Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Needs or Concerns

We are constantly tested on our value system. We have a creative tension between living on earth and heaven. God doesn't want us penniless and homeless but neither are we to assume that we are to be wealthy and mansions all over the world. We live for today and have concern for our tomorrow. We don't escape preparing for tomorrow but it cannot be our only concern. God will provide. How have I been enticed by the material world lately? Am I like the rich man who received a rich harvest only to find out his life would be demanded of him that very night? Do I worry what I will eat and what I will wear, knowing I have little control over the time I have here on earth or how I will manage anything that I worry about? God  knows that I have need of these things, but I must seek HIS KINGDOM FIRST and then these things will be given to me as well. Know that God is first. So when I go about my daily plans for my life, I seek advice, guidance and love from God. I ask God to mold my values and priorities into his own. I know that God does not condemn possessions, but they must be used for his good. God wants me to do his will on earth. Whether we are rich or poor we have to rely on God. God is not only for the poor or middle class. God doesn't hate the rich and wealthy. Its how we use the talents and blessings that we are given. What judgments and decisions do we make that reflect our decision to respect God's value in our lives? Do my choices reflect a christian or Christ like lifestyle? Am I ready for what will come? Am I prepared or am I sleeping?  Will I be caught off guard when the time comes? Are my concerns of value or of little consequences in the whole scheme of things?
Luke 12:13 through 13:21

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Thank You So Much

Cleaning products! What a marvelous teacher you are. I stay encouraged by your faith.I continue to pray for what is God's will in your life and I haven't changed my mind in any way, about anything. I stand with you and pray that the right decision is made.I pray that I can encourage, strengthen and keep you close. Make some noise.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Discovering that which needs to be revealed

I ask God to continue to help me be sincere and truthful to myself as well as others. I sincerely want what you want. I believe in you and your purpose. Whatever you are desiring out of this situation, then I want that to be the outcome. I will write letters, send emails, make phone calls and be supportive . But I have to be true to myself as well. How can I say I want you to stay in this role when I believe there is more for you else where.  How do I fight for what I want and need, while still allowing you to have what you want  and need. When the two conflict, I have to step back and let God's will be done. So I pray for what you want out of this situation. I think I have put my feelings out there as well and I am in the wait and see mode. I am showing love for support of you and your choice.

John 5:19-23 (New International Version, ©2011)

 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

You Are Loved

I hope it warms your heart to know so many are behind, beside you, and  in front of you encouraging you to continue your wonderful work. I stand committed to you.

Take Time to SEE each other

God I take time to see others today. I thank you for the gifts you have given me and the people you have placed in my life. I take nothing for granted and I pray that I have not denied you or your Word. Thank You God for loving me during my time here on earth. I look forward to continual service for you Lord. I pray that my mistakes and fears can be erased. I look forward to serving you always Lord. Giving of myself to you Lord. Taking the time to hear your Word and following your commands. I listen for your word, influence and direction in my life. Thank you Lord for loving me. Help me through hard times. Help me to face what ever may come. When I think I have had enough and that I can't take it anymore, you send hope. We can do what we have to do. We despair over having to go through the same thing again and again but somehow we always come out of it, so Lord, this too shall pass.

 

Job 7:1-8 (New International Version, ©2011)

Job 7

 1 “Do not mortals have hard service on earth?
   Are not their days like those of hired laborers?
2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,
   or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
3 so I have been allotted months of futility,
   and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’
   The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.
5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs,
   my skin is broken and festering.
 6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
   and they come to an end without hope.
7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;
   my eyes will never see happiness again.
8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;
   you will look for me, but I will be no more.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Distortion

One thing I know is that whenever the bible had a conflict with the men of God it is because the religious authority spoke from their own selfish human power. Just because they were in authority, it did not make it right. Jesus challenged, Paul challenged, other disciples challenged.
When people distort God's word and authority and try to make it their own its wrong. Its manipulation of their power.

Don't be intimidated by someone's ability to present an argument. Don't be frustrated by their ability to twist your words and distort the truth.  How you respond is a result of their manipulation. Remain confident in God and remember to respond with force and conviction to their blasphemous words. Know that God is in your life and that what God has for you really is for you. You have to remember that God does not want you to be unhappy doing what makes you unhappy. I do not believe God wants us to listen to others who want to cause us suffering and humiliation. We have to be what God called us to be and it is not to put our heads in the sand or bury our talents in something we were not called to do.

I dont know what lies in the future but I know that there is greatness within you and you are blessed. There is an extraordinary deliverance for you.

Isaiah 36-37

Isaiah 36

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
 1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field, 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.  4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
   “‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the LORD our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?
 8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen[a]? 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the LORD? The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
 12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
 13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
 16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
 18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
 21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.

Isaiah 37

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold
 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”  5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
 8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
 9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[b] was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: 16 “LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.  18 “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.[c]
Sennacherib’s Fall
 21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the LORD has spoken against him:    “Virgin Daughter Zion
   despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
   tosses her head as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
   Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
   Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers
   you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
   ‘With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
   the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
   the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest heights,
   the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[d]
   and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
   I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’
 26 “Have you not heard?
   Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
   now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
   into piles of stone.
27 Their people, drained of power,
   are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
   like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
   scorched[e] before it grows up.
 28 “But I know where you are
   and when you come and go
   and how you rage against me.
29 Because you rage against me
   and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
   and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
   by the way you came.
 30 “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:
   “This year you will eat what grows by itself,
   and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
   plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
   will take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
   and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.
 33 “Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
   “He will not enter this city
   or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
   or build a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;
   he will not enter this city,”
            declares the LORD.
35 “I will defend this city and save it,
   for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”
 36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
 38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Whatever May Happen

My heart goes out to you because I know you feel disappointed because of their lack of appreciation for all that you do to better the community and to truly bring God's word and way of life to all the world. The righteous suffer with the bad for their sins. We assume our own personal responsibility for circumstances beyond our control and for things that we may have done or said that aggravated the situation.

Whatever you decide, I know that God will be by your side and so will I. Where ever you go, you will have many who love you and who support you. Your critics do not out number your supporters. You will make the right decision. I feel inclined not to lean one way or the other, while I assume some responsibility of  messing with your heart, I stand by what ever decision you make. It is not right for them to give you such unreasonable ultimatums that show no consideration for you or your congregation. It is a sign alright. Submission to God's Will. Good Night.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Consistent or Inconsistent

God are my plans your plans? How do I know? How do I know what is your plan?

God you have me in a strange place right now. I am at a true crossroads in my life.

I have been in this sort of limbo since January.

I struggled with my knee, my classroom, my home life, until the point where I felt I couldn't do what I was doing and call it healthy.

So I pulled away, left the job, but didn't leave, just went on medical leave, don't want to close the door completely, I need that job,or so I think, and I found that there was more confusion then calm at home. Why all of the sudden, the other women of the house are at home too? That's just not right. What happen to my plan for some rest and relaxation? Now we are all here, every day. What the heck happened here? So much for my plans. I should have known I couldn't plan time for myself.

Out of one crazy situation into another.

I guess God wants me to know, this is not it either.

So now I pray for strength to go back, tolerate the situation, find a new position, stretch for the doctorate, or truly stretch and open up to the relationship, make a move, allow all the trust in and the nonsense out, believe.

I ask you God, is it truly a situation of either this or that?

Am I at this point in my life because I need to be free to make that decision with out the distractions of a job/career.

Can I give up what I think is my career, that isnt really a career, just a path to retirement.

So then what? Do I just sit here? What do I do? What do I do right now?

I say that I am ready to submit to what God wants me to submit to? Do I really believe that God wants me to submit to him? Does he really believe God wants him to make this change in his life? Is he really ready to commit?

I feel he says its a lot of waiting and not right now, and I just need to do one more thing before I commit to you. As if I am the problem. Life doesn't stop with me.

According to God, we begin a new life and future, one in which we both are committing to the unknown. One where our future is to work together, enhancing and enriching the Kingdom of God, together. Building a New World, blazing a future that continues to uplift and confront and bless mankind like never before.  It's above and beyond, but isn't that what God would want us to believe. Especially if we believe he wants this.

A relationship isn't worth something unless both parties have something of value to give up. You could stay where you are and I can stay where I am but what kind of relationship is that, oh I know, that's what we have been doing so far.

Cautious and reserved. Judging whether the sacrifice is too great. We both have to make this leap. Do I say yes and wait. Do I say yes and keep doing what I planned or thought about before, or until he makes a move? Do I make a move? What kind of move? What do I do that will show submission? I want to make the first move, No I want you to make the first move, I want to make the right move. What ever has to be done, I want to do it.

I DON'T BELIEVE I AM AT HOME ONLY BECAUSE OF MY SURGERY, IT WASN'T THAT BAD. GOD NEEDED ME TO STOP WHAT I WAS DOING.

I think God wanted my attention.

Look at this mess you have gotten yourself into. What are you going to do about it? I believe God wants me to do something and needed my full attention.

Get rid of the job distractions, get rid of the superficial church stuff, sit your butt down and listen to me. Listen to me, talk to me, meditate on my word, struggle on my meaning and wrestle with the real problem.

THAT WHICH YOU HAVE AVOIDED, FACE IT, NOW. Face him, deal with him, admit your love, submit to him, trust him and you show that you trust me.

Do I trust God to take care of me? Do I trust God to guide me to a safe relationship? I wrestle with control. Stay in the job, protect myself, who knows what the future will bring.  Retirement is closer than you think. But age is just a number. God wants us to live long healthy lives.

I feel if I stay in the job, I lose my future. So then what. Submit to the unknown. Submit to the uncertain.

Submit to God's will.

So WHAT AM I SAYING, God doesn't want me to have an income, that's not it, God can provide. Will God provide by the next mortgage payment, that's when feel the need for control and I want to make sure there will be a payment. Just sit here and wait until....until what? There's that uncertainty. How will I survive?

I am not confident enough that my well being will be provided for in these hard times. I don't want to struggle but then I am struggling anyway. I have no real control over anything. So I submit.

I cant seem to make a right decision on anything else but submitting to you. So I truly say not my will but your will. So my thoughts go between returning to work next month and just sucking it up and hating every moment of it. Or do I convince myself to rely on the possibility of a new future and just submit myself to believing that my blessing is now and reach for it and take it. Believe in God's blessing. God is for my spirit. God blesses my spirit to be calm and loving. God gives me the tools to understand mankind.

My physical body and well being are also for God and I have to trust and believe, believe that my God will provide for the physical as well as the spiritual. I don't know what I will do. I say one thing and do another. Lord I pray for consistency. Let my word be my bond because if mistrust and misgivings and misunderstandings are all that I have in me then this is a waste of time and I don't want to consider any time spent in reflection with God a waste.

  I say I have opened up to the relationship, but I always show caution and reserve. I always seem to fail at the crucial moment. I can't say one thing and do another. Don't let the fact that nothing happens change my mind to think that nothing will ever happen. So if this is my future Lord, help me get there. Help me hold on to my future. Help Me Lord.

No foolishness, no games, just sincere submission. I am letting go of stuff that I thought I needed and I am releasing myself to you and your will. Lord I know you are there. You have kept me struggling with this for a very long time. Today alone I have been up since 5am, struggling with this in my heart. I pray that I have come to the end of this struggle. I pray for an answer, a change, something to let me know that this struggle is in the past and I am moving on to the next challenge. The next blessing.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Under Construction - Sunday's Sermon with my Pastor

(My interpretation on one of the best sermon's ever, I submit myself to your will. I give up fighting. It is truly your way)
Most of the resistance is within ourselves. There is so much God wants to do through us and with us. We have to rely on God to help us. There is greatness inside us. God will stretch us to get the greatness from inside of us. God will wrestle with you in order to get out of you what he knows is within you.

I know that God can change a life because I am a witness. Jacob was a trickster. One struggle after another. Jacob started his struggle in the womb. Jacob was holding on to Esau's heel. Jacob was fighting in the womb to get out of the womb first. He conived with his mother to steal the birth right from his older brother.

We call unhealthy relationships healthy. Don't settle for unhealthy relationships. Don't settle for anything. I'm too important to deal with nonsense. Link yourself with someone who recognizes the importance and greatness within you.

God has to empty some stuff out of Jacob. When we look over our lives and see all the confusion and baggage we keep carrying with us. We can't have a relationship because we are carrying the baggage of the broken relationships.  We have to pull the chain on the bus, get off and look at who we are. We have to acknowledge there is some stuff going on in me that needs to be emptied out.  If we don't empty the stuff it will kill our joy, ou possibility and our potential.  Jacob wrestled with the man until daybreak. God needs us to get to the place where we have the fight of our lives. Every now and then we are at a crossroad. A very significant place in our journey. Will you get to the place in your life now where you have to say enough is enough. You can't continue to go on the path you are going on or it will destroy your future.

That's just how important the stuff is. If you don't deal with this now it will take your future. I can't allow you to stay where you are and lose the future I have for you. Some of us are so comfortable with the stuff in our lives. We are stuck on stupid. Some stuff needs to be changed.

I WANT A NEW CHAPTER IN MY LIFE. GOD WANTS US TO DEAL WITH THE STUFF IN OUR LIVES THAT IS STOPPING US FROM GETTING TO THAT NEW CHAPTER IN OUR LIVES.

God wants us to deal with the stuff. Let go of the stuff behind us and go for a fresh start. Something new. There's some stuff I have just outgrown. I want the fresh thing. I'm tired of business as usual. I want something more. The game is over. I'm telling the devil the game is over.
I'm tired of business as usual. Every now and then God has to prove to us that he is the Lord of our life.

We all have some gangster in us. We don't know ourselves sometimes. We can be ambushed by God. God will let us play and act foolish until he lets us know He is the Lord of Lord and King of King. God will and our will wrestle. Jesus wrestled in the garden.  Wrestling will always bring us to the place where we will submit to Him.

SUBMIT. SUBMIT. SUBMIT. SUBMIT.

we live in ARROGANCE. WE ARE THE BIGGEST BULLY IN THE WORLD. WE CANT TAKE CARE OF AMERICANS BUT WE ARE GOING TO TELL OTHERS HOW TO LIVE.

The path starts with the place of submission. God has to get us to a place where we say I give up. We are bamboozled to think we can take charge and handle our lives. That means nothing when we come to a crisis in our life.

We say just in case God don't we say let me do this. Until we decrease God can't increase. I pray that during this lenten season, we come to a place where we say, I give up. I can't fight with you. What ever you want me to do, do it. I give up. It may not look good or feel good  but I give up.

I need you to get to the place where you say, I give my self away so that you can acknowledge and accept God as my Lord and my soverign, you are Lord. We give parts of ourselves, but we hold on to a part where we think we need to keep certain parts. God wants all of us. ALL of US. Not just part of us.

It's where you get to the place where you can't save yourself. If God doesn't do it, then it can't be done. We are in situations where we have to know that it was God and God alone. When we just hold on to God and stop wrestling with him about everything in our lives we decide that we are just going to hold on. HOLD ON> STOP WRESTLING with GOD. Stop arguing with God. I'm done trying to do it my way. I can't handle me. I can't handle this church. I need you. As long as I have you Lord, its going to be all right.

Hold On to his unchanging hand.

God says We are Beautiful, a lender and not a borrower. God wants us to spend the rest of our lives depending on him. Depend on him. Lean on him. We may not have a visible limp, but when we come to the point that we can't make it without you. No peace, no joy, then we have a limp. We have a limp. We will lean on God. I can't make it without you Lord, I can't live without you Lord.

Today is a new beginning. I submit totally.

Good Morning

Thank You for showing me that there is important work that needs to be done. Important to promote peace with our brothers and sisters.

How can we say we love the Lord that we do not see and not our brothers and sisters whom we see every day? I see that we are called to do a job.

We cannot forget that there is much work to be done. When I think about sitting back, or letting someone else do the work, God reminds me that I have a role.

No matter how big or small, I have a role. I have to do my part. I have to contribute. If my contribution is time, money or resources then I have to give them.

If a job is worth doing, then it is worth doing well. Integrity and respect come to those that take pride in the quality of their job, their craftsmanship, their responsibility.

What God has placed in my hands to do, I have to do well. To the very best of my ability. You have to do your best or dont do it at all.

Don't volunteer for everything and do it all half done. Don't set yourself up for failure. Don't over extend yourself so that you are disappointing more than you are enriching and rewarding.

If we do our part faithfully then God will do the rest.

I wonder why God doesnt allow certain things to happen in my life, even when I pray for them to happen, but I have to remember that its not just about me.

My prayers affect many peoples lives and I am realizing one thing about my prayer. I can't have everything I want. There are consequences that affect so many lives. I have to be ready to give up certain things if I am to truly receive and give of myself.

Am I feeling overwhelmed by commitments to my church and fellowship? Am I ready for a new challenge with my church? Have I reflected on my commitment and am I truly ready for a new commitment?

I feel so distant, I want more commitment, but I am restricted. I thank God for whatever I am able to do. I reflect and commit myself to building a new relationship. Place me where I am needed and where I can do my best. Allow me to flourish and grow. Let me work hard at God's will. Let me see the good that I can do. Help me to make a change. Help me to be strong for you. Help me to reflect on my commitment of service to God.

Nehemiah 12 - (Recognizing the important people who do the difficult, tedious, and regular jobs. All the things that make the running of a community possible)

We think if I had never fallen in love, I could do my life forever and be satisfied, but once I have fallen in love, I find all the daily tasks to be unbearable without you. Life before love, I could do forever, life after love, becomes a struggle of choices.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

A Blessing

What a blessing to have such wonderful talent come to the community.  I wish I could have been there, but I did give my ticket to someone else and I know they enjoyed the event.

When we look at our history and who we are, we know that there is a time to laugh and a time to cry. We have to have both, even when our emotions are pushed to the edge.

I thank God for all the ways that the Lord has provided for me and forgiven me. No matter how bad things might initially look, I know that there is a reason for Atonement and Celebration.

I drove a short distance today and it didn't feel so good. I think I may have rushed it a bit. Take it slow and know that I will be out on the road soon enough.I pray for your happiness.

Thank God for you.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Experiencing God's Greatness in our Lives

When I think about the goodness of God in my life I am in amazement. I am awe struck. Everyone experiences God's presence in their lives differently. We know that even in the hard times, God is there. Even in the devastation, God is there. I thank God for showing me what is good and loving in my life. I thank God for all the good that can come out of the devastation. We have to believe in God's goodness in our lives. I thank you for all the blessings in my life and for all the blessings that are coming my way. It's not just about me.

Be Careful

Be careful what you ask for...you just might get it. Thank you God for not giving me everything that I ask for. When I think of the reasons why I ask for things, they don't seem as important when I am in the process of getting something.  God is good. When I realize that I am getting what I asked for, I realize that I don't really want to settle for just any thing. I can't really think that I will settle for something that is not right for me. God's plan is much better than my plan.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

A Sense of Security

Father God, what gives me a sense of security? What makes me feel safe and secure? What makes me feel threatened? Lord, today begins Lent. A time for soul searching and repentance. A time for reflection. My sacrifice is to identify the things in my life that I worry about. Things that threaten my sense of security. A loss of income, my job,  a loved one, my health. All of these things I have some control over but not total control over. How do I contribute to my own unhappiness, my own jealousy, my own anger. I have to learn to live in the present and to cherish the moments that God has given me. Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. I can do nothing about the plans that shaping my life in the world. That which I can change for the good, I will change. That which I have no control over, I will try to let go of and release it back to God. I want to know what will happen. I want to know the plans that God has for me. I want to know what is in store for me. Lord must everything be a mystery. Must it always be unknown?  Lord how do I know what is the right thing to do? Should I stay, should I go, should I try something totally new and different? What's the right thing to do? Where is your voice in this process? That is where the forty days and forty nights come in. Meditate on the word day and night. Allow God to influence my decisions. Recognize God's influence. Know that it is God and not my will that is coming through. I pray that I can have a sense of security that whatever happens, I am secure in God. My timing, my expectations seems to be off in all areas of my life. I seek God's influence and understanding. No one knows the day or the hour. Give me a sense of security in my decisions for my future Lord. Help me to make the right decision when it comes to you Lord.  I pray that I am not found lacking.

Matthew 24:36-39
The Day and Hour Unknown
    36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Monday, March 7, 2011

God's Shaping Hand

God allows major events to shape our lives. We are influenced by God's pressure for us to conform. I picture myself as the clay and God is the potter. Though it may stretch me and break me and pull me in a different direction from where I was before, I have to allow the process to take place. Just like if I were getting braces. I know the end result will be good but the process is painful and long.
Jeremiah 18:1-4

Jeremiah 18

At the Potter’s House
 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Love is Patient

"My soul pants for you"

True love requires time and hard work It will include times of searching and insecurity.

Lord I seek you and hope to always find you in my journey. Lord don't let me be greedy about people and their time spent with me. I long for your companionship. I pray that I don't ever forget to treat people as humans and not objects. Allow me to care about others feelings and not to just use people for my own selfish gains. Lord, allow me to treat others the way I want to be treated.  My Love, My Love, go in peace knowing that I love you. I rest in my peace knowing that I love you.


Song of Solomon 3


    Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover.
   I wanted him desperately. His absence was painful.
So I got up, went out and roved the city,
   hunting through streets and down alleys.
I wanted my lover in the worst way!
   I looked high and low, and didn't find him.
And then the night watchmen found me
   as they patrolled the darkened city.
   "Have you seen my dear lost love?" I asked.
No sooner had I left them than I found him,
   found my dear lost love.
I threw my arms around him and held him tight,
   wouldn't let him go until I had him home again,
   safe at home beside the fire.


 5 Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem,
   by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer:
Don't excite love, don't stir it up,
   until the time is ripe—and you're ready.

 6-10 What's this I see, approaching from the desert,
   raising clouds of dust,
Filling the air with sweet smells
   and pungent aromatics?
Look! It's Solomon's carriage,
   carried and guarded by sixty soldiers,
   sixty of Israel's finest,
All of them armed to the teeth,
   trained for battle,
   ready for anything, anytime.
King Solomon once had a carriage built
   from fine-grained Lebanon cedar.
He had it framed with silver and roofed with gold.
   The cushions were covered with a purple fabric,
   the interior lined with tooled leather.

 11 Come and look, sisters in Jerusalem.
   Oh, sisters of Zion, don't miss this!
My King-Lover,
   dressed and garlanded for his wedding,

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Renew Fellowship

Father God I believe and confess that you are my Lord and Savior. Lord, you have taken me through the operation with success. I consider waking up from it being a success.

I am now in recuperation. Now I know that I have not been cleared to drive for at least ten days.

I'm looking forward to March 11th because I purchased the fifty dollar ticket and dog gone it I am going to see John Legend. The Good Lord Providing me with that opportunity.

Father God you are greater and mightier than all else on this earth. I continue to renew my fellowship with you daily. I seek you out and I search for instruction and understanding through your Word.

I have faith in your Word. I hope for peace and I strive for continual and unconditional love. Thank You for loving me Lord. Thank you for continuing to give me hope and striving for peace.


Thank You for restoring comfort to me and ensuring that my love is in good hands and my heart is in love with the best man alive. Peace, Love and Happiness.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Return to Him

Help me Lord to return to you. Help me to identify what leads me away and help me to be thankful for your forgiveness and love.

Lord, when I feel distant from you help me to return to your love. Help me to know that your love is all I need.

When I wander away from you Lord, when I do things that displease you, You seem so far away. You have not moved away, I have moved away. Help me to come closer. Help me to know you.

I realize that the Lord longs for my return. Like a jealous lover, he wants my undivided loyalty and affection. I cannot share it with those that want to pull me away. I want to move closer to you Lord.

I pray that I am repentant. I pray that I listen and pay attention to those that know when evil and wrong doing is going on and that I am able to listen to their advice. I pray that I learn the lessons from my forefathers and elders.

I pray that I listen to the truth from the youth. Understand their point of view to allow them to grow into the greatest they can be for the Lord.

I pray that I am not too late. I pray that I hear the voice of God throughout my life. I pray that the visions and dreams of my country, my family, my life are in line with God's vision for the whole world to be at rest and in peace.

God offers hope to those of us who are feeling despair and joy to those of us who are feeling overwhelmed with sorrow.

We pray and choose to believe in God and know that our Lord loves us and wants the best for us.

We return to the Lord because when its all said and done, we give ourselves away so that the Lord can use us and we are confused and disappointed when we are not close to God.

We wonder what to do, how to do it and pray that God will guide us on what to do. Have we not been able to see ourselves as God sees us? Lord allow me to be successful in everything I do for you.

Zechariah 1:3
...the Lord Almighty says: Return to me, declares the Lord Almighty, and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty.

Followers

Blog Archive