Kimmer

Amazing Beauty

2009-09-07T21:16:00.008-05:00

This year has been so busy at work, particularly this summer. But recently i was able to take a short & much needed break. Went to a wonderful place full of beauty and worship... amazing sights... it was a quick trip but a refreshing time of encouragement. God is good! :)

Beautiful Pines:

Good Eats:

former dwelling places:

Stay Steadfast:

Can you see the guy who climbed waaayyy out?....Contemplation:

Hello Love ::: Good Friday

2009-04-25T19:59:00.005-05:00

A friend and I were able to see the Hello Love tour (Chris Tomlin/Israel Houghton) which also had it's last date as part of a Good Friday service at Verizon Ampitheater in Alpharetta...which is an outdoor ampitheater... and there was several rounds of storms that pushed thru prior to that concert... made for a two hour delay ...everyone was trying to watch the radar on their phones to see what was going on-The guy next to us with the iphone definitely had the best info ;)
here is a video i found that someone took as one of the storms went by:

ok that was definitely different! ;)

and then...

suddenly...

our prayers were answered... and the storms were over!

The Good Friday concert began just a few minutes later

...and after everyone calmed down and focused...

it was a contemplation of the cross and celebration of Easter

...it was an absolutely Great time worshipping with them! :)

here are some pics and vids people took that I found on the internet:

Opening with Chris, Matt, & Israel-Amazing Love:

Israel & New Breed-You Make all things new:

Jesus messiah:

Matt Redman- You alone:

Chris Tomlin-I Will Rise:

End of the evening- All the Way:

It was a great evening worshipping with them! :)

Psalm 27:13-14

2009-02-03T13:36:00.002-06:00

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. ps 27:13-14
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I love this portion of scripture...
it was in my one year bible part for today and I thought
--that is just too good not to share!
blessings~

an attitude of Thanksgiving

2008-12-14T23:24:00.003-06:00

"The Lord is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in Him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” ~ Psalm 28:7 (NLT)
David knew the power of thanksgiving. He understood that thanksgiving reflects a humble heart and is rooted in humble gratitude. He was genuinely grateful. For him, God was his only solution, his only escape from danger. And he trusted God to show up and deliver him. For David, God meant life.
No matter what our circumstances, we can always thank God for who He is and for delivering us from every evil darkness into every blessing of light.
James 1:17 says, “every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights . . .” (NKJV).
Thanksgiving honors God. It is a facet of praise, a biblical precept, a key component of prayer and our Christian love walk. The dictionary defines thanksgiving as “a prayer that offers thanks to God . . . an expression or an act of giving thanks . . . a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness.”
Philippians 4:6 instructs us to pray and petition God with thanksgiving. The NIV note for this scripture tells us that thanksgiving is “the antidote to worry.”
Psalm 95:2 says, “Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.”
I Corinthians 10:16 refers to the communion cup as “the cup of thanksgiving,” which we take in remembrance of Jesus who died for us so we can have eternal life.
The word “Hallelujah,” which we often sing, translates into the Hebrew word “halleluyah,” which literally means “praise ye the Lord.” The dictionary defines Hallelujah as a thankful cry of “relief, welcome or gratitude.”
I did a rare thing for myself one day: I bought a cup of coffee at my local grocery store and decided to take my time shopping for our week’s meals. God spoke to my heart as I came upon the book aisle. There, I spotted TV anchor Deborah Norville’s book, Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You.
“Interesting choice of words,” I thought.
I flipped through the book, having recalled Mrs. Norville publicly proclaiming years earlier that she is a woman of faith. I saw that she included lots of supporting material—quotes and studies professing that the principle of thanksgiving works. And, indeed, in the final chapter, she directly addresses “people of faith,” encouraging readers to attend assemblies of worship.
As I stood in the aisle of that market, I was reminded that the same biblical principles that we Christians are to live by also work in the world. God doesn’t want to leave anyone out. He loves us all.
It caused me to pause and ask myself, “How is my attitude of thanksgiving? How grateful is my heart? Do I really honor God enough with prayers of thanksgiving? What gifts from above have I taken for granted?
Indeed, thanksgiving is a powerful principle that touches the Father’s heart. May we ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts, and may we give the Father of Light thanks for every good and perfect gift. (by Margaret Mitchell)
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blessings all~

The Heaven's Declare - Psalm 19

2008-11-18T22:52:00.001-06:00

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer

God Almighty-passion conference Sydney

2008-10-28T22:12:00.001-06:00

Check out God Almighty song & video for Passion Sydney - love it!

James 1:2

2008-10-28T21:19:00.003-06:00

What purpose do trials have in our lives?
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
That is not our natural inclination … must have been shocking to people when they first read this letter (we are used to hearing those verses.)
Trials come in all shapes and sizes when it says trials of various kinds – big, little, hard, easier, all kinds of trials,…trials are inevitable. Notice he says consider it all joy when (not if) they come You can have financial trials, physical trials, family trials,trials w/friends, all kinds of different things. Some people have the idea that because they are Christians, doing devotions, tithing, that means – you won’t have problems. But God didn’t not promise us a trial free life- in fact Jesus said in this world you will have troubles..
so the fact that we are faithfully serving God doesn’t mean we won’t have trials. The psalmist says Ps 34:19- Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
So… what’s the advantage of being a christian?
You won’t go thru them alone.
Sometimes we think that because we are doing our part, that when a trial comes God isn’t doing His part (and that’s not true). Sometimes we think that things will always be smooth.
God has a purpose for allowing trials in our lives.

It helps us to navigate trials if we understand that God has a purpose and that trials are important

6 purposes of trials:
1. Trials are a test – to test the strength of our faith. in II Chron 32:31 God wanted Hezakiah to understand what was in his own heart. trials become a spiritual inventory that help us realize where we are at…to know the strength of our faith. if you are going thru a severe trial, God may use it to reveal to you the condition of your faith. If you are having a really hard time and in constant anxiety about a situation, questioning, doubting God… that can be an indicator of weak faith in an area of our life. That is hard for us to hear. We could be very strong in believing God in some areas of our life – a financial issue, but another issue you could easily be on the rocks. Part of it has to do with what we’ve already been thru; when we’ve seen him deliver us in one area of our lives it is easier to believe He will deliver us again in that same area; but when we hit a different area it can be very difficult and test our faith. If this happens, count it joy because this shows us exactly where we can pray Lord please strengthen my faith in this area.

2. Trials come to humble us.
They cause us to depend on God which is really the greatest measure of humility. The more humble a person is, the more they depend on God and realize their need for God. In II Cor 12 God sent a trial into Paul’s life (v.7) to keep him from being too elated …. He’d been doing all kinds of miracles, caught up intot the 3rd heaven – he also must have known God was using him in his letters to the churches; part of the problem is when God is using you to a great degree, that can tend to cause a person to become prideful and less humble. So literally God allowed him to have a trial to keep him humble… Paul said the thorn was very painful- literally a stake that he felt impaled by. It came to keep him from becoming conceited, so that he would keep depending on God. He said I found out through this trial that I’m the strongest when I’m the weakest. Because when I’m weak then God is strong and that is when things are at their best spiritually speaking. So you might feel like you are at the end of your rope, that is when you are at the beginning of Gods power working in your life.

3. Trials come to keep us from relying on worldly things.
Sometimes we put our confidence in what we have, or the people we know, or the things we can do. We put it in the wrong place. God sends a trial to cause us to rely on him rather than the wrong place. In John 6 Jesus is getting ready to feed the 5,000. He had told the disciples earlier to feed the people and so they had been thinking of how to solve this…..then Jesus asked Phillip this question because he wanted him to realize Lord You open blind eyes, You raise the dead, (things Philip had seen) You do all kinds of things so this is no problem for You, I know You can feed them… but instead Philip said 8 months wages would not be enough to feed them…and he doesn’t see how this could be possible v. 6 tells us that Jesus asked him this to test him, because Jesus knew what He was going to do. Jesus already knew.

Isn’t it good to know that in our trial he knows exactly what He’s going to do. You may be going thru a trial and Jesus knows exactly how He is going to solve it …and what He wants you and I to do is exactly what he wanted Philip to do…He wants us to look to him and say Lord there is no earthly human way this thing is going to be resolved… God you are just going to have to work on my behalf and take care of me…. and that is no big deal because I know You can do that. There is a real release in that. Here is Philip saying there is no way it can be done and what Jesus wanted, was for him to say You are the creator God and for You there is nothing that is impossible.

4. Trials come to call us to an eternal hope. Because the worse things get- heaven looks a whole lot better doesn’t it? The more trials, the more we put our hope and focus on eternal things which is exactly where God wants it to be. In Romans 8 Paul talks about … v18 I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in us. So Paul says I’m going thru suffering but it is nothing compared to the glory God has for us. For creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. In v 22 for we ourselves grown inwardly as we walk this earth and encounter suffering along the way…. we find ourselves saying I can’t wait till heaven. Not in an I don’t care, escapism attitude; but in the hope of the Christian. II Cor 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Earlier in this book Paul has described trials that have caused him even to despair of life; he felt tired of living and thought the weight of his trial would crush him. But he gets a hold of himself and he says no, we don’t give up, we don’t lose heart , our inner nature is being renewed day by day – even if your trial lasts all of your life- in the light of eternity it is so small? Even tho it seems like it will never end it will end? We have to remember that. If we think it is going to go on forever, we can lose hope. So those trials can help us focus on eternity. For the slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. For the things that are seen are temporary (transient- on the move) but the things that are unseen are eternal. Trials have a way of causing us to embrace eternal hope.

5. Trials enable us to help others
Who better to help someone going through a trial than someone who has been through it themselves? Anything that has really touched your heart, you will know some things and have compassion to help others. If you have lost a loved one, if you’ve gone bankrupt, divorce, illness, you can relate to that now. God allows everyone of us to go thru situations in our lives so that as we received comfort from God and he met us in that situation, we can share that comfort and encouragement with others
Ii cor 1. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
So God takes us thru seasons of different trials where we need His comfort and encourgement and we receive it… so that when we come out of that time we can help others around us. You might be going thru a very difficult time right now, but you take heart because God is going to use this in your life and in the lives of others and he is going to make you a blessing. He is blessing you – even if it is a difficult blessing to receive, so that you can bless others.

6. Trials produce endurance and strength
James 1.2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
(the idea endurance- you keep on going, you don’t quit) Let steadfastness have its full effect that you might be perfect (not talking about perfection as in sinless) but talking about maturity- that you might be full grown… with wisdom, perspective, understanding. Trials come so we are able to encourage people, and able to stand steady ourselves; God uses them to develop us.
As we come and respond in prayer, when we face a trial our initial question is almost always WHY? Why now, why me, why when I did this, why …. we’d be better off to change our question from why to what- God what are you trying to teach me; what are you wanting me to learn? God just show me and help me to make the most of this situation so I can come out of this strong, enduring, and steadfast.
Also realize that in our trials we are never alone. You are never alone. His is the friend that sticks closer than a brother and God is right there with you. He is going to help you, He is going to see you through and he wants to develop you. The wonderful thing about trials is if we go through them and seek God and walk close to Him, then what happens is the next time we go thru something similar we find ourselves at peace trusting in the Lord. When you are in a trial and you have doubt or fear or uncertainty or feel rejected, spend a moment in His presence and He can do a work to strengthen your heart... ask Him to strengthen you and help you understand if there is something He wants you to learn.
Is 26.3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
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(a sermon from John Lindell)

Peace for Anxious Days

2008-10-08T22:13:00.001-05:00

(by Max Lucado) When my daughters were two, five, and seven—I wowed them with a miracle. I told them the story of Moses and the manna and invited them to follow me on a wilderness trek through the house.“Who knows,” I suggested, “manna may fall from the sky again.”We dressed in sheets and sandals and did our best Bedouin hike through the bedrooms. The girls, on my instruction, complained to me, Moses, of hunger and demanded I take them back to Egypt, or at least to the kitchen. When we entered the den, I urged them to play up their parts: groan, moan, and beg for food.“Look up,” I urged. “Manna might fall any minute.”Two-year-old Sara obliged with no questions, but Jenna and Andrea had their doubts. How can manna fall from a ceiling?Just like the Hebrews. “How can God feed us in the wilderness?”Just like you? You look at tomorrow’s demands, next week’s bills, next month’s silent calendar. Your future looks as barren as the Sinai Desert. “How can I face my future?” God tells you what I told my daughters: “Look up.”When my daughters did, manna fell! Well, not manna, but vanilla wafers dropped from the ceiling and landed on the carpet. Sara squealed with delight and started munching. Jenna and Andrea were old enough to request an explanation.My answer was simple. I knew the itinerary. I knew we would enter this room. Vanilla wafers fit safely on the topside of the ceiling-fan blades. I had placed them there in advance. When they groaned and moaned, I turned on the switch.

God’s answer to the Hebrews was similar.Did he know their itinerary?Did he know they would grow hungry?Yes and yes.And at the right time, he tilted the manna basket toward earth.
And what about you?God knows what you need and where you’ll be.
Any chance he has some vanilla wafers on tomorrow’s ceiling fans?
Trust him.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:33-34).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~blessings :)

Ephesians 3:16-21

2008-10-06T20:55:00.001-05:00

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The Promises of Problems

2008-10-05T16:37:00.002-05:00

Here is a devotional by Mary Southerland:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Genesis 50:20

If you are like me, you prefer days when the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and not a cloud in sight. Problems tend to irritate me because they make me realize just how frail I am as a human. But I have come to realize that every problem points to a promise.

Promise of direction:God uses problems to show us the way. We would walk through the wrong door if He didn’t close it. Years ago, I dated a young man I thought I would marry. We had it all worked out. He was a preacher and I played the piano and sang. What could be more perfect? I began to pray, “Lord, if he is not the one, just close the door!” The very next conversation I had with this young man ended our relationship and resulted in my taking a church staff position that led me to Dan Southerland. I look back and thank God for that closed door.
"Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways." Proverbs 20:30

Promise of correction:God uses problems to correct us. I have come to realize that some lessons can only be learned in the darkness, through pain and failure. When our daughter was a toddler, she was fascinated with electrical outlets. Nothing we said or did seemed to deter her…until the day she stuck a safety pin in the outlet. “Ouch!” she cried, holding up her little red finger for me to kiss. She never played with an outlet again.
"It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws." Psalm 119:71-72

Promise of protection:A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it keeps you from being hurt by something more serious. It was so hard for me to take our children to the doctor to get immunization shots. I would take a healthy child into the doctor’s office and come out with a little one who was fussy, sore and running a low grade temperature. Our pediatrician finally said, “Mary, just think of it like this. You are allowing your babies to experience a little hurt in order to prevent them from experiencing a bigger hurt. A tetanus shot is nothing compared to tetanus itself.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Genesis 50:20

Promise of perfection:Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. I recently spoke for a women’s conference that used the theme of “Problems into Pearls”. Strands of pearls were everywhere – the center of each table, on the podium from which I spoke, draped across tables – and many of the ladies wore pearls that day. When the worship leader welcomed me, she said, “We have to get you some pearls!” Digging in her purse, she produced the most beautiful pearl necklace and placed it around my neck. As the day went on, I spoke several times, counseled and prayed with numerous women and tried to meet as many women as possible. When everyone had left, the woman came to retrieve her pearl necklace. I was embarrassed. I had worked up quite a sweat with all of that hugging, laughing, talking. She brushed my apology aside and said, “Sweat is good for pearls. It helps them keep their luster.”
"We can rejoice when we run into problems... they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4

God is at work in and around you. You may not see His hand, hear His voice or even understand His process, but you can rest assured that you can trust His heart. Remember, every problem points to a promise.

Hello Love - update 9/16

2008-08-24T22:24:00.012-05:00

(to listen, first click on pause on the pop up player to the right of my blog)
Looking forward to hearing and learning about these songs...

Update- 9/16 - OK I've had this cd for over two weeks now...

and can I say, I'm just lovin it?! :)

Love the old songs, love the new...

Love the more musically complex, and the simpler ones too

I have loved hearing about how they came to be

They all have become stuck in my head at this point....

one is usually in the back of my mind.

Keep thinking of the lyrics to so many, and the tunes too.

I could list them but it would be all of them, so that would be silly.

This cd is different than previous ctb collections, but worth the wait!

each song is special in it's own way and I can't wait till we start worshipping with some of them in church!

Thanks to the CTB & co. for another great set of worship songs! :)

Maggie the puppy @ 7 months old

2008-08-22T21:22:00.011-05:00

Remember Maggie the abandoned puppy that I brought home at the end of March? The vet said she was about 2 months old then... here are a few pics from the first night I had her:

and here are some pics that her family sent me this week- she is almost 7 months old:

and here is a video of her playing:

wow! I can't believe how much she has grown!

Still a little cutie though ;)

I'm so glad she is has a big family with dogs and lots of room in the country to run and play :)

Beth Moore's hairbrush story

2008-07-27T22:07:00.003-05:00

here is an email a friend sent me last week... it says it is a story from Beth Moore--I dont know for sure that it is, but it does sound a lot like something she would share, so I could see where it could be from her. here is the email:

HAIRBRUSH EXPERIENCE OF BETH MOORE AT THE AIRPORT
For those of you who do not know Beth Moore, she is an outstanding Bible teacher, writer of Bible studies, and is a married mother of two daughters. This is one of her experiences:

April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville , waiting to board theplane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I wasdoing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because Iwant to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego.

I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes thatobviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier His kneesprotruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coathanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses ofveins and bones.The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hairhung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man. I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning myface. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I foundmyself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport... animpersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?

There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served up on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.

Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall.I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something socontrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing.

I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. 'Oh, no, God, please, no.' I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, 'Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don'tmake me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!' There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His highness, 'Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane.' Then I heard it ...'I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair.'

The words were so clear, my heart leap into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainier. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, 'God, as I live andbreathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he isnot redeemed? I am going to witness to this man' Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. 'That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you towitness to him. I want you to go brush his hair.'

I looked up at God and quipped, 'I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?' God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: 'I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works.' (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, 'Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?' He looked back at me and said,
'What did you say?'
'May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?'
To which he responded in volume ten, 'Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that.'
At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out , 'SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?'
At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face,and say, 'If you really want to.' Are you kidding? Of course I didn'twant to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, 'Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have ahairbrush.' 'I have one in my bag,' he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many thingswell, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands,remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for that few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while.

The emotions were so strong and so pure t hat I knew they had to beGod's. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees and said, 'Sir, do you know my Jesus?'

He said, 'Yes, I do' Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, 'I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior.' He said, 'You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, whata mess I must be for my bride.'

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.

Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down hercheeks. She said, 'That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?'

I said, 'Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!'

And we got to share. I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted,you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way . . all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14 'The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth'

Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, 'Wow! What a ride! Thank You, Lord!'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
blessings ~

My brother is going to be 50?

2008-06-16T20:53:00.006-05:00

Ok so I must have been working too much lately because making this was entirely too much fun! ;)

my Dad told me yesterday that they are having a surprise party for my brother's 50th birthday party this friday...(I like cant believe he's going to be 50... 40 maybe but not 50?) anyway so i had to quick think of a present and he is hard to buy for because he only likes something handmade or inexpensive or that he can share; none of us know why but he's kind of odd about gifts... anyway I thought of a great one! he has a yellow race car and I went to toys are us and found a white one about 8 inches long...it even has a little driver in it with the single cockpit so tonight i painted it yellow and painted his name and a 50 on it.....and then the crowning touch- some flower stickers.... which is an inside joke my Dad and brothers will laugh at ... when i was little my dad collected (still does) corvette stuff and one of his little models which actually had monetary value... my brothers had a flower decal one time and talked me into putting it on there and said Dad would like it and to show it to him when he got home. well Dad did not like it. ;) but he still has that car (I did not get in trouble because he knew the way my brothers were snickering they had put me up to it and besides where else would i get a decal?) anyway i have lots of little flower stickers to put allll over this car. hehehe ok maybe ya had to be there but I predict it will give 3 people a good laugh. hey and the car has some kind of remote control. what will they think of next? ;)

wish i could be there to see him open it

The Power of Prayer

2008-06-09T20:50:00.005-05:00

II Chronicles 20:1-22
Jehoshaphat sought God but he wasn’t perfect, he did something un-wise and aligned himself with Ahab, who was a wicked king and went to battle with him.
II Chron 19:1-2 some kings upon hearing a rebuke like this would have the prophet who delivered the message killed, but Jehoshaphat sought God, repented, and did many good things. He had made some mistakes, but he was serious about walking with God, which is the foundation of a good prayer life….

1. The time to develop a walk with God and a prayer life – is now.
Notice in II Chron 20:1 – Jehoshaphat was faithful to God… yet he still had problems in life…. And because of his relationship with God, God helped him. Dont wait until you have problems, develop your walk with God now.

2. Problems are a part of life and sometimes there is no way to avoid them.
At least if you are walking with God, you know He is with you during problems. The enemy will try to drive a wedge between you and God during times of trouble…. Yet the Word tells us that many are the afflictions of the righteous-but the Lord delivers them. Some problems are beyond your ability to solve – and that’s OK—if it weren’t for that we wouldn’t be able to see what God can do! A miracle starts with a problem. If you have a problem – it’s because God wants to work a miracle in your life. v.3 – go to God right away when you encounter a problem – Jesus said some things are only solved by prayer and fasting.

3. If you stay close to God… when trouble comes, you won’t have to go very far for help.

4. When praying, don’t just focus on the facts of the crisis, focus on the truth about God.
V5-6 O Lord are You not God in heaven – He’s putting his emotions about the situation in check and instead focusing on how great God is. There are times in the natural it looks so difficult but Jehoshaphat is reminding himself of the truth about God – that nothing is too hard for God. We need to follow this example when we encounter problems … put our emotions in check and pray aloud – that God is the creator of the heavens and that this problem is not too big for Him and ask Him for His help. V 7-8 Jehoshaphat reminds God of times in the past when He has helped his people v9-10 – God likes to hear us remind Him of what He’s said He’d do. V.11-12 God if You don’t help us we cannot know what to do – even though Jehoshaphat had a mighty army at his disposal, he was confessing his dependence on God and that His eyes were on God. Don’t just look at the facts- that can lead to discouragement – look instead to God.

5. Listen for God’s voice before you leave the place of prayer.
Lay your burdens out before Him and then wait before Him and listen instead of getting up and walking away. He may want to speak to you right then. And also remember that He can speak to you at other times, through other people or through dreams, or when you least expect it. V.13 – they waited on God.

6. When you pray and ask for His help, God will take on your problems as His own.
v.14-15 the battle (problem) is not yours- it’s Gods. He’ll take our problems if we’ll give it to Him. Then we must leave it with Him and let it go (don’t pick it right back up).

7. After you have prayed and God has spoken to your heart, believe Him.
V.20 – believe and you will be established and secure.

8. Praise God BEFORE He solves the problem, wtih the confidence that He is with you
–this has everything to do with releasing His power in your life. If He says He’ll take care of something – praise Him that He has taken care of it. He takes joy in our exercising the faith to believe Him V21-22 His steadfast love endures forever. Instead of strategizing their war moves with the army – they praised God and before they ever arrived to meet the enemy – they Lord killed the enemy… the place became called a Valley of Blessing for them. When you really enter into praising Him before the problem is over, He will take the battle for you. Your problem could be leading the way to a Valley of Blessing in your life as well.
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(from a sermon of Pastor John Lindell)

Maggie...part 2 :)

2008-04-13T21:42:00.008-05:00

Well it's time for an update on the puppy I brought home. I decided to call her Maggie; I took her to the vet when they had an opening the next Monday; the vet said she is part golden retriever and something else; two people said Samoyed and from looking at pics I think they are right. So yes she is going to be really big... I thought about keeping her anyway...but oddly enough, I seem to be allergic to her. My allergies were in high gear around her and whenever she'd want to play and snuggle, I was also having skin rashes all over my arms and neck from her nuzzling me. I love dogs and I've never had that happen before, so that was weird. I wanted to keep her, but couldnt find a peace about it. When i prayed about it, I felt like God wanted me to try and find a good home for her. So I put up posters at work and at several vets and dog groomers. Last week I heard from a lot of people and one of the people who seemed most interested and like a good fit was a friend from work I've know 10+ years. I know she is very sweet; she wanted the puppy for her 16 year old daughter who wanted her. And she has some other kids who have a black lab and it sounds like they are very good at working with dogs and training them. They also have a few older dogs. Another plus is that they live on 60+ acres in the country so the dogs have lots of room to explore... so she'd have kids to play with and dogs to play with and lots of room. All things considered, it just seemed like an answer to prayer; I'd been praying for a good family for her. So my friend and her daugter Keli came and met Maggie yesterday and took her home... Maggie loves to meet new people and was crazy about the little girl! The house is rather quiet today, but I am at peace knowing it is a good fit and that she'll have much more company between the kids and the other dogs. She's a very sweet and smart dog. so I only had her 16 days, but you would not believe how much she changed during that time! I really wouldnt have realized it, except from comparing the pics I was taking of her.
Here are some slideshow pics:

Puppy!

2008-03-27T20:37:00.004-06:00

ok I did something a tad impulsive today.... I brought home a stray puppy! Some guys at work talked me into going and looking at them (what was i thinking). Someone had dumped several pups right by the side of a farm road this morning. I dont know how someone could do that. I guess they were hoping someone would take them home (someone like me). One of the guys drove me over to look at them and of course she captured my heart. She looked a different breed than the rest, she was long haired and has these cute floppy sheltie like ears and by far the most social; the others wouldnt get close enough to pet them but she was very snuggly and playful although a bit shy. I kept thinking ... she is so cute! but i wonder if she'll turn out to be a huge dog. I really want another indoor dog but I dont think a huge dog in the house is a good idea. If she'd just only grow a little bit she'd be a great size... but i have a feeling she is going to be big... I couldnt just leave her there though, we found one of the other pups had been hit and killed down the road aways during the day today. Plus tonight we had storms with golf ball size hail forecasted; they are thundering by now. i hate to think of any of those pups out there but I sure couldnt bring all of them! (I'm already thinking- what was I thinking?) So tomorrow I'm going to try and take her to the vet and see if they can tell me what they think she is and how big she'll get. She's pretty calm so far and was really good riding in the car, but she is not house broken. She keeps seeing her reflection in the stove and I think she thinks its another puppy. She seems pretty smart, she did not know 'yes' or 'no' when i brought her home-- but she seems to be catching on already to yes and no which is kind of incredible. I dont think she'd ever been given a toy before, i gave her one of casey's old toys and she didnt know what to do with it at first.... then she kind of figured it out and played with it for about an hour once she realized it would squeak. It was really cute. She was sticking to me like glue when we first got home, but now she's starting to explore the house now. She's very responsive to voices -- she smiles and wags her tail if you talk or sing to her. ahh now she is laying down next to me. I really hope she plans on sleeping tonight...really hope so... ;) ok so I honestly think she is probably going to be too big to keep.... but what the guy at work talked me into was that if the vet says she is going to be big- i could take her to a shelter and she will stand a very good chance of getting adopted because she is a puppy, very cute, and so social and friendly. So we'll see tomorrow. And I'm going to see Third Day tomorrow night in KC so this is not the most convenient time to do this, but I found someone to watch her tomorrow night. At this point I'm trying very hard to think of her as a temporary guest. she didnt look this big on the side of the road, she's looking a lot bigger now that I see her in the house....we'll see what the vet says tomorrow; at least if it doesnt work out for me to keep her, she is inside for a few nights, wont get hit by a car and she will have a good opportunity to find a family. ahh she is asleep now. funny, she is laying in the same spot Casey always liked to lay in... here's a pic of her sleeping. Dang she's cute.

Refreshers

2008-03-25T19:57:00.006-06:00

a devotional by S. Jaynes:

Refreshment for Refreshers

“He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25 NIV).

A few years ago, a friend of mine almost single-handedly made all the decorations for the church Christmas program. She worked for months on white flowing robes, sparkling sheer backdrops, and frosted glittery stage props. The church was transformed into a picturesque heavenly wonderland that took our imaginations to a different world. Well, over 2,000 people viewed the Christmas program and marveled at Mary’s handiwork. And what did Mary receive for all her effort…one note of thanks.

My greatest regret is that I did not write that note.

“Of course I didn’t do the work to get accolades or pats on the back,” Mary told me later. “But I read that one note over and over again.”

Many times a word of thanks or appreciation is the only reward a fellow believer in Christ receives this side of heaven. The writer of Proverbs wrote, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25).

Could it be that it is our words that are meant to be the refreshment they are longing for?

Another wise saying notes” “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it” (Proverbs 3:27).

We always have the power to offer an encouraging word…may we never withhold such a valuable treasure from those traveling down the road of faith with us. Mother Teresa said, “Kind words are easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

The prophet Elisha met a woman who understood that God’s people need encouragement along their journey. One day as he was passing through the town of Shunem, a wealthy woman urged him to join her and her husband for dinner. During their time together, she discerned that Elisha was a holy man and decided to build a guest room onto their home for him to use when he came through town. She wanted nothing in return; it was just her way of blessing Elisha, of refreshing him, with her words and ways.

Elisha was overwhelmed by her generosity and wanted to give a gift to her in return. But when Elisha offered to speak to the King on her behalf, she assured him that she did not want, need, or expect anything for her kindness. Elisha wouldn’t take no for an answer and continued to contemplate the perfect hostess gift.

Gehazi, his servant came up with a splendid idea…a child. “Well, she has no son and her husband is old,” Gehazi remarked. Great idea. Elisha called her to the doorway and announced, “About this time next year you will hold a son in your arms” (2 Kings 4:16). And she did!

I just love to watch people try to “out nice” each other. That’s exactly what we see in the story of Elisha and the woman from Shunem. How wonderful it would be if we used our words to try to “out nice” each other.

Paul wrote, “Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir and stimulate and invite to love, and helpful deeds and noble activities” (Hebrews 10:22 Amp.).

This was not a flippant command. Notice the actions words: give attentive care, continuous care, watching over, studying how, stimulate, invite. Notice at the beginning of Paul’s exhortation, he instructs us to observe and then to speak. Not every person needs the same word of encouragement. We watch; we pray; and then we speak the words that will refresh them most effectively.

Today, watch and pray. Ask God to show you who in your sphere of influence needs an encouraging word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
blessings :)

My Redeemer Is Faithful & True

2008-03-24T18:48:00.002-06:00

I saw Steven Curtis Chapman in concert a few weeks ago... he sang this song that night and it keeps coming back to me so I looked it up and thought I'd share the lyrics:

My Redeemer Is Faithful & True
Steven Curtis Chapman

As I look back on the road I've travelled,
I see so many times He carried me through;
And if there's one thing that I've learned in my life,
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My heart rejoices when I read the promise
'There is a place I am preparing for you.'
I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face,
'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

And in every situation
He has proved His love to me;
When I lack the understanding,
He gives more grace to me.

My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

blessings~

He's my King

2008-03-22T23:01:00.001-06:00

Boldness Before the Throne

2008-03-06T22:12:00.001-06:00

Here is a devotional by Max Lucado:
let us then feel very sure that we can come before God's thone where there is grace Heb 4:16

Jesus tells us..."When you pray, pray like this : 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.'"

When you say, "They kindgom come, " you are inviting the Messiah himslef to walk into your world. "
Come, my King!
Take your throne in our land.
Be present in my heart.
Be present in my office.
Come into my marriage.
Be Lord of my family, my fears, and my doubts."
This is no feeble request;
it's a bold appeal for God to occupy every corner of your life.

and...who are you to ask such a thing?
Who are you to ask God to take control of your world?
You are his child, for heaven's sake!
And so you ask boldly.
(by Max Lucado)

Christmas 2007 pics

2008-01-13T22:24:00.000-06:00

Assurance... & Priorities

2008-01-06T18:42:00.000-06:00

Here is a devotional from Charles Stanley, and after that, part of a letter:
Assurance for Trials –
Psalm 121:1-6
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you-- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore

Trials will erupt in every life. Thankfully, though, we can rely on our Father to help in times of need, as Psalm 121 assures us.

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (vv. 1-2). Though thieves would hide in the mountains and prey upon innocent travelers, the psalmist knew where to turn for help. Similarly, when we encounter unknowns, fears, or trials, our sovereign Lord will sustain us (Psalm 103:19)—even when others let us down or our own strength fails.

“He who keeps you will not slumber” (v. 3). With billions of people in the world, it is difficult to comprehend how the Lord could possibly know every detail of our lives—or why He would care enough to number all the hairs on our heads. But this passage confirms that God is alert to every aspect of our lives and attentive to our needs.

“The Lord is your keeper” (v. 5). In Hebrew, the word for “keep” comes from the same root as “guard” and “protect.” We use this term when a parent asks a trusted person to “keep” her child while she is away temporarily. The childcare provider is expected to protect and provide for needs. God promises to keep His children, which means that He will defend us, give us what we need, grow us into His likeness, and guard us from evil.

Without these promises, the world could seem dangerous and lonely. But we can face unknowns and difficult times with confidence, knowing that the Lord will keep us and help us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are portions of a letter I received from his ministry recently:
"Years ago, before I finished seminary, God spoke to my heart about an important principle that has helped shape my life and ministry. What he showed me was so crystal clear that I will never forget it: No matter what I hoped to achieve, no matter what He called me to do, I could accomplish it only on my knees. ...if I wanted God to fulfill His purose for me, prayer would need to become the central focus of my life.
It was as true then as it is today: prayer must always be a priortiy because it is how we invite God to exercise His power in our lives and provide for our needs. However, when we fail to communicate with the Father, we miss out on the blessings of knowing Him better and watching Him work mightily in our lives.
So as we look forward to 2008, I want to ask you: Is prayer the priority of your life? Do you go to God first whenever you need wisdom, counsel, or direction? If not I encourage you to start the New Year off right by getting on your knees before God and making your time with Him a daily discipline. Thank Him for all of the good things He has done for you. Bring your hurts and concerns to Him. Lift up those who need to know His Son Jesus christ. Be available to the Lord and obey whatever He tells you to do. Because it is during those times of prayer that you will grow most in your intimate relationship with the Father and experience life at its very best.
The truth is, none of us know what this year will bring - but God does.... Heb 4:16 - Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
I pray that 2008 is your very best year yet. May you be greatly blessed in the days and months to come as you grow closer to the Lord and allow Him to fulfill His purpose in your life. - Charles Stanley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok well maybe that isn't for you guys, but I guess I needed to hear that twice today because the letter (which I did not open until this afternoon) .... well it is very similar to the sermon at church this morning.... I'm getting the message ;)
blessings ~

Don't Miss Christmas

2007-12-24T00:48:00.000-06:00

(by Mary Southerland)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" -John 3:16

The Christmas rush is on! I know many of you are still looking for the perfect gift, wrapping presents, baking your famous sugar cookies, packing the car for a long trip and wrestling with overly excited children. Ho! Ho! Ho!Right where you are...STOP!
Take a deep breath and travel back with me to a time when there was no hope...no celebration. I can’t imagine a world without Jesus and yet, many times I live my life as if He doesn’t even exist. A trial comes and I try to handle it on my own. Loneliness floods my heart and instead of reaching out to Him, I withdraw into the darkness.Then, He interrupts my life and fills each black corner with Light. His love flows over the pain like a soothing balm and once again, I experience the manger.
Once again, He steps into the smelly, unlikely and very ordinary existence that is mine to change everything – everything! He could have come to us in many ways but He chose to interrupt the very ordinary with the most extraordinary! He could have chosen to be born in a palace. After all, He was a King. Yet His life on earth began in a manger - a dirty, smelly barn. The simplicity of His birth is one of His most precious gifts to me and one of my most profound life lessons.I often wish that I had been there that holy night when Jesus was born but then He reminds me that I have my own manger, my own holy moment when God became a reality to me, and I worship Him!
Every year I am reminded of the very heart of Christmas - Emanuel, God with us. God wants to be involved in the simple, ordinary happenings of daily life: where we go - what we do - the smile we give the harried stranger - the patience we wear in the crowd of impatient shoppers - the love that prompts the secret gift - the heart that constantly celebrates His birth through every sparkling light, every beautifully wrapped gift, each special meal, every card, phone call and visit.Join me in this quest - to celebrate Him and His birth in everything I do. Have a birthday party for Jesus! Adopt a family in need! Reach out to the lonely! Look for Him in the crowd! Emanuel, God with us! WOW!Father, today I celebrate the reality of Your presence in my life. I celebrate Your birth, Your life, Your death and Your resurrection. And as I celebrate, Lord, help me to be “God with skin on” to those in need around me. Open my eyes and let me see them as You see them! I love You! Happy Birthday!
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blessings~

Dance in the Margin

2007-11-15T23:59:00.000-06:00

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He leads me beside still waters and restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1-3
"I’m heading out the door to lead worship at a weekend conference. I’m very excited to see our LORD at work in the lives of women this weekend, but – in all honesty – I’ve got a slightly wounded heart as I cross the threshold. You see, I’ll be missing my son’s flag football game this weekend.
Balance can be so elusive. It’s one of the great battles of this age. I struggle with it as much as the next person. Many mundane and godly things compete for the attention of our time, our minds, our hearts, and our souls – and so many are good things.

In most crowded lives, margin (time of reflection and rest), is no longer the norm, but the exception.Lately, my personal challenge is to pass up the good for the great. I’m learning and striving to prioritize my days, my time and my disciplines in order to be increasingly effective in pointing to God’s glory in all that I do.

I’m trying to pause each day and experience enough margin time that the loud sounds of ‘living and doing’ do not drown out the still small voice of my Prince of Peace…my true source of balance. I’m reminded of the lyric from that old hymn “In the Garden” by C. Austin Miles
I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses, And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry, thereNone other has ever known

Notice that the worshipper in that hymn didn’t go to the garden with an entourage…she was alone! She went looking for God…and He walked with her! How amazing is it that the holy God of heaven is available to tarry with us and is willing to be found when we seek Him?As we journey both on our own and together to the heart of heaven, my prayer is that your days would be enhanced with God-thoughts. I pray your personal time of worship would compel you to respond to the glory of God and fall before Him in humble worship. Through songs, hymns and scriptures, I long for each God-seeker to find refuge in the hiding place of His safe and loving arms.
Sing to Him. Lift up His name with song today. Dance in the margin. I firmly believe that when we engage in passionate praise and sincere worship, our time is well invested. It blesses the heart of God and it nourishes our souls to the very core of who we were made to be. We tip the scales of balance in our favor. We find sacred margin. I’m all for that." (by Gwen Smith)
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blessings :)

To all Teachers

2007-10-26T00:09:00.000-05:00

by Charles R. Swindoll
I’ve never had a strong desire to be a teacher. Don’t get me wrong. I admire tremendously those who teach. It was a teacher in junior high who taught me to love science. It was a teacher in high school who got me hooked on history. Another teacher helped me overcome stuttering and learn how to speak in public . . . how to think on my feet . . . how to pace the delivery of words . . . how to use humor. And it was yet another teacher who passed along the practical techniques I still use in digging pearls out of scriptural oysters.
So, let me firmly establish this fact: I am deeply indebted to several teachers. If you teach, be encouraged! You probably have no idea how great a contribution you are making.
If I were to teach, however, I think I would keep a personal journal of the funny things my students said. Actually, Richard Lederer must have had the same brilliant idea. In fact, he even published the mistakes in a book cleverly titled Anguished English, in which he sort of pastes together the “history” of the world from genuine student bloopers collected by teachers throughout America, from eighth grade through college level. Here are a few examples. Hold on tight . . . there’s a lot to be learned that you may have missed in your years in school.

For example, did you know that Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies who wrote in hydraulics? They lived in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. Certain areas of that dessert were cultivated by irritation.

Then we learn that in the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. One of their children, Cain, asked, “Am I my brother’s son?”

After that, Pharaoh forced the Hebrew slaves to make bread without straw, and Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada.

Later we learn that David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Finkelsteins. Solomon, one of his sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.

Forgiving

2007-10-09T23:46:00.000-05:00

I took the picture of this 'catcus heart' earlier this year... It came to mind as I was posting my notes from my pastor's sermon on unforgive-ness:

Something that can hinder our prayer life is unforgiveness. A spirit of unforgiveness can be damaging our prayer life. Before we come to Him with prayer requests, we need to first cleanse our hearts.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9
Think of this verse as the believers ‘daily bar of soap’. Everyday we should do this because if we have anything we need to confess and examine our heart about, it restores our fellowship to God.

Some thoughts on unforgiveness-
1. Unforgiveness imprisons you in the past & keeps a wound current.
There is a place for talking through and processing hurt and pain... but there comes a point where you have to let it go. As humans, we can tend to re-live hurtful offenses; every time we do this though, it is embedding the pain and unforgiveness in your spirit again and again. When you are unforgiving...it is like sentencing yourself to feel ‘this bad’ forever, because it imprisons you in that past. We arent hurting the other person, nearly so much as we are hurting ourselves if we dont forgive.

2. Unforgiveness produces bitterness.
If you choose to re-live the painful memory over and over it can produce bitterness in your heart. Heb 12:15 "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." When this happens, it keeps people from having the relationships they could have had.

3. Unforgiveness gives Satan an open door into your life.
One of the enemies favorite schemes is to birth a spirit of unforgiveness in us.
Eph 4:26-27 "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

II Cor 2:10-11 "If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes "

4. Unforgiveness hinders your fellowship with God
Matt 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Think about forgiveness – you can have forgiven someone for things long ago, but you may need to forgive them again. Why? If the hurt has been deep, times when we think of it again... or perhaps new offenses from that person can stir up feeling of unforgiveness in us. That is why Jesus said we must forgive 70x7. He understood our human condition and that we may need to forgive again and again. If someone has done you wrong, you need to let it go and lay it down as many times as necessary. It is healthy for you and for your relationship with God.

There may be old deep hurts that you have simply learned to live with; or maybe they are new ones. Lay it down, let it go, and leave it with God.
When you think of unforgiveness, are there people or situations that God brings to your mind? Remember I John 1:9,"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Psalm 139:23-24 - "Search me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting!"

After this, then make your requests to God.
No matter what you have lost or how you have been wronged, God will more than make it up to you, He is the same God who created the universe, He is more than able to do this!
~~~~~~~~~~
blessings~

Ice, Pruning..... and Growth!

2007-08-13T23:47:00.000-05:00

Can you believe the summer is almost over? I’ve been very busy and it’s gone by so fast. But while I’ve been driving this summer… I’ve been thinking a lot about the trees. If you were with me last January, you might remember the ice storm that hit this area. Many trees were destroyed, most of those that remained were very damaged. The power was out for 2 full days at my house then periodically on and off during the next week. I felt fortunate to have it at least coming back on for periods to warm the house up though, because many people were without power for weeks and the temperatures were very low, below zero at one point. All those power surges and the only damage I’ve found is a blown something in my air-conditioner that only cost $75 to fix so that was a huge blessing. The tree limb cleanup literally took months. The sound of chainsaws became very familiar in the coming weeks as neighbors found someone to help.
Several trees were cut back so severely they honestly looked like big coat racks, and we wondered why anyone would do that to a tree? They looked so strange and foreign, as if they would never be normal again. I remember hearing people say, why not just cut the whole thing down if you are going to do that? It surely wont live….
I went home to Indiana in February and looking down from the sky as we descended, my first thought was the sudden realization of how full and lush the branches of the trees looked (even without leaves). I had gotten so used to being surrounded by the broken trees, that the unbroken ones really stood out, even from above. I heard many people wonder how many years it would be before the trees around here would begin to look somewhat normal. And this spring, just when bushes and trees were beginning to show signs of life and buds were trying to form… there was a very hard frost. The buds all died. It seemed the trees just couldn’t get a break. You hoped they would snap out of it, but it wasn’t looking good.
Then I remember a day early this summer, I think it was in June. It was wonderfully mild outside in the 70’s and breezy. I had the windows open and was taking a nap on the couch, when I awoke to a lovely sound I hadn’t heard for so long—the sound of the wind rustling in the leaves! What a beautiful noise that is, God’s creation singing. It was then that I realized, the trees were making a comeback! I’ve lived in MO for over a decade, and most years it seems we practically jump from 50 in April to 80 in May to 90s and 100’s until October when we might get back into the 80s. Quite a bit hotter than my northern Indiana childhood. And we get a lot of tornadic violent storms here, but not much genuine soaking rain. Well this year has been so different. The whole spring and summer we’ve enjoyed temps in the 70-80’s until the last few weeks. And rain in more abundance than I’ve ever seen here. Hard rain, gentle rain, all kinds of rain, for weeks and months, I’ve never seen this much rain in Missouri before. It's August and I still have green grass! And this mild summer, with its rain, has restored most of these trees in ways we really just cant believe, many people have commented on it. True, they may not have the kind of shape they used to have. But they have sprouted more leaves in more places than any of us ever thought possible. I’ve watched it all happen so slowly and felt like the Lord was saying … just watch....just wait...I want you to notice something.... I love plants and flowers but I’m really a novice. I know nothing about things like pruning. You know what? In the end, what it seemed would kill these trees ...well it didn’t. Granted, they look very different. But they have definitely grown in ways they never would have if not for the pruning caused by weight of that ice storm. I felt like there was a spiritual truth in this...when you feel you are being 'pruned'...even if it feels like most of your leaves are gone... if you keep your roots deep and continue to drink from the Water that gives life, He will bring you through; things may not have gone exactly as you would have imagined, but you will flourish and grow in ways you never imagined!

Here are some illustrations:
‘ice fingers’ --How thick the ice was and this was only 2/3 of the way through the storm.

I have two trees in my backyard – the top half of this broke off after only 5 hours of icing and crashed loudly to the ground. It was my first clue we were in for quite the weekend. In daylight, I could see it was a total blessing the way it fell. It fell diagonally in the only angle it could and miss the fence, the power lines, and the house. That was a real blessing.

Look at it now:

Here is the other tree in my backyard, now it didn’t suddenly break in two and crash to the ground, but it did bend with the weight of all that ice, clear over to till the limbs were touching the ground. It literally reminded me of the expression of someone ‘bending over backwards’. It seemed so long it had to bear the weight of that ice in that position. Every now and then I’d hear a little crack out of it and hope it was going to make it. After the ice finally thawed… it stayed bent over a very long time but gradually over time, the limbs eventually lifted and pointed that way back up to the sky!

Look at it now:

And here is an example of how some of the trees were pruned back to what look like coat hangers, a skeleton of a tree to many of us:

And here are what those trees look like now! These are simply amazing to me :)

Ok here’s my last set of examples…. I’d said when I posted this one that these trees had a ‘tornado’s been through here’ look to them:

Well look at them now! Ok, does anyone else see a slight resemblance to ‘Dr Suess” trees? That’s what these in particular make me think of ;)

well there you have.. thoughts on trees...pruning... and growth~
blessings :)

July 4th!

2007-07-05T17:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a slideshow from the July 4 outreach & celebration!
The first part shows the day in the concessions area (which is where I was working) and some of the airshow. (I dont have any pics of the kids games because they were on the other side...) Then there are pics of the fireworks... At least 150 people came forward for salvation during the event! :)

Also at the end of the slide show I included some pics of my flowers because a few friends had asked to see them...

Hope you are all having a great summer!
blessings~

Complete Rainbow

2007-05-25T23:39:00.000-05:00

How often do you see a rainbow? Normally, I don't see them that often, I'm thinking normally... maybe one or two per year....? but.... in the past month I have seen at least 5 rainbows (possibly 6?), with 4 of them being full rainbows stretching from horizon to horizon!! They seemed enormous and beautiful; they absorbed my attention. I've only ever seen a complete full rainbow once before in my life, so seeing 4 of them this past month has been quite surprising! And each time I have seen these rainbows, it has been very grey, cloudy, and rainy outside in all directions.... I can't really tell where the sunlight is coming from to make the rainbow. It has been a surprise blessing every time. I take it as a comfort and a reminder of God's promises, nearness, and faithfulness to us. I didn't take the pictures above, but when I searched online it was the closest thing I could find to what I've been seeing because it looks kind of cloudy. I saw the fourth full rainbow tonight on the way home from work, so I decided maybe it was time to post about it....

Here's a devotional from Rebecca Barlow Jordan:
COVENANT MAKER
"I have set my rainbow in the clouds,and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Genesis 9:13

FROM THE FATHER'S HEART
My child, I am in the promise-making business. You need never wonder about whether I will keep My word. Just like the visual reminder, a rainbow, that I gave to let you know the world would never again be destroyed by flood, I have given you countless promises in My Word. Test them, and see if I will not pour out on you immeasurable blessings when you seek to know Me intimately and trust in Me. My covenant with you is sealed in blood forever.

A GRATEFUL RESPONSE
Your rainbow was only the beginning of covenant signs between You and Your people, Lord. You are the covenant maker, the originator of all blessings and promises. Your Word has never lost its power. Each day is a rainbow, a personal promise from You, Lord. --(by Rebecca Barlow Jordan)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 89:5
The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
I Cor. 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
I Chr. 16:1
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,and let them say among the nations, The Lord reigns!
Psalm 8:1
O Lord, our Lord,how majestic is your name in all the earth!You have set your glory above the heavens.
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork
Psalm 36:5
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,your faithfulness to the clouds
Ephesians 3:17-19
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

blessings :)

5:18

2007-05-20T21:28:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine named Lisa (or zeph317) shared my birthday verse with me on my birthday a few days ago (May 18th.) from birthverse.com ...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

It got me to thinking about 518...
I used to travel like 60% for work and there were some years everything seemed so rushed. One week I was working at a business in PA. Now when you were sent out to do training like this, they could basically determine your schedule, most places would have you teaching class from 8 am-10 pm. But this PA bank, they were all about going home on time- they didnt have me scheduled past 430 and the place was deserted at by 445. I mean empty. It was wierd but I thought, ok...huh, great, an easy week, write this one down for the memory books....I'll actually go relax a bit and eat dinner at a decent hour. So I left, got lost on the way back to the hotel - because none of the streets there were in anything close to a grid- they were twisty, windy, one-way funky streets. Well I finally found my hotel and went into my hotel room. Now this hotel had the weirdest alarm clocks I've ever seen. All I can say is they were for the sight challenged. I mean the red numbers were literally like 3-4 inches high- just huge red numbers and when I walked in, there it was staring me in the face and it was 5:18. I thought, huh, that's interesting, 518, my birthday.

The second night it was much the same except I got lost going on other streets and had to find a different way to the hotel. Let me mention there was tons of traffic each night. When I walked into the room that second night, there again was the clock with 5:18 right in front of me. I thought - man that's wierd, what are odds of that? ... Then I changed into some jeans and left for dinner.

The third night some people stayed asking questions and I again took quite by accident a third route to the hotel. This night I walked into the room and there was that clock again saying 5:18 --
ok now I knew this what not a coincidence.
I'm a little slow but you can get through to me eventually, if you just keep trying.... I said Lord... what is going on.... with the 5:18's? I very strongly felt His presence and felt Him say I've been trying to get your attention....because I've been wanting to remind you how much I love you.... Wow, that brought me to my knees. I was suddenly ashamed to wonder- how long had it been since I'd actually told God that I loved Him? oh my gosh... way too long. Things were just moving so fast at that time....I was even in the job I believed God wanted me in. I was on the road a lot but I went to church whenever I was home...I loved the Lord, I was a Christian, I tried to read something out of my Bible most every day, said a few quick prayers every morning and evening, I thought I was doing fine in my Christian walk.....and yet I had to suddenly realize it had been quite some time since I had truly connected with God in a real, an intimate, and loving way. I did love Him but my busyness was getting in the way of spending real quality time with Him.

That week was a wake up call to not let myself just go through the motions of living the Christian life (doing the right things) and miss the whole point - an intimate relationship with God. Honestly, I still find myself blind-sided by busyness at times, but... I'd like to think I've learned to recognize God's coincidences more and ...I like to think I hear His whispers more readily now...and that He doesnt have to use a 4 inch tall red glowing numbered alarm clock saying 518 to get my attention ;) That was many years ago and there have been several times since then when I've been having a hard day and God will start popping 518s into my day. I dont wonder at the coincidence anymore... I recognize it, thank Him, and tell Him I love Him too. Well there you have it... my 518 story. in a nutshell, love Him... and dont let life's busyness keep you from spending quality time with Him :)

blessings ~

Memories of Casey

2007-05-09T01:34:00.000-05:00

I had to put my dog Casey to sleep last week.
It was so hard... she was 15 and I knew her health was declining for the past year...I thought I was kind of prepared... but when it came right down to it, I guess I really wasn't. But there really wasnt any other choice given the circumstances. There are things I don't want to forget about her... She was very smart, she had a great sense of humor and she was very ornery....
-- I love how she wanted to play a game of bark every night when got home (and always had to have the last bark!.... even if I'd wait a few minutes and bark a soft one, she'd bark right back ;)
-- I loved to play hide and seek with her. sometimes I'd hide behind the door or the bed - she loved it if you jumped out and scared her! she'd bark and wag her tail and chase you around the house :)
--I still find it a mystery how she knew if a tear fell from my eye. How can a dog in the other part of the house know these things? Do they smell the salt in tears? Is there some noise silent to the human ear that is heard when a silent tear rolls down the cheek? and yet if a tear fell from my eye, suddenly there she would be snuggling up to me. I never understood how she knew, but it was very sweet.
-- I thought it was hilarious the way she delighted in taking her paw and knocking over the statue on my deck of a little boy holding a bunny. She'd always do it, wait until I looked and then bark and run as if to say-- "haha-- I can take on that statue!" ;)
-- I loved taking her outside at night in the summer, and sitting on the driveway... feeling the warmth of the concrete and looking up at the stars, while she wandered or sat contentedly nearby.
-- I didn't know it until now, but I even liked the noise her little toenails made as she walked in the kitchen.
-- I loved how if I left the room for over a minute she'd come looking for me, just to see what I was doing.
-- I loved petting the fluffy fur on her back and when she wanted a hug
-- I loved how after I'd come home or after she ate dinner, she'd do her 'happy dance' by rolling over on her back and wiggling all her feet in the air (those were usually the only times she'd do that)
-- I loved how if I played 'peek a boo' with her from across the room she'd come tearing around the table or the couch and jump on me with her tail wagging!
-- she was so smart - can you believe she figured out how to open a pedistal trash can by watching people use it and then actaully mastered the art of opening it herself by jumping with all her weight and hitting the pedal with her front feet? I couldnt figure out how she was getting in that trash can until I heard a bunch of racket one night and caught her in the act one time! boy did she ever have the --oopps --hand caught in the cookie jar look on her face. oh my gosh it was too funny ;)
-- I loved how many lessons God taught me with her. They were right on target and usually funny, and much to long to go into here.
She wasn't always perfectly behaved, but she was great little friend, a kindred spirit, and a blessing. I will miss her greatly but I am thankful to God for letting me care for her for so many years. Often if she was doing something cute or sleeping I'd find myself praying, "Lord.... don't You just love her?" ...and I know He smiled... and I know He said yes...

Thank you for Casey Lord~

Hillsong United

2007-04-22T11:58:00.001-05:00

Here are just a few pics from the Hillsong United concert in Springfield the other night.....

Hillsong United seemed very led by the Spirit in their worship; segways were worshipful and there was lots of spontaneous praise; it was very natural; I love that kind of freedom in worship. Musically they were very talented as well. they did tons of songs I dont know all of their titles but they did a lot of songs from the 'united we stand' cd including Came to the Rescue, None but Jesus, Fire fall down, the Stand, from the inside out. It was really good and I'm glad I went... a great night of worship :)

God-incidence power outage :)

2007-04-12T22:05:00.000-05:00

well the coolest 'God' thing happened tonight!
my power went out.
as in no electricity.
pretty much right after I got home, took care of the dog, nuked my supper and got on line.
I know what you are thinking.
('I thought kimmer didnt really enjoy to the fullest those power outages from earlier this year')
but having learned so much (haha) from the ice storm(s) this past winter..... I sat here patiently waiting for it to come back on. Seemed like it should come back on any moment.... the power seems to go off here alot in this little suburb... like at least once a week I come home the clocks are all flashing. So I waited..... and waited..... and finally thought well... maybe I should go listen to one of the podcasts I've downloaded and not had time to listen to yet. I have my laptop battery, just no internet.... it seemed like a good thing to do...So I started up itunes..... and while it usually goes right into the podcast section, for some reason tonight it went into the music section, to a speaking series I had purchased from itunes a long time ago and then forgot about because it is sitting over here in the music section rather than with the podcasts. It is a 4 part series of Q&A with Beth Moore and Christy Nockels and one of Beth's daughters with college women.... so I started listening to all 4 parts which lasted just exactly long as the power outage (how's that for a God-incidince). There were a lot good things in there questions on purity but three things really hit me like a ton of bricks were:

1. What is the one thing you wish you would have known at 23? Beth said that the church she grew up in avoided talking about anything to do with the Holy Spirit because they seemed scared to death of talking about it and so at that point in her Christian walk she didnt understand how we are to daily be filled with the HS to empower us to live our lives for him (Christ in you, the hope of glory) How we every day should say Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me live for You this day. that we have 'an all surpassing power in your jar of clay' to help you live a life pleasing to Him.
Christy said - That God uses seasons in our lives. As we grow older things come and go. that we need to learn to savor each moment, even times of pain,sorrow, and lonliness-- as He comforts you in those times he teaches you to comfort other and to relate to others in away that you never would have been able to before you went thru those times. that we are never arriving we are on the journey...still producing. To learn to Bloom where you are at this moment.
(Christy's answer really landed with me it seems like I theme I keep encountering lately, so it resonated.)

2. Someone asked a question about wanting to be a worship leader and how Christy knew it was a calling on her life... she said again about learning to Bloom where you are planted at the time. That He will lobby your interest to the world. He will promote whatever is going on in your heart because He put it there. She used to wonder why God have you put songs in my head when you haven’t given me opportunity to share them? and she said as Nathan & I stayed faithful where God had put us in the jobs we were in at a school (she was a teacher and I think she said he was something like maintenance) they waited before the Lord, and bloomed where we were planted. He, in His time opened the doors for them one by one... and He will open the doors in your calling one by one – He’ll even put you in position to minister where you’ll say Lord I cant do this, it's beyond me and He’ll say yes you can. Waiting before God and blooming where you are. Beth added - you see this concept over and over in scripture - It starts clear back with Abraham – there is a time period you go thru and you can wonder if this is ever going to happen. But God will use that time of waiting to develop you. Also Beth added that God will use others to tell you what your spiritual gifts are and use people to confirm that with you. Like if you have the gift of encouragement, people will come up to you and say, I want to thank you for what you said to me last week, it has so encouraged me.
(I thought this was interesting for two reasons - the first part is another theme I've heard repeated many times the past months waiting (also translated 'expectantly hoping') in the Lord patiently to bring about His will in your life) But also what Beth said about people saying to you what your gifts are - how the Lord is using you - I have had that happen a few times recently and was wondering about it, so that was interesting. So whatever your gift is, be encouraged to know that God is using it through you, when you are sensitive to His prompting. that you are shining forth Him in you, when you follow the promptings of the HS, in whatever small or big way He desires in His story.

3. the question How does prayer and god’s sovereignty work out – why spend much time in prayer asking Him for something if He knows what He's going to do anyway- does prayer really affect the outcome of anything?
Beth answered Phil 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
That means everything can be affected by prayer. (this is something my pastor has also been stressing over and over the past year and again last night - he says - there are some things in the will of God that you must pray for them to happen. Here was pastor saying it again last night and then tonight Beth with the same thing) Beth said the enemy wants you to think the prayer is not effective, and it doesnt really do much, that it doesnt matter. the enemy would much rather for you to study and disconnect from praying and from intimate fellowship with God. He wants you to think prayer doesnt make any difference but in James 5:16-18 – we read about Elijah --he was just a man like us - emotional, got mad, sad, got depressed he had our same feelings and yet he perservered in prayer (my pastor says the translation is 'he prayed in his praying' meaning he was sincerley praying with all he had, not just going thru the motions and mouthing prayers). Back to Beth - the prayers of the righteous availeth much (those who desire to walk in obedience to him) In John 11 when Jesus prayed - Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. – Christ always prayed as one who knew his Father was listening. How differently would you pray if he just showed up before your eyes across the table and said "oh, go right ahead keep on praying"– if you could only see that He was that close- how would it change your prayer life? We pray weakly because we just hope He hears us. You have to remember there is just a veil before our eyes-- but He is right there. Start praying as one who knows – Lord I know you hear me and your throne is right before and so I’ll ask as one who knows you hear me.
Remember that Christ still intercedes for us even as a member of the Trininty He continues to pray and boy does that show that the importance of prayer!
Sometimes we can become remote from our prayer life and it is such a beautiful thing when we do get back into that fellowship with Him. being in an attitude of prayer. Like a conversation all day with Him. sometimes what shows intimacy is not just that we bring him the big things but that we bring up the small things that happen each day.
Ok so this whole power outage thing was on Thursday night -- yet the night before Wednesday night My pastor only used one scripture passage during the prayer meeting, it was James 5:16 B -18 The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
and here tonight I 'stumble' across Beth using the same passage, with the same message. Ok what are the odds of that? So I cant really believe it is all a co-incidence - - this hour plus long power outage (with no storm of any kind around) this thought of why dont I listen to a podcast- my itunes opening up right on a long forgotten purchased teaching, filed away mistakenly under music --- and the re-iteration of several themes I've heard in sermons the past few months... God- incidence! He is so good to us!
blessings :)

It's Friday.....but Sunday is Coming!!!

2007-04-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

My friend Lisa has been journaling quite an increbible 40 day Lenten Journey on her blog..... it has been a tremendous blessing and it is obvious God has given her a gift in writing. Please feel free to visit her blog and take in some of her Lenten Journey. Yesterday (Good Friday) she added this video that she found on youtube which I loved. It is called, it's Friday, but Sunday is coming!...

Thank You Jesus that Sunday is coming!!

Passion 07 videos

2007-04-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

two of the best things I've seen on youtube:

Confidence through Christ

2007-03-21T00:15:00.000-06:00

here's a devotional By Sharon Jaynes -
“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Corinthians 3:4 NIV)

The three-headed monster of inferiority, insecurity and inadequacy can paralyze a Christian into inactivity and leave him or her sitting on the bench during the game of life…afraid to get into the game. God’s desire is to destroy the monster with the truth and render him impotent in our lives. Satan’s desire is to feed him with lies and train him to control our lives. Whom are we going to believe?

Believing who we are in Christ destroys feelings of inferiority. Believing where we are in Christ destroys feelings of insecurity. Believing what we have in Christ destroys feelings of inadequacy. What a transformation when a Christian believes the truth. She experiences a confidence makeover!

I do not want you to think I am always victorious and never struggle with the three-headed monster. He still rears his ugly head every now and then. Let me give you one example.

It was my first large speaking engagement to about 450 women. My topic was “Unshakable Confidence in Christ.” Two weeks before I was to speak to the group, I attended a luncheon. Two ladies whom I did not know were sitting at my table, and they were talking about a speaker they had recently heard at the church where I would be speaking in a few weeks.
“He was the most powerful speaker I have ever heard,” one said.
“I cried all the way through his testimony." I don’t think we will ever have a speaker that was that good again.”

On and on they sang the praises of this mighty man of God. They used words like dynamic, powerful, electric, and eloquent. I never mentioned that I was the speaker for their next meeting. At that point, I wasn’t so sure I would be.

As I listened to the ladies, my throat constricted, the tea sandwiches clung to the roof of my mouth, and my heart pounded wildly. Then Satan, the gatekeeper for the three-headed monster, let him out.

“Who do you think you are, going to speak at this event? Listen to the caliber of people they bring in. This man came from all the way across the country. You are just from across town. What could you possible have to say to help these women? If I were you, I’d bow out now before you embarrass yourself.”

You know what? Even though I knew it was the enemy whispering in my ear, I started to believe him. After all, what he was saying made a lot more sense than the “I am” statements taped on my refrigerator door.

After the luncheon, I decided to go by the church and purchase a tape of the previous speaker, just to see what I was going to be compared to. I walked into the church, paid my $5.00, popped the tape in the console, and braced myself for the hour of power.

Nothing happened.

I fast-forwarded the tape.

Nothing happened.

I flipped the tape over.

Nothing happened. The tape was blank.

At that moment, I did not hear the dynamic speaker on the tape, I heard God.

Sharon, you do not need to hear what my servant said to these people two weeks ago. The tape is blank because I do not want you to compare yourself to anyone else. It doesn’t matter what he said. I will give you a message for these ladies. I can speak through a prophet, I can speak through a fisherman, and I can speak through a donkey.

I gave him a message and I have given you one as well. Who are you “performing” for, my child, them or Me? Do not compare yourself to anyone. You are my child and I am asking you to speak to an audience of One.

It was indeed an hour of power. I didn’t bother getting my money back for the defective tape. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

So the next time Satan said to me, “Who do you think you are?” let me tell you what I said. “I am the light of the world. I am the salt of the earth. I am a child of God. I am the bride of Christ. I am a joint-heir with Christ. I have the power of the Holy Spirit. I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ. I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved.”

Two weeks later, I spoke with confidence, and God blessed us all.

Let’s Pray
Dear God, I know that without You I am nothing but an empty vessel. However, because of You, I am filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and have been blessed with every spiritual blessing! I can be confident because of who I am as a child of the King. I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen
--------------------
by Sharon Jaynes

The Power of Proclaiming Our Faith - Psalm 27

2007-03-21T00:13:00.000-06:00

(this was a sermon from one the Pastors I listen to)
Sometimes when we are exhausted, it can make our problems seem even bigger. We can have a tendency to look at everything on our plate and feel overwhelmed. On one hand it is good to come to the end of ourselves because it makes us aware of our dependency on God to make it through the day; it is good to acknowledge our need of Him and that we are dependant on Him.

on the other hand, if we never move beyond that sense of feeling overwhelmed and we just pray, “God I can’t do this by myself”, we never come into a place of greater faith. We need to come to a place of acknowledging “Yes God, this is a big problem or a big circumstance in my life, but Lord I know that with Your help I can do this or this situation can be worked out”. To stay at the point of feeling overwhelmed can drain us and can drain the life out of our prayer time. We need to move beyond feelings of fear or inadequacy to praying in faith, like David did.

David had numerous problems which could overwhelm him but he was one to move beyond the circumstances and pray in faith by proclaiming God’s goodness. He came from attitude of “I know the Lord will move in this situation. I know God desires to help me”. Ps 27:12 David has people against him, Saul is pursuing him to kill him when he wrote this psalm and David was fleeing…..
what did David do that moved him from being overwhelmed to being filled with faith?
When we are moved to a position of faith, not just wishing that God will help, but believing that God will help, this puts our heart at ease. Sometimes we need to get a hold of ourselves and remember Who God Is & what He does. He will partner with you... but you must also partner with Him, it is a 2 way street.

What helped David to move to a position of faith?

A. David personalized what he knew to be true about God
v.1 David could have said,” the Lord is light” and that would have been true. but instead he says “the Lord is my light”- He lights my path, He directs my steps. You need to shift your prayer from God I don’t know what to do or how this will work out to You are my light and I know that I’ve called on You and You will lead me. I want to thank You; I may not have a clue what to do but I know that You’ll guide me and light my way. As you make a proclamation of faith aloud in your prayer life, it will move your heart from feeling overwhelmed to trust and joy. God You are the Deliverer – You've helped me in the past and I know You will help me again. I know that You are good and desire the best for me. v1 – If God is my Light to show me what to do at the right time – why should I fear? You are my Stronghold, my Fortress, my Defender. You will help and protect me, so who/what should I be afraid of? In personalizing what he knew to be true about God, David moved from a place of fear to one of faith.

B. v3 –David is confident in the Lord
“ yet I will be confident”. wow what if more Christians lived that way? Commit to move from an aspect of fear when praying about your problems, to one of faith. God is honored when we do that. It is not wrong to pray in proclaiming our faith in Him – (not name it claim it), but rather bring honor to Him and be increased in your faith by reminding yourself Who He Is. This lifts your heart to a new level of faith in Him...... and faith, is the stuff of answered prayer.
v5 – my heart will not fear…. I will be confident – he is saying - God is going to take care of me.
Eph 3 – He can do more than you can ask or imagine.

C. v14 David anticipates what God will do
‘wait’ for the Lord – this is the same word used in Isaiah 40:31. (those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength') The word wait for us can hold a very negative connotation in our impatient society; a delay; to be put on hold. but the Hebrew word really means ‘to hope with anticipation’. Like a prayer of ‘Lord I know You want the best in this situation and I can’t wait to see how You are going to work this out’. Hope in the Lord. v14 Be strong and a person of courage. wait on Him with hopeful anticipation. …’God I know You will take care of me, that You want the best for me and I just cant wait to see what You are going to do next in this’. If you will get in the habit of proclaiming your faith in His desire to see good in our lives and His ability to accomplish what we cannot by ourselves… you can go into your prayer room one way (overwhelmed) and come out of it with your heart lifted and encouraged and your faith increased. There is no faith in simply praying – ‘God I have this big problem and I know that it is beyond me and I cannot do this on my own’. You need to add to that prayer that He can do anything and nothing is beyond Him and that He is your Provider. You need to rely on Him and also say God I know that your Word says that You want to help me, that You love me. Proclaiming your faith in God can move your heart from dreading something to excitement. God doesn’t want us living in a state filled with dread, anxiety, feeling overwhelmed.

Turn every burden into a proclamation of faith when you pray about it, trusting in His power and desire to help. What will follow is a holy confidence (humble-dependant on Him) and a divine enthusiastic anticipation of how He will move in your life…. as you acknowledge not only your dependence on Him, but His ability to do more than we can imagine.
...one of David's proclamations of faith:

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. 4 One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. 7 Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. 13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for (hope in) the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for (hope in) the Lord.

How Great is Our God - Fort Wayne

2007-02-28T23:29:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from the How Great is Our God evening in Fort Wayne
(3 pics are from Tray, who was there too- her 3 are the clear ones. You'll recognize my pics by their 'edgy' grain ;)

I was thankful that Chris, Matt, Jesse, Daniel, Travis, Matt2, & Louie were able to make it there despite the questionable weather, and thankful to God for warmer temps than forecasted which melted off all the ice!...and I'm really thankful that my good friends from IN & OH were able to share in a great this night of worship and teaching :) May things learned that night be carried in our hearts and grow for many years to come~

Psalm 36

2007-02-19T17:42:00.000-06:00

Psalm 36:5-10 (New International Version)
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Psalm 36:5-10 (The Message)
God's love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic. Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.
How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You're a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.
Keep on loving your friends; do your work in welcoming hearts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His love is faithful, priceless, as vast as the heavens... meteoric, exquisite, astronomically loyal, a fountain of light.... which is so much larger than we can wrap our heads around.... yet how amazing that nothing is small enough to get lost and escape His notice by slipping through the cracks! There is no one like Him!

being a person after God's heart

2007-02-06T23:39:00.000-06:00

There is a statement made about David that was never made about anyone else in the Bible. In Acts 13:22 -I have found in David to be a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.
What made this true of David – how can we cultivate this into our lives, so He can accomplish what He wants in our lives for His glory?

3 ASPECTS OF BEING A PERSON AFTER GOD’S HEART:
1. David was a man who had a Sensitive Heart
a. He was sensitive to the things God was concerned about
- When God let Saul know that He was choosing David, what it is that was the issue to God? By what did He compare David and Saul? Saul was not obedient.
I Sam 13:14 -But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.
We have to say Lord, what is important to You is important to me. The written Word of God, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, when God speaks to you, if you know its from Him – saying yes, I’ll do these things You've revealed to me to the best of my ability. What You ask I’ll do.

b. He was also sensitive to the character of God – Who God is.
In Psalm 24:1-2 David illustrates that he knows everything belongs to God. I Chronicles 29:10-12 David says all is Yours in the heavens and earth…..You are exalted above all, all things come from You…. David understood that everything created and all he had belonged to God.
Ps 51:1-2 – David also understood about the character of God... that He was a forgiving God. David wasn’t perfect but he understood the merciful heart of God and wanted to manifest that quality of mercy in his own life and show mercy to others. II Sam 9:1

c. David’s heart was also sensitive to the voice of God
over and over again in scripture you see David being humble enough to seek God for direction on everything. I Samuel 23:2 ; v9-12. Before he makes a move, he asks God about it. I Samuel 30:8 - He always wants God’s direction in his life. I don’t want to make a decision without Your leading and blessing upon it.
II Sam 2:1 David inquired of the Lord – I don’t want to go anywhere You don’t want me to go or do anything that You don’t want me to do….
This is a sensitive heart which is pleasing to God and which He honors.

2. David had a Servant’s Heart
I Sam 16:11 – he was willing to serve with humility.
16:7 – the Lord looks at the heart, not as man looks (outward appearance, experience, worldly position). People around you may be overlooking you but God sees your heart. You can be sure of that! When the time is right He can set His hand on that situation in your life and bring blessing where you thought you were being overlooked.
16:22-23 David is serving in Saul’s court, however he can.
17:17-18 – here is David, not fighting, he is serving; that is where leadership is forged from. This serving may not have been the most exciting thing he could have done; he may have wanted to do more exciting things and felt he had more ability, but he did what he was asked to do. Be faithful to do what the Lord puts in front of you to do; He notices where you are serving.
Ps 89:20 God was looking for someone who would serve and God anointed David. Had David refused to water the sheep, he would not have gotten the training he needed…to kill lions and bears and eventually the confidence to know that with God’s help, he could kill Goliath. If you do the little things well, it can open the doors for bigger things…. It may not be what you expected, maybe you expected and wanted God to use you in a bigger way, in a larger role, but being a faithful servant in that thing can open the doors to be used of God. If we have a heart to serve God, He will open the doors in due time. What ever you can find to do to serve in a place, fill a need, be faithful and watch what God does.

3. David had a Sincere Heart
In Greek the work sincere means ‘without wax’. The origin is from pottery makers, those who were not reputable would try to disguise and fill cracks with wax to sell the pot, but the buyer would soon discover the uselessness of the cracked pot. Those pottery makers who were known to sell only quality merchandise, where known to sell pots ‘without wax’ – sincere. A trustworthy pot is sincere; being a person of integrity; being honest. You leave people with the impression you are honest, are you really honest when no one is looking? (example- If someone gives you too much change, do you bring it to their attention and give it back?)
Psalm 78:70-72. 70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; 71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. 72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
God chose David because he had a sincere heart of integrity. Some of the great leaders in the Bible were shepherds. Lessons learned in times of serving in anonymity prepared them for the future God had in store for them; prepared them for the things He had for them to do.

Are you faithful in the details when no one is looking? Are you committed to saying I’m going to follow what God wants me to do, even when no one else sees it?

Psalm 15:1-4 V.4 – do you keep your commitments even when it hurts and it does not turn out to be what you thought you were signing up for? Someone who has an honest heart.... If I’ve given my word in a situation, even when it hurts and it does not turn out to be like I expected it would be, do I stay true to what I promised I would do?

In Psalm 139 David said 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Even when we think our heart is right with God, it is always good to remember to do this from time to time. Sometimes we don’t even know our own heart and we need to ask the Lord to search our heart, to touch our heart and reveal to us things He would like us to work on in our growth with Him. Pr 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Deal with hidden anger and bitterness you may have in your heart.

God isn’t looking for perfect people, but for Sensitive people, who want to Serve God, who have Sincere hearts...
Ask God to give you a heart to hear Him when He speaks. When Solomon asked God for wisdom, in the literal Hebrew – it meant' a heart to hear from God'.
--------
(from one of my pastor's recent sermons)

Lord, help us to be people after Your heart~

Passion 07 pics

2007-01-19T21:10:00.000-06:00

Below are some pics from Passion 07 (with a few contributions from friends-thanks!)
pics from Janna designated (j), Bobbi (b), and Donna (d)

ice storm....1

2007-01-14T22:33:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from the ice storm this weekend to hit OK & MO hard. My power came back on again tonight :) and I am thankful to report a toasty 75 degrees currently although the lights are flickering occasionally. From the news reports there are still well over 100,000 in surrounding area without power, so lots of prayer for everyone.... All area hotels are full but Branson has lots of hotels with power available.... but then again Branson has tons of hotels and they didn't get the ice which is really good because it is really hilly. The third round of ice has come and gone! yay! they say the problem now will be trees and power lines continuing to fall and may cause more power outages as the winds are supposed to pick up starting tomorrow and lows of 5 degrees one night and zero another. For now, we are very thankful and warm :)

This is the tree in my backyard that crashed down about 9 Friday night. I'm so thankful it broke away from the power lines; dont know if you can tell but it kind of seems like most of it is on the ground

This is the other tree in backyard... it is bending clear to the ground and so far has not broken, I hope it stays alive. I am very thankful both of these trees were far enough away they didnt come down on the house. I know people who had trees come down on their house or car
these are just some pics from driving down the street... these trees remind me of what trees look like when a tornado comes through...this is the local pre-school

ice storm....2

2007-01-14T22:21:00.000-06:00

driving around town....

the next few are trees in my yard:

almost looks like ice fingers....

ice storm....3

2007-01-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

limbs of the tree in my backyard...
kind of pretty in a way

and check out the grass! it was really weird to walk on:
more grass

very thankful most of the precipitation is over;

praying for power to be restored to everyone

thanks so much to my friends for prayers :)

blessings~

Christmas pics...

2007-01-10T00:01:00.000-06:00

A few pics from Christmas.....

is this not the cutest baby you have ever seen? WHAT a cutiepie!

can you see it? can you see what it is that Baby Luke got for Christmas?
(..... his __ front ___.... heehee )

My brother's family on Christmas day :)

Don't Miss Christmas....

2006-12-15T21:17:00.000-06:00

- by Mary Southerland

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" -John 3:16

The Christmas rush is on! I know many of you are still looking for the perfect gift, wrapping presents, baking your famous sugar cookies, packing the car for a long trip and wrestling with overly excited children. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Right where you are...STOP! Take a deep breath and travel back with me to a time when there was no hope...no celebration. I can’t imagine a world without Jesus and yet, many times I live my life as if He doesn’t even exist. A trial comes and I try to handle it on my own. Loneliness floods my heart and instead of reaching out to Him, I withdraw into the darkness.

Then, He interrupts my life and fills each black corner with Light. His love flows over the pain like a soothing balm and once again, I experience the manger. Once again, He steps into the smelly, unlikely and very ordinary existence that is mine to change everything – everything! He could have come to us in many ways but He chose to interrupt the very ordinary with the most extraordinary! He could have chosen to be born in a palace. After all, He was a King. Yet His life on earth began in a manger - a dirty, smelly barn. The simplicity of His birth is one of His most precious gifts to me and one of my most profound life lessons.

I often wish that I had been there that holy night when Jesus was born but then He reminds me that I have my own manger, my own holy moment when God became a reality to me, and I worship Him!

Every year I am reminded of the very heart of Christmas - Emanuel, God with us. God wants to be involved in the simple, ordinary happenings of daily life: where we go - what we do - the smile we give the harried stranger - the patience we wear in the crowd of impatient shoppers - the love that prompts the secret gift - the heart that constantly celebrates His birth through every sparkling light, every beautifully wrapped gift, each special meal, every card, phone call and visit.

Join me in this quest - to celebrate Him and His birth in everything I do. Have a birthday party for Jesus! Adopt a family in need! Reach out to the lonely! Look for Him in the crowd! Emanuel, God with us! WOW!

Father, today I celebrate the reality of Your presence in my life. I celebrate Your birth, Your life, Your death and Your resurrection. And as I celebrate, Lord, help me to be “God with skin on” to those in need around me. Open my eyes and let me see them as You see them! I love You! Happy Birthday!
- by Mary Southerland

A Cup of Christmas COCOA

2006-12-12T11:57:00.000-06:00

~by Tracie Miles (condensed)

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh". Matthew 2: 11

One of the things I adore about the holiday season is hot cocoa. Who doesn’t feel warm and snuggly while sipping on a steaming cup of cocoa with marshmallows or whip cream piled on top? The word ‘COCOA’ can be used to help us remember the important aspects of Christmas, reminding us of the happiness and warmth we can enjoy being a part of God’s family.

C – CHRIST
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18
Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. Remember to spend as much time searching for God’s truth, as you do searching for that perfect gift. Christ IS Christmas – there is no Christmas without Christ. During this season, share the gift that Christ has given you with someone else.

O – ORNAMENTS
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3
Do you spend more time fretting over whether or not your house could be featured in the holiday edition of Southern Living, than whether or not your inner spirit is adorned with God’s love and compassion for those in need? Put a stronger focus on blessing others this holiday season.

C – CHEERFULLY CELEBRATE THE SEASON
A happy heart makes a face look cheerful. But a sad heart produces a broken spirit. Proverbs 15:13
As the gift list grows, the budget drains, and the calendar fills, it is easy to get discouraged. And although Christmas is meant to be a joyous season, many people also struggle during the holidays with depression and discouragement. Despite the reasons that you might feel discouraged during this time of year, focus on how much you are loved as a dear and precious child of God. The holidays are merely a season, but God’s love and compassion for His children is permanent. Now that is something to celebrate!

O – OVERJOYED (not OVERWHELMED)
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Matthew 2:10 –11
The shepherds saw the star, and they were overjoyed – they were overcome with delight, awe, motivation, encouragement, love for God – they were overwhelmed with the gift of life. Think of a time when you were overjoyed- the birth of a child, a graduation, a wedding, a beautiful sunrise, sparkling white beaches, a baptism. Your feeling of happiness was likely so overwhelming, that tears filled your eyes, you had a lump in your throat, or your heart was beating rapidly. For many Christmas-a-holics, we are overjoyed when we kick off the holiday season, but overwhelmed by the middle of the month! Try to find ways to remind yourself each day of December to be thankful for the birth of our Savior and overwhelmed by the blessings that have been bestowed upon you, rather than being overwhelmed with your holiday to-do lists.

A – ABUNDANCE
..mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. Jude :2
Whenever I think of Christmas morning, from my childhood to the present, the word abundance comes to mind. As soon as the sun rises on December 25th, until it sets in the evening, we are bombarded with an abundance of presents, candy, baked goods, fruit, and other delectable foods. But these things are temporary.
What we really yearn for is the abundant life promised to us in God’s word. Our true heart’s desire is for mercy, peace and love, not just on Christmas day, but every day throughout each year. ...
seasonal prayer:
Dear Lord, thank You for giving us the gift of your Son, so that we could have eternal life with You. Please help us not to get so caught up in the earthly celebrations of Christmas that we forget to celebrate Christ. Grant us joy and peace this season and into the future.

...this season, allow the warmth of God’s love to pour into your heart, and then pour that love out abundantly onto others~
---------------------------
blessings :)

Can God Reach Those With Closed Minds?

2006-12-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

Acts 26:9 - 18"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' "'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to themto open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."

Responses to the Gospel vary. Some people believe it’s true. Others resist learning what the Scriptures say about salvation. Many have closed minds and refuse to have anything to do with Jesus. These individuals respond to Christians in one of two ways. They’re polite but firm in their rejection of Christ. Or, they’re aggressive and antagonistic toward those who call Jesus, “Savior.” In their opposition, some even cross over into violence.Can God’s message of salvation penetrate those whose minds are shut? The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, proves that no one is beyond the reach of God’s love. Paul was a devoutly religious man who professed faith in God the Father. But he rejected Jesus as God, the Son.His hatred of the Lord extended to all those who followed Jesus. Paul went to great lengths to persecute believers and persuade them into blaspheming Christ. God’s Spirit convicted this violent man of his sin, gave him an awareness of his own need for a Savior, and revealed that Jesus was the only solution for him and everyone else.

Dr. Stanley believes Paul came under conviction by the Holy Spirit when he was persecuting Christians. The future apostle witnessed unwavering devotion to Jesus even as believers were being killed for their faith (Acts 7:59-60).Today, the Holy Spirit continues working to bring men and women under conviction. He uses the lives and testimonies of believers to reveal the truth about Jesus to those with closed minds and hard hearts.Do you know people who seem beyond God’s reach? Be encouraged. Continue to ask God for their salvation(Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. )
-from Dr. Charles Stanley
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Do you have unsaved family members or friends that came to mind as you read this? As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, let's be steadfast to remember them in prayer, that God would soften their hearts and give them a hunger to come to know Him.
Ask Him to prepare their hearts, to give you divine appointments in which they are seeking answers, and to give you the right words to say to encourage them in coming to know Jesus. If no friends or family come to mind, then you might pray for others you know who have unsaved family members.
blessings! :)

Passion 07 Conference Live Link

2006-12-04T02:06:00.000-06:00

Tonight the Passion House had an hour live link of prayer and worship time to unite the students who are coming to Passion, those that are in general supportive of Passion, and the volunteers who will be helping at Passion. I know a few other people who are going to volunteer that could not be online for all or part of the Live Link so took some notes for them, so they could know what took place….

So here is a very paraphrased summary of the evening:
Louie began and asked people to send an email or maybe post on the blog if you are connected…..so they’d kind of have an idea of who all was out there…I was a little distracted right then but I think that he said Steve Fee was leading worship and they wanted us to all join with them in worship
They sang the song Salvation Is Here (I think that’s a Hillsong)..

Then Louie talked for a while and said something like this link isn’t about passion or an event but about us worshipping the Son of God who loved us enough to come to earth to die for us...There are people all around the world singing with one heartbeat, loving the same Jesus, with one voice and one heart tonight lets tell God how much we love Him.
Then he asked people to if they were in groups to pray in groups of 3 or 4 and he said that a 3 strand cord is not easily broken (Ecc 4:12) and joked if you were by yourself you could pray with me,
myself, and I :) He directed that for those in groups, one person should pray for the need out loud and the others should actively pray in agreement with them. They should take turns leading throughout the evening.

The first time of prayer he wanted us to pray that God would invade this time right now-Come into the middle of our space wherever we are; into the lives of every person linked into this site (and I would imagine that includes those who wanted to be linked in but couldn’t right then) right now let Your power and presence be known; let’s believe and agree together; and invite God to fill up this time and invade this time with all that He is; so there was a pause for us to pray for that.

Then he asked us to pray for more than just to get to Passion07; ‘We want to see a move of God ....Moving on the campuses of this world...Prepare the way in our hearts and lives for His kingdom to come..." then we had another time of prayer...

Then they sang Prepare the way (I think that’s a Charlie Hall)…

Then Louie asked us – if we were students to spend time praying that our campuses would have a move of God in them; or if we aren’t college students to pray for campuses nearby us or for our city that God would move in them for His glory….. he also mentioned praying for South Dakota, still the only state with no one registered. (so far there are registrants from all other states and 24 countries)… time of prayer….

Then the worship leader (Steve Fee?) sang Mighty to Save (I think another Hillsong?)

Then Louie encouraged us to lift our eyes up from our little part of our story, to see His global story – the story of God. And asked us to pray for the students and or student leaders coming from various countries, I don’t think I quite got these all exactly right but to pray for students and leaders coming from other countries like Taiwan, Canada, Ireland, Poland, England, South Africa, Brazil, Romania, Slovakia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Holland, Malaysia, Botswana, India, Afghanistan, China although I may be off on a few of those…... He asked us to remember that these people are talking about a massive journey to get there; much more of an undertaking than those of us in the US.
Especially pray for Rodgrigo from Brazil – he’s been turned down already and has a second hearing for a visa application tomorrow.& for several in Romania – who wish to come and are having some problems; they have interviews tomorrow for visas. Pray that God would open doors all around this world to bring all who want to come. Pray for their finances, for visas, for smooth flights, etc for God to work out all of these details that they might be able to come. And also that God would bolster in them the confidence that they can make the journey.... Praying for the nations and the world to see that Jesus is mighty to save! (another time of prayer)

Singing chorus…(from Mighty to save?) I think it was...Shine Your light in, let the whole world sing; For the glory of the risen King

Then he said something like even if you have a lot facing you tonight with exams and finals in college right now; or if you aren’t a student joining with us there may be other big challenges you are facing right now, we want to take time now to pray for you guys connecting with us on this journey. It’s creates wonderful perspective to remember that you are a part of a huge world wide story of God. Maybe you are sitting by yourself wondering if your life is making any difference.... You need to know tonight that you are created by God... you are not here by accident... you have a purpose He has created you for...and in His mind you are already more than amazing! :)
Phil 2:12 -15 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

Then he had a time of Shelley praying for us after which another Shelly(or Sheli?) from Passion prayed for us as well…Part of their prayers were along the lines of .. ..
Shelley G - Lifting the Lord up to His rightful place in our lives and thanking Him that we know Him. For both students and for non-students who have gathered I thank You that You are present everywhere and all at the same time, what awesome thing it is that You are able to do that. Thank You for their lives and we pray especially in these days before passion that you would grant them the ability to make more space for them to be able to spend more time communicating with You... During these days of preparing our heart... That they would give themselves more fully to you and let you do what you want in our hearts and lives

Shelly 2 – Let us come with expectancy and believe You for more, that you would be magnified and lifted up; for travel mercies for those who are coming from far away places and work through the authorities; You are the King of kings and we want you to reign. Then she prayed for a while in the native language of I think Brazil, I think it was Portugese. It was beautiful and sounded like tonuges to me.

In Closing – Louie was saying a big ‘right on!’ that we have all prayed and believed together! If you are one who is on your way to ATL then we will be seeing you in just a few weeks. Thanks to everyone who carved out a space to listen to us tonight. Please keep us in prayer this week as we have over 1100 volunteers who have volunteered to come help in this; They will have Team Leaders. The Volunteer Team Leaders who have devoted so much of their time, help bring this all together. Passion house and volunteer Team Leaders will be meeting this Thurs, Fri, & Sat going over many logistical details that need to be worked out. There is still room to register more students if you know of any that are thinking of coming.

Thank you for your encouragement tonight with your blogs and emails! We want you to know that as we leave you, know that we are for you, and believe in all that God has for you, and we will serve you well to the end that you rise up and change your world for God's glory. Our God reigns!

The 268Blog 28 day Prayer Journey will begin tomorrow to keep our hearts united in prayer. (YAY!)

We want to leave this with you tonight for all of you:Isaiah 40:28 - 31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Then they ended with the Brenton Brown song Everlasting God. It was very good and a wonderful thing to be united with so many believers in harmony from around the globe during this time of prayer and worship!

(Ok so that is my paraphrased take on what they said during the Live Link. I didnt tape it, I just typed some notes, so ..... please keep in mind that this is my paraphrased interpretaion of what they said and I hope it is fairly accurate.)

Border Order

2006-12-02T00:29:00.000-06:00

~by Gwen Smith

Luke 10:38-40a As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

I spent some time the other day at a coffee shop on the second floor of a Border’s bookstore. It was wonderful. It was quiet. The smell of freshly brewed coffee delighted my senses and overhead, light jazz music softly serenaded me. No body else was there. It was just me, my Bible, my laptop and coffee. Like I said – wonderful!

This particular café is elevated and overlooks the entire bookstore, which is warehouse-like because the main floor is vast and has a very high ceiling. Café patrons have a bird’s-eye view of the goings-on downstairs. I love the set up. It’s great for people watching.
When it was time to head out for my lunch date, I packed up and began my descent down the massive staircase. About mid-way down, I stopped. My eyes caught the order of the store. Like a well-planted garden, the store boasted a beautiful pattern of rows filled with content, yet separated by space. It was so impressive that it caused me to stop and to consider the beauty of the order.

The ‘Border order’ invaded my thoughts as I gazed out over the garden of books, CDs and magazines. Each row became a line of my daily ‘to do’ list. The space between the rows became the ‘grace space’ between tasks that allows for congestion on the highway, that welcomes the unexpected phone call from a friend in need, that embraces the crying child instead of snapping at her. I viewed a beautiful balance between the rows and the space. All at once, I realized that my pursuit of accomplishment, my desire to check the boxes each day, weighed more heavily on the rows than on the space! I have a tendency to be more like Martha than Mary.

Personally, when my days are filled with countless rows of things to do, the space between those rows grows thin. No matter how many times I try, I can never seem to fit more than 24 hours into one day! (Duh!) When space diminishes, I have a tendency to get grouchy. When space diminishes, I find my self with very little time to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him. When ‘grace space’ is properly placed between the rows of my list, I am more pleasant to be around, more productive in serving others and more available to worship the day through. Note to self: Factor in ‘grace space’ to your daily ‘to do’ list!! All summed up, I guess I’m going to be shooting for my days to have more Border order. When I do, my family wins, my stress level wins, my friends win, and my God wins. Hope you will, too.

Let's Pray...
Dear Lord, You are an amazing God of order. The universe is extravagant with order and the designs of our bodies are intricate with order. Thank you for demonstrating through the order of creation that hard work is very important, but that rest is an essential element as well. Please help me to broaden the isles of ‘grace space’ in my life. Help me to recognize and embrace daily opportunities that You send my way to love, encourage and worship. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Now it's Your Turn
Are you a list-girl?
Are your rows too close together?
Is there a friend, colleague or family member who needs a call of encouragement today?
Pinpoint one row on your list that can be eliminated to create more grace space in your day.

God is in Control

2006-12-01T23:52:00.000-06:00

-by M. Southerland

"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8 (NLT)

The apostle Paul understood and lived by the truth that God is constantly at work in and around us, monitoring every circumstance. Paul writes in Philippians 4:10, “I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” There is a truth in this verse that is easy to miss - the truth that God is always at work around us. Paul’s circumstances did not show that God was working. But Paul knew! He was secure in the belief that help was on the way so he stood firm and began watching for God to show up! He examined every circumstance, understanding that it had already passed through His Father’s hands with His permission! And God came through!

To find real security and contentment we must learn to search for the handprints of God in the every day circumstances of life.Life is not a series of accidents but a series of divine appointments made by our heavenly Father, designed to prove that He loves us and orchestrated to illustrate His provision for us. That interruption we complain about or that intrusion we resent may well be a window of opportunity sent by Him! God is our provider. The word “provider” comes from two Latin words, “pro” which means “before” and “video” which means, “to see”. In other words God will take care of it beforehand. God caused the church at Philippi to become concerned about Paul’s needs and it came at the time when Paul needed their love the most! He always comes when we need Him the most! It is a picture of the Good Shepherd meeting every need of every sheep.

John 10:4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice. (NLT)The Shepherd is always ahead of his sheep - out in front which means that any attack upon the sheep has to take him into account first. What peace and security we can have knowing that God has gone before us through every valley, across each mountain of life. He knows what tomorrow holds and will give us everything we need to face it. When we begin to understand and walk in the truth that God monitors every circumstance, we will also understand and walk in contentment. You may find yourself in a frightening place filled with darkness and doubt. Your fragile heart may be wondering if God knows where you are. Let me assure you my friend - He does. Even if you cannot see Him He can see you. And when it comes right down to it, I really prefer that God be able to see me rather than insisting that I be able to see Him!
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"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11

The Hand of God...& Ezra

2006-12-01T23:45:00.000-06:00

Wednesday nights at church are the best... this week it was about Ezra... I dont remember studying Ezra before. if you look in the book of Ezra many times it mentions how the 'hand of God was on ' Ezra and his life. some places this is mentioned include Ezra 7:6, 7:9, 7:27-28, 8:15-18; 8:21-23; 8:31-32
More than anything wouldn't you want to know that God's hand was on your life? you can see from the verses mentioned, that some of things this resulted in are God's favor with people (7:6), God's helping him with problems (7:9), because he knew God's hand was on him, it gave him confidence (7:28), His provision (8:18), and His protection in situations Ezra went through (8:21-22).so then what did Ezra do that he had the hand of God evident in his life? keep in mind

II Chron 16:9 The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

God wants to set His hand on your life as much as any other persons - any pastor or any one you see being used of the Lord. He doesnt have favorites and He is no respector of persons. But what we do, and how we position our heart and life determine how much of His presence is evident in our lives. The more time you spend with God, the more He presence is evident. Dont you love how when you are around someone who does spend time in God's presence, it leaves you feeling like you want to spend more time with the Lord?

How did Ezra come to have the hand of God on His life?
1. He studied the Word of God.
Ezra 7:10Yes we need to be hearing the Word in church but we also need to be reading the Word each day ourselves so that you will have a good foundation on which to process the situations life brings your way and approach situations in a way that God would direct you.

2. He was obedient in applying the Word of God to his life and to do the will of God.
Ezra 7:10There is no blessing in just knowing the Word of God if you do not apply it to your life. You cant just say well the Bible says to be joyful but that just doesnt click with me, I'm not a joyful person. You cant just pick parts of the Word and only apply to your life what easily resonates with you. Some areas will come easily to you and some may not; those are things you need to work on developing in your life.

3. Seeking the help of God; seeking God in prayer & fasting
Ezra 8:21-22If you need the hand of God in a situation you need to spend some quality time in prayer and perhaps in fasting. When we seek God earnestly, His hand is on us to do good. (v22)

4. Ezra had a sensitivity to the holiness of God
Ezra 9:1-6Ezra was appalled that the people were disobeying God. What offended God, offended Ezra because he was sensitive to God's holiness.Do you hate sin enough to recognize it and not tolerate it in your life?
Ps 69:9 for zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me
Ps 101:2-3 - I will be careful to lead a blameless life, when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate, they will not cling to me.
Eph 5:3-4 but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

If you expose yourself to things that the Holy Spirit hates (whether it is something you watch, read, listen to, or think) then you are dimishing the grace of God, His presence, and working in your life. How can God's hand be actively working in your life if you are purposely choosing to grieve Him? To make a difference in life, you need to be different than the world around you. We are called to be set apart.
Who would not want the hand of God on your life and to live in the blessings of that? to follow the examples in Ezra's life
1. Study the Word of God
2. Apply the Word of God to your life
3. Seek God earnestly
4. Be sensitive to the holiness of God

Chris Tomlin - Branson concert #1

2006-11-05T23:36:00.000-06:00

Finally, pics up from the CTB Branson concert last Sunday Oct 29th. It was great to get to see them twice on this fall tour! When someone good comes to your area, if you arrange for several people to go it is best to distribute their tickets to them, like a week early, instead of meeting them right before the show. There are several reasons this is a better idea, trust me on this. One of which is so that you wont miss the pre-show announcements. and that's all I have to say about that ;)

the pre-show sign :

Your Grace is Enough

Jesse....

Chris...

Chris Tomlin - Branson concert #2

2006-11-05T23:34:00.000-06:00

Daniel...

Chris...

Travis & Jesse.....

Chris...

Chris Tomlin - Branson concert #3

2006-11-05T23:31:00.000-06:00

Ok these four pics in this part 3 of the post are from my friend Angie, she has a much better zoom and sharper focus than most of mine...
Chris at the piano....

Daniel....

Chris....

Jesse...

Chris Tomlin - Branson concert #4

2006-11-05T23:27:00.000-06:00

Chris talking about the concept of See the Morning...
about hope and the faithfulness of our God...

ok this was actually focused on the tall guy in front of me so the guys are blurry but I still like the lil jam action going on with Daniel and Jesse...

Daniel (boy wonder)....

Andy at the keyboards and Chris...

Songs they sang included Your Grace is Enough, Holy is the Lord, Indescribable, Let God Arise, How Can I Keep From Singing, Enough (acoustic), Glorious, Forever, Made to Worship, Everlasting God, How Great Is Our God, Friend of God, and Amazing Grace. Great night of worship... if you get a chance to see them on the next leg of the tour, go for it! :)

See the Morning

2006-10-28T23:53:00.000-05:00

Currently listening to.... See the Morning....
click HERE to see the ecard which has
samples of each song and pics from the studio...

You wonder what the CD after a breakthrough CD like Arriving will be like.... I think we've all seen groups release projects after one we really connected with that did not seem to have the same level of intensity....but this is an equally wonderful & explorable collection of worship songs that does not disappoint :)

Thanks so much CTB!

To read an interview Chris gave to CBN recently, click HERE.

To read an recent interview with Christianity Today.com, click HERE..

Jeremy & Adie Camp Concert #1

2006-10-27T18:30:00.000-05:00

Jeremy Camp was here this past week along with his wife Adie! They both have a new cd out. She did a few songs to open the evening and seemed very sweet.

After Adie sang, then it was time for Hawk Nelson. I was not familiar with them; they were from Canada. They must have had like 10 starbucks before they hit the stage because they were like bouncing all over the walls, a ton of energy.

(The venue they happened to be at for some reason has really bad acoustics. I hadn't been there in so long I'd forgotten that. I wish I could have heard the words to both Adie and HawkNelson's songs better, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.)

Jeremy & Adie Camp Concert #2

2006-10-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

Among other songs Jeremy sang Beautiful one, This Man, Lay Down My Pride, Take You Back, & Breathe, Walk by Faith, & some songs off of his new cd – Tonight, Beyond Measure, Give Me Jesus

Jeremy & Adie Camp Concert #3

2006-10-27T18:19:00.000-05:00

At the end for the encore, Jeremy and Adie came out and sang a few more acoustic worship songs which was a great way to end the evening.

It was great to see them sing together :)

Our God Reigns

2006-10-16T23:14:00.000-05:00

there is a new blog up for intested blogetters who want to celebrate God and what He is doing &have fellowship together http://ourgodreignsbloggers.blogspot.com/
This kimmer page will go back to being my personal blog (which you are always welcome to visit) and the blog Our God Reigns can be a new place of fellowship for people who wish to connect from former blogs :)

Waiting on God

2006-10-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday night the sermon was on Waiting on God...
taken mostly from I Sam 11:1-15

1. Waiting & Ripening
Why does God make us wait?
Scripture is filled with examples of people waiting on God...
God has designed waiting for our benefit, not our punishment.
While we are waiting, God is working. God is never late, never too early, He always moves in His time, when the time is ripe. He brings about events for the exact results and the exact right time that He desires. God ripens the time and the circumstances to accomplish His will.
Gal 4:4 - but when the time had fully come...
Ripened fruit is so much better than unriped fruit. God says, wait for Me. Dont get ahead of God, wait on His timing.

2. Waiting & Working
sometimes we think of waiting on God like 'waiting by the phone'. doing nothing but waiting. But Biblical waiting on God is not passively waiting; Saul didn't just sit there, he was working. What are you doing with your life right now? It is alot easier to steer a car that is moving.
Biblical waiting is actively doing whatever the Lord gives us to do and looking to God to ripen the circumstances.
It is a confident, expectant, hoping.

3. Waiting & Receiving v6-10
As Saul's time of waiting progressed, he became more sensitive to the Spirit of God .... he was designated, elected, annointed, and yet he had to wait to be king until it was God's timing. Some of the things this time was used for, were to draw him closer to the Lord and to instill boldness in him. So much of the will of God is in the timing of God and waiting for the right time. He uses it to prepare us for His plan. Is 40- expectant waiting on Him... they will be given strength; there is something profound that can happen during the waiting.

4. Waiting & the Winning v11-15
Saul became more gracious waiting for God to ripen the moment. Saul waited on the Lord and God's promises were fulfilled.

It is very important to remember that while we are waiting on Him, God is working.

The Names of God - Holy One of Israel

2006-10-12T23:28:00.000-05:00

My pastor has been doing a series on Wed nights on the Names of God. This past week it was on - Qedosh Yisrael - Holy One of Israel. It is mostly used in the book of Isaiah. In it the people were living corrupt lives and which made them estranged from fellowship with God, because He is Holy. However the heart of God is that His people would be in fellowship with Him. Is. 6:3 the seraphim call out to each other Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. This is the only description of God repeated in this manner 3 times in a row. It is as if to say He is Holy before He is anything else; His Holiness is not just an attribute of God, it is the essence of His nature; He is perfect in purity and righteousness, perfection and moral integrity. His way is perfect without flaw or error; He is unique, like no one else. v.4-5 instantly standing before God, Isaiah is made aware of his own sinfulness. There is a place for that in our relationship with the Lord and in our prayer life. Is He our friend? yes. but He is also the High exalted Holy One of Israel. v6-7 think about it, the coal of fire on his lips must have been painful -- as true repentance is.

I Peter 1:14-16 - As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy.

We can only be holy because of the cross. But we have a responsibility after we have been saved to see that we are walking in holiness. We are responsible when we go to God in prayer to first make sure we are right with Him and have repented, renounced, and turned away from our sins. We must do our part in that. You do not approach a holy God in a flippant manner. Each time you begin a time of prayer, ask Him to bring to mind actions, attitudes, and things you've done which are not pleasing to Him and repent of them. That doesn't just mean being sorry. It means changing direction. This is a significant part of our walk with God. Search your heart, ask Him to reveal things to you, repent of sin, consider His holiness, and ask Him to restore you.

Third Day Concert - part 1

2006-10-09T00:55:00.000-05:00

Third Day was in Springfield last Friday! I wish Crowder would have been with them but that's ok, it was nice to see two new groups, Hyperstatic Union & Leeland. Ok these pics are a little better than the Chris Tomlin Band Tulsa pics, but not much... let's just say you still need to 'embrace the grain' .

Ok let me just show you this first pic to illustrate 2 questions.... wouldn't you think the 7th row should look closer than this? And why am I often surrounded by really tall people with really big heads at concerts? Personally I'd like some promoter to experiment with selling seats by height and giving the shorter people seats in the front so that everyone can see .... anyway you can see the lights are really cool if you look past the sea of tall heads..... hehe :)

Hyperstatic Union opened and it was the first time I'd seen them. I liked their sound and they threw in a little Stevie Wonder boogie at the end which was fun.

Leeland was next, a young group of guys (17-18) ...I was impressed with their spirit of worship and musical ability (this is the only pic that came out or I'd show the rest of the band)

Here you can again see the cool lights, the overall stage, and quite clearly the large heads.... hehe...oohhh wellll, at least this guy looks like he's being sweet to his girlfriend :)

Third Day Concert - part 2

2006-10-09T00:44:00.000-05:00

Third Day was great and they played their hearts out :) Songs they sang included God of Wonders, Show Me Your Glory, Creed (I Believe), Your Love Oh Lord, Mountain of God, Cry Out to Jesus, Thief, Nothing at all, Come Together, AgnesDei/Worthy, You are so Good to Me, Sing a Song, I Can Feel It, Just to be with You, and Light at the End of This Tunnel for You.

Third Day Concert - part 3

2006-10-09T00:35:00.000-05:00

Third Day Concert - part 4

2006-10-09T00:32:00.000-05:00

They did an acoustic set...

Third Day Concert - part 5

2006-10-09T00:23:00.000-05:00

Mac said several times we sure weren't the largest crowd they'd played for this tour but that we were one of the most enthusiastic :) They came back for an encore of 3 songs and even then seemed like they weren't quite ready to leave the stage. I'm sure if it was up to us, we'd have wanted them to just keep on playing! Great night of worship & music :)

Chris Tomlin Band - Tulsa - part 1

2006-09-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

I was able to see the Chris Tomlin Band last weekend at their Tulsa stop of the See the Morning Tour! That's really cool! what's not so cool is that I've lost my digitial camera book ... when I used to be into photgraphy, concert lighting wasn't something I did; so... bear with me, I'm flying blind with these concert pics. They tend to be blurry and grainy and I tried several different settings but obviously I'm not there yet.

Might be best if you go into this thinking of these as .....
hmmmm experiements in photography :)
think of embracing blur and grain,
grain and blur
heehee

In this first picture you can see Chris and the new keyboard player Andy behind him:

Next a picture of the fair- haired Daniel, rockin out

Next, Jesse & Travis (can you tell what song they are playing?)

Daniel and Chris rockin with Andy

continued in next post below....

Chris Tomlin Band - Tulsa - part 2

2006-09-28T19:38:00.000-05:00

There are a few more pics below.... and here is a lil summary of the evening...
The guys came out and did a few songs from Arriving and then Chris talked about how excited they were to play songs from the new cd and that this was their first stop on the tour :) Chris talked a lot about the theme of See the Morning and that Jesse had suggested the theme from a line in the song Rejoice.
A few of the things he mentioned about See the Morning were that
-In scripture, morning was often used to illustrate God’s faithfulness
-that many, many miracles in both the Old and New Testament occur in the morning
-and that Jesus is referred to as our Bright and Morning Star :)

Songs they sang included Amazing Grace, Forever, Indescribable, Holy is the Lord, How Great is Our God, Your Grace is Enough, How Can I Keep from Singing, Made to Worship, Let God Arise, Everlasting God, Awesome is the Lord, Glorious, and Rejoice. I really loved a lot of the new songs!

They had a keyboard player with them, Andy, I think he was from England. All the guys seemed rested and great and Chris said they were ready to get back out on the road.

The worship was great and there were also some nice spontaneous moments too :) During one song ( I think it was Enough) it was just Daniel and Chris, both playing acoustic. I hadn’t noticed Daniel playing acoustic before, it sounded very good with the two of them. Chris played piano for several songs.

and now... more pics... remember to embrace the concept of 'blur & grain' :)

Chris and Andy

Chris...

Ok you're really going to have to work with me on this next one.....

Any abstract art lovers out there? Ok well, try to be one for this next photo...

granted it's filled with blur and flare BUT,

I really think it's cool how what you end up with looks like an often used symbol of the Holy Spirit right above Chris....

and Chris leading us in worship....

Chris also talked about how the night was not them singing songs to us, or us singing songs to them, but about us all worshipping God together. He emphasized that point several times really, that the night was for the Lord, not for them. It was a special night and a great time of worship :)

Rejoice.... & Think on These Things...

2006-09-19T23:16:00.000-05:00

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again; Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things. Whatever you have leanred or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 NIV

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up at any minute!

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that and God who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:4-9 (Message)

Blessings~

Casey's Birthday!

2006-09-16T23:14:00.000-05:00

Yep, my pup Casey just had a birthday.... and turned 15! (How that is that possible?) I think she looks pretty darn good for 105!

In honor of her birthday, here's a cute video a friend at work sent me called Talking Dogs

Click here to watch "talkingdogs2-1"

enjoy!

Trusting in the Lord part 1 of 3

2006-08-27T20:52:00.000-05:00

Beth Moore Conference June 2006
Part 1
What is your "this thing" - what's in your box?

These are my notes from the Beth Moore conference I attended in Oklahoma City this summer……
Session One
Being in a position of need puts you in a sweet position to be desperate for Him; when you are in need, His Word comes alive to you. Sometimes you have a season of life where you have wonderful things and horrible things all happening to you at the same time – welcome to life! :)

If you’ve been temped to accept that your pain is part of who you are, this is a fresh word for you that the Lord gave Beth specifically for this conference.

Psalm 115:1-15 –
v.1 ‘Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your Name be the glory because of Your love and faithfulness’. This is not about me. In Greek – ‘to demonstrate and make your glory visible’
– v 5-6 look at money – it has eyes (but doesn’t see) it has ears (but cannot hear) and mouth (but cannot speak) –and it is America’s biggest idol – we think it will bring us security.
v12 – He remembers us and wants to bless us – in the literal translation “He will bless us” – the repetition of this in the psalm is to make us take notice of the point.
v.11 – here it is – “Trust in the Lord”. We are here to receive a call to Trust Him. We all have things we have more difficulty trusting the Lord for than other things. Some of us have a deep root of distrust. This is the specific message Beth felt the Lord directed her to share at this conference. He wants us to identify any areas of our mistrust andHe wants to heal us in these areas.

Duet 1:28-33 – the sliver of your life where you don’t trust God
v32 KJV – “ Yet in this thing you did not believe in the Lord.” ………What is your ‘this thing’??

Many of us know we’ve seen mighty works of God in our lives and yet we come up against something that challenges us and He says to us…. ‘are you kidding? you don’t trust me with THAT after all we’ve been through together and all I’ve brought you through?’ Even though you’ve seen him do wonders in your life in other areas and you trust Him for the great work of salvation? Whatever it is, just confess it – Lord I don’t trust You with ‘this thing’ – that’s how we get over it. In the NT greek, the word faith is often translated to say ‘trust’ or ‘belief’. They come from the same word.

Faith is something that begins in the head. No matter how I feel and what things look like, I’m choosing to believe what I know to be true – I’m Believing God. When ‘trust’ is translated instead of faith, the contrast is different. Trust is part of faith in the Hebrew terminology. Trust is the most intimate part of your faith walk. In English it sounds different to say ‘I have faith in you’ – than to say ‘I trust you’. Faith comes from the head; Trust comes from the heart. – when the faith of what we believe also becomes what we feel. Do you wish your heart would catch up with your head? What would it be like if we could feel what we knew to be true? If it would go from my head to my heart – then we are talking about trusting God.

Pv3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Think it and know to be true – He can be trusted.
Ps 28:7 – The Lord is my shield, my heart trusts in Him
if you really want to dig into this sometime, do a bible study and look up all the places in the Word it mentions the heart and trust.

Trust is a matter of the heart.
Think about it, it is possible to believe someone, but not to really trust them.

According to God’s Word, do you have a distrust problem? How can you tell?

Distrust manifests itself in 2 ways:
1. A Persistently Ailing Heart:
I’m not talking about a grief over a loss (like a loved one). I’m talking about a persistant battle of an ailing heart. When we have an active trust for God our hearts are light and leaping! If we have a heavy heart all the time – it is because you are taking on God’s role in that burden and we are not made to do that. Hurts keep on coming. Scars don’t hurt – wounds do. Scars don’t bleed, wounds do. If we are still hurting over something its not healed yet. There is something we’ve not trusted Him with in that hurt so it doesn’t heal – the same wound gets the scab knocked off over and over again. I don’t think its going to change – it’ll keep happening – what if the person that is hurting you or the thing that is hurting you doesn’t change? WE have to change. I want to change and quit being hurt that badly by ‘this thing’. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could quit reacting to it – the enemy KNOWS it works – that’s why he keeps using ‘this thing’ –he doesn’t even need to come up with something new if we let it keep us down. If you say, well I keep getting hurt because I’m just a sensitive person, God says, ‘no, it is because you are not trusting Me with ‘that thing’. Sometimes our heart will ail and we don’t even really know why.
2. A Spewing Mind –
at the place where my mind ‘spews’ – that is where I’m not trusting Him
Is 26:3 – You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You. The things my mind is steadfast about, I trust God with ( not that we are always perfectly trusting but that we are settled and for the most part trusting Him). Where my mind isn’t steadfast – that is where I have God distrust on ‘that thing’. It is the root of our distrust. Find the root of your vain imagination to find the root of your distrust. What pre-occupies you and causes you anxiety? For example: I’m getting older everyday….. what if my husband doesn’t think I’m attractive anymore and thinks I’m looking old? What if he starts liking someone else? Don’t let yourself believe for a second the lie that to be desirable is what it takes to be valuable- that is a lie. We are valueable because He made us in His image and calls us His own. We can’t make people love us or be good enough or cute enough- instead ask the Lord to just help you be who He made you to be. All of us get wounded and need healing. The place where I need the deepest healing is my ‘this thing’, the home of my God distrust.

Many of us have authentically trusted God with different challenges in life. We may all be different in what our ‘this thing’ is – some struggle in the area of finances, family, looks, love life, career, etc. Think of the different areas or compartments of your life as boxes. If you were to list out 7 or so boxes that would generally compartmentalize the areas of your life, what would they be? What boxes are you not trusting God with? You tend to keep the lid on them…. lets open up this box and if we are willing, get a healing from God for it. The enemy uses this box to do a number on you—instead, let’s get some healing. The enemy will keep using the same exact boxes and darts as long as they keep working on you. (Why should he bother to change what is working so well?)

It is not enough to trust God that what we fear the most won’t happen – for two reasons:
a. Because the enemy knows this is where your fear is, this is where he’ll continue to torment you in your thoughts.
b. Because that means our trust in God is conditional, which makes us very vulnerable in that area

Trust says ‘God I just trust You that if what I fear the most does happen – You are still going to be with me, taking care of me’

He’s writing a great story with your life – but remember, great stories have nail-biting chapters! We all want great stories in our lives but no pain on the way there. Lord while we are here, help us to live lives that would glorify you and terrify the enemy.
Ps 112:7-8 – he will have no fear of bad news – his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. It's not that bad news will never come – it's just that the person trusting in God won't be living in fear and anxiety of it coming.

Beth has a bracelet which says ‘the Lords’ – it was old and broken, but the Lord fixed it. and told her ‘you know Beth, I can do anything. If I do not do what you ask and fix what you ask – is it because I couldn’t or because I’m not faithful? No, I can do anything in a second flat! If I allowed something to happen in your life, mustn’t I have known that your life would have greater purpose and potential with you having experienced that thing?

Make a list of “what ifs” that worry you – what if xx happened? what if my husband stopped loving me? Well, truly I’d be very upset and hurt both with him and with God and then I guess that I’d minister out of the common experience of rejection.
When it comes down to it – the enemy can’t win because come what may – I will minister! and when I take what the enemy has dealt me and turn it around and use it to minister, then the enemy will be sorry because it will turn on him every time and God will gain the glory for using what he meant for evil instead for good.

Not just – I trust you not to let this happen, but I trust You to take care of me no matter what happens. With every reality of that statement our heavy heart lightens a little more until we realize the enemy has nothing on us because I will trust my God and my heart can leap and dance. As long as you trust Him, there is so much He can do, let Him into the secret place where no one knows you are hurting.

Your homework from this session – is list out your boxes the different areas that make up your life– then answer next to each one – which ones do you trust God in – where are you steadfast; and which ones are you not trusting Him with (where does your mind ‘spew’ and where do you have anxiety?)

Trusting in the Lord part 2 of 3

2006-08-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

Beth Moore Conference June 2006
Part 2
What is your "this thing" - what's in your box?

Session Two
Nothing is impossible for Him or escapes His gaze. When we praise Him and remember His attributes it puts our focus off our circumstances and back onto His greatness and the fact that He can do anything.
Ps 115:1-15
Trust God for the person that you are.
The ‘boxes’ you identified where you aren’t trusting God? Take the lid off of that box. You are valuable, (not because of what anyone else thinks), but because God says you are valuable! Trust with your head (faith) but also with your heart – this is what will bring healing to your heart and your feelings.

We want to quit being hurt by ‘this thing’. We can’t make sure things that wound us will change, but we can change our responses…. so that the wound can become a scar which He has healed.
v1 we are not called to blind trust, but to and trust someone Who has been and is faithful to you.
v9-11 when we don’t engage in the active trust in God, we lose the sense of the strength from His active help and shield. Our distrust only serves to reaffirm that we distrust. when we disengage and don’t sense His active help, then it seems to us as if He didn’t help, it only re-affirms the distrust. Distrust gives way to more distrust. v9 – He is my ‘help’ (so much more than a human helper) and my shield. When we trust Him, He will enable our spirit by His being. Can He do/fix/solve ‘this thing’ with out you? Yes!
but if He did, you would miss out on seeing the power of the divine – when He enables us weak people to overcome ‘this thing’ through His strength. He wants you to know that you can trust in His power, you can do it, you can do all things thru Christ who strengthens you. Israel didn’t go into the promised land – was their unbelief in what God could do? No. They didn’t think God could use them in the process to go in and overcome the enemy. In Eph 3 it says that He will do abundantly above all that we ask or think – not just around us – but IN us, in a vessel.

When we distrust God in ‘that thing’, we drop our shield of faith from over that box, over that area. It becomes open game to the enemy. Our shield of faith is what shields us from the enemy’s darts. When I’m trust God with a box in my life, there is a shield of faith over it to protect it from the enemy. When I disengage my trust, I’ve lost the sense of my help and shield. Your house will be transformed by trust. It begins with you. what would happen if you began to give God ‘that thing’ and trusted Him with it?
We all have historical reasons not to trust – every one of us. when someone lies to us or lets us down, if a protector becomes an abuser, or maybe you’ve experienced rejection, or been cheated on, or perhaps a lack of relationship entirely has caused your mistrust. God let them understand, He’s not just a big version of those who have hurt us. He is God, spotless and faithful, always true, trustworthy and loving.

(side note on wounds from a friend)
Ps41:9 – even my close friend hurts me
ps 55:12-14 – my close friend
Pvb 27:6 – wounds from a friend can be trusted – wear this only if the shoe fits ladies. there may be someone who feels betrayed by a friend who wounded you, but they did it in faithfulness. maybe they didn’t say it right but their motive was pure. You may need to forgive someone for wounding you as a friend. )

There is no place we’ve been as deeply hurt as the root of our distrust; distrust is the result of a wound. Under your box of distrust is a wound that needs healing. Don’t just let the enemy keep throwing it at you. Identify it before God and call upon Him to heal you of distrusting Him with ‘this thing’.

Here are several statements about trust, do any of them apply to you? Answer them true or false as your read them….
A. Deep down inside, I don’t trust anybody

B. I tend to trust anybody & everyone ( you are always shocked when let down)

C. There’s only one person on this earth that I trust

D. I don’t trust God in my ‘this thing’ box

E. The only one I trust at all is God

F. I usually trust God in most things

A –Sooner or later everyone will betray you – this is from the enemy. This person moves from being suspicious to cynical. They don’t trust anyone; it is a cold world and they have a cold heart.

B. If this is you; you are probably a bit gullible and get hurt over and over again. Sometimes we believe people that aren’t believable. Philippians does caution us to not love blindly and that we need to have discernment; scripture does point out that there are some people who are not trustworthy.

C. If you put all your trust in one person, you are creating a false savior or a formula for co-dependency. Be careful of someone who takes such extreme good care of you, that we can’t take care of our selves. If there is only one person you trust, the enemy will try and get that person to let you down

D. If we don’t trust God, we are trusting in ourselves. Jer 48:7 – trust in our deeds and riches – what we do and have
Duet 28:52 – walls in which you have trusted fall down. Building a fortress with high walls around your heart. you can either tear it down yourself or it can fall down.

E. If I only trust in God – Ps115 – trust – Hebrew- batah – to attach oneself. What is your biggest attachment in life that you find security in? The Word tells us to find our security in God alone. But in scripture, there are also people who can be trusted. It would be far fetched to say we completely trust God and yet do not trust anyone on the earth. We will be blessed in relationships when we just trust people to be people (no one is perfect) so when you see the imperfection in someone, don’t disconnect – but maintain fellowship. Often the older we get, the less we trust and the fewer relationships we have. 1 in 4 people have no one to discuss problems with and this means fewer people to turn to in time of need. One reason for this trend is working longer hours and a longer daily commute, yet tv and computer use are up. We might have many relationships as thin as a dime yet we are lonesome. We need to forgive some people for messing up and not being God.

F. I trust God in most things.
His Mercies are waiting on me and they are new every morning.
I Cor 13 – Love always trusts
Jn 14:1 – Trust in God. trust also in me. start with 2. well you may not trust this person, do you trust Me that even if you get hurt there I’ll make something good of it? Do not let your heart be troubled (anxious) but instead Trust in God,… in addition in Me Trust. It begins and ends with the word trust. You can trust people to be people (imperfect) and you can trust God to be God (perfect)

Trusting in the Lord Part 3 of 3

2006-08-27T20:41:00.000-05:00

Beth Moore Conference June 2006
Part 3
What is your "this thing" - what's in your box?

Session Three
Our trust with God cannot be based on what we don’t want to have happen. 95% of what we fear never happens but even if the 5% happens we can still trust Him with it. We are washed whiter than snow Ps51.

What impact this would have if we put this on in Christ! For the Kansas City conference, Beth talked on fear and she said it was life-changing. Whatever He’s called you to do, is on the other side of that fear. Fear is best friends with distrust.

Commit yourself to live as trusting in God. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Ps115 – A work that begins in you of trusting God today can have a huge effect on your household. Unhealthy patterns are not the only things which can be a contagious; you can break negative cycles in your household; positive patterns and putting your trust in God can be multiplied throughout those in your household
ps115:12 the blessing - He remembers us and will bless us – He has been thinking about you – You never leave His thoughts.
Ps 139 His thoughts of you are more numerous than the grains of sand! His is very mindful of you. He’s come to bless your house – Trust Him. He wants to make you strong and mighty! He longs to bless you
v14 – spiritual lineage – we have a spiritual lineage – it is to your Father’s glory that you leave behind a harvest. we may have physical children; if not you have an opportunity to raise up people in the faith.
II Tim 1 there is no place we’ve been more deeply hurt than the root of your distrust. This area in which you are most tempted to mistrust God is the very area He has chosen to most trust you. If He’s allowed something painful in your life it is because He’s entrusted you with it. He entrusted us with spiritual gifts and sufferings also have been entrusted to us – it is not that He didn’t know, but He knew that you had it in you to over come it, that is the only reason God allowed painful things to happen in your life. If what you hope doesn’t happen, does happen, He’s trusting you that you have it in you to overcome it. Life is a whole lot more about purpose than it is about pleasure. Our purpose is to bring Him glory. What if He in His sovereignty said in the power of Christ I know you can do it and have the power within you. I’ll bring a harvest from within you when by trusting in Me, you do it. Maybe God thought a lot of you, when in His permissive will, he allowed ___ to happen. It makes the enemy sorry he ever brought this into your life when we refuse to stay knocked down by such a thing and get back up and stay up! Don’t let the enemy use something that happened (or didn’t happen the way we would have liked) to keep you down! Get up! Trust in God in that area!
If we don’t get back up, then there is no greater purpose gained – all that pain for nothing. Get up and go back to live among the living!

Psalms 27:13 says I will 'see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living' :)

But often we just want to keep laying down after we are knocked down and ask others to lay down with us and share our misery. Inhale Christ, get up, and return to the land of the living; that is when it turns back upon the enemy and he will be sorry he ever brought this into your life.
II Tim 1:12 – that’s why I’m suffering as I am. yet I’m not ashamed because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. He takes notice of what concerns you. ‘Guard’ = to keep watch of things/people kept in safety; to be on one’s guard. We can trust Him because His mind is on us and everything that concerns us 24x7. He’s never going to forget what concerns and scares you. tell Him you are sick of worrying about ‘this thing’. Let Him guard this trust and He’ll never forget it- He’s God. He’ll bind it on his forehead and on His heart Duet 6:6-8.

To live this out – trust daily ps143:8 – Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.
You get up each day and ask Him – whatever temptation I have today to fret about ‘this thing’, You love me with faithfulness. show me your way and help me to walk in it and Trust you with ‘this thing’. No matter what happens today, I know you will be here for me. Your love is faithful and unfailing.
ps 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture– our part it is to do the right thing when tempted – you trust God and make the right decision in your trust walk with God; He will be faithful to you.
Is 25:9 – we trusted in Him and He saved us.

remember – at the end of our lives, we’ll never say, I shouldn’t have worshipped as much or I shouldn’t have talked with God about as many personal things or I shouldn’t have prayed as much, dig in to your life in Christ! – trust Him to be bigger, broader and deeper than you have yet known Him to be.

Believe Me Now

2006-08-15T22:56:00.000-05:00

I thought this was one of the most powerful songs on Steven Curtis Chapman's 'All Things New' cd. Honestly, I could not believe it did not receive more radio airplay. I have not thought of it for a while but a few times this week it kept coming to mind that I should listen to it again. I listened to a several times while driving yesterday and it never ceases to be a song annointed of the Lord for me when I hear it. Then tonight on the way home I heard it actually playing on a radio station, which is very rare. I just felt like it was not a coincidence. Like the Lord was really wanting me to take it in. Maybe it is also for someone else out too... so here are the lyrics:

I watch you looking out
Across the raging water
So sure your only hope
lies on the other side

You hear the enemy
That's closing in around you

And I know
That you don't have the strength to fight
But do you
Have the faith to stand...and...

Believe Me now
Believe Me here
Remember all the times I've told you loud and clear
I am WITH you, and I am FOR you
So believe Me now
Believe Me now

I am the One who waved My hand
and split the ocean
I am the One who spoke the words
And raised the dead

And I've loved you long before
I set the world in motion

I know all the fears you're feeling now
But do you remember who I am?
Do you ...

So Believe Me now
Believe it's true
I never have, I never will abandon you
And the God that I have always been
I will forever be
So believe Me now

I am the God Who never wastes a single hurt
that you endure
My words are true
and all My promises are sure
So believe Me now
Oh.. believe Me now

if you dont know the song you might want to pop over to his site (www.stephencurtischapman.com) and listen to it, its a very powerful song and at times just what I'm need to hear... :)

Rocky Mountain Natl Park - part 5

2006-08-06T21:21:00.000-05:00

this one is a bit blurry but it is a red fox...

A sweet older couple enjoying Alberta falls

it's either Chip or Dale :) I think chipmunks are so cute

some wildflowers near a stream...

(please do not repost any pictures without asking)

Rocky Mountain Natl Park pics - part 4

2006-08-06T21:12:00.000-05:00

Along Sprague Lake trail.....

path through the pines....
This tree & rock were cool. They made me think of my Pastor's recent series on the Names of God - the one on the Lord our Rock.... the way the tree looks as if it is both resting on & supported by the Rock .....
a coyote....

(Please do not repost pictures without asking)

Rocky Mountain Natl Park pics- part 3

2006-08-06T21:03:00.000-05:00

a sunset....

Copeland Falls.....

Sprague Lake....
a meadow....

(Please do not repost pictures without asking)

Getting to Estes Park

2006-08-06T18:58:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a week in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and it was a blast! One cool blessing was how my camera broke the day before I was to leave and the Lord lead me to someone who could fix it that afternoon! The next cool and unexpected blessing came the next morning as I learned my 9 am flight to Dallas had just been delayed 4 hours till 1 pm. Hmm.. and that was just the getting to Dallas part ....that could put a kink in meeting up with my friend in Denver that first day; she'd have to wait for several hours.... But you know, God is just too good to me. The next thing I knew, the ticket agent said, well, there is one seat left on a flight thru Chicago that would get you into Denver just one hour later…would you like me to try and get that seat for you? Sounded great to me, let’s go for it! After several minutes of typing away the travel agent says, OK I got it for you; by the way, I just know this will break your heart but that one seat that was left, is in first class-hee :) Alrighty then! Ok I’ve been upgraded for one reason or another to first class before but apparently in retrospect they were all really short flights. This was a longer flight… and has anyone seen that Sienfeld episode where Jerry is in first class and Elaine is in coach? Well let’s just say it reminded me a lot of that. I’m like Lord, this is very nice, You are just way too good to me. Met up with my friend just fine and headed on up to Estes Park.

On the way there, we met the most tall, dark, and handsome cowboy! He was somethin’ else:

LOL – ok, who in the world would put this thing in their yard? :) okey dokey.

Then we saw this other cowboy fly fishing on the way to Estes Park, he was a little shorter:

Then we found the Inn we were staying at – I’ve booked places in the past that looked good on the internet before and had them turn out to be kinda crumy; but this place was truely very cool and only a few $ more than a normal room at the Holiday Inn and it had so much more space. The living room, kitchen, one bedroom and the balcony faced Deer Mountain in RMNP. It also had a full kitchen & grill so we were able save $ and eat healthier than if we had eaten out all the time. It was not in the commercial area, it was just one mile from the north entrance to RMNP so it was really quiet and peaceful. I would definitely go back there again. Here are some pics from the Inn:

I'll post more pics from the trip in a separate post....

GMA in the Rockies

2006-08-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

GMA in the Rockies started up during the last few days we were in Estes Park, so we were able to see a few of the concerts which was like icing on the cake! Sunday night it was a great night of worship with Chris Tomlin Band, Louie Giglio & David Crowder Band.

Chris played first and his worship songs included Forever, Your Grace Is Enough, Holy Is the Lord, Indescribable (guitar version), How Great Is Our God, Shout to the Lord (Hillsong), and Brenton Brown’s Everlasting God – before they played it Chris read Isaiah 40:28-31. I could be wrong but it seemed like maybe Jesse and Daniel were doing more background vocals than I’d noticed in the past; they were good. In the middle Chris was talking with the GMA registrants to stay encouraged about what God has called them to. He mentioned some of his first song critiques he’d sent into GMA many years ago and some of the advice he’d received back - things like…. ‘Chris, songs usually have verses…and choruses… maybe a bridge..... and a nice melody is always a good thing...’… he was very funny :) He encouraged them to remain faithful in what God had called them to. At the end he was playing some worshipful music on the piano which was very nice as well.

Then Louie came out and spoke, he too encouraged the GMA participants that the week was not about whether they won a prize or not, but that they worship God and live their lives for Him. He was kidding around in the beginning, talking about all the different kinds of worship music and the debates over what kind of music we all want. In one part he was referring to what was big when he was at youth camp and he asked the question, what was the biggest song you sang back at camp or youth group? Come on… what was it…. Everyone in the room said “Pass It On” So then we all had fun singing that but I don’t know if anyone remembered all the words (It only takes a spark, to get a fire going…) Then it took me a minute to figure out what he was quoting next because he was speaking the words instead of singing them but it was Larry Norman’s “I wish we’d all been ready” which was also some nostalgic fun. (two men walking up a hill, one disappeared and one's left standing still, I wish we'd all been ready.....) I forgot a pen and paper to take notes (so this is highly paraphrased) but I think the passage he referred to was Hebrews 13:15-16 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” He spoke about placing our whole lives in the palm of God’s hand and saying ‘God, here is what I have to give you, everything I am, all the rest is up to You – where I live, what I do, who I’m with, it’s all in Your hands and I just want whatever You’d have; this too is a large part of our worship; worshipping with our lives. He also emphasized that the different components of our daily lives need to parallel the words of our worship; this is pleasing to God. At the end of his talk Chris came out with his guitar and joined Louie to lead everyone in 'I’m Coming Back to the Heart of Worship'.

After the break it was time for Crowder. I’d never seen him before so I was not sure what to expect but I really enjoyed them, DCB was great! They were full of energy and funny and joyful. I don’t know all of his songs but he I think his set included Here is Our King, You are my Joy, There is No One Like You, We Win, O Praise Him, and Undignified (which I think is the song when I could not quit laughing long enough to whistle when he wanted us to). Ok so with all that great live music from Chris and David, what song did I wake up the next morning with in my head? ….. oh yeah, you know it... Pass It On! Ha! It’s been stuck in my head all week this week. My friend who went said the same thing too. Lol. I wonder how many other people that were there have had that song in there head all week too :)

Ok so Estes Park / Rocky Mountain Natl Park is like I think the most beautiful place I’ve seen but I kind of forgot about the altitude thing. Like major dehydration/cottonmouth and don’t walk too fast uphill or you could be dizzy; that oxygen thing is a trip. But man it was beautiful. I kind of wondered if the singers felt an altitude difference when they were performing, like if they felt the need to breathe more deeply when singing. If they did, you couldn’t tell, they all did a great job. Monday night was more of a concert atmosphere and we saw 6 different artists, they included Danny Ortega (he and another guy were having an absolute blast playing guitar and were very fun to watch). Then It was Kim Hill. She did a great job and seemed very sweet, they said she has a new CD coming out soon, I want to check it out. Then it was the Isaacs – to be honest, they were not really my kind of music – kind of bluegrass/gospel/country but I have to say they were really exceptional musicians and they received several standing ovations. Then it was Geoff Moore and he sang a lot of songs which sounded very familiar. He seemed very joyful, I think I had a freind who used to know him. At one point he talked about the importance of collaboration and Steven Curtis Chapman came out and did a duet of Listen to our Hearts with Geoff. That was a nice surprise! :) Then the Afters came on – ok I guess my head’s been in the sand on this one. I had no clue who they were but I did know several of their songs and they were really good and a ton of fun! I had to buy their cd. To finish up it was Bebo Norman, he seemed to have a very sweet spirit and ended the night on a worshipful note. I think he might have a new one coming out soon to check out. Anyway, if you are going on vacation and thinking of the mountains... I'd highly recommend going during GMA week for a little icing on your cake! :) Thanks to GMA and all the artists who were there, it was a blast; very inspiring and worship filled! :)

Dayspring Ecards

2006-08-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hey Bloggers & Blogettes- there are a new line of Dayspring Cards that feature songs from Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Rebecca St James and more... just click on the pic below to see them

when you want to send the very best! :)
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The Indescribable card features Chris's song and pics from Louie's Indescribable talk on the universe and the stars :)
Matt Redman's card features Blessed Be Your Name
Steven Curtis Chapman's card features Let Us Pray
Rebecca St James' card features the song Here I am to Worship
Nicole Nordeman's card features the song Legacy
Starfield's card features the song Cry in my Heart
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Also, here is a link to a David Crowder band ecard featuring clips from B Collision:

http://ecards.sparrowrecords.com/dcb/b_collision/

Church Bulletins

2006-07-15T22:06:00.000-05:00

It's the weekend, have a little laugh...
these sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:
- The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
- The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water."
The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."
- Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
- The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
-Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.
- Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help
-Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
- Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
- The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing: "Break Forth Into Joy."
- Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days
-Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow
-The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign> slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours"
-Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

2006-07-10T21:22:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday Pastor John spoke on Luke 11:1-2,
"One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of His disciples said to him, Lord teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." "He said to them, when you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come."

When the disciples ask Jesus how to pray, He illustrates a model or format for prayer for them. This took place near the end of Jesus' time of ministry with the disciples. The prayer He gave them is very similar to what Jesus spoke to the crowd during the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6 - which took place toward the beginning of Jesus' time of ministry with the disciples). Four things we can note in this passage on how Jesus describes prayer to his disciples:

1. " When you pray, SAY":
Many people in our culture today think of prayer as being a silent thought process. Yet on very very few occasions in the Word can you find mention of people praying silently to the Lord. Instead the Word brims with mention of people crying out to God, calling to the Lord, speaking their prayers and praise aloud to God, just a few examples are
Ps 5:1-3 "Give ear to my words oh Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning O Lord you hear my voice. "
Ps 18:6 "in my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, my cry came before Him, into his ears."

Jesus himself also prayed aloud as mentioned in Hebrews 5:7. "During the days of Jesus' live on earth, He offered up prayers and petetitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. "

If anyone could have just thought a prayer effectively, rather than speaking it aloud, wouldn't it have been Jesus? Yet he saw the value in speaking out our prayers to God.
That is not to say that we cannot pray silently, or that God cannot hear us if we pray silently. But speaking out our prayers to God lifts and engages our hearts in talking with the Lord.

2. "Say Father"
The term Father is used more than 70 times in the New Testament, referring to God in a very personal sense.
John 1:12 "Yet to all who received Him and belived in His Name, He gave the right to become the children of God "
Jn 3:1 How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God-
Rom 8:14-16 - "because those who are led by the Spririt of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave to fear, but you received the Spririt of Sonship and by Him we cry Abba, Father. The Spririt himself testifies with our spriit that we are Gods children."
He has adopted us through what Jesus has done for us.
Ps 103:13 "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him"
Luke 11:13 " if you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

As our Father, He knows where you are, He sees what you need, and He is interested when you come to talk with Him. Jesus is saying, when you come to God, come knowing that you have a relationship with Him as His loved child.

3. " Father Hallowed be Your Name"
Remember that He is Holy....sinless...... He is different..... There is no one like Him.... He is more than our greatest imagination of Him could be.... He is Holy. He has given His names in scripture to tell us more of Who He Is and what He does. He is the God who Created all things, He is our Provider, Our Banner who watches over us in love, He is the God who keeps His promises, He is the God who can do the impossible, for whom nothing is too difficult, He is our Healer. Jesus is saying, when you come to the Lord in prayer, focus for a while on Who He Is and speak praises to Him. As you begin to pray, spend time praising Him, this will build your faith and give you confidence to boldly approach His throne. Exalt His Name and praise Him... and let His peace and presence fill your heart.

4. "Your Kingdom Come"
Sometimes when people read this phrase, they immediately think of His eternal kindgom. But In this portion, Jesus was referring to His kingdom right now on this earth, in our lives. In our praying, we are saying God, I'm asking You to reign over the situations and circumstances of my life. I submit my will in these situations to You and I want Your will to be done. Realizing that His understanding is so much more comprehensive that our own, saying to Him, I trust You to take care of this in the best possible way because you are all knowing. When you take your concerns to God in this manner, and spend time with Him, you will leave with the peace that passes all understanding

“It is impossible for a believer, no matter what his experience, to keep right with God if he will not take the trouble to spend time with God…….Spend plenty of time with God; let other things go, but don’t neglect Him” -- Oswald Chambers

Our Number One Priority

2006-07-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Luke 10:39-42 is a portion of the Word which describes how Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet, attentive to His words, while Martha was distracted by all the preparations which needed to be made. Jesus respondes to Martha gently, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what it better and it will not be taken away from her. "

It is a passage that makes us think about our priorities. The root word for priority = something that comes before everything else. What in our lives comes before everything else? What is Your priority? Is it your family? Your home? Your job? Your finances? Serving others? Being successful or well known? The things which distracted Martha were good things, making hospitable preparations for their guests, but by being too busy with too many 'good' things, she missed the most important thing. We too can be distracted with too many 'good things' in our lives, which end up keeping us from the 'best thing'. The 'best thing'; our top priority, is spending time with Jesus, praising Him, reading His Word, and hearing His voice. The most important thing a person can do is to be in the presence of the Lord and learn. For Mary to have sit at Jesus feet in that day was a break from custom, but her actions were proving that she wanted to be as near to Him as possible, so that she did not miss a single word that He said.

In Psalm 27:4 - David said 'One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek. that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.

What things in our lives (even good things) keep us from getting as close to Him as we possibly can and hearing His voice? There is nothing more important in our lives than spending time in His presence and hearing what He would say to us.
(sermon notes~ from pastor John Lindell)

Blessings blogettes :)

Friends & Horses

2006-07-02T14:18:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago a friend came to visit and we went to a lil local horse show.....

Beautiful horses...

McKayla & her horse:

Good friends from far away:

Christa & Matthew after he rode his horse:

What lil cutie~

El Kanna The Jealous Lord Who Loves us Passionately :)

2006-06-22T23:05:00.000-05:00

This was posted in conjunction with Sunny's post of 6/22, it had also been the topic of our lesson in Wed night church yesterday....These are notes from my Pastor's lesson that night:
El Kanna, the Lord whose Name is Jealous is used in Ex 34:10-14, Duet 4:23-24; and Duet 6:13-15. In our language ‘jealous’ usually has a negative connotation, but this reference to God is not the human emotion of selfish doubting envy, but rather refers to His devoted love for us, desiring our affection in return.

In a healthy love – God’s Love:
a. There is an exchange of love – in a healthy relationship there is an exchange of Love; both parties deserve to and hope to receive love from each other.
b. There is an equality of passion – both parties desire an equal level of passion from each other (for example, if a man says to his wife,’ I love you with all my heart’ and she says…’ yeah, I like you too honey’; that’s obviously going to hurt him) In a healthy relationship both parties desire to love each other with like levels of passion
c. There is an exclusiveness to the love relationship – not shared with anyone else. Just as with a married couple this is true, so also in our relationship with God. He should not have to compete with other things for our love.

In Jere 31:3 he says I have loved you with an everlasting love…. There is no end to His love for us :)
He loves us so wholeheartedly that He pursued us passionately before we even existed – before we gave Him the first glimmer of a thought!

He was lovingly pursuing us at Calvary when He paid for every sin we would commit.

The proper response is for us to love Him the same in return. If we set our affections and devotion on other things, we are taking what belongs to God and it hurts Him and ends up hurting our relationship with God. Other ‘gods’ can be anything else that become pre-eminent in your life, taking the center stage of your affection.

Duet 6:13-18 – when your love relationship with Him is right, there will be a blessing that will flow into your life from the Lord. It is good to examine your heart every now and then and ask yourself, how much do I love God?

Matt 22:37 Jesus tells us to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind – with everything that you have. There are times we may come to the realization that our love has grown cold or our gaze has slipped but that is when we refocus and center our affection on Him. He has given us everything, and He’s asking if we will give everything back in return.

I posted a while back how I’d been sensing the Lord dealing with me over the last year to just not have the TV on so much…. And to spend more time with Him. Without meaning to, it is easy to let the TV just drain the evening away in no time flat with nothing really good on. I was being aware and disciplined some weeks, not paying attention forgetting on others. Then the Lord had my silly local small town cable company lose its contract with CBS & Fox…. Which is when I realized, huh, those are the two channels I watched the most…. Hmmmm….. I knew in my heart it was not a coincidence ;) Guess what, after a few months, I’m not hooked on tv anymore- hee. Had to learn it the hard way. Now we have the channels back but I’m no longer hooked. I’m with you Sunny, there are online Bible studies and other resources we have available that we can better spend our time on. I’ve been trying to focus on things of that nature too. And I’m with you Jess, it can be easy to let the internet whittle away an evening if you aren’t careful. I have been conscious of that too and again, trying lately to not let that take too much focus. This blogging and getting to know you ladies I think is a good thing…. in that I believe we are used to lift each other up in prayer and to help encourage each other along the way, to share what we are dealing with, and also share what we are learning in our walk with the Lord with each other. When we are sharing and even sometimes kidding, I have found it to be a surprising fellowship of believers, I never expected to find such a group of people online and I appreciate you blogettes!

A.W. Tozer said the great in the kingdom of God have been those who loved God more than others. They had a spiritual receptivity – an openness to heaven, a spiritual awareness which when cultivated, became the biggest thing in their lives.(quote very paraphrased from my notes)

This whole thing makes me think of Charlie Hall’s song on Everything Glorious called ‘Center’.
You’re the Center of the universe
Everything was made in You, Jesus
Breath of every living thing
Everyone was made for You
You hold everything together
You hold everything together

Oh, Christ, be the Center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the Center of our lives

We lift our eyes to heaven
We wrap our lives around Your life
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Blessings :)

Concert Festival w/Jeremy Camp & Barlow Girl

2006-06-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to an outdoor Christian concert festival :) There were several bands in the line up including Jeremy Camp & Barlow Girl. I'd never seen Barlow Girl live before - they were very good and sang several songs including Mirror, Never Alone, I need You to love me, and Let Go:

This was the second time I've seen Jeremy Camp, he and his band were great! They started out very rockin and ended in a great worshipful set... his songs included Take You Back, Lay Down My Pride, Breathe, This Man, Walk by Faith, & Beautiful One:

It was a fun day of live music and worship!

If you get a chance to go to a festival this summer, go for it :)

Baby Luke

2006-06-04T18:42:00.000-05:00

Baby Luke (my nephew) at three weeks old
what a little cutie!

My brother's family sharing in Luke's baby dedication service :)

The Names of God

2006-06-01T21:26:00.000-05:00

From Wednesday night prayer meetings...Pastor has been doing messages on the Names of God. A summary of the past few weeks follows....

Often scripture refers to calling on the Name of the Lord... God has given us His various names in the Word to reveal some of His attributes to us... they tell us Who He Is and What He Does... focusing on and praising Him for these attributes of God helps to build our faith.

El Roi – The God Who Sees Me – is used in Gen 16:13 Just as He saw and wanted to help Hagar, when you feel you are alone – He is the God Who Sees You and looks after you. He cares about every little detail of your life and knows the number of hairs that are on your head.
Ps 33:15 He thinks about you and everything that you do; He is a personal God.
Ps 33:18 – The eyes of the Lord are on those who hope in His unfailing love.

El Shaddai – God Almighty = God the Rock, God the immovable, God the unchangeable, God the Mountain. ‘God Almighty’ often used in scripture in reference to what in human terms would seem to be an impossible promise. For example Gen 17:1-8 when Abram and Sarai were well past child bearing years and God promised a child to them, it is El Shaddai, God Almighty for whom nothing is impossible. Likewise God had given Joseph promise & visions that he would rule over his family, yet it must have seemed like an ‘impossible promise’ during the years of captivity that Joseph endured... Yet God Almighty made him the promise, sustained Joseph during the years of waiting, and kept His promise to Joseph.
He is the God Who keeps His promises, God Almighty for whom nothing is impossible. If God made you a promise, and it seems long ago and distant now, remember He is the God Almighty, Who keeps His promises; He is El Shaddai, God the Rock, the unchangeable, the Mountain.

El Olam – the Everlasting, Eternal, Enduring God
Gen 21:22-34 – God gives confirmation of His promise to Abraham and Sara thru Abimelech’s words – that God is with them in everything they do and he indicates they will inherit this land. How do you respond to the prompting of the Lord when He gives you an assurance or confirmation of a promise He’s given you? Abraham’s response in v.33-34 was to plant a tree and to call on the name of the Everlasting God. He sets eternity in our hearts and reveals His promises to us. If we are to have a similar response, we would call on the Name of the Lord ...naming the attributes of God as praise to Who He Is and What He does. Abraham does not posses the promise yet, but as he calls on the Name (& attributes) of the Lord, it builds faith in his heart. For example, to praise Him as Creator God, the mighty God for Whom nothing is impossible...the God Who Sees Me... The God Who keeps His promises... The Everlasting God who is unchanging and a Rock...
Is 40:28-31 – Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the Everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. The will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
He is the Everlasting God; praise His Name(s) :)

Mercy

2006-05-07T19:11:00.000-05:00

Today's message at church was on Mercy - reminding us how Jesus wasn't just good to those who were good to them, He was merciful even to those who were very insulting to Him... how this is the nature of God and one the attributes of God, which He chooses to reveal to us in Ex 34:6 that He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (wow - I love that verse.)
These same attributes of God are again echoed in Ps 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness
Ps 116:5 The Lord is gracious and righteous, our God is full of compassion
Ps 145:8-9 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made
Lam 3:22-23 ....The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness
We were reminded that it is easy to forget to be merciful when people are unkind to us, and that we need to resolve to be merciful whether we think someone deserves it or not... that the focus of mercy is to love people and reach out to them as Jesus did. We are emulating Jesus when we are showing mercy.
Micah 6:8 what does the Lord require of you but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God

Casting Crowns, Nicole Nordeman, Josh Bates Concert

2006-04-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the Casting Crowns tour was in Springfield! It was refreshing and lasted about 3 1/2 hours... It began with Josh Bates, who I'd never seen before... He was quite good ; I was impressed and will have to pick up cd. We did not have floor seats, but we were on the side about 5 rows up... but the nice thing about being on the side was that I could actually see for once and did not have a lot of tall people in front of me :) so that was cool
(ok-before I post any pics, let me just confess that these did not come out too good as I have lost my camera book and only have the extra camera book in spanish! I do not remember enough espanol to make sense out of most of it but there were a few pics that came out ok... )
So here is Josh Bates...

He sang a few songs including Perfect Day and King of Glory, I really enjoyed him and thought he had good stage presence for being 'out there' all by himself.

Next Nicole Nordeman came out with a band (complete with big bass player); she sang several songs including Brave, What If, Hold On.... she has such a rich full pretty voice....Here is a pic of them...

Next it was Casting Crowns - love their music! They are so good and their lyrics so meaningful. I was of course singing very loudly as I figure the music was so good and loud no one could hear me anyway ;) I was trying to remember what all they sang.... Lifesong, Praise you in the Storm, Does anybody hear her, Stained Glass Masquarade, What if His People Prayed, If we are the Body, Voice of Truth, Who am I, American Dream, Praise you with a Dance... I love listening to Mark Hall... I have really loved the song Praise You in the Storm but he told the story of behind that song.... it came from their meeting of a little girl who danced to one of their songs and her family when they were in Raleigh...how they had come to be friends with the family and then the little girl became ill; that they continued emailing with her mother and that they could see the human side of suffering in her emails (sometimes full of faith, sometimes discouraged) but that in all her emails was the resolve to Praise God no matter what ...in the storm... that they had written this song for them...(I was at the Raleigh SCC, CT, CC concert last year and now I had to wonder if that little girl had been there) Also Mark Hall talked about World Vision and how he and his son had adopted a little boy born on the same day as his son... how this had really fostered praying for others in his little boy as they kept in touch with this child, which was really a cool thing to share... then Tony Nolan who I had never heard before who is the pastor on this tour shared a salvation message and I'm telling you it literally looked like hundreds stood when asking for salvation so that was wonderful to see!!

I'm trying to remember what else happened.... it must have been for the encore the drummer came back on stage with a huge big red ball that I think everyone thought he was going to kick into the crowd but instead he threw it on the stage and then did a big huge body bounce off the thing which was hilarious! During the encore they sang we give You Glory which seemed fitting :) It was a great concert, complete with many coming to salvation, what more can you ask for?

2006-03-31T19:02:00.000-06:00

I caught Charles Stanley on TV the other night and he was sharing about how when we feel inadequate it can be a blessing....I've never thought about it quite that way before, but here's a little summary of what he said:
That we all feel inadequate at different times but it can be a blessing. The blessing of realizing it and humbly acknowledging our inadequacy to God is that it:
• Relieves us of the burden of trying to accomplish things in our own strength. (Whatever He's called us to do- He takes full responsibility to enable us to do it, when we depend on Him)
• Frees God to use us to the maximum of our potential.
• Allows God to receive all the glory due Him.
• Enables us to walk in contentment and quietness of spirit.
Blessings!

In His Hands

2006-03-18T01:34:00.000-06:00

"Always Remember, when God made you, He did so with a purpose and a plan. He saw all of your days before you lived one of them and placed over you the covering of His protective love. He has allowed nothing to come into your life that has not first been screened through that love. His hand has remained upon you to this very day. He calls you by name. You are His beloved child...the apple of His eye... the delight of His heart. Today you are in the exact place He wants you to be, and tomorrow He will be with you as He has always been - in goodness, in kindness, in faithfulness."

To Nanji

2006-03-16T19:42:00.000-06:00

Ro Nanji Rhe Ronder Rog-
Rwappy Rwirthday Gwo Rwyou
Rwappy Rwithday Gwoo Rwyou
Rwappy Rwirthday Ro Nanji
Gwrrappy Gwrrithday Rwo Gryouou!!!!!

Love,
Cousin Casey

ps- how did you get your Mom to give you STEAK?!!!!!!
Your Mom has it goin on - she's the coolest
Can I come over to play sometime?

One Day at a Time

2006-03-16T01:13:00.000-06:00

"Be content with what each day brings, rejoicing in your God, for surely He will deliver you, He is the One who has brought you here. His way is discernable to the eye of faith. His heart is surely your strong tower. In His affection you have security. In His love are your hope and peace. Each day holds some small joy that will escape you if you are preoccupied iwth tomorrow. Nothing daunts your Father; live in the full blessing of His smile. Hold to His word; it is a rock that will not be moved and is a firm place to stand. Live one day at a time. Simply striving to bring joy to your Father's heart is enough. Know that He loves you and find peace and rest in Him." (-Francis Roberts)

Matt 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."