I was looking this morning at some of my past posts, because I have been writing the last few days on some of my spiritual growth. I post allot of videos, and one that I actually was thinking about a few times this week was “Everything” by Lifehouse. I know many have seen this, but when I watch it, I see so much of myself in it. How many times have I turned away, and been lured away by the things of this world? Too many times. God has truly restored me and brought me up several levels in my spiritual growth. I love the end of this video where Jesus has restored this girl too, and they are dancing so sweetly. I too now, can dance with my beloved Jesus. He’s all I need, He’s all I want. I love His Word, I love His presence, I love spending time with Him in prayer, in worship, in every area, even the hard stuff now becomes a surrender of willingness and love b/c I know He only has my best in mind. I started Journaling this past week, and the first page I titled was scriptures headed “Being Set Apart”. I know God has set us all apart for different reason to bring Glory to His name. The first 3 scriptures that I wrote I think are sooo appropriate for this video as well:
Ezekiel 20:34 (New Living Translation)
34 And in anger I will reach out with my strong hand and powerful arm, and I will bring you back[a] from the lands where you are scattered.
2 Corinthians 6:17 (New Living Translation)
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
and I will welcome you.[a]
Isaiah 52:11 (New Living Translation)
11 Get out! Get out and leave your captivity,
where everything you touch is unclean.
Get out of there and purify yourselves,
you who carry home the sacred objects of the Lord.
Let’s remeber that we truly are set apart; let us rid ourselves of worldly things and live humble lives before our king and make Him proud of us. THANK YOU JESUS FOR ALWAYS BEING MY EVERYTHING!
Looking through the third page of the blog, (as I move backwards, here), I started to see a theme that I was writing about. Part of it was my brokenness and loneliness that I felt at the time as a part of a body of believers; which turned into sweet surrender that God used to remind me of His unfailing Love and that He is Always with me. This is in no specific order, but I wanted to point out some of what I need to remember as I continue to grow. As I’ve blogged, one thing that I have found to be true about me, in my own heart and those of my dear commenter’s, is that I am a very transparent person. I’ve come to realize that having this ability is truly a gift God has given me to be able to share my very real life with others. I’ve always said, I don’t see the need in being fake, because God is just going to make me deal with myself sooner or later. I understand that being transparentis very, very, hard for probably most people; because it forces us to surrender and take a very deep look at who we are. I’ve been blessed to have God use me in this capacity, and it is a constant reminder that He is not done with me yet, and that He can work through Anything and Anybody, in Anyway He chooses. As I’ve looked back on this blog, I am reminded:
That worship is more than worship music, more than our prayers, more than our deeds, but it is a total way of life. We worship God when we surrender all to Him, and allow Him to mature us, and prepare us for His purposes.
As I’ve looked back, I am reminded of God’s beauty; which is soooo vast! There is beauty in who He is as a triue God; exsting in perfection, in need of nothing, aware of everything, every detail of existence that our minds can’t even comprehend. His beauty in the everyday parts of life; in nature, the weather, and most importantly, us humans who are His most prized possession. It is this beauty that we individuals hold, which he calls us to look for in eachother; not only in His Body, but in the broken, the lost, and the forgotten.
Along these lines, I am reminded of the importance of fellowship. No man is an island, and we are created in God’s image, which is communial. I’ve had my own issues of trying to find my place, but the more I learn, trust, and desire Him; the more I hear His voice and obey. He has showed me when to close doors, and showed others to walk through. He has reminded me that He is a jelouse God for His bride, and that it is in the most intimate moments with Him that I fallen deeper and deeper in love with Him, where He makes me feel beautiful and completly whole in Him.
I’m reminded that our doubts and fears are lies from the devil, and that we need to see them as such, and ask Jesus to remove them at that moment.
I am reminded that God uses me in ways that I may not even recognize, or that I may blow off as trivial or insignificant. I am becomming more and more aware that God is using me “behind the scenes” for His puposes And for my growth, And for my protection. God’s wisdom supasses carnel understanding and I am sooo thankful for His provisions.
Lastly here, I am going re-post some quotes from a JohnEldredge podcast that helps me remember that God Always has our best interests in mind. May you too, be reminded all that He is to us. Robin
God has to develope firmness of purpose in us.
We have to endure in hope or it wouldn’t be hope.
It’s a process that God takes us through as he developes us for our callings and desires.
Crisis developes character so God can empower us to do what He would have us to do
God wants to give us the desires of our hearts.
We need to persevere with desire
James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials becasue you know that the testing of your faith developes perserverance . Perserverance must finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything”. NIV
God says in hard times “Be still and know that I am God” Know that I am for you. I will fullfill the desires of your heart, but I have to develope you.
God first awakens our desires, then, deepends them, then fullfills them.
More freedom, more fighting, more victory, more streangth.
Oswald Chanbers once said ” God gives us a vision and then He takes us down into the valley and batters us into the shape of the vision; and it’s there where most of us faint and give way. But God says don’t faint and don’t give way b/c I have to take you through this to be able to give you the desires of your heart”.
God wants to get the self out of the way to bring the real me into life.
God wants to make us a wine to pour out to the world. You can’t drink grapes. You have to squeeze the grapes to produce the wine.
Very rarely God reveals His whole plan for our lives. He loves surprises.
Your desires matter deeply to Him.
We need to trust and follow and fight for our hearts as a treasure.
Prayer: Jesus, come and speak to us now. We invite you and give you permisson. Jesus what should we do? Why do we have these desires? We know you have something for us. What would you have us do? What changes do we make? What risks do we take? What would it look like Jesus to trust you deeply and to act like our hearts matter to you?
I started drafting this post last night b/c I was trying to get ahead a little bit. Little did I know that when I went to The Father this morning my heart would being to pour out in ways I wasn’t expecting. I had to surrender some more stuff. You know, that really hard, gut wrenching stuff we don’t want to deal with. Part of it is me getting things under control in some areas my personal life, and the other part is once again handing over my “undefined” dreams that I place at the feet of Jesus. There wasn’t really a scripture that really stuck out in my head; I’m sure there where tons of them circling around in there, but I find when I surrender, it truly does cleans me. I knew it was genuine when the tears just rolled out of my tightly shut eyes. I know in everything God has a purpose, He has plans for my life, He wants to bless me in ways I can’t even think of; and so now, I will wait, I will obey, I will worship, I wil pray, I will believe, I will trust. I will strive to live my life as close as sold-out for Christ that His grace will allow! Here we go into my post of surrender. Isn’t it funny how God used it this morning to remind me that even I will always need to surrender at the feet of Jesus! Praise God for that! Thank You Jesus for who you are and what you doing in all of our lives. May we always remember to give God All The Glory in Everything.
Ah Yes, here we start on one of my favorite blog topics; Surrender!! I could go on and on, but let’s just hit basics shall we?? Surrender IS Beautiful, and it’s what He wants from all of us. Yes, it’s a life-long, daily, sometimes, moment by aching moment process. It is an act of worship to God that the more we do it, the better we get at it, but of course never quite mastering it. Surrender Is Painful at times, but oh the Glory it will bring forth to God and growth to your walk! We must come to a place of desperation, of utter despair and sold-out need for Him for surrender to really have a good effect, at least that has been my experience. The more I’ve surrendered the big, yucky stuff, the more natural it gets to surrender the everyday junk. It’s a process no doubt, where some will take years or perhaps even a life time to Surrender All, but if I could give a word of advice from my experience, think of it in terms of surgery, (spiritual surgery); God need to operate on your heart, but it’s only gonna happen if you check-in to His hospital. Wounds will heal, even though our scars of the memories never let us forget; God does.
As I’ve surrendered more and more to God, I thirst more for His Word, and I hold on more clearly to His truths in the Bible. He is Mighty in so many ways! He is the author of the universe and can bring people into their salvation, He can bring them into surrender. but the heart must be willing. I often find myself praying for the unsaved, and the un-surrendered. As you grow, you start to see the restrictions that others put on their circumstances, and it breaks my heart because Jesus died to give us such a rich life, full of his loving kindness, mercy and love. Being unemployed for as long as I have, is such a blessing. I get to spend extra time in the Word, I get to enjoy my daughter, He’s showing me how to better use my money and budget (even though this is a very difficult and slow process for me); and the list of His goodness goes on; I’ve remained healthy even w/o health insurance, my car is still running well with over 100,000 miles on the odometer, and on, and on, and on….. I truly believe God is blessing me in these ways because of my constant obedience and surrender. So many times people get worldly prosperity mixed up with the Truth of The Word of God, but I am here to tell you Jesus never said we were going to Worldly Rich and worry free, this is the lie the devil uses sooo many times with false teachers and misguided preachers; it’s truly sad to see people being misinformed in the ways of God.
God truly wants to bless us, and He does so in such surprising ways! I was once having a bad day, and God made things better by having worship leader Jeff Deyo respond to an email that I sent him about his song “Jesus I surrender” . It’s a very special song to me b/c it was at a time when I experienced the very powerful presence of God that radically changed me into the sold-out Christ follower I desire to be today! So many times in my life God has used music and songs to not only get my attention, but to draw me close to Him. I have become in love with Worshiping God for who He is through song. I love to read about the way King David danced, because that is very much how I feel and rejoice in The Lord myself! I am such an enthusiastic worshiper, I want to worship Him with my life! So many days, I am in the car, with the CD blaring, singing at the top of my lungs, sometimes I don’t even want to get out of the car when I’ve reached my destination; I just get sooo caught up in worship, even at home; I’ve had a few times where I just have to turn off the ipod or the stereo speakers b/c I don’t want to do anything else but dance around and worship!! I’ve been blessed with bloggers who share my enthusiasm for Christ, and I look forward to 2009 being a year where God is going to Shine! I really feel that He is going to move in some amazing ways, in my life, in my church life, in our nation; I just sense God moving and doing mighty works! How about you? Do you sense that too? I hope so. God Bless! Robin
As I went to The Lord this morning this morining in prayer, my heart was heavy with some personal issues that I am dealing with. As I laid it all down befor Him, He spoke softly to me and said “The Battle Is Mine Robin. Don’t worry, don’t fret, don’t overthink, just let me deal with it”. That’s all I needed to start my day. As I went into my devotionals His voice was clearer and clearer. Matt 10: 16-42; 16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17″Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21″Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24″A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub,[a] how much more the members of his household!
26″So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[b]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32″Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34″Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
” ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[c]
37″Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40″He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.
These verses reassured me that I’m gonna face oppostion, but no man will ever be able to steal my Spirit For God. There’s so much truth in Scripture that it blows me away. I’m not hear to be a bible scholar, but just a person who reads the Word and shares what God is teaching me. I know there are tons of interpritations, and arguments for this way or that, but if we allow the spirit to truly guide our understanding, He will, and we will learn what He wants to teach us in our own lives, in our own circumstances. I not saying this to undermind the authority of Biblical teachers, pastors, or scholors, but I’m saying that we too cary our own responcibilities when reading the Word. It is life, it is alive and God speaks to us all through it in many different ways. I just felt like I had to say that.
So anyway, back to “the battle”, I looked up and read 1 Sam. 17-19; which is partly, the story of David and Goliath. Even as young and unskilled as David was, going into battle with no armor, but just a pocket full of rocks and His trust in God, He showed True to The Lord and Won The Battle. In Chapter 18 Saul becomes angry and jelouse of David to the point of an evil spirit from God came forefully upon him. v.12 “Saul was afraid of David, because The Lord was with David but had left Saul”. The rest of this chapter and the next, Saul sets out to find and kill David.
That’s as far as I got with it today, but All of these scriptures, remind us of some important reminders. That yes, we’re in a battle, and that we will be divided in our households out of our loyalty to God. That we will have to deal with adversity, trials, persecution, misunderstanding, disagreements….but THE BATTLE IS THE LORDS.
I know this week has been really challenging for me. I’ve wrestled with trying to make sense of either what God allows in my life, or what He doesn’t. I’ve been reminded that it’s in the Valleys that I grow. I’ve been strengthened in my faith; reminded to put my faith in Him even when I can’t see the next step; and today He reminded me that The Battle Is His. There’s allot of uncertainty in my life right now, there’s allot of unanwered questions, but there is great peace, and joy, hope, and rest-assurance that He’s doing the fighting for me; and my job is to just keep following. Keep thirsting for the things of God. Keep putting myself out there for God. My Lord, My Savior, The one who will fight for me in this world. That brings a whole lot of peace to my heart today. Thank you Jesus for fighting my battle and for once again speaking to me through your Word; reminding me that the batlte is yours. I Love You Lord.
Well, yesterday was a really hard day for me; harder than I was expecting. After posting yesterday I was trying to stay focused on God, His Goodness, His Promises, ect…… In an instant, I started getting attacked. I should have seen this comming, but anyway. I went throught the day thinking on Bible verses to encourage me, thinking of Job, and the strong faith of people like Moses who walked sooooo close with God in the midsts of sheer uncertainty and misfortunes. That is the kind of faith that I want. The kind of faith that I sing out my guts to in worship! Why is it that as soon as we start gaining moementum, the devil has to try and steal our Joy! I hate that, it really bugs me. Here I am, giving God 110% of my soul, my life, my everything, and the devil is right their trying to make me doubt, to feel defeated, un-purposefull, unworthy….. un – everything!
Thank God I finally picked up on it! My heart knew. It was my head that I had to deal with. Sitting here all day in this stupid house can make one go crazy at times. I tend to over-think stuff as it is, but I know God even uses my little struggle to remind me of His love. I had to keep reminding myself to think with my heart and not my head. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:5-6. Yes, Lord, I know this, I know this, so why was I feeling like I kept going back and forth all day between my head and my heart?
A sermon my pastor did once came to mind. As I though about it more and more yesterday, it was making allot of sense. Sometimes I will save my worship folders from Sunday in a drawer, with the hope that I will go back and read them from time to time. I rarely do it, becasue I forget, or get busy with other stuff, but this morning as I did my devotionals, I looked in the drawer and quickly found the answers to my problem. I hate admitting it, it makes me look (at least I think), as if I’m lacking faith, but again, there goes my head. My heart is telling me, Robin, get it out, admit your struggle, and truly give to God. So today, I have chosen to obey with my heart and not my head, and share this sermon outline with you, which is speaking to some of my fears and desperation at the moment.
The sermon series was called “Faith Interrupted” and using the scriptures of Mark 5:21-43. It talks about how our desperation reveals our need; our need for help, our need for Christ. Our actions reveal our faith. Despair vs Belief. Curiosity vs commitment. Possiblilty vs surrender. Life’s interuptions reveal our level of fear. The fear that we won’t get our way. The fear that God won’t come through. (ouch! that’s really hitting home). Jesus’ response reveals his purpose; His love, compassion and power, and His commitment to develope our faith. We need to stop being afraid and keep on believing.
Let me tell you, this is really hard for me. As much as I believe, As much as I hope, as much as I surrender, as much as I put God in the drivers seat, I still fear. I know better, I know He has plans and purposed for my life, I know that His timing is perfect; but man have I waited on some really big things in my heart. I want God to really come through in really big ways. I need Him to. It’s not just about getting my prayers answered, even though that is a big part of it, to be able to move into all that God wants for me; but also, I want to be an example to others. I want to be that person that says “look at what God did in my life, isn’t it fantastic, doesn’t it just blow you away with what He did?”. Proverbs 13:12 says “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a linging fulfilled is a tree of life”. Yep, I think that sums it up for me today. God I need you to move. I’m giving you all the faith that I can, and I just need you to move. I love you Lord, and I just want to shine for you! I want others to see you through me, through my life, overcomming huge obstacles, moving huge mountains Lord, All To Glorify You. This is what I want; To glorify you with my life. Work Lord, I need to see. So Lord, I surrender it all once again. Placing my trust in you completely. Holding on to the promises that you are good, that your ways are higher, that you truly do have plans and purposes for my life. Father I believe, Help me with my unbelief. I love you Lord, and I just want to serve you with my life, I want to shine for you Lord. Thank you Lord for bringing me peace, Thank you Lord for reminding me of your Love, and Lord help me to trust you; because I do. I want to follow hard after you, I want to see your Glory Rain Down! Amen.
I know when we get caught up in the things of life, we tend to cry out to God in our prayers, sometimes wrestling with our troubles at the moment too. God reminded me today that no matter what, He Is Holy Above All Else! He holds the power, the authority, the wisdom and the truth. He is the creator of the universe and He is worthy of all our praise. Let’s truly cast our cares upon The Lord today, and worship Him for the everlasting, Holy God that He is. He is our God, our refuge, our rock that we stand upon. He is so many words, thoughts, feelings, and His Holiness is Alive in all of us. Spend the day thinking on how wonderful, mighty, and powerful our Holy God Truly is. May you be blessed and strengthened with His Spirit as you Worship Him with you life today. Blessings!!!
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all hte earth! Ps. 8:1
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matt. 11:28
Now that’s a great way to start the day! (These verses are actually part of my daily devotions we do at our church).
The readings today were in Matt. 8:23-9:13 and Psalm 8, but I, in my half-awakeness this moring, I read yesterdays NT reading instead, but then went back and read todays. So, we’ll talk a little about both today, since I think God does these sort of things to me to drive home a point.
In Matt 8:23 Jesus is in the boat with the disciples, when a huge storm comes. They quickly go to wake Him up in fear of drowning. Jesus replies <em>”You of little faith, why are you so afraid“.
Matt. 9:2 is the story of the Paralytic. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “take heart son, you sins are forgiven.
Matt 9:9 When Jesus called Mattew he said “Follow me”, and Mattew got up and followed Him.
Matt 9:18 When a ruler came to Jesus, he came saying “But come and put your hand on her and she will live”.
Matt 9:21-22 A bleeding women approaches Jesus saying, “If I only touch His cloak I will be healed”. 22. Jesus turned and saw her, “Take heart daughter, your faith has healed you”. And the woman was healed from that moment. Matt 9:28 Jesus askes when healing the bilind and mute “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes Lord” they replied. 29. Then he touched their eyes and said “According to your faith will it be done to you” 30. and their sight was restored.
Are you seeing the theme here? It’s faith in action. It starts when we see the disciples lack of faith in the storm. (how often we too, as his disciples lack faith, when the storms of life hit). It then moves down to Jesus seeing faith, as in the paralytic, and wanting to move in it because of the mans belief in Jesus and what He can do.
Mattew, a tax collector, who probably has a stable income, and security, meets Jesus and instantly gets up and follows Him; leaving his livelyhood behind him, and pursuing Jesus and trusting him to now provide for all his needs. I love this story because it is very similar to my own life, in the way of walking away from things of this world, my securities, my not knowing what tomorrow will bring, but growing in a constant, solid faith that Jesus will provide every need that I need, and as I put my whole-hearted trust in Him, he will begin to move in that faith. I am really expecting God to move in my life in this new year. I have done much waithing, and much learing, and much leaning. All I desire now is to follow wherever He is going to lead me. As a mom, I want nothing more than to provide a solid Biblical foundation for my daughter. This is my top prioority. As I grow, as a trust and persue Him with everything I am, I know that He is going to work in our lives. I can’t see it, I don’t know where we are going, but I have solid, confident faith in my God, my Savior, my healer, my love. It is this sold out faith God needs us to display, I beleive that He wants, sooooo He Can Move in our lives, in our circumstances, In our dreams, and all of our hearts desires; in every area of our lives.
God calls us everyday, to come and follow; Even in the dark, In the uncertaninty, in the pain, in what ever it is that we are facing. We need to become more like these folks in the Bible. We need to truly put our faith in Christ. We truly have to believe in His Power, In His Goodness, In His Provision. Let’s start this week being energized by the truhs that we claim in His Word. Let us truly follow Him. Let us Walk By Faith, and let us trust Him to move in Power. May you be encouraged, streangthened and blessed today! In Jesus Name, Amen!
Wow, I have had an interesting couple of hours. I fell asleep earllier with my daughter, and when I woke up, I honestly thought it was A.M. instead of P.M. I was trying to figure out why Olivia would wake me up at 5 A.M.? I looked out my window and thought oh, maybe God got me up early so I could shovel the drive, and get out to church on time today w/o rushing around at the last minute. My cell phone rang, and my mom on the other end got a good laugh out of my dissassociation. Has that ever happened to you? I’ve done that years ago, but maybe becasue my body is just so out of synch at the moment. Anyway, as I was sitting here with my “morning coffee”, that I made (I guess I’m feeling a little better); I checked my comments to my posts and was touched by the Hand of God with what I found. Many of you readers know that God likes to sometimes make us wait on stuff in life. He seems to use silence and waiting quite a bit in my life. Sometimes a bit much, I think. Would you hurry up already God, I mean really, it’s getting a little ridiculus, all this waiting. What I think He is trying to teach me is that while I wait, I will worship, I will serve you, I will continue to hope, though it’s painful, I will be patient, bold, confindent, and taking every step in obedience. Thank You soooo much Jesus for reminding me of this, and singing it to me through a beautiful song. May I truly be obedient and wait on you Lord. Thank You again to Rebecca atOcean’s From The Rain for this great song.
I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait
I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve you while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord
As I woke up today, it was evident that this lovely little virus that I am fighting is still hanging around. You know I’m sick, when I’m not even in the mood for making coffee in the morning, which I didn’t. Anyway, as I tried to play with my daughter a bit today, and get all her needs met, all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed. Even as I type this, she is demanding my attention. It’s so hard, but God is near. A few minutes ago, as I was making her a waffle, I stood in front of the toaster and just closed my eyes and surrendered in the moement. I knew I needed Him right then, and I obeyed by seeking his help. I bring this up b/c yesterday in a previous post I had a reader who I think was struggling with surrendering in the moment. I thought I’d share this, to kind of give an example of how it works in my life. I did crawl into bed for about 5 minutes wanting to be closer to Jesus. It’s then that He gave me the nudge to come over here and post to you all. I started singing the song “Healer” by Ten Sheckle Shirt. I wanted to share it with you here today, since God placed it on my heart, but when I went over to Youtube to search it, God brought me to another song. “Healer” by Planet Shakers. It’s in this song that God reminded me that Yes, He is my healer, and He is All I need; In every moment of every day. Whether I am sick, tired, trying to spend time with my daughter, or just trying to escape from the everyday, He is All I Need, and Nothing is Imposible For Him. So Come, Jesus, Heal Me of my sickness today, and show me your purposes for my life becasue all I want to do is live to honor you. Nothing is impossible for you Jesus, Show me your amazing work. Amen. May you all be blessed today and feel His healing touch right where you are in your life at the moement.
As I was going about my morning I was reminded on several occasions of the Beauty of Surrender. Yesterday, I mentioned how surrender is painful and that is why many people shy away from it; but don’t forget; to grow, we MUST be Pruned by His Hand. Sometimes it’s easy to look at other people and say “wow, the grass is surely greener on the other side”; but what we tend to forget is what they had to or are currently going through to get to where they are. This is very true in my life. I’ve been through tons of God’s refining fire, BUT OH’ THE BEAUTIFUL SURRENDER! THAT TOOK PLACE! It’s only when we truly let it ALL go are we going to be able to move into everything He has for us. I know it’s hard, I know it’s painful, but don’t you want Everything God wants for you? This isn’t about getting stuff from God, like God has a bag of goodies for us. Yes, He does want to bless us, His Children, but only by shear obedience and surrender. Experiencing The Presence of God has dramatically changed my life. Salvation is great, but Oh His Presence is Indescribable. This is such a big deal for me b/c God draws me in with music. It’s a very powerful force in my life, and one that I have always wanted to be involved in, but this too, I have had to surrender to God. I’m still waiting, but I am at such peace. I have soooooo much joy, and there is so much beauty in everything in life. Seeking His face is all I want anymore. People look at my life and don’t get allot of stuff about me. I’ve been unemployed for almost a year, I’ve struggled to find myself in different ways, there are things in life that have been really,really, hard and painful, but I can sit here today, with such confidence, hope, joy, and security in The One That I call My Savior!!! He is My Savior, He is My God, He is My Best Friend, and The Lover of My Soul! These just are not songs, or about lyrics, but about knowing God in the deepest place of your being. This is about knowing that yes, in this world we will have trouble, and yes, life is full of pain and hardships, but if we’d just learn to give it All To Him! It’s all or nothing people! When I got saved almost 10 years ago, I was part of an amazing ministry. It doesn’t exist anymore, but God used it for His exact purposes and for His Glory. See, it wasn’t just about me getting saved, yet that was good, it took all these years up to now to let God work in everything in my life to be able to reveal His glory to me. I know some of you people may not get what I am saying, but just roll with it. Everything that happens to us is for His Glory. Yes, the sickness, the pain, the not understanding why this, that, or the other isn’t working. I’ve gone to God sooo many time asking WHY, and His reply was always the same; “Be Still and Know that I am God” Psalm 46:10. After experiencing His presence, He kicked it up a notch and gave me “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jer. 29:11. Now, being unemployed for this long, you better believe that I am holding on to this truth! The point of all this is that we will never move into all that God wants for us and to be able to do through us,until we learn how to honestly Surrender All! This is a really big passion in my heart lately, and I don’t know what to do with it; but I do know one thing, along with surrendering it over to God, I am getting out of the way so He can work. I think we many times limit what God wants to do in our lives b/c either we don’t have the faith behind it, or we are trying to do it in our own strength, kind of like “O.K. God, I got this one, thanks anyway”. It doesn’t work like that. It’s all or nothing! Don’t get me wrong, we all have our days. God knows I can be just as stubborn as the next person when it comes to “let go and let God”, but I hope that I have learned that as much as I try and hold on to stuff, or do it on my own w/o the help of God, I don’t get very far. I know there are allot of people who are really struggling with this, and I kow this post is getting long, but I truly felt God leading me to write this today. Honestly, I’m still feeling like crap and I didn’t even want to post, but I felt the spirit lead, and I knew it was my part to obey. See, this is how close He wants to get to you; even closer! It’s up to us to cooperate with all of it. Surrender is Beautiful! I can’t write enough to make you see, it’s something that you have to experienc for yourself. My prayer is that you would desire all that God wants for you, nad that you would become so desperate for God that you’d be willing to do what ever it takes to get there. It’s a big prayer, with a big price, but in the end the surrender is So Beautiful! Trust me, I’ve been there. Better yet, Trust Him, He’s waiting for your surrender. The following video, I’ve posted befor, but felt lead to post again. It’s a very powerful video in the sense that if you listen to the words, they will draw you in, and if you watch the band play, especially the lead singer, you will see them experience the Presence of God. Jesus Come, and Take Control.
