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Monday, January 26, 2015

Stir Me

This post may not make much sense to you but....here's my thoughts....

Do you ache for God?  In fact....do you groan from the deepest place within your soul for God!?  Do you want more than anything else to live more fully dedicated to Him....to not only merely survive with just a small daily dose of God....but to actually run towards Him....feeling completely alive every day when you awake....then asking Him to totally surround you....to wrap you in His arms of grace....mercy....and love and take you where you never thought it possible to be in your life.  Then....to help you live your life....right there....with Him and only for Him....asking Him to stir you up inside until you know you are in the center of His will for you....probably out of your comfort zone and yet....in the place He has prepared for you.

For me sometimes....I fight that.  I want it to be that way but find it is a place that can be totally intimidating to me.  Yet within myself I know....He will keep me safe even in those times of feeling off balance and afraid.

Isaiah 26:3

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

"until we see JESUS....face to face"

 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Tonight I am so thankful.  Even though I fail my Lord and Savior daily....He has never failed me.  I have been reading scriptures very randomly.  Each one I read speaks something to my heart.  The last one I read was...

Colossians 2:6-7

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Then it hit me....

I truly am thankful!  God is so good!  Gods love is more than anything I could have ever imagined!  At times I stray and I fail but God....God never leaves me and He never gives up on me.  His love will forever endure....He will always hold me steady.  The awesome love of God is most amazing!  

"until we see JESUS....face to face"

Monday, January 19, 2015

Praise The Lord

I really don't know where I'm going with this post tonight but sometimes I just get a feeling of needing to write it out....so to "speak".  

Tonight I was flipping through my bible, reading highlighted passages, when I came upon this one.
In my bible it says this is a song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

Psalm 134

Oh praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in prayer,
and praise the Lord.
May the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Jerusalem.

Immediately I was reminded of a chorus we sang when I was young. 

Come praise the Lord
all you servants of the Lord
Who stand by night
in the house of the Lord
Lift up your hands
In the holy place
And bless the Lord
and bless the Lord.


Tonight I am thanking the Lord for the memories of the old choruses and songs from my younger years.  Back when we sang them in church they didn't really mean anything to me but now....they have real meaning to me.

It's important to sing....worship....and praise the Lord with music.  Old or new....whatever you like. 
Looking back down at my bible a see a verse that isn't highlighted....and it fits....

Psalm 135:3

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
celebrate His lovely name with music.

It seems the message here tonight is that you just....Praise the Lord!

"until we see JESUS....face to face"



Refreshing

Do you need a time of refreshing?  We all do.  We can get tired...stagnant if you will.  If we are sincere and ask the Lord for fresh rain to fall from Him onto/into us....He will show us....or take us....where He knows we will receive what we need.  It may be a one time thing or it may be for a season.  Whatever it is for you don't question it or take it lightly.  Just receive.

We all need to grow spiritually.  Not just when we first become a Christian but for the whole time we are walking on this earth.  That is what I have been longing for for some time now.   It's not up to the Lord how much we grow....it's up to us.  We grow through reading the Word and talking with the Lord.  Jesus will help you to become all that you need to be if you are diligent in seeking and spending time with Him

Ephesians 3:14-19
14 For this reason []seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].
16 May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].
17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,
18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];
19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!


"until we see JESUS....face to face"

Monday, January 12, 2015

While listening to a small part of a recorded sermon tonight this one thing said by the preacher really reached out and grabbed me.  "Get up ~ Shake off those heavy bands and I (God) will restore to you what the locust has eaten."  What that meant to me was....

"Get up out of that place you have allowed yourself to go and I will restore to you life!"  That is what God does.  He restores us to something better than we were....or had....before we allowed those heavy bands....burdens....to start wrapping around us. When all of life is getting us down....and we let our circumstances start to get the best of us....it is as if we have heavy things strapped to us.  Things like....finances....loss....sickness....whatever it is coming against you....are like heavy bands attached all over you....draped on you!  Well God is saying to just get up!....shake them off....give them to Him....and He will make all things new again for you.  It might take some time or....He might change everything all in an instant....but change it He will!  Most times we do have to take the first step....get up out of that dark place we have allowed ourself to get into....and just start to praise Him!  Talk to Him....worship Him....humble yourself and ask Him for His help! 

I have to tell you that I know what I am writing about here.  Way too many times I have let those heavy bands wrap around me until I feel as if I'm being sucked down into mud and I can't seem to pull myself out no matter how hard I try!  But over time I have learned that no matter how many times satan tries to take me to the darkest corner of my thoughts....and I still let him!....if I will only look up I will see the light of our Lord is there shining....waiting for me to realize that He is only a breath away!  All I have to do is let go of myself....one more time....and reach out to Him in whatever way I can at that moment....and He is there pulling me up!  God has never once left me....I am the one who has left Him.   

So....no matter the reason and no matter how many times you have been wrapped up in those heavy bands....Shake. Them. Off. !  Let God restore to you Life!

I think of "those heavy bands" as burdens so these scriptures fit well....

Matthew 11:28-29

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

"until we see JESUS....face to face" 

Sunday, January 11, 2015

My One Word

If this post seems a bit jumbled and confusing....I'm sorry.  For some reason this one is hard for me. 

Consistent ~ Having sticktoitiveness.
(My definition for how I need it in my life.)

My one word for 2015....consistent.

When 2014 was coming close to the end I started seeing reminders that it was time to start thinking about what my word was going to be for 2015.  But....the more I thought about it....the more I didn't want to think about it!  So I just pushed those thoughts right out of my head because....well....because I had too many other things going on in my life to worry about a "word"!  So I went about my "many other things" and you know what kept popping into my thoughts....yes, you know....I need to get a "word"!  Well a few days back I found my word....

I was reading a friends blog and she mentioned consistency and immediately I knew that consistent is my word for the year.  Why would that be my word?  Because for sometime now I have been inconsistent in everything that matters.  I know it was the Holy Spirit that showed me that word so plainly....that showed me once again how inconsistent I have been in so many things. 

As of now I am still trying to turn the corner on some things in my life and I know the way I am going to do that is to be consistent in the things that "really matter"!  I'm finding more and more that at times you really have to fight to turn those corners.  Fight to draw closer and closer to the Lord because that is the only way you can turn the corners.  Commit each day....each breath....to the Lord!  Then go to Him always....all day every day.  Jesus....He is our only hope! 

Proverbs 3:5-6
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

"until we see JESUS....face to face"



       

Monday, January 5, 2015

Prayer

Father  God today I thank you for all that you have done in my life.  You are my only source of help and hope.  You are my refuge and my shield...my rock. Thank You Father for being everything to me.  You sustain me just as You have promised.  You are that lamp to my feet and that light to my path.  Sometimes when I awake I feel as if I am just in darkness....sad and alone.  But then Father you bring a song to my heart and I thank You for it.

Oh how I love You
How I adore You
My breath my sunshine
My all in all

That is the song You brought to me this morning and You lifted my spirit.  I know that with You I can make it through my day.

Thank You Lord. Amen