PRAYER.........FOR THE SOUL................

True, whole prayer is nothing but love.....-St. Augustine....................

He longs for our presence.......

I continue upon this journey with a stiff-neck and a hard-heart..........so how do I continue in this race called life without damaging the ones I love the most?

Why do I feel the need to flee this thing called; "motherhood?" is it my girls- the woman-child looking girls who yell and fight over who is wearing who's clothes? Or is it my own evil, that rages inside of me that is brought out by running in circles....my world is fast and noisy, sometimes blurry....toilet's clog,  dog poops in closet, the goldfish is floating upside down, the youngest is screaming and crying because her goldfish is upside down, the cat coughs a fur-ball up on the back porch (that looks like a dead rat), the service engine light is on again, ball practice, laundry...dishes piled high in the sink,  trash overflowing,  dentist appointment, ......husband on a plane to Dallas....the dog needs exercise........ but in the midst of this craziness I keep hearing a whisper.....God's Grace.....god's grace.................I start to say it over and over again...god's grace...

I am lost in the wilderness......just like the Israelites....I close my eyes today....as the sun hits my face....I whisper to myself remember..............remember God's grace... I say it again as I try and picture it.....God's grace.......

If Jesus is the gateway,  (the gateway to heaven...)  then how do I get to the gate?

"prayer and thanks-giving!"

Our problems are discussed more with people rather than God.............

Luke 18: 8;

when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Are we loosing heart????

loosing the desire to pray?......because of the chaos of our life?

What will He find when he comes? Just Sunday worshippers? Just a good bible study student? Someone who can quote scripture? None of these things will take you to the gate........

PRAYER IS THE ONLY THING........

Never, ever is a prayer offered in Jesus' name in vain.........

Never do our prayers just fall to the ground unnoticed...

So why is it so hard to find the time to pray?

the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak......

the flesh does not want you to pray....anything but pray......

Romans 8: 5-8;

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

Prayer produces Peace.......in our minds and our hearts....

Prayer lets us rest easy knowing that God is solving the problem.......maybe not in our timing but in His.....

Prayer is food for our soul's......and it strengthens us in our labors......

If you are longing for peace that surpasses all understanding.....

it's simple......just stop and PRAY......

Pray without ceasing.............is the only way to survive.......this craziness called life...

by grace alone............

the chain that holds me up in the days to come....around my neck it gently rings as a reminder.....by grace alone

I

Inner vs. Outer

Don't you feel sometimes that you have earned an "UGLY"? I know I have. The more I get to know God the more I realize how strong my flesh is! The Flesh and Spirit cannot co-habitat with one another. One will bow down to the other, and my flesh is usually the one who wins. In Romans 7, Paul teaches that a civil war rages within every child of God. The opposing forces are the power of the flesh and the power of the Spirit. Paul refers to them as the " inner man" and the "outer man." What is at stake here? It is the control of the child of God! When we yield ourselves to the control of the Spirit, then love, joy, peace, patience, etc will begin to take root and bear fruit in our lives. As we yield ourselves to the control of our unrighteous promptings, then anger, jealously, impurity, etc, begin to take root and bear fruit in our lives. It is a choice!! Sometimes not a fun choice!

If someone hurts you then often the flesh within you cries out for REVENGE! I know I have wanted someone to pay for what they have done to me before. I have felt that "an eye for an eye" I even will go so far as how I would love to extract some kind of return for the injury. I think I might even enjoy carrying this grudge for a while.

Jesus reminds me today when I am hurt by someone that vengeance is not mine. When we are asserting ourselves and demanding our rights, we are insisting upon the privilege and status that we feel we have before others...PRIDE.. Wow that hurts to even write about it. That is the one thing God himself despises more than anything - PRIDE.
God himself laid aside all his GLORY, all of his divine rights and privileges out of LOVE, the greatest gift of all. If we say we are "CHRISTIANS", then we to have to lay aside our rights and serve others. Think about the incarnation which was the act of the preexistent Son of God VOLUNTARILY assuming a human body and human nature WITHOUT ceasing to be GOD. He became a human being, the man called Jesus. He did not give up his deity to become human, but he set aside the right to his glory and power and he didn't demand people to respect him. He did not seek it. He did not insist upon it and he, Jesus himself, died on that cross for you and me. Don't you think he had earned his "UGLY"? There was tens of thousands of angels with their swords drawn, the scene was so bad that some of the angels couldn't bare to watch. Some were angry. Yes Angels have emotions and they love God . At anytime Jesus could have commanded them to come down and strike all of them down. The angels were ready. They would have saved him in a flash. But God didn't call them. He cried out "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do". He died for you and me. He took the sins of the entire world upon himself that day so that you and I could have everlasting life.

So the next time I feel like I have earned my "UGLY" I am going to stop and think of what my Father laid aside not asking for anything. FOR YOU AND I. I am going to remember what he took...the beatings, the people spitting in his face, being nailed to the cross, and that's only a glimpse of it. We have no idea what he really took for us on that day. Our minds cannot fathom it. I am going to remember...it is not about ME. I have always heard that SALVATION IS FREE. IT WILL COST YOU NOTHING. TO PICK UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW JESUS WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING.

Are you willing to live a life set by example that Jesus himself has set? What kind of fruit is your tree bearing?
     Praise God this day for all your wonderful blessings. Then take some time to confess and ask the Lord to help you keep your life free from sin.
PSALM 25: 6-7
     Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindness, For they are from old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness sake, O Lord.......
His Grace,
Robbie

Weekends are for slowing down......and remembering..........

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.......Ephesians 2:4-5......

prayer in the garden.....

Christians interpret the pressing of the olives as a symbol of the burden Jesus prayed over, a burden so great that He sweated BLOOD.........

Amy and I had the amazing privilege to sit in the "private" garden in deep prayer...I couldn't help but think how weak we are just like the disciples who could not keep watch for Jesus because they fell asleep......the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak......Jesus totally surrendered himself to God at this very place......This week I have been praying for three things that I desire from God.......My number one desire from God is how to surrender?.....how did Jesus completely surrender to God even when He knew what was coming?  We "human spirits," that desire to follow Jesus and be faithful;  fall prey to the very same weaknesses as the disciples..........we give in when there is physical fatigue......the flesh is weak....our spirits are willing indeed........

This sacred garden is not at all how I pictured it......Lovely yes, but a chill dances down my spine.....and for a moment I am back in time......and I picture 3 men sleeping away, while the King of Kings moans......ABBA......Jesus wakes them for the third time; Enough He says......rise......the hour is here;........He looks at those who are coming who believe they are taking him captive..........But He knows what they do not.........You cannot take captive one whose heart is already sold..........into a slavery of devotion so deep that no man or woman can even begin to comprehend....

I reach up, and pull an olive branch toward me, to inhale from its leaves......trying to breath in all that I can from that very scene......Amy reaches up and gently takes some olive leaves from a branch and tucks them away in the pages of her bible..........trying to carry home with us the smell of hope.......and healing..........Letting go of the branches we turn and look toward the "City of God," Jerusalem..........

Ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, whose name means "olive oil press." (the thick trunks of these olive trees in the "private" Garden of Gethsemane show their great age.........)

A path in the "private garden" across from the traditional Garden of Gethsemane is a place of tranquility...........

Israel is an olive tree...and God is a lamp......."What use is made of olive oil? It is put into a lamp, and then the two together give light as though they were one......Hence the Holy One will say to Israel:  My children, since My light is your light and your light is My light, let us go together.....you and I .......and give light to Zion:   "Arise, give light, for thy light has come..."

Mark 14: 32-34

32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

     I will never experience the fullness of my salvation unless I learn how to completely surrender my life to the hands of Jesus.....the only way through the hard, and the emptiness in my life is to surrender......surrender it all.....
His Grace,
Robbie

Your conscience vs the Holy Spirit

We all have a deep inner voice that is called our conscience. This voice guides and directs our choices and actions. Christians are "moral people". They are usually "good" people. Will God let us into heaven by just being "good". Unfortunately, while the conscience helps direct good choices, it is not perfect. We cannot equate our conscience with the Holy Spirit. The problem with following only our conscience is that everyone's conscience is developed by a person's environment and personal life experiences. Just think for a moment about your family- what were you exposed too? What shaped your conscience? What do we approve of now? What do we tolerate? Knowing that it is wrong, but is it that bad? knowing that your neighbor does a lot worse things, and they consider themselves christians.

When you become a christian, your spirit becomes new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come. The spirit of God dwells in our own human spirit. He gives us a new life. Titus 3:5 says: He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. Once this happens the Holy Spirit takes over our conscience and he begins to speak to us. Certain sins in the past that were okay, now disgust us. What the Holy Spirit is doing is changing us- making us think and act like Christ. Things that hurt Jesus begin to cause a pain in us. Also what causes him joy suddenly brings us joy- somethings just can not be explained. You have to experience it. The joy of the Lord is joy that can not be explained. You must experience it yourself. Pray for it. Stay in his word and you'll have it beyond explaination.
We need to pray that God will "shake" our conscience with his spirit. That he will reshape our thinking. When you pray without ceasing and stay in his word, you will hear the Holy Spirit speak to you.
Speak Lord- Speak Lord!
Amy

Grace

Every Tuesday at 10:10 I am at this quite place of prayer for my girls.......There are 5 of us ........Sometimes even laying prostate on the floor before God....begging....begging for more of Him in their lives..........................it is here that I realize that it is not God  indebted to me,  but me who is indebted to him......His Grace....

It is here that I wonder..... wonder what is His Grace all about?  What kind of heart does God have?  Can I  feel it, and touch it for another day......What does his over flowing grace feel like? Grace that has already been  bought.....grace that can no longer be bargained for.......grace that can't be pleaded for..........so what is God's grace all about?.....it is a gift.....a gift of salvation...

What is a life without grace?

We start by praising him.......for who He is.......We name his attributes.....and His character....

We talk about Him as if He is a friend....our lover.....our hope......

We read scripture aloud and beg for God to hear our cries......

we confess our sins and ask Him to toss them aside like filthy rags.......we feel empty....we want to run to escape the waste that the world offers to our precious children....that tricks them in to believing they can have it all and have it their way.......it is the serpent again whispering more lies.........leaving us begging for more, more comfort.....more easy.......more of the good.......all the while we can look around and see suffering......suffering of people who have God's grace.....and the Holy Spirit within me ever so gently whispers, "His ways are not your ways...."

Who would deserve His Grace?.....and I whisper more.....more please, more of

God's Grace........God's Grace.........I keep saying quietly to myself......

We continue after confession with Thanksgiving....thanking Him for everything I can utter out upon His throne of grace.......... 

Then we bravely approach the throne of grace and intercede for our children......

sometimes feeling like a taker instead of a giver......wanting what I want...trying to beg for the good instead of the bad.......Why is it that we are willing to accept the good but not the bad? I continue to crave the easy.......

When all God really wants is for our highest form of prayer to be about His goodness....(the goodness of God).......(Julian of Norwich)......the goodness of God will never pass away but our flesh will....... God's goodness covers our flesh....

God desires for us to cling to him with all our soul.......and in prayer we are to cling to His goodness.....

And oh how He blesses us with His Grace.........................

What are we human beings that you are mindful of them......Psalm 8

then we pray for our schools, teachers and all staff....we beg for his grace.....we read scripture to Him.......we end by thanksgiving......but ready to run for our lives if what is given seems bad....

We are always ready to take from Him if its good......What about the bad? Sometimes the suffering will lead us to the throne of Grace............

Who truly deserves His grace?

forever indebted to His grace,

Robbie

Life.................

Dishes piled high.....is what I awake too when the alarm rings in the morning...I stare at the clock trying so hard to see the time but it remains blurry.....my life but a mere vapor is blurry............The kids are racing around slamming doors trying to get everything done before they leave for another day in the life which feels like "ground-hog day!"

My soul is down-cast because I am empty.....there is nothing left....the kids are racing as well in this race we call life!!!!......the race to where?....is it the race to no-where???

My soul is empty because it has been drained....like the soap suds that swirl down the drain......all is gone in another day....

Crumbs on the counter.....there is always cooking, cleaning and the stacking of dishes........in this thing we call "Life." And these teenagers that I am entrusted with by God that keep falling......falling down in this world that sucks them so deep into it that they don't even notice until it is too late; until the damage is done.......

I speak to God is if I can beg, borrow or still more time from Him........pleading my case that I want more......more time in a day to accomplish what I WANT!!!! Not what is more important but what I WANT.....in a world that is so intoxicating that it grooms us to think that it is all about us...............

 All I ever really want is MORE..........MORE time in a day...... Time to feel the warmth of the sun on my face......time to kneel at my church pew and pray........ time to seek God and find His face......time to listen to the rain fall like God's grace........time to embrace the ones I love for another day.......Time to find the Spiritual Rhythm of this race we call life and to be wrapped up as one with the Father......

(Psalm 39:6)   “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;

in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.

We need your help Father against the enemy......for human help is useless............
(Psalm 60:1-4) You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;

you have been angry—now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow.
Quite our anxious spirits. Lord.......
His Grace,
Robbie