tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26583055718558415882024-02-19T07:56:18.395-08:00Blogging with JesusI will do all I can do to breath God's life into my own!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-63427707051435054282013-05-15T14:08:00.000-07:002013-05-15T14:08:42.262-07:00Zombies are Real!<b>There are walking dead all around us! The lies they spit are devouring brains one bite at a time, stripping us of our dignity, love, hope, our very souls. </b><br />
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Don't panic! There is a way to survive. It is His way. He is the way the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the father accept through Him. He came so that we could have life lived in abundance. His Truth will set you free. He came that we might be free indeed! There is Freedom!<br />
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Escape the walking death. Accept Jesus as your Savior. Hold tight to your Lord, your God. <span class="st">Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on
your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall
direct your paths. </span><span class="text Ps-57-1">In the shadow of God's wings take refuge</span><span class="text Ps-57-1"> until destruction passes by.</span> Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar
on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk
and not be faint. <span class="chapter-1"><span class="text Ps-8-1">O <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>, our Lord,</span></span><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Ps-8-1">how majestic is your name in all the earth! </span></span><br /><span class="text John-3-16" id="en-NIV-26137">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.</span><span class="text Rom-10-9" id="en-NIV-28198"> If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.</span> <span class="text Rom-10-10" id="en-NIV-28199">For
it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is
with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. </span><span class="text John-16-33" id="en-NIV-26760"><span class="woj">In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! Christ has overcome the world,</span></span> and in him we may also.<br />
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<span class="text Eph-6-11" id="en-NIV-29349">Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.</span> <span class="text Eph-6-12" id="en-NIV-29350"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.</span> <span class="text Eph-6-13" id="en-NIV-29351">Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.</span> <span class="text Eph-6-14" id="en-NIV-29352">Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,</span> <span class="text Eph-6-15" id="en-NIV-29353"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.</span> <span class="text Eph-6-16" id="en-NIV-29354">In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.</span> <span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.</span><br />
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<span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">Beware there is a time when death arrives for every man, woman, and child. Stand firm in your faith. Let Him grant the desires of your heart in this lifetime. He rose to prepare a place for you. Live your life with Him and never truly die but rather live with him forever. Believe in your all powerful God who has fought and won the battle for your soul. His victory is Yours. </span><br />
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<span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">May you see the Zombies all around you. May you hold your ground and let your helmet of salvation, in Jesus, protect you from believing the lies spit upon you. You are beautiful, not ugly. You were made for a reason and have a purpose. You are not worthless. Life is worth living. God is for you not against you. May you discern what is truth; cutting through lies with your sword of the spirit, which is the word of God living in you, as you choose to believe in him and invite Jesus into every part of your life. Let Jesus fight your battles for you. Pray unceasing. 100% of every prayer unprayed is unanswered. So pray and don't stop praying. </span><br />
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<span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">What lies have you already believed? It is not too late to replace them with the Truth. </span><span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355"></span><span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">Be Victorious! Over come all Zombies in your life. Take back those that the walking dead have tried to devour. Don</span><span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">'t Judge those walking with out life inside of them. Love the death out of them with unconditional love. Feed them with truth spoken in love and witness His Life, Jesus, as he overcomes every dead walking all around us. </span><br />
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<span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">Where the spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom....Fix your Eyes on Jesus...there is Freedom! </span></div>
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<span class="text Eph-6-17" id="en-NIV-29355">He came that we may be free. Be free!</span></div>
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Psalm 8:1<span class="indent-1"><span class="text Ps-8-1"></span></span>, John 10:10, John 3:16, John 16:33, Ephesians 6:10-20, 2 Corinthians 3:17, John 8:36,<br />
John 14:6, John 8:32, proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 57:1, Romans 10:9-10, Isaiah 40:31, psalm 37:4Unknownnoreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-22043981035533748232013-04-10T10:47:00.002-07:002013-04-10T10:49:02.778-07:00Behold, Believe, Look to Jesus!<div style="text-align: center;">
Sermon Notes from Real Life </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
John 3:1-21</div>
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Jesus Is Greater Than Our Systems!<br />
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Jesus is not defined by our earthly human traditions, systems, programs etc. Jesus does not fit nicely in a box to be pulled out when ever we want a nice reminiscing moment of good times. As we turn our hearts towards him and begin to let ourselves believe, not just that he exists or even the fact that he died for us. When we can believe in him as we believe in our spouse to bring home the bacon, or pay the bills, or believe in our children to have the ability inside them to do the right thing, or accomplish great things. This is the kind of belief in God I am talking about. It begins with a humble heart to approach Jesus in a way that says I need more; I am not enough on my own. Humility comes when we relinquish control and make Jesus greater than our routines we are so comfortable in. Jesus said in John chapter 3 "we can not enter into the kingdom of heaven unless we are born again." We must be born into the Spiritual Kingdom of God and it is only possible by allowing the Spirit of God into our life, trusting him enough, believing in Him enough to let him change us, help us, teach us, and bring new life inside us to shine His light through us. <br />
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Jesus is the fulfillment of our Faith.<br />
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The goal in our life is not to get better at our routines or our systems. It is to draw deeper into a relationship with Jesus. As we draw closer to the one who created us we come to know who we are and who we are meant to be and this is when we begin to shine. Our dreams God planted deep with in us will come true and our faith in God is fulfilled by our best friend, counselor, prince of peace, Jesus leading our every step.<br />
Behold! Believe! Look To Jesus the author and finisher of your Faith!<br />
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Jesus Brings Light to our Hearts.<br />
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As we draw closer to Jesus his light shines on our flaws and we have the tendency to cringe back in fear or lack of comfort. Sin is uncomfortable and not easy to face. Jesus wants us to face it and deal with it so that we can be free of it. He does not want us to deal with it alone. When we walk with him and draw close to him and sin in our life is revealed, he is not condemning us or telling us to fix it or else. He desires to help us, together hand in hand with Jesus we face it, confess it, turn from it, find people Jesus gives us to keep us accountable to stay away from the sin that is causing bondage. Jesus came to set us free! Free from every thing that is holding us back from being at peace, full of joy, and pursuing all we are meant to be. <br />
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1 John chapter 1 verse 7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light and not run from exposure Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." <br />
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James chapter 5 verse 16 " Therefore, Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.<br />
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We Conclude with these thoughts<br />
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Approach Jesus in Humility, and begin to Believe in him, Place your trust in Him.<br />
Make Jesus the Goal of your Life!<br />
Make a choice to walk into the light.<br />
Choose to stay in the Light walking with Jesus! <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-38715928788466333882013-03-24T06:36:00.000-07:002013-03-24T07:08:33.205-07:00Walking on Water<h3>
<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620">Peter was sitting in a boat rocked by waves. The water was like ice as it slashed at his body. The wind whipped his hair violently against his face. He was with others, yet at the same time he was completely alone in his thoughts and mind. He looked up and saw Jesus... Jesus walking on water. Heart pounding, knowing Jesus believed in him and was calling him out in his heart, he hesitated. Then he dared to believe as he called out into the night, "Jesus if that is you, ask me to come to you?" Jesus Said "Come!" Peter stood in the wind rocked boat and stepped out on to the waves of a stormy sea and he did not sink. He took a step and walked on water. It was only when he looked down, doubting himself that he began to sink. But even then Jesus reached out his hand and saved him from sinking into the violent sea. ( this story found in Matthew 14:22-33) </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"><br /></span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620">When was the last time you walked on water? You probably think I am crazy right now asking that question. But I believe we are all being called out to walk on water. It may not be the water of a real stormy sea. In your life it may be speaking up, standing up, stepping out of the boat or sin. It may be all three. Is there some one in your life who you know needs Jesus and you have not shared your story, your hope you've found in God's unconditional Love with them? Is there an abuser hurting someone you love that you just don't think you have the power to do anything about? Is there a sin that you need to confess in order to be done with it once and for all, having someone to keep you accountable to let it go for good? Jesus stands there before you with out stretched arms holding the power for you to get out of the boat and walk on water. To do the things that you can not do on your own. Will you dare to hope? Will you stand up in belief that nothing is impossible with God? Will you be courageous enough to step out of the boat and walk on water. Yes, the ground is unsteady. Yes, you are going to be completely out of your control to keep yourself from sinking. But that is what trusting in God's power in your life is all about. Sink or swim we are all in when we are trusting and living our lives with Him. </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"> </span><span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"> Here in Spokane we have a well. It is a place we who rely on Jesus go to find Him and drink from living water when we are thirsty. Right now it meets once every 5 weeks at a church on garland called City Church. I was at the well last night worshiping God and I was called out of my boat. At first I just stood as everyone else was standing. I knew He had a word that was not just for me to hear. He wanted a mike in my hand and He meant for me to open my mouth and let Him use it. I was shaking inside with uncertainty, my ability in who I am lacks speaking skills. But who He is and His ability lacks nothing. Praying to God I dared to believe I could do as He asked, that I could walk on water. I told God I would do as he said but only if he made a way. Two seconds later the starter of the Well was standing beside me in the isle. He was about to walk up and grab the mike. I tapped him on the shoulder and beckoned him to talk to me. He asked me what was up and I told him. " I think I am suppose to speak up in front of everyone and tell them what God wants me to say." He asked "What does He want you to say" When I told him he said "lets do it!" then he looked me in the eyes and asked me "Do you want me to say this to everyone or will you do it?" I could have right then sat back down in my boat of stability and passed on a gift God was trying to give me to someone else. But I didn't. I said "I will do it!" </span><span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620">When the mike was offered into my hand God took over and the words he wanted to say poured out and helped set free those who were listening. </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620">You see being used by God is the peak moments in our life that we live for and even though they are scary and involve stepping out of our boats, our comfort zones, they are exhilarating moments to grasp hold of and not pass up. I compare them to times in my life when I have experienced freedom in short bursts, such as when flying down a mountain on a snowboard not knowing whether you have the ability to stop or not but you don't care for the flying out of your own control moment has astounded you. For a mom it could be giving birth to a child and seeing him for the first time, so fragile and perfect and wonderful. With your entire being you know you would die first to let anything happen to this precious gift from God. </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"><br /> God wants us to live our lives stepping out of the boat. He doesn't want us to have just one moment we can share when we finally did something courageous. He wants our whole lives to be lived unconfined by our own limitations. </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620">Dare to pray the prayer:</span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"><i>Lord empower me to do your will. Not for my sake Lord that others may look to me and call me great. Lord I am nothing but the vessel you are willing to use. Use my life to make a difference. Empower me not for the sake of myself to feel empowered, but rather for the sake that Your will be done, and for your name above all names to be Glorified. Lord I am ready to be called out of my boat. I am Yours, use me! Amen in Jesus Name </i></span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620">Peter</span><span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"> walked on water. Yes, he did begin to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus and realized by himself alone he could not possibly be doing what he was doing. But when he began to sink Jesus immediately reached down and pulled him out of the sea and they got back in the boat together. Then the storms died down and the sea calmed. What happened then is something to be remembered. The other boat sitters praised Jesus and worshiped him Believing as they stated</span><span class="text Matt-14-33" id="en-NIV-23631"> “Truly you are the Son of God.” </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-33" id="en-NIV-23631">Your faith in God...the life you live for him is a light for others to see and begin to believe in the one true God, their Savior. Dare to be willing, to every day, live powerfully on purpose, with God in you, working through you, and by your side leading every step of your way. </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-33" id="en-NIV-23631">When was the last time you walked on water? Have you ever dared to trust enough to step out of the boat? Look to Jesus. Trust in him. It is time. </span></h3>
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<span class="text Matt-14-22" id="en-NIV-23620"> </span></h3>
<span class="text Matt-14-33" id="en-NIV-23631"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-69112754868442195212013-01-30T11:20:00.002-08:002013-01-30T11:20:45.306-08:00Know Who you Are in Christ Knowing who you are in Christ is an adventure you must choose to go on. It is the star in your heart that wants to find its way out to the sky to shine for all to see. It is who you are meant to be. The journey to releasing it and accepting it as who you are is worth every step. <br />
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My whole life there has been a spark inside of me jumping around trying to find its way out. It knew things others did not know. It felt things others did not feel. It saw things others ignored or were blind to. It heard what others could not hear. There was something in me that said "You are meant to be a great benefit, a hero of sorts." But that spark got ignored much, put down much, kept inside always. <br />
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Today I know who I am in Christ is a pastor. Pastor at its origin means<span class="rom-inline"><span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="color: #333333; cursor: default;">: </span></span></span><span class="ital-inline"><span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="color: #333333; cursor: default;"></span></span></span><span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword" style="color: #333333; cursor: default;">shepherd</span><span id="hotword" name="hotword">,</span> or <span id="hotword" name="hotword">feeder, servant of others. I have always wanted to help people more than I felt I was able. When I grew older I was told what and how I was able to help others in the church and it felt so very inadiquite to what God was calling me to be. I believed, reluctantly, for the longest time, what people told me my potential was instead of embracing who I was inside. The who God had created me to be. </span></span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Don't let anyone but God put you in your place. And don't stop forging ahead when you encounter opposition."</span> Steven Furtick</span></span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"> This is something I learned along my journey of self discovery. When I was young I would listen and cry inside thinking "I wish I knew the bible, I wish the Lord and I were one and I could know exactly what to say to help everyone who shares with me their struggles." But I did not have words of wisdom such as memorized verses or divine proverbial sayings. I just had my ears and heart willing to listen. I felt like a failure at being all God would have me be. Now as an adult who has taken many bible classes and read the bible many times, and still can't quote much of it, I realize something. I see what people really need is not what I thought I was lacking, words of wisdom, no what people need is my time, love, patience, and for me to shut up and listen, just like I did when I was young. Knowing scripture has helped me to hear God's voice on how to guide people with words of wisdom. But much of what I say is not heard or put into practice. Words of wisdom, much of the time have to form in the persons heart as they discover for themselves what words are true. It is the time you spend with people loving them, caring about who they are and are meant to be that people remember. It is your belief in them that will spur them on to greatness. </span></span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"> Don't think that I am saying when your heart pounds and you know the Lord wants you to speak up its okay if you don't. Nope, you had better say what ever God asks you to say when ever he asks you to say it or you will regret it forever when the moment passes. What I am saying is if you don't have anything great to say its okay and you are probably not suppose to have anything. So, no need to bumble and jumble words as you try and make something up and ruin the moment of just being there for someone in their time of need. </span></span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"> God and I, we have gone on some great treasure hunts and I have come out all the richer afterward. We dig in his word together and the discoveries I make are limitless. I used to think it was okay to just write down my adventures I took with God and when I died one day, perhaps, the treasure would be found and put to good use. Now I know better. The jewels God gives me through his word and time with him are meant to be shared. My testimonies are important to others. I have been given opportunities to speak in front of a group of people and share a few of these treasures with others. It is in these moments when I have felt most alive. It is in these moments when the star inside, the who I am bursts out and gets to be all I am meant to be in Christ. But those moments, though are amazing for me, are not my most amazing moments of benefiting others. My most amazing moments have been when I am with someone one on one and they realize they are special, loved, beautiful even. That God does have a plan for them and loves them enough to help them be all they are meant to be. In these moments, my silence is all that is needed or a few words God has me say. Peoples stories shared bring these moments, a gift from above lost if time is never given. These moments I want thousands of, Millions of. I want every person that crosses my path to know they are loved and important. So I smile and I pray silently and I say hello and give people a piece of my time to help them see they are worth the time of day to be recognized and have the potential to be who they are meant to be. </span></span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"> I am a pastor, someone who desires to serve others, feed others, care for others. Some very amazing people have spoken some words of encouragement in my life. It is those who believed in me that spurred me on to finding and pursuing who I am meant to be. One such person is Lee Hitchcock who one day said to me, when I was looking to find a pastor to pray for someone, looking me in the eyes, he said "Nora You are A Pastor." </span></span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"> You can be anything and do anything God has set your heart to be and do. Have you begun your journey? Who are you meant to be? What is the star bouncing around in you saying you want to do and be? </span></span><br />
<span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword"> </span></span><span id="hotword"><span id="hotword" name="hotword">Listen, pray and listen some more then step out on your adventure and pursue who you are in Christ everyday! </span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-91224387532580030102012-12-10T07:06:00.000-08:002012-12-10T07:15:28.589-08:00Sanctuary Where is your sanctuary? Is it a special moment sitting at the kitchen table, bible open, and the aroma of God hugging you sweetly with peace unsurpassed? Is your sanctuary a coffee shop, a park bench? We all need sanctuary. A sacred place; a consecrated spot; a holy and inviolable, <span class="st">secure, safe place</span>. We need moments when time seems to stand still losing its weight on us. We sit, we lay, we kneel , in the presence of God and let everything that matters go. We trust in that moment we are safe, forgiven, loved, able, and free.<br />
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<span class="text Matt-10-38" id="en-NIV-23456"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum">Matthew 10:38 </sup>Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-10-38" id="en-NIV-23456"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-16-21"><sup class="versenum"> </sup></span></span></span><span class="text Matt-10-38" id="en-NIV-23456"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-16-21"><span class="text Matt-16-22" id="en-NIV-23695"> Matthew 16:19 </span>From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.</span></span></span><span class="text Matt-16-22" id="en-NIV-23695"><sup> </sup>Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”</span><br />
<span class="text Matt-16-23" id="en-NIV-23696"><sup class="versenum">23 </sup>Jesus turned and said to Peter, <span class="woj">“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-16-24" id="en-NIV-23697"><sup class="versenum">24 </sup>Then Jesus said to his disciples, <span class="woj">“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.</span></span> <span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum">25 </sup>For whoever wants to save their life<sup> </sup>will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.</span></span><br />
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<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj">Taking up your cross may seem like a heavy ordeal. It might even seem an unthinkable task to take on every day. Taking up our cross is not the painful intimidating ordeal we think it is. It is our moment of Sanctuary; our moment of not my will, but yours, not my way, but yours, not my fear but your victory! </span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj">We sit in his presence, pour out our heart, laying it all down, then we find our selves still and listening...waiting. Then we hear or feel Him. He whispers " You are forgiven, set free, you are mine, I am yours, I am with you, trust me and my will for your life, then my peace and Joy will be yours." </span></span><br />
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<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj">In the darkest times God is our light to our path. Often we measure our troubles against other peoples troubles. Often we measure our troubles against our own strength. We need to measure our troubles up to the Utmost High God and remember he is our God! With God all things are possible! With God you are free. Believe it! Take up your cross, acknowledge what he did for you on the cross. Acknowledge what he is doing for you as you hand over to him your worry, fear, and sin. Acknowledge how mighty he is and how absolute his love is for you, his child. Claim your moment of sanctuary today. Pick up your cross and follow him. </span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj">1 Peter 5:7 </span></span><span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473">"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."</span><br />
<span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473">Matthew 11:29-30 </span><span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473"><span class="text Matt-11-29" id="en-NIV-23489"><span class="woj"><sup>"</sup>Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.</span></span> <span class="text Matt-11-30" id="en-NIV-23490"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum">30 </sup>For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473"><span class="text Matt-11-30" id="en-NIV-23490"><span class="woj">Walk in His freedom. Find your sanctuary today! Go there daily. Take up your cross and follow him!</span></span></span><br />
<span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473"><span class="text Matt-11-30" id="en-NIV-23490"><span class="woj"> </span></span></span><span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473"><span class="text Matt-11-30" id="en-NIV-23490"><span class="woj"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="text 1Pet-5-7" id="en-NIV-30473"><span class="text Matt-11-30" id="en-NIV-23490"><span class="woj">Amen! </span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Matt-16-25" id="en-NIV-23698"><span class="woj"> </span></span><span class="text Matt-10-38" id="en-NIV-23456"><span class="woj"></span></span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-73629259546292342452012-10-27T13:55:00.000-07:002012-10-27T13:55:07.414-07:00Jesus Loves Me, Like His ScarsJesus Loves Me, Like His Scars?<br />
<br />
Ever witness a scar competition between two or more proud guys revealing all the crazy things they have done and showing off their bodily stripes, seeing who's is the best?<br />
<br />
Jesus paid a price for me. On his body is a scar that represents my name. He is not ashamed of any of his scars. In fact he is quite proud of each and every one of them. Picture him pointing to the one right above his left forearm. "This one," He says " was for Nora! I'd do it all over again the same way I as before, because I love her and she means that much to me." Imagine Jesus pointing to one of his millions of scars and saying your name. " This one, I got for saving you. It was totally worth it. This is Crazy, My love for you! It is Real, It is True. Never Forget I bare this scar for You!<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-72458259208244682352012-09-13T06:36:00.001-07:002012-09-13T07:19:59.284-07:00From Center of Attention to Christ Centered A child young and beautiful praising the Lord, hands in the air waving and swaying to the beat of the music, her voice raised for all to hear. A painting of innocence, a wondrous moment of pure delight in life. <br />
<br />
Is it possible to taint such a moment. Sadly, the answer to that is Yes. As the child grows up she notices she is being watched and smiled upon by others oowing and awing over her faith. To the point, in fact, that she starts noticing when others are not watching her when she is worshiping. This was my moment last Sunday at worship service. I stopped smiling at my daughter as she worshiped and I entered in to God's presents myself, eyes closed. There was a tap on my shoulder to get my attention, to get my eyes back on her arms raised and this time little dancing jig before the Lord. We were in the front row at church and that was not embarrassing, or what frustrated me and asked her to settle down. No, it was the fact that her innocent worship had turned from telling God "I love you!", to "look at me I know how to worship God." <br />
<br />
I love my daughter so very much and I am seeing myself in her when I was her age more and more. She is very needy in the way that she must have approval of her actions and words and when she fails to please others she is devastated. <br />
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One of my prayers for her is for God to help her to learn to be Christ centered and not the Center of Attention. How does this process take place? How can I help my daughter grow in Christ and not in the desire to please others?<br />
<br />
I looked inside myself and I asked God to show me my journey and how I have come to place him as my Center instead of being self centered and desiring the crowds of attention? Then I found myself asking another question. Does that little girl dancing and doing the right things for all to see and admire still exist inside of me? Has she ever grown up, or is she still seeking out attention, to be heard and seen?<br />
<br />
I think as adults we have to be in constant pursuit of God's will for our life. That we need to keep ourselves and motives in check by making sure it is our daddy's attention we are seeking not the world around us. But as I say this I realize that even this can be a state of stagnate growth.<br />
<br />
Let me explain in child like terms. Picture a child always seeking attention from her momma. She pouts in the corner, interrupts carelessly because her every need is more important than phone calls or anyone you might be talking to. She cries whether she is hurt or not at even the possible need of a band-aid. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with this. Children will be children; they are growing and learning. Children have parents because they need them. However picturing these moment with my kids, their attempts to get my attention, I realize in those moments their actions do not prompt my desire to stop everything and pay complete attention to them. A pouting winy child is hard to love and adore. Why? Because life is all about them, their needs and their wants, and all about them getting what they want. As adults we know that is not what life is all about, at least I hope we know.<br />
<br />
I think as we grow spiritually, as we draw close to our daddy Jesus, we can fall into this child like behavior. We talk to him and tell him things and He listens, but when he speaks and it is not what we want to hear we ignore him. We decide to just keep pouting and wining over not getting our own way and complaining about how miserable our life is and asking him to change it. <br />
<br />
The only way for us to change is for us let God grow in our center. For God and his will to be our center. For God, his love, and will for us to be more real than anything the world has to offer, including relationships. When we give our life to Christ it is no longer our own to live. It can no longer be about whether we are comfortable, heard or seen but rather about how God's love can be spread, his word be heard, and His death on the cross to save us lost, be received. <br />
<br />
<span class="crossverse"><a href="http://bible.cc/1_corinthians/14-20.htm">1 Corinthians 14:20</a></span> Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.<br />
<span class="text 1Cor-3-1"><span class="chapternum"> </span>1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit<sup> </sup>but as people who are still worldly<sup>, </sup>mere infants<sup> </sup>in Christ.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-3-2" id="en-NIV-28413"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>I gave you milk, not solid food,<sup> </sup>for you were not yet ready for it.<sup> </sup>Indeed, you are still not ready.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-3-3" id="en-NIV-28414">You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling<sup> </sup>among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?</span> <br />
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So how do we go from mere infants in Christ, to living a Christ Centered life? How do we go from always tugging at our daddy's pant leg for attention or desiring the attention of those around us in order to feel good about ourselves and gain a false self worth, to living our lives for the benefit of others and God's glory not our own?<br />
<br />
This is the journey I am on through the bible and prayer. Not that I have gone from total infant to adult in the Lord spiritually. I do not believe I have arrived. I think I still say things just to make people laugh, to have a feel good moment, a self pat on the back. Is that wrong? Heart motives are behind everything we say and do. We are all growing and have not arrived to our full potential. I feel like this journey from here to there and remembering the steps in between I have already taken will help me to know the ones up a head I know I still need to take. Perhaps this is a journey Christ is asking you to take as well. If so pray and ask him to show you through his word and life experiences how you can grow and make him more the Center of your life. <br />
<br />
Lord let us be less and you more. Lord let you be the Center of our lives. Grow in us from the inside out and help us learn to grow from the stage of needy children to servants of others, being your hands and feet humbly, unselfishly out of our love for the lost, not for an empty pat on the back or smile of approval. Bring understanding of your word and help us keep our dates with you to listen to you speak as we read your word and chat together about it. <br />
<br />
Praise you Jesus for teaching us how wonderful it feels to serve you unselfishly with out thought of reward. Praise you Jesus for giving moms and dad's the love their children need even in their most difficult to love moments. Praise you Jesus for being our perfect example of unselfish serving love, and life lived to the fullest for us. Grow me and others on this Journey from Center of Attention to Christ Centered. <br />
<br />
Amen in Jesus NameUnknownnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-22771457593604175402011-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:36:07.761-07:00PeopleOur relationships with people must be second so that our Love for people can come first.<br />
<br />
When we gave our lives to live them for Jesus something was suppose to change. We are no longer our own to govern, rule, and determine. It is not about just us any longer. We have victory living as His; our life's standard is set in our very being. So in reaching our victorious destination as His, we begin our new life lived for Him by loving people. All People! His People, lost people, smelly people, puffed up proud people, people in charge, people who want to be in charge, happy people , and sad people. I could go on for ages but you get the point.<br />
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Our relationship with the Lord can give us the unique ability to see others through His eyes and not rely on our own. We can get past the "What's in this relationship for me?" Our petty human standards. Instead we can ask, " How does God desire me to bless this person through using me?" or "What does God want me to learn from blessing this person?" Using God's eye view the impossible becomes possible. Past hurts and wrongs done unto us in relationships can be forgiven. By His grace filling in our gaps it is possible when we remember that He who forgave us much, has asked us to do the same for others.<br />
<br />
Matthew 6:14-15 says pretty clearly how important forgivness is.<br />
<span class="woj">For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.</span><span class="woj"> But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.</span><br />
<span class="woj">Read Matthew 18:21-35</span> The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, For more study on this.<br />
<br />
When we put loving people first and relationship with people second it frees us to love them how God would have us love them. It keeps us in the right perspective in reality. We live to please God, not ourselves or others people. Speaking truth in love can happen more proficiently when we are not self indulged in keeping our own reputations in relationships intact. When we know where our allegiance is in the Lord we can freely forgive, speak up, stand up, direct, correct, and love the people he has called us to love.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-21259176199425184052011-09-09T08:28:00.000-07:002011-09-09T08:29:33.234-07:00Why? Why not?Why do we do the things we do? Why do we enjoy memorizing lyrics to songs and lines to quote from movies but make a chore out of memorizing life giving scripture?<br />
<br />
Why do we say the things we say? When life gets tough we let hopeless complaints pour out like rain on a sunny day. Instead we could practice speaking truth and know that God works all things for the good of those who love him. We could speak hope and know that the love of our Lord abidith in all things and is stead fast, unshakable and with us at every moment.<br />
<br />
Why do we act the way we act? We are shy, lazy, and sometimes a bit crazy. We speak up when it is not important to be heard to be known as funny or special, puffing up our pride. We get choked up when the Lord's words come into our throat and His name is to be glorified. We feel it is a heavy load instead of an honor to carry God's message to be told.<br />
<br />
Are we honest when it matters? Do we shine forth our faith when people are looking or only when we are safe from ridicule, safely tucked inside our church shaped box?<br />
<br />
In public He was ridiculed, stripped bare, and spit upon. <br />
<br />
Isaiah 53:4-6<br />
<br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18716">4</sup> Surely he took up our pain <br />
and bore our suffering, <br />
yet we considered him punished by God, <br />
stricken by him, and afflicted. <br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18717">5</sup><b> But he was pierced for our transgressions, <br />
he was crushed for our iniquities; <br />
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, <br />
and by his wounds we are healed. </b><br />
<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-18718">6</sup> We all, like sheep, have gone astray, <br />
each of us has turned to our own way; <br />
and the LORD has laid on him <br />
the iniquity of us all. <br />
<br />
Surely if the Lord our God can stick up for us, live his life on earth for us in such a profound way... We can boldly step up our walk with Him. We can claim victory in His name that he has paid for by His blood. Surely we can remember to place God's will above our own and Gods ways before our comfy cozy ways. I pray each of us would learn to step up our walk with the Lord. That we would learn what it means to Glorify His name with our life we live. May we seek his face and desire his presence. May we know that in Him and our life lived for his Glory is where true freedom, joy and peace begins. May we remember that to love him is to obey him. He has called us to love the lost, share the good news, and make disciples of all nations. May we live life on purpose, His purpose for the applause of one, the One that matters, God!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-28706719214672841402011-08-28T07:38:00.000-07:002011-08-28T07:38:00.429-07:00ChoicesLife is full of choices; decisions to go to the left or to the right, up our path or down. There are bad choices and good ones; joyous out-comes and deteriorating consequences. Each day we will choose when we rise and when we lay down, when we smile or frown. We choose to love or hate, to be graciously kind, or to complain. We choose God to rule our day or try and force things to go our way. <br />
<br />
Isaiah: 66 3-4<br />
They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.”<br />
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Today I choose to live in victory and not let life's circumstances negate my positive state. Today I choose to be healthy in my body, my spirit and my mind. I will not let stress be my excuse to desecrate my health. I choose to meditate on the word, on things above, things that are excellent and worthy of my contemplation. I will take my thoughts captive that are not beneficial to my joy, my peace, my happiness that God so wonderfully gives. I choose to live my life in the moment that I am, giving my loved ones my full attention they seek. I choose this day to not stand on my tight rope of self reliability, but rather I choose to stand on the strong shoulders of God who holds my feet and keeps me from falling even when I am weak. I Trust in the Lord, my God to be my all in all this day and the next. This day I give to Him to help me succeed in the choices I have made. I f today I stumble and fail to comply, if I compromise and forget, tomorrow I will start again. I will learn to keep my word to myself, my loved ones and my God! Each day we are given is a new day with no mistakes in it....yet:)<br />
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Thank you Jesus for your ever Faithfulness! Praise you for your embrace and grace! Guide my steps today<br />
Help today be victorious and not another disgrace. Amen<br />
<br />
Isaiah 30:21 "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-78451071222106271762011-08-27T08:33:00.000-07:002011-08-27T08:50:15.538-07:00In Whom Do You Place Your Trust?<h4>As people, we tend to get nervous placing all our eggs into one basket. We want plan A B and C all the way down to plan Z, all worked out just in case. We want to know for sure what's ahead so we rely on our GPS instead of the memory in our head. In whom do we place our trust through out the days we live going by one by one. In whom are we relying on? Each day we crawl out of bed and begin to walk our days tight rope act, but not until our imaginary safety nets are complete and intact.</h4><h4> </h4><h4>Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. </h4><h4> </h4><h4>Have you found yourself basking in perfect peace lately? No? In whom are you placing your trust? </h4><h4> </h4><h4>Isaiah 30:1-18 “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge. But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame, Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace. Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.” Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys’ backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing. Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’s instruction. They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! </h4><h4> </h4><h4>We want to go about our own business and feel good about what we do. We want things to be easy and simple yet we continue down the roughest route. We compromise our health with feel good sweets, TV sitcoms instead of a healthy work out, or quality time with actual friends. We want to be happy so we read self help books and romance novels to give us the momentary fixes we think we need. We start feeling stuck and wonder why we can't seem to just get a grip. Life starts unreeling, because with tangled fishing line on your pole, making the big catch can't quite happen yet. We place lines the media feeds us in our hearts replacing Gods word. Such as " You want the Truth? You can't handle the truth!" When the Lord tells us in John 8:31-32 “If you live by what I say, you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” </h4><h4> </h4><h4>Perhaps you are like me and you place your trust in yourself and soon every little thing that needs to be done seems unending, mundane and even unnerving. Big things, little things, ginormous things, we try and carry on our own. Pretty soon our schedule is all upside down and those that matter the most are swept aside down to our last priority instead of our first. Our families constantly learn to get by with what is left of us at the end of the day instead of the best of us that they need to feel loved by their mom or wife. By the weight of the world, begins our crushing defeat. When we place our trust in people and things rather than God we loose sight of whose we are, why we are and where we are going in life. </h4><h4> </h4><h4>I have always said when you put God first in your life he places everyone else and thing in the order it belongs and that means family is next in line. But there are times I try too hard to place God first by getting busy doing things to prove my love for him, instead of just knowing He loves me and I love Him and letting Him take charge of my day and the rest of my life.</h4><h4> </h4><h4>Proverb 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. </h4><h4> </h4><h4>If you like me have had trouble placing all your eggs in one basket, all your trust in the Lord your God. Please Join me in praying this prayer.</h4><h4> </h4><h4>Lord God I ask you to forgive me for placing my trust in people and things more than I have placed my trust in you. I ask for your help to continue to open my eyes to the ways in which I sin toward you, especially when I lack faith in my one True God. I ask for forgiveness for when I have turned away from your word looking for something that made me feel better in the moment instead of what I needed to be nourished and grown up in you. I pray that you would teach me how to place you as my first priority in my life. Only then can I begin to feel the peace of balance in my life. Then my loved ones you have blessed me with can have the time they need from me. Lord help me to keep my quiet dates with you a priority. I want your words guiding my life. I want to be your disciple and your truth to continue to set me free. Lord my God, my King I praise you! In you I can find perfect peace. I choose to wait on the Lord for you, my Jesus, have been so good to me. AMEN</h4><h4> </h4><h4>“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength...The LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! </h4><h4> </h4><h4>Isaiah 12:1-3 In that day you will say “I will praise you, LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. </h4><h4> </h4>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-619035036840374212011-08-25T11:55:00.000-07:002011-08-25T11:58:12.839-07:00We all like sheep have gone astray.<div class="heading passage-class-0"><h3 style="text-align: center;"><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-17708">Isaiah 2:22</sup> </h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">"Stop trusting in mere humans..." </h3><h3> </h3><h3>So often we try and fail. So often we seek and pursue things of our own choosing with out asking God's advice at all and wonder why things just seem to be going all wrong. We try and try and start feeling like with all our effort put forth we deserve success in at least one endeavor we seek. </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah 40:7-8 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ord</span>. And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” </h3><h3> </h3><h3>I believe this is saying man in all his glorious triumphs will fade away and God's word is what is left standing in the end. Man in all his ways will try in vain to succeed but those who give all glory to God and humbly live simply His will live victoriously.</h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah26:3-4 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Oh how we have fall again and again. We place our trust in man and self rather than God. How many years in the dessert during Moses's day in vain did the Lord, teach us to simple follow His lead?</h3><h3></h3><h3> </h3><h3>Exodus 13:21 The L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ord</span> went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. </h3><h3></h3><h3> </h3><h3>The Lord is our shepherd and we His sheep. When will we learn that life lived to the fullest is a life lead by our shepherd; Not a life lived gone astray, with our shepherd following our trail of destruction, coxing us back to Him and our flock again and again? </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah 31:1-2 What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteer and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ord</span>, the Holy One of Israel. </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah 30:15-16 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah 50:10-11 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment. </h3><h3></h3><h3> </h3><h3>There is hope! Though we have given up on God time and time again He has never given up on us!</h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Isaiah 53:5-7 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. </h3></div><sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-17708"><br />
</sup><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Isaiah 12:2-3 </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Surely God is my salvation; <br />
I will trust and not be afraid. <br />
The LORD, the LORD himself, </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>is my strength and my defense; <br />
he has become my salvation.” <br />
With joy you will draw water <br />
from the wells of salvation. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-74709445021035851332011-08-20T10:21:00.000-07:002011-08-20T10:31:23.766-07:00Remarkable DistractionThe Lord almighty made Adam as a companion for himself. The Lord desired a relationship with Adam. However Adam walking in the Garden chatting with God alone was not satisfying enough. I imagine it going something like this.<br />
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"So mm God you know what I named that animal with the flappy wing a things?" <br />
"Eagle....right?" <br />
"mmm Yes... How about the four legged furry little jumper over yander?"<br />
"Rabbit"<br />
silence....silence...."SO you gave me this task of naming the animals to make me feel important. Some how it loses that effect since you still know every thought that comes to my mind thus knowing what I am naming them before I do myself." " Do you think you could just humor me and pretend I know something you don't when we chat?<br />
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"What did I call that furry hehaaing hooved creature?"<br />
"Adam what did you call it?"<br />
"MMM well I called it....an an...oh you already know." <br />
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" Yes Ass is an unusual name. You were riding it at the time of naming it weren't you?"<br />
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"You know everything!"<br />
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"Yes I do."<br />
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Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”<br />
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Have you ever had a best friend? Or perhaps a brother that you loved dearly and wanted to keep all for yourself forever? I had a brother who got married young. I adored him and he was the one I always wanted to spend my time with. I wanted to hate his new wife. I wanted to despise her. She not only took the time that my brother used to spend with me. He moved out of our home and I no longer saw him hardly ever. He was too distracted by the love of his life to keep a little kid sister the center of any part of his life. Sure, I knew he loved me somewhere down deep in my heart. I mostly felt I had lost him.<br />
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How amazing of God, knowing man through and through to make for him Eve. The greatest distraction ever created. God made Adam a help mate to keep him company. God loved both Adam and Eve. He walked and talked with them in the garden. But you can bet that things were not the same ever again. God was not the complete center of Adam's world any longer. But the love of our God is so great, So wide and so deep, truly no one can fathom it. He put the love for Adam first before the reason he created him in the first place, to have a relationship with him. God loved Adam so much that he made for him someone to love, someone that if he so chose, he could love even more than God his father, his creator, his reason for existing.<br />
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I learned to love my new sister inlaw. How can you hate someone that makes someone you love so happy. And so it is with God. He is a jealous God. He desires us to put our relationship with him first. But he also knows us through and though and understands our need for a helpmate in our life. He is and always be our first love, love baring through all our hard times, ups and downs. Our Daddy is always there waiting for us to chat with him, longing to hear our voice, longing to be the center of our world again. <br />
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How remarkable of God to create us such a profound distraction from him, just because he cares about whether or not we are happy!<br />
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Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. <br />
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-2187887278769556822011-08-19T11:59:00.000-07:002011-08-19T11:59:29.770-07:00Rivival of Hope, God's Promises: Then, Now, and Forever<div style="text-align: center;">Isaiah 9:6</div><div style="text-align: center;"> For to us a child is born, <br />
to us a son is given, <br />
and the government will be on his shoulders. <br />
And he will be called <br />
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, <br />
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. </div><br />
The book of Isaiah Teaches us Reverent Awe for our GOD. God uses Isaiah to make known the promise of Salvation through Jesus. We discover a nation much like ours being judged and God's longing to Forgive his people rather than punish them. Through the pages of this book we are whispered the sweet character of our Jesus Messiah. Every page of Isaiah rings one promise we hold to, that hope in the Lord, waiting on the Lord brings us comfort, and strength. We know we will be called his chosen, his precious children, his holy nation, dwelling in a new heaven and earth, where tears are shed from joy and cries burst forth from bellies full of laughter running over! And so begins my study of Isaiah.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-62986067708569485202011-08-18T08:43:00.000-07:002011-08-18T08:50:11.580-07:00So muchSo much has been going on in my life since my last blog. I had a most rejuvenating retreat with the Women of our church. I was filled to the brim with love. At one point I had 5 friends praying for me and speaking into my life meaning, clarity, and wisdom. I came home refreshed, healed and ready to take on the world. I chose to leave my sickness at the alter and claim prayers already answered. Though I still have bad days of pain I can push the pain and frustration from it behind my head most days and continue on with life, living it fully and laugh with my family through, yes, even migraines. God is for us not against us and I know he is healing this me one step in his direction at time. The more I open up myself to my past, memories, unfortunate circumstances and let go of lies I have claimed as truth, I find I am more and more victorious in my everyday life and health struggles as well. <br />
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The testing always comes or rather we are filled to the brim before the storms of life hit so as to be able to hold strong and make it through. Our basement has been a project ever since we moved into our little home 11 years ago. We finished it..well good enough to have our kiddo's with their own separate rooms and for the rest to be used as well. My husband had a gaming/star wars toy collection room, me my exercise area and laundry folding station. Oh and yes we have no garage, so our storage was kept down there all neatly stashed away out of sight:) A few months after we moved my daughter down the stairs officially our basement flooded with City sewer backup water from a clogged drain caused by a ridiculous storm. Our insurance does not cover acts of God, nor does the city for that matter. So we were stuck with the blow our selves. The clean up was atrocious, not to mention gross. The amount of stuff the kids and my husband and I had to throw away came to 9,000. The repair estimate was 7,000 plus. However, we have a family of people related by blood and by the cross. We were given 1,500 by friends and family. People donated dressers throw rugs, shelves, their time. There were a few days of complete shock where I did not feel like I could move from letting pain back to the for front of my vision and the circumstances over whelm me. I would pray. I would pray some more. I prayed for God's healing and praised him for his help and his hand in keeping us safe. I praised him for the plan I could not yet see being in the eye of the storm. Yes I praised him through tears and sobs and pain. He surrounded us and held us tight as a family. We worked endlessly to get my kids rooms back to them. They slept on the couch, at grandparents houses, and then in a room that only had enough room for their bunk bed that's it. They had no space of their own for two and a half months. But we pulled through. No the basement is not finished but they have their rooms back. No they do not have as many toys as they used to. But believe me when I tell you what they have is enough. There is peace in our home again.<br />
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God is so much more than a genie in a bottle to call upon when we are board or in trouble. God is so much more than a friend to talk to when we are feeling down. God is so much more than a ruler setting morals to follow or be dealt with. He is more than my dad, and more than my counselor. God is, God was , and will always be. He is my all in all! He is my past, present and future. I praise him for being GOD Almighty creator of the universe yet the holder of my hand and the shoulder I cry on and the one who wipes off the dirt from my skirt, after picking me up in his arms of comfort time and time again! Praise God For he is. HE IS! and always will be! <br />
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<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-11339">2Chronicles 7:14 </sup>"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."<br />
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The healing I pray for is with in my own body and the bodies and spirits of others I love. Though this land of people we live in needs so much healing as well. If we would but humble ourselves, know we do not have all the answers. If we would pray and seek His face. If we would turn from our selfish tasks we fill our days with instead of pursuing God's will for our lives. He promises to heal our land. Imagine as a nation if we would fall on our knees again what the results could be. Oh, that God would bless America again. That America would stop running from the protection of the God she once served and fall an her knees and be healed. It can happen and it starts one person's surrender to God at a time:)<br />
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My His blessing be yours! <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-38262252644625210482011-05-06T09:02:00.000-07:002011-05-06T09:09:24.885-07:00How<h5 style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span style="font-size: small;">"Lord How do I switch off my focus from myself and the pain I have in each moment and stop just surviving the days going by?"</span></b></i></h5><h5 style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span style="font-size: small;">By thinking on things above, my darling. By changing your focus from inward to outward, from present state, to all that I have in store! Dare to hope and dream. Come join me up on the mountain top where you will find rest, peace, comfort and be restored. Breathe in and taste and see that I am your one Good thing you can trust completely. You are never alone. Cast out all fear. Know who you are. </span></b></i><i><b><i><b><span style="font-size: small;">You are mine and I am Yours.</span></b></i></b></i></h5><h5 style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Living as Those Made Alive in Christ</span></b></h5><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.</b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-33693517765292596792011-05-04T11:25:00.000-07:002011-05-04T11:43:31.126-07:00Joy comes in the Mourning?When a light is too painful for one to endure it, is the cause of the pain the condition of ones failing health? Could it be rather, the constant conscience thoughts of one's self, worsening their state with every pain, alerting ones soul to shutter?<br />
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I wrote these questions 10 years ago. This little note to myself has remained stuck to my refrigerator ever since. I was struggling with migraines trying to keep me in the dark. Sure, the darkness helped, but as soon as I walked into the light again or took the shades off, they were back. I chose to stop letting myself dwell on the pain. I chose to take back the light and not let darkness claim my days. It reminds me to not think on myself and my health conditions so much as to miss out on life, light, love, joy, happiness:) <br />
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Is it possible to find joy through and during the mourning of physical ailments? Is it possible to ignore the pain, by remaining in the light and still enjoy life to its fullest? It is! With God, praying friends and loved ones.<br />
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It is not like I have cancer and am dying, but yet the pain I deal with everyday has consumed me in the past just as if I had received a death warrant. I can tell you that dealing with fibromyalsia takes its tole on your mental well being as well as physical. Waking up to feeling like you've just been run over by an 18 wheeler, again, is no inspiration to get out of bed and conquer the day.<br />
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One day not so long ago I was ready to give the dr.'s advice a try and take some medication to raise my serotonin level. Thus, treat my depression that comes with dealing with pain all the time. I am still willing if need be. However, I found that St. Johns Wart works to help me handle the pain I get dished out to me each day. I cry less, feel like crawling in bed and giving up less. This is not a vitamin add. I thank God for giving me something that helps me be able to fight back!<br />
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God promises to make all things Good, for those whom love Him. I know He wants me healed more than I want me healed. In the meanwhile He has grown my relationship with my husband, as we pray with each other more, cry out to God together more. My children have learned the value of praying for others as they pray for me and those they care about earnestly. They have learned compassion at a young age. Jesus has drawn me close to Him and comforted me time and time again. He has proven He is my God, my Daddy, my Best Friend, my Counselor, my Saviour and Redeemer. He gives me strength when I am weak, and joy in my mourning. He is helping me everyday to take back what he has given me to live to the fullest... life. My life which I lay down for God to use, and use and use to make some kind of difference in peoples lives.<br />
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I want my children to know what's most important in life is to love God, obey Him and let God love them in return. I want My husband to know how precious a gift from God he is to me. I want my brothers and sisters to know there is hope and joy in the Mourning. That sorrow may last for the night but God makes all things new and He is for you not against you! I want to live to breath in God and exhale Him out again for others to know His existence, His love and His faithfulness. <br />
Joy can come in the Mourning! It does everyday if we let Him in to pull open the shades and light up our day!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-71842609520427594602011-04-27T09:14:00.000-07:002011-04-27T10:14:11.726-07:00Patience, Some are gifted with it, Some need to be!<h4><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Those who lack patience lack love . </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Yes, I know that statement sounds harsh.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> But does it help that the one typing these words is speaking to herself as well?</span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Think about a time in your life when you felt truly loved. Yes right now go a head.</span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Was it when someone you were talking to seemed to just be tolerating your rambling, while hoping you would soon shut up, so they could be on their way<span style="font-family: Tunga;">?</span></span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> We have all had those conversations with people. We have something on our heart, that really needs to be let out and the one in front of us, we think cares about us, proves other wise by shutting down, dazing off, as if your words are a pathetic waist of their time. Sure, we have been the one speaking, but are we truthful enough to admit we have been the impatient one; the one with our own agendas that are more important than our friend or loved one who needs us in the moment? </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">The times I feel most loved are when I am listened to intently, and I know that the one I am speaking to takes interest in not just the words I say but in me as a person. When someone is patient with me and forgiving I feel loved. I feel loved when someone waits for me with out complaining, but rather lovingly, as if I was worth the wait.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> Love truly is patient and kind. I feel loved when someone gives me the time of day I need to feel special.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"></span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"><br />
God gives us this freely! We are His special children, each and everyone of us, and He treats us as such. Patience is His beautiful gift. He loves us this way everyday. His love is the most patient of all. Through his grace and forgiveness He teaches us patience. Through His way of always being there to listen to our rambling on prayers, He teaches us to be patient with others, who need what we have just received, a patient listening ear.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"></span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Some of us have the gift of patience planted deep with in our heart. Just as some can pick up an instrument and just begin to play it, others can be patient in most circumstances and with all kinds of people. Others, such as myself, have to constantly pray for God to grow this gift in them. With out this gift those around me will not know the depth of my love for them.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> With out patience my love for others can not grow to the depth that God and I desire my relationships to grow. Love is a beautiful thing to be treasured, grown, and sought.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> Patience is the water that grows love up in us. </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">I am most impatient with the ones I love the most, What? So the ones I love the most are the ones lacking in the knowledge of how deeply I love them?</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"></span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">I am impatient with my family. I am praying for God to give me the patience to listen to my children when they ramble on just needing someone to listen to them, so they can feel special. They are special, and everyone needs to feel adored sometimes.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> I am learning to stop and listen to my husband</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">’</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">s day and take an interest in the distresses and the joys of his day, because he is special to me and I want him to know it. I can show him love by patiently putting his needs in the moment before my </span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">‘</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">to do lists,</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">’</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> that can truly wait. I can show my children I love them, by not getting upset when they do not move at the same pace as me, but</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">instead choose to slow my pace and walk with them at my side and encourage them lovingly, instead of gripe at them for their lack of speed. </span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">A pastor once told me</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">"Never pray for patience cause God will send you trials." He suggested the only way to learn patience is to learn it the hard way. I disagree. Patience is something God is teaching us everyday. We just need to pray that we are more in tune to the lessons God is teaching us already. God is Love! He is the greatest patient teacher of all. </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">So I encourage you, if you want to know how to love others more deeply and truly in a way that those you love can know how much you love them, pray for God to grow your patience. Pray and don't stop praying and putting into practice the lessons God teaches you.</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> Patience is a gift, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">whether we have it or not, depends on whether we know it is important enough a thing to be asking for it. As a child begs her parents for that longed for toy, I beg my daddy Jesus to fill me with the gift of Patience:) So that I can give the greatest gift He has already given me. True, absolute, unconditional Love! </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h4><h4><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Ephesians 4</span></h4><h5><sup id="en-NLT-29233"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">1</span></sup><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. <sup id="en-NLT-29234">2</sup> Always be humble and gentle. Be </span><u><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">patient</span></u><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> with each other, making allowance for each other</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">’</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">s faults because of your love. <sup id="en-NLT-29235">3</sup> Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace </span></h5><h2 id="passage_heading"><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"></span></h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thessalonians </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">5:14</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> "Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone."</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Thessalonians+3:5&version=NLT">2 Thessalonians 3:5</a><br />
May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy+2:24&version=NLT">2 Timothy 2:24</a><br />
A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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<h2 id="passage_heading"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">2 Peter 1:5-7</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">(New Living Translation)</span></h2><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><sup id="en-NLT-30444"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">5</span></sup><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God</span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt;">’</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, <sup id="en-NLT-30445">6</sup> and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, <sup id="en-NLT-30446">7</sup> and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians+13:4&version=NLT">1 Corinthians 13:4</a><br />
Love is patient and kind. </span><span style="font-family: Tunga; font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-5890408076592020232011-01-05T08:47:00.000-08:002011-01-05T15:17:02.596-08:00Time a gift or a curse?Time well spent is a treasured heirloom never to be broken, stolen or lost. Time let lie and slip away is treasure never sought, never found; a day of what could have been but never will be. <br />
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Swimming takes more effort than simply treading water...but in the end you reach the shore line destination and find rest. Treading water may at first seem effortless but slowly one begins to tire, muscles cramp up and the sea floor is the only place left to sink to. <br />
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I am ever changing and never satisfied completely with myself. Some might say this state is exhausting, unhealthy, chaotic and even medicine worthy to cure. I disagree! If I were completely happy with who I am I will be conceited, that I have arrived to my fullest potential. What use could I be to the world then? Why would I even still be around? I should be happy with me as in who God is making me in to being. I should be patient with the process that He is using to chip away the muck and mire to let out who I am suppose to be. With Christ as my center it is even possible to be content to just be who I am right now, knowing God is in control, not I, and that He is not finished with me yet. <br />
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How does the subject above correlate with the one prior? If I stop trying to improve, if I suddenly am satisfied with what I have, who I am and life in general... I then would be treading water. letting time slip away that is precious and meant to be lived and experienced. If I simply decide to in my faith, in my knowledge, in my services rendered, to be done and just stand still, my inner being would be at stake. The 'who I am meant to be in Christ', my sanctification process to make me who I am in Him, would be in question and perhaps even, heaven forbid, lost. I would be like a large stone, not yet a statue that doesn't fit through heavens door way because the stone did not continue to surrender itself to the Master carver. Because the stone decided time was too precious to let Him have any more of it. Thus time began to slip away and not matter any more and laid to ruin and waist. Depressing to think about? Of course! But Not something to be pondered and worried over. Something rather to acknowledge and decide to keep swimming, keep pressing on toward the goal which is set before us. Keep loving the unlovable, keep doing the impossible, and keep getting through the toughest, stickiest, most frustrating, and irritating of circumstances. How? By leaning on Jesus; By choosing to trust whom I can not always see or even hear. By knowing, believing with all my heart, that though I can't he can! Nothing is impossible with Christ Jesus. He has began a good work in me and you and He is faithful to bring his work to completion. All we have to do is trust and allow him to do the work in and through us making us shine like diamonds in the sky.<br />
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Time is not meant to be a capsule or an hour glass of sand slipping away. Time is a gift, each day a beautified box for us to unwrap and discover the treasure with in. There is value in everyday if we would challenge our selves to look a bit deeper, and sometimes open our eyes to who is standing right in front of us with out stretched arms. Hug more, love unconditionally, forgive everything often including yourself, Give God something to work with everyday...You:)<br />
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Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-57094747643288243472010-12-24T08:59:00.000-08:002010-12-24T11:25:32.769-08:00A Gift of "Presence" to You!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/92782380.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=A7B69CF049AC90054C1888EFBE2CB1A4027DED0770D7A997E8BB713F6600ED95" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/92782380.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=A7B69CF049AC90054C1888EFBE2CB1A4027DED0770D7A997E8BB713F6600ED95" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Today, in the town of David a child was born unto you, the Savior, Christ the Lord, Emanuel: God With Us!<br />
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This is the Present and Presence Christmas is all about. Although it means the world to us to know the Lord and have given him our lives to restore, pack with meaning and hold us through and through...Even though we love and live and rejoice in God's love and truth... This story I wish to share starts not in a manger, but rather in the heart of a girl and a boy, one snowy Christmas Eve night.<br />
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Our First Kiss Good Night <br />
Her heart was pounding, skipping beats as he drew closer, what was he saying...she did not know... all she was thinking was ... is this it? The moment I have been waiting for... will he lean in, will he prove he wants more than to be friends. It is snowing white specks of glittery hope. All around it seems silence is drown by thud of her heart yearning to know. Then he asks a simple question and a boy is turned from the boy she saw just a moment before, into a Man. Not just any man. But the man of her dreams. He asked simply " May I kiss you..?" In shock she did not respond so he leaned a bit closer... and asked again. " May I kiss you?" "Yes!" Softly spoken, yet shouting from the roof top of her heart, was the answer.<br />
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His Love for Her<br />
Christmas passed in a blur of when would she see him again, hold his hand again, hear his sweet voice again, each little spec of time with out him feeling like eternity. Then there was the unknown. Was his gift on Christmas eve... just a kiss and nothing more? Or did it mean what it meant to her...a seed of true Love planted and growing strong? Valentines day was the day of his most wonderful gift, not of words spoken out loud to be lost in the air of wondering if they were even said at all. NO! Written in a pink bible, my gift from him was " I love you!"<br />
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Loving God became first in our lives, by loving Him more, who not only loved us first, but who loves everyone best. God made our love for each other strong and grow stronger, as we together, began a journey to discover just how wide and deep and amazing Love is! Yes the Love of the Lord and the Love he gave us for each other to bloom and cherish!<br />
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A Birthday Present<br />
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On his Birthday May 10, 1997 He asked for her hand in Marriage. His words, " Would you be my best birthday present ever and be my wife?" Of course her love for him had not changed... She was still stunned by his eyes staring into hers and fumbling with the right words to spit out of her mouth. A very quiet as a mouse, "yes" finally aired. But silence was the next aggravating few minutes passes. As her heart was leaping for Joy, his was fear gripped and tortured. You see he did not hear her "Yes!" So he asked again... still on bend and knee. "Will you Marry Me?" You can bet I said YES! a bit louder this time and more then once.<br />
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And so began the Williams family in such a way as this. One snowy Christmas Eve, when a boy asked for what he wanted before him, instead of stealing or just taking ... And a girl fell in love with the Man of her dreams. <br />
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The bible says "You do not have because you do not ask God." James 4:2 "<span class="woj">Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." John 16:24</span><br />
<span class="woj">From this passage we have learned to pray in thanksgiving but also to ask of the Lord the desires of our heart. We ask the Lord to Grow us deeper in love everyday, we ask the Lord to bless our family with enough love in our hearts for each other every day. We Ask of the Lord to bring meaning and joy to our lives lived everyday and we have so wonderfully received. Our Lives are overflowing with such abundant, joy, peace, love, guidance, and more from Jesus. </span><br />
<span class="woj"><br />
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<span class="woj">So this day, on Christmas Eve 2010 I ask that those of us would be filled with more of His Presence instead of empty pockets and presents that will break and perish. I pray...I ask that the Lord would bless you and your Family with the Love that flows from the strongest deepest river, with cartwheel in the grass, heart skipping Joy and laughter. I ask for your lives to be overflowing with meaningful days that impact your lives for the better. I pray that as you learn that though your life is your own to live, when you give your life to the Lord it can be lived in abundance, packed with such sweetness. My heart truly can not put the right words to how amazing it is to Live live Free, as simply His. He is my Daddy Jesus and has given me not only dreams come true, the love of a husband and two beautiful children, he has given me a life, everyday worth living!</span><br />
<span class="woj"> </span><br />
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</a></div><span class="woj"> I ask of the Lord for you all to have a Very Merry Christmas!</span><br />
<span class="woj"> </span><br />
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-45867931583711868122010-10-23T09:56:00.000-07:002010-10-23T10:23:43.152-07:00AM I a Farmer?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/pumpkin_field.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/pumpkin_field.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A farmer harvests his fruit. He sells some, gives some, and safely stores the rest. What is stored is winters meal ,and springs seeds to be planted and grown again. <br />
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Am I a farmer? Do I plant the seeds I myself grow? Are goodness, kindness, patience, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness, peace, and joy all the crops I am responsible to grow? Each one starts as a seed and grows. But the question is, "Am I the farmer or just the soil in which the seeds are sowed?"<br />
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Does soil reap what it sows? No! It simply is what it is, fertile or not it remains motionless, unless stirred or tilled by the farmer.<br />
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A farmer is entrusted with seeds. In order for the seeds to grow he plants them where the sun will shine on them. He waters them, and weeds around the plants to help them grow. He cares for them by banking dirt around them during rain storms and by blanketing them when the weather turns cold. The farmer plants, grows, and eats the fruit, born of his own sweat; sprung forth by the working of his own hands.<br />
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I see two points of view and one is a deceptive folly. <br />
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One view says God is the farmer and we are the soil. God plants the seeds and makes us useful for the time we are used to help the plants grow strong. When we become infertile God tills us up and fertilizes us with hard times, giving us more character to grow better crops of his choosing. Our lives, like the seasons, go round in circles. We are as useful as soil or as useless as dirt, depending on whether we choose to let God farm us into something of worth or not.<br />
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View number two says we are the farmers. God provides us with the seeds, which are pieces of himself to bloom and grow in our inner field or being. These seeds need help to grow by the farmers determination, the working of his hands and heart. God is the light and the rain that influences the growth of our fruit. In times of drought and struggle God is the air we breath and we are sustained with the promise of spring and a new satchel of seeds, organic as they can be, straight from the purest source. As the farmer, we reap what we sow. The fruit of faithfulness draws those who are faithful, the fruit of peace brings tranquility, the fruit of gentleness, goodness, patience, kindness, self-control, helps us love others as God has loved us, also giving us meaningful relationships, and time well spent. <br />
Galation 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.<br />
Each fruit of the spirit lives and grows in us and through us. It benefits us, giving us worth, joy, and a life of abundance. Our fruit is eaten by those who are hungry and the seeds from our fruit eaten, get planted deep in a belly. A seed from a watermelon swallowed, really doesn't grow and grow into a watermelon inside us. But I assure you the seeds of kindness, gentleness...etc. swallowed, will grow up another farmer, God will guide, sustain, lead, love, and cherish as his own.<br />
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You might be thinking both point of view sound right and perhaps even scriptural. You might even be thinking up some sing song scriptures that seem to confirm the first point, more than the second. Such as " From dust to dust, ashes to ashes" " the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground." There is more than one problem with this view. If we were created to be his puppets on strings or soil to be turned, used and turned again, why give us free choice. Why give us a choice to love him or not, to serve him or not, to be lead by him or not, to believe in him or not? Why did he die for those whose worth is nothing but dust blowing here and there? Why bother trying to have a relationship with that spec of sand grating in his eye, causing tears of pain?<br />
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I will tell you why! Out of all of creation we were the only ones made as well as created. To create means to make something out of nothing. From the birds to the stars, he spoke life into existence. But us, he made as well. To make you have to have something to work with. You make something out of something!<br />
Genesis 2:7 The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."<br />
From the work of his hands he molded us, formed us, shaped us into His image and breathed his own breath of life into our lungs. We are not just soil to be trampled on . We are his sons and daughters. We are the very craftsmanship of his hands. However big and mighty they are, his hands were gentle enough, patient enough, to knit our souls, our bodies together. Who is God to the farmer? God is our Father!<br />
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He knew we were hard pressed and dying from the drought sin brought into the world. He sent his son a piece of himself, to be our brother, our best friend, our teacher, our farmers almanac! He died for us in order for us to be able to communicate with our Big Daddy again, in order for us to be washed clean and have life and have it in abundance. As farmers, with Jesus at our side; our well of living water, just imagine the crops that we can grow! Just imagine the difference we can make with our lives, and our fruit. Our Job: learn, grow, learn to love others well, more deeply and truly.<br />
Luke 10:27 ‘You must love the L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ord</span> your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’<br />
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1Corinthians 13:1-8<br />
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages<sup> </sup>and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!<br />
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Choose to cultivate your patience, choose to water gentleness, weed your self-control and let the son shine more on your peace and joy. Yes! I am a farmer! Yes! You and I, We are Farmers!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-21342855321871546522010-10-06T08:47:00.000-07:002010-10-06T08:54:31.898-07:00No Condemnation!<div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,<sup> </sup>because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hebrews 10: 1-5,7-10 Christs Sacrifice Once and For All</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. </span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me...Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God." First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, <b>we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. </b></span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Does this mean I can do what I please and not be condemned? </i></span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i> </span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">If we know God as in as our dearly beloved friend, Father, our everything we need in life...is this even a question worth asking? Would we purposefully throw a sacrifice like Jesus's death on the cross, back in his face, by continuing on our same route of being a slave to sin and continue to choose living out of his presence, unloved, miserable, hopeless, chained rather than free. We are loved by a God, our God! Why do would we choose then to be runaways and abandon him who desires to never leave nor forsake us? Lets read some more scripture. </span></i></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Isaiah 5:11-13</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <sup>"</sup>What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk. They furnish wine and lovely music at their grand parties lyre and harp, tambourine and flute—but <b>they never think about the L<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ord</span> or notice what he is doing. So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me.</b> Those who are great and honored will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><h4 style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Romans 6:1-4 Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ<sup class="versenum" id="en-NIV-28055"> </sup></span></h4><h4 style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." </span><i style="font-weight: normal;"><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /></i></span></h4><h4 style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It seems forgiveness is not once and for all, because I continue to sin though I long to stop. How can this be if it says there is no condemnation?</span></i></span></h4><h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Read these scriptures to help you understand you are not alone in your struggle. Read and understand Forgiveness more clearly. </i></span></h4><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Matthew 19: 16 'Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"'</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus said Matthew 19:17 "There is only One who is good." <i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He was speaking of himself. </span></i></span></div><h4 style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Romans 7:14-16 "So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate." </span></h4><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Galations 5:16-17 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. </span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 John 1:9 "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." </span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We admit and move on. We do not hang our head in shame and try and hide from our mistakes. We learn from them. We practice transparency to help others learn from our mistakes, so that they may not have to make the same ones. We hold our head up and know we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. We know this by confession of our sin's to Him our God and it can be confirmed by confessing our sins to others when he asks it of us.</span></i></span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Psalm 103: 9-12 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-26209525897875981572010-10-05T11:20:00.000-07:002010-10-05T11:20:08.431-07:00Deep-press-onThe weight is heavy, time with God forsaken, replaced with sleep that never quenches the exhaustion. The weight of the world? The weight left displaced and dealt with turns distraught and last to deep sadness.This damm, (forgive me) Fibromyalsia! I could blame the small house I can't even manage to keep up, or the homeschooling books we gotta keep on reading and learning and leave no time for mental relaxation. I could blame the Taekwondo instructor I just signed a two year contract with, Whom seems to think I am making a pansy out of my son by teaching him at home. He hasn't a clue how hard it is to teach his own children and witness their struggles first hand. I could keep blaming for hours and tears might fall. Maybe. That is the only reason for entertaining such thoughts... isn't it? To let the Dam of stress being built up on the shoulders to finally break and flood away from us, and maybe, just maybe stay off you for a few days or so. <br />
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I turned off my alarm again this morning. 5:30am, My hour and a half date with my Jesus was again slept away! Why is it when we need him most we stand him up and don't return his calls? Or is it just me? Is it the why's stacking up and the defeats of yesterday out weighing the victories that shrink my God, making his worth, less in my eyes and life?<br />
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I sat on the couch this morning. I would have knelt in awed thanksgiving, I should have knelt and let down my sorrow and let him hold me and lift my chin and tell me he's got it all and not to stress anymore. But I did not. I sat on the couch, Apologizing an empty apology, " Sorry I did not wake up again.." Chin to my chest in shame, I forget there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. What is it that the Lords says.... "I desire mercy not sacrifice." The Lord did not come to steal, kill and destroy but rather to give life, and for us to live it in his abundance. The abundance of peace, grace, joy? Where is it I pleaded?<br />
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Awe but following after my beloved Christ was never promised to be easy. It is like a job well done, takes time and work and blisters, but the finished product brings bubbles of unpop-able joy floating up in side us. All of Jesus's disciples, may I say dearly beloved friends, were persecuted to death. I desire to be one of these disciples. I love him and want to love him more. My life does not belong to myself, it is his. I asked him, sitting there "Is this the persecution I get for following you? I thought it would come in the form of people not bad health I can't seem to conquer. The question: Would it be any easier if it came from people? I know He is right. I am trying to break my people pleasing tendency. But then why would it matter what a Taekwondo instructor thinks of me? I know I am doing the will of God and that is Victory enough! God did not say yes to my question mind you. Just asked another question:) So like him:) <br />
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But he did not stop there. No! "A man can only ever be as big as his God." That did not come from my mind. Truth? A man can only ever be as big as his God? "mmm... God I am not reaching for a God title, I know I can never be..."He stopped me in my train of thoughts. "How big am I to you?"<br />
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The truth hurts. Can I still do all things because of him who is inside of me? Why had I allowed my God to shrink in the reality of my mind again. Truth: My God is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow! Truth : My God is the Alpha the Omega! Truth: My God is Victorious over all things, over all circumstances, over all death, over all pain and suffering. My God has already won the battle he is just waiting for his troops to join his side of the fight so he can take us all back home away from the battle field once and for all. So since I am claimed his, can't I just give up, stop fighting? No! I fight all the more and try and reach the wounded in time and bring them to their healer. My life is not about me anymore. My life is WON! I am victorious in Him! I am loved, sang over, cherished... My everyday trials I can still give to him because this is how big he is. Listen! Hear!<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+4:10&version=NIV">Ephesians 4:10</a></strong><br />
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole <b>universe</b>.<br />
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Hebrews 1: 1-3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.<br />
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Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.<br />
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The universe itself is immeasurable. We know our small galaxy is smaller than an ant size portion of it. How big is God to me? Not big enough. Not as big as he really, truly is! He is so great and so wide and so deep. He is enough, oh so very enough. He has given me my family, my husband and children, my friends ...so many loved ones. I am so very well cared for! I thank him for my reality check this morning. You see, one can only be as big as their God. Hope is in the Lord. Some people have self delusion gods that drive them to being successful millionaires. My God is not limited to my mind and who I make him out to be. My God is the creator of the universe. The God who made you and who made me! The God whose heart holds enough love to hold every single one of us, as a father holds his first born in his hands, tight, warm, swearing he will never let go. <br />
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There is Victory to be had in everyday! I fail and so do you. But we are not failures! We are His dearly beloved and we can rest assured his blood is enough to cover all inequities, ours and those we know. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus! His Love covers over all sin, plight, pain, stress. He overcame the world and through him we are promised..so can we! <br />
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Lord take my stress that loads me down and pounds me deeper down, pressing on me, ever pressing. Lord Take my pain and help me find joy each day knowing you are here with me, helping me through every difficult time or struggle, every head ache. I kneel in awe and splendor, I lay my head in your lap and let you caress my hair from my face and dry my tears. Whether they make it our my eyes or not, you reach into my inner most being and mop up the mess with in me. Thank You Beloved Father. Thank You! Thank you for waiting for me. Thank you for never leaving me nor forsaking me as I have so many times forsaken you. Forgive me for entertaining thoughts of slanderous, selfish, lies about who I am and what you have for me! I praise you! I worship your Your name and claim power and victory in it!<br />
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AmenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-54636637995965515122010-09-25T01:39:00.000-07:002010-09-25T01:42:55.125-07:00Beautiful, Though Cracked, Preserved, Yet Lost!You ever feel like you got a chip on your shoulder? Do you feel like a broken, cracked piece of china no one dares use any more because it might leak or worse disintegrate? But some one loves you, so much in fact, you have been glued back together and sat on a shelf to be looked at, reminisced about and remembered as good times well spent?<br />
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Some one some where feels this way and they need to know Satan is lying to them. He is casting arrows and you are dropping your shield of faith unwilling to combat them. You are not a past time. God does not just glue you back together so that you are fragile and ready to break at the slightest embrace, tremor, or fall. You are made brand new, washed clean by the blood of Jesus! You are His wonderful beautiful child whom has a present and a future full of life lived to the fullest measure of SWEEEEEEETness! Satan wants nothing better than to keep you on that shelf of self pity. He wants you to be isolated from the truth, that greater is HE that is in you than he that is in the world. He wants you to believe a lie that he can win and has, but the truth is you have the Victory written in blood. Jesus died for you and overcame the world. Any one that believes in him over comes the world as well. Your inheratence in the Lord is Victory, Freedom, Life, Love, Joy, Peace, Strength to endure through all things because he is your God and has sent his Holy Spirit with power to live in you and through you!<br />
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Stand up! Brush yourself off. It is time you took your place as a member of the royal court. A Daughter or Son of THE only true KING of KINGS! You are not alone, nor will you ever be. Step into the light and no longer hide in the darkness of doubt, fear, impatience, rage, let downs, heart breaks. The Lord your God is your God! He cries when you cry, He longs for you as you stand at a distance trying to be tough. It is time to be found, no longer lost in the realm of chaos and frustration. But found and placed back where you belong into the family of God you belong in. You have a family. A family of brothers and sisters who need you as much as you need them. We are each a part of the Body of Christ. No part is more important than the other. Both the hand and the foot are of equal importance. Choose to throw off the lies, deflect the arrows, jump from that shelf of loneliness, the bubble room of self disclusion and join the living again. You are usable, worthy, needed, and missed, truly missed.<br />
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I honestly do not know who you are. But God has laid who ever you are reading this on my heart. I could not go to bed tonight till I wrote this. I pray for you dear one to know God's love like never before. For you to swim in it daily, living loved fully, cause you truly are. <br />
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STAND! SHOUT! CLAIM YOUR FREEDOM, YOUR VICTORY, YOUR WORTH!<br />
<b><b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+15:13&version=NLT" target="_blank">Romans 15:13</a></b><br />
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter+1:23&version=NIV">1 Peter 1:23</a></b><br />
For you have been <b>born</b> <b>again</b>, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.<br />
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Ephesians 6:10-18<br />
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we<sup> </sup>are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.<br />
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.<br />
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2658305571855841588.post-25464343646939692612010-09-23T07:57:00.000-07:002010-09-23T08:00:21.106-07:00Living in the NowEach day, each hour, each moment of our lives were meant for us, just for us. We can live each moment to the fullest.<br />
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I pray and plead for God to help me live this life I have to the fullest. That he can fill me with the joy I need for each moment, and the peace I need to fill my soul and over come my desire to think about things that are not in the now and perhaps more likely in the never. I am in the Now, the present, not the future or the past. I am right here typing out my thoughts and no where else.<br />
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Sure, it is good to think about goals and set them, but not every second of every day. Other wise they are things left half done never with a satisfied, accomplished finish. Sure it is good to look a head and make a schedule. But God's schedule is the one that really matters. If we are always thinking about our own agendas and our own to do lists, what is most important often gets kicked under the bed with the missing socks of days long past.<br />
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This day, right now, is the day the Lord has made. This day right now let us rejoice and be glad in it. Right now I have life and I choose to live it radiantly, victoriously moment by moment. Oh to treasure every giggle, see and smell every passing flower, notice the unloved and share the love I have, see the blind and pray that they may see, that I may taste and see that the Lord my God is good every single day, every singly hour. Because he is not just good every once in a while but all the time.<br />
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John 10:10niv "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." <br />
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I love the way the message bible says it:<br />
John 10 7-10 I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. <br />
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I pray that today you and I friend may walk in the fullness of all that God would have us be. That we would, on purpose, be in each moment we are in and not let our thoughts carry us off some where else that is for us to be tomorrow. We are missing out on the full embrace of a child's hug, the full meaning behind the words spoken to us by a friend on the phone, the full reason we are standing in the place we are standing to see the hurting lost needing to be found right beside us. We are missing out on the fullness of life that God so desires us to have. I pray God's blessing of peace and the joy he has for us that he desires to complete us with!<br />
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Praise God! you are so good! AmenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0