I Love You Jesus Letter

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I love that name. I really, really love that name. It is high and lifted up. Above all else, and is the source of all I do, say and think. He is the person I wake up for every morning, the person I seek first before I do anything at all. He is the most important thing I will ever consider and my very best thought each day. You are the Great I Am, the wonderful, mighty prince of peace, the Councilor and the delight of my soul. My home, and you have made your home in me. My Lover, My Father, My Helper, My friend, My love, my Authority, My peace. You sanctify me, you lift me up when I am weak, you are strength, you are the Source of all things good in my life. You are joy. You are love. You are wisdom, might, and power. You lead, you guide, you direct and you discipline, all this and more I accept from your hand. You are, you always will be, you always have been. In you there is no darkness. In you there all comfort. In you my hope is found. In you I rest. You are my resting place. You are my streams of life, my water and my food. Without you I am homeless, Fatherless, and without anything of real value. To you I am thankful. To you I owe it all. In you is freedom, grace, and forgiveness. In you is life. Abundant life. Everlasting Life. Breath. Holy Spirit blow over me! Baby Jesus, Strong and Mighty King, I bow low in the presence of the One. Nothing can snatch me from your hands. You freed me from death, and fear of death. One small child, a baby born to die. Raised to life, and now, is the victorious raining King, the Great High Priest who ever intercedes on my behalf. Who lives and breaths to make me more like Him. Who breaths His life into me, and makes me walk when I cannot stand and makes me run, when I cannot move. You are miraculous . In one tiny baby hand is the grace that saved the world, and in the other tiny baby hand is death, life and resurrection. Little chubby baby feet that would walk the streets of dust, and death, now walk the streets of peals, rubies and gold. All day long the angels surround and sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty who reigns!!!” The ALPHA, the OMEGA, my beginning, and my end. How I long to gaze into your eyes if only for a moment. Your beauty is indescribable, your glory, who can fathom? The soft kindness in your voice saying, “You are my child, remain in me…” And then you speak words of love to a crowd who spit on you sweet baby Jesus. A gorgeous, perfect child, born to be spit upon, for the sake of MY SIN. Yes Lord, what can I say but thank you. Face down in the dust I long to kiss your beautiful feet. Can I catch a glimpse of you? Just one small look? To hold me till I get to be with you for eternity. Here is my glimpse… As a mother looks into the face of a new born child, and stares into eyes full of wonder? That is my glimpse. The beauty that overwhelms the freshness of the new little life a Mother holds…you create life, you give life, you gave your life. If only I could wash your feet with my tears. I couldn’t’ bare to look in your eyes, but you tell me too! You say, “Daughter! Arise! Look at me! Fix your eyes on Jesus.” Jesus , Jesus, you’re the answer to all I’m searching for. If only I could find words to accurately describe my love for you, one day I prayed, “Oh Lord! Won’t you let me love you more?” and you did. And you did. Thank you.

Oil On His Feet

Dear Friend,
From the outpouring of the Spirit as I have prayed for you I want to say this...
From the beginning of time, the Lord has had YOUR name on His lips. He has loved you from the moment you made your first cry. When you mother looked on you for the first time, and loved you so deeply, even more HE loved you.
As you grew, and took steps on your own He let you. He said, "How I love this child..." And He watched as you learned to run. And with your gift to run, you ran back and forth, sometimes running to Him, sometimes running away from Him.
Who is HE? The God who thought you up before the foundations of the earth were laid. You were a thought in HIS mind. This God who created the heavens, and said, "This is good..." That same God created YOU...and when HE completed you He said, "This child is good!" He gazed upon your beauty and He longed to lavish His love on you. There were times where you said, "Yes Lord, I want your love..." And other times where you said, "No thanks. I'm fine."
Friend, A woman who had lived her life in complete abandonment to sin came to Jesus one day when His beautiful feet walked the earthly streets we walk today. Jesus was eating dinner with some friends and this broken figure of a woman entered into the home where He was eating. There they were, reclining around the table as was the custom, and this woman came crawling on her hands and knees, her face so low to the ground her nose became black from dragging it so low in her shame. Have you ever like this? I have. So as this woman reached Jesus, His feet were behind Him, and He felt something smooth being poured onto His feet, He heard weeping, and then droplets began to fall on His feet, and as He turned to look at what He already knew was happening, He saw the broken figure of this woman, so shamed wiping His beautiful feet with her long black hair....down around her tear stained face, now mixed with dust, her dusty nose was now streaked with black. She could not bare to lift her eyes to meet His, but she just kept weeping, and wiping His feet. Oil and tears pouring over His feet. Her sorrow wracked body shook with the shame she held on her own shoulders because of her sin. I can only imagine the look of love Jesus must have had written all over His face. One of Jesus's friends sitting at the table finally spoke up, I can only imagine the looks of shock and horror on the faces of His companions! This is not what people do! This is just not proper! She should not even have her hair down! Hair down implied bedroom activity! But in her utter abandonment of self she disregarded everything "normal" and abandoned herself in utterly and completely gone.
She then sat there at His feet, and kissed them. Those beautiful feet. Those feet I long to kiss. She kissed them over and over and over again. People just stood and stared. This friend who spoke up at last said this..."Do you know who is touching you? What kind of woman she is?"
Jesus said this "Simeon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me said Simeon."
Jesus replied.."Two men owed money to a certain moneylender, one owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which one of them loved Him more?" Simeon replied, " I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
(Luke 7:40-50)

This my friends, is what Jesus has done for us. If you feel broken beyond repair, I have news for you. If you feel shamed beyond the ability to rise, rise in His strength.
Do you want to know the end of this story? This love story of a Savior with His beloved. Jesus looked at this women, rolling around in the chains and shame the the devil wants her to stay in, and He said, "Your sins are forgiven." and..."Your faith has healed you, go in peace." vs 50

Because she took a leap of extravagant obsession towards the only one who could save her, He saw her, and said of her, "You are my beloved. I have known you from the start..."
This world is full of lies, waging war over your souls and affections. The prince of THIS world the devil wants control over you daughters and sons! This enemy wants you to be in chains, to be in bondage...but Christ wants you to lift you tear stained faces to Him, lock your eyes with His, and receive the cleansing that washes away guilt, shame, death and fear of death.
We all have a debt we cannot pay on our own. whatever it is, know this, HE can cancel it. If only you come to Him, and ask. He who has been forgiven much, loves much, and He who has been forgiven little, loves little. You feel you have done to much to be forgiven? Think again. Oh the love that He has lavished on us. That we should be called the sons and daughters of God!

As this woman rose, from her place on the dirt, she left her costly oil, her tears, and she left her SHAME at the feet of Jesus. He wanted her to leave it there. So she could walk away in freedom. And when He hung on the cross for you and me my friend, He hung this woman's shame around His neck so the shame of HER sin, died with HIM. Gone. Forever. Never to be seen again. "Go He said, leave your life of sin!" And, in this He meant, Live free in ME. Do not walk in your own way that has no understanding. But in all your ways acknowledge HIM, and HE will make your paths straight. And by straight I mean, FULL. FILLED. NOT empty. LOVED. HELD. PROTECTED. SAFE. you are HIS beloved. He thinks you are beautiful. Friend, if you are not walking in the absence of shame that I speak of, wont you lay your shame at His feet, and accept what only He can give? LIFE. Even if you don't have costly oil to pour on His feet, that's OK. Poor out your heart to Him. He's being born tomorrow into this world to save you. Wont you accept Him as your gift? And give yourself to Him as the ultimate gift is given to you. Life. Eternal life. You will never regret accepting life, over death. Someone must die for your sin, and He would rather have it be Him. He loves you so....
Sincerely,
Your Friend.

Use me up

All gone. Empty. Dry as a bone. Bottom of the barrel. Belly up. Done. Finished.

Do any of the words describe how you feel at the end of a long day, hard day of work? I feel that way right now. But it's for a good cause you know. Every day as of late when I wake up I think this..." This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice in how HE USES ME." And I am. All I can do is make everything I do, an Hallelujah. Why? As Christmas approaches I have been thinking this: A tiny little perfect, beautiful baby boy was born to a mommy, similar to myself. That mommy was young, new at being a mom, and her baby boy was perfect to her in every way. Although something was different about this baby boy. You guessed it, His name was Jesus. And this baby, was a baby born to die. He was brought into this world for one purpose, for saving me through His death. This is why I say, what I can I say? What can I do to thank Him? What can I do that will not just end up looking hollow or empty in response the magnitude of His gift to me? So what do I say? I say this: "Lord I give you my life. And everything that is in it. All that I say, think, do and walk through each day will be done as an hallelujah to my King. He literally sacrificed everything for me. His very breath. So that I could live. Who is this King of glory???? That is the King I do everything for. So it is why I say, "Lord, what is your mission for me today?" "Lord, give me my marching orders.." "Lord..I am your instrument, play whatever song you wish..." And I am delighted each and every time He assigns me with something to do for Him and His kingdom... I wish I could say I always executed every order He gives me with absolute perfection, but I am still fleshly at times, much to my sadness. But I am giving my Lord my every single moment, and when I get selfish with those moments, and take back what I long to give to Him, I say I'm sorry, and in my confession, He takes me back and builds me back up again the faith...and once again I continue on. This King, This baby King, who came to die, has stolen my heart. And I want to give Him all of me. My every single breath. My every single moment. I love Him for all He did, for how He meets in the quiet places. How when I open His words, His words FLOOD off the pages and speak in love letters to me. His words are the most beautiful I have ever heard, and all I can say is this: "Lord, use me up." I'm desperate for Him. I am lovesick. I am breathless and thankful. And my life is His. He gave me His life. Can you imagine? Picture this tiny baby.... and in His sweet baby hands nails would be driven. And when He grew up, He was so focused. Focused on the truth of His Father, speaking truth to me. He made a way for me. I am an adopted daughter...and He made me His chosen one. So what then shall I say in response to this? "Lord use me up." I hope you hear the desperate longing I have for Him in my voice. My longing for Him is beyond any longing I have the ability to quench on my own. Only His return will quench it...but until He comes back, I will live my every single moment for HIM! I thirst for more and more time with Him....if only I could sit at His feet all day...Oh Jesus. I cling to you.

As the deer pants for the water so my soul pants for you O God.

Use me up.

Undistracted devotion for only you. I don't want to talk about you like your not in the room, I want to look right at you. I want to sing right to you. - Misty Edwards, "Doves Eyes."

Just The Gloves

My lack of blogging lately is not because God has been doing less, or speaking less to me, but rather, I have been overwhelmed with all the lessons He has been wanting me to learn...it's almost like I keep trying to catch a moment to examine all I've learned but I can't even stop long enough to do that! haha
But here is the biggest lesson I have been learning. I am a glove. Let me explain what I mean and as I do so I'm going to do it hopefully in a way that when you are done reading this, you will want to be more of a glove as well. God is the great master. The great physician, the one in charge. He has tasks for each one of His children that He would like to use us in. He places each one of His children in their life situations, and as things happen to us, and circumstances mold and shape us, this causes us to have an avenue of understanding that someone farther down the road does not. We all different things. What He teaches you, is going to be different than what He teaches another person. For He intends to use you, differently than He uses someone else. So in your life lets just say you lost a child. Tragic and heart wrenching, in your sorrow you turn to God, He teaches you the beautiful thing that only He can make good from bad. He takes your tragedy and places you in a situation in life to minister to other families who have lost children. Your pain, suddenly, has a purpose. Your trial can be viewed in a different light, and you realize, in eternity, the death of your child means something more than death. It is life to others. It is a chance for you to take another person (through His guidance) from a state of utter desolation, to understanding things that you know now further down the road from your own pain. God is glorified...you are sanctified and work for the kindgdome has been done. You see, it's like this: God is the surgeon. He uses gloves in each and every surgery, this surgeon has the ability to choose what kind of gloves He wants to use in any given operation/procedure. God who is all knowing, sees everyone, and understands all thing thing, looks at us and says, "There! Those are the gloves I can use." And He slips us on, and we go to work, only able to do real meaningful work when we are on His strong hands. We are His instruments, that is another way to look at it. A spoon laying on the table is nice, but the spoon only becomes useful when the person using the spoon picks it up and begins to put it into use. I am a spoon. I am a glove. So this is what I have been saying, "Lord, I am in my place in life because in your sovereignty, you put me here. Knowing that at some point, you'd be needing a pair of gloves that fits 'this' type of situation. So here I am. Speak Lord, your servant is listening." And as I tell Him such things I begin to notice, opportunities in my life arising to take things from my past and present and use it to glorify my Maker. Do you hear the gravity in this? You are not the one doing the work. He is. He is using your MOUTH. Your SITUATION. Your PAIN. Your TRIAL. And giving you a unique platform to further His kingdom from. To proclaim Him name from. He takes the things that the prince of darkness wants to ruin us with, and turns it around to help other people in HIS kingdom, encourage others in this faith, and strengthen others until the day of His return, or He calls us home.
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10

So friends...what is it that He is asking you to do for Him? Or, rather, let Him do with you? You might be the pair of gloves He wants to use right now, but first we have to realize that the gloves do not move on their own, meaning we always need the Master to put us on before our lives take on kingdom purpose. So ask the great Physician, "Is this the surgery you want to use me in?" Trust me friends, He will answer.
And then, secondly, because the gloves do not move on their own, even if it looks like it's the glove that is doing all the work, their not. So if the man behind the gloves is making all the moves, who should get the glory when the work is done? The one behind the gloves. We are here to hi light Him, and being used by Him, and then when the work is done, turning around and applauding HIM...this is what we ought to do. He knows you child...He knows your hurts, your fears and your pain, and He will not stretch you in use beyond what He knows you can do. But when we are stretched, used and worn out at the end of the day, you know what we get to take joy in? We have done something in His strength, for His purpose, for KINGDOM VALUE. Kingdom value is the riches that do not run out! Kingdom value is the stuff that makes this life have deep, meaningful purpose. And it's the stuff that at the end of the day, is the only that matters. We are the most fulfilled, peace filled and strengthened when we are being used by Him in such a capacity. I realize this thinking is foolishness to the world... but have you spent any time gazing into the eyes of the Savior? You will be reminded of why we do what we do as gloves as you look into His eyes of sacrifice. What He did for me...you know, a baby born to die...I'm not sure I can write any further for the sorrow that overwhelms me as I have to consider all He suffered for, for me. To give me life. And, in my past, I had the audacity to take the glory when He died for me, and then used me, and I somehow thought I did something that added to that? NO friends. The only thing I brought to the table was my sin, and He lifted me up from my pain filled, desolate, destructive way of life, and put clean white clothes on me, and said, "there...she is the one I want to use." Bowing low, in the presence of the ONE. I place my tear stained face at the foot of the cross, I rest my now cleaned hands down in front of the cross. "use me Lord" is all I can say. And then you know what we say friends..." To Him be ALL THE GLORY, HONOR AND PRAISE." This King, this Great High King, who ever intercedes for us, who suffered for us, who uses us, and makes us worthy, makes us clean, He is the only reason I want to get up in the morning. My beautiful Savior. My precious Jesus. My Righteous Judge. My Great High King. The one who sat down at the right hand of the Father and for me said, "It is finished." Yes friends. That is the one who puts me on His hands as gloves, and uses me. Speechless am I.

Fear

What are you so afraid of? There are a lot of things that a person could fear..and for me, it's mostly a fear of the unknown. You know the type, things like "whats going happen to me if I get sick...what's going to happen to my kids if...(and you can fill in the blank. What if someone breaks into my house, what if my husband dies, what if my life falls apart? OH MY GOODNESS FRIENDS???!!! Can you feel the temperature rising as I state these fears that swirl around my mind??? I can and I have one thing to say.."Jesus! Stop the noise!" and drown out the madness of my fear. Perfect love drives out fear right? So what does this mean in relation to my trust in Jesus in light of all these fears that swirl around me? I need to look at my circumstances through the light of His love for me...and how friends, how He loves us! Getting to know Jesus is the best thing we can do for ourselves (and others) if we are feeling fearful, alone, in pain, happy, peaceful, thankful, deserted, (you get the idea) getting to Jesus in all and any life-circumstances is going to help us view our circumstances in a more God inspired way. The person of Jesus reveals to us how to respond in any and all circumstances, the understanding we gain of God helps us to view our situation in light of a God who made all things perfectly, sacrifice His son, and gave us the ultimate gift. So when I am fearful, I can say, God is going to give me His best. He already did this for me once and for all with the death of HIS SON on the cross. And so, even now, as I can imagine all the things this world offers to me to be afraid of, I can point my finger at the fear and say NO! In all of this I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ My LORD who greatly empowers me to boldly face the things that cause me to tremble. You know the song, "When I am afraid give me Jesus..." well it's true friends. You can have all the rest, just give me Jesus. Essentially what that song is saying is this: What's the problem? Here's the answer..JESUS. Whats the thing that is troubling you? Here's the answer...JESUS. What do you fear? Here's the answer...JESUS. Yes my friends, Jesus is the answer. He is my answer to all of my life's problems...troubles and fears. I need to look at my fears and circumstances in light of how much He loves me. I know He loves me because He demonstrated His love for me on that old rugged cross. He took My shame. My sins. My guilt and died for it...for me...Amazing Grace. And yet I still find it in me to be afraid? Fear is normal, LIVING in fear is not. Have a fearful though is normal, we just have to know where to put that thought and how to move on. We place that fearful thought in His hands, and we ask Him to empower us to live in the freedom from whatever drives us down. We do not have to be a slave to that which we fear. So I say this: Fear, you shall not be my master. By His blood, I am free, victorious, and I have a way out of myself. THANK YOU LORD!!! I pray that this encourages any of you who read this, for I know that in this world there are many many things we can fear, but Christ who has chosen us to be His people before the foundations of the earth was laid, gives us all we need to live a life that is full, filled, and free. And I pray you can (and I) can tap into that with all the joys and blessings that it holds for us.
There is an enemy who would love for us to live in the thing that longs to enslave us, but we have a Master who is stronger than any enemy we may face. Let Him be the ammunition to fight your fears, and watch as the thing that longs to entangle you, is exposed for what it really is...FEAR,SATAN: you will not be our master. In Jesus name, we claim victory. Can I get an AMEN? AMEN. NOW LIVE IN FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All My Little Holes

Have you ever looked at a honey-comb? The outline is always in place, but in-between there are many tiny holes. In the actual beehive, the holes are endless and the bees work tirelessly to fill them. That my friends is kinda what we do to. We are busy little busy body bees, and we are always working hard to fill up our lives, make them full, and at least "look" nice. Right? Who cares whats going on on the inside...*ahem* There is someone who cares about whats happening with on in the inside. And HE does care about how well we fill those holes, and just what it is that we fill them with.

Let me explain.

When you start out your life it probably looks a little something like this: I want this because I want this. It sounds good to me. It seems to fit who I am. It makes me happy. I am excited about this thing and therefore, we drop it in one of our "empty" holes. There. That's filled.

And we move on. OK, how should I fill up the area of "relationships" in my life? "Ooohhh!" That persons cute, and my heart flutters when I see them and they seem to respond to me too, and I think they would fit me, and I think they would make me happy, possibly more complete, and lets see..."Yep. I think they fit in that gap." Good. *dusts hands off* that hole is filled now too. We are making fast progress here friends! Good work right??? wrong.

Let me ask you this: When was the last time you asked God of all, Maker of you, oh, and of heaven and earth, what HE thought of how we fill our lives? All of our gaps?

We start out with just a thin small frame of existence, and due to our sinful, selfish natures, we instantly begin to fill our emptiness with things that WE think will make us be more whole. More filled. This is not how it is supposed to work.

Sit down with a pencil and paper. Yes, right now.

With pencil in hand, write in one column the list you think you decided for yourself, in your life. (ie) Kids. Husband. Job. Friends. Hobbies. Fun. Play. Sports. (you get the idea)

Things that YOU know you decided upon, not the things you counseled the Lord on.

In the second column write down the God-filled holes. (or what it is that fills the holes) and see what you come up with...(husband, kids, lifestyle, home, how you spend your time, money, you get the drill)

See you back when your list is done.

Done? SO? what'd you come up with?

How much did you find in your life that is God place, God designed, God breathed, God thought up? And how much of it was you? Are you encouraged? Or convicted? Inspired?

Inspired is what I hope you say. Because friends, the holes will only cease to be empty for eternity when you let God be the one to fill them. So lets say you filled your time hole with all kinds of junk. Things you now see are not things that God chose for you, lay out your list before the Lord, and ask Him..."Lord, what of these things are you pleased with? How can I start over in filling these things with things that YOU would choose for me?" Let me tell you how you will know that the way your holes are filled, are filled with things HE is please with. In enters peace. Yes peace like a river my friends. You sit there, and you can breath easy as you stare into that filled hole. It feels good. Righteous. Holy. Time well spent. A hole, well-filled. yeah?

Perhaps the problem with the way we fill our holes is that we don't understand His design well enough for us. What are His desires for us? How will we ever know these desires? By taking our un-renewed minds and giving Him timae. When God is in the center of all we start...things begin to fall into the holes in a way that makes total sense, and leave us at peace.

Here is one tangible example from my own life that I will end on.

Last week, I had one hour in which to accomplish some things. It was a hole. I had a way that I thought would be the best way to fill that hole. (some holes are bigger than others) SO as literally sat at the intersection, and prayed, "Lord, what way do you want me to fill this hole..." And as I prayed, the peace washed over me, and I turned right. Instead of left. It's that simple friends. He longs for us to ask Him about everything we do. Not in a legalistic way. Not in a way that paralyzes us...but in a way that allows Him to quite literally, direct our steps. To be Holy Spirit led...God approved, love by the Father as we willing walk out our day in faithfulness to His plans for us. That is how we fill all those little holes. As I said earlier, some holes are bigger than others..like "God, should I take this job?" "God, should I live this way.." or " God, I want kids, but can't have them...what does that mean???" Yes. Some holes are big, some are small, but quit being such a busy little busy, and stop. Take your busy mind, and quiet it before the Father who loves you and know whats best for you as ask for the ears to hear, the eyes to see, and mind to comprehend what the Holy Spirits next move for you might be. Friends, you are in for a real treat if you haven't done this yet. It is so amazing to feel as though you are really truly, absolutely walking in such a way that has His touch all over it. It's such a delight to the Father when we walk in His will. And as we ask in His will..that is where the power lies. That perhaps is for another post though. Lets start here and friends, enjoy your new found freedom. IN HIM!!! :) Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, and goodwill to men. (and gals)

Can't I Just Relax????

Have you ever thought that regarding your ministry? And yes, the answer is yes. But not in the way you think. To die is gain. We know this right? But do we live this way? To Christ we give it all...we say this right? But do I believe this ALL THE TIME? It's one thing when your in ministry day full throttle...but what happens when you arrive home, feet smoking from all the running you have just done for Him, and you sit down, and say, "is this my life?"

Oh friends. Let me encourage you on something I am trying to learn myself here. God IS a God of rest. He wants His servants to rest in HIM! He longs for us to grab all the strength we need from His unlimited source pools, and when we are tired, He longs to show us HOW to lay down beside still waters, and have our souls restored. So you ask..."How do I do this?"

And we pray this: "Holy Spirit...show us. Show ME how to rest in the midst of a crazy, seemingly endless, chaotic life that always begs for MORE." More of what? More of us? Surely not. The only person we give US to, IS GOD. The rest, He gives us to give.

*sigh of relief?* Me too.

It's not our strength my friends. It's His. The Lord Almighty. God of ALL. God of the universe (that HE created) and Lord of all we say and do...THAT is whom we glean our strength from. His resources are endless. His power, indescribable. His abilities? Whom can fathom. SO what are we so afraid of? Why are we so exhausted? Perhaps my friends, we are trying to do this thing, (our ministries) a bit TOO much on our own. We have no power in and of ourselves to encourage others, minister to others. It's only what He says with our mouths, and does with our hands that we can really do anything at all. How do we offer an acceptable gift of service to Him? By asking for the power, the will and the know how. How do accomplish anything that has any sort of kingdom value? Through HIS unending, matchless abilities. He will show us. His wisdom is beyond. His might is unspeakable. And guess what my friends? It's available to you. Let us unveil the means of grace. Our how, our why, our what, and when is God. Your confused? Pray this: "Show me Holy Spirit! Help me! Reveal to me, so I am no longer confused..." You are tired...pray this.." Holy Spirit, show me the best way you want me to rest..." And if you know I am not to rest...give me the energy." Oh and friends! He will. He is soooooooo good. And I am so thankful to have this GIFT of knowledge that I know that I can turn to HIM at any given moment, (and really, it should be without ceasing) for anything, anytime, anywhere...and boom. YES BOOM!!! I can be encouraged. just like that. And all I have to do, is say, "Lord, I am without anything that I need. I am lacking in all I need. WILL YOU O FATHER supply me????" And He will. And He does. And I am no longer saying..."can't I just relax???" Because His ways are higher than mine. He sees what I cannot...and He ministers to me more than any nap, or any vacation (or late') ever could. Know what I mean?

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him. ROOTED and BUILT UP in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were aught and OVERFLOWING WITH THANKFULNESS." -Colossians 2:6-7

Oh yeah, so here is the part I forget. When I'm swamped. When I'm done, when I would consider myself to be "suffering.." I am supposed to rejoice and be thankful. That's weird. Right? Wrong. Thankfulness is the response we ought to have when we know we are doing the only thing in life that really matters. So you are tired? He understands...and will give you rest...but what we need to recall when we are so tired is this: If we are tired for the sake of Christ, we are to be thankful. If we are tired because we are doing the things that WE KNOW He has without a shadow of a doubt called us to do, then we are blessed. We are blessed to share in His ministry. We are blessed to be living a life filled with Holy Spirit given direction, with God-fueled strength, and a calling that has the name of Jesus Christ written all over it. Yes my friends, in the Christian world...tired from ministry = thank you Lord. Because, (and I'm learning this still) His path of resistance, is better than the lonely, dark, cold, path that ends in death. (the path of least resistance) When you are facing resistance, it's because you are conquering things for the Kingdom, and believers in Christ on a mission: Let me tell you this!!!! Your ministry for Christ is the only thing that lasts. Nothing else matters except that which He has called us up to do. So the next time you (or I) feel worn out, tired, or just plain DONE. Ask the Holy Spirit to revive you, and as you look out at your ministry with a fresh pair of Holy Spirit awakened eyes, think on this: "For God so love the world that He gave His only Son FOR ME." You are saved. You are whole because He was broken. Waves of resistance? In His boldness we can face them. Tired? In His rest we can live. Overwhelmed? IN HIS POWER WE WILL SEE LIFE ABUNDANT!

This is the good stuff friends. So don't relax. Rest. "Come to me all who are weary, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST."

"Oh Lord, your beautiful...you face is all I see. And as the things of earth grow strangely dim...in the light of your glory and grace... Turn you eyes upon Jesus...look full in His wonderful face..."

Eyes on Him dear friends. Eyes on Him. And rest.