My Desire Today

Just a closer walk with the Lord is my desire this morning.  To walk closer and closer to Him is my longing.  I want the Lord to guide all my steps in life and I never want to waver from Him....never step out of His love....His mercy....His grace.  Always feeling Him beside me....holding me in His arms.  More than ever I know that there is no life away from the Lord.  There is no breath away from the Lord....only unrest and eventually death....spiritual death....soul death. 

But....that doesn't have to happen.  We can be in a place of comfort....quiet rest....by staying near the heart of our Lord.

So my prayer this morning is....

When I falter and start to slip away Lord....bring me back....whatever it takes.  Get me back in step with You Lord.  A closer walk is my heart and soul desire.  Walking beside You is where I will find rest....a quiet rest....near to You....Your heart Lord.  That's where I want to stay.  Continue to draw me into that place....a closer walk with You.
In Jesus name....Amen

James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Psalms 33:20-22
²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
²² Let Your loving kindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.

Do You Hear....Do You See

Psalm 77:17-18

¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
The skies gave forth a sound;
Your arrows flashed here and there.
¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.

Do you hear the clap of the thunder....do you see the lightning?

There is nothing like a quiet morning with a good cup of coffee....an awesome thunder storm....an open Bible....and best of all....time to spend with the Lord.  Just as the storm waters refresh the earth....so do times like this refresh us.  The rain water flows from the heavens and quenches the thirst of the dry land just like the blessings from the heavens flow onto us and quench our thirst as we spend time in the Word and talking with the Lord.  There is no better time spent than in His presence.  It is the best gift that we can give to ourselves....which in actuality is a gift from the Lord.  We all have times of sorrow....times of distress....times of just not being able to handle all that life puts in our paths.  But this....this is the way that the Lord gives to us....freely gives to us....to handle all of these things....time spent with Him! 

For what seems like forever....I have not been handling the stresses in my life well.  Many times I have looked like the person on the depression commercials....sitting with my head in my hands....not coping with the realities in my life.  Why....when I have the one person in my life....living inside of me....that is willing and capable of handling all of my problems....all my stress....just waiting for me to call on Him and ask for His help....do I do this to myself?!  Because I listen to satan and his lies. 

You know....you can let the wrong thoughts into your head so easily.  Satan just kind of twists and turns his lies into your thought process before you even realize what's happening.  One minute you can be full of joy and thinking how great life is.  The next you can be sliding down hill faster than you thought possible.  The way this always happens to me is....I stop reading the Word....stop listening to music....and really just stop talking to the Lord!  I am finding that it's not just a thought process but also a heart process....at least for me.  I hate to admit that but it's true.  Then....the longer you keep yourself out of all that is good....all that is from the Lord....the easier it is to fall back into your old thought processes....which affects not only your mind but your heart as well.  However...there is an upside....

The healing....time of refreshing....you can always come back too.  The Lord always takes you back....really He never left you....you just need to ask for His forgiveness....which He freely gives when you are sincere.  He will pour down His healing....refreshing....springs of living waters on you just as He does on the earth!  All you have to do is to drink it in....He is freely giving it to you.

Do you hear the clap of the thunder....do you see the lighting!?  It's okay....the Lord is trying to wake you up!  He is wanting to shower you....wash you....with His refreshing rain.  Clear.Way.Down.Deep.... into your very soul!  Let Him do that today for you!  Rest in His time of refreshing....drink it all in!  Flourish and grow and remember....all that He has done and is still doing in your life!

Psalm 77:11-12

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.

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

Get Up and Keep Going

Sometimes....even when you don't think you can....you just have to pull yourself up....shake the dust off....and get back in the game.  The Lord will help you to do it if you ask Him.  I think one of the most important things to remember is....More of Him and less of me.  Gods got this....no matter how you or I feel! He loves us.  The Lord loves us....you and me.  He loves us and He's got us....everything that affects us....in His more than capable hands.  Really that's quite an awesome thing....the best thing ever in fact.  And if you know that....clear down to your soul....there is no better feeling! Tonight....I am thankful that He loves me....though I fail Him miserably daily....and that He's got me! There is nothing in life that is more important than Him.  Thank You Jesus for loving....and dying....for me!

Even though I believe all that I just wrote....it's still a process.  Problems of life don't just go away.  People in your life....well....they just don't change overnight.  And guess what....neither do we sometimes.  Most times to be exact.  But there is one thing for sure....the Lord will help us through these times if we ask Him.  Recently....I've been asking a lot....once I decided not to give up!  Over the last few weeks I have come to realize that I have a long way to go....a lot of growing to do....in my walk with the Lord.  I am nowhere near where I need to be....or where I want to be....when it comes to any and all things that have to do with HIM!  

I have heard many times that trials bring growth.  I am so praying that that is a true statement.  It seems that just when you think life is good....life happens to you.  The funny part of it is....most times I don't even know what starts the spiral out of the good place I'm in to the place I have found myself recently.  Yes....there are happenings in my life....as in all of our lives....that we don't like....but we have to accept.  It's just how it is.  So....

Through all that I'm saying this is not a....Oh woe is me post!  It's more of a challenge to myself.  A challenge to be more diligent in keeping myself where I need to be.  Watching for the things....the attitudes.....the people....the places....the things I neglect to do....watching for anything in my life that changes my relationship with the Lord!  Anything that hinders my growth and sets me in a backward spiral away from Him and all that is good....because I am really not a fan of any of that!  

At this point I'm not even sure where to go with this.  So I will just end it with....You have to think of things more like the Lord does....From Heavens Point Of View!

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

Prayer

We need You Lord.  More than anything or anyone....We. Need. YOU!  We need to know beyond any doubt that You are here....walking beside us....holding us when we need to be held....comforting us when we feel so alone....loving us like no one else can.  Why?  Because life is just hard at times.  In fact Lord....sometimes we think it's not even worth living because we have messed it up so badly.  Yet we know we have to keep going on....striving to be what we need to be....what You want us to be.  Oh Lord we know that You are the Shepherd....the Gentle Shepherd....and You long to guide us through all the rough places....we just have to call on You and lean in to You.  Please....just take us....take me....and hold us in Your arms tonight.  Be to each one of us....be to me....what we need You to be.  We need You Lord....I need You Lord!  We need to feel Your love....Your rest....Your peace....and really....really know....that You are holding us close and everything is good!

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

1 Peter 1:13-25

A Call To Holy Living

1 PETER 1:13-25

¹³ So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. ¹⁴ So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. ¹⁵ But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. ¹⁶ For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

¹⁷ And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” ¹⁸ For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. ¹⁹ It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. ²⁰ God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
²¹ Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.


This is one of my favorite parts of the Bible.  I have it all highlighted because it really speaks to me.  When I'm having a hard time living the way I know I should this is one of the places I go to read.  Somehow this passage just gives me what I need to keep going.  

It begins by telling us to...."prepare your minds for action"....  For me that's an all the time thing.  Before my feet hit the floor that's something I should do....but I don't always.  I'm thinking if I prayed....before I even got up....then my day....my attitude....would be so much better.  Then there's  verse 14....Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then.  In my opinion this verse should have a few of these...!!!!!...after it.  For me anyway!  We must make a conscience effort to live holy lives exhibiting Christs character in all we do and say.  That's a very hard thing to do.  We can only live like we should by staying close to the Lord....talking with Him and reading His Word daily.

Because of Jesus and the fact that He died for us on the cross....we can live our life pleasing to Him.
Yes....we will make mistakes and fail at times but we don't have to be defeated.  Jesus is always there to pick us back up.  Just keep your faith and trust in Him no matter what.

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



 

 

 

 

1 Peter 1:1-12 NLT

Lately I have seen a lot of articles about the Christians in other countries not having bibles to read.  Not much after those started appearing I started noticing that my blog was having lots of hits from a particular country....121 in the last 30 days.  Well....I started thinking about all of this.  Why would the people in this country all of a sudden really start reading my blog?  I say really start because there has been some readers before but now....in the last 24 hours....there has been 19.  Most of which was last night.  Last night....

well....last night was an experiment.  All I did was post a block of scriptures from 1 Corinthians to see how many times it would get read.  As I said before....19 times.  So....for the next few days I'm going to just post scripture and see what happens.  I'm thinking that the ones reading just want to read the Word.  Here is one of my favorite passages.

1 Peter 1:1-12

1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. ² God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.

The Hope of Eternal Life

³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, ⁴ and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. ⁵ And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

⁶ So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. ⁷ These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
⁸ You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. ⁹ The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
¹⁰ This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. ¹¹ They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
¹² They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

I pray you enjoyed this part of 1 Peter.

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

We Will Be Transformed

Tonight I just wanted to post some encouraging words.  The words I'm posting aren't my own words.  No....these words come straight out of the WORD and I pray they encourage you tonight.

1 Corinthians 15:48-58

⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. ⁴⁹ Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
⁵⁰ What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
⁵¹ But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! ⁵² It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. ⁵³ For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
⁵⁴ Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
⁵⁵ O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. ⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

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