this before

Until tomorrow -
When I fall in love some more.

Miscellaneous

WHO AM I?

The Song "Who Am I?" by Mark Hall of the musical group Casting Crowns, begins: "WHo am I, thta the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt?" In this song, Hall compares our lives to a "flower quickly fading here today and gone tomorrow...a vapor in the wind." He refelcts, "When we understand how small we really are and how awesome God is, then God's love becomes bigger to us. I am reminded of David's question in Psalm 8. When he considered the heavens, the moon, and the stars, he was amazed by the God of the universe who created them and the holds them together. In awe, he asked, "What is man that You are mindful of them?" (v.4) Why are we the object of God's love and care and thoughts? In his song, Hall answers the question this way: "Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done: not because of what I've done, but because of who You are." Who is God? He is love. What has God done? He gave his only Sond Jesus to die for us and pay the penalty for our sins (1 John 4:7-9). No wonder we want to shout with the psalmist: "Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!" (Ps. 8:1-9).
Anne Cetas (March 2007)