No Condemnation!

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Hebrews 10: 1-5,7-10 Christs Sacrifice Once and For All

"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.

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, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Does this mean I can do what I please and not be condemned? 

  

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. 

 Isaiah 5:11-13

 ^"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 they never think about the Lord or notice what he is doing. So my people will go into exile far away because they do not know me. Those who are great and honored will starve, and the common people will die of thirst.

Romans 6:1-4  Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ 

"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."

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?

Read these scriptures to help you understand you are not alone in your struggle. Read and understand Forgiveness more clearly. 

 Matthew 19: 16 'Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"'

Jesus said Matthew 19:17 "There is only One who is good." He was speaking of himself.

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."

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.

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." 

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.

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.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Deep-press-on

The 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.

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?

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?

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:) 

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?"

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!
 Ephesians 4:10
He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.

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.

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.

 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.

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!

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!

Amen

Beautiful, 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?

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!

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.

 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.

STAND! SHOUT! CLAIM  YOUR FREEDOM, YOUR VICTORY, YOUR WORTH!
Romans 15:13
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.


1 Peter 1:23
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-18
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 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.
  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.
  Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Living in the Now

Each day, each hour, each moment of our lives were meant for us, just for us. We can live each moment to the fullest.

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.

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.

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.

John 10:10niv "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

I love the way the message bible says it:
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. 

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!

Praise God! you are so good! Amen

Who Am I?

There has been much confusion about who I am really? Am I Nora Lynn or am I Tabitha Ruth? (These would both be first and middle names.) Why do I write my blog under the name Tabitha Ruth? Am I trying to hide from who I really am, thus deceiving my readers?

There is a blog, one of the first ones I wrote, that explains exactly who Tabitha Ruth was/is. It is called Tabitha Ruth. But for those of you who, like me, are impatient, and would just like the answers given to you, rather then have to go digging, this blog is for you.

Back when this blog began I had a bible study. My first homework assignment for us was to Pray and ask God what two women of the bible we are most like. The first name being who we are now as individuals and the second woman, whom God is making us each into being more like. My gals were surprised by my name. I felt I was a Dorcus Ruth.

Side note: Dorkus, as a kid was what I was called. " HEY you DORK!" Seem fit that my loving God would give me a name like that ...? Well you must know that Dorkus (also called Tabitha) in the bible was a woman that helped people. It was her life's work to help others in need. In fact, when she died a whole town mourned her and then Peter raised her back from the dead. Immediately she went back to work. I secretly believe the town did not know how special she was until she was gone forever...so they thought. I think she was a, in the back ground, get what needs to be done, kinda gal, who did not ask for recognition.

Ruth was the name every one was surprised by. I even got the comment " What? God is going to make you submissive, willing to just follow and do what ever anyone tells you?" Oh how they did not know the Ruth I knew. If you do not know the story of Ruth...you are missing out. This Gal, in the bible, was not submissive, doing what ever she was told. In my hearts eyes she was bold. So bold she was not afraid to go forth and do what ever God told her to do.  She loved her mother in law. When her husband died and her mother in-law was going to travel far away back to her original home land she wanted to go. Her mother in-law told her to go back, to stay with her own parents. But this is what she told her "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." Ruth 1:15-17 These are the words of a bold, speak up, kinda gal. She did go with her mother in-law. She helped her on her journey and when they arrived, she kept her fed by gathering grain herself in fields after the workers had gleaned  them. Her bold obedience to all that God had in store for her leads her to a beautiful Marriage and a son. She is in the lineage of Jesus. This foreign woman from a foreign land, whom was raised to serve foreign gods, knew what she wanted. She wanted to be his, Simply God's forever. And she succeeded.

I just did some study as to what the names Tabitha and Ruth mean and I am blown away!

Dorkus in Aramaic is Tabitha, which means gazelle. Arabs appreciated this animal for its grace, it is a symbol, most commonly associated in their literature, with female beauty. 

Ruth means friend and compassion.

Tabitha Ruth became the name God had given me. I decided to start a blog using that name. To answer the top question..No I am not trying to hide from my name given to me by my parents. I happen to like it. Nora means Light and honor. While Lynn means: waterfall. My new name, however  was and is special to me, as any God given name should be. It gave me hope as to what God had in store for my life! And Boy HOWDY! I have had the ride of my life and it is not over!

Tangent: Many of you who know me, apart from my blog, know that for the last few years God has been teaching me how to be a friend. I prayed for friends and he told me I had to learn to be a friend first before I could have real friends. Like a child asking mommy for a pet and getting a " you have to prove you can take care of it first." answer. All my life I have prayed  "God you are my best friend teach me how to be your friend." You see, it made me sad to think that I had such a fabulous friend in Jesus... but did he have a friend in me? I could count on him, but was I trustworthy?  I have learned that God has been answering this prayer by teaching me to be a friend. He has brought countless people in my life now and I call them my friends. Praise God! To be a friend to Jesus is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. There is a catch there did you hear it?  Love your neighbor as yourself. In order to love others for the special God made people they are you gotta learn to love yourself for the God made person you are. So not only have I been learning how to be a friend to others I have been learning to love myself as well.  God is so very Good! SO  VERY AMAZING! He is making me into a Ruth, a compassionate friend!

 Here's a thought, why don't you pray and ask God who you are most like in the bible and then ask him who he is making you in to. When we have a goal to reach there is hope. And hope that comes from the Lord does not disappoint!

Philippians 1:6 He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Holy Spirit

I have this group of friends and we were chatting about the Holy Spirit. I promised I was going to blog about it soon.  I felt like God was bringing it up quite often in my devotional time and it was time to write about it. OK, so,  I did not get around to it and did not get around to it.  A few weeks went by and today I go to write an apology to those friends whom I promised a blog to.  Baddabing out flops this blog in e-mail form.. So Here it is for any of you wondering about the Holy Spirit. I do not claim to know it all. This is just an ant size amount of info. But I believe it is life changing none the less. Dig In!

Ephesians 2:8-10
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

2:19-22
 "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

3:16-19
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

We just got through a season of study "how to be a super hero" in kids church. These verses staring us in the face show us that through Christ Jesus we can do anything. Philippians 4:13  "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." We can be Super Moms, Super Wives , Super Friends, Super Servants. Not by our strength, but through the power of the holy spirit running through us like a river. People ask "have you received the indwelling of the holy spirit?" It is not a comfortable question to be asked. But truly when we have, we know it, so we should be bold and answer either yes or no.  And if the answer is no, one should not be embarrassed like being caught with our zipper down. No! God is giving you an opportunity to be filled with him. Be truthful and ask for prayer. There was a whole church in the bible trying to do things out of their own power. The bible says that they had only received the baptism of John ( by water.) In Acts 19 Paul, prayed for them to receive the holy spirit and they did.  With out Him in us we do not hear God's voice clearly, With out the holy spirit we have a hard time interpreting scripture. 1 Corinthians 2:14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." The Holy Spirit gives us strength when we feel depleted; he gives us the right words to say when we have none left of our own. He can keep us calm when we should be screaming, even raging upset. Is it a one time filling? No! It is a constant filling. Like a river flowing needs rain to maintain its flow, power,  or deepness, we also need constant filling up of more of Him. This is why we keep on praying for him to fill us. Rivers take water to people who are thirsty. In this way we are also called to be poured out for those who are thirsty. So we come back to him on our knees, in prayer, reading our bibles singing praise to him and are filled again and again with more and more of him. In this way he can truly be our everything, our all in all.

Ephesians 1:13 "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory."


Does the spirit ever leave us all the way, as in, are we ever depleted of him completely? The Lord has answered this question. John 14:15-17 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you."

I hope and pray that your spirit is filled with Him who gives everlasting hope and joy this day and ever more.

Day 9 Week Three

I know, I know we learn the days of the week in kindergarten. 7 times three is 21... so if I am on to week 3 and only day 9...? Imagine if this were a real, physical boot camp. I would have been kicked out after the first day of skipping out. Oh but the Lord is so good to us. His mercy is new every morning. His goodness lasts a life time and does not run out.

Yesterday I woke at 5:30..but the legs were an immovable force and the brain would not compute. I did get some God time..Praise him. My half hour was so yummy and only made me hungry for more. But alas my sleepy headedness kept me from the long desired soak in my Jesus's arms. Off to homeschooling, fixing lunch, the gym, more homeschooling, taking kids to lessons, pick up the sitter, go to leadership training course, date night with hubby, take the sitter home, and crash in to bed thankful...oh so thankful for a day done mostly right.  Not by my power alone, but by his guiding me every step of the way.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2    As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says,  "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

 ^{Matthew 9:36-38} When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

In order to pour out we have to take in; we need the necessary time to be poured into. In the military, would a soldier go in to the battle field with out first paying close attention to his Sergent's orders, and specific instructions. I hope not.  I remember singing a song as a child about being in the army of God. I wanted to be his little christian soldier.  Who are we fighting and what are we fighting for? We need God; we need to know our commanding officer. We need to show up at the debriefing in order to go about being his on purpose, living with him on purpose. We need to spend time training ourselves to hear his voice above all the others in our lives.  We need to spend time with God one on one.

Ephesians 6:12
For we 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.

Now one might be thinking "But the silence is so loud!"...No? I think silence can be so deafening. In fact it can put me to sleep like a fan at night in a child's room. It can also send me into a head spin of thoughts just to cover up all the silence. But then I am spending time with me and not my Jesus. Combat the silence with worship music....maybe...unless it distracts you too. Combat the silence with the sound of your own voice? This works.  Praying out loud has much power and effect in not just staying awake. It is compared to standing up worshiping, verses sitting down. It is bringing yourself to fully be aware that you are talking to someone real, worth talking to. You are talking to someone who is listening to you and fully comprehends all you are saying...even not saying.  It helps me acknowledge and address the one to whom I am speaking full on...looking him in the face. Instead of him haing around and talking to him with my eyes focused on my own feet. Awe but this is the challenge is it not. To be in a place comfy enough to chat out loud with your savior. We expect him to speak to us and beg him to, yet to raise our own voice to speak to him can be embarrassingly hard to do. 

Matthew 14:23
After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.

^{Matthew 6:5-6}  “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.  But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

I am not doing this boot camp thing for myself alone. I am benefiting.  This boot camp is to help me live for others, with Jesus. I want to make a difference. I want to be an efficient worker in the fields that are ready to be harvested. I need to be able to farm/plant good seeds as well.  I am doing this thing to know him More and more so that I can be filled, and over flowing on to those I love and those he places in my path. 

God may be asking you to do something for him to meet him half way in getting you going in the right direction in your life. It might not be to wake up at 5:30 am but something else. Pray and ask God what you need to do in order to be filled more sufficiently by him. Ask God what it is that you need to do in order to hear his voice more clearly. 

Lord God thank you for waking me up this morning! Thank you for this time to chat about the path you are taking me down. Lead us onward Lord! Lead on!   Amen in Jesus name!