Words of Wisdom

Photo Card

2011-11-17T12:59:00.001-05:00

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Radium Girls

2011-11-03T11:05:00.003-04:00

Around the 1920's, watchmakers used glow in the dark paint and hired employees to paint their watch faces with it. These dial painters had to be accurate and precise, sometimes licking the paintbrush bristles so they could get into those tiny spaces. The paint was so cool that the employees would paint their nails with it ....or to be funny, they would paint their faces and teeth!

They trusted their employer and they also liked getting 8 cents for each glow in the dark face they made. But what they didn't know was that the paint contained radium. They were exposed to toxic amounts of radiation. One woman died at the age of 24, while others lived longer but riddled with health issues caused by the radiation: lack of blood (anemia), bone fractures and radium jaw (necrosis of the jaw).

A law suit was filed against the company and the employees were compensated $10K each plus $600 each year that they lived with all their medical bills paid for.

Why did I just tell you about those Radium Girls? It is an analogy for our modern day food and cosmetic suppliers. They tell us their products are safe and we assume they are since the grocery stores sell them. Just because it is on the shelf means that it is safe? NO!

Please look at the ingredients you ingest and research the ill effects of them. Don't be foolish with your food and cosmetics ....then if something goes wrong with your health, God is blamed and not the actual root of the problem. What we put on our skin and in our mouths have a lot to do with our health!

Find out for yourself, search the internet to see what harmful things are in your home.

For cosmetic safety (makeup, lotions, shampoos, etc) I use Skin Deep.
For food safety, I use Food Facts.

God already has a bum rap and if we continue to neglect and take care of our bodies, then we will reap the results. When something bad happens to people, they tend to point the finger to God and ask
"WHY GOD, WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?"
but they should really point that finger to themselves and ask

"WHAT DID I DO AND HOW CAN I CHANGE BEFORE IT REALLY IS TOO LATE?"

Adult Tantrums

2011-02-13T17:11:00.003-05:00

I have a two year old and she is learning her independence. Wanting to get her way, not knowing the full picture. For example, she would like to eat chocolate all the time. She is only looking at the current moment of enjoyment without looking at the bigger picture of her health in the long run. That is my job. I am supposed to guide her decisions, squelch her unhealthy or harmful impulses and redirect her negative energy since I see the bigger role it will play in her life.

Now let us use that example with God. He is our Heavenly Father and we are His children that should turn to Him for direction since He is the one who sees *our* bigger picture. At times, we have been known to have our own tantrums when we don't receive something for reasons beyond our current knowledge.

God is looking for faith in Him. Looking for us to trust Him with our lives and go to Him with a thankful heart ...no matter what we have or don't have. We don't have something for a reason; a spouse, a baby, more money, etc. Whatever we are longing for, we need to understand that there is a reason beyond our current understanding that we need to trust God with.

When we look back at our own lives, we see many examples of this. "I am so glad I didn't ___" or "I guess I am glad that happened since it got me where I am today" or even "That bad thing happened but my heart and faith are stronger for it." Unfortunately we don't live in hindsight as our foresight ...that is what faith in God is for.

Just as my toddler needs to trust my decisions for her, so should we trust in God. He can see far beyond what we could ever imagine or think. His ways our not our own. (Isaiah 55:8)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will direct your path.

-Proverbs 3:5-6

To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven;

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

-The Book of Ecclesiastes and The Byrds song 'Turn, Turn, Turn'

Delusions of Grandeur

2010-12-15T13:51:00.007-05:00

I have been presented with this subject for some months now and feel the need to share.

Does God heal? Yes.
Does God heal everyone, every time? No.
While Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead once, Lazarus still eventually died.

Why is death considered terrible? To a Christian (meaning: a true believer of Jesus, living out Gods word in their life) our death here only means we have life in Heaven with Jesus. Is that so terrible? Is that to be feared?

The disciples did not die peacefully in their sleep at a ripe old age of 120 years. So who are we to think that we are better than them? That we actually have any say on the matter at all is the greatest delusion of grandeur.

Phrases like;
"He was too young to die"
"Having that ailment means you don't have enough faith"
"She was a Believer, how could she have died like that?"
should never come out of our mouths. We have no right to say such things. That is enough to make God cry at our ignorance of Him and His ways. Who are we to tell God when the right time of someones death should be? What death is the "proper" way to die?? Who do we really think we are???

Mary the Mom died, Peter the Rock died, John the Beloved died. It is a fact of life here, our earthly bodies were not meant to live forever, they have to die in order for us to receive our eternal bodies ...again, is this such a terrible thing?

We live in a fallen world, blessings and curses rain on the just and unjust. (Matthew 5:45) This is the fault of sin and Satan. Death comes in many forms, some at the disgusting hand of evil and others are the work of sickness or disease. God gives us eternal life, that is what being here is all about. Our daily choice while we have breath on this Earth determines if we will spend our eternity in Heaven or in Hell. Our earthly body has nothing to do with our salvation.

The bible states that His timing is not our own. It also advises us to be content in whatever we have (or don't have). God looks at our heart to see if we qualify for Heaven. He doesn't look at how many limbs we have or how many houses we own. Our salvation doesn't depend on how many children we do or don't have, and it certainly doesn't matter if our body gets afflicted in any way. It isn't *what* we go through, but *how* we go through it. A matter of our own heart which is only between us and God, no one else is the judge of our own heart.

Are we *jealous* of those who can have another child while we can't, *angry* at him for only being able to afford a one bedroom house, or *bitter* that cancer crept into our bones? These ways are not Gods ways and should be repented to have a clean heart with God.

*** Now, this all being said, I do have to say that we are still going to grieve and truly miss life, that is absolutely normal and totally justified. I am, in no way, saying otherwise. Even a mature Believer will, at least, have some apprehension of death but to fear death seems unjustifiable in the light of Eternity with God. ***

Lucy & Ethel

2010-01-01T15:55:00.006-05:00

When I think of the TV show I Love Lucy, the first picture that pops in my head is Ethel in Lucy's apartment. It is not that Lucy was NEVER at Ethel's, but it was very rare.

Lucy was very selfish and always acted on impulse out of a selfish mindset. Me, me, me. My life, what I want, what I deserve. Ethel was very supportive but they did get into tiffs every now and then.

Now let us think of two friends. One always going over the others house, always meeting in their house/town, and almost always calling them. Everyone wants to be a Lucy. Everyone going to them, calling them, having others bend to fit around them.

So if everyone is Lucy, where are the Ethel's?

Who wants to be the one adjusting to others all the time?

If you do have Ethel's in your life, are you thankful to them and compensate somehow that you are the Lucy? What would be compensation in a friendship, anyway?

If one friend always adjust to the you ALL THE TIME, what do they need in return? Maybe just the conversation rotating around them for a while. Or simply, you picking up the tab for dinner to compensate for the gas and extra time it took them to meet you in your town. Just some way for that friend to feel appreciated, I guess it would depend on that Ethel-friend and what kind of friend you are to them to customize how you can show them you appreciate them.

Friendship, like any relationship (with a spouse, with the Lord), should not have any trace of selfishness in it. If it does, then that will be the crack that keeps separating over time.

A new year has started, a whole new decade. Let us all take this moment to evaluate our friendships and see if we harbor any selfishness in them. Start fresh, each day is a new day. It doesn't matter how it was, but it does matter how it will be.

In Matthew 7:12, it says

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.

If you expect others to be an Ethel to you, then you need to be an Ethel to them. That is what compromise is all about. That is what living righteous is all about, with a clean heart ....no selfishness.

You be perfect, or your life be perfect?

2009-10-22T18:20:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-29T22:51:00.003-04:00

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

2009-02-16T14:39:00.003-05:00

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

2009-01-22T08:17:00.010-05:00

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

2009-01-03T15:02:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-12-03T06:10:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-28T10:51:00.003-05:00

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

2008-11-21T10:19:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-16T11:37:00.005-05:00

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

2008-11-13T09:44:00.003-05:00

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)

2008-11-07T13:48:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-10-11T16:12:00.007-04:00

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?

2008-01-07T11:17:00.001-05:00

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

2007-07-13T13:23:00.002-04:00

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

2007-06-19T14:11:00.004-04:00

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

2007-01-08T14:13:00.002-05:00

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

2006-12-09T14:15:00.002-05:00

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

2006-09-12T14:00:00.004-04:00

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?

2006-08-13T13:50:00.002-04:00

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

2006-03-30T13:53:00.002-05:00

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

2006-03-08T13:46:00.002-05:00

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

2005-11-15T13:55:00.002-05:00

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

2005-11-15T13:41:00.001-05:00

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

2005-10-17T14:09:00.001-04:00

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?

2005-04-17T14:25:00.001-04:00

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!

Praise & Thanks

2005-04-17T13:42:00.003-04:00

What advances our faith?

What Gives Us Strength
To Go Through Anything?

What Can Change Our Attitude?

What brings PEACE to our hearts
and CALMNESS to our minds?

w h a t p I c k s u s u p
o u t o f o u r r u t ?

What causes satan
And his demons to tremble?

WHAT PLEASES GOD?

Praise & Thanks !

Give THANKS to the Lord, call on His name,
make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing PRAISE to Him, tell of all His wonderful acts.
-PSALM 105:1-2

Trust

2005-04-17T11:39:00.001-04:00

PROVERBS 3:6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He will direct your paths

*********************

'In all your ways'

That means in thought, in actions, and in words
acknowledge the Lord

'Acknowledge'
To admit the reality or truth of something, often reluctantly.
To accept responsibility for something one makes known
To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth
To acknowledge the being of a God.
To admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.

Syn: To proclaim; recognize; admit; allow; confess.

* * * * * * *

Each time you acknowledge the Lord,
it forms a brick

The bricks, then, start forming your path
For you to walk on

The Garden of your Heart

2005-04-17T11:23:00.005-04:00

A man reaps what he sows
-Galations 6:7

. . . whether good or bad seeds.

Hate - Discord - Jealousy - Anger
Selfishness - Rage - Manipulation
Idolatry - Envy - Witchcraft - Prejudice
Unforgiveness - Fear - Strife
Disobedience to God

********************************

Love - Peace - Wisdom - Patience - Joy - Faith
Self-Control - Goodness - Forgiveness - Humility
Trust - Gentleness - Compassion - Mercy
Obedience to God

CHOOSE
. . . BUT CHOOSE LIFE!!!
-GOD

Peter, old and new

2005-04-17T11:19:00.001-04:00

Peter:
Fell in water
Cut ear of soldier
Was rebuked by Jesus
Wavered
Doubted
Misunderstood
Operated by flesh

Peter:
Healed cripple at Gate Beautiful
Spoke salvation to thousands
Healing shadow
Liars died in his presence
Bold
Courageous
Operated by the Spirit

Why the Change?
After Peter received the Holy Spirit,
he was a change man.

When Jesus walked with the 'old' Peter,
Jesus always saw him complete.

And that is how Jesus sees us,
not by our mistakes, but complete.

*******

We need to humble ourselves
in every area so there is
ALL GOD and NO FLESH!

The fire of the Holy Spirit is capable
to burn your flesh and refine you.
We need to start living how Jesus sees us!!

-1PETER 2:9-10

Let's Talk Cars

2005-04-08T14:17:00.003-04:00

Imagine for a moment that you are a car. Time and work was put into your construction. You were carefully assembled. Your manufacturer used all that was in him to create you; his wisdom, his power and his love. Not only did the manufacturer spend time creating you but even took longer to create an owners manual for you. The manufacturer’s handbook is there as a reference to get to know your manufacturer and how you can be used to your fullest potential. Many cars went before you making examples of themselves so that your manual is perfect and complete for your every day living and for your long term care. It cannot be replaced by any substitutions. If you are a Japanese made vehicle, then you cannot use an owner’s manual from a German manufacturer. Nor can you accomplish what you were created for if you never opened the manual. If that was the case, then when one of your warning lights comes on, you will just think that that is how you are supposed to be and keep going until ultimately you stop dead; never completing one thing that the manufacturer intended for you.

Now at your beginning; your are “birthed” out of the manufacturing plant. You haven’t shifted gears yet, you don’t have wear and tear on your tires, and you are plopped down into a parking space ready for the take off. Therefore, at this moment, you are in PARK. PARK is your initial gear that you were “born” into. From your parking space, you only have the parking lot in your sight; no road. It is dark where you are and you don’t have anyone in your interior to instruct, guide, or navigate you.

From PARK, the only way for you to go is forward. However, do you want to move out of your parking space? Why even leave the parking lot? It is easy to be here. Why move? Well, many other cars are in the parking lot but the lot was never meant to be the final destination of each vehicle, including you. The manufacturer had no intentions for you to dwell at ease in a dark, dingy lot when you can move on to wonderful, better things. But, there first needs to be a choice. You need to choose to get out of your parking space and leave the lot. It will be the biggest choice you would have to make.

If you don’t leave, since you don’t know what is out here, you will stay content with all the others. You only know this place, why take the risk to move? No one else is moving that you see. When you heard of others leaving, the ones that stayed made fun of and mocked those that left. What will they think of you if you tried to leave? What if you did move but it just brought you back into a circle where you started? Now you caused a bunch of commotion and shame upon yourself because you made the attempt. Why chance it? Besides, what is so bad about the parking lot anyway? All the vehicles are washed and waxed. They all look great on the outside; if they moved then they would get dirty.

Well, surely I tell you, all the vehicles in the parking lot will rot away, none of them ever to spend one day how their manufacturer wanted them to. All the vehicles will look great on the outside but would have had no one on their inside to instruct them and take them out to do what they were created to do. They are just hollow and empty; always having that void deep inside them as long as they abide in the parking lot. For the vehicle to make the choice to leave, they must possess the key so that they can move. The key is a perfect fit for each vehicle. Once the vehicle accepts the key, the vehicle gets to know about the key. How it was a beautiful solid piece of metal but for the vehicle’s sake, it chose to endure the suffering and transformation to save each vehicle out of the parking lot. The key had to endure great pains to be conformed to fit the vehicle to take it out of its lowly estate. It made itself available to each of them, but the key cannot make the choice for them. A vehicle cannot just ‘want’ to get out of the parking space without knowing about the key. They must all come to know that they need the key so they can finally move out of the parking lot so they don’t rot away. Now that you have the key, you need a driver. The driver will guide you, instruct you and navigate you on this great adventure; and he could only be there because you chose the key. The keys’ function is to bring you the driver so you can not only start but you can now move. The driver knows what the manufacturer expects out of you and will lead you in the right direction so you can fulfill your purpose.

Now, with the acceptance of the key and driver in place, you can now move into FIRST GEAR. This gear is just the beginning of your journey. This is your salvation from rotting in the parking lot. FIRST GEAR is creating many changes for you. The other vehicles see you heading out and are laughing and ridiculing you, even the ones that were the closest to you. You continue on, not letting them or your emotions towards them guide you back to your parking space.

It is now time to move on to SECOND GEAR. To move out of the parking lot and on to the road. Now on the road you will start driving out what your manufacturer created for you. Your driver is showing you many things. You are feeling things you never felt before, your insides are humming, your tires are rolling, you are seeing things you never saw before and what you thought was normal in the parking lot has no relevance on this journey. This is the final death to all your time spent in the parking lot. Now you have a new life, doing the will of your manufacturer with the acceptance of the key and the presence of the driver. However, this is only the beginning of this new beginning.

The next step is DRIVE. This will increase what you are seeing and feeling; it is getting you closer and closer to your final destination. FIRST and SECOND GEAR had to happen to get you to this point but you do not rely on them to fulfill the journey. You will experience more of what the manufacturer intended for you. Your driver is showing you even more things that ever before. You thought what was revealed to you in the first two gears were amazing but this gear is growing you to be more like you were supposed to be. More change; deeper knowledge of your manufacturer, your key and your driver.

Is DRIVE the most you can go? No. There is yet another gear you can experience on your move forward. It is OVERDRIVE. OVERDRIVE is when you are fully trusting, living, and operating according to your manual. The gear that your manufacturer intended all his vehicle’s to be in. This is the highest most glorious place for you. You needed to make choices and take steps to be here but it was all definitely worth it! You are now one with the manufacturer. You have trusted him and changed your whole life according to what he has said. You trusted what was in the manual. You relied upon the key and yielded to your driver and now you are at the final destination, OVERDRIVE.

You see, your journey wasn’t so you would move and then come to a stop somewhere. Your destination isn’t another parking space, it is to be the vehicle you were always intended to be. In OVERDRIVE, you will always be moving and changing; always on the increase. Now as the vehicle, you will always have a choice every single moment of this journey. They are not intended to be used at all on this trip; but your choice can enable you to use them or not.

Now once you are moving, PARK can be damaging to you. If you are in one of the forward gears then slamming into PARK is a disastrous choice. You never want to stop once you start moving. The manufacturer already planned your entire trip, what reason do you have to stop? Fear? Insecurity? Those things are not part of you according to your manual. In fact, your manual states that you have authority over those things and they are just smoke screens and walls of dust that make it seem like you should stop but, in fact, your manufacturer says that you can blow right through them. It is all deception; they look like barriers but actually are nothing to you. You have the power to blow right through it but you need to trust your driver and not what you leaned while in your parking space.

The next dangerous rear is REVERSE. This will only lead you back to the parking lot. It will take your eyes off your destined journey, off the manufacturer’s ways for you, and lead you right back into the parking space that will cause you to rot away; empty again. Once you made the choice to leave the parking lot and started moving, you couldn’t use the parking lot’s ways on your forward journey. This will lead you right back to where you came from, no matter how long you were on the road for. Another reason one may shift into REVERSE is because going forward many new things are to be experienced. If you start looking back on familiar road then that will ultimately lead you back to the parking lot, too.

This next and final gear is another serious one. This one is called NEUTRAL. While going forward, if you shift into NEUTRAL, you will still be moving forwars…for a short time. You will be coasting, not driving. Your pupose is to driver, to constantly be on a forceful advance. In NUETRAL, you will have the appearance of moving forward but the manufacturer knows the gear you put yourself in and that you will eventually stop. Even if you do all the right things; like try to increase your speed up a hill, you won’t be able to. You need to put yourself back into a forward drive gear to go where you need to go.

That explains each gear but how about this road that you were on? Not only is your manufacturer the creator of you, but he also created the road that you were meant to travel on. After you came out of the parking space, through the parking lot and out on the road, you were in FIRST GEAR, then SECOND GEAR, and then DRIVE. While in these gears, your road was a highway with many exits and pleasing signs to revert you back to the parking lot. Since you pressed through and moved on into OVERDRIVE, your road now is a highway with no exits on it. It is free from distractions and your only awareness is of the manufacturer, the key and the driver. You aren’t even aware of yourself anymore because by having your trust in them, they will take care of you and your eyes are fixed on them, not you. Keep on the move!

So, according to God, what gear are you in?

*******

List of Character’s:

Car/Vehicle = You
Manufacturer = God
Key = Jesus
Driver = Holy Spirit
Parking Space = Your “life” before God
Parking Lot = The wisdom of the world
Road = God’s plan for your life
First Gear = Salvation
Second Gear = Outer Court
Drive = Inner Court
Overdrive = Holy of Holies