2 Samuel22:38 "I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed."
White as snow. The Lord said He would make me white as snow. My sins forgiven, He will cleanse me, He will make me and mold me into what He wills. But I know there is a process. As I was forgiven of my sins, some of those sins that were deeply ingrained, that it was a constant battle as the enemy threw those temptations, those remembrances of the sin in front of me. It was difficult for me until that day when I saw that I needed to actively pursue those besetting sins, those temptations until I was the victor not the victim.
As long as we just ask forgiveness of our sin, especially those sins that seem to be a part of who we were; you know, the ones you excuse with one reason or another....."it's okay, everyone does it", or "I just can't seem to stop doing this, surely the Lord understands that", and trust me, the enemy will help you with your excuses until it seems like it is just part of your life. Don't fall into that pit...and it is a pit. Notice how, when you continue in a practice that you have asked forgiveness for, asked for help in overcoming, and you proceed anyway....remember how you feel afterwards....dirty, ashamed, just lost. Your habits, your vices, whatever it is, excessive drinking, smoking, lust....and if the Lord tells you to give up that drinking, smoking, lustful thoughts or actions, lying, stealing.....gossiping....(that hurts, doesn't it). But when you know the Lord is leading you to His place, His plans for you, and He, through the Holy Spirit, brings those things to you, He does so, so you can deal with them. The Lord cannot take away your sin until you are ready to give those things up. He will forgive us, but unless we move away from those things, those habits, those sins, we are victimizing ourselves. There will be no victory.
So I had to go after those things. When the Lord would bring them up to me, I did not leave them dormant, I decided to attack those things, to see why I felt I needed that in my life, actively seek the Lord for His help, to call upon the Name of Jesus when those things came against me. There is action on the part of each of us when we are called into the service of the Lord. There is an action that is needed to rid ourselves of sin, so we can be cleansed. We need to desire with all our hearts to be cleansed, to be made white as snow; it only takes place when make the move to be victorious over our sinful nature.
Instead of hiding when those things come into your mind, look them straight on and remind the enemy with his lures that you are not the person you once were, you are a new creation in Jesus. You will not fall back into those traps, you will look at the situation and reason with your mind...."I do not need this, I do not have to accept these things as part of me, I am God's child, a child of the King and He is all I need." Your mind cannot argue with God's Word. Your mind cannot overcome truth with deception.
The process sometimes takes time, but as long as we are giving ourselves, devoting our lives to our Lord, the end result is so worth it all. I did not overcome overnight, but I did overcome. Now each time the enemy throws a word, a picture...whatever he can use to remind me, I lift my hands to Heaven and thank my God that I am victorious, I am cleansed, I AM becoming the person He made me to be. A day by day walk, this path the Lord gives us, but we are not alone, He is always with us; He is always holding our hand, and He gives us the strength and power to become white as snow. 2 Samuel 22:33 "God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect."
10-17-12
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Habakkuk 1:5 "Look among the nations and watch...Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you."
If you are like I am, in the, well, I don't know if you would consider this to be the fall or beginning of winter of my life. I think a lot of things go into play, other than age, when you consider what season of your life you are in. But, back on track, it is the older years of my life, and now, it seems like I have just begun to live. A lot of us, and up until a couple of years ago, I did too, see ourselves as winding down our lives, instead of just beginning. The Lord, our Awesome God, has His plans for us all, plans that astonish us, and our friends and families as well.
This verse in Habakkuk, I read it this afternoon and the words "work" and "days" radiated to me. His work begins when He has planned it. Our days, I truly believe are in the mature days of our lives, not only age, but our spiritually mature days. Yes, we think, if I were younger, there is so much I could have done, had the Lord called me to it then. But, if you will look back, I am sure you will agree with me, were we spiritually ready for the work the Lord had for us; would we have followed closely after Him; or would we have argued with Him as to His timing, how it worked with our life at that time. The Lord knows us only so well. We may have been in church many years back then, but were our minds, our hearts, as yielded as we thought they were?
These past few years, as I have grown closer and closer to my Lord, as my thoughts center on Him, as my heart yearns for His Presence, I can see what I had dreamed and thought was gone, the stirring of my heart to work in ministry, but not seeing.....Ezekiel 12:22 "Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, "The days are prolonged, and every vision falls?" These are our thoughts when we get to a certain age, and what we dreamed of has not come true, we fall into that pattern of believing the voice of the enemy that tells us, "too bad, your God has forgotten your dreams, you are past the age of usefulness to Him". Have you also heard that? The enemy is so good at making us feel as though we were passed up.....but not true. Our Lord never passes by without seeing us, without seeing our heart's desire to serve Him....He waits, though, until His timing is right to place us on the path He has made for us, His plan for our life. His perfect timing, His perfect plan. Just because you see others in what we might consider the prime time of their life being used by the Lord does not mean He does not have a time, a path, a plan for us. He has a plan for each of His children, and I believe He has special plans for those of us whose heart desire is to serve Him with all that is in us.
I have found, that now, at this time of life I am in, that the best is just beginning, and I know it will get better each and every day, as I keep myself yielded to Him, as I keep my worship, my love songs flowing up to Him, and as I seek His face, long for His Presence...yes, my Lord, I know, the best is yet to come.
10-21-12
If you are like I am, in the, well, I don't know if you would consider this to be the fall or beginning of winter of my life. I think a lot of things go into play, other than age, when you consider what season of your life you are in. But, back on track, it is the older years of my life, and now, it seems like I have just begun to live. A lot of us, and up until a couple of years ago, I did too, see ourselves as winding down our lives, instead of just beginning. The Lord, our Awesome God, has His plans for us all, plans that astonish us, and our friends and families as well.
This verse in Habakkuk, I read it this afternoon and the words "work" and "days" radiated to me. His work begins when He has planned it. Our days, I truly believe are in the mature days of our lives, not only age, but our spiritually mature days. Yes, we think, if I were younger, there is so much I could have done, had the Lord called me to it then. But, if you will look back, I am sure you will agree with me, were we spiritually ready for the work the Lord had for us; would we have followed closely after Him; or would we have argued with Him as to His timing, how it worked with our life at that time. The Lord knows us only so well. We may have been in church many years back then, but were our minds, our hearts, as yielded as we thought they were?
These past few years, as I have grown closer and closer to my Lord, as my thoughts center on Him, as my heart yearns for His Presence, I can see what I had dreamed and thought was gone, the stirring of my heart to work in ministry, but not seeing.....Ezekiel 12:22 "Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, "The days are prolonged, and every vision falls?" These are our thoughts when we get to a certain age, and what we dreamed of has not come true, we fall into that pattern of believing the voice of the enemy that tells us, "too bad, your God has forgotten your dreams, you are past the age of usefulness to Him". Have you also heard that? The enemy is so good at making us feel as though we were passed up.....but not true. Our Lord never passes by without seeing us, without seeing our heart's desire to serve Him....He waits, though, until His timing is right to place us on the path He has made for us, His plan for our life. His perfect timing, His perfect plan. Just because you see others in what we might consider the prime time of their life being used by the Lord does not mean He does not have a time, a path, a plan for us. He has a plan for each of His children, and I believe He has special plans for those of us whose heart desire is to serve Him with all that is in us.
I have found, that now, at this time of life I am in, that the best is just beginning, and I know it will get better each and every day, as I keep myself yielded to Him, as I keep my worship, my love songs flowing up to Him, and as I seek His face, long for His Presence...yes, my Lord, I know, the best is yet to come.
10-21-12
Saturday, October 13, 2012
HE BRACES US
Psalm 84:7 "They go from strength to strength" till each appears before God in Zion."
Is it just me, or do you, my friends, also see the Lord is so many things. I just turned on the TV, and two ladies sat down on two lawn chairs to visit, and the backs of the chairs have a brace of sorts in the form of a cross. Top to bottom, and side to side, in the middle of the back of the chair. I was struck with these thoughts when I saw that and knew I was to share with you.
The Lord braces us top to bottom, from the top of our heads....our thoughts, He strengthens our thoughts to be of His, and as we ask Him, He keeps our thoughts on Him, not on things that the enemy would use to distract us. He braces our eyes, shielding them from the enemy's deceptions; our earsshut off from the destructive words of the world, but open to hear His sweet voice.
The Lord braces our backs and our legs making us strong to do the work He puts before us. His brace extends side to side to give strength to our arms to lift others up from their misery and hurt with His love and words of encouragement. Our hands He makes stronger each day as we extend His blessing to all those we meet.
Our feet are made strong in Him so they can follow His way, the path He puts in front of us, failing not to keep us in the Light, His precious Light.
As the body weakens toward the end of the day, our precious Lord gives us rest and He restores the braces He has built inside of us with His everlasting love, His hand going back and forth, top to bottom, side to side, seeing that our heart is strengthened and braced with His special balm of healing power; that all the dings, the darts of intended hurt, all those places are smoothed over by His loving hands. When we awake, we can rise with more strength than the day before, with the braces He has restored to serve us another day in Him.
Yes, friends, all this from seeing the back of a chair. I like the thought that the chair I sit in, the chair with the braces so strong to hold me, are the lap of my Father. Can you feel His heart beating through to you, as you sit there, Strength holding you, Love restoring you, and pure Joy beating in your heart.
If you are not seeing the Lord, His hand, His thoughts in things around you in your daily life, I would like to think that you will ask Him to draw you nearer, draw you closer to Him each day. Father, let Your thoughts always flow in my mind, my heart and my spirit, and let me see You everywhere I look. I would not desire to live any other way, but Your way.
10-13-12
Is it just me, or do you, my friends, also see the Lord is so many things. I just turned on the TV, and two ladies sat down on two lawn chairs to visit, and the backs of the chairs have a brace of sorts in the form of a cross. Top to bottom, and side to side, in the middle of the back of the chair. I was struck with these thoughts when I saw that and knew I was to share with you.
The Lord braces us top to bottom, from the top of our heads....our thoughts, He strengthens our thoughts to be of His, and as we ask Him, He keeps our thoughts on Him, not on things that the enemy would use to distract us. He braces our eyes, shielding them from the enemy's deceptions; our earsshut off from the destructive words of the world, but open to hear His sweet voice.
The Lord braces our backs and our legs making us strong to do the work He puts before us. His brace extends side to side to give strength to our arms to lift others up from their misery and hurt with His love and words of encouragement. Our hands He makes stronger each day as we extend His blessing to all those we meet.
Our feet are made strong in Him so they can follow His way, the path He puts in front of us, failing not to keep us in the Light, His precious Light.
As the body weakens toward the end of the day, our precious Lord gives us rest and He restores the braces He has built inside of us with His everlasting love, His hand going back and forth, top to bottom, side to side, seeing that our heart is strengthened and braced with His special balm of healing power; that all the dings, the darts of intended hurt, all those places are smoothed over by His loving hands. When we awake, we can rise with more strength than the day before, with the braces He has restored to serve us another day in Him.
Yes, friends, all this from seeing the back of a chair. I like the thought that the chair I sit in, the chair with the braces so strong to hold me, are the lap of my Father. Can you feel His heart beating through to you, as you sit there, Strength holding you, Love restoring you, and pure Joy beating in your heart.
If you are not seeing the Lord, His hand, His thoughts in things around you in your daily life, I would like to think that you will ask Him to draw you nearer, draw you closer to Him each day. Father, let Your thoughts always flow in my mind, my heart and my spirit, and let me see You everywhere I look. I would not desire to live any other way, but Your way.
10-13-12
Sunday, October 7, 2012
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind."
After spending the night across town with some dear friends, I was traveling back home this morning and just spending time with my Father. I was thanking Him for being my Lord, my God, and then my spirit was just grieving for those that choose not to know Him. I was thinking about those that choose these strange, to me, religions such as Scientology and others like that. I have no idea about a lot of their ways, but I was wondering out loud to the Lord, "who do they pray to?". When they have needs, fears, who do they pray to? And I was just grieving that so many people just turn away from the Lord, when He loves us all so.
The Lord spoke into my spirit, "They all have equal opportunity, they all have the same opportunity as you to know me." Then the verse above came into my spirit. Our Lord does not lie, when He says He is our Father, He is just that. When I began thinking about His being my Father, your Father, the Lord spoke again to me and said "all are born of man, but not all are born of God". We are all born of man, but only those of us that CHOOSE to call upon our Lord, that ask for forgiveness, redemption of our sin, and choose to love Him with all our hearts, are born of God. Not all are born of God. Those even who call themselves Christians, but whose hearts are self-seeking and are using the platform of our Father for self gain, they are not truly born of God. We have all seen this, and it becomes more evident daily. Beware of false prophets......
Everyone has the opportunity to know our Lord and God. Those that have not heard, will hear, as the Lord will make certain that the gospel is brought to every man, woman and child on earth. He has said it and it will become so. So everyone will have the same opportunity, equal to all, to know Him as their personal Savior, to be redeemed of sin, and to be born of God. Until they know, they do not know or truly understand their sin. It is when we become aware of the nature of Christ, when we hear of Him, that makes our sin so evident, so besetting, so horrifying.....it makes us fall before our Lord, thanking Him for His sacrifice, for His blood, and ask Him to come into our hearts. We are made righteous only in Him, nothing of ourselves, and but for our Savior, have no hope. But in Him, and through Him, we have hope, we have peace, we have joy. All can have this same hope, the same peace found only in the Lord and the joy that makes everything worth while.
For those of you that do not know my Savior, He can be your Savior also. A minute to look at your life as it is, that's all it takes for you to recognize the path of destruction you are on, the fears you face, the emptiness you feel. Look at what you are.....now, look into the eyes of Jesus, and you will see what you can be. This is your time, your opportunity....do not look away, give Him your heart today, give Him what you are, right now, and then watch as He takes what was sin, born of man and makes perfected in Him, a new man....born of God.
10-07-12
After spending the night across town with some dear friends, I was traveling back home this morning and just spending time with my Father. I was thanking Him for being my Lord, my God, and then my spirit was just grieving for those that choose not to know Him. I was thinking about those that choose these strange, to me, religions such as Scientology and others like that. I have no idea about a lot of their ways, but I was wondering out loud to the Lord, "who do they pray to?". When they have needs, fears, who do they pray to? And I was just grieving that so many people just turn away from the Lord, when He loves us all so.
The Lord spoke into my spirit, "They all have equal opportunity, they all have the same opportunity as you to know me." Then the verse above came into my spirit. Our Lord does not lie, when He says He is our Father, He is just that. When I began thinking about His being my Father, your Father, the Lord spoke again to me and said "all are born of man, but not all are born of God". We are all born of man, but only those of us that CHOOSE to call upon our Lord, that ask for forgiveness, redemption of our sin, and choose to love Him with all our hearts, are born of God. Not all are born of God. Those even who call themselves Christians, but whose hearts are self-seeking and are using the platform of our Father for self gain, they are not truly born of God. We have all seen this, and it becomes more evident daily. Beware of false prophets......
Everyone has the opportunity to know our Lord and God. Those that have not heard, will hear, as the Lord will make certain that the gospel is brought to every man, woman and child on earth. He has said it and it will become so. So everyone will have the same opportunity, equal to all, to know Him as their personal Savior, to be redeemed of sin, and to be born of God. Until they know, they do not know or truly understand their sin. It is when we become aware of the nature of Christ, when we hear of Him, that makes our sin so evident, so besetting, so horrifying.....it makes us fall before our Lord, thanking Him for His sacrifice, for His blood, and ask Him to come into our hearts. We are made righteous only in Him, nothing of ourselves, and but for our Savior, have no hope. But in Him, and through Him, we have hope, we have peace, we have joy. All can have this same hope, the same peace found only in the Lord and the joy that makes everything worth while.
For those of you that do not know my Savior, He can be your Savior also. A minute to look at your life as it is, that's all it takes for you to recognize the path of destruction you are on, the fears you face, the emptiness you feel. Look at what you are.....now, look into the eyes of Jesus, and you will see what you can be. This is your time, your opportunity....do not look away, give Him your heart today, give Him what you are, right now, and then watch as He takes what was sin, born of man and makes perfected in Him, a new man....born of God.
10-07-12
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
IT'S CALLED DATE NIGHT
Hosea 10:12 "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord."
I was thinking earlier about some friends that are so wrapped up in their children, their work, their play, and even, sadly, themselves. I no longer wonder why these thoughts come to mind, as I have found the Spirit of the Lord will be quickly speaking to me about it. And the Lord brought forth, date night.
In the early days of my marriage to Robert, after the first few years of adjustment, ridding one's self of baggage that was carried in from previous marriages, we settled into the work and home routine. The first three years he worked shift work, so that left little time for us, the ships passing in the night kind of thing. But when he went on straight days, weekends off, that made a difference. Every Saturday morning we would get up and have our morning coffee, look at the laundry, the dust on the furniture, and the mud by the back door.....and we would waltz out the door and go have breakfast at a local restaurant....sometimes it was McDonalds, sometimes, it was better; but the idea here is, we left the house together and had a date. After breakfast, we would do something, if it were window shopping, trade show, craft show, or whatever, we spent the better part of the day just concentrating on each other. It was time to show each other how special time together was and how we loved spending time with each other.
Yes, I know, folks have children.....but here is the deal. When all your time is spent concentrating on the children, or the housework, or whatever you can find that keeps you away from that important man/woman in your life.....there will come a time that you find ...... it will be too late. You will have forgotten what it is like to have that real, passionate love for that person. You will love them, but it will not be the kind of love that will sustain you through the years, after the children are grown and gone, after retirement comes and the job is no longer the love you had before, after the house is just exactly like it should be....when there are only two there, it can stay pretty neat. You will find that the person you fell so deeply in love with all those years ago, will feel just like you do, indifferent, complacent. Long days will turn into long nights, with nothing to say to each other as you will have become as strangers. And it might have been different had you had.....date night.
After Robert's illness overtook him and he could not get out like he enjoyed doing, we still did things together....date night does not have to be an expensive time, you can make it what works for you. We would pop popcorn and watch a movie together, or sometimes just sit quietly together on the swing on the back porch, being in each other company....undivided attention, talking together, sharing our memories, still talking of the future.
When I became a widow..... yes, I know, you are thinking, my date nights were over; you are so wrong. Now I have a date anytime I look inside my heart, when I seek out the Spirit of the One whose love I desire more than anyone on this earth, He comes to me. I would suggest to all of you, men and women alike, to make time also for the special One, our Lord and God, and spend quality time with Him. Set up a date night if you must, a special time, it doesn't need to be night but can be what works for you and the Lord. I know He will let you choose the time, because He is always free and excited to have a date with us. Date time with the Lord, so special, as He loves to pour out Himself in such exciting ways. Spoken words into our spirits, a glow that will settle all over your being, and pure chills as you feel His presence surround you.
It's called date night for a reason.....date is a time when something happens, a time set aside, Set aside time this week to be with your spouse, to share that love you have for each other, to keep your marriage true to it's beginning.....and set aside that special time to have a date with the Lord, your God, and keep that relationship true to it's beginning...for you see, He has loved You with an everlasting love, and He wants to share Himself with you too.
10-03-12
I was thinking earlier about some friends that are so wrapped up in their children, their work, their play, and even, sadly, themselves. I no longer wonder why these thoughts come to mind, as I have found the Spirit of the Lord will be quickly speaking to me about it. And the Lord brought forth, date night.
In the early days of my marriage to Robert, after the first few years of adjustment, ridding one's self of baggage that was carried in from previous marriages, we settled into the work and home routine. The first three years he worked shift work, so that left little time for us, the ships passing in the night kind of thing. But when he went on straight days, weekends off, that made a difference. Every Saturday morning we would get up and have our morning coffee, look at the laundry, the dust on the furniture, and the mud by the back door.....and we would waltz out the door and go have breakfast at a local restaurant....sometimes it was McDonalds, sometimes, it was better; but the idea here is, we left the house together and had a date. After breakfast, we would do something, if it were window shopping, trade show, craft show, or whatever, we spent the better part of the day just concentrating on each other. It was time to show each other how special time together was and how we loved spending time with each other.
Yes, I know, folks have children.....but here is the deal. When all your time is spent concentrating on the children, or the housework, or whatever you can find that keeps you away from that important man/woman in your life.....there will come a time that you find ...... it will be too late. You will have forgotten what it is like to have that real, passionate love for that person. You will love them, but it will not be the kind of love that will sustain you through the years, after the children are grown and gone, after retirement comes and the job is no longer the love you had before, after the house is just exactly like it should be....when there are only two there, it can stay pretty neat. You will find that the person you fell so deeply in love with all those years ago, will feel just like you do, indifferent, complacent. Long days will turn into long nights, with nothing to say to each other as you will have become as strangers. And it might have been different had you had.....date night.
After Robert's illness overtook him and he could not get out like he enjoyed doing, we still did things together....date night does not have to be an expensive time, you can make it what works for you. We would pop popcorn and watch a movie together, or sometimes just sit quietly together on the swing on the back porch, being in each other company....undivided attention, talking together, sharing our memories, still talking of the future.
When I became a widow..... yes, I know, you are thinking, my date nights were over; you are so wrong. Now I have a date anytime I look inside my heart, when I seek out the Spirit of the One whose love I desire more than anyone on this earth, He comes to me. I would suggest to all of you, men and women alike, to make time also for the special One, our Lord and God, and spend quality time with Him. Set up a date night if you must, a special time, it doesn't need to be night but can be what works for you and the Lord. I know He will let you choose the time, because He is always free and excited to have a date with us. Date time with the Lord, so special, as He loves to pour out Himself in such exciting ways. Spoken words into our spirits, a glow that will settle all over your being, and pure chills as you feel His presence surround you.
It's called date night for a reason.....date is a time when something happens, a time set aside, Set aside time this week to be with your spouse, to share that love you have for each other, to keep your marriage true to it's beginning.....and set aside that special time to have a date with the Lord, your God, and keep that relationship true to it's beginning...for you see, He has loved You with an everlasting love, and He wants to share Himself with you too.
10-03-12
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