Have You Heard the Message?

1 John 1: 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Have You Heard the Message?

Have you heard the message

Whispered in your ear?

Is your body filled with warmth

Nestled in good cheer?

Have you heard the message

Delivered to you today?

The Word that keeps you bound

To never be led astray.

Have you heard the message

Delivered to your soul?

Is it cradled in your heart

Making you feel whole?

Have you heard the message

Will you go and tell your friends?

Will you share with them the Glory

That only the Savior sends?

Have you heard the message

Do you know just what to do?

Go and tell the nation

Jesus died and rose for YOU!

1 John 3: 11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

God Calls Us to Work (cont'd)

Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

I had to continue from my post yesterday because it was well over 1,000 words! I needed to add clarity to the full message, so here goes.

The post yesterday spoke of attending church and doing God’s work. To feel Him in you sometimes we need to be in places He resides. Pastor said something a few weeks ago that really hit the nail on the head (yet AGAIN.)  He said that we were sitting in a building, it is just a building; it’s the PEOPLE that make it a church.

That is so true. When you arrive at the empty building, you’re just sitting in an empty building; it isn’t until the seats fill up, you begin singing praises, and a message of the Lord is delivered that it really feels like a church.

I think there is some misconception in believers. They are under the assumption Christ died so they can sin, not Christ died to CLEANSE your sin; free you from sin. Take for example (loosely) football players. I see them declaring their acceptance of Christ and stating that without Him they are nothing. That’s all well and good because a lot of kids look up to these in-your-face media personalities. The problem comes when these same men, I assume, after the Super Bowl went out and partied, drinking it up, getting sloppy, cursing and gossiping.

They’ll say, “His blood was shed for me, I’m forgiven.”

WHAT? So Christ was nailed on the cross, dripped blood, cried out in pain and died…so you could SIN? NOW you see why the atheists point fingers at Christians! THAT is why they won’t believe in a God who sends mixed messages. No wonder they think its one big fairytale.

Let me tell you this, there IS no mixed messages. You SIN, you’re not guaranteed a place in heaven! Just being a believer does not guarantee eternity. The mixed messages are the ones so-called Christians are sending out; sin, you’re forgiven, sin, forgiven again, sin, sin, sin, I’m forgiven. And we wonder why the world is in the state it is in, sin?

The very clear message to MY eyes is this: Jesus died so we are FREE from sin. That means that we WORK and work HARD to NOT sin! Not to sit back, have faith, read, believe and SIN!

Will we continue to sin after being saved? More than likely! Will He forgive us? Yes sir!

But again, we will WORK HARD, NOT to sin.

God is using our sin to transform us into Godlike creatures. Is that possible? Well since we can’t go back to the days in the garden of Eden, since we can’t change the biting of the apple, God gave us FREE WILL and with that WILL means you WILL try to be Christ-like, defeat the enemy, slay the dragon! Please don’t feed me the line, “The blood of the cross will save me.” NO, the blood of the cross will TRANSFORM you!

Will you change? Yup! Guaranteed! You’ll still be the same lovable funny person that you were. You are a unique creature and God created you and it was good. He don’t want you to change THAT part of you, He wants to change the character that thinks sin is okay with Him; the character that lives behind four walls living a mundane life of sin. No, SIN is NOT okay.

“So what does that have to do with Church? Is Church going to save me?”

Matt. 16: 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

NO! Only Jesus can do that.

Let me put it to you this way. Think of yourself as an electric socket. You know how an electric socket has a ground wire? It’s to protect a lightning bolt from shooting through the house and short-circuiting the entire house and possibly save the house from burning down.

Now, think of Church as a persons ground wire. It is there to help you to transform and protect and possibly keep you from short-circuiting with the saturating world of SIN.

Can you do it alone? You are fooling yourself if you think you really have the power to ground yourself from a lightning storm. We THINK we have the power. We stand outside in a storm with an umbrella thinking we’re protected from the rain, but do you realize you’re holding a potential lightning rod? We hold no protection from the surge of sin in our hands.

There is nothing of the physical world that will blanket you from the surge like a church will. Faith, reading and believing is not a solid form of protection from sin. You know how I can tell? Because you sin while you’re all alone, surfing the net, checking out the gossip magazines, lusting at all the hot women, belittling people who don’t fit YOUR standards of living. You are a sponge of society drinking in all that’s at your fingertips. It’s hiding in your PRIDE, SELFISHNESS, ANGER and HATE. These things are not of God, they are currents of satan.

Church is a spiritual temple that you take your body to, to be transformed by a living God. Church is the ground wire that feeds the current of the Word into your system; a church family, protects you when you fall, aids when you’re weak and surrounds you with LOVE. Isn’t that what Jesus is all about? LOVE? So why would you deprive yourself of the protection of LOVE?

Matt. 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

God calls us to DO His work

^ BigStock photo ^

Rev. 3:15-16 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

God calls us to do His work

Have you ever woken up on a cold brisk morning, felt the comfort of the warm soft blankets surrounding you wishing you could rest for the day right where you are? Sure  you have. Nobody feels like waking up and embracing the cold, getting wet, or facing yet another back-breaking day at work. Rest, you just want rest.

We work because we have to; it puts food on our table, a roof over our head and gets us to the next day where we do it over and over again. Kinda mundane isn’t it, but you get rewarded with food, warmth and comfort. The necessities of life are what carry you through your day-to-day life. Without them you’d be homeless, right? Day after day you trudge along, reaping the rewards, sometimes the smallest of rewards but you know your work at the end of the day was worth all the toil and trouble.

Here lies the difference between a mere believer and a Christian/follower of Christ; a believer believes, has faith and reads his/her bible. A Christian is one who works for God, strives to be Christ-like, and WORKS to be a better person. A believer wakes up, eats, takes a nice hot shower, goes to work, comes home, eats, and rests knowing he paid his dues to society.

Isa. 2: 8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

A Christian wakes each day and glorifies God. He/she begins their workday for God. “Lord do with me what you will,” they say. Whether in the workplace where every person surrounding them becomes an opportunity to shower them with God and do His work; He’s in the boxes you stock on shelves, He’s pushed out in the inkjet printer you use, He is the guide at your fingertips as you type. God is everywhere to a Christian!

Sunday arrives. We did our work throughout the week and Sunday arrives in flaming fire! There may be no sun but it arrives; it is our day of rest. Do we sit at home on Sunday because it is the day of rest, no, we go out in numbers and worship the God who gave us a fruitful week.

Jer. 7: 13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

A Christian doesn’t attend church to show everyone, “Look at me, I’m here. Look at my new shiny shoes. I wore my new dress. Hey, look at me!”

No siree, a Christian wakes on Sunday, puts on his jeans (possibly from the dirty laundry) puts on his/her tee-shirt, same old sneakers they’ve worn all week to the work place then heads off to visit his family and worship with them sharing their love of God.

You might say, “What? You go to church looking like THAT?”

I might say, “Does God care what I wear? If the people there are judging me for my clothes, they NEED to be there, to learn the Truth! God doesn’t care what you wear! He cares that you’re THERE!”

To a Christian, a church is a family of Christ. You might rejoice in another building in another state, but to you, your brothers and sisters are rejoicing in a building somewhere out there praising the same God that you praise. The believers are sitting at home, tucked under their covers awaiting the sun to shine in their window so they can trudge on yet another mundane day. “I wake, I have faith, I read, I believe.” Such an empty life.

A Christian has a spirit-filled, God-filled life to live. Sunday is our payday, our reward for all of our work we did throughout the week. We get to celebrate the day by rejoicing in all the blessings the Lord bestowed upon us throughout the week with our family, our brothers and sisters and most importantly, with our Father!

Can you imagine a Buddhist calling himself a Buddhist but never doing the work of a Buddhist? Can you imagine calling yourself a Jehovah’s Witness, never doing the work required to BE a Jehovah’s Witness? Then why do Christians call themselves Christians when they don’t feel the need to do the Lord’s work for Him?

Rom. 16: 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Did you know that upon doing a word search of the word WORK, there are 964 entries in the Bible? Why is that? Because it is asked of ALL Christians (not just some of us) to do the Lord’s work. He calls to us, we are honored to act.

Pastor said something like this, “Do you know why the atheist are gaining strength in society; Because people calling themselves Christians don’t look Christ-like. They are demeaning a faith by their gossip, drinking, cursing and sinning.”

Even churches across the world are separated; teaching/preaching one thing then doing another and it confuses those who are seeking the One true living God. Yes atheist are searching for SOMEthing to believe in. Believers are searching too, but they sit at home forming their own truth.

Let me ask you this. Back when Jesus came into the world, do you think people sat at home in the comfort of their beds, READING the Bible or did they wake, embrace the cold or heat and walk miles and miles to HEAR the gospel, from the Messiah who was delivering the message? They sat around in groups of listeners, thus forming the first Christian Church, becoming the first Christians.

Jesus is the CHURCH that they went to for comfort, a message of hope, of promise, of everlasting love. They couldn’t get THAT from their safety net called home. They LIVED for Christ, strived to be like Christ, sinners were now accepted in Christ.

Jesus chose sinners to carry on His work. But He DID require them to WORK. Yes you are saved by the blood of Christ, but remember that blood was at a cost, Jesus’ LIFE on the cross. HE did that for you, what do YOU do for Him?

As you seek out to BE a Christian, don’t demean the name of Christ and Christianity. Call yourself a ‘believer’. When you seek out a church that delivers Jesus’ message, and you listen intently as the Truth of the Word washes over you and is filling your soul and you praise the Man that died for you, when you LIVE for Christ, not sin, THEN call yourself a Christian.

“On Christ the solid Rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand…all other ground is sinking sand.” ~ a Sunday worship song

Are you standing on the Rock or on sinking sand? Think about it. I think about it everyday; and I’m STILL not done my work for Him.

Praise His Holy name!

Rom. 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Col. 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

To be continued…

Poetry Sunday ~ Vanity Has Risen

 Job 7: 3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

Vanity has Risen

My concern is for man

Who sits idly by

Watching as the world

Erupts in tears they cry.

A man content on living

And never really being

A source of light to all

of those that are seeing.

Words are bent and broken

Twisted in the sphere.

Truth mangled in the web

The dripping of a tear.

Why is man so willing

Happy to just exist.

Never seeking inner peace

In the land that God has kissed.

His vanity contains him

In works that he must do.

No blood of man is worth change

So he opts to muddle through.

No rest will lay upon his head

No peace will let him sleep.

His journey in the darkness

Is for him alone to keep.

Rise up you sleeping nation

There’s a duty at your feet.

Don’t wait until the judgment

When your Maker you will meet!

Rev. 3:15-16 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Quotation Saturday

WINTER

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
~ Edith Sitwell

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
~ Lewis Carroll

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
~ John Steinbeck

“Of course I’ll hurt you. Of course you’ll hurt me. Of course we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence.”
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

FEBRUARY

“It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow. What whiteness boasts that sun that comes into this wood! One would say milk-colored maidens are dancing on the petals of orchids. How coldly burns our sun! One would say its rays of light are shards of snow, one imagines the sun lives upon a snow crested peak on this day. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes. Helplessness has weakened me. Wandering has wearied my legs.”
~ Roman Payne

“The months roll by like wheels on a wheelchair. Pretty soon it’ll be July. Feels like just last month it was May.
”
~ Jarod Kintz

“Why is it that children, taught the names of the months and the fact that there are twelve of them, don't ask why the ninth is called the seventh (September), the tenth called the eight (October), the eleventh called the ninth (November), the twelfth called the tenth (December)?”
~ John Cage

SNOW

“A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship.”
~ Markus Zusak

“Walls have ears.
Doors have eyes.
Trees have voices.
Beasts tell lies.
Beware the rain.
Beware the snow.
Beware the man
You think you know.
-Songs of Sapphique”
~ Catherine Fisher

“I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happened.”
~ Rachel Cohn

“A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.”
~ George R.R. Martin

“Oh how I love winter, the comfort of snow, the peace that fills my heart. Then comes February, too close to spring for me. I’m saddened by its arrival.”

~ Joni

Testimony

Pss. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Why all the testimonies lately? I guess because it is what God is calling His people to do. My friend Debbie gives a testimony as she has fought and is winning the battle with breast cancer. Tom had a testimony about his heater and had it happened just two days later, he’d be sitting in the cold unable to fix what was broken. (he’s having surgery immobilizing him for days.)  My friend Steve is also battling and winning the fight with cancer, and I myself have given testimony to the many blessings the Lord has put in my life. And the list goes on.

A testimony of Christ is a Christian, baring his/her soul of their struggles and showing you, possibly a non-believer, how He has worked victoriously in our lives.

Take for instance Sunday. We made it to church on Sunday (read previous posts.) What I left out of the already 800 word post was this:

We went to a beautiful service but when we walked out to the car, there under the car was a puddle.

“Is that supposed to be there? Or is it from another car?” I so blondely asked.

“Yes honey.” Is the smart response I got.

I could SEE it was from our car, but we got in, it started right up and off we drove. Church is about 20 –25 miles from home and as we pulled into our driveway, went to park, it just conked right out. It started right back up to be put in its place, but I was amazed that God had gotten us to our front door before the car conked out.

What a blessing, what a testimony.

I’m in a Prayer Partner group on facebook and while many are in need of prayer, it is always later related by a testimony of just HOW those prayers were answered. I’m sensing a thread that ties the two together. Prayer request ---> Prayers go out ---> Prayers answered ---> testimony. Prayer for a struggling soul ---> Prayers go out --- > Prayers answered --- > Testimony. It goes on and on.

It’s as if God is calling His people to prayer. I know quite a few people of different religions and the one thing that bonds those religions together is prayer. And through prayer healing occurs.

Now back to the car. Steven called his brother, the mechanic and asked him if he could look at it. Well that meant a trip, in the car, to Axtel. His brother, always ready to help his lil bro out said, “Sure bring it out.”

His brother was off on Thursday so that is when Steven loaded up the car with water and anti-freeze, bright and early because Steven had to be into work at 11. I loaded up on the prayer because I knew it was a good 20-25 miles from where we are.

Steven called at ten o'clock from Kearney and asked me to come take him to work. I had the truck, so off in the nasty wind I road. The car had made it to Axtel AND into Kearney where it now sits, I say ‘hospitalized’ (at a garage.)

Okay, so I haven’t got my miracle car fixed and who knows where the money will come from, but I do know, the radiator had a hole in it, needs to be replaced and it won’t be home from the ‘hospital’ until Tuesday. It’s okay, my car will be fine and the Lord will provide as He always does. My full testimony will come when I receive the message as to why and what reason the car got sick at this time.

The point of my story is this, God calls us to give testimony to all the glory and blessings in our life so that maybe just one person might be touched and also want to plant a seed. That’s what God’s gift to us is all about; it isn’t just about the cross and what was done to save us, it is about what is in the here and now and what we can DO to save others and possibly give them hope in their tomorrow. Get it?

The cross is OURS to bear. We either take it on or just walk, no seeds, no testimony, just walk. Maybe that is what your faith is all about to you, just walking and waiting for heaven. Me, I like to think of my faith as a seed that I plant; I carry the cross to watch those around me bloom!

He did it for me, it’s the LEAST and I do mean LEAST I can do for Him.

Pss. 119: 88 Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

When God Calls

Luke 9:57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

Well it comes with great sadness that I say, our pastor of four years, with the church twelve, has been called to Minnesota. It is laying heavy on my heart but I know, in the grand scheme of things, God’s master plan is never our plan.

It is in the heart of a Christian that when God calls us to act, we must do so. Many of you won’t understand that, but allow me to elaborate a bit.

Many people think that being a Christian is just believing in Christ, reading the bible about Christ, and having faith in Christ. It is so much more than that; it is about FOLLOWING Christ where and when He calls you also. I capitalized following because believers have the faith, read, share the word part down but a Christian has to have the FOLLWER part down too, and we must understand when God calls someone. Instead of being sad, we need to be supportive.

I want to whine about it a bit, Pastor Mike leaving. For four years he and his staff have been a constant source of a shoulder we as a family could turn to. Every Sunday we get up, drive the 25 or so miles to church, whether it was piping hot or freezing cold, we go.

It was always a heart touching, thought provoking service that kept lingering in our minds throughout the week until the next service.

Whenever it wasn’t pastor Mike, granted the pastors gave a good sermon, it wasn’t Pastor Mikes fire! You get used to waking up on Sunday’s and looking forward to your pastor and his sermon.

We’ve been through a few pastors in our church life. First we had Pastor Wells at a UCC church in Texas, then Pastor Don and Tim and at Grace (an evangelical church) then Pastor Mike here, our first church in Nebraska, at Efree.

We were called to Nebraska via Steven going blind four years ago. We had to follow Christ in where He was calling us, and he was calling Steven home. We found the best church in the area (for us) after visiting a few others, Steven found one of the best doctor’s in the state (to operate and give him sight again), we found the perfect home, a perfect school, and to me a perfect life.

Wait, wait…perfect by no means; we have had our share of struggles. When we had no Thanksgiving meal, it was our church who handed out bags of groceries to the needy families to see that they had a meal (Easter too.) When we needed tires, it was a friend from church who supplied two brand new tires, when I had no insurance for a dentist, it was the church that saw to it that my bill was PAID IN FULL! When we couldn’t afford propane to heat our house, it was the church who paid the propane company. Perfect no but Godly provided in a perfect manner? Yes!

I see this going on across the nation, Churches being the backbone to families when they struggle. Mission trips to foreign lands and home, our church is there. It is what God has built his community of believers FOR. To be Christlike one must GIVE more than receive. God calls and the community FOLLOWS! (No we’re not all following him to Minnesota)

Pastor Mike might be leaving this church but our community of Christians will continue to carry on the mission he started 12 years ago. Pastor Mike has done so much for our church seeing it built up to the height of 900 + parishioners, he is now being called to serve at another church where he might do the same thing to God’s community and with that I say, "Go with God Pastor Mike! He’s leading and you must follow."

Mark 16: 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Are you using your talent?

Matt. 8: 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Are you using your talent to glorify God? This was a question posed to us by Pastor Tim this Sunday. Yes we have three: Pastor Mike, Kevin, and Tim. This week it was Pastor Tim.

He asked us if we were using our talents to glorify God. It had me thinking about the change in my blog when I went from a writing blog, to my God given talent of a poetry blog.

This blog was focused on writing and the craft of writing and along with it the life of a writer. Was it for God or for me? Honestly, it was for me AND the writers out there. Is it what God wanted? I can once again say honestly, no, it is what I wanted!

God placed on my heart the change and it was up to me to see it through. (God does that, gives us free will so we HAVE to make a CHOICE.) I decided I was going to make the change to poetry (my God given talent) but not just ANY poetry, didactic rhyming  poetry, as my brother once called it. Didactic poetry is poetry with a message. That was me, my poetry always has a message for my reader.

Would it be received? Would my writer friends like the change or would it fall on deaf ears? Sure those thoughts crossed my mind, but I gave it up to God to let Him be the judge, not people. As of this posting, my stats are up! I went from maybe 10 –12 hits a day to 20 sometimes 40 hits or more and rising!

Maybe God was telling me something. Sure the people wanted writing knowledge but more than they knew, they also wanted God knowledge. A testimony of this God I speak of; where my devotion comes from and how do they get it.

Guess what people, It’s FREE!

God is always there, free to you and even to the non-believers, he’s there giving answers to all of your, “Why did he kill all those kids?” “Why did he take my mother/father/child grandmother away?” “Why? Why? Why?” He uses people like me who are devoted to Him to bring you a message that you might otherwise never hear, and maybe NEED to hear at the time you click on my blog.

My God given talent is poetry. Do I worry that I’m shunning my writing friends? Not at all. They’ve come to know me over the years and always saw God in my life so they probably knew at some time I’d have a God based blog.

So in answer to Pastor Tim: Are you using your God given talent? Yes sir, I am!

Prov. 17: 8 A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.

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.

Just sayin'

Sometimes people struggle. They struggle with following, with believing and with faith. Sure it’s so easy to not concern yourself and just go with the flow like everyone else but let me tell you, conforming to the world makes up a good portion of the struggle.

I hear from many who say, “I pray, but He never answers,” or “I have faith, but I’m scared,” or “I believe!” but have no follow through with their belief.

Number one, when you pray, He always answers, it just might not be the answer YOU wanted, but mark my word, He heard you and answered. You need to be aware of the blessing and SEE it as a blessing, not an unanswered prayer.

Number two, having faith is just that, faith in the unknown and unexpected. Faith is NOT fearing, it is washing away all doubt in not knowing, and expecting the unexpected to happen. I say unexpected because we sometimes expect a situation to go one way (our  way) and it veers off and goes another way (unexpected, God’s way.)

Number three, you can’t just be a believer. If you sit at home with words tucked in your pocket, “I believe, I have faith, I pray, I read the bible.” To be bluntly honest here, they are empty words which equals an empty faith.

To believe, you must embrace the life God has set before you. To struggle is a part of that belief and as your ACTIONS carry you through the struggle, you will be either a stronger person or a weaker person.

Take a look at number three again. You believe, have faith, pray, and read the bible, right? But what do your ACTIONS say? Are you belittling people, ‘that good for nothing, look what he’s doing now,’ ranting, ‘can you believe this? I just had to share so you can rant with me,’ gossiping, ‘can you believe she did/said this or that?’

Feeling good getting all those pent up frustrations off your chest? Well no wonder you’re struggling. Your eyes are not on the Lord just because your words declared it. You’re struggling; fighting with the enemy and he has the upper hand because it is evident in your actions.

Now some will read this and state quite firmly, I’m not struggling. But let me ask, are you the same person you were years ago? Have you actively sought to change? Do you find yourself still hanging on the media and their words? Do you still engage at taking those words as truth then judging the person they’re speaking of?

Are you focused on God?

I can scan an entire news feed without forming a disgruntled opinion. I take my eyes off the screen, look out the window and thank the Lord for a beautiful sunrise. When I read about suffering and hostilities in the world, again, I gaze out the window to see the beauty in the day. When I see women demoralizing themselves, I pray for them, I don’t click that which satan has put before me. I’m not a ‘need to click, see, watch, laugh, judge’ kind of person. I’m a God person and everything that comes forth of me will be to glorify God. Nothing more, nothing less.

Believing and having faith is trusting that God knows what He’s doing. He didn’t need your help in creating you, He certainly doesn’t need your help in getting you to the right place on your journey.

Being a God person is knowing the difference in satan and God, period. When your eyes are always on God (although you’ll be persecuted) satan loses his strength in getting to you (not that he won’t try) but as a God person, you wield armor no other force can get through, and that is the armor of God.

Putting PHYSICAL ACTIONS behind your following, faith, belief, prayer, and what you read. Typing on a keyboard is not the physical action I’m referring to either.

Just sayin’

Poetry Sunday ~ Sunrise

Luke 1: 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Sunrise

The morning breaks

With flaming sun

I hear the winds

The rays outrun.

I see the shadows

In length from trees

Swaying softly

To the morning breeze.

Darkness lingers

Before the dawn

Creatures who creep

Are now withdrawn.

Softly the daylight

Breaks through the sky

Warming the ground

Without a sigh.

I raise my eyes

Begin to pray.

For God has granted

Me this day.

I will soar

Always share

With all I love

And whom I care.

Nothing dark

Will come from me

I’ll shine as the Son

For all to see.

Matt. 10: 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

Sunrise Pics!

spectacular sunrise (autumn)

Glorious Winter Sonrise

God and His artwork
1 25 14

Quotation Saturday

Eccl. 10:11 Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.

GOSSIP

I chose gossip because this week that is all anybody could do. Sad life they must live when their eyes are set on sensationalism, pretending to have eyes on God.

“Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
~ Socrates

“How would your life be different if…You walked away from gossip and verbal defamation? Let today be the day…You speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.”
~ Steve Maraboli

“Isn't it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?”
~ Sean Covey

“Gossip is just a tool to distract people who have nothing better to do from feeling jealous of those few of us still remaining with noble hearts.”
~ Anna Godbersen

“These are the few ways we can practice humility:
To speak as little as possible of one's self.
To mind one's own business.
Not to want to manage other people's affairs.
To avoid curiosity.
To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
To pass over the mistakes of others.
To accept insults and injuries.
To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
Never to stand on one's dignity.
To choose always the hardest.”
~ Mother Teresa

“This day and age the hardest thing to do is resist temptation. The temptation to gossip is the work of the devil. He owns you already.”

~Joni

TEMPTATION

I chose temptation because it is not a happy day when you see people lead by being tempted by the dark one. They’re trying to lead you to the dark.

“The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.”
~ Oscar Wilde

“There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable.”
~ Mark Twain

No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from. ”
~ George Eliot

“Whatever their bodies do affects their souls. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out...”
~ C.S. Lewis

“The temptation to gossip is eating at our soul. We’ve become a nation of click, read, gossip. Resist temptation to save your soul.”

~Joni

ACTIONS

I chose actions for obvious reasons. It is by the actions of people that they define themselves. Man cannot serve two masters.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

“Words can be twisted into any shape. Promises can be made to lull the heart and seduce the soul. In the final analysis, words mean nothing. They are labels we give things in an effort to wrap our puny little brains around their underlying natures, when ninety-nine percent of the time the totality of the reality is an entirely different beast. The wisest man is the silent one. Examine his actions. Judge him by them.”
~ Karen Marie Moning

“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.”
~ John Locke

“Don’t tell me about your god with your words. Show me about your god with your actions.”
~ Steve Maraboli

Ephesians 4:32-33 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

The Mirror of My Soul

Job 22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

Mirror of my Soul

What do you see as you gaze upon me

The mirror of my soul.

Granted I’m not perfectly shaped

But my God has made me whole.

I ask that you not cast your eyes

To note my physical beauty

Look into the mirror of my soul

Understand my heavenly duty.

I’ll shower you not in distaste

Or vile and damaging hate

The mirror of me will reflect

Words of the Lord I relate.

I’m mindful of my actions

And everything I imbue

The mirror of my soul is lit

By all He’s asked me to do.

I try to be a reflection

Of Christ who dwells in me

The mirror of my soul will shine

For all of the world to see!

Prov. 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Poetry Sunday ~ The Tree of Life

Matt. 12: 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

The Tree of Life

The tree shivers in the cold

Standing erect it sways.

Branches bend in the wind

Stems reach out in praise.

The bark, it clings firmly

In a solid fashion

Forming a binding grip

of artistic passion.

The stem readies for growth

Gusts make them strong.

The weak will break and fall

The ones that don’t belong.

Not fastened to the root

The dead decide to wander

Much like that of man who

Leaves his life to squander.

Take heart in this message

That I have come to bear.

There is only one tree of life

That you should give great care.

The leaf will bring forth beauty

You will rise to its call

Unleashed is fruit and wisdom

That will rest again come fall.

Rev. 2: 7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

 

 

Quotation Saturday

Isa. 61: 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

I’ve been in a contemplative mood this week and I seek to let some things go, some things grow and I desire to branch out and seek. I choose quotes that start me thinking.

~ TREE  ~

“I felt that I was not, never had been and never would be a living part of this overpoweringly solid and deeply meaningful world around me.”
~ John Knowles, A Separate Peace

“Deciding whether or not to trust a person is like deciding whether or not to climb a tree because you might get a wonderful view from the highest branch or you might simply get covered in sap and for this reason many people choose to spend their time alone and indoors where it is harder to get a splinter.”
~ Lemony Snicket

“And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.”
~ Douglas Adams

“Nothing living should ever be treated with contempt. Whatever it is that lives, a man, a tree, or a bird, should be touched gently, because the time is short. Civilization is another word for respect for life...”
~ Elizabeth Goudge

~ LEAF ~

“Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind.
Their leaves are telling secrets. Their bark sings songs of olden days as it grows around the trunks. And their roots give names to all things.
Their language has been lost.
But not the gestures.”
~ Vera Nazarian

“A withered maple leaf has left its branch and is falling to the ground; its movements resemble those of a butterfly in flight. Isn't it strange? The saddest and deadest of things is yet so like the gayest and most vital of creatures?”
~ Ivan Turgenev

“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.”
~ Dejan Stojanovic

“There is an eternal love between the water drop and the leaf. When you look at them, you can see that they both shine out of happiness.”
~ Mehmet Murat ildan

~ BRANCH ~

“There's the tree with the branches that everyone sees, and then there's the upside-down root tree, growing the opposite way. So Earth is the branches, growing in opposing but perfect symmetry. The branches don't think much about the roots, and maybe the roots don't think much about the branches, but all the time, they're connected by the trunk, you know?”
~ Gabrielle Zevin

“Be like a branch of a tree; flex your body to face 'wind of sorrow'; flex little harder to dance in the 'wind of happiness'.”
~ Santosh Kalwar

“The man journeyed far, and he heard and saw many strange things on his travels. He learned that - that the friend and the enemy are but two faces of the same self. That the path one believes chosen long since, constant and unchangeable, straight and wide, can alter in an instant. Can branch, and twist and lead the traveler to places far beyond his wildest imaginings. That there are mysteries beyond the mind of mortal man, and that to deny their existence is to spend a life of half-consciousness.”
~ Juliet Marillier

Weary Among Men

Job 39: 12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?

Weary Among Men

My heart is growing weary

My eyes are drawing dim.

I cannot find the laughter

In man who’s wrought with sin.

My legs are turning wobbly

My arms they hurt to raise.

I cannot find the joy

In man who gives false praise.

My mind is set to wander

Away from a faulty place.

I cannot find the happiness

In man who wears false face.

My body’s nearly broken

I’m aching all inside.

I cannot live in sanctity

While man is full of pride.

Dear Lord come and take me home

Where I might find some peace.

I cannot stay where I don’t belong

I cry out for sweet release!

Prov. 7: 19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: