Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Words We Speak

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 17:27 He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

As I considered what to write, I thought I would write something profound, but I could not find the words. So, I prayed and asked God to give me even a slightest idea as to what He wants me to understand concerning these verses. I then began to consider prayer and wondered where this fit into the scheme of things.

The only thing I could come up with was not a profound essay, but a humbling prayer instead as this is something that should always be done when a disagreement arises. So here goes:

Dear Heavenly Father,

As I seek You today, I ask that You give me the words to speak, that will be like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Not words that will only cause greater misunderstanding and anger but soft ones that turn away wrath. I ask the Holy Spirit to press upon my heart to remind me to look towards You in the midst of any argument, so that I can speak the truth in love and not hate. I ask You Lord God, to forgive me for the times that I have not looked to You first. I thank You that I can come to You and ask for Your guidance in all things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Too Good to be True?

Once again its been a short period of time that I have written anything, but I really have to all0w God to lead me before I do write anything. After all it is in His timing not mine. As I have been thinking about what I'm to write next, I thought how some things just seem to good to be true, as I'm sure that everyone thinks that from time to time.
How many times do I think this and then it actually be true? Not many I have to say, but when its from God, how can it not be true? God can only give good things, even ones we don't expect or even deserve.
Psalms 21:2-3
You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips. "Selah" For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
This Psalm can paint one of the best pictures of who God is and who we are to Him and His plans for us. Does this sound to good to be true? Maybe to some, but it's only the best, because we are His sons and daughters, His princes and princesses.
Is it too good to be true when God leads you to do something so completely beyond yourself and it blesses you along the way because you were obedient?
Maybe you need to step back look around you and ask, God, is this too good to be true?

Monday, October 5, 2009

“Beauty” It’s what is on the inside.

“Beauty” It’s what is on the inside.

Psalm 139:14
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

As you walk along look around you, tell me, what do you see? Do you see beauty? Or do you see man made things that are supposedly beautiful?

Let’s take a look into the bible and see what true beauty is.

My goal here is to break any misconception about what is and is not beautiful. If God created us in His image, how is this not beautiful? He says we are His sons and daughters. How is that not beautiful all on its own?

The answers never seem to come easily, because we tend to look at ourselves and see what we were told to see. Society has given us a guideline to what we are supposed to look like. I don’t think I have seen anyone that was actually that perfect. Even perfection is misconstrued. I think it’s the little differences that make us beautiful!

We are complex beings. We are flesh, bone, the very fiber of the earth. God created us from nothing more then dust, but when He created us, He said "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26

Let me point out that He said “Let us make man in Our Image.” Tell me, what do you imagine God looks like? To me He is beautiful, He is everything. He is what gives my life beauty, and substance. He is light.

When I put God into this perspective, as small as it is compared to who God really is, I know that He lives in me. His light shines through me. I am beautiful because of Him who created me. Sure I have little differences from everyone else, but that’s what God gave me. I am who I am. If He lives in me, isn’t that what counts. It’s what is on the inside that is beautiful, which in turn makes us beautiful princes and princesses of God’s kingdom.

So the next time you look around you, realize this. God lives in you, and shines through you. You were created in his image. You are exactly what God had in mind!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Masks

Hello everyone, I decided to try something a little bit different this time around. It's from my heart and can be very personal for some! I hope you enjoy it! I always imagine myself being one of those poets that stand on a stage reading a poem with this deep passion and being understood! I dont think will ever happen! But this is what I came up with. Imgine your on stage reading this to an audience....that might help to understand it!

Masks

Do you wear a mask?
One that doesn’t quit let people in? One that covers up all your “real” feelings? One that says…”Yea, I’m ok!”, “Really I am, everything is fine, just fine!”
And then every once in awhile , you run into someone that can see right through your mask, so you turn and run home, take that blasted thing off and check it for cracks, and then you turn around and there you stand, in front of a mirror. As you quickly fumble around with your mask to put it back on, because you’re afraid to look deeper into your own eyes, the windows to your soul, because of what you might find there, lurking in the deep darkness you call the wreckage of your life. If you can’t handle what you find, what makes you think anyone else can?
Do you wear a mask?
One that should never really reveal all that you are, even the good is hidden from view. Do you wear a mask?
As you slowly realize you still need to fix the cracks, you remove it once more, and you have this overwhelming feeling to just turn around and really look to see what has been hidden for so long, and what and who should be standing there? You feel overcome with grief , as you thought you were pleasing everyone, yourself, even God.
Do you wear a mask?
As you stand there, revealed to yourself all that you are , you fall on your knees, and you ask why you needed this mask for so long? What good did it do? You ask God to forgive you for being so silly as to think you could hide all that was wrong from everyone, even yourself.
Do you wear a mask?
Jesus walks up to you and gathers you into His arms, and tells you He loves you , to trust Him and He will show you the way! You can hardly believe it, but you soon realize that’s all you needed to do to be pleasing…”Trust Him”!
Do you wear a mask?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

LOVE

My Vision is becoming a slow reality. God opened up a door that can not be closed. I see where He is working, and I can only promote it and say...Yes He is Good! Here is one of the writing assignments I have been working on in the past 2 months. I hope you enjoy!

Love

Did you know that the word Love appears in the bible 496 times? Do you think God is trying to say something here?
I think what God is saying is that loving one another is not optional! HM?... If it’s not optional, how do we apply this to our daily lives, this thing called love?
I have struggled with this for a long time? Yes it’s easy to love someone when they are loving, but when they are not so lovable, I ask myself….OK now what? Of course the verse John 3:16 immediately comes to mind.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

If God can love us that much, who’s to say that I can’t? And this is why:

( If you have your bibles, go ahead and turn to John 15:1-17 )

1."I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2.He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3.You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4.Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5."I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6.If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7.If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8.This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9."As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10.If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
11.I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12.My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13.Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14.You are my friends if you do what I command.
15.I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
16.You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
17.This is my command: Love each other.




When I read this passage I know how important this thing called love is. Why it’s not a thing after all, it’s God! You see when we keep all of Gods commandments; we will abide in His love “in Him”. And if we abide in His love, this is true discipleship. When we remain in Christ Jesus, love abounds, if love abounds, it is a way for the world to know that we are Christ’s disciples.

Let’s pray:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share this devotional to these wonderful people of faith. I ask that You bless each and everyone of them according to Your riches in heaven. I ask that you continually show us how to love one another as you commanded us so that we will be a sweet perfume that draws people to You. Thank you Lord for loving us unconditionally and showing us Your ways. In Jesus’ precious Name. Amen


Love led Jesus to come to us. Love of Christ leads us to love others. And love leads us to minister.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Visions

As I have said before, I have been in a battle. Little did I realize it was more with myself then anything. I have been fighting with myself to change. Change is hard no matter how you feel about it, especially when it comes to yourself.
I have been doing this bible study with a wonderful group of friends and my choosen family called Experiencing God, and I ran smack dab in the middle of what I feel is my vision that God has given me. I question if this is it, writing for God's glory or is this a journal of my life?
I have been praying to figure out what exactly I should be writting about, as I have been unsure what it should be. Based on one subject, or is it a multiple experience. I wasnt sure. So I have been praying that God reveal to me what and where He is working!
As you also know it has also been a battle in my marriage. What many do not know, I have been married before and it failed miserably. I can not and will not place all blame on my ex husband. I didnt have a clue what marriage was about. Not because my mom didnt display that, but I was blinded with unbelief.
So when I went through my divorce, God drew me near to Him. All my parents told me was .....You need God! My divorce was one of the hardest things I have had to experience. Only because I depended on him so much that I was blind to the fact that what I really needed was God.
I had been saved at seventeen and was baptised, I didnt have a clue what followed. I struggled many years trying to find where I fit in. I eventually rebeled, married the one man my parents didnt agree with , moved away with my son, had another son and moved even further away from my one spiritual connection. Well guess what? They followed me here. They saw what was coming before I did. It was God's prompting for my mom to go. My husband of 7 years left me.
I cried and was a broken hearted little girl that didnt have a clue who she was.
Another friend whom I barely knew gave me a book called The Power of a praying Wife, by Stormie Omartin. I didnt nessesarily believe it would do any good, as my marriage was in shambles. But something kept telling me to just open that book and start reading the prayers. So I did.
What happened next, was not what I expected. What I did expect was for God to change my husband, make him change his mind. What I didnt expect was, God changed me instead. Through prayer! I cried,and I fought every step of the way.
God put people in my path and helped me see, that His love was complete, that He loved me no matter how rejected I felt on this earth.
Then I drew near to Him!
My life has changed so much that I sometimes have to stop and look in that mirror and see what God has done for my makeover! It has been seven years sense that day I walked away from my first marriage. And that little girl is nothing but a memory that God does not require me to let go of, but to learn from.
From that point on, I have been relationship focused. I have had this curiosity about why God created this institution called marriage with a burning fire that can not be explained. I have read passage after passage about relationships, marriage, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers. God is a God of realtionships. He created us so that He might have a relationship with you and me.
Now back to the vision. The battle I have experienced in my very new marriage has brought me to what I believe God is saying. It needs more prayer and believe me I will ask. I feel this need to fight for marriages. God didnt create them the way the world sees them. He created them for a very distinct purpose. I have have always been driven to read anything on marriage. About how God calls Wives to be and How God calls husbands to be is not something God over looks, and certianly something we should not overlook either.
One of the things that sticks out in my mind is I had called a very close friend to me, I feel I can tell her anything, and I do mean anything. I called her upset and she told me, DONT GIVE UP!!! Pray, fall on your knees, God is sitting right next to you as we speak, holding you, loving you and giving you the strength you need to make it! And then she told me a little bit about what God has done for her marriage. I cried like you would not believe because I could feel Him sitting there, wiping those tears away! What she told me next was something I hadnt thought about in quit some time. She asked if I had The Power of a Praying Wife book. That was God right there! Speaking to me through that wonderful women! After our conversation, I pratically ran to that book. I prayed every single prayer in that book that night, on my knees and in the middle of one of those prayers, I stopped and asked God, what do I need to change, forget about me wanting to pray to change him, but what do I need to change about myself.
I was thinking, God, You do have a sense of humor. Cause here I am once again, needing changing and its through that same book! Go figure. As God's vision starts to unfold right before my eyes.

To be continued.......

Monday, June 1, 2009

Struggles, Victory, Humbled

I don't know about you, but as for me I have been in a battle or maybe its a testing of my faith? In any case I know God will see me through this struggle, and I know victory has been won and I am humbled by His amazing grace.
This past few weeks that I have not been posting anything in my blog I have been in a battle for my marriage, my finances, my kids, my life in general.
I feel like every corner I turn, there is satan or one of his demons waiting to attack what I so desire to do.
Hmmm...I must be doing something right? Or am I? That's the biggest question I have right now. Am I really doing everything God has commissioned me to do? Oh but wait...am I looking to see where God is working and stepping out of the boat? Maybe I am.
I finally got to the point of literally falling on my knees and asking God to show me what I need to change. You know what He told me?
Get out of My way, I see what is coming before you do, I Am right here with you, I will never let you fall, and if you do, I will pick up and you will have victory over this war, I hear you and I love you.
You see this prayer was for my husband, I want so badly for him to see where I am and come and join me in this place of total reverence for God. I want him to be what God created him to be. But my biggest issue was not letting go and getting out of God's way and trust His timing. I want instant results. But were the results of me becoming what God is creating in me to be instant? NO!!!!!
It took time and lots of patience and it still is as He is not done with me yet.
So, my faith is this....Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Ps 37.4
So if I delight myself in learning Who God is, He will answer my prayers. He knows the desires of my heart. He has something even better in mind for me then what I could ever dream of and I am humbled.