Tag: all we can be

Would you say ‘I do’?
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Would you say ‘I do’?

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If Jesus proposed to you, would you say ‘yes’?

Are you ready to spend your life with this man from Nazareth? This carpenter’s son, hated and despised by the world. Are you ready to give up everything to follow Him and His dreams for your future? Yes? To say ‘yes’ would mean He is master over your mind, body and soul, are you ready for that?
I’m not always sure I am. Does He have my soul? Oh yes! Does He have my heart? Definitely! Though, sometimes I admit He gets a little lost  in all the other ones, things, activities I love; but in the end my heart is focused on Him. Does He have my body? Okay. Harder question. Do I always help the needy? Do I always step in for the little guy? No. If I feel the Holy Spirit say ‘GO!’ Do I go? Sometimes. And here is the big one. Does He have my mind? My mind goes through so many thoughts a day/ a minute/ 1/100th of a second, that it is hard to see what or whom my mind is centered on. There are times when I should pray but I watch Netflix instead. There are times when I am not up to reading my Bible. There are times when I just can’t. Oh I could if I tried, but I feel I just can’t. Does that mean my mind isn’t centered on God?
I like to put it into a less ginormous perspective. My dog is my life. And my horse. Most days they are why I smile and feel I can push through whatever it is that is happening. Sometimes I come home and don’t play with my dog because I feel I just can’t that day. Too worn out. Sometimes I ignore him and watch Netflix, sometimes we don’t walk because it is too cold. He is the center of my world, but sometimes I don’t give him my whole attention. That doesn’t mean he is out of my focus, just not my whole focus for that time. Believe me, he will make it known if he feels ignored.
Just because my mind is 1000% off 60, and I haven’t yet taken time to focus on God, doesn’t mean my mind is off of Him. He could draw all my attention to Him in a millisecond if He wanted to, because I love Him. So does He have my mind? Yes.
If Jesus proposed to you today, what would you say? I say to say ‘yes’ and hang on, because it is going to be a wild ride.

Where Faith may fail
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Where Faith may fail

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Where faith may fail

Do you ever feel as though your faith has failed?
Ya, me too.
You build yourself up with courageous words and scripture verses to make your heart feel okay, but deep down you still feel faithless. A nagging voice says, ‘you know God doesn’t operate like that anymore! You know that those kinds of miracles ended before the 20th century began. So why pray for it? Why run after something that you will never catch? You’ll just end up looking silly for trying so hard. Give up. Faith has no ground.’
Wow. Say ‘hello Devil, when did you get here?’ because that’s the voice I hear when I hear such words. It is clearly the Devil saying such things; eating away at your Faith like a monster devouring flesh, but that doesn’t stop us from believing such wicked and common lies. We hit a wall where our Faith feels powerless and we just can’t fight through. I realized something the other day. Why do we fight with our Faith? Faith isn’t a weapon. It’s a shield. The Holy Spirit is the weapon! Our Faith feels battered because we are using it to beat down our enemy. We drop our sword, take our shield in both hands and smack our enemy with it with all our strength! And we get knocked back on our belt of hard truth. The truth is that with our own strength we can’t do anything. But if we attack our enemy with the sword of the Spirit the enemy will fall! Because we are using God’s strength to win! Our Faith gets battered because we wield it as a weapon. Which it isn’t. But as a shield, as our defense, our Faith is unmatched in power because our Faith is in the unmatched, powerful God. Whose name is Jesus.

So then, put on the full armor of God-Ephesians 6:10

Prayer blocks
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Prayer blocks

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Do you ever get ‘prayer’s-block’? Me too.
It’s hard isn’t it? To have your mind over taken by every-single-possible-thing you could think of and the one thing you can’t think of is your praying. When that happens to me I whine at God about not being able to concentrate and say things like, ‘if only you were easier to focus on.’ And, ‘if your presence was more clear right now I could do this better.’ Guess what? That never helps me focus. Sometimes I try God meditation. I put on soothing instrumental music and sit on the floor so my brain isn’t telling me to go to sleep like it does when I am on the couch trying to concentrate, and sometimes that helps. Sometimes lighting a candle or starting a fire, (in a pit preferably outside) helps. Or watching my horse graze. Or staring at the sky. Something that doesn’t take much effort but reminds me of how awesome God is. When none of the above works I switch tactics and I worship. Because I can always put on music and listen to the words about how awesome God is. I even found a radio station that plays worship time. It is literally a musician who is doing a guided worship for those of us struggling to concentrate. It’s called ‘power of worship radio’ for those of you who would like to try it.
Just remember. God loves you for your trying. Even if you are struggling to see Him and focus on Him, He sees your attempt and it makes Him happy.

Spiraling or climbing?
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Spiraling or climbing?

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Downward spiral .vs. upward climb

Have you ever noticed how it is a spiral? Spiral indicates fast, generally out of control and of course spinning.
It sounds like a bad ride at an amusement park, you know, the one your friends dare you to go on and then you feel too sick to do anything else for the next 2 days. 10 years later you have the confidence to laugh about it with someone. Spiral.

And upward CLIMB. With this one I visualize a mountain. I love hiking and exploring. If you let me go with my dog and spend the day someplace hiking and exploring, there is a chance we will be gone that whole day. Generally the moment we feel like…..I am sorry, I feel like, he could go on forever……when I feel like turning around is the moment I hit a steep incline. Usually it is my powerhouse Jack Russell who keeps me moving, he is probably 1/6th of my weight and yet he is the one who pulls me to the top and we stand (and I gasp for air) and he starts to head down the next trail, dragging me behind and I feel this wave of achievement. We made it to the top! Oh Ya! And look! Another hill…… I wonder what the top of that one looks like?

To hit rock bottom takes a simple ‘yes’ or a small give in your normal perspective. It happens fast, it is generally a little sickening and it takes a long time to recover.
To hit the summit takes a lot of hard work, motivation, and sometimes someone else pulling on your lead to keep you going, and you find acheivement in the end.

To climb back up from the bottom is a massive struggle and you can NOT do it without God, but you CAN do it.

Verification?
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Verification?

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Always trust the words of God. I once heard a pastor say that to truly know that it is God speaking verify it. Check it with the Bible. It is easy to hear a thought in our minds and think it is God, sometimes it is God, sometimes it is our own thought.
So verify. Check that what you heard aligns with the Bible. You can’t always do this, I understand that, but prayer and time with the speaker of the words you think you are hearing will help you know your direction. Don’t doubt God’s words, but if you need to, verify.
When Jonah heard God’s word he denied it was God and ran away. God hunted him down, and he became one of the most well known stories (and one of the best speakers) in the Bible.
When it is God He doesn’t just use you a little, He uses you unbelievably so. Even if Jonah had saved only one person he would have listened to God and done something amazing, for that one person.
If God says go to Zambia on a missions trip and you go,
‘No that wasn’t God, and I don’t want to go.’ and you end up reading Jonah, or hearing a sermon on following the prompting of God, or a song on traveling the uncertain road, take it as a conformation. If God wants you to go then He will prompt you and prompt you until you get the message.
Trust God’s word, and He will verify that word for you.

Listen to the voices of the stars
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Listen to the voices of the stars

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Star

The cold mountain air burns the lungs of the young astronomer as her eyes take in the night sky. Orion winks at her playfully and her gaze swings as she grins back at him; she sees a star larger than the rest and her heart takes her back to a time when a similar star drew men from far and distant countries to a small town called Bethlehem.

These days we don’t have a star to help us find Jesus, but we do still have guides. The Bible, word of mouth, pastors, musicians, artists. God sends us ‘stars’ to guide us. Little lights that show Jesus.
Many say to look to the sky for your answers, read the stars, listen to their voices. I am no astronomer, but that night when God sent a special star to guide people to the stable must have been wild. Angels dropping from Heaven into our night sky and praising their God?!? It would have been a light show like no other. Look to the sky to for your answers? why not? Look up and see 100 billion or more Galaxies and hear them answer you. ‘Yes! There is a God, and He made all this… and He made you!’ Follow the stars around you to the stable and find Jesus.
Life, Death, and Resurrection all held within this baby’s tiny hands.
The very first Christians led to the stable, by a star.

The bare feet of the shepherds
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The bare feet of the shepherds

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Have you ever noticed that when you buy a manger scene these days there are 3 Wise men and maybe 1, or sometimes 2 shepherds? I was contemplating this while fiddling with the presents and staring at our lit – up manger when suddenly the answer whispered in my ear. The Wise men are prettier than the Shepherds. The Wise men are powerful and high class with elegant clothes and sparkling gifts. The Shepherds are low class, even looked down on. Bearing no presents and wearing no shoes as they peek into the manger. The Shepherds were afraid, the Wise men were not. The Shepherds smelled like travel; That Is one thing they shared with the Wise men. The other thing they shred was a sense of awe at the wonder of the baby. The Shepherds were invited to come, the Wise men were not. God knew that the Wise men wouldn’t get there until Jesus was around 2 years old. If He had wanted the Wise men at the manger God would have made sure they were actually there, but this was the Shepherds’ moment. Their night. They were the first to see the baby, the Messiah, our Emmanuel, no one else. I think God kept the Wise men back for more than one reason. One of those reasons being that He knew they would upstage the Shepherds, like they do every year on our manger scenes. God loves the dirty and unloved. He lifts high the fearful and those considered of low value. They are His precious , unrefined treasures. His favorite treasure to work with. Don’t worry if you are not a Wise man. Shepherds hold the highest honor anyway.

Open heart
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Open heart

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Open heart

We all have a seed inside our hearts. A part of us that is undiscovered and trying to grow. A potential. A dream left to the wear of time and long since forgotten. Deep down in your heart, however, that dream left a seed. We all have someone we want to be. A chef, a weatherwoman, an accountant, a movie star. But to fulfill a dream takes hard work, good people, and a bull dog drive. Stats say that over 90% of people give up on their dreams instead of seeing them fulfilled. I think that is very sad. A dream is something important to us, and things that are important to us should be things we fight for. Sometimes we dream of being something that other people say we can’t be. An artist who can’t draw, or a musician who doesn’t know how to play. It is possible that maybe that means your true seed is growing into something else. Perhaps a music teacher or an art studio director. Don’t drop your dreams where you stand and move on. Sometimes the true dream is a vine of the original one. Fight for your dreams and water them. See what your seed grows. Like buying a surprise packaged of flower seeds at the plant store. All you can do is scatter them in the dirt and care for them. You know you want a flower, but what that flower looks like is entirely up to the seed. So you care for it and as it grows you love it more and get more excited to see what it will be.

Let your seed grow, and never give up on it.

A push and a pull
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A push and a pull

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A push and a pull

I have heard it said many times that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman who whispers. If I am perfectly honest there are many days when I feel that I need a great big shove to get me to listen and obey, not a gentle nudge. There are many things that God asks us to do in a day, or a week, that we just do not want to do. Like those days when being honest might get you into trouble, or when the lady at the checkout CLEARLY needs an encouraging word and all we can muster is a grunt that we hope no one heard. Being ‘Jesus’ was never listed in the “easy” column of your favorite magazine; but it is something we are called to do. If you ask God to give you an opportunity be prepared that one may drop in your lap. If you don’t ask God for an opportunity one may drop in your lap anyway so still be braced. If you are asking for patience, DUCK, and do it now because I feel God finds great pleasure in helping us be more patient. It doesn’t matter what the need is because we all need to be better at something. I don’t mean learning how to play Chopin on the organ. We all have ‘be better Christians’ needs and God gets that. He also understands when we get stage freight and freeze when we should be pulling out Excalibur, and like a good master God is never too far away to lend a hand. So, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a push today and see what, or whom, you stumble into.

What does your heart bleed?
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What does your heart bleed?

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What does your heart bleed?
Once there was a little heart wandering through a world of little hearts.
Everywhere she looked she saw damage. Scars and scrapes healed over; open wounds in need of help.
Many of the hearts were bleeding, but the blood was different for each one.
Some bled pain, some bled love, some bled sorrow, some fear, some anger and hatred, some confusion, and as the little heart walked amoung the drips of blood she noticed them sticking to her. She began to bleed what the other hearts were bleeding. The little heart looked around and bumbled into a heart whose wounds were already healed over, she asked
‘what do I do? All these things are sticking to me and causing me pain.’
The healed heart looked at the little heart and gave a small spin; In doing so the little heart noticed a thin layer of callus protecting the other heart.
‘Callus and you no longer feel; then the pain of others won’t stick to you.’
The little heart nodded politely and moved on. To not feel was not what she wanted. Suddenly a large drip landed on her foot. She looked up to see a heart that was bleeding love. The little heart was upset to be even more dirty, until she noticed some of the other drips washing off as the love ran over them. ‘Wait!’ The little heart cried as she chased after the love heart. The heart turned and waited. ‘Why? Why is your love helping clean my pain? It is still bleeding, you still hurt! But your hurt is helping me.’
The love heart smiled.
‘I hurt because I love. If I stopped caring then I would be healed but I would be living an empty life. I allow myself to accept the pain of other hearts and to help them heal. Truth to tell, when others heal because of my love I also heal a little bit.’
Suddenly the little heart understood. The dirt of others was okay to have on you if it meant you got close and showed them love and helped them heal, and suddenly that one drip gave her life purpose.
What does your heart bleed?