Be lifted HIGHER Be lifted HIGHER!!

Proverbs 12:25-26




"Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression. But a good word makes it glad. The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray."







Anxiety (or worry) in our lives leads to depression. It's really amazing how little things like worrying about something can lead to something so big as depression but it does. Encouragement goes a long way. As Christians I believe one of our daily duties is to encourage someone whether it's to tell them you like their shirt to telling them they are doing a great job. Encouraging someone can really change their whole day or maybe eventually their whole life. Some people never hear a positive word. They are always down and not having a good day. Some kids are constantly put down and told how worthless they are when all it takes to lift their spirits is to encouragement them. Give them hope that there's nice people in the world. I love the song Give me your eyes by Brandon Heath. I pray everyday that God will reveal to me someone that I may be a blessing to. We never know someone's hurt, we never know where they've come from, a simple smile can even change their direction. Most of the time I really like facebook because in the mornings and all day long I feel so encouraged by everyone's posts with bible verses or just sharing a Christian song or sharing how good God is. For those of you that do that thanks so much for showing encouragement and hope to others. I call you my friends because I feel you help bring me closer to the Lord. The next verse is a WARNING: "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray." If we surround ourselves with people who lift us up it's inevitable that we will be drawn closer to God. Surround yourselves with people would put down on you and it's inevitable you will be brought down and pulled away from God. We need to check ourselves. Are we being an uplifting friend or are we being one of these friends that God is telling us to stay away from? After we've checked ourselves then we should check our friends. Are our friends uplifting us or are they pulling us down? This is so important in our walk with Christ! There are too many other things to distract us and pull us down why allow it to be your friends? Be lifted up!



.

A little lie or a BIG lie?

"Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness." Proverbs 12:22-23



No one really likes a liar. We've all heard since we were kids that a little lie leads to bigger lies. Proverbs 12:22-23 is saying God doesn't like liars either. An abomination is somethings that "nauseates" God. It is better to remain silent that to have lying lips (says my study bible). Proverbs is full of God's guidance and direction and I am just loving reading it. God not only says don't lie he follows it with what will happen if you don't. "But those who deal truthfully are His delight." God delights in His people that speak the truth. It's so easy to tell lil white lies. You're telling a story and you just slip in that the fish was a little bit bigger than it really was. That may not be hurting anyone no but it does hurt God. What is our need for lying? It's sin. So no matter how big or small we shouldn't do it.



.

Be like Job!!

Job 1


God called Job a perfect and upright man that feared Him. Satan wanted nothing less than to see Job fail. Bad things started happening to him. By the time it was all over he had nothing left. So he threw a fit and cursed and questioned God? No! He immediately fell on the ground and worshipped God. That takes some faith! In.terse 21 Job says "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Blessed be the name of the Lord! Job realized the only perfect and.permanent thing in his life was God, so when he had nothing he dell on the One who has everything! Why do we get mad at.God when bad things happen? Bad things are always going to.happen no one has a perfect life. But we do serve a perfect God. He wants to know we are going to.stand by Him no matter what.

It's contagious!

My friend Amy challenged me to read a chapter a day of Proverbs. I've read a little bit in Proverbs before but have never completely read through it or studied it. I'm only to chapter 4 and I can already tell it's going to be full of instruction and direction from the King.








Proverbs 4:14-19



"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not into the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble."







As children of the King it is a battle everyday to fight off the enemy. It's not waking up asking God to fight them off, He's already won the fight. I heard someone say the other day we need to accept His willingness to rein in our lives. It's not about Him stepping in to protect us it's about us allowing Him to. That means to completely LET GO. In these verses God is telling us to stay away from evil. Avoid it, pass not by it, if you happen to pass by it turn from it and pass away. If we allow evil to enter our lives we allow it to take over us. I'm not just talking about evil people I'm talking about evil thoughts, actions, emotions, etc. After it takes over us then it uses us to hurt and pull others down too. Then we become this evil person that can't be happy unless we know we are pulling someone else down. I think eventually we are so corrupted we don't even realize what we are doing. Attitudes are contagious! I am guilty of this! If I start the day with a bad attitude more than likely I will end it with a bad attitude and all the people I was around that day will at some point feel that bad attitude and it will bring them down as well. I won't be able to handle anything that happens that day and everything will set me off and make it worse On the other hand if I start out the day with a good attitude I more than likely will end it with a good attitude. Throughout the day if bad things happen it's easier to face the problems and see the positive in them. Please don't let evil enter your lives. Let God's Marvelous light shine through you! Let's start our days with a good attitude IT'S CONTAGIOUS! Love ya'll!



.

LOVE this verse!

Psalm 143:9-12




"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant."



.

Thank you God for this weekend!

What an awesome weekend! It flew by because we were so busy but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Praise in the park was awesome! I love christian concerts but when it's not just a concert but a worship church service is when I really love it! I really felt God speaking to me through the testimonies and through the music Saturday and Sunday! It's amazing how in a crowd of that many people you can still feel God speaking just to you. That's just how powerful God is. 1 Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written, EYE HATH NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NEITHER HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN, THE THINGS WHICH GOD HATH PREPARED FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM." We will never understand what God has prepared for us if we love and serve Him. Thank you God for this weekend. Thank you for using it to draw me closer to You. Thank you for the lives that were changed. Thank you for the groups and artists that you used to share your word through song and testimony. Bless them and keep them! Amen

Thank You for carrying me! (wrote Wednesday, October 20th, 2010)

I'm so glad that Jesus paid the ultimate price for me. I'm so glad that I realized I needed a Savior. I'm so glad I understand what a Holy God is and I'm so blessed that He takes the time to think of me and light up the sky so that I can see which way to go! It's been a little bit of a crazy week for me but eventhough there have been tough times, I've felt God in my life this week stronger than ever before. It would have been easy to get down, blame God, and give up but why would I have done that when I am a child of THE King that makes ALL things good! This week (and yeah it's only Wednesday) I have been humbled by God's mercy on me. He continues everyday to reassure me that I'm His and there's nothing that can take me away nor is there anything that can not be conquered through Him. I wouldn't have shared this because I know a lot of people may say oh my gosh tell me what happened but I'm sharing because I want everyone to know just how good God is. He really does makes ALL things good. When you are going through a tough time don't leave Him (God never leaves us, if anyone leaves we leave Him) and don't blame Him. Allow God to carry you through it and then when He does, because I know He will, Praise Him! Thank You God for carrying me this week. I know that this is still going to be a long journey but I will follow you all the way. Thank You God for allowing Your will to be clear to me. Continue to work in my life, in my marriage, at my workplace, in my church, and in my family. Remove anything that will distract us from your presence and help us to always keep you the center of our lives. Thank you God for delieverance. Thank You for being MY strong tower. I love you AMEN!








I found my little "emergency telephone numbers" in my bible this morning and thought I'd share these verses. It says Paul's secret to happiness: Colossians 3:12-17. "Therefore, as the elect of God holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Thanksgiving is near!

Thought I'd share my sweet lil pumpkins with ya'll! Dustin and I picked these out at Mitchell Farms in Collins, MS when we went to get some peanuts to boil. Dustin's Mamaw Hall went with us and we had a really good time!

L-O-V-E

I believe and I think anybody would agree.. We will never truly know the power of God's love for us! This morning God lead me to 1 John. I turned right to chapter 4 and started reading. I love these chapters and books of the bible where the word is so good (and there's a lot of those ;)..) that you don't want to stop reading so you just read the whole chapter or the whole book for that matter. When I was reading I came upon verse 4 and had to stop. "Ye are of GOD, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is HE that is IN you, than he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4. As Bro Sam would say, If that doesn't light your fire your wood must be wet. :) We worry about the stupid things in the world when they are itty bitty compared to who is living inside us (if you are a born again Christian of course). I stopped reading for a minute and wrote down that verse then I started reading again. That was too good to not see what comes next. "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." This verse is saying if you have never accepted God's love for you then you have never experienced God's love. HE IS LOVE so if you don't know Him you don't know love. It's that simple. It doesn't stop there... His love, God's love is the reason we can have everlasting life! He loved us so much that He sent HIS ONLY Son to die for us! I like verse 10, it says "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Propitiation means an atoning sacrifice. It's not about us or what WE'VE done it's about what GOD has done. Love isn't because we love God but because He loves us! And because He loves us He commands us to love others, starting in verse 11. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." Let's show others His love. It would be a shame for a person to miss out on the love of God because we didn't show it to them. Who knows for some people the only true love (God's love) they see will be through us!

Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth

Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for fory years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him,"...bring My people... out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go...?" (Exodus 3:10-11). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.




We may have the vision of God and a ver clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses' forty years in the wilderness. It's as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are throughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, "Who am I that I should go...?" We must learn that God's great stride is summed up in these words--"I AM WHO I AM... has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him-- our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be "well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, "I know this is what God wants me to do." But we have not yet learned to get into God's stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.







This was from my devotional book "My utmost for His highest" this morning and I wanted to share :)

Chocolate Milk :)

Mark 9:1-10




When we were kids there was something we loved that we couldn’t have very often. I had a lot of those but let’s just say chocolate milk was mine. My momma only let me have chocolate milk if I obeyed her and done all of my chores. As we know kids don’t often do exactly what their parents ask them to do so I didn’t get chocolate milk very often. Momma was pretty smart. She knew that I wouldn’t always be the best child and there were times that I wouldn’t get chocolate milk. But I learned to obey her direction so that I could get the reward.



Funny illustration I know but this is the same way in our Christian walk. There’s a reason why God doesn’t allow us to always be on the mountaintop. If my mom gave me chocolate milk no matter if I obeyed or not would I ever learn to respect her? Would our relationship ever grow if I always got my way?



Yes as Christians we would love to always be sweet little angels on the mountaintop but it’s in the valley where we learn to trust Him. What’s sad is a lot of times the valley is where we forget how great our God is. The mountains in our life are there to build us up to be strong enough to withstand the depts. of the valley. If momma would have given me chocolate milk every day, I wouldn’t have liked it as much anymore. It wouldn’t be special to me anymore. God wants us to experience just how great the mountaintop is. I believe this is why He doesn’t allow us to stay there. If we never experienced the valley we would never understand the power God has in our lives.



In verse 5 Peter told Jesus it was good for them to be on the mountaintop. Peter wanted to build tabernacles there. He knew how awesome it was to be on the mountain with God because he had experienced God’s presence there. I believe God wanted to reassure Peter, James, and John of His power because of what they were going to be experiencing in the near future, Jesus’ death and resurrection. God is doing the same thing with us today. He allows us to experience the mountaintop to get us through the valley.

Prayer changes things...

I've been praying that God would reveal to me things in my life I need to change. I know He probably has lots of things He wants me to change but He's showing them to me pretty slowly. :) I've realized lately that my life is entirely too busy. I worry and stress over small stuff that could wait until tomorrow. I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to a clean house. I can't have just one room clean and everything else not. If I'm cleaning I want to clean every room (or what's mostly seen anyway) and not leave anything undone. My house isn't dirty by no means but I just love to walk in from work in the evenings to a clean house. It just stresses me out in the evening to be so tired and walk in to be reminded that I've gotta clean. But.... here's the lesson learned. The mess isn't going anywhere. No I'm not gonna let it go for weeks or even days but it's not going to hurt anything to do a little cleaning then sit down and relax with my hubby. I'm starting to get the hang of this tactic.

I've also been burdened about my prayer life. I want to start a study on prayer this week. The busyness that I was talking about above can cause us to slack in our prayer life. My desire is to be in continuous prayer with my Father. Not only just to be in continuous prayer but to be careful of the things I'm praying for. Every morning when I wake up whether it's before I even get out of bed or in the truck on the way to work, I pray. Sometimes I catch myself hurrying through it. We learned in elementary school that a conversation is 2 people talking to one another. It's not a one sided thing. When we pray we should be listening for God to speak to our hearts. When I'm hurrying through a prayer I'm not waiting to hear from Him. Think of the things we miss when we hurry through our prayers. Now I do think it's ok throughout the day to say quick little prayers. I believe God still hears those. But if we are wanting to learn something from God we must have a certain time everyday to spend in conversation with God. Allow Him to speak to your heart. This may be a funny example but I think it has a little truth to it :) If a child is calling his/her mom and she doesn't answer normally he/she continues to call for them until they answer. We should be like this with God. Now I don't believe God will get annoyed with us like our mother's did and I believe as long as we have faith that God will hear us He does. There are times that we pray when God isn't ready to answer yet. This is when we continue to pray faithfully. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "Pray without ceasing." Don't stop praying about whatever is on your heart until you hear from God.

Revelation Song

It's so true when people say music is good for the soul. For about 2 months now Dustin and I have been listening to nothing but Christian music. I really don't know how I ever made it through my days at work before but now that I'm constantly listening to uplifting songs about How Great Our God is my days are so much better. For a couple of weeks JJ and Ron on 91.7 in the mornings have been talking about the song Revelation Song. They kept saying that were amazed when they found at that the lady ,Jennie Lee Riddle, that wrote the song is a mother (of I think 4 children) andGod gave her the lyrics while she was cooking spaghetti and changing diapers. The song, as Ron said, that makes your hair stand up on your arms while singing was written by a mother in the middle of her motherly duties! I listened to their interview with her this morning. She started to explain that while she was cooking and struggling with life's battles she asked God to give her a song that doesn't point out what's going on but focuses completely on Him. She wanted no focus on herself! Did He not do just that? I couldn't help but tear up this morning listening to her talk about it. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain Holy Holy is He. When I hear this I picture a wide open field with the perfect breeze and beautiful flowers. Jennie talked about this same thing in the interview, we would think that the person that wrote this song had some out of this world experience and that's where the lyrics came from but what we don't realize is our God is big enough to use the smallest situation for His glory. Jennie brought out another very true point. She explained that worship isn't a song. Worship is a lifestyle. It's our daily steps of love and obedience to God. We don't have to just be in a church to worship God. Yes God calls us to gather together with other believes to fellowship and worship Him this is very important but that shouldn't be where it stops. It's so sad that that may be the only time some people worship Him. God deserves our praise where ever we are no matter what! We complain about so many things. I complain about so many things. What a shame that is that I took up time to complain or drag around when I could have been worshipping God in it and received such a blessing! God help me to seek your presence and worship You no matter where I am. Help me to look for ways to serve You in everything I do! Thank You for using this very special lady to write this song and speak to the hearts of many people with this testimony of Your love and presence!

Worthy is the,


Lamb who was slain

Holy, Holy, is He

Sing a new song, to Him who sits on

Heaven's Mercy Seat

[Repeat 2x]



(Chorus)

Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of Kings!

You are my everything,

And I will adore You…!

Yeah!



Clothed in rainbows, of living color

Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder

Blessing and honor, strength and

Glory and power be

To You the Only Wise King,

Yeah



(Chorus)

Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of Kings!

You are my everything,

And – I - will - adore You!

Yeah!



Filled with wonder,

Awestruck wonder

At the mention of Your Name

Jesus, Your Name is Power

Breath, and Living Water

Such a marvelous mystery

Yeah...



(Chorus)

Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of Kings!

You are my everything,

And – I - will - adore You!



Holy, Holy, Holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come,

With all creation I sing:

Praise to the King of Kings!

You are my everything,

And – I - will - adore YOU…



(Chorus) (Repeat at a cappella)



Come up lift up His Name

To the King of Kings…

We will adore YOU Lord…

King of heaven and earth

King Jesus, King Jesus

Aleluya, aleluya, aleluya!

Majesty, awestruck Honor

And Power and Strength and Dominion

To You Lord,

To the King, to King

To the King of Glory

Show me Your glory!

Exodus 33:12-23
12And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
14And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
15And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
16For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
17And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
18And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.


I believe that God knows all. I believe He knows our every move. How we serve Him, if we will serve Him, and so on. It still amazes me when I read stories like this that it's like He's speaking right to me. In these verses God is promising Moses that His presence will be with him. It's so funny that in verse 12 Moses was beating around the bush with God. He didn't want to just ask God if he was going to be with him so he said "But who will you send with me?." That's like us saying "There's only one piece of cake left I wonder who will eat it" instead of just saying "Can I have the last piece of cake?" What Moses really wanted to say was "Are you going with me God?" All we have to do is call upon the name of the Lord and He is with us. I think God used this time to teach that to Moses (and us). God was preparing Moses for what is to come. I mean he was going to witness a burning bush he definatly needed reassurance that it was God's presence. I think after Moses understood this he asked God to show him His glory. In verse 22 God starts explaining to Moses what is going to happen. God already knew that Moses would experience His presence at Mt. Sinai. The glory that Moses had been asking for would be experienced there. God answered Moses' prayer and used him for His glory.
The closer we get to God the stronger we will feel His presence. Any questions or concerns we may have all we have to do is bring it to Him. Moses was a little concerned about the things that were to come and He wanted reassurance that God was with him. God not only gave him the reassurance but He also gave him an idea of what was to come!

No darkness

Psalm 139:14-24
"O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whiter shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."

Wow! What does this mean? I believe David was trying to tell us that God has perfect knowledge of everything we do and everywhere we go. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Even in our trails God is there. The one place in the universe where God would not be present is hell. In these verses David uses the words "If I make my bed in hell" as an example of the darkness sin brings. Even though God is opposed to all darkness, God would turn the darkness into light in order to find His servant! God is willing to do anything to save the people who worship Him. What I think these verses are saying is with God there is no darkness. "the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." Sometimes our sin causes us to feel down and even feel dark. But because we are God's children there is no dark. To him it is the same as light. So the next time you're down or feel as if you need to crawl in a dark hole somewhere remember you can't hide, God knows all, and His light will save you from the darkness no matter where you are! To Him be all the praise!

Keep me in Your will...

James 4:1-10
1"Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. 3Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?" 6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doubleminded. 9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."


In our ladies prayer group last week I told Ms. Dawn it's sad because a lot of times when we pray we are expecting an answer right now. When we think like this it's almost like we are thinking of God as a genie in a bottle. Why do we do this? God is GOD. Because He is so awesome He doesn't have to answer to us. If we are asking HIM to answer to us it's like we are down grading Him. He is not our servant we are to serve Him. James 4 is a very good commandment from God. I think it's like God is saying "you big dummy you were wondering why all of these things are happening to you but you aren't praying for direction and guidance and if you are praying you are only praying for answers to please you." Are we praying because we really want to be closer to God or are we praying just so we will get the answers we want? Hmm that's tough I know. We are human and it's easy to be selfish but what's really our purpose on earth? Our purpose is to serve and glorify God, our Creator, and tell others about Him. God will not answer yes to something that is not His will, so pray for God's will. If we aren't in His will where are we? My mom's favorite song that I sing in church is Keep Me In Your Will. It says Lord keep me in Your will so I won't be in Your way! That's just what we are if we aren't in His will we are in His way. I love verses 7-10 God promises us these things if we stand on His promises and humble ourselves to Him! Verse 9 is saying when a believer has fallen into sin it should upset us. We should get to a point where "laughter and joy" are set aside and we should reflect on the sin and confess. Christians should never laugh at sin. The study bible I'm studying in today says "A Christian's sorrow leads to repentance; repentance leads to forgiveness, and forgiveness leads to true joy over one's reconciliation with God." That's awesome if you ask me. So my goal for this week and every week is to pray for God's will not mine. I want to stand on His promises! And eventhough we don't deserve them His rewards are GREAT if we do this!

His eye is on the sparrow...

Luke 12:22-34
22And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

23The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
26If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
27Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
29And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
30For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.



So many times I find myself struggling and stressing wondering if we will have the things we need. I'm changing this. I am going to completely rely on God to provide for my needs. The scripture above talks about how God provides for the birds and aren't we even more special than the birds? Worrying gets us no where and only shows that we have little faith in the plan God has for our life. Psalm 46:1 says " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." I love when God repeats himself in the bible and Matthew 6:25-33 is basically the saying the same thing as our scripture today from Luke. I believe God knows how hard headed we can be so when He really wants us to know something He made sure it was in the bible multiple times. We are human and it's only natural to want to worry about things but there's not need for it when God can and will take care of it for us. Today I'm placing all of my worries in His hands and just like the shepard carries the small sheep that have a hard time keeping up with the folk, God will carry me through this. It's pretty awesome when you think about it. The God, our God, the creator of the universe will take care of me. He created this beautiful earth and everything on it. I'm anxious and excited to see what kind of beautiful creation He will turn my life into.

Psalm 25:4-6
"Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."

the ultimate protection...

Luke 10:16-20

"He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me: and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. And the seventy returned again with joy, saying Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

AWESOME AWESOME word. I really cannot say it enough how excited I get that God is revealing things to me through His word. I've read over these 4 verses probably 10 or 12 times this morning and the last time I read it I got it! :) I was thinking just like the  70 did I got all excited that once again God was protecting us from the devils (verse 17). But what Jesus says in verse 20 is what's so awesome. Almost in tears here... He says (in my own words of course) Yes I am protecting you and yes I give you power to walk through snakes and scorpions but this isn't why you should be rejoicing, rejoice because your names are writtent in heaven." The 70 that the Lord had appointed returned joyful after witnessing because the devils were subject to them by His name. A lot lately I've found myself searching for scripture where God promises he will comfort and protect us in our time of fear and while these verses are true it shouldn't be our main focus and where our main joy comes from. God has given us the ULTIMATE protection!! He has given us (born again Christians) an eternal protection from hell and that alone is enough to be joyous about!! I hope this blesses your heart as much as it did mine this morning!

Never say never...

Matthew 6:9-13
Every day I find something or am reminded of something God has done great for us. He knows us so well that He even knew there would be a need for a model prayer. God wanted us to know how to talk to Him. This prayer is a perfect example that He wants us to talk to Him. Why would He have given us an example if He didn't? I also know that God wants to answer our prayers. In Matthew 6:8 it says Our Father already knows the things we have need of before we ask. Some may say then what's the need of prayer. I believe God wants to know we fully rely on Him. He needs to hear our prayers and concerns and He wants to know that we believe He will answer! Because of this we can then believe NOTHING is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37) On AFR this morning a popular Christian artist was sharing that it's so sad that a lot of times as Christians we put God in a box. She said something that I can't get off my mind, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so this means the same miracles He performed in the days of Moses He can do TODAY. The reason we think He doesn't is because we put boundaries on Hiim. My prayer is for God to move freely in my life. My desire is to see Him do the IMPOSSIBLE! I never want to put boundaries on God again! Luke 1:37 is an awesome verse alone but knowing that it was written right after verse 36 that says Elizabeth, who wasn't able to have children, and is now with child is just amazing! She expected nothing less from God than the impossible and He did just that in her life! He can do it in ours too! Never say never because FOR WITH GOD NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE!

LIVE IT...

Matthew 5:1-12
"And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

Oh how I love God's promises. I can just see all the disciples gathered round to hear Jesus preaching this. This is a very powerful sermon. In all of these verses Jesus is preaching basically about how if we should live for Him, lean on Him, and leave everything up to Him, He will bless us. He is telling us no matter what we go through whether we are poor in spirit, whether we are sad or mourning, whether we are meek and so on, He is going to bless.
In our times of mourning he is our comfort. The God of the universe will comfort ME! We go through some tough times as humans. But God is always there to comfort us. It's so important when we are down to get in His word and fall on our knees before Him so that He can wrap His arms around us in our time of need. You don't even really have to say anything. Just a simple cry of His name and He is there. I think we get so wrapped up in our sorrows that we forget just how powerful our God is. It's comforting to know that He is our comforter! I am a very emotional person at times. Dustin can look at me wrong and I cry, I've just always been like that. In these times is when a big hug could cure everything! God is waiting to give us a big hug! Just call on Him in your times of mourning.
I'm gonna skip down to verse 6, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Jesus is talking about the Christians who long to live for Him and serve Him. It's a spiritual hunger and thirst. We should always have a desire to be spiritually fed. Jesus says here if we hunger and thirst after His righteousness He will fill us! He will fill us! That's a comfort right there! Just to know that if my desires are in the right place God will fill me! I think he's saying here if we desire to be fed spiritually He will give us the understanding and knowledge we need to understand it better so we can then LIVE IT!
The more I learn the more I realize just how powerful God is. He's all around us. He's in us. Let others see Him in you! I love verse 13 "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." If we aren't living for Him then we are good for nothing. If you try and season your food with salt but that salt has no more flavor then it does nothing for your food so you might as well throw it out. This goes the same for Christians. If you claim to be a Christian but don't live like it and aren't showing others of His love then what's your purpose? I want everyone to know of this peace that I have! I want everyone to experience God's love like I do. I want others to have the comfort in Jesus that I have. Why not show others? It's an awesome feeling to know you've let others see your light not to mention the rewards are GREAT! "Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven..."

The God of the valley is still God on the mountain...

Psalm 13
"How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me."

I think God is really trying to teach me to fully rely on Him for EVERYTHING. It seems like He keeps leading me back to the same topic and again it's scripture that reminds me that I am not alone. I find it so refreshing that the people in the days that Christ was walking the earth had some of the same questions and concerns that we do. Just another example of God's evident GRACE and MERCY for us! I found and read this chapter in Psalms last night and I got out Dustin's bible resource thingy :) and looked up what it said about it. The resource thingy said for some reason a lot of people today believe and think that the disciples were basically perfect men that walked beside God, never had questions, never had worries, never made mistakes, as you may already know those people are VERY wrong! In Dustin's study bible (I don't have one, maybe I'll get one for my birthday(10/29)..hint..hint :P) it says this psalm has 3 movements it starts out as a lament or poem of the forsaken, then it's a petition for deliverance, then it's a confession and a vow of praise. God allowed David to poor out his heart full of anxiety to Him and in the middle of his prayer God gave him an understanding of his own situation. I believe God wanted David to be broken before Him so that He could restore him. Verse 5 is awesome because that's where David goes back to the moment that he accepted Christ as his Savior and what the Savior had done for him. Then in verse 6 David vows to praise God because He had (in my terms of course) put up with a lot from him. Sometimes when we are having troubles the first thing we want to do is question where God is. He never leaves us! He wants us to poor our hearts out to Him so that He can remind us just what an AWESOME God we serve! We need to remember that no matter what we go through whether our life is great and we are on the mountain or whether we are going through rough times in the valley, God is there! He is worthy to be praised AT ALL TIMES, mountain or valley. I hate to see people stop praising God when things start going good. He continues to bless as long as we continue to praise Him. Then we bad times do come they are a lot easier to conquer because you are walking close to Him. He desires to hear from us! His word tells us to cast all our cares on Him for He cares for YOU. (1 Peter 5:7) There's no one that can heal me like the GREAT physician can. There's no one that can deliver me like the God that is my present help in my time of need can. I really don't know what I'd do without His love. He does put up with a lot from me but I'm so thankful that no matter what I do He forgives and He still loves me! Thank you God for loving me!!! Help me to forgive and love others like you forgive and love me!

Be an encouragement...

Romans 14:7-13
"For none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, AS I LIVE, SAITH THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way."

I love to be an encouragement to others. I love for people to encourage me. I believe God knows just when to lay it on someone's heart to encourage me. As christians we all need encouragement on a daily basis. In another direction Christian's do not need discouragement. I believe God is telling us just that in these verses. It's ok to disagree with someone or not like the way they do something but as verse 13 says if it is going to cause someone's walk with Christ to fall then there's no need to say anything about it. This goes with anything in our life really. As christians we must present our bodies as living sacrifices unto Him (Romans 12:1). When we walk around judging everyone, gossiping (this applies to me as well), or presenting ourselves just like anyone else in the world would, we are being a stumbling block to others. Not to mention, we are not glorifying our Heavenly Father. What I find so amazing, that a lot of times we don't think about is, if we would just strive to be more like Christ and live for Him, not judging others but directing them to Him, those people that we feel need to change would. They would change because they would then have a desire to be more like Christ. I've been praying for God to reveal to me the things I need to change so that I can draw closer to Him and direct others in His path. He has been revealing a lot of things to me. I'm realizing more and more everyday that our actions affect EVERYONE around us. We have to be very careful of our actions and how we treat others. People in the world realize the things we do wrong a lot quicker when they know you are a Christian. I believe they are looking for things for us to do wrong just so they'll have an excuse of why they don't want to be a Christian. This breaks my heart. I NEVER want to do ANYTHING that would make someone not want to be a Christian!
God please help me to be more like you. Help others to see Christ in me that I may draw them closer to you as well. Help me to have a joyful spirit even on my worst days. I love you Amen.

Having a bad day??

John 16:31-33
"Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD."

In this chapter Jesus is explaining to His disciples that He is about to return to heaven to be with the Father. They would no longer be able to "see" Him but the Holy Spirit would be with them. I think the disciples may have been freaking out a little and Jesus was basically telling them there's no need to worry. Believe on Him that they may have peace even in the times of tribulation. Be happy because He has overcome the world.

Since I accepted Jesus as my Savior I've already had many trials. A lot of the times when I experienced these trials I would ask for prayer from my husband or friends and say "I'm not having a good day, the devil is on me today." My sister opened my eyes to something I should have already known. Because of our sin, we are going to have trials. When you give the credit for the bad day to satan he loves it and runs with it. The bad day will only get worse! We are going to have bad days. Verse 33 says "...in the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD." Just because there are "bad" days or trials doesn't mean it's "the enemy." Jesus says we will have bad days. I love the song by the Crabb family Through the Fire. It says in that song "He never promised that the cross would not get heavy and the hill would not be hard to climb. He never offered a victory without fighting but He said help would always come in time so just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision and the advisary says give in. Just HOLD ON our Lord will show up and He will take you through the fire again." This is so true! Instead of giving satan credit for my bad days after Mary Helen, my sister, reminded me about this I started just looking at my bad days as God giving me a reason to grow closer to Him. It's a time of testing our faith. Sometimes we can be so dumb to think that we are all alone in our trials. Poor pitiful me, what am I gonna do? Jesus says, "be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." He never leaves us. He is always there fighting for us, telling us come on you can get through this. Trust in me I already overcome it anyway. He HAS already overcome, He just wants us to remember that and rely on Him to take care of us. So my challenge to myself and what I'm challenging all of you other Christians. Having a bad day? think of it as a test. Jesus wants to know that we are strong enough to face what ever may come our way because we have HIM on our side.

...but that the works of God should be made manifest in Him

John 9:3
"Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in Him."

Because we are human, alot of times when bad things happen the first thing we do is blame or question God. What did I do to deserve this? or Why would God do this to me? In verse 3 Jesus told His disciples this blind man had done nothing wrong, his parents had done nothing wrong. But He was made special in God's eyes so that God could do a work in His life that it may be seen as a testimony to others and bring others to know God! God led me to these scriptures this morning. It's by no chance that He wanted me to study this! Last night in our ladies prayer meeting Ms. Dawn read the children's book called "Hermie the common caterpillar" In the book God tries to explain to Hermie that He uses common "people" or in this case a common caterpillar to mold them into what He would have them be. Ms. Dawn then read Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." This man may have been blind but God made him that way so that one day He could use Jesus to heal him so that others(including the blind man) may believe. Sometimes I feel really down on myself. I may feel ugly, fluffy (we never use the word fat haha), too tall, too short, too sick... the list could go on. God made us this way for a reason. But what I have to realize and what everyone should realize is just like God told Hermie in the book God is not through with us yet. All of these things we consider imperfections God considers a foundation for a masterpiece that He will one day use for His glory! Isn't that awesome? I am going to look at my "imperfections" from now on as just things that God will use to show off with. I am perfectly fine with being something God can use to "show off" with for His glory. I didn't intend on my study going along with last night's devotion that's just a God thing. :) I love reading about the miracles God performed. These stories remind me a lot of the time and age we are in. We are so hard headed just as the people were then and God uses all of these stories to explain things to us today. When I was reading this chapter I kinda was wondering if the blind man received Jesus as His Savior. I mean after all he had just seen with his own eyes, literally, that Jesus healed him. If you keep reading on in the chapter the blind man that now sees was trying to explain to the people what happened and who it was that healed him but they weren't believing and even cast him out. Jesus heard about this He went back and found him and asked him (verse 35) "does thou believe on the Son of God?" Jesus witnessed to the blind man and it says in verse 38 he believed and worshipped Him. I believe God was already dealing with his heart when he was trying to share with the people about what happened. Jesus knew exactly when to step in. I also believe God knew when the blind man was formed in his mother's belly that this would take place and would be how the blind man was saved. This isn't the only miracle story where Jesus told someone He made them that way so that He may receive glory. In John 11:4 Jesus said basically the same thing to Lazarus. He knows exactly when to step in to explain things to us too. Give Him time. BE Patient! He is not done with us. It's a pretty amazing feeling to think about it really. God has a plan for us and I'm so excited to see where He will take me and what He will do in my life!

A great word to start a Monday...

:) What a beautiful day the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be glad in it! I had such a great weekend! Friday after work Dustin and I had a great evening out by ourselves. Then Saturday I went to one of my best friend's baby shower! I can't believe we are old enough to have babies! I remember when we use to spend the night with each other and dream about those days that we'd be married and having babies :) (although I'm not having babies YET lol). I guess it's true "Time flys by when you are having fun." Then Saturday evening we got together with the youth at the church and watched Letters to God. That movie is so amazing! Awesome for families and any age really! Very touching! Then Sunday God showed up again in our services morning and night. Last night we went to Derby Place with "Acting Out" to use our talents for the Lord in performing our skits! I received such a blessing by being with them at Derby! We had 3 that had been saved this past week come forward in the services yesterday. I just LOVE that baptismal services are becoming a part of our regular services lately! Can't get any better than that! I still stand in amazement at the handy work that God is doing in our church, in our lives, and in our world! I could never thank Him enough for the work he is doing in my life!
Dustin and I were in Lifeway Friday and I saw a shirt with the verse Ezekiel 36:26. This verse quickly has become very special to my heart! I've shared it with some of the others that have recently been saved too. It says in verse 26-30, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be YOUR GOD. I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen." I want to study up on the fall of Israel so that I can understand better what God was saying to Israel in these verses but I just LOVE what I feel He is saying to me. HE will make in ME a NEW heart AND put a NEW spirit in me AND take away the STONY (or hardened) heart and give ME a "soft" heart! If that can't make you smile I don't know what to tell ya. I've said it a lot lately and I'll say it again.. No matter where you've been or what you've done GOD CAN CHANGE YOU. We can be so foolish sometimes in thinking we can change ourselves! We are weak but HE IS STRONG! Only God change us and isn't it amazing to know when HE changes us we are completely changed all the way to the depts of our heart and flesh! He says He will clean us from our uncleannesses and then He says he will PROVIDE for us (increase the corn). He not only cleans us, He provides too! I'm sitting in PJ's coffee right now and could just shout and sing of His praises! God is so GOOD! I cannot even begin to thank Him enough and I can't wait to meet Him face to face one day and tell Him "thank you for saving me and making a new heart in me!!" Of course that's what I want to say but I can only imagine I probably won't even be able to speak because of His GLORY!
Are you thankful for this new heart God has given you? If you are a born again Christian that's exactly what you have a "new heart." Be happy about it and share it with others. If you are not saved the AWESOME God that I've been talking about can turn your life around, too! There's nothing He can't do! Believe in Him, that if it were only you he still would have come and He can make a change in you that NO ONE else can!! Praise God that He is STILL a saving God! Whew! Thank you Lord for that word! That's a great way to start my Monday!!!
Have a blessed day!!!
*Heather

He gave His life away for me...

What an AWESOME God we serve!! Church was absolutely amazing last night! God was there and He was moving in that place! God saved one last night and one person rededicated their life to Him. I'm so thankful that He is working in our church and I pray He only continues to work. Last night we sang a song called You gave Your Life Away. After we got through singing I felt lead to ask the youth and kids do they ever feel like they are unloveable. Many of them said yes. I went on to explain to them that even when we feel like there's no one in this world that could love us, God does! Praise the Lord! He loves ME. The bible says we are as filthy rags but God STILL loves us! That sends chills up my body thinking about it! I breaks my heart to know that some people will never know the love God has for them! Some people may spend their whole life loving some other person that may never love them back. God is standing there crying out to them to accept Him. He is the creator of love. HE IS LOVE. And His love never fails! Man that's good isn't it!

You spoke and worlds were formed

You breathed and life was born
You knew that one day You would come
So far from Heaven’s throne
Clothed in human form
You showed the world the Father’s love

You gave You gave Your life away
You gave You gave Your life away
You gave You gave Your life away for me
Your grace has broken every chain
My sins are gone my debt’s been paid
You gave You gave Your life away for me
For me

You lived a sinless life
Yet You were crucified
You bought our freedom on the cross
Forsaken for our sins
You died and rose again
Jesus You are the Lamb of God

You gave You gave Your life away

You gave You gave Your life away
You gave You gave Your life away for me
Your grace has broken every chain
My sins are gone my debt’s been paid
You gave You gave Your life away for me
For me


How glorious is Your love
If I could sing forever
It’s not enough to say
How glorious is Your love

If I could sing forever
It’s not enough to say

How Glorious Your Love

You gave You gave Your life away

You gave You gave Your life away
You gave You gave Your life away for me
Your grace has broken every chain
My sins are gone my debt’s been paid
You gave You gave Your life away for me
For me

We have NOTHING if we don't have love..

1 Corinthians 13
"Though I speak with the tongues of mean and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. and though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove moutains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in inquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail: whether there be tongues, they shall cease; wheter there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I though as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly: but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

This is a very popular chapter. God laid this on my heart last night and I read over it. I'm thinking He is telling me I'm going to need more than one blog to learn all that I need to learn from it! First we'll start off with the meaning of charity. Charity means Love! In Dustin's study bible it says that in this letter Paul intentionally uses exaggeration to explain how you can have all the spiritual gifts in the world but if you don't have charity (love) you have NOTHING. I read over verse 1 and then did a little studying in the margin. Apparently the Corinthians used brass instruments and cymbals as part of their "pagan worship." Paul was explaining this to them, they could dance around and blow their brass instruments and bang the cymbals together as much as they wanted but that worship meant nothing because they weren't worshipping the HEAVENLY FATHER. Paul is saying we can preach, speak, and witness all we want to but if we don't have love then we will be as useless as the brass instruments and cymbals are with the pagan worship. Isn't it funny how even back then we had to have things spelled out for us? Paul needed to exaggerate to get his point across. He goes on to say, we can have all the faith in the world, even faith that moves mountains (Matt. 17:20), but if we don't have love we have NOTHING! In verse 3 Paul says, you can feed the poor and even offer yourself as a sacrifice but if you don't do it in love you profiteth NOTHING! In this study bible it brings out a great point, it talks about how all of the things we do, all of our spiritual gifts will not last. All of these gifts will no longer be needed one day. But love continues FOREVER! This is what verse 8 is talking about, "Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail: whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away." It says that fail in this verse means, something that will cause prophecies to stop. Yes we do need to minister and tell others about God's word (verse 9). But when Jesus returns there will be no more time for ministering. It will be too late. So we must make sure we have love in our hearts to follow us through til the end.  I just realized I ended up learning something completely different from what I thought I was gonna learn. :) Awesome! I'm going to continue to studying in this chapter though. I can already see lots of things God wants me to learn from it, so my next few blogs will probably be from this chapter. Unless of course God moves me somewhere else. Just for a little add in... GOD IS LOVE!!!!

He loves us anyway...

I almost don't know where to start this morning. :) God is beyond AMAZING! He is continuously revealing this to me and I'm loving every minute of it. Last night we had I guess our first official Ladies prayer night. This is such a blessing to me. It helps so much to be surrounded by women of God that I know love me. To learn with and from them through God. I'm so excited about how He is working and going to work through this prayer group. I'm praying so hard that it's just as much of a blessing for everyone else as well. I felt God's presence there last night. I felt Him speaking through Ms. Dawn as she brought the devotion. The story that she told and the verses that God gave her are still on my heart. I was talking to Dustin this morning and I was telling him, I'm still so amazed at how God interlaces everything. From a story in 2 Samuel 11 to a prayer in Psalm 51, it all goes together. These verses also can go along with everything I've been studying. If you are reading this and you don't know the story of David and Bathsheba I'll give a short version of it. I don't think I can do as good as Ms. Dawn last night but I'll try.

All the men were at war and at this time kings went to war also. But for some reason the bible says David did not go. Ms Dawn explained to us that this was David's first sin.  Well David went on his roof and saw a woman taking a bath. Here comes the second sin. When he should have walked away he stayed and watched. He lusted after her and sent someone to bring her to him. This was a married woman who's husband was at war. By the way Bathsheba's first sin was taking a bath in the open. It's kind of like asking for trouble if you ask me. Ms. Dawn explained to us that we are to be MODEST! I found this definition of modest and I like it... unwilling to draw attention to your own achievements or abilities.. and I'll add unwilling to draw attention to yourself! We are to COVER ourselves and dress and act modestly to never be a hinderance to anyone else and just out of respect for ourselves! So after David sent someone for her they committed adultery and were with child. Then long story short David had her husband killed by sending him to the front lines of the war. The part of the story that stands out most to me is.. Because of this sin the baby did not live. But because of David's repentence in Psalms 51 GOD DELIVERED HIM FROM THIS SIN! I can't sit still in my seat thinking about this! :0) Yes there are consequences for our sins but because we serve an AWESOME God there is deliverance in His name. AND there isn't JUST deliverance. God ALWAYS makes something good out of something bad if we just rely on Him! Psalm 51:1-2 says "Have mercy upon me, O God according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." David prayed for God to forgive him and WASH him clean. In verse 7 David asked that God wash him that he may be white as snow! Because David humbled himself and asked for forgiveness God then blessed him with a son. This son was Solomon. Solomon was the wisest man to live.
What I find so awesome about this story is... David didn't deserve the forgiveness. We don't deserve God's forgiveness but HE FORGIVES when we call upon his name. Not only did David not deserve God's forgiveness but he definately didn't deserve to receive a blessing of a son. We don't deserve the things God gives us either! BUT He gives them to us anyway. Doesn't that give us even just a glimpse of how much God really loves us? Man that's good!

Dustin shared this verse with me this morning and it goes right along with all of this. Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." If you have sin in your life, bring it to God. If you have any burden in your life bring it to God. He is our rock, our shelter, our strong tower. Why do we think we can handle things on our own? We don't have to handle them alone. Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE NOR FORSAKE THEE." God doesn't leave us! He is always there. We just need to rely on Him. I'm so excited to rely on Him!!

Kill them with kindness...

What an awesome weekend? Saturday we went to Pep's Point with 40+ people from the church and had a BLAST! Then yesterday we had a GREAT day in the Lord at Community. My brother-in-law allowed God to use him tremendously through his message about just how great God is and what He commands of us. I'm a little sad to have to come back to work today after such a great weekend but we can have a GREAT week in the Lord as well.
As I studied God's word this morning, He led me to something else he commands of us. In Romans 12:17-21 the bible says, "Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, VENGEANCE IS MINE; I WILL REPAY, saith the Lord. Therefore IF THINE ENEMY HUNGER, FEED HIM; IF HE THIRST, GIVE HIM DRINK: FOR IN SO DOING THOU SHALT HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Hmmm... as humans when we read this we more than likely want to mumble under our breath, "ugh do I really have to?" Yes we do, God commands us to. There are lots of verses in the bible that say we should love our enemies. I think one of the reasons God commands us of this is, If we are supposed to tell everyone about Him how can we do that if we aren't telling our enemies as well. In verse 19 it basically says, If your enemy has done something to hurt them let God seek vengeance on them. Let our Heavenly Father discipline the person that has done wrong with you. Isn't it only causing more pain and agony for you to do something about it? God is giving us a way out here by saying He will repay!
Growing up if I had a problem with someone my mom always told me to "Kill them with kindness." I think in a funny way God is saying that in verse 20 Therefore IF THINE ENEMY HUNGER, FEED HIM; IF HE THIRST, GIVE HIM DRINK: FOR IN SO DOING THOU SHALT HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD. He says if you give all these things to your enemy, he (the enemy) will heap coals of fire on his head. When I read that I pictured a little cartoon character with smoke and flames coming out of his head..haha. You know what's neat though? By doing these things we are asked of, we are showing them Jesus. Jesus didn't get mad and call names or talk bad about the people that hung Him on the cross. He was an innocent man being crucified basically because someone didn't like Him but yet as He was suffering, He was still thinking of someone else and asked the Father to please forgive them, for they know not what they do. WOW how amazing is that? I will NEVER be able to understand just how AMAZING that is.
The last verse in this chapter says "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." I believe God wants us to love our enemies because if our focus is on getting back at someone that hurt us then our focus isn't on God. As Christians we are to guard our minds against this! Our focus should be truly and completely on God and telling others about Him, even our enemies.

Oh be careful little lips what you say...

Ephesians 4: 21-32
"If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOUR: for we are members one for another. BE YE ANGRY AND SIN NOT: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil: Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

This is a long reading but I believe God has lots of things for me to learn from it. When we ask Jesus into our hearts we become a "new man." All of the old things we were and used to do are put away. I think these verses are a challenge from God to us. If we lie, steal, cheat, and are angry along with a lot of other things we are allowing the devil to have a place in our hearts (verse 27). I pray everyday that God would put satan out of my life. I definately don't want to "welcome" him in by doing these things.
I believe He is also saying he wants us to be a living example of Him. Verse 29 says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minster grace unto the hearers." I think God is saying here that everything we say should only uplift others around us and ultimately uplift our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. When I read these verses I couldn't help but think of the little song we used to sing in Sunday School when I was a kid. Oh be careful little eyes what you see, Oh be careful little eyes what you see, For the Father up above is looking down in love Oh be careful little eyes what you see. The verses change and also say Oh be careful little lips what you say, oh be careful little feet where you go, and oh be careful little ears what you hear. We really do have to be careful of these things, not only as children but even as adults. One little word or even attitude can ruin a testimony of faith. I love verse 30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." As born again Christians we are sealed unto the day of redemption meaning this salvation can never be taken away from us. So because Christ has sealed us, He is asking that we grieve not (put no distress upon) the Holy Spirit. Because we are changed by the blood that He shed for us on Calvary, there is no reason for us to hinder others with our words and actions. As Christians, Christ says we are to be set apart. Deuteronomy 14:2 "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth."
Peculiar means to be unique: belonging exclusively to or identified distinctly with Christ and distinct from all others. He wants us to stand out from all the rest because He loves us so much!
A lot of times in this world, it's a little easier just to follow the "crowd." But it's SO much more rewarding to follow Christ. Hey doesn't He deserve it?!

*Heather

A woman's work is NEVER done...

So this morning God led me to Proverbs 31:10-31. My first thought was ok God I've read this and heard it read a million times what can I learn from it now? This is probably why they say never question God. :) This was the answer I got...Read it No matter how many times you've read a scripture God can still allow you to learn through it.

In our woman's prayer group that we started Monday at church, Ms. Dawn (my pastor's wife) prayed and asked God that he would make us into the women HE would have us to be. Proverbs 31 talks about the woman God wants us to strive to be like. Verse 10 says "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." I looked up the definition of virtuous and it said - with moral integrity: having or showing moral goodness or righteousness. Even in those days this "virtuous" woman was hard to find so think about how hard it may be now. In these verses it talks about all she does for her family. I've always heard people say "A woman's work is NEVER done" but didn't really understand it until I got married. :) There are 22 verses about this virtuous woman just in Proverbs and none of them say anything about her complaining. My favorites are 25-26 "Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." I've been challenging myself to not complain when I have to do house work. Dustin asked me once why did I get so mad when I'm cleaning? I almost wanted to say "ugh, mad I'm not mad." when in all reality I was. I realized really quick how selfish I was being. By acting mad because I had to do my job, I was making him in a bad mood. Hence the saying if the wife (or Momma) ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! Now don't get me wrong I think the husband should help out some but ultimately it's our job as wife to keep up the house. I've learned that when I come in from work happy and clean, cook, and do whatever else I need to do my husband is a lot happier man and I'm a lot happier woman. Also if I do this he is more likely to help me. It's contagious :). Verse 28 says "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." I never ever remember my momma complaining because she had to cook or clean or wash clothes or anything else we asked her to do for us. I respect my momma so much for that and I pray everyday I can be more like her.

Now I know we have our bad days where we just want to sit and waller (sp?) in our own self pitty. But like I've said in a past blog Our worst day is nothing compared to what Jesus went through the day He died on that cross for ME and you. One more verse and I'll be finished for today Proverbs 12:4 says "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." Think of what we can accomplish if we strive to be more like this virtuous woman. I want to be a crown to my husband! There are SO many other things we can learn from these verses. This is just a little sample of what I learned from it. If you read the verses for yourself you'll see just how many jobs this virtuous woman had. What I have to do is no where near what all she had to do. I think I can manage. :0)

*Heather

I WILL NEVER leave thee, nor forsake thee....

It's funny how sometimes we get down and out and we may say "why is this happening to me?" or "why won't the devil just leave me alone?" I've said it before, as a matter of fact I've said it lately. I cannot say it enough..Our God is AWESOME! Last night I started praying that God would already be preparing a verse of scripture for me this morning. Actually He prepared 2. I wanted to send one out to the youth for encouragement on their first day of school and he gave me Matt 5:14-16. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." These are RED letter words which means Jesus said this. Just a little bit of light in the darkness gives light unto ALL that are in the house! If we shine our light for Him everyone in the darkness can't help but see it. The last verse says "that they may see your good works" but not so that WE get glory but that they may "glorify your Father which is in Heaven." Isn't that just awesome!!

The other verse He gave me this morning is in Matthew also. Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, satan: for it is written THOU SHALT WORSHIP THE LORD THY GOD, AND HIM ONLY SHALT THOU SERVE." Even Jesus was tempted by Satan. Satan tried his best to get Jesus to fail but NOPE Jesus wasn't having it. I read this whole chapter but when I was reading these verses I noticed verse 11 says "then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him" and then in verse 12 it goes directly into a different story. I'd like to believe after Jesus was tempted by satan and Jesus told him what He told him, that Jesus picked up his things and continued to serve God by preaching without even once looking back. I desire to be like Jesus! Yes we are tempted by satan and yes life gets hard sometimes. But it's amazing to have that reassurance AGAIN that Jesus says "...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5. Some people may say "oh those were 'the old days'" Jesus didn't face the same things we do. Oh yes He did. He was tempted by satan, people turned their backs on Him, and many more things we face today He has faced also. So my question for everyone and for myself is.... If Jesus faced those trials and made it through them can't we also trust that we can face them and make it through because He WILL NEVER leave thee, nor forsake thee? I believe we can!

God help me to tell satan to GO AWAY just as You did! Help me to have the strength to walk away from temptation just as You did. Help me to serve You and tell others about You more. Amen!

God Bless and Have a Great day!!

There is POWER, POWER...

I never really thought I had the talent of writing. I always said that was Mary Helen's (my sister) talent. But for some reason God has laid it on my heart to share the things I study. Maybe by typing it all up it helps me to understand it more or maybe He has someone in mind that needs to hear these things. We will see. I'm finding out how awesome it is that God truely directs us when studying His Word. This morning I prayed that God would lead me to a verse that He would have me learn something from. He led me to Ephesians and I somehow ended up in chapter 3. Ephesians 3:20 says "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that worketh in us," Someone said it this week and they were right. Do we really understand the POWER that we have in Jesus? This verse says He is able to do exceeding abundantly above ALL that we ask or even think. If anything is even just on our hearts and we are thinking about it God sees that and will do exceeding abundantly above it! Think about what He can do if we just ask. Nothing is ever too big or small for our God. If it's important to you it's important to Him! I may have said this before but since I accepted Jesus into my heart I understand a lot of things I didn't really understand before. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing." I have been doing just this. All throughout the day, I'm praying. Small or big, I bring it to the Lord. I'm so thankful God has put this desire in my heart to seek His will, learn more about Him, and pray. And I'm so thankful that He is POWER in me and He goes above and beyond to answer my prayers!

Just another manic Monday...

I don't really have lots of time to write this morning but I felt I needed to at least share this. It's been a little bit of a crazy morning already. The devil has tried his best to get me down and he's still working on it. BUT I'm SO glad God reminded me of this this morning... "The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will Call on the LORD, who is worthy to be PRAISED: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." 2 Samuel 22:3-4. My worst day is NOTHING compared to what He went through  the day He died for ME on Calvary and He is SO worthy to be PRAISED there's no reason why I shouldn't have a smile on my face!

BE BOLD!!

Ephesians 6:20



"And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel."

 

This morning when I got to work I started my normal quiet time (I get to work about an hour and a half early b/c I ride with Dustin). God laid 2 Timothy 1:7 on my heart. I knew the verse but didn't know the address so of course I looked it up and when I opened up to it I started reading the whole chapter. I even read into Chapter 2 and then God brought me back to chapter 1 to verse 16 it says, The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: Of course my first response was "huh?" It's awesome how God works because in the little bitty margin beside this verse it says "Matt. 5:7; Eph. 6:20" (in my bible that is). I flipped over to read these verses: Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Ephesians 6:20 "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel." I said all this to say this. My prayer has been lately that I could be bold and tell others about Him. Not only by just telling them but also by the way I talk, walk, and act. Ephesians 6:20 is just that prayer that I had been praying. God allow me to speak boldly about You to let others know of the Awesome God we serve that for some sad reason is a lot of time a mystery to people. Matthew 5:7 steps in because I need to be merciful to those around me. Everyone needs to know about this "mystery" even those around us that may not seem like they'll listen. Even by us just sharing with them they are on our hearts and we are praying for them can make a world of difference. This works for the born again Christians as well. It blesses my heart so much to hear people say they are praying for me. The life that we live can be so difficult at times. Isn't it amazing to know...For with God NOTHING shall be impossible Luke 1:37.


So as I like to say that's my little soap box for today. Let's all step out on FAITH and speak BOLDLY about how AWESOME our God is.