Why am I so devoted?

1 Cor. 10: 31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Why am I so devoted?

You know, I’ve had people ask me, “Why are you so devoted to God? What has He ever given you?”

“I mean really, you need to ask that?  First of all He has given me life, among other things.”

“You really believe that?”

“Yes, yes I do. Don’t you?”

And thus begins a discussion on God.

Last week my face swelled up like a balloon. My whole right side was disproportionate with my left side making me look quite gruesome and grotesque, not to mention the pain that rode along with the swelling.

It wasn’t an allergic reaction to something I ate. It felt like an abscess or some sort of sinus infection. I had a nightmare where I had went into church and everyone was laughing at me whispering behind my back, “She looks like the elephant man.”

We hadn’t been to church in two or three weeks because Steven’s boss keeps scheduling him on Sunday, after he’s asked for Sunday’s off, so I was feeling depleted. I continually sing praises throughout the day, read my bible and keep in touch with God but my worship on Sunday really keeps me rooted in my love of God and keeps my eyes focused on Him.

This Sunday however Steven had the day off so we would be allowed to attend service! I was elated; my face was swelled like a balloon so it kind of scared me to think I’d go into church to be looked at. Not that they EVER would look at me and laugh and judge, (I don’t attend THAT kind of church.)  But Friday’s pain did have me concerned.

I told Steven that this was satans way of trying to keep me out of church this Sunday and that I’d be going if I had to CRAWL! Steven replied, “If it works out that way.”

“Oh, it’ll work out! I have FAITH! GOD wants me there!” Yes, the battle between God and satan happens daily in lives. Who wins is up to you.

I woke Sunday at 5 am like always, had my coffee, slowly sipping because the pain was too much to bear. I was debating going to church, bracing the temps, and fear of shivering because it would hurt.

I was on my knees crying in pain, “God, I can’t make it today. I’m in so much pain.”

Quite suddenly a response of, “What pain?”

“What pain? WHAT pain,” and before I could finish crying out what pain one more time, I felt NO PAIN! What? NO pain, you ask? YES, no pain. I went on to finish getting dressed and we made it to Church. God wanted me there so again, HE won! All praise and Glory to God!

THIS is why I’m so devoted to God. Any time I have ever cried out and times when I didn’t cry out, He always hears and has a response. Now granted a lot of folks, like I was saying yesterday, have faith, pray and believe and that is all well and good, but devoted? Is your life devoted to God?

When you don’t have money to pay the bills or buy food do you worry, do you run around looking for ways to get the funds, or do you place total trust in God? I’ve heard this many times too, “God’s not going to put food on your plate.” Well guess what, He WILL put food on your plate, He will see to it the funds are there, He'll use people to see the food is there, but mark my word, He DOES move mountains to see you well taken care of.

No, He won’t pay your cable bill, He doesn’t see to it you have the luxuries that you so often over indulge in, but yes, food, water, a warm home? YES! He’s also placed the means for a new car in my life, albeit an old used car, but nonetheless a car, only because He saw in advance the total wrecking of our second vehicle, and transportation is a means to food on our table via Steven working.

So YES, He DOES put food on my plate. He covers me in a blanket of protection. He sees my falls before I get there and is the soft pillow I land on before injury. If something doesn’t work out that *I* want, it’s because it is not what HE wanted for me, and sometimes (no, all the time) we have to be alright with that.

Once you accept that in your life, you become devoted to God. Your focus is on what glorifies Him and not what the media (satan) can place in front of you to distract you. Our distractions pull us away from God and thus the state of the world today.

Why am I so devoted to God? Because God, in all His Glory, is devoted to ME!

Phil. 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

I Have to Wonder

Deut. 28: 46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.

I Have to Wonder

I have to wonder what path we’re on

For seasons we’ve not seen

The Lord is coming to wipe us out

On satan you cannot lean.

For every incident that happens

We’re all about who is to blame.

I have to wonder why all point fingers

But never at their own shame.

I stand upon a Rock of faith

It never allows me to fall.

I have to wonder why men deceive

Not embracing the beauty of it all.

I have to wonder why idols are built

For demons who cannot save?

I’ll keep my trust in a LIVING God

For promises kept and gave.

My life as a Christian will shine

I want all of the world to see.

My testament of a faithful God

They’ll wonder why I’m so free.

Pss. 40: 5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Pss. 71: 7 I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.

To Tell the Truth

John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

I didn’t dream last night about what to write, so I’ll go with my handy dandy instincts here. Truth in writing.

We as writer’s always embellish the truth on some level and maybe that is why I have trouble with the fictional tales. My spiritual tales are close to truth, and close enough to my quirky truth that they are real.

Honesty is something we need in our characters. For far too long we’ve read fiction that lies and in a sense we have a nation that feels comfortable in lying. Our politicians lie, our friends lie, and sometimes even our churches lie, (although they believe it is the truth, so I guess it’s okay.)

I have always been honest to a fault. Sometimes my truths seem over the top, unbelievable, and mere conjecture, but let me tell you, I have a real hard time lying. In my characters, I like an honest duo that fights the dark with the power of Light. My dark characters can lie like a rug. But where do I pull the character’s persona from if I myself am unable to lie?

I dig deep into my past, where people have lied to me to no end. I dredge up old horrible memories and create a character out of that. I have some doozies too. The character then comes off as dark and deeply disturbed.

Now with non-fiction, like my blog, I tell the truth until I’m blue in the face. I hold my breath and think, “Did I just write that?” People ask me,”Did that really happen?” And I have to say, “Yeah, it did as awful as it sounds, it did.”

I’m writing my memoirs and I was moving along posting my story in a NaNo fashion, National Novel Writing Month, where you pen some seventy-thousand words in a month.
There I posted most of my life, up to about twenty one, and the poor souls couldn’t believe my story. They did, because they know me, my personality,and my honesty but they were stunned to see that I turned out this way, as good and honest and pure as I am. Okay not perfect by no means, but you get what I mean, right?

There it is, my testament of faith. If I lie then would my testament hold any credence? I don’t think so. In truth, my testament is a rock, a foundation to stand on firmly and people look at me and say, “Wow!”

Ever hear the saying, “The truth shall set you free?” In all honesty, it does, it is a healing place for me. If you deny the pain, anguish or hold shame in what has happened in the past, in essence, you are lying to yourself and making a mockery of the very faith that you hold in your heart.

So listen up. We writer’s, and non writer’s, have the most powerful tool in our hands and we need to wield it, it is the HEALING TOOL, brought to you by, none other than, God. *smile*

godspeed friends...