Friday, September 25, 2015

The killer of the tongue

Good morning all-

I'm praying this is a wonderful morning wherever you are.  Today's title is not what most of us want to admit or even talk about.  It's an age old problem and the God warned us from it.  There is power in the tongue and when people are hurt their tongues wag. 

The tongue can do many things.  It can praise you, it can encourage you, it can fill you with joy but it also can destroy.  We must watch our tongues.  Beyond a bullet or a bomb, there is no greater threat to human life.  The tongue has turned people from Christ, who is the only living water.  It has crushed the weary and penetrated the heart through careless bullying.   It has caused marriages to fail, children to turn away and countless people from coming to church.  So why do we continue on a path of destruction?

If at this point your checking out, don't.  This is a valuable lesson all of us could use.  I can tell you that I wish my tongue had been very quiet over the last months and days.  Actually, I did stay quiet for a long time because it was the best for all.

However, like everyone else, I am a girl and I have said things I shouldn't.  The older I get the more I am learning not to do that and to ask God to thwart my tongue.  I have used my tongue in anger and it never sounds very edifying.  The tongue was meant for communication, uplifting encouragement along with praise and worship.  Instead, it is used to destroy.

I have learned that it's better to stop and think before you act.  I have also learned that people hear what they want and that's the cause of so many arguments and hurt feelings. At the same time, I now believe the tongue has the capability to encourage and to lift people up when they're down.  I know that's hard for all of you to believe but its true.  We are One with God and if we are telling him all our woes do we really need to tell others?  That's a question for another day.  My point today is to say, be careful with lying, berating or just being mean with your tongue.  You never know who is listening or your ability to crush someone when you actually should be lifting them up.  It may also come back to haunt you!

Be well my sisters and watch that tongue.  Ask God to tie it up so that it won't say things its not supposed to say.  Have a great day and know that God is near!

Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)
The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit

Until tomorrow...

Sunday, September 20, 2015

To be one with You....

Good morning all-

I hope you are waking up to the sounds of birds calling and the sun rising from the East.  That's how I woke up this morning and it brings joy to my heart just listening to God's creatures as they cry out in praise to Him.

I was blessed enough to see Beth Moore last weekend and to see someone very real who is doing God's work with a passion that inspires.  My daughter-in-law bought her new book, which I will finish today called Audacious and you should definitely get a copy.  Its inspiring me to step out in faith, live for the moment and to watch and anticipate the adventures ahead.

During the conference, Beth went through six things we should really be thinking about and I have.  I've actually read my notes every day since the conference.  The one that stands in my mind is making Jesus my supreme romance.  Now that takes energy and an open heart, don't you agree? I'm not sure I've ever had a supreme romance, not even with my husband.  I'm not the most open person in the world and I can't say I'm always willing to let the flood gates of my heart open wide.  I like to control and keep things close to my breast and yet, I feel called to let all of that go and really experience a romance with Jesus.  Now, I've always loved Him but I've never thought of Him as being my unseen supreme romance.  Doesn't it make you think about your relationship with Him?  It did for me.  Beth has put this in her heart and Jesus is her supreme romance. The emotion that washed over her on stage was witnessed by thousands as she grabbed for her Kleenex and wiped away the tears.  They weren't tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy.  She loves Jesus and there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm working on opening my heart that wide.  I have always been in love with Jesus.   He saved me during a time in my life no one else wanted to.  He believed in me when I didn't and He pursued me when I walked away.  He hasn't left me because I like to be safe or because I'm not the most fun.  He doesn't make fun of me because I can't joke or because I'm so serious.  He loves me for who I am and that's what's going to make it easier to make Him my supreme romance.  He is worthy.

I hope you take time to read Beth's book.  It's an easy read full of information that will impact your life.  If you learn nothing else from this post, remember this, God is your unseen supreme romance.  He's waiting and He's worth it.  Give Him your whole heart and He will give you His love.  Ask and you shall receive!

"Ask(Greek word: sheel)the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." Isaiah 7:11 NIV

All I ask Lord is to be one with YOU, in Jesus name.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

My eyes are on You!

Good morning all-

I can honestly say this is the first morning in months I feel like myself again.  Without being too specific I have had what I would call a desert season.  I have felt weak, powerless and often sad.  I am an optimistic person by nature.  I love life and people.  I trust probably when I shouldn't and I love with all my heart.  But in the last months, my eyes have fallen on me more and more and in those days and hours all I could do is reach for Jesus.

Since January, I have been working on memorizing scripture.  I'm still not great at it but I'm getting better.  I make them images in my Bible app to remember my path.  Each verse has helped me take my eyes off me to the eternal and I am so grateful.  The word isn't just something we read, it's living.  I never needed it more than I have the last five months.

If you're depressed, I know where you are.  If you're weak and weary, I know where you are.  If you feel like the whole world is out to get you, I know where you are.  But leaders, teachers, preachers and those of us that have been saved need to take heart for He is with us, He is for us and He will deliver us, even from ourselves.

I was born for this time.  I was born to lead women to Him.  I was born to live my life not for myself but for Him.  Often, I wake and wonder how will this be done.  I don't know.  I do know I have been through a tremendous personal trial.  I do know that every day it took the hand of God to bring me out and make me move.  I do know that my eyes have been opened wider, my heart healed in ways I couldn't imagine and my fingers are typing for Him more steadily, more honestly and more boldly.

I could choose to stay down but I won't.  Why?  Because as I prayed and prayed, God lifted my eyes to the hills.  He lifted my eyes to the red tail hawk. He lifted my eyes to the doves sitting on an electrical pole.  He lifted my eyes to a sunrise.  He made me listen to the crickets, the birds and the bees.  My senses became overwhelmingly loud and my heart began to soar with something besides worry, fear and rejection.  My mind became strong in Him.  I called to Him day and night and in the dark, I cried out with thanksgiving.  I was made for this trial.  I was made for this season and I am blessed.

Take heart my sisters for He is with you.  I didn't need medicine to get out of this; I needed Jesus.  Don't hear me saying medicine is wrong, some people need it. However, for this trial, I needed to go to the spiritual realm not the physical realm.  Souls are won and lost between these two worlds and my soul was fed with the power of the Holy Spirit.  I was reminded daily that He was all I needed, that He had gone before me and that He is for me and not against me.  I'm not naïve to think this is the last of my journey but now  Ihave gained new insight to when David called to God and put his eyes on the Holy One. 

I have cared too much about the things I can't control.  I have worried needlessly about situations I can't impact.  I have spent hours blaming myself for things I can't control and I have learned that all that was for nothing.  When I take my last breath, I won't care about the things I worried about or the bills that have to be paid. I won't be thinking about my career or the things I've achieved.  I will be thinking about the love that was spread by my heart and the people that I was blessed to minister to.  I also will be thinking about my husband and my beautiful boys and how they have impacted my every step.  And finally, I will be lifting my eyes to Jesus, my maker and friend.  Not money, power or prestige can take the place of one minute, one hour, one day spent praising and lifting my eyes to God.

I've realized a lot about myself and about people in general.  We sin, we fall down, we get sad, we get mad and we have the ability to stay that way unless we are willing to forgive and to put our eyes on Jesus.  Being a teacher, a preacher or a leader, is not easy.  It comes with many disappointments, mainly in people.  I'm sure even Jesus had that from time to time.  He pursues us, He loves us and He forgives us and we stand there not accepting, making fun and pushing Jesus out of every aspect of our lives.  My brother said it all yesterday without knowing it.  He said my mantra was, "I've got this."  There has never been a situation I haven't said that to myself.  I realize that thought pattern can't be farther from the truth.  I don't have anything, Jesus does.

Don't be ashamed if you feel like you can't get out of bed.  Don't be ashamed if a trial brings you to your knees.  Don't be afraid if your life is crashing down.  Take heart good and faithful servant and turn your mind, your heart and your eyes on Jesus.  Our only shame is when we don't and even then, we are forgiven.  This is not a religion we worship, this is a God who loves us, who gave His life for us and all He asks in return is for us to love Him.  I don't have to be on my knees for hours.  I don't have to fast for 40 days.  I don't even have to pray day after day.  I' m not relegated to do anything but to be in relationship with my Savior, which means I pray, I love and I read the word of God.  It means I forgive those that I normally wouldn't and I allow myself to be transformed through my failures.  I understand I am weak and through my weakness I am made strong and in every moment I remember that all of this life is for nothing but one day it will be for everything.

May this blog bless you. May you read these words and hear the heart of a warrior.  May you receive the love, the life and the word our Lord and Savior died for.  May you know Him as deeply as I have these past months and may you realize that you are blessed!  IN JESUS NAME I PRAY!

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? Psalm 121:1 NIV

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Pray for Israel...

Good afternoon all-

I want to leave you with one thought today, pray for Israel and the Middle East.  Time is showing signs of war, poverty and destruction.  Political agreements are being made that change the course of those areas.  Please join Anne Graham Lotz in praying for God's country.

I know I am!  Prayer heals, Prayer intercedes, and Prayer brings the power of our Father to earth.

Be well as we remember the place of our Saviors birth.