So this weekend has been spent watching the Verge 2013 conference webcast. The entire weekend. It started Friday when my sweet sista told us she would like us to tune in instead of our discussion this week. Ohhhhhh my gravy!!! Talk about awesome! A whole weekend of spiritual leaders from all over talking about what God is doing.
The most awesome thing? He's doing it everywhere. It was so awesome to hear these guys and gals talking about hospitality, discipleship, and love. Talking about the importance of relationships. The importance of sharing the story. Not just the story of the Bible, but the story of our lives... our eternal lives. These are all things that Ben and I, as well as many others within the church, are experiencing. God is moving in this dirty nasty world, and doing it the way only He can... BIG.
Big. Ginormous. Huge. Just think about it. All over the world, God is handing out invitations to what He's about to accomplish. He is instructing us, influencing us, informing us of what we are to do in order to share His awesome story with more and more people. How is He doing this?
He is asking us to get out of our comfort zones. Heck, He's asking us to get out, period. Get out. Meet people. Invite them to your home. Show them what your life looks like as a follower of Jesus. Show them love. Show them how you interact with others. Tell them your stories of God's work in your life. We all have a story. Every single one of us can relate to another person's story.. which means every one of us has a story that can be related to... What is your story? How can it help someone you don't even know? Well, you can't share it with someone new if you never leave your couch....
Or can you? Have you ever thought about sharing your story with your immediate arena of influence? That would be your family, your friends, your coworkers... Do they all know you are a believer? Why not??? It doesn't have to be beautiful. It has to be real. We are not perfect, and there is no way we can be on our own. We will not achieve perfection in this world. That's something to look forward to when we leave this world. Perfection, brought about by the only One who can make us that way.
I know what you are thinking... In this world, who can I trust to come into my home and not harm me or my family? Well... we can't put our trust in man. We can only trust One, who is so fully perfect and who loves us unlike anything we've ever experienced. You might also be thinking that we will never reach everyone. Well, you are right. WE can't, but HE can. One day every knee will bow, and every man will declare His majesty. Who's to say we can't see that in our lifetime?!? Wouldn't it be awesome to exeperience, and to know that God used you to spread His Word to this sick, sad world?
Our God can do it! Our God created everything around us, including us. Have you ever thought about that? He created all of it. Every cell, every tiny part that makes up every living thing... HE did that. He can do anything He wants. He can use my story to further His kingdom. He can use yours too...
If you want to know how that can happen, ask Him. He will show you. Just remember, when things get tough and you are under attack, that He is always with you, and if you keep praying and listening to Him, He will show you what to do. He will guide you, equip you, and speak through you. You just have to obey.......
Sunday, March 3, 2013
God IS at Work!!
Thursday night I made a very important appointment. An appointment the enemy DOES NOT want me to keep. You see, tomorrow, I will be sharing my testimony for publication as a life change story in an online Christian magazine. When I was asked, I had many reactions all at once.... honor, amazement, fright, and an overwhelming sense that I was saying yes whether I wanted to or not.
You see I consider myself an introvert. I prefer not to have any attention directed at me. I enjoy the company of my friends and family, but meeting new people kind of freaks me out, and being considered an example absolutely blows my mind. I am nothing apart from God. On my own, there is no way I would consider sharing my story with more than a handful of people at a time. Ha, for that matter, there's no way I would consider sharing my story, period. I would rather be in the background.
So of course, the enemy has been harassing me. A flashback scene on a favorite show sent me into a tail spin of anxiety and fear. It also made me really, really mad. You see, I was in the middle of requesting prayer for myself and the author of the article, as well as another young lady God has put on my heart. I was horrified when I realized what I was seeing, and how exactly like my memories the scene was.I was mad... and yes, a few choice words did come out when I was berating satan for the attack.
It took a bit for me to calm down. I immediately sought prayer from my warriors and prayed myself. Then I went to the Word, and boy, was it good! God led me to Ephesians 2, and my super awesome Discipleship Sista sent me a fantastic article written by John Piper on being weak. Oh, thank God, I am WEAK!!!! I embrace it and welcome and let the One who is STRONG do the work He has planned. As I prayed and read, I realized that God had been protecting me the entire hour long show. The only flashback I saw was the one at the very end of the show. Then throughout the weekend, He sent me Word upon Word, song upon song, friend upon friend, and love upon love......Every song on the radio spoke directly to what I was feeling at that moment. During Discipleship we tuned into the Verge 2013 conference, and every speaker was speaking right to me. In fact, that was so awesome, I have watched it the entire weekend, and it's on right now! Awesome stuff, and confirmation that God can and does work, and He does invite us to join Him where He's working. He's got people all over the world thinking about the same things, loving the same people, wanting to spread His Word in the same ways.... WOW!!!
I have experienced so much love and protection and confirmation this weekend. God invited me to join Him where He is working. It's not going to be easy, but I know, I know, I KNOW it will be worth it. It amazes me that He has chosen me to join Him. Alone, I am not much. With Him, I am a powerful weapon in the war against an enemy who wants to destroy us all. He wants to separate us from the only One who loves us no matter what. No matter what we do, He still loves us. No matter what we do, He still cares. No matter what we do, He still seeks us. He seeks us... And we turn our backs away from Him. We decide that it's too hard to do what He asks us, or that we just don't want to obey. We hurt Him over and over again and He STILL loves us.
I want to be the me that He sees in me. I want to follow the path He's set before me. I want to obey. I want the story of what He's done in my life to touch someone. I want them to see that He changed me, and that He can change them too. He heals. He loves. He wants. He doesn't need us.... He wants us. Do you want to be healed? Loved? Wanted? Seek Him. Pray for someone to come along side you and disciple you and allow God to teach you about His love. He wants you to know Him and know just how much He loves you... Don't you want that too???
Friday, February 22, 2013
Love
Well hello there world! Long time, no see, right? It's been a crazy few months around here, with some healing of epic proportions. God has really been seen in and around us, and it blows me away. The wonderful people I am surrounded by have shown us just how much we are loved by our Heavenly Father. It overwhelms me to know how much He loves us.
So what do you think about when I say "love"? Is it the ooey gooey fake love movies and tvs tell us about? How about the love songs? Is that real love? Real love, you say??? What is that?!? Trust me when I say that most of the love we see in movies and tv shows as well as in songs is not real.... Real love is the most beautiful thing in this sick, sad world. Love has become so distorted and undermined. Well played, satan. Turn the beautiful gift that God gave us into a meaningless thing that few people understand anymore. Downplay the reality of what Jesus went through because He loves us. What a horrible thought, but think about it. It's exactly what he does with everything God gave us. He turns beautiful things into things of ugly, distorted, meaningless drivel. The worst thing? We submit to it. We allow him to turn the beauty around us into drivel. We allow him to distort the Truth about Love.
No, God doesn't need us to fight His battles. He can do it all on his own. The thing is, He wants us to want to fight battles with Him, because He loves us. He created all of us to be warriors, lovers, every beautiful thing you can think of... He created us for beauty and Love. Real Love. The kind of love you get from having a relationship with our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. You can't appreciate Love of that magnitude unless you have a relationship with all Three as One.
Read these scriptures:
Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
This is what Love looks like:
John 15:9-17 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
What a fantabulously exciting idea. For the Love our Father has for us is even greater than what we could EVER imagine... It's so much more than the love of a husband and wife, mother or father and child, brother and sister, best friends..... It's everything you feel from each of these relationships, to the bazillion quadrillionth power, and that isn't even all of it! There is no measure for how full of Love you become when you have the Love of the Father pouring into and out of you.
So look inside yourself.... Do you experience that Love? Do you abide in His Love? If not, don't you want to?? Look around..Do you exhibit that Love? Look around again.. who exhibits that Love? Talk to them, pray with them. Seek Him. Ask Him to show you what Love looks like. Talk to Him, have a relationship... There is no greater joy than what is found when you have that relationship with the One who created you for Love.
So what do you think about when I say "love"? Is it the ooey gooey fake love movies and tvs tell us about? How about the love songs? Is that real love? Real love, you say??? What is that?!? Trust me when I say that most of the love we see in movies and tv shows as well as in songs is not real.... Real love is the most beautiful thing in this sick, sad world. Love has become so distorted and undermined. Well played, satan. Turn the beautiful gift that God gave us into a meaningless thing that few people understand anymore. Downplay the reality of what Jesus went through because He loves us. What a horrible thought, but think about it. It's exactly what he does with everything God gave us. He turns beautiful things into things of ugly, distorted, meaningless drivel. The worst thing? We submit to it. We allow him to turn the beauty around us into drivel. We allow him to distort the Truth about Love.
No, God doesn't need us to fight His battles. He can do it all on his own. The thing is, He wants us to want to fight battles with Him, because He loves us. He created all of us to be warriors, lovers, every beautiful thing you can think of... He created us for beauty and Love. Real Love. The kind of love you get from having a relationship with our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. You can't appreciate Love of that magnitude unless you have a relationship with all Three as One.
Read these scriptures:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Love isn't some minor, meaningless drivel. Love is beautiful. Love is open, honest, trusting. Love is so much bigger than any word can describe. Love is a Father, sending His Son to die for OUR sins. Love is doing that while we are STILL sinners. Love cannot be overcome.
Love is forgiveness. Has someone hurt you? Respond in Love. Has someone harmed you? Respond in Love. Has someone shaken the ground you stand on? Respond in Love.
I have been in love for nine years. I loved my husband before Christ, but I didn't really Love him. I had no concept of what Love could be until Jesus showed me the difference. Physical and emotional love are an important part of marriage, but nothing... NOTHING.... NOTHING compares to the spiritual love that comes from knowing God. There are no words to describe how amazing it is. My relationship with Jesus changed me. Ben's relationship with Jesus changed him. Our relationship with each other AND Jesus completely rewrote our love story. Do we hurt each other? Sometimes, because we are, after all, human. However, forgiveness is a beautiful thing. Knowing our Love is so much more than this world's version of love, that it's ETERNAL.....
Think about that for a minute... Love for eternity.....
This is what Love looks like:
John 15:9-17 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
What a fantabulously exciting idea. For the Love our Father has for us is even greater than what we could EVER imagine... It's so much more than the love of a husband and wife, mother or father and child, brother and sister, best friends..... It's everything you feel from each of these relationships, to the bazillion quadrillionth power, and that isn't even all of it! There is no measure for how full of Love you become when you have the Love of the Father pouring into and out of you.
So look inside yourself.... Do you experience that Love? Do you abide in His Love? If not, don't you want to?? Look around..Do you exhibit that Love? Look around again.. who exhibits that Love? Talk to them, pray with them. Seek Him. Ask Him to show you what Love looks like. Talk to Him, have a relationship... There is no greater joy than what is found when you have that relationship with the One who created you for Love.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Beauty in The Storm
We walked outside tonight to see if we could see the meteor shower. We couldn't see them yet, but what we did see was amazing! A storm is rolling in, but it's still quite a distance away. The lightning was streaking across the sky, highlighting the clouds with this wonderful pinky-orange color, just on the horizon. As we sat there watching the show, I started thinking about how beautiful the storm can be.
Sometimes the storm is so harsh, we don't take a moment to enjoy the beauty that God creates in the midst of it. We are so engrossed in the pain and drama, we miss the little moments that are there just waiting on us.... Those moments that remind us that God is there, with us. He's always there, waiting on us to accept the love, mercy and peace that only He can bring to the storm. He wraps us in His love and guides us through the storm. He shows us the beauty in our surroundings if we just open our eyes to it.
How many times do you stop to see the beauty of your surroundings and thank God for them? I know, it can be hard when life is going reasonably well. Add a storm, and it can be pretty darn close to impossible. It causes us to focus only on the storm, and not on anything good. God has created so many wonderful things. Do you really want to miss them? No, you want to enjoy the beauty He created. He speaks to us in the beauty of every day as well as in the storm.
So look around you. Notice the beauty that God has created for us to enjoy, and praise Him for it. Listen to the birds, the bugs, the wind, the rain, and the thunder. Smell the flowers, the grass, the dirt and the rain. Focus on the beauty of the trees, the flowers and the sky. Listen to God as He speaks to you... even in the storm. Especially in the storm.....
Sometimes the storm is so harsh, we don't take a moment to enjoy the beauty that God creates in the midst of it. We are so engrossed in the pain and drama, we miss the little moments that are there just waiting on us.... Those moments that remind us that God is there, with us. He's always there, waiting on us to accept the love, mercy and peace that only He can bring to the storm. He wraps us in His love and guides us through the storm. He shows us the beauty in our surroundings if we just open our eyes to it.
How many times do you stop to see the beauty of your surroundings and thank God for them? I know, it can be hard when life is going reasonably well. Add a storm, and it can be pretty darn close to impossible. It causes us to focus only on the storm, and not on anything good. God has created so many wonderful things. Do you really want to miss them? No, you want to enjoy the beauty He created. He speaks to us in the beauty of every day as well as in the storm.
So look around you. Notice the beauty that God has created for us to enjoy, and praise Him for it. Listen to the birds, the bugs, the wind, the rain, and the thunder. Smell the flowers, the grass, the dirt and the rain. Focus on the beauty of the trees, the flowers and the sky. Listen to God as He speaks to you... even in the storm. Especially in the storm.....
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Whoa....
Wow, it's been a while since I wrote. It's been a time of revelation and discovery. God has revealed Himself to me in big ways, and this week has been no different, and absolutely amazing!
A few months ago, I joined a Step Study with Celebrate Recovery. We work through the Bible, answer some deeply personal questions, and seek forgiveness for our hurts, habits, and hangups. I was pretty sure I had dealt with all of my HHH's before, but I also knew He wanted me in this study. I hadn't figured out the why, but knew that in being obedient, He would show me. And boy, did He show me!!! A couple of weeks ago, I began having dreams of rebuilding old dilapidated homes, which is a dream of mine, so I really didn't think anything about it. Other than, "cool dreams" and "man, I really wanna do that!"
Well, silly me, I should have been paying better attention, because when I didn't get the message, He came back with this: Ben, the kids, and I were at my grandma's house, while she was alive (which, she died when I was pregnant with Alaia, so this was a really sweet part of my dream). We were rebuilding her house, pulling stuff out of walls and putting up new walls, painting and cleaning and making it wonderfully new again. I woke up amazed, sad, happy, and confused. Was He telling me we were supposed to move back home to Louisiana and somehow live in Grandma's house? I really didn't think so, because He has me so involved in many things here. I talked to Ben about it, and he suggested I do the one thing I should have already done... yeah, you guessed it... PRAY. Silly me, once again. So I prayed about it most of the day, until finally He showed me what the dream was about. He's rebuilding ME, from my foundation, the ground floor up. Whoa. I mean, WHOA. What an awesome way to show me what the Step Study is all about. The same week, in a different class, I discovered that I am not the Spiritual Baby I thought I was, but am actually well on the way to being a Spiritual Parent! This brought on another Whoa.
This week, during our Step Study discussion time, I realized what He is wanting me to work on. I have given Him all the crap from my past, but I haven't really given Him ME. I haven't let go of the insecurities and self confidence issues I have maintained throughout my life. The next night, I met with my sponsor, and we talked about these issues. She anointed me with oil and prayed over me. As she was praying, I saw all those words-- Fear, Shame, and Doubt-- rise up in my head and burst into a million pieces. Then I saw TRUST rise up and become a wall. After that amazing vision, she washed my feet of the dust of my past. Oh my God, my Lord, thank you!!!!!! Thank you for giving me trust and taking away all the pain that I haven't let go of!
Tonight, during the teaching, they asked that we write down the sin we have been holding on to. I was so happy to sit there, knowing I had given it all to Him already. The only things I have left are the sins that are based on lies I believed forever... and I've already given those to Him. There is nothing left but FREEDOM. Freedom to pursue Him with nothing holding me back. I am ready to be the woman He sees in me. I am happy to be FREE. I AM HAPPY!!!!
And you know, truthfully, He took my sins from me when He nailed them to the cross. For me. For you. For all of us. Our sin is heavy, but our God is strong. He is bigger than any sin, and He has already forgiven us for them... while we were STILL sinners. How awesome is our God? He took our sin. He sent His Son because He knew we couldn't do it alone. We couldn't give up on our sinful natures without Him. He LOVES us. ALL of us. When we refuse to receive Him and His blessing of removing our sin, what are we thinking?? He is our champion. He is our Savior. Have you received Him? If not, don't you think it's time?
A few months ago, I joined a Step Study with Celebrate Recovery. We work through the Bible, answer some deeply personal questions, and seek forgiveness for our hurts, habits, and hangups. I was pretty sure I had dealt with all of my HHH's before, but I also knew He wanted me in this study. I hadn't figured out the why, but knew that in being obedient, He would show me. And boy, did He show me!!! A couple of weeks ago, I began having dreams of rebuilding old dilapidated homes, which is a dream of mine, so I really didn't think anything about it. Other than, "cool dreams" and "man, I really wanna do that!"
Well, silly me, I should have been paying better attention, because when I didn't get the message, He came back with this: Ben, the kids, and I were at my grandma's house, while she was alive (which, she died when I was pregnant with Alaia, so this was a really sweet part of my dream). We were rebuilding her house, pulling stuff out of walls and putting up new walls, painting and cleaning and making it wonderfully new again. I woke up amazed, sad, happy, and confused. Was He telling me we were supposed to move back home to Louisiana and somehow live in Grandma's house? I really didn't think so, because He has me so involved in many things here. I talked to Ben about it, and he suggested I do the one thing I should have already done... yeah, you guessed it... PRAY. Silly me, once again. So I prayed about it most of the day, until finally He showed me what the dream was about. He's rebuilding ME, from my foundation, the ground floor up. Whoa. I mean, WHOA. What an awesome way to show me what the Step Study is all about. The same week, in a different class, I discovered that I am not the Spiritual Baby I thought I was, but am actually well on the way to being a Spiritual Parent! This brought on another Whoa.
This week, during our Step Study discussion time, I realized what He is wanting me to work on. I have given Him all the crap from my past, but I haven't really given Him ME. I haven't let go of the insecurities and self confidence issues I have maintained throughout my life. The next night, I met with my sponsor, and we talked about these issues. She anointed me with oil and prayed over me. As she was praying, I saw all those words-- Fear, Shame, and Doubt-- rise up in my head and burst into a million pieces. Then I saw TRUST rise up and become a wall. After that amazing vision, she washed my feet of the dust of my past. Oh my God, my Lord, thank you!!!!!! Thank you for giving me trust and taking away all the pain that I haven't let go of!
Tonight, during the teaching, they asked that we write down the sin we have been holding on to. I was so happy to sit there, knowing I had given it all to Him already. The only things I have left are the sins that are based on lies I believed forever... and I've already given those to Him. There is nothing left but FREEDOM. Freedom to pursue Him with nothing holding me back. I am ready to be the woman He sees in me. I am happy to be FREE. I AM HAPPY!!!!
And you know, truthfully, He took my sins from me when He nailed them to the cross. For me. For you. For all of us. Our sin is heavy, but our God is strong. He is bigger than any sin, and He has already forgiven us for them... while we were STILL sinners. How awesome is our God? He took our sin. He sent His Son because He knew we couldn't do it alone. We couldn't give up on our sinful natures without Him. He LOVES us. ALL of us. When we refuse to receive Him and His blessing of removing our sin, what are we thinking?? He is our champion. He is our Savior. Have you received Him? If not, don't you think it's time?
Monday, May 28, 2012
Calling All Prayer Warriors!!!
I've been laying in bed for the last hour, recovering from a migraine and praying. I wasn't going to get up to write because of said migraine, but when the Lord tells you to move.... well, you move, right? So here I am.
I've written before about living by faith. It's a struggle, sometimes daily, to do so. Since October 2010.... well, really since December 2009, God has been teaching us to trust Him. You see, Ben was fired from a good paying job then. Exactly forty days later, he found another job, with a restaurant that ended up closing in October 2010. That job paid a lot less than the first one, and we learned how to make do, along with the blessings God sent our way periodically. They always happened at just the right time. After that restaurant closed, he started drawing unemployment and went back to school. As you may know, unemployment is a lot less money. So we learned to live on even less. God sent us more blessings, always at just the right time. We have trusted, some days probably not as much as we should, but still, we trusted. We sort of believed that the job situation would be resolved at just the right time, probably when unemployment ran out. Ben has been looking for a new job the entire time he's been going to school, but nothing has come up. He has actually come close to getting a job a couple of times, but for some reason or the other, it didn't happen. So we trusted, and kept believing that the new job would happen when unemployment ran out.
Well.... unemployment ran out about a month ago. He's been working a temporary part time job, but it ends next week and hasn't been enough to cover our basic needs. So here it is, a month past what we thought was going to be the big "Yay, God, thank you for bringing him a good job" moment. Our prayer for us tonight was a way to cover rent, which is due this week. Basically we need a miracle of epic proportions. We've prayed for direction and discernment in regards to what we are supposed to be doing but have yet to receive any kind of clarity.
It's a scary thing to think that we might be homeless in a week. However, we still trust. We know that He has a plan for us. We know that He will reveal that plan in His perfect timing. I think if you have been following my blogs, you know that the following two verses are ones we rest on:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
So we are resting heavily this week on the promise of those two verses. We know that He has a plan, and we know that He will reveal it. However, we need prayer support from our friends. As I am writing this, so many others whom I have been praying for also came to mind. I must admit to having a hard time praying for our needs when there are so many of my friends who have greater needs.
So here are their prayer needs as well......
Friend Number One needs prayer for her family and in particular her 20 year old son, who just moved to Springfield without a car, job, or home, in the hopes he can restart his life fresh in Jesus' care.
Friend Number Two's husband also lost his job. He has been laid off three times in the last ten or so years, and they are ready for a permanent position that will meet their needs.
Friend Number Three is three months behind on their mortgage payment, and are struggling to figure out what they are to do. They are also under a constant barrage of spiritual attacks by way of illnesses, stress, and other such problems. They need a respite from the enemy and answers on what their next step is!
Friend Number Four just lost custody of her children. She is going to school to make a better life for them and now has to pay child support too. She has no idea how she is going to make all the ends meet.
Friend Number Five's husband just left in a very hurtful fashion. He is under a direct spiritual attack, and satan is winning. She and her kids are struggling to stay afloat in a flood of emotional, spiritual and financial distress.
Friend Number Six just lost their three month old baby to SIDS. He was with a babysitter at the time, so the parents and babysitter as well as a host of family and friends need prayer.
Friend Number Seven just found out her parents may be divorcing after over thirty years of marriage. She herself has been divorced and is worried about the effects on her siblings and the grandchildren. Satan at work on another long term marriage.
Friend Number Eight is pregnant with her third child and is having some complications. She is actually due in a few weeks, but baby may be here sooner. Her oldest, who is seven, also has a strange knot on his cheek and they are having to see a specialist tomorrow to figure out what is going on.
So, all you prayer warriors out there, please pray. Pray for these friends, for us, and for your friends and family as well. We need to cover all of our friends, family and even those we don't know, with prayer. We need to fight the spiritual battles the only way that works: prayer and trust. All of us, together with our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, can do battle and lessen satan's impact on our earthly world, simply by creating a united frontline of prayer.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Please leave comments with your own prayer requests. I, and the other readers, would be honored to lift your friends and family up as well.
I've written before about living by faith. It's a struggle, sometimes daily, to do so. Since October 2010.... well, really since December 2009, God has been teaching us to trust Him. You see, Ben was fired from a good paying job then. Exactly forty days later, he found another job, with a restaurant that ended up closing in October 2010. That job paid a lot less than the first one, and we learned how to make do, along with the blessings God sent our way periodically. They always happened at just the right time. After that restaurant closed, he started drawing unemployment and went back to school. As you may know, unemployment is a lot less money. So we learned to live on even less. God sent us more blessings, always at just the right time. We have trusted, some days probably not as much as we should, but still, we trusted. We sort of believed that the job situation would be resolved at just the right time, probably when unemployment ran out. Ben has been looking for a new job the entire time he's been going to school, but nothing has come up. He has actually come close to getting a job a couple of times, but for some reason or the other, it didn't happen. So we trusted, and kept believing that the new job would happen when unemployment ran out.
Well.... unemployment ran out about a month ago. He's been working a temporary part time job, but it ends next week and hasn't been enough to cover our basic needs. So here it is, a month past what we thought was going to be the big "Yay, God, thank you for bringing him a good job" moment. Our prayer for us tonight was a way to cover rent, which is due this week. Basically we need a miracle of epic proportions. We've prayed for direction and discernment in regards to what we are supposed to be doing but have yet to receive any kind of clarity.
It's a scary thing to think that we might be homeless in a week. However, we still trust. We know that He has a plan for us. We know that He will reveal that plan in His perfect timing. I think if you have been following my blogs, you know that the following two verses are ones we rest on:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
So we are resting heavily this week on the promise of those two verses. We know that He has a plan, and we know that He will reveal it. However, we need prayer support from our friends. As I am writing this, so many others whom I have been praying for also came to mind. I must admit to having a hard time praying for our needs when there are so many of my friends who have greater needs.
So here are their prayer needs as well......
Friend Number One needs prayer for her family and in particular her 20 year old son, who just moved to Springfield without a car, job, or home, in the hopes he can restart his life fresh in Jesus' care.
Friend Number Two's husband also lost his job. He has been laid off three times in the last ten or so years, and they are ready for a permanent position that will meet their needs.
Friend Number Three is three months behind on their mortgage payment, and are struggling to figure out what they are to do. They are also under a constant barrage of spiritual attacks by way of illnesses, stress, and other such problems. They need a respite from the enemy and answers on what their next step is!
Friend Number Four just lost custody of her children. She is going to school to make a better life for them and now has to pay child support too. She has no idea how she is going to make all the ends meet.
Friend Number Five's husband just left in a very hurtful fashion. He is under a direct spiritual attack, and satan is winning. She and her kids are struggling to stay afloat in a flood of emotional, spiritual and financial distress.
Friend Number Six just lost their three month old baby to SIDS. He was with a babysitter at the time, so the parents and babysitter as well as a host of family and friends need prayer.
Friend Number Seven just found out her parents may be divorcing after over thirty years of marriage. She herself has been divorced and is worried about the effects on her siblings and the grandchildren. Satan at work on another long term marriage.
Friend Number Eight is pregnant with her third child and is having some complications. She is actually due in a few weeks, but baby may be here sooner. Her oldest, who is seven, also has a strange knot on his cheek and they are having to see a specialist tomorrow to figure out what is going on.
So, all you prayer warriors out there, please pray. Pray for these friends, for us, and for your friends and family as well. We need to cover all of our friends, family and even those we don't know, with prayer. We need to fight the spiritual battles the only way that works: prayer and trust. All of us, together with our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, can do battle and lessen satan's impact on our earthly world, simply by creating a united frontline of prayer.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Please leave comments with your own prayer requests. I, and the other readers, would be honored to lift your friends and family up as well.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Love the Sinner
Hate the sin, love the sinner. How many times have you heard that? Do you believe it? I know it's hard to do. We live in a world full of people who say, "I hate....." The listed things are usually a person and not the sin. This is not living according to what the Bible says, which is:
Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Romans 12:9-10
Do you know people who are sinning? Why, yes you do. No, not your neighbor, friend, etc.... Look in the mirror. You are a sinner. Too many people are so busy looking at what others are doing, they often miss their own sins. Matthew 7 talks about this:
Judge not, that you not be judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
You see, we are all sinners. Every. Single. One. Of. Us. None of us have the right to judge others, because we all have our own logs to deal with. The only one who can judge us is blameless. He came to earth to take on our sins because we could not, and quite possibly would not, deal with them ourselves. He was sinless. He was perfect. We are not. We will struggle to love the sinner, but He loved us, in spite of our sins. He knew that we were unable to stop sinning, and He chose to love us anyway.
How dare we not do this simple thing? Love the sinner. Love everyone. Even those we judge not worthy. In His eyes, we are all worthy of love. He proved this by dying on the cross, for ALL of our sins: lust (porn, adultery, sexuality), gluttony (overeating), greed (love of money and possessions), sloth (laziness), wrath (rage, war), envy, and pride. NONE of us have the right to judge. Not one.
So.... love each other. Don't just pretend. Really love them. Do what God told us to do!!!
Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Romans 12:9-10
Do you know people who are sinning? Why, yes you do. No, not your neighbor, friend, etc.... Look in the mirror. You are a sinner. Too many people are so busy looking at what others are doing, they often miss their own sins. Matthew 7 talks about this:
Judge not, that you not be judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
You see, we are all sinners. Every. Single. One. Of. Us. None of us have the right to judge others, because we all have our own logs to deal with. The only one who can judge us is blameless. He came to earth to take on our sins because we could not, and quite possibly would not, deal with them ourselves. He was sinless. He was perfect. We are not. We will struggle to love the sinner, but He loved us, in spite of our sins. He knew that we were unable to stop sinning, and He chose to love us anyway.
How dare we not do this simple thing? Love the sinner. Love everyone. Even those we judge not worthy. In His eyes, we are all worthy of love. He proved this by dying on the cross, for ALL of our sins: lust (porn, adultery, sexuality), gluttony (overeating), greed (love of money and possessions), sloth (laziness), wrath (rage, war), envy, and pride. NONE of us have the right to judge. Not one.
So.... love each other. Don't just pretend. Really love them. Do what God told us to do!!!
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