Wait On The Lord

1 Cor. 2: 4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:”

Wait On The Lord

Waiting on the Lord requires no rocket science, it requires a faith in the unknown like no other belief.  Faith alone will not guide you into the hands of the waiting Lord when eternity comes your way, faith alone is like having a tree with no leaves. You have the solid trunk (faith) but without leaves, you’re left feeling naked among men, and to many, that’s not a pretty sight.

A part of waiting on the Lord is preparing. Preparing and being prepared for the day He arrives when your naked tree is looked upon by Him. Did you tend the tree? Did you give it the utmost care and nurture it so it would grow? Then why does it have no leaves? Don’t tell me it’s fall, either! 

We are being attacked in our daily lives by satan himself. He’s present in our negative thoughts, gives us nasty scenarios to distract us from the Lord and your tending of the tree. If your tree is naked you more than likely have fallen victim of satan without even knowing it. You’ve tried to tend the tree (your faith), you’ve kept vigil by being true to His word, but you allow what you think is good and right into your world not knowing you’re doing battle with satan and losing even some small connection to the bark of the tree.

1 Cor. 10:3-6  “And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.”

We allow our strong faith to be swayed by the lusts of this world. That is where many people go wrong in their walk, they’re easily swayed not fearing the Lord or satan for that matter. I sometimes think people believe in God but not satan. Well, let me just say, if there is good there is also evil. They both walk and talk spiritually to lure but one sits in the midst waiting to devour you with pleasures that will lead you away from the righteous path. Demons, satan's followers -the third that were cast out of heaven and were denied the chance to be born on this earth are among the living. Spiritual forces -both good and evil- permeate this existence

When people say they are believers and followers of Christ, how can they NOT believe in satan? Especially when the Bible states that Jesus cast out demons. Is that a lie? Was that just folly to scare us? I’m not one to dwell in the dark hemisphere and I try not to bring any bit of darkness to this world that hasn’t already touched me in some way shape or form. 

Rev. 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

To wait on the Lord, the demons inside you must be cast out. There is a way to be rid of the darkness and that is trusting in the Lord solely for whatever you choose. Do you choose hate over love? Do you dwell in darkness instead of Light? 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

With ALL thine heart does not mean a portion of it, it means ALL of it. Sometimes you’ll feel queasy because satan is tugging at you but you need STRENGTH in the Lord so He can and will direct your path.

This month is Creepy Movie month in our household where we watch creepy scary movies. I like tales of ghost hauntings (Haunted Honeymoon, The Others, The Sixth Sense) but I despise demon possession (Exorcist, Conjuring) for a reason no one would understand without calling me a freak but I normally draw the line on those demonic types of movies. 

We take turns picking a movie and the month has been going pretty good with movies like The Addams Family, White Noise, (animated) Monster House, Awakening, The Haunting, just good fun creepy movies.

Last night hubby’s pick went south, too far south for me, the movie The Conjuring was about demon possession and I don’t think even he knew it was that blood-curdling scary. But then again he’s never experienced such a thing, his family kept a well-guarded shield of Christianity around the family spanning generations. 

Going a little off topic here (I’m sure it will circle back to Waiting on the Lord) but I don’t know how my hubby and I were even brought together except for that of a Higher Spiritual force! My upbringing, I was always enmeshed in ghost stories. When I was three years old (or younger) I REMEMBER a black cat circling my crib waiting to pounce on me before jumping out our second story window. Mother said we never owned a cat at the time, Hmm. Then my older siblings thirteen and eleven owned a game called Kabala that they thought their little three-year-old sister would like to see. My life was shaped all the way up to ghost stories from my aunts to I myself owning a ouija board. The paranormal was just a part of my upbringing.  My only saving grace was the attendance of Catholic school which in a way brought MY own shield of protection. 

Hubby was raised in a Baptist family where they attended church regularly, bible school weekly, and summer camp yearly. They played cards and normal board games and when I asked had he ever owned a ouija board he said no. They didn’t tell ghost stories (lest it be about the Holy Ghost) and they didn’t meddle in the paranormal. As he grew he had a season where he turned AWAY from God and church whereas I turned TO God and the church. I have to say we’re a 50/50 couple. We’re fifty percent alike and fifty percent different from one another. I guess that’s why it works for us in this season of our lives.

I had a friend recently comment, “I know I don’t wait on the Lord the way I should.” My reply was that there is no certain way that one, ‘waits on the Lord’. We all go through different seasons in our life and our experiences whether good (hubby’s) or bad (mine) will shape what we become and how we wait differently on the Lord.

God Himself decided to reach down and mold me into who I am today, while others might not have FELT the hand of God and had to seek and find Him first before they could THINK of waiting on the Lord. I will not stop my Creepy Movie month of watching movies because, in all honesty, it is the season we put to rest all that has shaped the year. With these movies, I can reflect on how far I have come, while hubby can see the season he missed. You know what I mean?

Exodus 13:10 “Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.”

Time In A Bubble

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Time in A Bubble

“Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.”  ~Thomas Hardy

Here I sit in an isolated bubble of my own making. I like to think outside the bubble but seriously I feel safer in here and protected by the walls of Christ I’ve built around me that nothing can seemingly penetrate.

Four very important words in your life are love, honesty, truth, and respect. Yes, I know there are many more important words but these four keep me in my bubble. You know why? Because not many people can handle the truth or honesty and I do believe that it earns me respect and love. 

Often I’m labeled ‘weird’ for my intuitive insights but I’ve never allowed it to cloud my judgment when sizing up a person, place or thing. Instead, I let my mind and all of its beautiful intuitive qualities lead me into a greener pasture where no one dares to go.

“Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.” I couldn't make out the name of the author who wrote this quote but I’m certain different people have said it many different times during many different eras. This could be my mantra that I dangle in my little bubble. I want people to see a goodness in me and I want that to be one of the reasons they share their goodness with others. 

I was so unlike myself yesterday, waking in a grumpy mood and staying there all the way through the horror movie, The Shining! I rarely watch movies with foul language and nudity, not because I’m better than anybody but it is my preference not to put myself through such a demeaning show of the controlling display that Hollywood/media has gripped the world with for years. But I love a good creepy movie.

But I’m telling you, I woke in such a mood yesterday, I don’t know how my family could stand being around me! First, living out on a farm we’re inundated by flies! We’ve gone through about five or six boxes of fly strips (that has ten strips in it) this season alone. They are getting so aggressive with the weather changing I could swear they were beating holes into my door to gain entry. We’re not talking a fly here or there, we’re talking waking up to at least fifty scattered around on the ceiling and throughout the day, hundreds making their way in the slightest opening of the doors. I won’t put the fly strips in the kitchen and living area but they work back in the laundry area. I’m talking thousands of flies, enough to drive any human insane! My outside wall looks like an animated moving wall!

Then there are the instances that have taken place over the weekend that are also driving me mad. I won’t mention names, I’m not a political person, I just live in my little bubble that I feel is going to burst come November 9th, if you get my meaning. Until then EVERYONE (but maybe one or two) is on a venting WAR PATH! This is so ridiculous I want to seal my bubble with crazy glue so nothing can pop it! Let me tell you, the anger SEEPS. 

Have you ever heard that you can’t unsee what you’ve seen? Well, that is what all the raging is doing to me, seeping into my bubble and I need to shrink into a tiny dishwashing bubble so no one can see the light I emit. They can’t have it! They will dirty the bubble and make me appear as scum. They are not going to make me despise and hate no matter how much they try! There’s really no place for fun anymore in the virtual world, people have all strangely morphed and not in a good way where I want to be around. 

Here's an interesting read from Max Lucado and what he says about Jeremiah. I never saw Jeremiah this way but thank you, Mr. Lucado, for shedding Light to this darkened world and helping me to see things from a wise and different perspective. Thank you.

Romans 8:28 “In everything God works for the good of those who love him” 

I believe I will wake November 9th  and either way this whole clown (literal and figurative) fiasco will be over and my God will still be the Sovereign King of my heart and soul! My bubble won’t burst and I’ll live happily ever after. I will have a clear conscience and feel GOOD about my verbal, mental and physical choices I’ve made this entire election year as well as my entire life!

Prov. 2:9-12 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

Creeped Out

Prov. 6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
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Yesterday was kind of scary. I know my friend rectified the use of my work by putting my name on it, but it had me wondering about the whole using my poem for mass emails without my name on it.

He received my poem in his mail, without my name on it, liked it so much, touched him actually, that he posted it on his blog. New to the writing world and the Blog Factory, he just isn’t sure of the etiquette used by writers, or bloggers for that matter.

We writers are a different breed. We respect each and every writer right down to quotations. If you read my blog, you know I have a Quotation Saturday. I don’t post a quote normally unless it has an author’s name. The sites I visit have a lot of Anonymous quotes, and I usually pass them up, unless it is a really a great quote.

Why? Because I think authors deserve to be recognized, even if it is just a quote. You wrote it, you claim it!

The incident made me want to delete all my poetry, here and in f2k. But if I do that, I am cowering and giving the thief the right to steal, and no I won’t do that! Nimal DID NOT steal my work and as soon as he found out it was my work, he put my name on the poem and apologized. It was not his fault, it was the person who emailed it to him, and he promised to help me find the culprit, because it is what it is. Someone stole my poem, didn’t bother finding the author, and is emailing it to people.

What next? Will that person send it in and get it published under his/her name? Will they make money, even if it is pennies? off of MY hard work? This is just unacceptable in this industry. writers respect writers and what we do when we found that we’ve done wrong is rectify the situation. If this person can email my poem without trying to find the author, whose work will he/she steal next?

I know if it was a poet, they understand the respect it takes and even borrowing one line of my work,  they know they need to give me credit for that one line. When we are writing a novel, and we use quotes or lines from songs, we can not legally use it without getting permission from the author of said line/quote/song. I read a lot of Stephen King and he’s used tons of song lyrics, lines from poems, etc. But in the front of the book amongst the tiny print, you’ll see, ‘USED WITH PERMISSION’ and it lists WHERE he got the permission from, either author, or the author’s estate if he/she is deceased.

My quote of today? “Writer’s respect writers. If you don’t, then YOU are NOT a writer, you are a thief, a moral misfit.” Joni Zipp (end quote)