Sometimes we need to be reminded.... That God is in control....
His WILL is for us to prosper, not fail..... His plan is not ours..... So get out of the pilot seat- and let the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Yahweh- take control!
Thank you Father for reminding me- through your word- or even through a song- that you love us- that you love me! And you want the best for us- not for this life, but for the life to come- when we are forever with our Father! One thing that we must remember- is that our blessings- our rewards may not come from this world, blessings that are given to us when we lay our crown at Jesus' feet. My reward will be when he calls MY NAME.... from the Lambs Book of Life.... WOW what a day that will be.
Enjoy this song- It brings tears to my eyes every time
Amy
Amy said I should take a picture of a bug outside laying on its back with all it's feet moving that can't flip over...that would be me!!! These last few weeks, I have led a life of prayerlessness, if that is a word.... but " Praise God",(so I thought until I talked to Amy); that I had been studying His Word even if the reason was due to me being in school.
As I was complaining to Amy about everything going on in my world she said to me:
" I was running down the stairs at work today, trying to get some exercise, eating a snickers bar at the same time when I could hear someone coming down the stairs behind me as they were getting closer. When I could feel them on my heels I turned around with the candy bar in my mouth and said;" "this kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it?" I still laugh when I think about that scene... She said to me " your studying scripture all the time but you can't pray?" That kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it?"
Have you ever felt like you didn't want to pray? Or you couldn't pray?
It's a fact that we become what we desire!!! What we desire is in our heart. And what is in our hearts is what we worship! In other words whatever we set our hearts on is what will become our master. What is it that you are setting your heart on? What are you serving? We cannot serve two masters. These last few weeks I have been trying to serve two master's. I have had divided devotion! Look at this verse in LUKE 16:13; "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
I just had some rooms in my house painted. I have never had anything in my house painted before. The paint on the walls is from when we built the house. New paint made everything look dull and plain. So I starting looking for new things, MATERIAL things to put in my house. I became obsessed with trying to redecorate. It has become this demanding DESIRE that I haven't be able to satisfy...It has crowded my heart along with the busyness of my life and I have had no room for PRAYER..... I have been going through the motions but missing one of the most important parts; the relationship part. If I had saw this happening to one of my friends I would have warned them that they were "PLAYING WITH FIRE"...... that they were on dangerous ground....ground that is slipping away.
Faith is not NATURAL...... If we are not longing for His presence then we are not ready to receive Him each day.....We cannot be in two places at the same time!!!! We cannot have one foot on one side of the fence in the spiritual world and one foot in this world.... Abraham could not serve his God and stay in his home in UR. He had to leave his comfort of his own home and live in a place where he felt like an alien or a stranger. There was nothing familiar to him in this new place where God had sent him. But Abraham walked by FAITH not by SIGHT.... He had to make a CHOICE and so do we.
Our choices: We can choose to either be alienated from God because of our sin and disbelief or we can become like strangers and aliens of this world because we know "it is not our home..."
I have realized these past few hours that I have to CHOOSE the peace that God offers. PEACE is a state of mind.....Peace is not a change in my circumstances. We live in an evil world where believers are going to endure suffering!!! A change in our circumstances would only be temporary relief, or temporary happiness. This is your gold nugget for today: ( Christ not only preached PEACE, He purchased PEACE with His own body and blood).... God reassures us that when we receive that PEACE, we have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ!!!! Unshakable PEACE that can only come from God!!!
So today I took a long hard look at myself and I asked God; " Is there room in my heart for you to dwell ?" I challenge each of you reading this to ask God that same question. We must choose DAILY who and what we will serve. It is so easy to fall prey to the natural self-seeking world. It is so easy to want your house to be beautiful and to want nice things. Please don't misunderstand me, I do think God wants to bless us with the desires of our hearts, as long as it doesn't crowd our hearts, that would leave no room for Him.
The real issue is our hearts; when we love Him we will obey Him and serve only Him. That's when our hearts become FREE.... then God can make His home there. Then we become a blessings to others. I have made a different CHOICE today... I am setting my heart's desires on God. Even though I don't feel like praying or blogging or studying, I am going to push through this and do it. It is a CHOICE..... you might be saying all this sounds great but how?
JOHN 17:17; Sanctify them (purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them Holy) by TRUTH; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.
SANCTIFY- means to separate!!!! HIS WORD WILL SEPARATE US FROM THIS WORLD.... It is FAITH in the WORD that separates us.... His word will separate us from worldly thinking, worldly desires, weariness, and restlessness....
working on saying yes to the PEACE that was purchased.
Robbie
(asking for your grace today........a quiet repost as we are working today in the ICU's)
I am a "drive through" mom....... I'm busy and this is easy........ A local radio station New Life 91.9 has made a way to make a difference even - when you want to take the easy way out- You can shine for Jesus even in the fast food drive through line....
Watch the video below and see how easy it is to change a life and feed your family junk food at the same time-
Pay forward- you pay for the car behind you- give them a letter- make a difference
There are so many ways to touch another- try it today.
I see it............right up in the sky above the crowds.............the old rugged cross.
I smile when I see it........and I wonder as I look around into the crowds what in the world is wrong with me that is so right with everyone else?
Remembering this life can be full of messy grace indeed.
People are everywhere....... where are they headed???? Are they looking for something that makes them happy?
I wonder why am I here in this place at this time for this Labor Day and what it might mean in a universe this big?
I stand at the end of the street "people watching." Watching them all walking stopping to look at what interests them...........and I wonder WHY?Why God did you stay up on that cross?Why for us? Then it was this Sunday at church that my pastor said he found a treasure.
6 “I have revealed you[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.(John 17:6)
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.(John 17:24)
Do you see it? Our Father and His Son are exchanging gifts!!!!! We are the gift to Jesus!!!
Jesus is our gift "SALVATION."
We can't earn it....................it is not temporary salvation............it is eternal salvation!
Doesn't that make you want to shout, "Glory?"
Some walk and some run.......what is it that we are running towards?
I want to run to a place in my life where I feel God is enough...........enough for my every need.
One of God's name is El Shaddai....meaning that He is the one who nourishes, supplies, and satisfies. He is all powerful..........the omnipotent god.........who has never-endingbounty for His people.............the people that God gave Him!
We are that people.
The name El shaddai..........is one that should remind us of God's unlimited supply of comfort, power, grace, and in fact anything that we need...................God is enough!
Instead running and walking we should be the bowing...........bowing our hearts in sheer reverence for the Almighty God...............the powerful one...........the everlasting one.
all is grace,
Robbie
the gifts keep coming:
God who listens to prayers
A pastor who cries the hard during church
the gift-salvation
for A God who speaks
Fall scents
cooler weather
the turtle cage that's clean
homemade soup stewing on stove top
homemade bread
quiet mornings
teenagers fast asleep
swing on front porch
chipped toe-nail polish
clean sheets
windex
sewing projects
new bike
friend to laugh the hard with
forgiveness
Christmas gifts already bought
a href="http://www.aholyexperience.com" target="_blank">http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff162/annvoskamp/multitudesonmondaysbutton2-1.jpg" >
Let us spread the thoughts and desires of our hearts under His feet like garments, so that He may draw the whole of our being into Himself and place the whole of His in us.....(Eight-century martyr, Andrew of Crete)
Weekends are for strolling through the woods............stopping to smell the flowers. And saying the only name that matters..............Jesus. Stop, look and listen to the wind in the trees, smell the hint of Fall that is in the air. Only He can quiet our anxious spirits. May all your weekend voyage be one of enjoying the only peace that the world cannot take away!
I murmur it softly many times in a place with the stench of death lingers.
"His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts."
Me with my rebellious self.....not wanting to truly see........... through the lens of Him.
Wanting it my way.......with my impatient self not wanting to believe that God's ways are always for our good.
Even in the midst of pain how is it that I can turn it around and make it all about me?
Is it control that I crave? Not able to surrender into the arms of the one who has the better way.
Like footprints on the beach:
"Imagine yourself on a beach observing the footprints of God in the sand. We begin to place our feet into the prints. At some places the strides look far too long for our small frame........................at other places it looks so short that it appears childlike. In infinite wisdom God is stretching us where we need to greater attentiveness and stillness. As we follow God's lead we enter more and more into the divine stride, turning where God turns, accepting God's ways and finding them altogether good."
Sanctuary of the Soul: (Journey into Meditative Prayer) By: Richard Foster
Submission is what I need if I want to follow God's lead.
Can I see all is a gift even through my own tears of grief? Accepting what is His ways?
9Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction,[a] and my bones grow weak. (Psalm 31:9-10)
Only through his tears of grief did David truly begin to see......so maybe through our tears is where we begin to see the beauty in the here and now! There is so much good at this very present moment! I don't want to miss the beauty in the now. I want to live fully alive in the now because isn't it true that all of our days are the numbered?
There must be a pattern in this race we call life!
We will only begin to see when our hearts are washed clean with tears from our on grief...........grief of repentance!
"A Franciscan prayer"
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: Where there is hatred, let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon, Where there is doubt, faith, Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light, Where there is sadness, joy.
..............For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is dying that we are born to eternal life.
Barriers Broken-
The classical Greek word "eerie" means " peace", and its root meaning is the breaking-down of barriers.
The Hebrew word "shalom" means... " to bring completeness" or " to make whole". When you have peace- you are open to others and your surroundings, and most important you live a life of joy.. a joy with God!
While on earth, Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated the peace of the Kingdom of God. As he preached, healed, gave love- he revealed and lived out the peace of God's reign.
In offering himself on the Cross as a sacrifice for us, he broke the barriers, between us and God- with these barriers broken- we were given to right to claim " PEACE".
Peace is-
A Gift.................... Peace is not a thing to be struggled for, or a state for which we strive. Peace is a gift from God. Peace comes as a natural gift from a way of a life submitted to God.
ll Thessalonians 3:16-
" Now may the Lord of peace himself give you Peace at ALL times and in EVERY way. The Lord be with all of you."
The Christian has no guarantee of a life removed from conflict and strife. The Christian may find that discipleship of necessity involves struggle and opposition- Matthew 5:10 says.... " Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".
Peace of a Christian continues,,,, even in the midst of strife, a peace, " not as the world gives." In the midst of trouble- the Christian finds God- cries out to God- and HIS peacewill come to you!!!!!
The bible makes it very clear... that Peace is the mark of a Christian.
Hebrews 12:14-
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord...."
Romans 12:18
" If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with ALL men. "
regardless of how others treat us, we are to have peaceful relationships with others. In the beatitudes, Jesus- the Prince of Peace- says: "those who are peacemakers- will be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9
Philippians 2:3
" Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."
James 3: 17-18
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."
The opposite of conceit and selfishness is humility. Humility is necessary to properly deal with people- difficult ones..... We want others to be patient with our shortcomings, so.... guess what? yep... we should be patient and understanding of others shortcomings. When we strive for peace- to make peace- we are exercising humility.
When Christ says for us to go two miles with someone- when they ask us to go one- he is saying that we need to do whatever it takes to have peace!!!!
This is huge-------- Instead of letting a problem continue to escalate, we need to immediately make peace. Addressing the problem early- may prevent bigger problems later.
" A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger"Proverbs 15:1
I have found so many scriptures about peace, obtaining peace, outcomes from peace, spreading peace! Wow... when you are open to HEAR what God is saying through is word- you receive it- you receive peace.
I recently had a situation at work- an argument with a co-worker. Of course both of us thought they were right. I, being a christian, should have made peace right away, but this time.. I was right so I was not going to give in. Guess where that got me? No where Actually I went backwards. I was angry, and when you are angry- you can not hear from God. This.. "Not Speaking to each other" last a couple of weeks. I was spiritually drained. I need God. So the Holy Spirit intervened and allowed me to feel humility again. I made peace with this person... I said, the dreaded words, " I'm Sorry". When I look back now, I could have done things different- If I would stay in God's word and talk with him more- I would not get to the point where I am drained- where I am angry.
Following God's law is the key to peace. When we live by God's ways, we learn the way to peace.
So to answer the question is Peace Free?
Jesus paid the price for us! All we have to do is receive and believe.
It is that simple.
Father make me an instrument- an instrument of peace!
