I Am The Lord Your God....You Are Mine

"...Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior..." (Isaiah 43:1-3)

It is "Easter Monday." For some people that means an extension of their holiday weekend. For others it is back to work, business as usual. Easter Sunday is over. The new dresses and bonnets, bow ties and white jackets are all put away.

The organized egg hunts are over. A few stray baskets still sit half-full of chocolates and bunnies.... pastel colored eggs linger in the yard undiscovered.

Another Christian holiday, another worldly "Easter Bunny" day has come and gone.

Is that all there is?

We know better, praise the Lord! Easter is more, so much more than a block on our calendar month marking a holiday observance. Hopefully it never leaves our hearts... this most amazing event to ever take place in our world... in GOD's world.

Now that it's Monday, is your celebrating done? Will you numbly and resignedly settle back into your daily and weekly routines as you arise? Will the choir's inspirational Easter music and the uplifting sermon by your pastor simply become another Sunday in a year of Sundays?

That, my friends, is up to us! With the remembrance of the Resurrection miracle fresh in our minds and renewed in our hearts, what is our response to be?

Our continued and consistent response...?

May the verse above be an ever present thought, more than that, a burning presence in our hearts. WE ARE NOT TO FEAR....ANYTHING! The God of the Heavens... has redeemed us. Through His own Son's death and resurrection, He calls us by name.

WE BELONG TO HIM!

No matter what happens... no matter what comes our way, He is with us. He is our tower of refuge. He is our comfort and strength. He walks through the waters, the river, the fire... with us.

If we lose our way, He will be our guide. It is His promise. We only need to keep our hearts turned toward Him, pulled in close, so close.

Will that assurance affect your day-in and day-out walk?
Will you remember that deep awe and gratitude you felt in response yesterday, and let it drive you to the changes you know you need to make in your life?
He is all you need to accomplish what your heart is speaking to you.

Don't let today be business as usual. Start today, this first day after Easter Sunday 2009. Rise up because He rose. Live because He died for you. Love because He first loved you. Make Him your LIFE....in thankfulness for the miracle you celebrated yesterday.

We have been bought with a price, and it is too precious a gift to set aside in our hearts when Easter Sunday is over.

NOTHING compares to the LIFE we have in Him!

Blessings!

Passion That Compels Compassion

"FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." (John 3:16)

May the passion you feel for your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be so fervent, that it renews and energizes a compassion in you to go out and share it with the ones in your world.

Lord... let your Love so fill us, that it overflows with a current so strong we could not stop it, even if we tried....

Blessings,

IN LOVE.......STANDING IN AWE

Today is Friday, April 10th, 2009. Today I am reminded of Who my Savior is. I am reminded of What He did for me.

It was most certainly a dark and dismal day for the ones who witnessed their Lord dying on the cross. All of their hopes must have been dashed in those final days, as they watched the One they believed was their Messiah being crucified. How incredibly traumatic it must have been!

But today...we know better. It is not Dismal Friday. It is Good Friday! All that had to be accomplished for God's redemption to take place was completed. It was finished!

It remains finished for you and I today. Praise the Lord.

"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." (John 17:1-4)

Even though it looked like the plans of men were being carried out, they were not!

God was still overseeing and directing every single moment of Easter weekend. It looked hopeless and devastating, but victory was coming.

Even today, God still sees His plans done. He is working both when we see His handiwork, and when we don't. He is a God who sustains continuously and tirelessly behind the scenes of life as we see it.

This is the original weekend that Justin would have graduated from Marine Boot Camp, had he finished in the timeline from the day he first arrived and set foot on Parris Island. But because of his bout with pneumonia, he was set back 6 weeks.

As I think on that, I know without a doubt, that the God who orchestrated the immensely HUGE plan of Christ His Son coming to earth to live and die and redeem you and I back to Himself,... also plans and puts into place the very smallest details of our lives for our best. It is His best, so we can rest assured that it is all for good.

Just as long ago on a hill called Golgotha, people like you and I suffered the agony of not knowing what was going on, or why, and feeling like life was falling apart, you and I experience the same misunderstandings and doubts about what is happening in our world and in our walks today! But we know that we have a God we can call out to. He does not turn aside from our requests. He makes all things new and good.

This I know for my eternal salvation. This I know for Justin's journey on Parris Island.

God is good....all the time...God is good. :-)

I stand in awe, and beyond that, I kneel before the God who has a love so deep and so wide, that I cannot understand how far-reaching it is.


Jesus.... may we be so in love with you, for what you gave for us, that it incredibly changes everything about us. May our lives be sweet offerings to You.

Fall in love with Jesus again this Easter. Feel the awe and wonder of being loved so deeply .

Blessings on this Good Friday...

Looking For an Intercessor..

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “ Therefore I hope in Him!” The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly, for the salvation of the LORD." (Lamentations 3: 21-26 )

The great prophet, Jeremiah, wrote the words above. He was called the "weeping prophet" because his heart was so heavy for all that he witnessed in his day concerning the children of God. He wept...lamented over the messages he was required to deliver to these stiff-necked and stubborn people.

Now we are not prophets, but I believe that even in our day, we have reason to be weeping before the Lord.... We live in a world where societies are morally and ethically running wild and everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Tolerance is encouraged for anything and everything except...Christianity.


I heard on the news yesterday, that the state of Vermont has had its way. Same sex marriage is now fully legal there within their borders.... Ordained by state legislature. To paraphrase James Dobson's infamous words a number of years ago:



WE ARE DEFINITELY IN A FULL THROTTLE SLIDE DOWN "THE SLIPPERY SLOPE!"

Then, adding devastation to my disappointment , I was notified by email of the following news:

Rick Warren disavows support for Prop. 8

"California mega-church pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren says he apologized to his homosexual friends for making comments in support of California's Proposition 8, and now claims he "never once even gave an endorsement" of the marriage amendment. "

This was indeed a blow, a surprising blow. What in the world changed this man's very firm support of the biblical mandate of marriage - one man and one woman - as God ordained it in Genesis?


Is there an element missing somewhere in this story???


Or is Satan having a heyday?

Christians can ill afford to be complacent and quiet about their stand on these issues. We will ...we are... easily being drowned out by those who choose to actively give full support both vocally and financially to what they believe in.

We can not simply go through the motions any longer. Listen to what the Lord said to Jeremiah:

“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” (Jer. 1:17).

I am going to include a link in this post that I would encourage you to click on, read, and then pray.

We are witnessing first hand, step by step, what is already leading to the downfall of this great nation. God uses the very foundations of strong Christ-centered marriages to build families who in turn pass down the faith of their fathers to the next generation. Christianity is always just one generation from extinction. And it is that faith, along with mighty prayers that will directly impact the culture to turn from its downward spiral of evil.



The same people who have twisted the Scriptures, saying that God is accepting of homosexuality are now the same ones twisting the very definition and laws of marriage. If they can attempt it with the very WORDS spoken by God, should we be surprised that they now pursue changing the laws of man?


What then can we say? What can we do?

The first step in response to all of this is quoted below from the following link.

".... the future of America does not lie in the hands of the politicians in the Congress, the president in the White House, or the judges in the courthouses, it lies with the people of God who must get on their knees, and pray and seek God’s face. Abraham did something the Sodomite government wasn’t able to do. He got a hold of God. Do you know how to do that? Do you know how to intercede? You can change the destiny of a nation by intercession. In Ezekiel 22:30, God says: “I’m looking for an intercessor, I’m looking for someone who will build up the wall, and stand in the gap on behalf of the land so I won’t have to destroy it.” But in that day God found no one. Can He count on you? The need of the hour is not just enthusiasm, not just activism, but we must begin with intercession. Step number one: Pray! "


http://erlc.com/article/stand-for-marriage/



(please make note: this article is almost 3 years old now. Some things predicted have already come to pass!)


"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Let us, as women of God PRAY for revival. Let us fervently build up the walls in our families, and stand in the gap, interceeding for the future of our children and our nation.

"If marriage means anything....then marriage means nothing."

God is still The God In Control.

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope."

Blessings and Courage,

A Badge of Honor

"It is a badge of honor to accept valid criticism." (Proverbs 25:12)


Why am I blogging?

Sometimes I have to get back to the drawing board.

It was suggested yesterday by my closest critic and my best battle buddy, my cozy confidante and my sweet soul mate, all that good stuff... {and more}, :-) that I might could improve my blog by shortening my posts!....

Well, as I told a girlfriend who inspired me to start blogging in the first place, this is a journey of journalling, continuing its progress, a little less private than in my handwritten notebook, but still, just a space to voice what I'm learning, how I'm growing or when I'm being challenged.

I tend to be W-O-R-D-Y!! Now you can all sigh and let out a tsk...tsk...for my poor family members, in sympathy for what they must go through.

Really, I believe my hubby if he says I am too long winded, so I am accepting a challenge to not go on so much in my posts. I will attempt to wear the "badge of honor."

Forgive me if I stumble every now and then.

"If you profit from constructive criticism you will be elected to the wise (women's) hall of fame. But to reject criticism is to harm your self and your own best interests." (Prov. 15: 31,32)

I only desire that the writings from my heart would give glory and honor to my Lord. I also hope and pray that on any given day the reader might be cheered or encouraged from what I share and relate. :-)

For today I am just going to post a couple of short-take videos from a Christian comedian who is simply CRAZY! He makes my sides hurt sometimes ....I laugh so hard. Hope you get a giggle, or a guffaw, or a belly buster listening to him!

Have a super day in the Lord, and don't forget to smile at everyone you see. It's amazing what a small change in facial muscles can do to brighten another person's day.

" A happy face means a glad heart..." (Proverbs 15:13)

Blessings!

The Road To Freedom

Psalm 138:8 - "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands."

In my readings through the Old Testament, I have reached the book of Ezra. It is a time where the King of Cyrus has been moved by God to look favorably upon the Jews. He has made a decree that they may return to Jerusalem, and has given them orders to rebuild the temple.

Truly this is the hand of God working in a land where the children of God had been in captivity for 70 years just as the prophet Zechariah had prophesied. Now their time has come. They may return to their own land, freed from the ones who had held them captive.

According to the numbers that actually returned to Jerusalem, the footnote in my bible says that "when the invitation to rebuild was made, most of the people failed to respond...."

Why??? Here they were living as captives, slaves in a land that was not their own. They were being given freedom over bondage. What would hold people back from a return to their God-given land, a life out from under the rule of one who was not a leader blessed by God?

Why indeed... Why is it that you and I today, when offered the freedom in our Lord Jesus Christ from our old ways and habits, our exile to sin, hesitate to fully commit to the journey? What holds us back from grasping the strength of the Holy Spirit to continually confront and conquer in our new walk? What trips us up as we are choosing whether to move out...or stay put?

Are we possibly like those living in Persia, fearful to step out of what has become familiar and comfortable? Would we choose to remain in a comfort zone that leaves us in a depressing lifestyle of bondage when we have the opportunity to walk away into freedom? Are we afraid of the journey itself or is it that we are afraid of failure to accomplish what lies on the path ahead?

Sometimes it is so much easier to choose what is easier over what we know is best for ourselves and those around us. Sometimes when we look at the road to recovery, it appears too long, too demanding, and too hard to travel.

It is in these moments of doubt and fear that we need to draw in and draw near to the God who is there for us. He will help us climb the mountains we feel we cannot climb. He will calm the raging storms when they would attempt to defeat us . He will heal the hurts when we have failed and cry to have victory in our walk.

God always has, is, and will be there when we cry out to Him. We are His children. We are His beloved. He calls us out of our land of bondage, our chains of slavery to things we no longer desire in our lives.

Lord, reach down, tenderly lift our chins up. Turn our eyes back toward you, our Maker. Do not allow us to be downtrodden by our own emotions. Do not let us be overcome by circling thoughts of self-serving excuses to justify our self-imposed bondage and weaknesses. Give us others to surround us as we step out, who are likeminded with us in our fight, to encourage us to hold fast, to stay the course.

Cause our downcast spirits to once again take flight and rise above the clouds of sadness that accompany life's bumps and bruises as we travel rough terrain.

Lord, give us courage! Let us never be afraid to take the hard roads to get to the high places where you stand beckoning us. Let us choose what may be hard and difficult over what is easy and comfortable. Help us to run for the higher calling of a disciplined journey over what is a self-serving life of exile away from your treasures yet to be revealed. Thank you for not abandoning us!

Blessings!

Dynamite Power!

Have you ever wondered what it must have felt like to stand in the disciple's sandals as they listened to Jesus telling them that He was about to leave them? Have you ever imagined the emotions that must have risen up in them? The One whom they had left everything for, and committed their very lives to was delivering a message too hard to grasp!

For three years, these men had travelled together, prayed together, eaten together, rested together, worked together, argued together, jested together, celebrated together, witnessed in awe, the miracles of their teacher.... together. Throughout it all, they had grown in boldness and strong character . They had become a band of brothers, committed to the cause, willing to follow their leader with a devotion that was deeper than any other they had ever felt in earthly fellowships.

And now, the One who had gathered them, motivated a courage in them they had not known, exposed them to truths they had never heard, delivered miracles before them they had never imagined, charged them to stay the course they had begun....... was leaving them?

I can only imagine they must have felt something pretty close to abandonment. They were treading some pretty stormy waters at the time. The sentiments against Christ were starting to heat up and the roads they were travelling required large measures of courage to remain steady and not retreat from the rising opposition.

The following scene from the Forrest Gump movie enters my mind at this point. Forrest Gump has run across the United States and back, with many committed followers now running behind him. Suddenly in mid stride he slows to a complete stop, turns around and declares that he's tired now, and thinks he'll go home. The followers are incredulous. They have followed him down many a road. He had given them something to pursue in life... a cause...shallow as it may have been. Now they ask among themselves "what are we supposed to do now?" The one whom they were following is quitting on them.... walking away with the very motivation and inspiration that had kept them running. Their dismay and disappointment, approaching even anger is obvious.

Pardon my "Hollywood selection" in an attempt to set the stage for what was a very believable possibility of the true life drama unfolding in this moment between a leader and his followers. This small band of ordinary men with very human emotions and very intense loyalties to their leader must have felt abandoned. The honor and commitment amongst these men was one that I'm sure they would have given their lives for one another at this point, if pressed to do so. They were willing to go wherever it was that Jesus was going rather than stay behind.

Christ must have felt a deep and tender love for these brothers He was about to die for. It is at this time, that He unveils one of the deep secrets of the Heavenly realm so far away and unreachable in our minds. He would never leave them. In fact, He reassured them that there was One coming who would take His place, and yet.. it would still be Christ with them.

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." John 14:16-20

How confusing the words of Christ must have been to these founders of the faith. How could they understand, how could they know the miraculous power and intimate communion they would receive from One whose time and appointment had not yet arrived? How could they know that the Spirit indwelling would fill them with as much joy and intense devotion for their Lord as if He was still there amongst them fellowshipping with them in person? It could not have been conceivable. It was an "out-of-this-world" yet "in-this-world" gift yet to burst upon the scenes of a world being impacted for God by humans transformed by the Spirit.

I find great comfort in the words "I will not abandon you as orphans." The King James version states, "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you."

As redeemed disciples of our Lord and Savior today, post-resurrection, we have the privilege of experiencing this revelation immediately. The Spirit enters into us the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord. This is no small thing.

Jesus Christ the Son of God walked this earth. He came to reveal in the flesh, the love and compassion of our Heavenly Father. He desires for us to experience the reality of our Divine Creator. He wants to reassure us that we have a Comforter, a Defender, a Source of strength that accompanies us as we walk the broken roads of this brief earthly lifetime before us.


WE ARE NOT ALONE. WE WALK WITH ONE WHO ACTS UPON AND PROMOTES THE VERY PLANS OF GOD ALMIGHTY IN OUR LIVES. HE WILL SEE IT DONE.

The mystery of the Holy Spirit, the very presence of the almighty God Himself indwelling you and me is nothing short of a miracle. It is above our thoughts and brain capacities to grasp the meaning of it all. It is in the realm of the impossible for us as humans in our broken and unglorified state to take hold of such intangible truths. And so it is, that by FAITH, we believe. By FAITH, we hold these truths to be alive and real and believable, because of the experiences we live out of the acts of God in our lives. His inspirations and motivations in our Spirits cannot be ignored, even if we cannot explain them.

This is a Heavenly gift... a spiritual treasure. It was given to the disciples of the early church, and it is given to the followers of Jesus Christ today. Do not neglect the promptings and strength welling up from within by the Spirit who is your Counselor and your Comforter. He is the One who walks with you today, even as Jesus Christ walked with the Twelve during His time here on earth.

Are you experiencing the intimate communion that is at your disposal with the Holy Spirit who resides in you today?

Are you fellowshipping with the Divine Friend, the closest Comforter you have on this earth, the One sent by Jesus Christ your Lord to stand in His place?

Do you know the encouragement of this One who would support you and defend you in your everyday battles?

Do you have the peace and security from knowing that this One in you can intercede on your behalf before God in a language that you cannot even express as you pray? He can take the desires of your heart and then interpret those prayers so that as they ascend before the Father, they are lined up underneath the very will of God. In return, only God's plans will be accomplished, and not the misguided petitions arising out of a child whose visions are limited to the ways of an all-knowing God.

This is the friendship you have in such an unspeakable gift that was given by the One who gave His life for you, and imparts Himself to you in the form of the Holy Spirit.

I pray that you and I will know and experience the power and reality of the "hagios pneuma", literally the "holy wind or breath" that God has placed within our souls, housed in these weak and puny earthsuits we daily walk in. The very manifestation of this truth is that God can instill His Divine attributes and character in us!

Our physical bodies need to constantly breathe in air to survive in this world. If we stop, we will die. Our spiritual souls need to breathe the holy breath of the Spirit if we are to survive the spiritual battles we will face and have to confront as we remain in this physical realm.

This air we breathe is invisible, only seen when it causes movement in the physical world we see with our physical eyes. Even so the Holy Spirit is invisible, and only seen in the movement He causes and stirs up with His "dynamis" power. It is huge. It is translated into our word for dynamite! This is the power source you have IN YOU!

Believe this truth that is revealed to you from God's Holy Word. When He claims that ALL things shall be possible for you through Christ, who is in you, in the form of the Holy Spirit, it is your reality to claim.

Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind.

Live for Christ your brother and Redeemer and most loyal friend with all that you have to give.

Lean on the Holy Spirit, your closest advocate and comforter in this world!

You are not left alone in this world to tread the stormy waters and walk the broken roads that you will come to face. There is One in you who has the dynamite power that conquered death itself. It is this powersource that you are given to fight the good fight, stay the course, and win the race God has placed you in.

Believe it. Draw from it. Conquer with it.

Begin today, in this Holy week approaching Easter, to live the life God has called you to pursue.

As the disciples many years ago stepped out and drew from their newfound source of strength, so you and I can do the same.

What dynamite impact will we have in someone's life this week? Only God Knows!!

Blessings and Courage!