Thursday, December 24, 2009


Christmas is Everyday! Every Day is Christ!

John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. "

This Christmas I Celebrate Jesus being born in me. I praise Him that a tiny seed of faith was planted in my heart and grew from babe, to man, to Savior of my Life, to my bestest friend, to my everything. I jump up, throw my hands in the air and sing for the joy He has stirred up in me, for the peace He has grown in me, and the life He is willing to live through me. That I in Him and Him in me can love others as only He can. We can change the world. With Him I can be the wife my husband needs. With Him I can be the mom I desire to be. With Him I can be everything He has designed and planned me to be. I can live my life to the fullest one true friendship at a time.

He has set me free, forgiven me everyday and is willing to go the distance with me. Every where I am, everywhere I go there He is! Every Day is Christmas!

I Celebrate this Christmas, the birth of my savior, my living, breathing, very real best friend, my God, and my King!

What do you celebrate this Christmas?

Merry Christmas to you all!
May unto you all a child be born!

Isaiah 9:6

For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.



1 Peter 1:23

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Living in The Lords house our Home


Psalm 19:9-14 (New International Version)

9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.

11 By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.


We are His children learning to be content. We eventually become grown ups and decide for ourselves where we live. As His children gone astray; we have left His house, past the front gate. We go and search out our own dwelling place to prove ourselves able, grown up, sufficient.

Problem: We are only sufficient in Him, with Him in His house. We weren't meant to live any where else. We are fish trying to walk on sand; birds giving up flight for stronger legs and a good walking stick. We were created to live in the house of God. As a bird must know what is beyond his own nest in order to decide for himself that indeed what he had in the first place was the dearest and the best already, so does our hearts fall astray in order to be drawn back to see, to know how perfect is the loving dwelling place we have already in our Father God.

We need the word of God, our bread crumb trail back to our house, our home. Going through trials, and hard times are not forms of punishment. They are for our opportunity. We are shown again and again we are unable, insufficient, incapable. Yet we think just one more sin, one more step left or right instead of closer to His sufficient embrace. "If I could just pay off this or that then I will trust you God, and rely on you. Lord let me do what ever it takes for me to gain $5,000 then I can trust in you." We scramble, we lose hope, we grope for air, almost wishing it would run out, so giving up would not be our fault. When the trial is not meant to hurt us, but only to heal us. It is meant to bring us back to our manna ( bread of life); our provider of all we need. It is not to rub our insufficiency in our faces so we have to try harder to fail. It is meant to bring us to Him. To draw us to our knees, knowing by ourselves we can do nothing, but in him, in Jesus, all things are made possible. When we choose to trust, Love, Live, each day for Him, eventually we find ourselves through the gate and back in the house that was meant to be our home.

I am not talking about death. I am talking about us living in Him and God in us, as we rely on Him as our sufficiency. When I realize I am less, he can fill me with more, more of his love, more trust, more faith, more hope. His Joy is made complete in us. Imagine a fathers joy having his child home to stay. A joy pressed down, overflowing, bubbling over becomes known to us. Our hearts become thankful sacks of love ready to be given out like groceries to the poor.

Sure we will still have hard times. We may walk through cancer, loss of loved ones, financial trouble etc. But we have his promise that nothing is impossible for God. What have we to fear? Neither death, nor life, nor angels, or demons, nor anything else can separate us from the love of our God. The peace that surpasses all understanding transforms us and comforts us, as only the Prince of Peace Can.

May we learn to live content in God's House. May we learn to claim it as our home and have the blessed peace he has for us to live in everyday. Not just on the weekend or for an hour on Sunday, but every waking hour we live.

If this is for you and you have found yourself past the gate of your home. May you follow the bread trail back to the arms of God. May you know of Jesus's death on the cross, paying for your sin. May you ask him for the forgiveness he already died for you to have. May you trust in him and let him lead your heart to people you can trust that will help you in your walk living in His house, your home that is more beautiful than any one can imagine, with more than enough room for all of who you are and are meant to be:)

God bless you and Happy Thanks Giving!

John 14 1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."

John 14:19-21 Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

John 14:23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

"Follow the Lord your God!"


John 1:35-42 Summarized

"Look the Lamb of God" shouted John the baptist

They heard... Two of them followed Jesus.

"What do you want?" Jesus asked.

"Rabi, where are you staying?"

"Come" He replied, "and you will see."

So they went.

One of them, Andrew, sought out his brother first thing. " We have found the Messiah!" Then he brought his brother to Jesus. Jesus renamed this man Peter.


Often we are so empowered by the fact that God will not leave us nor forsake us that we forget something huge. He said take up your cross and follow Him... not our own every spontaneous desire or whim. I know I am guilty of not putting HIM first in everyday. I have my agendas, my appointments, tasks, phone calls to make. I used to daily sit and write down a list and then seal it in an envelope. I would then read my bible and give my day to him "your will not mine God." Then having written down my plan I would not look at it again. I would remember what ever was important and thank God when he changed the agenda to something more important as the day progressed. Perhaps envelopes got too expensive or more likely I got lazy.. but for what ever reason I got out of this habit. My Goal after reading this passage is to ask God... "Where are you staying each day... God where are you working and need me most." I know he will say "Come and you will see."



Am I following or still fighting to take the lead?
Am I a tree, a plant, a sprout or still a tiny seed?

What effort, What cost, What steps, What habits lost?

Does my heart desire to dwell, to be close, and belong,
Or turn away, this way and that, to sing it's own bland song?

Oh Lord, my Lord How Majestic is Your Name in all the earth! How beautiful you are to me!
Oh Lord, my Lord, How Marvelous, How wondrous you are, Open up my eyes and let me see!

Feed me, Love me, heal me, guide me, set me free!
Take me by the hand I want to be where you want to be!

With in your hand is my life, my purpose, my initial worth.
My Jesus, My Rock, Your will be done in heaven and on earth.

I want to follow you, to be where you are, take the Lead!
I want to be a fruit bearing tree, a shining star, no longer a seed!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Close to Jesus

Think of a time in your life when you had a deep sense of God's closeness and felt Christ was the first in your heart and life. What helped created this sense of closeness and connectedness to Jesus?


God only feels close to me when I acknowledge, desire, and pursue Him.

When I wake up and ignore Him, forgetting "This is the day the Lord has made!", I have an empty feeling like I am missing something...( more than breakfast) my arrow/life is hitting a little to the left of my target. Another way to say it is I begin the day by getting up on the wrong side of the bed. The day continues on slightly or horrifically out of whack.

Course If I wake up from my "Worst day ever!" or " Just another Monday" syndrome, I realize there is time to set the day back on track. The kids and I will set aside the books, (science, math, etc.) and pull out The Book. We pray and read God's word and give the rest of the day to Him. We apologize for not thanking Him earlier and ask Him to help us live the rest of the day for Him.

The most wonderful of days are the ones I wake and rise with my eyes on Jesus. I Thank God and chat with the Lord as my best friend while spending time in his word and writing thoughts and prayers down as they come to mind. These days flow smoothly even through rough times and frustrating circumstances. God is brought up naturally, randomly through out the day, as my children freely speak about God and ask questions.

A few days ago my daughter asked me " Why are there so many Jesuses?" In her mind if so many people have Him in their hearts that adds up to a lot of them. I told her that God in spirit is like the air we all breath. It is all air and we all breath it in to survive. Jesus is so huge he is like air. He is able to be everywhere all at once. The next day I get this question: " If God is Jesus and Jesus is God why does God call him his son." "Oh man..." You might be getting nervous thinking there is no way I would know how to explain the trinity to an almost five year old. God promises us if we relax and just trust in him we will have the words we need to say when we need to speak them. Miraculously with the analogy of the three parts of an egg and words I can't remember, I answered her question. It was another Precious moment in my memory bank. Here is another one : My son and I were talking about the grafting of fruit trees. How scientists can graft different kinds of apple branches on to a tree and have one tree producing many different kinds of apples. We decided this was an example of how we all are different people but of the same body of God. We went on to discuss the verse about the branches that are broken off from the Vine and whither and die. Sammy decided that just as the scientist can take a broken branch and graft it back on to the tree so God can also graft us back on to the Vine. That the branches/people withering and dying can still be saved and brought back to life by God's forgiveness. Wow what a close to God, sweet moment that was, talking about God casually with my son believing together in His mercy, grace, forgiveness and love.

I feel closest to God when I purposefully and wholly desire His presence during my day. When I seek Jesus not just to receive, but instead because of my love for him and my desire to be near him. Then I feel his peace, strength, joy, patience, kindness and love flowing through me.
Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.
God's Love for us is ever so deep and wide... How amazing is His love for us!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Desires of my heart

I am a fan of the Nooma Ministry Videos. Recently I was watching one called Rhythm. This one question clanged in my mind as I watched it and the question has been rolling around up there ever since. The Question grinding in my heart/brain is am I playing out of tune with God's desires for my life? God grants the desires of my heart. What father would give his daughter a broom for her birthday, when she asked for a dress or new shoes?

This film talks about what having a relationship with God looks like. It says that a lot of people find themselves thanking God for the blessings of clothes they want going on sale or parking spaces opening up at just the right moment. Yet then there are those who wonder about disease and if God can suddenly make things go on sale for us then why isn't he interested in curing cancer for good? Course you gotta love these films taking you deep into the what's and why's of how we believe. But then again, sometimes they kinda leave you hanging. It's like giving a pirate a map of buried treasure and leaving him to find it on his own. The questions are the map to find the answers, the treasure we seek. We are left doing some of the asking... asking of God.... asking of ourselves. We are left to dig and find the rubies and diamonds. Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

There is of course a main point to this film. It was as I said about our relationship with God. It is like a song that is always playing. God is the song. We are the instruments playing along with the song. When we have him in our heart, as the focus of our mind, the center of our heart and desires we are in tune with God..We are at peace, have joy, can be content in any circumstance. When we break away in to selfishness, greed. hate, etc., we become out of tune and life sounds and is chaotic, messy, stressful, even hard to deal with. The sound of instruments all playing at the same time, out of tune, playing their own made up melody, is pounding head ache. To sum things up: to live in relationship with God is, to talk with him, love him, accept his gift on the cross, and it is to be like him as we love others and treat others. It is to be in sync with His style, His Rhythm.

Now back to my question... The film left us thinking.... so are these tiny coincidences little ribbon bound packages from God or just coincidences? Is the rain stopping so we can play at the park important enough for him to have done? Is the groceries being on sale just enough that we could afford everything we needed on his list of things to bless us with? Does he really care that we do not feel like walking that far to get into the store and makes the parking space right by the entrance suddenly open? Does he really make red lights turn green? Does he help us get home when the eyes start to droop and our driving ability is lacking? I would like my friend who is doing mission work in Africa to answer this. She sees sick children dying just for the lack of a warm bed to sleep and the right food to eat. She holds little ones who have never known anyone to call mom and dad. She hears laughter and dries tears coming from children starving for love and affection... and not to mention food. She is a health care administrator for many orphanages in Liberia. I think she would agree though when I say "yes!" Yes God is in charge of every good thing in our life... be it a card of encouragement to a new friend when we needed one. Yes even that toy our kid's have been pleading for on sale when we are Christmas shopping. Why? Cause God does care about the tiniest to the larges desire of our hearts and loves us that much! Psalms 37:3-5 "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this" James 1:17-18 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

God is concerned with the desires of our heart. Through Christ Jesus we can do anything... Nothing is impossible with God...If God is for us who can be against us... Us, me and you, we make the changes. In us is the power to move mountains, even feed villages of starving people. We are His instruments of good will...We are the bearers of tidings of good joy... great news for all people. Do we desire to be part of his orchestra? What is the desire of our heart? Is this why so much crap happens...kids are starving...people dying... because so many of us put selfish desires above God's....?


The initial question above is about to be answered. But I know I am not alone when I say the answer is "Yes, much of the time." Are our desires of our heart matched up with God's desires for our life? God is selfless, God is love, God is merciful always having the gift of Joy and peace to give, He sacrificed his life for ours! Being in tune with God... Living my life in His will in Him....Do I look like that when I see myself in the mirror?
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Am I soooo preoccupied with my wish list, I want this and I want that...in turn I miss out on being a part of the bigger miracles. The ones that feed ten thousand people with only a loaf of bread and a few fish. Are my wants and desires so small and petty that all I will ever get is the parking space opening up or a new dress just the right size and price. I think God would want me to have more to say for my life. I think he wishes I could be more concerned about the well being of others, having his word/love spread into all the world. Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


Lord I pray that my mind and my heart and my soul would be consecrated unto you. That my desires and prayerful concerns would be worthy of miracles that spring forth more profound than I could ever imagine. May I desire cancer to be cured and for countries' safety. May I be more concerned and prayerfully aware of the needs of your heart Lord. Help me pray according to the needs you have to be met in my neighbors house, in the people I see that smile at me as I pass by and the ones that don't. Help me have your eyes and your love for your people in this world. Praise you God for loving me enough to make my dreams come true. For the little packages of joy you care enough to give me. Thank you God for the life I have, For my family and for my friends.. Lord help me live this life for you. Amen in Jesus name

Quote from Rhythm by Rob Bell "Maybe the way we live every day, every single choice we make, determines how in tune with God we are."

Proverbs 3:3-7

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.







If you are interested in Nooma Ministry Videos, visit www.nooma.com