do you have disipline?

Colosians 3:1-2 " If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting a the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Here is another scripture that gives us the example that it isn't what is here on earth that is important, it is those things that have an eternal blessing. The things of this world are temporary, although they may be pretty, they may catch our eye, they may taste good, they may help us up the ladder according the worlds standards, but none of them are lasting. Most of the things that catch our eye are things of temptation that the world says we need in order to make us happy. Well, being happy is a feeling, and feelings change from day to day. What might have brought you happiness yesterday, today is not satisfying. When we train ourselves, when we ourselves use disipline in our lives, we begin to understand what is important and what we can let go of. Like driving at night, if you haven't had rest, if you are tired and weary, your drive is going to be a long one, and a dangerous one. Making it hard to keep your eyes open, and stay focused on the road. When we are over worked, things can distract us and through those distractions we can get hurt. That is why we must keep our eyes on the right things, we must have disipline to drive those long roads, and to keep focused on where we are going we have to stay alert. Once we come to know Christ as our personal Savior, our lives are no longer ours, they belong to Him, and when we allow Jesus to do the driving, He will get us to where our destination is. Like a child in a candy store, they walk in with their mouths wide open, and if it were up to them, they wouldn't just pick one candy, they would eat until they were sick, and then wish they had made better choices. We cannot walk this earth with our mouths wide open taking in everything that attracts us, we must know what to touch and what to keep away from, and our eyes can deceive us, just as when we are at a dinner and everything looks so good, you just heap your plate full, as you sit down and begin to eat, you soon realize you got more than what our body could take in before you are sick. Sin has a way of deceiving us, making us think we need all we can see, and all we can fit into our lives, but if we are totally focused on Christ He will help us overcome, and He will show us what we need to disipline ourselves. We just cannot take our eyes off Christ, for when we do, there is a billboard, a television show, a shop with hundreds of purses in it, there is a man showing us attention, there is lottery tickets to purchase when we go in to pay for our gas, and you know when you get to the check out aisle, it is bombarded with candy, magazines with all sorts of pictures that try to grab our attention. You fill in the blank with whatever temptation it is that you struggle with, now let Jesus fill you with His strength to overcome all our eyes see. We can overcome with Jesus, may we just keep our eyes focused on Him and not on the things of this world that will slowly take us farther and farther away from Him.

lay it aside

Hebrews 12:1-2 " Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Do you ever look at our lives like a race? There are those hills that are much harder to go up, there is the heat that takes our breath away, and we all seem to go at different paces, we have beginners, those who have been running for awhile now, and those saints who have been running their whole lives, teaching us at what speed we need to move at and how to get across the terrain. While we are running, we have to stay focused, we have to keep our eyes on the prize, or we can stumble, lose our balance and go face first unto the ground. Its not really how fast we run, its the training for the run, and the endurance we have through the run, and its crossing that finish line that brings it home. It can be hard to see up the road a bit, but we don't have to see the future, what is ahead, for God is our author of our faith, and He is the finisher too. He sees all those holes we can slip into, and its those little holes that we don't see coming that can really trip us up. That is why it is so important to keep our eyes open, and keep a clear vision of our race with Christ on all sides of us. He wouldn't place us in a race if the finish line wasn't possible, for He makes all things possible. We cannot just start out running at full speed, we have to pace ourselves and learn to breathe as we trust Him to lead us, to give us strength, and many times, He is there to carry us across the finish line. I am so small, and He is so vast and big, He doesn't need me in the way to fix things, He is working to make us great runners who are running the race of life. We can achieve great things during our race, knowing that all we do, is really God moving in us, and all the praise goes to Him. When we begin to run, we must learn that we cannot run as well if we are carrying a big load, if we have a load on our back, it is going to slow us down, tire us, and if it is much too heavy it can break us. We need to let go of all we are carrying, and let God take that weight off us, He wants to lessen our load, He wants us to give Him all we have so He can care for all that is touching us. Jesus endured the cross, He endured mocking, lies, and pain, for what? For us, His blood covered our sins, once and for all. As He breathed His last, He said,"It is finished". At that moment He took care of the sin of the world, He gave His life so that we could have life. In those moments that we want to give up, we must turn our eyes to Him, and see what He did for us. He never gave up. Once we ask Him into our hearts, right then He has filled us with His spirit, He has filled us with all we need, we just have to open our eyes and believe. Our faith in Christ will set us free from our past, from our hurts, and from the bondage of our burdens that we are trying to carry around with us, and fix them ourselves. I have learned to stay out of God's way so He can work. I can be a willing vessel for Him, but it is He who is working. What hurdles are in your way today? Do you need the strength of Christ to move over them? Sometimes those hurdles can trip us up, that is why we train, that is why we stay in God's word and stay close to Him, keeping our eyes focused. He will teach us how to conquer those hurdles, and how to keep our pace going without losing sight of our finish line. When we get thirsty we know just where to go, to Jesus, He will quench our thirst, and if we are hungry along the way, He will feed us the bread of life to keep us nourished. There are those days we may have to rest, but He will be there for us and He will refresh our souls with all we need to keep running the race.

those little whispers

Today the Lord whispered to me to spend more time with Him. Isn't it amazing how we have a loving God who wants to walk with us even though we are sinners? We have a loving God who yearns to spend time with us, and many times I am placing other things above my time spent with Him. I wake and start my day out and by the time I have made time for Him, it is bedtime and I am falling asleep. I spend so much of my time just for me, when I should be making time for my Savior who wants to speak with me, He wants to lead me, and walk with me. Why is it that for all He has done for me, I turn away and do for myself? If I can sit and write, read a book or do any other activity and not make time for God in my day, I am not walking with Him, and I am not sharing a personal relationship with Him. To walk with Him, to know Him and to feel His presence I must turn to Him, and turn away from the things distracting me. Psalm 23:3 " He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." He whispers His love to me, and as I walk with Him He will restore my soul. For whatever it is on my heart, He wants to know. But having a relationship is not just me talking, having a relationship with Christ is a two-way conversation. I cannot just go to Him and tell Him all I want and need, say all my prayers fast, because I have more to do. I must take time and listen as He speaks to me, as He shares His will for me, as He talks to His daughter. Many times I think I am fearful to spend time with Him, for I am afraid of just what He might ask of me. But look at what He did for us, look at the love He showed us upon the cross, doesn't He deserve our time? For us to be all He created us to be we must spend time with Him and in His word. Soaking in all He has for us. Prayer is a conversation between Jesus and us. We make time to talk to all we want to in our busy days, so why do we not make more time for God? We have a direct line to Him, we don't have to go through our phone and get a busy signal, or a voice mail, He never says, "Not now", He is always there for us. I cannot just go to Him when I feel a need, I need to keep that communication line open all day, open up my heart and allow Him to live in me, and through me to reach others. Time with Jesus is something special, its a time to crawl up in His lap, feel His arms around you, and listen as He speaks right to our hearts. Remember when you were small and you could crawl upon your daddies lap or your momma's lap? Maybe they would just hold you, or maybe they would make you laugh, wipe your tears away or read you a story, was that not a wonderful feeling? Even for your children, I miss my children being on my lap and me hugging them and loving on them, although my son still lays his head on me as we watch television together. Our children are never too big to want to be and to feel loved, after all isn't that what we want? Isn't it what we are seeking when we go to Christ, to crawl up on His lap, to feel His love and to know that no matter what we are safe in His arms? Listen to the whispers of our Savior, is He asking you to spend more time with Him too?

Can you see the invisible?

Too many times I waste my time looking at the outward things, when I should be looking at the inward things. A man's heart tells much more about him than his outer appearance. A man's heart will show Jesus or the world, which ever one is important to him, and at times there is a battle going on in our hearts as satan is trying with all his might to tempt us, and Jesus is trying to show us the way to Him. We tend to look at the outward of man and we make judgements on how he looks, what he wears, where he works, where he lives, and who his friends are, when the outward appearance can deceive us when we are just looking at the things we can see, instead of focusing on those we cannot. Look at this verse with me. It is found in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." Just as when we are going through trials, we focus on the here and now, and we tend to focus on what we see, not what God is doing through those trials. When we are going through trials of any kind, God is doing a work in us, and those around us who see us in the midst of our trial. When we begin to focus on what we see, we lose sight of a call or a purpose that God has for us through the trial we are facing. Our problems we have here are temporary, although they may appear to be lasting, our eternal rewards will far outlast what we are facing here on earth. Romans 8:24-25 "For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." God is at work all around us, He is moving through our lives, and molding us, teaching us, and seeking a greater walk with us. Today is another day I look at my husband who is still looking for work. I know he is hurting, he is moving about not sure of anything right now, and there are those days in which we wants to give up. He has no idea where else to go, or what to do. It breaks my heart to look into his eyes that I know are carrying many burdens. He wants to provide for his family, he wants to have a job. But I know that God will take care of us, He has provided for us and will continue to provide for us. He will send my husband the job He has for him in His time. It has been over a year now, and seems like forever, but it really isn't, its a season in our lives that is humbling, that tries us, and teaches us to lean on Christ for all our needs. It has taught me its not the things of this world that bring joy, its those that are felt in your heart, its love, its Jesus. When I look at our circumstances I know how bad they are, I see the bills on the counter, I see the needs we have, but I also see the blessings we have. We have each other, we have love, we have our home, we have our health, and we have our Savior. I pray for my husband to not find his self worth in a job, or what he does, but to find himself in Jesus. So for all the things I do see I have to remember the things that I know are going on around us that we cannot see and believe in Jesus, knowing He has a plan for us, and if we stay close to Him, if we keep our eye upon Him, He will show us the way, and we will have a closer walk with Him, and with each other. Our trials produce glory for God, they produce in us faith. It is through those trials we learn and our gain belongs to God for all He does for us and will do in the future. If a rich man and a poor man walk into your church, which one do you want sitting next to you? Is there a difference in them just because of how they are dressed or maybe smell? God loves all His children, He doesn't love one more than the other, He looks into our hearts, not on the outside. We tend to sterotype people into different classes, you have your wealthy, your middle class and your poor. Is there a difference to God? No, it doesn't matter where we live, or who we know. What matters is in our heart. When you are walking into your bank or local store and you see a man of color, a man from another country, do you jump to conclusions about him, are you fearful? That man of color just might be a Pastor, and that man from the other country could be a missionary, or the doctor that saves your life one day. We must stop looking at the outward appearance of man, and begin looking into his heart. Romans 10: 12-13 "For there is no distinction between Jew or Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Just as we need to stop focusing on our trials, and stay focused upon Christ and believe and have faith in the One who chose to die for you and me. We can see many things in this world, and we can be deceived by all we see, but God will not deceive us, He will lead us as we look to Him. If we focus on Christ He will empower us through all we will endure here on earth. If we focus on Him and not the things of this world He will shine through us, through our hearts for others to see. We don't ever have to lose heart, for God will lift us up and He can bring us together as His children. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 "We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."

KISS ME AGAIN by Barbara Wilson

If you would like to strengthen your marriage, if you would like to be more intimate with your husband this is the book for you. As I read these pages I felt that this book was written just for me. I believe any woman or man can relate to the words on these pages by Barbara Wilson. There is hope in restoring lost intimacy between you and your husband. Many times things are not the way we hoped they would be and we begin to blame ourselves, we carry our past with us into our marriage. Barbara teaches us that we cannot move into the future until we have healing from our pasts. In this book Barbara shares a ten week study, that you can share with a small group, just a friend, your husband, or you alone can read these pages and find healing. In order for us to have healing we must face our brokeness, and through this book Barbara shows us just how God designed us to be intimate with our husband and she goes through stages of letting go of our past, and the methods in which we can not only heal from our past, but strengthen our marriage, and have a closer relationship with Christ. Barbara shares scripture, she uses the word of God to bring healing. Many times we are wanting our marriage to change, to be better, and to share on a deeper level, but we don't know where to begin, or how we got to the place where we are now. Through each page Barbara opens up our wounds, shows us where healing has to begin and takes us on a journey that will go from our past to a greater future in our marriage. This book blessed me and taught me many things I did not know or understand, but Barbara speaks to us with words that we can understand, and with no judgement, she walks us through from her own experiences and those of other women. If you are looking for a way to strengthen your marriage, and bring the intimacy back that was there in the beginning and is now gone, this is the book for you. This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. Barbara Wilson is the author of The Invisible Bond and former director of sexual health education for the Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Sacramento. She speaks nationwide to youth and adults with her message of sexual healing, and she teaches frequently in the women’s ministry at the multi-campus Bayside Church in Northern California. Barbara and her husband, Eric, have been married for twenty-eight years. http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601421586

do you have one too?

If you are married you have one, a mother-in-law, which if your blessed you have a mother-in-love, for me it has to be a law to bring us together. It would be so amazing to be able to pick out your mother-in-law, I even have a few I see and would love to have. If we could make a trade of some kind, that would be rather wonderful. I have tried for eighteen years to have a relationship with my mother-in-law, I often think it will never happen. I pray I am a good mother-in-law when my son gets married. I have such vision to work with, but when you know you are not liked, what do ya do? I use to say things back when she would hurt my feelings, but then I only came home and cried because I said something, then I wouldn't say anything at all, biting my tongue, then I would still come home mad and crying, so for me, it was the best choice to stay away. In staying away it I cannot say it has brought peace, for I wish our family was very close, but it has kept me from saying things I would soon regret and it has given me a heart to pray for her and for me, for us to have a relationship one day. I know I am not alone in this. I hear of so many women who have mother-in-laws and they struggle, they struggle trying to meet their standards, and well, the more I tried, the worse it seemed to be. My husband says he is blessed to have my mom as a mother-in-law, she has always loved him and treated him so. I just had to realize I was never going to meet her standards, for whatever I did, it was not good enough, and as I kept trying, the higher her standards became, only she didn't have to live up to those standards, only me. It can be heart breaking to be at distance with your mother-in-law, and when you live three miles away, at times it is not distance enough. Yes, to others she is a thoughtful woman, and yes, she does have her good points, but as for me, she isn't going to budge one step. This morning I was thinking of Ruth and Naomi, what an amazing story that God has blessed us with. Two women, they both lose their loves, and instead of parting, they go together, they stick together, and they love each other with all their hearts. For me, I have to be honest and say I wouldn't or couldn't be Ruth, she was so kind and compassionate to Naomi, but I would say,"Do I have to take her?" Ruth and Naomi both teach us alot here, they show us what family is, they show us what love is, and having a bond, not just any bond, but a very strong one. Ruth 1:14-18 " At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 'Look, said Naomi, your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.' But Ruth replied,'Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely if anything but death separates you and me.' When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her." Is this not a story of beauty? Ruth new that they were family, and she was going to take care of Naomi until the end, nothing would seperate them. I only dream of a relationship like theirs. How special it must have been for them to share such a love together. Naomi was her mother-in-love. If there was a story to tell about my relationship with my mother-in-law it would be "Everybody loves Raymond"! I need to work on my relationship with my mother-in-law, even if she makes it difficult, I still need to show her love and show her that I am here. Often the hardest things in life bring the biggest blessings, and if I can learn to put my hurt away and not carry anger in my heart, the Lord can move through me and bring peace. You may not have a relationship like Ruth and Naomi, but don't fear, keep being yourself, be the woman God made you to be, we don't have to meet anyone's standards but God's. I remember she once told me I would never be a woman, because I didn't know what real work was, I didn't can, I didn't garden and I didn't cut wood! I could have fell over, I didn't know being a woman, a loving wife, and mother required I do those things. If you are in that place today, pray for healing, pray for God to move in both of you, and have a open heart to listen to Him, He just might ask you to be a Ruth, and for us, we must answer that call. God will not ask big things of us, until we can do the little things He asks. Remember she is the mother of your husband or wife, and when we marry our husband, we too marry his family, and for the love of my husband, I need to try to build a bridge there, and for my Father in heaven, I need to show love to her and continue to pray for God to open that door so we can communicate, so we can be friends, and share together just as Ruth and Naomi did. I have to say its easier for me to stay away, but the easiest things are not going to bring glory to our God in heaven. I have to give up myself and let go of my pride before God can move through me. Love is the key to making all things work for the glory of God~

what can we trust in?

Today we are hardpressed to find who we can trust. Some find it hard to trust our government, some find it hard to trust their doctor, your co-workers, your family, your friends, the list can go on, so you fill in the blank today. I find it hard to trust______! I do know who we can trust, who we place all we have in, and that is Jesus Christ. In Pslam 13:3-4 it says "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me." See none of us are perfect, and though we try with all we have we still fail, we fail ourselves, and we fail those who love us. We don't mean to fail, we don't want to stumble, but we do. So many have been hurt in sharing with a friend, and then come to find out that person has hurt us by sharing with another our pain or our temptation, but we can all be on both sides of that fate. It is often we don't realize the pain we have caused until that pain has touched us, it is then that we see just what we have done also. That is why we shouldn't put others down, we shouldn't judge others circumstances, for we never know just when we too will be in that position feeling the same hurts as the other. For all the things that have seemed to go wrong in my life, the blessings still out way the struggles. I am learning not concentrate on the struggles, but on the possibilites, on all that God is doing now in my life. As my husband drove a truck all across this nation there were many times he had a co-driver. He wouldn't just let anyone step in the truck with him, he checked them out, and asked about their driving first. It is safety that my husband thinks upon, as he has witnessed many horrible accidents, deaths, and tragedies on the roads, when he is coming off a mountain, even going up, he cannot sleep in the back unless he knows he can trust that driver in the seat up front. Trust is something you earn, you work for, and trust can be broken. We place our trust in people, when we really shouldn't, for they will fail us, but Jesus will never fail us, for He is with us always. When we fail one another many times we lose the friendships of others when we don't even know what happened ourselves. We need to forgive each other for our failures, just as Jesus forgives us daily. If we are not able to forgive, then what Jesus did on the cross was all in vain. On our coins it says, "In God we trust", but those words keep getting smaller and smaller on our coins, until it will one day be gone, but in our hearts those words can be huge, only growing larger with each step we take with Christ. We even place our hand upon a bible when we are being sworn in, but we are not able to speak the word of God in many places, for many people take offense to God, but to me, I think they are fearful of what they do not know, and to place your trust in someone you cannot see, when you have been so hurt by those who you could see, is understanding to a point. Faith is believing in what is unseen. As christians we know who is there, and that is Jesus Christ. Are you afraid to trust today? Are you afraid to give up your control over your life? When we decide to make God the Lord of our lives, we must learn to trust, to believe, and to let go, opening our hands, giving all we have and saying,"Here Father, I trust You with all I have." If you have been hurt, trust comes by hard, not wanting to be hurt again, but Jesus is not out to hurt us but to love us, to give life abundantly to us, for those who believe. Jeremiah 29:11 " 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." If you have been hurt, let it go, for the longer you hang on to the hurt the deeper it goes, and you become the anger and bitterness of that hurt, while the other person most likely doesn't even know they hurt you. It is a great character to have to be able for others to trust you, to believe in you. To know you are an honest person is a quality hard to find today, but we must not look farther than Jesus, He is the one that we should place all our faith and trust in, and for us, may we follow His example, knowing yes, we will stumble, but He will be there to show us the way. When we get on an airplane, we place our trust in the pilot. When we get in our car to travel, we place our trust in the car to get us there safely, but we are going the wrong route by placing our trust in people, we must first place our trust in the Lord, and trust the Holy Spirit in us to lead us, its not the driver, the pilot, or any other person, for we all are a people who stumble and when we do, may we have understanding, may we not jump to judge and say, "I never", for one day we just might be that person who needs grace just as we do daily, and as Christ gives us grace, we too should be willing to give grace. Proverbs 3:5-8 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health and nourishment to your bones."

do you need a hand?

As I grow older I am learning that everything has its own time. I am learning that nothing happens in my time, the time that I would choose is not the time God has in mind. As all of our children are out the home except for our son, I have those days as a mom, that the tears fall, I miss the sounds of all their voices, I miss the laughter, I have to say I miss it all. In life we have loss, and that loss comes in many different forms and comes at different times in our lives. We also have gain, we have blessings that God sends right when He knows we need them. As my daughter and I sat today and I heard all of her wedding plans, I realized that time is coming quickly. The time is coming where my baby girl, is going to be a woman, a wife, and her life will begin again as a new one connected forever with another. That thought brings joy and with it sadness, knowing that time in our lives is over, but life is also bringing changes, and with those will be blessings. This is the last year I will homeschool my son, as his dream in to go into the Coast Guard, the tears fall knowing my time with him at home is coming to end, but a new time for him is beginning soon. As old friends leave my circle and as new ones come, I realize God works all things in His time, not mine. I want so much to hang on to the past, but life doesn't work that way, we have to move forward, moving forward keeping our faith strong, knowing that without a doubt, He is there with us each step of the way. As illness' come and go, some stay with me, and there are those days, where each one is a battle, but I have learned to put on the face, to keep moving forward, and not to give up, for each day God brings hope. With my husband still not working, I know that we are not the only ones walking this scary path, but if we keep our eyes focused on Christ, and not our circumstance, He will lead us through. Although it appears to be hard for us now, God is doing a work in us, for I know He has something far better instore for us and our family. As each day comes and I pray for healing in our family, I pray that our family can come together in love, and share again what we once had that was so beautiful. As some of those days are hard, I know God is at work in all of us, moving us, and molding us. So I have to hang on, and not let go of my faith, but stay strong in the One who can bring healing and bring with it also peace. Today our families are touched with so much tragedy and trials, without Christ I couldn't make it, I would not be able to take a step. We all need a hand, we need a hand to hold when our mother is ill, when we have lost a child, when one is at war, when all peace is gone, in the middle of the night when fear comes and takes over. Just as when our children were small and reached up and took our hands, they wanted to feel that protection, that love, and for us the best hand to grab on to belongs to our Savior. His nail pierced hand, with each scar is the one that reaches out to me when I am feeling lost, alone, and when I think I cannot move again, He is there, taking my hand, and showing me the way. I have felt Him take my hand and say, "Be still my daughter", I hang on to those words, for it is when I am still that He is at work. Life takes us on many journeys, if we have asked Christ into our heart, we know just where this journey will end and where our new journey will begin. With Jesus we have assurance of His grace and mercy, His peace that comes when we are ready to break. We may not see eye to eye with our husband or wife today, we may have different ideas of just where we should be, but if we take the time to search God's plan, we will find that He isn't leaving us, He is right there and He will see us through. Battles come each day for us to fight. Its not about winning, it all about the journey through the battle and where it is taking us. Whether we need a hand in prayer, in our struggle to understand the pain we are facing, Jesus is there to listen, He wants us to come to Him with each need, with each burden, and when we do, when we decide to give Him all, He takes our fears and wipes them out, takes our tears and dries them, and washes us with all the peace He has. He has already given us all of the Holy Spirit we need, we just need to let go of ourselves, and let Him move in us, and allow Him to do His work. He has the hands you want upon you daily, He has loving, mighty and powerful hands, that are so strong, but yet so compassionate, that He understands our pain, our fears, and all that seems to touch us daily. When God holds out His hand to us, we must let go our own strength and find real strength in Him. I have been there, afraid to let go, afraid to give Him all control, but when we do, we find a peace and strength we didn't know was possible. Each day we are surrounded by voices, and many can be in our head telling us to give up, its no good, your not good enough, you will never make it, but we need to tell satan to get behind us, because Jesus is in front of us, leading us and its His voice we need to focus on, not satan, not the world, and not our fears. Do you need a hand today? Don't be afraid to reach out to Him, to reach out to others for help, don't let your pride get in the way, let go of that and be humble before Christ and man. Take His hand today, open your heart and listen to His still voice. May we be strong in the Lord and with His hand upon us, we have nothing to fear, nothing to lose, for He knows our pain all to well, for He felt our pain first. Your never alone, so don't give up, keep striving for the goal, the prize, for heaven, for all that Jesus has for us. It isn't found in fear, but in faith, when we believe in Him, nothing is impossible~ Psalm 37:23-24 "If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him wiht his hand." Psalm 139:9-10 " If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Whether today your heart is broken, whether you are in pain, whether you have loss, whether you are tired and weak, if you are feeling as though your faith is not strong enough, call out to Christ today, call out to your friend, reach for a hand to help you, don't take on your burdens alone, don't take on the world alone, whatever it is at your feet today, reach out with a new hope, a new belief that Christ is there and He is there forever with you taking you out of the situation, or He will guide you through it with all you need.

straight to Him

It doesn't matter what is behind you or what it is to come, we can stand upon the mountain with God, for us to get to that glorious mountain, we first must go through the valley, but we must always remember God is there with us with each step we take. Our journey is a long one, it a bumpy road sometimes, but through our travels we take many roads, but if we are following Christ our road will take us straight to Him. Remember when you were a kid and you did those dot to dots? It may be hard for us to connect all the dots in our journey, but with Jesus, He can show us the way, He can show which dots go where, and there are those times when we sit back and say "Wow, I see now just where He has taken me, and where He is sending me." When we start connecting our dots, we can go the wrong route, but just as we when we were kids, we didn't just give up, we erased that mark, and we started all over, we kept our eyes open, we kept our eyes on the mark, so we got back on track and finished, we made it to the end, and didn't it feel good when we completed it? Just as it feels good now to know we are on the right path, that our dots are connecting with Christ's. Although we are not complete yet, He is still working with us, He is still connecting all those dots, and when He is finished it will be a masterpiece, a design all of His own, and just think, He used us to make something beautiful, something meaningful in our walk with Him. In our travels we come across many people, we have the chance to bless many, just as we are blessed by those who cross our path. Each day brings changes in our life, each day brings blessings, as well as tears, but through all God can bring us joy, and peace. We should have the attitude to tell God to bring us anything that brings Him glory. No matter what fire we must go through, if it will bring others to Him through our suffering and trials, we should allow Him to move through us. It is through that fire that we are refined, it is when all that is not pure comes out, so the beauty of the Lord can shine through. Our trials humble us, they allow us to see just how weak we are, and how strong He is. For us to reach others, we first have to begin with us, we don't have to worry about connecting the dots, Jesus will do that for us when we keep our eyes upon Him. When we get confused, when we forget our path, and when our paths become unclear to us, all we have to do is go to the Lord and He will point us in the right direction. If we can keep our minds clear of the clutter, if we can clean out the cobwebs, and take us out of the picture, He can begin to shine, and those dots, well, they seem to glow, just as that North Star did so long ago. God has been connecting the dots since His birth, and He will continue to connect them for us if we just let Him take the lead.

on my knees

When I am on my knees is where I feel the strength of Christ. I feel Him close to me, moving in me and if I am quiet, if I listen, He will teach me and show me many things. Often I am not quiet, and I am not still, I am moving all about trying to get things done, and keep going through the motions of everyday. I am learning that you cannot just go through the motions, you cannot just have your bible on the table, you must open it, you must read each word and meditate on it, letting it soak in your heart, mind and body. Just as all the members of church are important and there is not one who is more important than the other, our walk with Christ is the same. We must not just go through the motions, but live it, breath it, and share it. We can take our eyes off Christ and get lost on our walk so easily, that is why we must daily go to Him, with a humble heart and a heart that is willing to listen. We can't just go to Him with our every whim, we can't pray in our wants, but we must learn to pray in His will. We have to learn to let our will go, and let His will move through us. Although I do have those days where I think I know what the answer is, He shows me that His answer is best, it might not be the easy one for me, but for His will to be done in my life I must listen, I must obey Him. When I am running on empty, when I feel lonely and all is lost, I can find Jesus on my knees waiting for me, willing me to come to Him, to hear all He has to say to me. When I get tired of running, when I am tired of waiting, when I am feeling ashamed, when I know I have messed up and have not shown myself to be living in Christ, I can find redemption on my knees, I can find love there, I can find peace and I can be whole in a God who knew me before I was conceived, He knew me when I was a child, when I was in my teenage years finding my way, and when I became an adult, He knows I have spent years searching for Him, searching for love and forgiveness, and although I know my judgement will come one day for all I have said, for all I have done, for all the sins that have come from my body I can find freedom from death on my knees crying out to Christ to touch me with His grace and mercy that I am so undeserving of, but He is giving, He is loving and His blood covered my sins, each and every one that brought shame upon Him. When God turned His eyes away from His Son, it wasn't because of something He did, but of the sin that I have brought out of selfishness, out of greed, out of just thinking of me, thinking in the moment, but the amazing thing is that when I ask Him for forgiveness, He has thrown my sins away to remember no more. He isn't keeping score, He isn't waiting for me to try to work my way to His heart, that can not be done, for I didn't choose Him, but He chose me. "He chose me" is "I love you" from Jesus. Whether you were the last to be chosen for the team, for the play, and you were always wishing someone would pick you, wait no more, Jesus makes up for all those times you weren't picked, He picks you, He loves you, and He wants to live in your heart, so that one day, we don't have to die and be apart from Him, in death, it is a beginning, a new beginning to be with Him and to be with those who have gone before us and will come after us. Heaven is a place I cannot begin to fathom to understand. To know that He is preparing a place for us, should open our eyes and let us see clearly just how much He loves us. When I am on my knees I don't fall asleep in my prayer, I come to Him, close eyes, and feel so loved. Its when I am on my knees that I can break down, that I can let the tears fall, that I can trust Him and let go of all. It is the place where in the darkest night He finds me, wipes my tears from my cheeks, and lets me know to be still, to trust in Him, and come to see that He is my Father, my Savior, and my best friend. Its when I am on my knees that all is right in the world, that I know all will be okay, for its God's strength that allows me to stand, to walk with a heart that so much wants to follow all He has for me. I know those days that I spend time on my knees are more meaningful than those that I try to stand on my own. May we as a people, as God's people, as a nation hungry for healing find ourselves upon our knees, seeking Him, for with Him all is possible. Phillipians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice!" Phillipians 4:10-13 "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." On our knees we can be content, on our knees we can rejoice in the Lord for all He has done, for all He is doing and for all He will do.