Words of Wisdom

You be perfect, or your life be perfect?

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000

I have been sitting on this for a long time now. Much prayer, bible research and consulting with fellow believers have happened in regards to this subject and I do feel I have come to a conclusion on the matter.

Let us start with this scripture in Matthew 5:48 (NIV):
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, this scripture can be quoted, but sometimes it leads into "......and so must your life be perfect, or else you are not trusting in God enough." So with this mindset, if something comes into my life, let's just use Cancer as an example here, then if I am diagnosed with Cancer it is my fault somehow that this is happening to me. That I don't trust God enough. Please note that this is the same type of talk that Job's friends laid out on him and God was displeased with them. God even had Job pray and make sacrifices on their behalf because they were wrong, and were just feeding Job lies and deception.

This mindset can also set people up for disappointment. They think that their life here should be perfect, so when something happens (like a car accident, sickness, etc.) they condemn themselves that they weren't good enough for God. Or worse, they could even blame God.

But this leads me to another scripture, one that Jesus spoke, in John 16:33 (NIV)
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

We can have peace and confidence in God no matter what we are going through. God looks at our heart, and wants us to make the right choices while we are here in this life. Jesus tells us that this world, the fallen creation, will give us trouble. But He has given us peace to go through it. His grace is sufficient.

So after much prayer, I have come to the solid conclusion that the "PERFECT" scripture simply means what it says. It means for me to be perfect. Period. How I handle things, decisions I am to make, how I am living my life, etc. Those are things that I am able to control and have a choice about. I am to live my life with the guidance of God's Holy Spirit and to love and trust in God with my whole heart. To allow God's peace to overcome my anxiety, depression, fears, etc.

Jesus did not have a perfect life here on Earth. But he handled His life perfectly. Even though he was falsely imprisoned, ridiculed, beaten, betrayed and crucified, He handled it perfectly. He did not curse God, denounce God, choose sin or any of the like. It wasn't WHAT He was going through, but HOW He was going through it that made Him perfect.

Now, let us back up to another scripture that is right before that first one I quoted. Go to Matthew 5:45 (NIV):
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

This tells us right here that blessings (God's sun) can fall on the righteous believer AND ALSO the non-believer. And the opposite is true that cursings (God's rain) can fall on both, too. So while we are in this world, under the new covenant, it does not matter what comes our way in this life. What does matter, is our heart. How are we living our life and going through our circumstances? With His peace? With a trusting heart? With faith? With Him?

There are many other scriptures that can turn this into a novel. Just a few of them that you can research yourself are:
2Timothy 2:8-10
1Peter 1:6 and
1Peter 4:12-13
This is just three (out of many) examples of the early believers not having a perfect life,
but they were perfect in God's sight.

The disciples lives were not perfect when judging only their circumstances. They were stoned, beaten, murdered, imprisoned, etc. Jesus' life was not perfect either if you based it solely on WHAT He was going through. So what gave us the idea that we are to have better lives than they did? We can all be perfect in HOW we handle our circumstances, but to say that we will be immune to any nose sniffle, stubbed toe or flat tire is living in a mindset that needs to broken.

...Yes, I was throwing out some sarcasm there about the stubbed toe stuff, but if one thinks that NOTHING bad should happen in their life, then that includes EVERYTHING that isn't good. So a stubbed toe, getting the flu, spraining an ankle, etc. wouldn't ever be classified as good stuff, right? So where is the line drawn if you have that mindset? Cancer, bad. Stuffy nose, good. Broken bone, bad. Sprained ankle, good. This is very dangerous ground to be walking on, thinking like a self-righteous judge. So here I will bring it to a close.

Recommended readings on this subject:
Frank Viola / The Untold Story of the New Testament
--the disciples went through trials
William Young / The Shack
--we live in a fallen world

Recommended songs:
Don Francisco / Give Your Heart A Home
--God can help your heart no matter what you are going through
Keith Green / Create In Me A Clean Heart
--It is a matter of our heart, that is where our choice for heaven is

God has a bum rap

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:51:00 +0000

God is real, and so is Satan. Jesus had said that Satan is the prince and ruler of the land. His ways are; lying, deceit, anger, bitterness, etc, etc. We are all born into learning the ways of Satan before we learn the ways of God.

That is where the phrase 'born-again' comes from. Since we are physically born into Satans ways, we need to spiritually be born into Gods ways in order to enter Heaven.

What I don't understand is when something bad happens to people, why is God the one immediately blamed for it? The scriptures say that Satan comes to rob us, steal from us and destroy us. When these things happen, why do people blame God for it and not Satan?

If someone dabbles in witchcraft, occult ways, ouija boards, tarot cards, psychics, etc. (all part of Satans domain) then why is God to blame when something wrong happens in their life? Those aren't things of God. People who choose to do those things are not choosing to have God in their life, so how can God bless them and protect them?

I pray that God's bum rap will be revoked, and the proper blame will be placed on the father of all lies and deceit: Satan.

-JOHN 10:10
-JOHN 8:44

A sacrifice

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:39:00 +0000

Jesus sacrificed His life so that we may enter Heaven through Him (there is no other way to get into Heaven). That is such a powerful sacrifice; He set aside His diety to be flesh on Earth, and without doing any wrong, He was killed and His blood was shed for us.

What sacrifice are we now required to make?

"Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." - Hebrews 13:15 NLT

Can we do this? It actually sounds simple: Praise and thank God throughout my day. However, when my day is filled with emotions, fear, discord, busy-ness, etc. I do not always stop and make that sacrifice.

My goal throughout the rest of my life: To thank and praise God in the midst of my days, regardless of what I am going through.

I am reminded of a saying, "It is not WHAT we go through, but HOW we go through it." It is a matter of our heart.

Be Free, Be Clean, and Trust Him

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:17:00 +0000

At times in our spiritual lives

we can be like this heavy laden tree

The ice and snow piled up so much

that the weight of it is too heavy

The tree needs to wait for the warmth of the sun

and the light that will shine through the cold and dark

In the meanwhile, surrounded by many upright trees

that show forth strength in spite of the weight on its bark

In times of trials we can easily get weighed down

allowing the weight to overtake us, squelching our Spirit inside

We need to quickly turn to the Lord in all His glory and light

to thaw out and diminish all our burdens, even the ones that hide

He will surround us with those who can encourage and help us through

People that have the strength and prayer we need to overcome it all

The weight wants us to hibernate, telling us that we are all alone

but God will break through our thoughts and pick us up from our fall

So it seems that the only difference between us and this tree is choice

The tree is subject to nature, but we are not subject to the world around us

Through Jesus we have the choice to overcome whatever storm comes our way

To be freed up from the burden, cleaned off from the heaviness, and in Him we trust

-PSALM 91

Clean Hands - Pure Heart

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:02:00 +0000

In this post, I will let the scriptures speak for themselves. Please take your time with the post and even print it out if needed. Much power resides in God's word, and should be taken seriously. I pray this helps each one who reads it.

He who has clean hands and a pure heart will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. They are those who will ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place. -PSALM 24:3-5

Wash your hands you sinners and
purify your hearts you double-minded. -JAMES 4:8

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: We have sinned and rebelled -LAM 3:41-42

CLEAN HANDS-
According to the cleanness of my hands, God rewarded me -PSALM 18:20-24

Lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing -1TIM 2:8

The righteous will hold to their ways and those with clean hands will grow stronger -JOB 17:9

Dont work on your own, that will give you dirty hands. Work with God. He will do it all, that is a gift to you, just trust Him. And do not boast afterwards that you did it on your own
-refer to EPH 2 and ROMANS 4

PURE HEART-
It is with one heart that you believe and are justified and with your mouth that you confess and are saved -ROMANS 10:10

It is with your heart and mouth that you may glorify God -ROMANS 15:6

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God -MATT 5:8

If you have doubts hidden in your belief, then you are double-minded and unstable. Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak.
-refer to JAMES 1:6-8 and LUKE 6:45

Clean hands? Pure heart?

That is our goal.

I am ....yes, I AM!

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:10:00 +0000

In John, Jesus spoke out all that He is. He said "I AM" over 50 times to tell all who had ears to hear (even His ears heard!) who He is. Speak out loud so your ears hear who you are....

All that Jesus is, I AM.
I have authority over thoughts, foolish impulses & feelings.
I have wisdom to quickly recognize an attack of the enemy.
I am the spotless bride.
I am beautiful, wise, virtuous and dignified.
My Husband abounds me with His love.
I cannot take my eyes off of Him, for if I did I would have to rely on my own power and might.
He loves me and He protects me no matter where I am.
If a bag of burden is handed to me, I let my Husband carry it for me since it is His desire to.
I encourage Him and long to converse with Him.
He is always there to talk to, to love on, to encourage and to thank.
My Husband is maker of all things, above all things, and before all things.
I am blessed with every spiritual blessing.
I have holy hands.
I can lay hands on anyone who is sick and incomplete because of who is in me.
He abides in me because I abide in Him.
I am a soldier in an army that has already won!
I am God's General that uses faith as my shield and the Word as my sword.
I am not afraid to stand and fight, I bless myself by surrounding myself with enemies of God and feast on it.
I fear no man, what can mere man do to me? Look who is in me!
I have a light, I have the equipment and I have the directions for the lost. Follow me!
I AM BIGGER THAN I EVER IMAGINED MYSELF TO BE.
I AM ALL THAT JESUS IS.
I AM.

In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.
-1John 4:17 (AMP)

Fishing, His way

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:51:00 +0000

This is one of my first revelations that God gave me. It is in reference to Mark 1:17, Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."

I am ready to hold my pole
Help me with the bait
Give me wisdom where to cast
Strength and patience to reel in
And love to capture

The fish are in a swamp choking on cloudy water, getting stuck in the seaweed and dying. God has an ocean of fresh water for them to live in. We are the 'in-between' helping them out of the swamp (worlds way) into the ocean (Gods way). What the fish do from there is between them and God.

For Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were fishers and still continue to fish (through their writings). They are very distinct individuals and use their own techniques. The intent is the same and so is the end result but each have their own special and unique relationship with the Lord.

Dumping Ground

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:19:00 +0000

Human nature (living out of our old man/flesh) tells us that we need to vent, sometimes to someone close to us and other times to complete strangers (in the store, on the road, etc).

Jesus wants us to vent to Him, to give all our crazy emotions over to Him so He can properly dispose of them. Everyone has junk to dispose of, so why would you dump your junk onto another, when you are only adding to theirs?

Your spouse, best friend, or even a stranger cannot help you with the venting and heal your insides, that is God's job. Jesus died so we can lay our junk at the foot of the cross to die, that is our dumping ground. He can help us through our situation and heal our hearts so we can move forward on our walk with Him, in complete freedom.

We must learn how to properly vent. Always vent to Jesus first, not to any man or woman.

EXAMPLE - Just say my husband left a muddy trail through the house (fyi - he has never done this) and I vent to my husband first, not Jesus. Of course, I would be venting with raw emotions so I would probably say things like "I am so angry at you, look what you did", "you have no respect for me and expect me to clean up after you all the time". Then my emotions would most likely escalate into "do you even love me anymore", "why are we even married". So now my husband has to deal with things other than the mud on the floor, he will now have to spend a lot of time calming me down by telling me that he does love me, he does appreciate me, etc, etc, etc. When all the while, if I vented to Jesus first letting go of my raw emotions and calming down, I could simply address my husband about the mud on the floor and nothing else. The issue could be resolved within 15 minutes instead of hours.

REVELATION FROM GOD MANY YEARS AGO - I used to live in a third floor apartment. Every time I would go grocery shopping, I would only want to make one trip up all those stairs. So I would load up all the bags on my arms and carry the heavy weight up the stairs. Jesus spoke to my heart one time and told me that I was doing this spiritually too. That I was carrying burdens and feelings myself and not handing them over to Him. He wants our baggage of junk, He is our spiritual Husband and wants to carry our load to free us. Hand over your bags , He will enjoy taking them from you.

Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. -1PETER 5:7 (AMP)

Spiritual Stages

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:37:00 +0000

The stages of our spiritual walk /the stages of our salvation
(working out our salvation -PHIL 2:12)

1- BORN AGAIN through the blood of Jesus. We are a babe that requires spiritual milk. We shouldn't be in this stage for too long, we need to grow. Right now, we have simply accepted Jesus into our hearts for cleansing us from our past sins to 'qualify' us to step foot into heaven.
1Peter 2:2
John 3:3

2- CHILD OF GOD guided by the Holy Spirit. Now we asked the Holy Spirit to enter into our hearts to guide and teach us each day. We need to grow in this stage by the reading of Gods word and getting to know His voice. This is our training ground, our wilderness, as we develop into our new man. Less flesh, more God.
John 14:26
Romans 8

3- BRIDE OF CHRIST without spot or wrinkle, no blemishes. This means no more old man and no more sin within us, a bride without defect, holy and perfect in His sight. This is where our soul (our mind, our will and our emotions) is no longer operating from our old man but a new creation. All God, no flesh.
Revelation 19:7
Ephesians 5:25-27

God is calling us to move forward and grow. To be holy as He is holy, without blemishes -on this earth, right now. To fully operate in our new man, with His way of thinking, guided by His Holy Spirit and fully immersed in Gods love that it permeates out of us.

Friends of ours recently brought it to my attention that when the armour of God is described, there is no protection of our backsides, and that is because we are always on the advance, always growing in Him!

Selah! (Pause, and calmly think on that)

20/20 Vision from Heaven

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:44:00 +0000

Do most of us believe that we can live heaven on earth? That we do not have to wait for death to experience heaven and Gods complete goodness?

Oh, that the time will come when we stop focusing on our selves (flesh, worldly thinking, old-man ways) and start focusing completely on God. When I say "focusing on God", I am not meaning focusing on Gods hands (what God has done, will do and can do for you).

Rather, focusing on Gods face. Who He is, His character, His holiness. Wouldn't we do the same when meeting a new friend or our mate for the first time? God wants a personal relationship with us and desires us to get to know Him personally. It is not about us/our lives/what blessings we will receive, but it is about Him.

He has provided us with not only His written word (the bible) but also with His Holy Spirit. When we ask to receive His Holy Spirit within us, we start to get revelations of God and are guided throughout our daily living. Jesus died so we can receive the Holy Spirit. This, I believe, is the great mystery. That God dwells within us through His Holy Spirit because of the death of His Son Jesus. Selah!

Lets continuously lift up our eyes, get out of our stinking-thinking and love on Him so we can become more like Him -Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect

Leviticus 11:44
I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy

Do not allow these scriptures to hold you back from Gods fullness for you. It is possible to be the spotless bride that Jesus, the bridegroom, is looking for ......while we are on this earth, before entering eternity. These scriptures say that it can be done, we can live holy lives right here/right now.

It is the matter of our vision. Let us lift our vision higher each day.

(I can go on about living holy, and will do so in my upcoming posts, stay tuned!)

Butterfly (caterpillar no more)

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:48:00 +0000

imagine yourself as a caterpillar on a leaf,
born to crawl and chew food with your teeth,
cant even mate, and have a limited point of view
something is missing, there's something you must do

one day you have a desire to fill your empty heart
you make a choice, that is how it all starts
you stop with your life, repent, give thanks and praise
perched on a branch, something is changing, seems like days

but then you awake, beautiful, a brand new creation
like a child re-born, you are filled with joy, elation
everything is different and all brand new
you have wings and no teeth, you must sip, not chew

you have a new freedom, unlike ever before
you can fly around everywhere, not stuck to the floor
you can also find a mate, things that the old you could never do
things that your creator wanted always for you

a wonderful life, filled with blessings, joy and peace
that you could never find on your own, until your life ceased
and asked your creator to take over and show you this new life
without no more heavy burdens, emptiness, loneliness or strife

Selah!

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:12:00 +0000

I was reading this book (which I highly recommend to anyone) and this one line popped out at me. I kept re-reading it and pondering it throughout my days ....and still do.

"Before God created anything, He created everything."

WOW, that is definitely something to sit and think about! Since He is the beginning and the end (something we cannot fully understand in our tiny little brains), that means that it was all done before He even started!

That is pretty deep but hopefully it keeps your thoughts on Him and has you dig into His word even more :)

Inside out ....or the other way around?

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:17:00 +0000

When I focus on "me, me, me",
then my life starts reflecting a selfish way to be.

Like whatever is in our interior,
will eventually manifest to our exterior.

Build up unforgivness, you eventually get it back,
Hold on to anger, bitterness and strife will turn bright days into black.

However, when God gives us joy, happiness and peace,
We lighten up from the heaviness we put on ourselves, souls at ease.

His gifts are good,
His way is right,
We all suffer the consequences,
If we live without His Light.

Jesus is our answer to live in true freedom,
To live our lives for God, in truth, because of His Son.

Jesus took on everything that we were never meant to bare,
Hate, pride, greed, lust, envy, all the like, will soon rest eternally in despair.

We each need to make choices that we dont travel down that road,
The road of despair leads opposite of heaven, Gods' abode.

The choice is ours, every day,
What is it that you chose today?

FYI - Pray, because God hears <3

Thankfulness

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:23:00 +0000

Thankfulness should go deep,
as deep as your personal relationship with Him.

A your-heart to Gods-heart thankfulness.
Do you realize there are three levels of thankfulness?

Exterior thankfulness (outer court) =
Thank You for my spouse, my kids, my home.
Thank You for provision, my job, my income.
Thank You for future, my destination, my life.

Interior thankfulness (inner court) =
Thank You for my breath each day, for living this day.
Thank You for my limbs, my ability to work, my body.
Thank You for my hearing, my eyesight, my health.

Core thankfulness (holy of holies) =
Thank You for my patience during that hard situation.
Thank You for giving me wisdom to make that decision.
Thank You that I have the choice to choose Your ways.
Thank You for taking my emotional baggage.
Thank You for the joy in knowing You.

How thankful are we? How deep do we go?
For instance, joy can be applied to each of these levels:

Exterior – Joy in watching a child learn
Joy in having a home
Joy in living a provided life

Interior – Joy in receiving a healing
Joy in your accomplishments at work/home
Joy in your ability to walk, run, hear, see, etc

Core – Joy in your salvation
Joy in receiving the Holy Spirits guidance
Joy in knowing Jesus

Every fruit of the Spirit can be applied to each level.
We must go deeper into the core thankfulness,
just like we are asked to reside in the holy of holies,
having a deep, intimate and personal relationship with God.

That is His desire…
….and should also be ours.

Life

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:11:00 +0000

For how great is Gods love towards us?
How much is He worth to us?
Can we really measure that?

Is His love enough that we don't worry or get anxious?
Is His peace enough to keep us on solid ground during the storm?
Is His joy enough to disintegrate the depression and loneliness?

For how long does it take us to see Him in our trial?
How fast do we turn to Him when we start feeling heavy?
And how often do we think on Him, compared to Him thinking about us?

* * * * * * *

ONLY BELIEVE

As soon as Jesus heard the Word that was spoken,
He said unto the ruler of the synagogue,
Be not afraid, only believe. Mark 5:36

If I can get you to see that when you get rid of yourself, all human help and everything else, and only have God behind you, you have reached a place of great reinforcement and continual success. If you help yourself, to the measure you help yourself, you will find there are limitations to the life and power of God in you.

I find so many people trying to help themselves. What God wants is an absolute, entire clinging to Him.

The one grand plan of God has for us is only believe. Absolute rest. Perfect submission. God has taken charge of the situation. You are absolutely brought into everything God has, because you dare only believe what He says. God would have me press into your heart a living truth – only believe!

PRAYER: Jesus, what You have said I believe. Amen.
-Smith W, a man of faith

The Author

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 19:13:00 +0000

Have you read a good book lately?

The author always knows what is to come and how the story ends. Surrounding characters are included specifically designed for that star. The trials that come about only increase the stars moral fiber.
While reading the story along with the star, you are not sure of the ending,but the author has it all planned out, orchestrated beautifully. Just like a quilt, the star sees the unfinished side, while the author sees the completion, the finished product is intricate and lovely.

If the star of story had access to talk to the author, wouldn't that be helpful?
Likewise, in the story of our life, we were given free access through Jesus,
to talk with our author, God. How great is He to think of every helpful tactic for us!!

God is the author of our life.
Pray and ask Him to help you live out your story.

May God bless you in a new way,
May the Spirit guide you each day,
May the love of Jesus shine within,
For you are where His heart is living

The Words You Speak

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:15:00 +0000

Sorry i couldnt post this picture here, the format isnt set up correctly, but you can view it by clicking on this link to my myspace account....

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.listAll&friendID=64851835&startID=220686340&StartPostedDate=2007-01-22%2015:09:00&next=1&page=7&Mytoken=4F720E7E-EFC5-46E0-BF0F5F8A566D0D45103531801

Keep it simple

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:00:00 +0000

On the seventh day,

God rested from His work

So shall we rest from our work,

from our self-doing,
and simply let God take over

“BE STILL”
in your mind, your will and your emotions
“AND KNOW THAT I AM!”

“Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find REST for your souls”

-Jesus (MATT 11:28)

How do you operate?

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:50:00 +0000

Operate by your emotions
= DESTRUCTION

Operate by your faith in God

= ABUNDANCE

Numbers 20
Moses strikes the rock for water
right after God tells him
to tell the rock to produce water

His anger won the battle of faith and emotions
Because the leader was controlled more by his emotions
rather than in trusting in God,

the people started to let their emotions reign
…and then the snakes came

Be constantly aware of your emotions,
don’t disregard any of them.

Have discernment on words spoken to you
whether encouraging or discouraging
because those words will sway your emotions
and you can easily fall out of God’s will
…just like Moses not being able
to enter the promised land

A stop light

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:53:00 +0000

Did you know that God’s ways resembles a traffic light?

Red (stop)– God has absolute no-go’s
do not steal, do not lie, do not cheat, do not be jealous, do not envy, do not judge, do not harbor unforgiveness, etc. Do not do this; do not go there, at all, k?

Yellow (caution) – God has cautioned us
do not be deceived, test every spirit, take every thought captive, etc. be aware, always on alert

Green (go) – God tells us to do, and to go
Seek Me first, trust in Me, love Me with all your heart soul & mind, preach the good news, love your neighbor as yourself, etc. got it? Just go and be free in Him and in His ways

Now, if God resembles the traffic light,
Then lets imagine Jesus being an officer of that law

What ticket(s) will you be given?
Failure to stop at the red light?
Speeding through the cautions?
Not going on a green light, hindering the flow of traffic behind you?

You must obey my laws

& be careful to follow my decrees,

I am the LORD your God.

–LEV 18:4

TIME

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 18:46:00 +0000

Time can rectify and heal
Your timing is not our own
I cry out to You as I kneel
My words here enter Your throne

No situation, No circumstance
Is above this timeline, above this place
You deserve my praise, my reverence
You are holy and powerful, full of grace

Almighty, All-Mighty Father
God of my life and my time
Wonderful, Wonder-Full Father
God of my life and my time

Guide me to a higher perspective
Down here I feel pressure and strain
These feelings are deceit, I reject it
Take my heart, Your blood I proclaim

Almighty, All-Mighty Father
God of my life and my time
Wonderful, Wonder-full Father
God of my life and my time

But I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, You are my God.
My times are in your hands.
-Psalm 31:14-15

Peace

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:55:00 +0000

What is peace?

When thoughts cease
When feelings aren’t riled up
When your heart is truly towards God

God is so cool

He bypasses our thoughts
He looks through our emotions
He even forgets our past when we truly repent

And He has made His peace readily available to each of us
So when we receive His peace, what do we do with it?

First, relish in the wonderful gift given to you
Then give it out to those He puts around you
With word, action, even prayer
But give it out

Then His wonderful peace will start flowing through this land
Just by the small amount that you started by faith
And with other believers doing the same
Imagine what God will soon see

Peace, in us. His peace

COLOSSIANS 3:15

True Freedom

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:41:00 +0000

When people are
self-motivated, they sin

Look at the news,
and 'self' is to blame

Murder, envy, strife,
adultery, lies, rape, etc

All for self-gain,
Self-gratification,
self-fulfillment
SELF SELF SELF

We are not to be
controlled by our
mind, will & emotions.

God has given us
a spirit of power,
love and
a sound mind.
-2TIMOTHY 1:7

By seeking God and
letting Christ be formed in us,
our old nature of our
stinking thinking,
corrupt desires and overwhelming emotions
will be changed…

…changed into Gods likeness

No longer will our emotions move us, but we will have
Gods love filling us

Our perverse will diminishes as we are filled with and
controlled by the Holy Spirit

The thoughts of our mind will be taken captive,
and we will have the
sound mind of Christ

True Freedom!

CoSTuMeS

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 18:09:00 +0000

In this country, October is the time of year where everyone dresses in costumes. Costumes that represent witches, ghosts, monsters, and the like. This is when scaring people and pretending to be something other than yourself is fun. I wont go into the details of why people do this; it is very well known the paganism and superstition that its based on. Which basically boils down to lies and deception. Rather, lets simply point out one small significant part of this ritual; the costume.

When I think back to when I was a child that participated in this, I remember going to the store to pick out my costume. The cheapest and popular costumes at that time were these plastic masks with eye-holes and elastic around the back, and it also came with a plastic pullover for your body. Of course, they have a lot of other costumes that are more elaborate. Instead of plastic masks its make-up to alter your face. Instead of a plastic pullover its realistic cloth. It is pretty amazing to see how much money and time people spend to do this ..
.. when all the while, they are already in a costume.

The fact is, everyone grows up and lives in a costume every day. And, it truly is the walking dead. Everyone is born spiritually dead and the dead do not get to enter heaven.no matter how good it looks or acts. Only accepting Jesus as your Savior can make you alive.

God looks at the inner person, not the mask. No one can trick God nor can they say I will take off my mask at the very last possible moment. God doesnt work that way. He created Hell for the Father of Lies and for all the masks..not people. Hell was never intended for us., but by keeping our mask on for our entire life, we choose Hell. We can only enter Gods kingdom by Gods standards. And once we throw our own mask into Hell, and accept Jesus as our Savior, then we can truly be Gods children and He can freely bless, heal, and strengthen us so that we look and act more like Him.

Now, we first need to realize that we are wearing a mask. And everything that we did while wearing the mask didnt line up with Gods will. We need to come to the realization that in order to take our mask off, we need Jesus. God, our creator, sent His Son to die our death. He died and went to Hell for us so that we would never have to experience what it is like in that place..if we choose Him and His ways right now, here on earth.

We will go to Hell if we dont accept Him and if we keep on wearing our mask until the day we die. Then our time is up. But God says this.

There is life and death,
blessings and cursings,
choose...
BUT CHOOSE LIFE!!

He so desires us to take off our masks. It is our choice, and God honors our choice. But He wants us to be free. Free of everything that hinders us. Free of our masks. We have masks of shallow happiness, of depression, anger, road rage, unforgiveness, bitterness, emptiness, and so on. Most of us have combination masks. They are binding but comfortable because we are so used to them. But God wants us to know that it is not how He created us to be. We are not who the mask says we are, we are a beautiful creation of God that can only become a beautiful child of God with the mask off.

We can all change, it doesnt matter what we did while we wore that mask, God says if you turn from those ways and hand over your mask, He will forgive you and forget those wrongs! Jesus died so that your slate is clean once you receive Him in your heart.

So why do people still continue wearing their masks?
Why would we choose to live our-life our-way and reject His truths?
Why choose Hell?
WHY???

Learn something from a wart?

jcmidnte@aol.com (Melanie Yardley) — Sun, 17 Apr 2005 18:25:00 +0000

Can you learn something from a wart?
I sure did!

I had this bump on my hand for as long as I can remember (2 years at least). I never did anything about it, I just tolerated it. It was always there and at times I was aware of it but not so much that it truly bothered me. I coped with it ... until one day. I was talking to two of my friends and they mentioned that it was a wart. Now that it was brought to my full attention, I went out and bought medication for it.

Once I started using the medication, it seemed like it wasn't working because it was taking so long. Then there was a point where it got hard and started to hurt (the medication was pulling every foreign substance to the surface). I didn't want to go further with this but if I stopped the medication now, I would have a bigger bump on my hand and never be able to tolerate it like I did for over 2 years. If I continued the medication, it could become even more uncomfortable. The pain. The pressure. So I continued with the medication. I pressed through.

And then one day I was going to put more medication on this big bump and started to look at it. It was all white and hard. I moved my finger across it to feel how hard it had gotten and suddenly ... the whole thing came off. I am not a queasy person but I felt nauseous when I saw this. It was disgusting! The huge wart and the skin around it came right off.....along with some brownish junk underneath. YUCK!

Then I couldn't believe that I actually tolerated this thing on me for so long! I was free and wont have to feel that bump ever again!

Then I said, "Father, show me what else in my life I have been tolerating." Because when God sheds light on an area (medication on the wart), it becomes gross in your eyes, no matter how long you had tolerated it. But after pressing through the grossness, the pressure and the pain of the removal-process, it does come off. It pops right off and you are free from it.

Don't tolerate anything, ask God to exterminate all tolerances!