{"id":22545,"date":"2014-10-29T00:15:50","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T04:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=22545"},"modified":"2016-01-04T14:52:20","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T19:52:20","slug":"brave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/10\/29\/brave\/","title":{"rendered":"Brave"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16629\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\" alt=\"psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv\" width=\"341\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg 341w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">The gate is wide<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> The road is paved in moderation<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">Welcome to the middle ground<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> You&#8217;re safe and sound and<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Until now it&#8217;s where I&#8217;ve been<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">&#8216;Cause it&#8217;s been fear that ties me down to everything<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> But it&#8217;s been love, Your love, that cuts the strings<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span style=\"color: #800080;\">So long, status quo<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> I think I just let go<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> You make me want to be brave<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> The way it always was<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Is no longer good enough<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> You make me want to be brave<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Brave, brave<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">I am small<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> And I speak when I&#8217;m spoken to<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> But I am willing to risk it all<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> I say Your Name<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Just Your Name and I&#8217;m ready to jump<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Even ready to fall<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Why did I take this vow of compromise<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Why did I try to keep it all inside<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">I&#8217;ve never known a fire that didn&#8217;t begin with a flame<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> Every storm will start with just a drop of rain<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> But if you believe in me<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> That changes everything<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"> So long, I&#8217;m gone<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VEUxX4kjOo8?rel=0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Singer\/Songwriter Nichole Nordeman with Jay Joyce<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> * \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u271e \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I had the gift of seeing Nichole Nordeman at the <em><strong>Women of Faith<\/strong><\/em> conference this past weekend in Denver, Colorado. \u00a0This song got me to thinking \u201c<em>What <strong>is<\/strong> status quo?<\/em>\u201d So I started doing some digging to find out about status quo and Christianity. \u00a0Here is what I found\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>This excerpt, from Jane Morin, says it perfectly. \u00a0And she gives us examples of biblical people who dared to move beyond the safe way of living, a.k.a status quo, into a brave way of living.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cStatus quo is a Latin term meaning the present current, existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep things the way they presently are. There is nothing wrong with the status quo when it pertains to certain areas of our lives. However, living a status quo Christian life is totally unacceptable. At least it was during the days of the bible. I can think of many biblical characters who dared to move beyond the status quo of their belief system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2022The woman who knelt and touched the hem of Jesus garment so she could be healed. (Luke 8:43-44)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness. (John 1:23)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022David as he danced before the Ark of the Covenant throughout the kingdom to welcome back God\u2019s presence. (1 Chronicles 15:29)<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Moses, when God used him through a series of plagues to set the Israelites free. (Exodus 9:14)<\/p>\n<p>I could go on and on but I think you are getting the idea of what I am saying here. We have never been called to live in the cozy, Christian, comfort zone of life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.janemorin.com\/gods-peace--promises-devos\/previous\/13\">JaneMorin.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For we live by believing and not by seeing.<br \/>\n2 Corinthians 5:7 NLT<\/p>\n<p>Living beyond the status quo of what you see and fully trusting God in whatever it is\u2014is a brave way of living. \u00a0This is how we were meant to live\u2026not in our safe little boxes where we are afraid to step into the unknown. \u00a0The situations you have no control over are the ones where God can shine the most and where miracles can happen.<\/p>\n<p>I also had the gift of seeing Christine Caine and Lisa Bevere at this conference. \u00a0Here are a couple of things they said that struck me about living in a Higher Place beyond the status quo\u2026.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cIt is time to grow up, ladies! What are you doing under your circumstances? Go to the Rock that is higher than I&#8230;\u201d<br \/>\nChristine Caine<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8230;From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint.<br \/>\nLead me to the rock that is higher than I&#8230;.<br \/>\nPsalm 61:2 ESV<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cStatus quo is no longer an option, you are bringing the threshold of heaven.\u201d<br \/>\nLisa Bevere<\/p>\n<p>Will you be brave and trust God with the very details of your life? \u00a0The choice is ultimately ours.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"> * \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u271e \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 * <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Heavenly Father, I pray for each lady reading this, and myself, that we will choose to live beyond the status quo and be brave in the unknown places and trust you. In Jesus\u2019 Name. Amen!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gate is wide The road is paved in moderation The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in Welcome to the middle ground You&#8217;re safe and sound and Until now it&#8217;s where I&#8217;ve been &#8216;Cause it&#8217;s been fear that ties me down to everything But it&#8217;s been love, Your love, that cuts the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":16629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4937],"tags":[7652,7651,1287,425,7650,4654,1986,4934,4932,7653],"class_list":["post-22545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs","tag-brave","tag-christine-caine","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jane-morin","tag-kim-golds","tag-lisa-bevere","tag-nichole-nordeman","tag-psalms-hymns-spiritual-songs","tag-status-quo","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s39pHp-brave","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22545"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22551,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22545\/revisions\/22551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}