About Me

Thanks for stopping by my blog- My name is Amber, and I have two things I am really passionate about, and they would be Jesus, and family. Jesus became real to me in March of 2008, and my life has not been the same since, hence the reason to blog. This blog is just another way that I can fame the Name that set me free and hopefully encourage others along the way. I pray the words of this blog, the words the Lord has written on my heart to share with all of you, encourage you, build you up and cause you to lift your eyes off of your less than desirable circumstances, and place them onto the totally capable Father in Heaven. Jesus is my everything, and I pray you feel His love here. Bless you friend. Spend as much time as the Lord allows you on my blog, and be blessed.

Hebrews 11:8

"By faith, when Abraham was called to go to a place he would later receive his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

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.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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)




Thursday, October 6, 2011

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.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Sorrow? You Are Not My Master




You know, that what you worship is your idol? And what you idolize, that essentially is your master. (2 Peter 2:19b)




Have you ever considered this? The thing you spend the most time thinking about and on, is most likely the thing that is your biggest pit-fall? The one thing that you hold so tight too, and do not want to let go of for fear of loosing? Yes. That is the thing we are TO let go of. In my case...sorrow tends to be something I have a hard time letting go of. I say..."that is my pain to hold" Or that is "my thorn in my flesh.." but even though Peter begged with the Lord to remove His thorn, the Lord did not return with answers of "Yes Peter, I'll make your life perfect..." Rather, the thorn is what kept Peter running back to the Lord. That the thorn is what kept Peter confident in the Lord rather than himself. God is not cruel. He does not want us to be in pain, rather He wants us to be victorious in our difficult circumstances. It's like the parent who does not come and fish the wayward child out of every puddle they fall in. Sometimes the child has to learn either to ask for help, or how to avoid the puddles all together. You see? I have been sitting in my own puddle for quite some time. Tears streaming down, focus completely inward, eyes looking intently at my soppy state. Rather, God is saying, " Here's a towel, ask me for it. Here is a cup of warm tea to warm yourself with, ask me for it!!! Here is a fire I have built for you to sit by, come sit with me here." And I keep saying, "Oh but God I'm so cold!" and " Oh Father, you just don't understand how soppy I am!! It will take forever for me to dry..." and on I go complaining, sitting in my puddle. This is NOT the life God would have for me. THIS is not His idea of victorious living. NO. This is called wallowing. And you know who wallows? Swine. I am not very fond of swine. they stink. The snort. They live in dirty conditions, and in reality they actually LIKE the mud. I do not want to be a swine. SO, today as the Lord once again encouraged me in another layer of truth to stand up and get out of my puddle, I said once more.."OK...I'll try." And with weak arms, I struggled to pull myself up. But as I rose out of the water, do you know what happened...? He grabbed my hand. He helped me. He held me up as I shook the mud from my feet, and wiped my tears away. He handed me a towel, and held my hand as He led me to the fire of His holy grace. Grace. I took my eyes off of my lonely conditions for one second, and placed them on His plan for me, His purpose for even my pain, and this is what I saw: grace. A new beginning. A chance to begin anew. And the strength in which to do it in. That is what I received in return for my filth. I gave Him my weakness, and He gave me strength. I gave Him my sorrow, and He gave me joy. I gave Him my wet, soppy, mud soaked clothes, and He gave me hope laced, pure white linen. As I put on my new clothes, I realized, the trial was still there. I still had the thorn, but He showed me what to do with the sorrow, where to put it, and how to move forward. As I handed Him my pain and sorrows, He smiled at me. I actually FELT this smile. It warmed my soul. With tear stained cheeks, and new white clothes, I moved around the puddle, I realized wallowing, was not helping. We all have something that causes us grief. We all have something that is our "if only this was not here, all would be well..." but friends, let me tell you, you can live victorious even with your "if only." We just need to learn how from the one who gives us all we need. Our heavenly Father knows us, hears us, loves us and longs to show us what victorious life actually looks like. To thrive. Not survive. That is the goal. No more wallowing. Sorrow, although you are there...you are not my master. I have only one Master..and in His hands, I know I am held. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift. All Praise, And Glory, And Honor are due...and In He alone, Am I VICTORIOUS. (and you can be too)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Way To Spend A Day



-Wakeup: 6am.



-6:15 Devotions.



- Run at 7. shower at 8.



-off to work by 8:30.



-12:00 Lunch.



-5pm clock out.



-5:30 pick up kids (or dinner)



-6pm eat.



-7 till 8:45 watch tv



-9 brush teeth



-10pm bed.






So...here is a "schedule." A plan for a day. I'm sure you have one that looks similar, or much different depending on if you have children, or a family. It's a fine schedule and most likely, you are quite content, (for the most part) with how your days go. At the end of the day there is not too much to complain about, you get paid, you feed yourself and your family well enough, you get time to rest on the weekends. But yet, I still can't help but feeling like something is missing...



You may feel this way too, it sort of comes with little twinges of sadness that your not sure where they come from and why, and a feeling like you are "missing something." Not quite empty, but just a little void. Like, your staring out a window at a beautiful sunshine day, but you are anticipating the clouds that might roll in later. That sort of feeling. I've been there so I'm not really having any trouble articulating what I want to communicate. I spent many many days feeling just this way. And I was not very happy in this place.



Something WAS missing.



Let me ask you this...when you make your plan for the day, do you ask the LORD what He would want you to do and accomplish in and through your day? I mean, the time that you call discretionary, is it really discretionary? Not that you don't ever relax, because God wants you to rest also! But when you say "Lord, will you help me to organize my day in such a way that brings you the most glory, and uses the gifts and abilities you have given me to use the schedule that you see best for me? That best suits me to do your work...for your glory? It's AMAZING what happens when all of a sudden you start to look at your day as more than just "another day." More than just Tuesday or Friday. It's God's day, God's schedule. For you must know friends, HE does see what we cannot. And You can be sure He does have a day plan for you that works best for you, and glorifies Him the most. Our lives are His as Christians. We accept this right? But our days? Our every little minute by minute plan? Is that a little too much for you to consider? Well, it's not meant to be a thought that stresses you, because the very reason I am bringing this up is that you will have less stress in your day! God can organize things in such way that just works better. BUT...we have to ASK Him first. We have to see what He wants us to do, and when He wants us to do it. So you say you have "no other time to run but at 7am?" Ask Him if this is how HE wants you to spend your 7am hour. Perhaps He would rather have you do something else for Him at that time and then He will give you a hour and 1/2 at a different time rather than a rushed hour long run before work! Work is non-negotiable, we know that, but how about those 10 minutes that you sit idle at your desk? Or perhaps your rather idle the entire day? Use your work time to bring Him glory as well! Let me just stop and say WHY it is we do this friends...why we are so focused on bring Him glory, why we are so blessed to walk through a day in His strength, and His direction/guidance... We are blessed to do this because He gave up everything for us on the cross...then He so graciously sent His Holy Spirit here to guide us in all we do. We forfeit such wonderful direction when we do things in our strength rather than tapping into the all-knowing discernment of the Spirit. He can even help you make the right food choices in a day! Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever prayed this? "Lord, help me to make food choices today that honor you, and bless this body that you have made your home...that I will crave the right things, and that you will tell me when it's OK to splurge on a treat, and when you want me to eat a healthier thing?" HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THIS WAY FRIENDS? It's transformational when we start to consider that all we do, every little thing, MATTERS TO GOD. And that He has a plan for you for ever moment of your day? So the next time you really just feel like crashing on the couch, ask the Lord? "Lord, do you think that resting right now is the best thing for me? And if it's not, would you give the energy to get up and accomplish what it is you want me to do for you?" He is not a slave driver. He will tell you to do what He knows is best for you. Even better than you know yourself. It's a radical way of thinking I know, but I would imagine that as you spend your days in a whole new way, living out a "Spirit led day" you will begin to be more satisfied, better rested, more well fed, and with more peace than if you tried to walk around your day blind. For when we make our plans, and commit them to the Lord by being in the center of His will, our plans WILL succeed. Because it will not be our personal success, but His. And He is all about making us succeed in His strength. We only need to know this: In order to hear Him, we need to be sensitive to Him, and in order to be sensitive to Him, we have to know Him...and how do we really know someone? BY SPENDING GOOD, QUALITY TIME WITH THEM. So spend your time with Him each day....and watch as He makes your day unfold in such a way that does not leave you feeling empty, unproductive or as though you have missed something...but rather you feel this: This was a good day, this was a day that the Lord Made! This was God centered day, that left me feeling as though I did something that prospered not just my life, but others life, because when you start to focus on His plans for you, you see all the little opportunities in each day that He has for you to minister to others. When we plan our days by our own desires, we always tend to factor out OTHERS. We only plan for us. This is not God's design. We were formed, placed and led to be ministers of His word, and His word constantly speaks of how we are to love others in actions, words and truth. SO I challenge you, consider your days my friends. Consider your time. This is not a guilt trip, this is a gift, and gift of a new though process that causes us to in the end, be living a more fulfilling, more joyful, more peaceful, more FILLED (Spirit filled) life. And I for one, want more of this, less of me, more of Him, = joy, peace, and contentment. yes please. I'll have some more of that.



Thank you Lord. You are so good to us to show us your loving kindness in the form of directions for our day. The truth that you even care of us, and our mindful of us causes me to be so humbled. The fact that you take the time to speak to us??? That is amazing. The God who LITERALLY formed the moon and the stars, forms our days (if we invite Him to do so) and that leaves me speechless. THANK YOU LORD!!!! AMEN!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A New Direction




Much of what I blog on has been going down the road of, "what to do to live a life that is filled with the joy of Christ, the direction of the Holy Spirit, and ways to live the life God has called us to live." A long title but it the jest of it. As I have taken a few days off of blogging, (weeks?) I realized something....much I what I say sounds the same. Be Christlike, live in a manner that is worth and pleasing to the Father, be encouraged men of faith, and walk in His strength, not ours. Am I right? SO...one has to ask? What now? What now Lord? What do you have for me to write, to say, to encourage? As I have poured over the scriptures lately, mainly the writings of Paul, I am astounded at how many different ways he delivers the same message..."Repent. Be encouraged. Live a life that is pleasing to God.. DO His work that the Holy Spirit will tell you to do, but the only the way you will hear the Holy Spirit is if you are connected to the Speaker of life, wisdom and understanding to those mysteries we do not know." Mysteries that will only be explained to us through discernment that only He can give. Through ears that only are opened when we are in constant conversation with the Father, (and by constant conversation I mean staying connected to the vine) and to in return bring GLORY to the Father to FURTHER the kingdom of HEAVEN and look forward to our eternal home. ALL THE WHILE...being more peaceful, joyful and encouraged than if we avoided this whole life with Christ all together. It makes sense to me as I write it out...does it make sense to you? To live a life powered by Christ, fueled by the wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit...and a feeling of awesome holy reverence for the one who thought it all up in the first place...GOD. The main thing that God has been teaching to me, and stressing it's importance is this: The Whys of this whole thing. And the How's. The why is simply this: I am His. He can do with me what He wants. He can use my hands, my mouth, my feet, (you get the idea) to what He can with them THE MOST that He can with them. This is not a use and loose it mentality. (that He has with me) HE is my FATHER. And a Father LOVES his child...and wants to see HIS child succeed in the very best way possible. So that is why I feel so confident in HIS use of me. He loves me with a love powered not by selfish motives, for God cannot be impure. He is Holy...perfect and trustworthy. (trust-able) and we ought to feel VERY safe in this. Now the HOWS of how we do what we do for God, is rather simple and yet complicated. Simple because we know that we are not powered by our own strength. If we were powered by our own ability and capabilities, we would cash out at mile 5 of the marathon, for that is truly where most humans strengths, run out. NO...in all of this we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through whom? Christ JESUS!!!!! Not ourselves. The little bit more complicated part is simply finding the time to set aside to get to know the Holy Spirit well enough to hear His voice. to be sensitive to His leading, calling and words. He has words for you my friends. He has understanding, wisdom and knowledge for you dearly beloved children of God!!! He wants to teach you things that you do not know. To give you directions that you cannot hear unless you sit, read and get quiet with Him. Worship Him with an open mind to hear what direction He may have for you. Be sensitive. You know what it means to be sensitive? To your spouse/loved one...children...friends...family? You sit...you are quiet...you still and you look intently, you listen intently and you wait until your speaker is done before you interject your thoughts. You are patient while you are being sensitive and you are calm. Is this the way you open your Bible? Are you expectant, but most of all a sensitive searcher? That is what we are called to be. And most of all, why do we do this my dear friends? We do this to be used. And when we know we are being used for the best purposes that God has in mind for us, what are then? Fulfilled. And again I ask you a question...what does the word fulfilled lead you to think of? For me it's peaceful. Content. And JOY. Isn't it joy that draws you to another? I want to be with Joyful people. People who are content. WHO are streaming out goodness from the goodness that dwells within. That is the kind of friend I want to have. And as the song that Tim Magraw sang one time about "living like we are dying..." To be the kind of friend a friend would want to have.




SO I'll leave you with that. No more questions. No more of my thoughts and answers...But just a challenge to search your hearts through Christ Jesus...Look as if to find something. Search as if you know the answer is in there. Examine as if it's your last and only clue to finding the answers you have been searching for all your life. He will meet you there. Trust Him. Thank Him. Love Him. Live FOR HIM. Be desperate for Him AND...most of all...to God be the glory.