I've started posting over at http://www.becomingawomanforallseasons.blogspot.com/
I would love to have you stop by and visit anytime you wish...
Monday, October 13, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Learn...express
There is a need in all of us to perform. Perhaps it is not on a stage or in front of friends and strangers at a party, but none the less, there is a deep ingrained need to express.
For some, it is with the pen...for others it is on stage, or in the kitchen preparing new and unusual gourmet delights. Whatever it is that drives each and every one of us, it is imperative that we are able to express.
Now I am not taking about the need to take off our clothes and express our nudeness to everyone or to have sex with everything that walks or the need to take our mouths and use them to destroy others with the slashing of the tongue. No, I am talking about the need to take what God put in us as not only as a way of keeping us on track, but using it to touch another life...to give them life so to speak.
Some serve, some teach, some help, some give...whatever it is that has been planted in you from the time you were conceived...and even before...it must come out.
Water was made to refresh. Light was made to illuminate dark areas. Each of us was designed specifically to refresh and illuminate in whatever area God chose for us. To not learn from the master himself how to express our gift and then not TO express our gift is death.
Every wonder why so many people sit in front of a TV set and do nothing? They have died inside because they are not learning, loving and expressing to others through their gift that God put within them.
It all comes first through the time spent in the Master's lap learning how to love others. Then He points the way and puts within us the faith required to do the task with passion and drive. It is life to us...
For some, it is with the pen...for others it is on stage, or in the kitchen preparing new and unusual gourmet delights. Whatever it is that drives each and every one of us, it is imperative that we are able to express.
Now I am not taking about the need to take off our clothes and express our nudeness to everyone or to have sex with everything that walks or the need to take our mouths and use them to destroy others with the slashing of the tongue. No, I am talking about the need to take what God put in us as not only as a way of keeping us on track, but using it to touch another life...to give them life so to speak.
Some serve, some teach, some help, some give...whatever it is that has been planted in you from the time you were conceived...and even before...it must come out.
Water was made to refresh. Light was made to illuminate dark areas. Each of us was designed specifically to refresh and illuminate in whatever area God chose for us. To not learn from the master himself how to express our gift and then not TO express our gift is death.
Every wonder why so many people sit in front of a TV set and do nothing? They have died inside because they are not learning, loving and expressing to others through their gift that God put within them.
It all comes first through the time spent in the Master's lap learning how to love others. Then He points the way and puts within us the faith required to do the task with passion and drive. It is life to us...
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Dance With the One Who Brought You
I'm not sure how this saying originated..."Dance with the One who Brought You"...or maybe it is "Dance with the One who Brung You"...but I like it. It is very apropos. How, you say? Aah...I am so very glad you asked!
Without getting on my soapbox, I will attempt to make this short...if possible.
...
Dancing with the one who brought you is not only good manners, it is respectful of the guy who went out of his way to choose especially YOU. After all, he is providing for the transportation, the meal ticket, and whatever it costs to get into the dance. A man with honorable intentions treats his date with respect. A man with intentions to marry the young woman he swings around the dance floor...if he is honorable...will love her...honor her...provide for her...and encourage her to be all that God made her to be. He will never just live with her, because that would be dishonoring...then he could just walk out on her. But rather, he will stick by her and be willing to give all he has for her and to her as he places that ring on her finger and vows before God and man that he will be there for her..."till death do us part".
Well, my fellow bloggers. America is the woman...and Jehovah God is the man. He showed her how to be free. Helped her to pattern her laws after His ways. He held her by the waist and cradled her hand as he lead her through good times and tough times. It was his hand which provided for her needs. He gave her gifts...wealth in the ground to power her. He caused her fields to gleam with grain. When thirsty, he gave her water to quench her thirsty soul. When tired, he gave her himself as a place of rest and refuge. Because of him...she has become one of the wealthiest...yet she looks at others who have come to dance...other gods...forgetting all he has done for her.
...
But they cannot give her life, because they do not posses life. Oh America...dance with the one who brought you...loves you...has given his all for you...
Monday, June 30, 2008
Mount Up America
I did not have much interest in going to Friday night prayer, but as God would have it, I knew that last Friday night I was to go. It started at 10 pm and lasted until midnight. In my minds eye, I envisioned people roaming around the auditorium praying for two hours, but I was wrong.
When I walked in, a smattering of people were there...a small group of about 30. Around the room, stations were set up. Each had a theme. There was praise and worship intermittently through the evening as people went to whatever station they desired and prayed. Some had a word, while others drew pictures of what God had shown them. Some danced and others lay face down on the floor.
In the course of this two hour time, God began to talk to me about our country...America. The words He spoke over and over again were "The Eagle Has Landed". Of course, this references Neil Armstrong's remark pertaining to the lunar landing, but as I mulled this over, God began to speak again. "Pray for America to mount up". Eagles were never meant to spend a lot of time on the ground...landed. They were meant to rise up and soar.
He said this..."I am not done with this country - you don't give up on her. Though she has slept with the nations and has opened her arms to other gods, I am not finished with her. Pray my people - pray."
God's call to us is ...to pray. The eagle...America was meant to soar. She was conceived in tribulation because she was meant to rise up and soar. She was meant to ride on the winds of the Spirit of the Lord, but instead, she has decided to ground herself. Her people have killed, sued, rejected God's ways for marriage and family. She has opened her arms to accept any idol and god - yet she has held the true God at arms length...rejecting his love...forgetting it was He who caused her to prosper. Sounds like Old Testament Israel.
But, I am not ready to give up on her. I pray for miracles to break out in this country. I pray for boldness to speak the truth IN LOVE. I pray for broken hearts to be mended and those who are captive to their addictions and lusts to be freed from their prison.
It is time to Mount Up America on the winds of the Spirit of the Lord.
When I walked in, a smattering of people were there...a small group of about 30. Around the room, stations were set up. Each had a theme. There was praise and worship intermittently through the evening as people went to whatever station they desired and prayed. Some had a word, while others drew pictures of what God had shown them. Some danced and others lay face down on the floor.
In the course of this two hour time, God began to talk to me about our country...America. The words He spoke over and over again were "The Eagle Has Landed". Of course, this references Neil Armstrong's remark pertaining to the lunar landing, but as I mulled this over, God began to speak again. "Pray for America to mount up". Eagles were never meant to spend a lot of time on the ground...landed. They were meant to rise up and soar.
He said this..."I am not done with this country - you don't give up on her. Though she has slept with the nations and has opened her arms to other gods, I am not finished with her. Pray my people - pray."
God's call to us is ...to pray. The eagle...America was meant to soar. She was conceived in tribulation because she was meant to rise up and soar. She was meant to ride on the winds of the Spirit of the Lord, but instead, she has decided to ground herself. Her people have killed, sued, rejected God's ways for marriage and family. She has opened her arms to accept any idol and god - yet she has held the true God at arms length...rejecting his love...forgetting it was He who caused her to prosper. Sounds like Old Testament Israel.
But, I am not ready to give up on her. I pray for miracles to break out in this country. I pray for boldness to speak the truth IN LOVE. I pray for broken hearts to be mended and those who are captive to their addictions and lusts to be freed from their prison.
It is time to Mount Up America on the winds of the Spirit of the Lord.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Timing
Jimmy asked his Dad..."Is it time yet?" to which his Father replied..."Not yet son." The day was overcast, and the drive through the mountains of New Mexico was inspiring...at least to Jimmy's father, but all his son could think about was the swimming pool waiting for him at the motel twenty five miles up ahead.
---
"Can you go faster Dad?" asked Jimmy.
---
"No son. If I drive faster around these winding curves, we might end up at the bottom of the mountain...that is why they have speed limits...so that we will get safely to our motel," replied his father.
---
"Aah nuts!" said Jimmy.
---
"Why don't you look at the beautiful mountains. You can see the creek winding it's way around the mountain at the base. And look...that ranch house looks like a speck down there. Let's roll down the windows...it is nice and cool now...and smell the mountain air...the pine trees...the pinon burning in someones fireplace...Wow!" said Father.
...
Jimmy folded his arms and slumped down in his seat at his father's comments.
...
"How boring," thought Jimmy as he glanced out the window in an attempt to honor his father's wishes.
...
Even though the clouds had covered the sky for most of the trip, Jimmy could see one place where the sun was piercing through like a flashlight. Jimmy closed his eyes thinking he might sleep out the next few miles, but when he did, he felt the sweet scent of the mountain air crawl up his nostrils. It did smell good, just like his father had said.
...
Repositioning himself, he decided to take a look over the side of the road which was winding it's way to the top to see if he could see that ranch house his Dad had mentioned earlier. There is was, small as an ant. You could see the stables...and the horses...and what looked like a person walking back to the main house.
...
Jimmy and his Dad talked the rest of the trip and he was surprised how quickly that last twenty five miles passed. As they drove into the parking lot of the motel, Jimmy was glad that he had taken his father's advice...it made the trip as much fun as the destination.
---
Timing is everything...
...
It was the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus' brother advised him to go to Judea (There were some there who sought to take Jesus' life!) and perform some miracles. They said that if he wanted a public ministry, he would need to show his stuff in public...not private.
....
Jesus' response was interesting. He said, " The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right." Midway through the Feast Jesus did show up and began to teach. The things he said should have gotten him arrested, but the scripture says, "but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come..."
----
For Jimmy, any time was the right time to swim, but his father knew that if he tried to speed things up, they might never get to their destination.
----
So it is with us as God tries to speak to us of his timing. He wants us to relish the journey as well as the destination, because often times more is learned about the character of God, his love and his desires for our life in the journey than in the fulfillment of our dreams and visions.
---
"Can you go faster Dad?" asked Jimmy.
---
"No son. If I drive faster around these winding curves, we might end up at the bottom of the mountain...that is why they have speed limits...so that we will get safely to our motel," replied his father.
---
"Aah nuts!" said Jimmy.
---
"Why don't you look at the beautiful mountains. You can see the creek winding it's way around the mountain at the base. And look...that ranch house looks like a speck down there. Let's roll down the windows...it is nice and cool now...and smell the mountain air...the pine trees...the pinon burning in someones fireplace...Wow!" said Father.
...
Jimmy folded his arms and slumped down in his seat at his father's comments.
...
"How boring," thought Jimmy as he glanced out the window in an attempt to honor his father's wishes.
...
Even though the clouds had covered the sky for most of the trip, Jimmy could see one place where the sun was piercing through like a flashlight. Jimmy closed his eyes thinking he might sleep out the next few miles, but when he did, he felt the sweet scent of the mountain air crawl up his nostrils. It did smell good, just like his father had said.
...
Repositioning himself, he decided to take a look over the side of the road which was winding it's way to the top to see if he could see that ranch house his Dad had mentioned earlier. There is was, small as an ant. You could see the stables...and the horses...and what looked like a person walking back to the main house.
...
Jimmy and his Dad talked the rest of the trip and he was surprised how quickly that last twenty five miles passed. As they drove into the parking lot of the motel, Jimmy was glad that he had taken his father's advice...it made the trip as much fun as the destination.
---
Timing is everything...
...
It was the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus' brother advised him to go to Judea (There were some there who sought to take Jesus' life!) and perform some miracles. They said that if he wanted a public ministry, he would need to show his stuff in public...not private.
....
Jesus' response was interesting. He said, " The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right." Midway through the Feast Jesus did show up and began to teach. The things he said should have gotten him arrested, but the scripture says, "but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come..."
----
For Jimmy, any time was the right time to swim, but his father knew that if he tried to speed things up, they might never get to their destination.
----
So it is with us as God tries to speak to us of his timing. He wants us to relish the journey as well as the destination, because often times more is learned about the character of God, his love and his desires for our life in the journey than in the fulfillment of our dreams and visions.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Our Little Girls
As daughters grow up, it is a tendency of mothers to pull out the baby pictures and dream of what it was like to hold their precious sweeties. Aah...memories of brushing their hair and dressing them (better than playing Barbie's). Their first words, the funnyisms they glibly spoke and all the ways they brought a smile to your face...these are the memories mothers hold deeply in their hearts.
---
But I look to each day to create new memories with them. As our eldest is coming up on her second anniversary and as our youngest daughter is about to embark upon college, I find life today as full of sweet thoughts as those of their growing up years.
...
Little girls this is for you...
...
To you, our eldest
From bouncing "pinktails"
(as your little brother used to say)
standing
on the stump at your Grandpa's house
preaching...
to
becoming a houseparent to 8 little boys
who need your healing hands of love
to mend their broken lives...
to you
I know with God in you
you will do what you are called to do.
...
To our youngest daughter,
From singing in the pole at the grocery check out...
to
"Singing in the Rain"
You need no stage to shine like "sunshine"
You too, with God inside
will be reaching out to orphans and hurting women
across the globe...you will
bring sunshine into their dismal lives and
bring hope for a better tomorrow.
...
To you both...
I am so very proud of you
I pray for you daily these things...
That God would become more real in your lives
That you will totally submit every part to him
That you experience his love
That you freely forgive as you have been forgiven
That you walk in love
That you fulfill his call on your life.
I love you...Mom
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Getting rid of fear
The love of Christ is often misunderstood by the way I see myself and other Christians respond to others. It is very clear when you read John 3:16. The desire to go out each and every day and respond in love to everyone is obviously the heart felt plan, but in actuality, our selfish ambitions reach out through our mouths and grab the necks of those we deem our enemies. We want to squeeze the very life out of them.
Then, in our times of quiet, we realize that our reactions were just opposite of the love God has shown us..."in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Living the life of love comes from knowing that we are loved. This is something I must daily tell myself..."Jesus loves me this I know...for the Bible tells me so..." The simple song I learned as a child speaks volumes to me. God loved me first. He reached out to me when I was His enemy and didn't grab me by the throat, but rather wooed me to himself.
Yet in the walk with Jesus, we come across those who test the love of Christ in us, but should they REALLY test that love? Or, is his love in us so bountiful that we know, if rejected by the world that we can freely give of that overflow of love without straining and gritting our teeth and wishing to be back inside our little homes filled with crosses and Bibles.
John writes that perfect love casts out fear. I suppose one of the greatest fears is fear of rejection. His love casts out that fear. Another fear is failure. His love casts out fear of failure. For many, it is the fear of loneliness. His love warms the most dismal, lonely life and removes all fear.
We think of love as an action, and of course it is. But, it is first His love to us. His love to us is the foundation of all of our hopes and dream and it is imperative that we grasp this important concept that HE LOVES US FIRST.
Can we stand rejection? Yes, because the author of all things LOVES US. Can we stand failure? Yes, because he loves us and has told us that though we fail, we will rise up again.
Since His love casts out fear, then what he has called us to do can be done. It is important to remember though that it is HIS LOVE which puts us in this wonderful position of being fearless. I do not mean to say that we should go out and do what we want, but what I DO mean to say is that HE has to be the direction in our lives. He will always ask us to do something outside of our comfort zone and it is in those times that we need to remember about HIS LOVE removing our fear.
Fear is bondage. Love is freedom.
Then, in our times of quiet, we realize that our reactions were just opposite of the love God has shown us..."in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Living the life of love comes from knowing that we are loved. This is something I must daily tell myself..."Jesus loves me this I know...for the Bible tells me so..." The simple song I learned as a child speaks volumes to me. God loved me first. He reached out to me when I was His enemy and didn't grab me by the throat, but rather wooed me to himself.
Yet in the walk with Jesus, we come across those who test the love of Christ in us, but should they REALLY test that love? Or, is his love in us so bountiful that we know, if rejected by the world that we can freely give of that overflow of love without straining and gritting our teeth and wishing to be back inside our little homes filled with crosses and Bibles.
John writes that perfect love casts out fear. I suppose one of the greatest fears is fear of rejection. His love casts out that fear. Another fear is failure. His love casts out fear of failure. For many, it is the fear of loneliness. His love warms the most dismal, lonely life and removes all fear.
We think of love as an action, and of course it is. But, it is first His love to us. His love to us is the foundation of all of our hopes and dream and it is imperative that we grasp this important concept that HE LOVES US FIRST.
Can we stand rejection? Yes, because the author of all things LOVES US. Can we stand failure? Yes, because he loves us and has told us that though we fail, we will rise up again.
Since His love casts out fear, then what he has called us to do can be done. It is important to remember though that it is HIS LOVE which puts us in this wonderful position of being fearless. I do not mean to say that we should go out and do what we want, but what I DO mean to say is that HE has to be the direction in our lives. He will always ask us to do something outside of our comfort zone and it is in those times that we need to remember about HIS LOVE removing our fear.
Fear is bondage. Love is freedom.
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