Trapped in a cube

Whispered Buh-byes

2011-07-21T17:13:00.000-04:00

Are You Happy?

2011-07-19T14:52:00.004-04:00

I've recently been introduced to a blog that makes me think and inspires me. So please check out It's Almost Naptime.

And if you take a gander at the many wonderful posts, please pause long enough to read this one...I Don't Want My Children to be Happy.

I can say with certainty, I'm glad my parents didn't want me to be happy either.

Theme

2011-02-01T16:37:00.000-05:00

The Story of Christmas (Facebook style)

2011-01-30T19:28:00.002-05:00

It may be a month past Christmas but I couldn't resist posting this link...

Timing Is Everything

2011-01-18T21:45:00.003-05:00

When the stars line up and you catch a good break
And people think you're lucky but you know it's grace
It can happen so fast or a little bit late
Timing is everything

You know I've had close calls when it could have been me
I was young when I learned just how fragile life could be
I lost friends of mine I guess it wasn't my time
Timing is everythnig

And I could have been a child that got took home
And I would have been one more unfinished song
And when it seems a rhyme is hard to find
That's when one comes along just in time

When I remember that day when our eyes first meet
You ran into the building to get out of the rain cuz' you were soaking wet
And as I held the door you wanted to know my name
Timing is everything

And I could have been another minute late
And you never would have crossed my path that day
And when it seems true love is hard to find
that's when love comes along just in time

Well you can call it fate or destiny
Sometimes it really seems like it's a mystery
Cause you can be hurt by love or healed by the same
Timing is everything

And it can happen so fast or a little bit late
Timing is everything

~ Natalie Hemby

Until Recently (for Ethan)

2010-09-29T11:13:00.005-04:00

I have always been my most important person
My world has been somewhat limited to one
The days and nights revolved around my wishes
And I've successfully remained attached to none.
Until recently.

As though the world around me is but a prop
To a reality consumed only with its own
A thought that life is but a stage to star upon
Marks a previously lived life contentedly alone.
Until recently.

With a long effort and a hard few days
The world was enlightened to something new
When a small pair of eyes first looked into mine
My life mattered the least the moment I met you.

Your tiny hand wrapped around my finger
An unexpected and new love broke my heart in two
The smallest of cries drowned out my biggest thoughts
My life mattered the least the moment I met you.

Happiness was limited and success was vague
In a previous world with a populace of one
Futures were just days, feelings were just words
And Love was little more than an unfamiliar emotion.
Until recently.

~LBell

Savior Please

2010-09-13T14:13:00.001-04:00

Savior, please take my hand.
I work so hard, I live so fast.
This life begins, then it ends.
And then I do the best that I can,
but I don't know how long I'll last.

I try to be so tough,
but I'm just not strong enough.
I can't do this alone, God I need You
to hold on to me.
I try to be good enough,
but I'm nothing without Your love.
Savior, please keep saving me.

Savior, please help me stand.
I fall so hard, I fade so fast.
Will You begin right where I end?
And be the God of all I am because You're all I have.

Hallelujah!
Everything You are to me
is everything I'll ever need.
and I am learning to believe
cause You're the One who's saving me.

Remind Me To Forget

2010-09-12T19:43:00.006-04:00

Summer has never been my favorite season. Perhaps this is a direct result of having lived my entire life in the South. Don't get me wrong, there is no other place I'd rather live (Colorado or Wyoming notwithstanding). However, a consequence of living in the South is that of usually mild winters with little to no chance of snow. I think we all crave what we don't have; thus explains my desire for cooler temps and a healthy dose of the white fluffy stuff every year. Warm days are excessive and in my opinion, they grow old rather quickly. So summer (fun activities such as lakeside picnics, minor league baseball games, outdoor concerts, etc. aside) has always been just a period of time to drudge through. Between the months of May and September you will find me counting the days until the first leaf falls and until the first kick at a college football game. This summer was no exception. However, this summer was especially dry for me for a host of other reasons.

Coming off of a high in early April (thanks to my friend Kerry and her invitation to join her on a cross-country trip to Colorado and back) I felt as if this summer could be different. And though I can't pinpoint the downturn in my state of mind to any specific event, I can assure you the decline was just as real and, in my own world, devastating. I don't use the word "devastating" lightly. Maybe I sound quite melodramatic but the change in my attitude and emotional stability pre-summer to post-summer has been nothing short of life altering. This change frustrates me. I'll go as far as to say the thoughts that accompany my seeming downward spiral completely anger me. This slide into a dark place I’d rather not be is evidenced by my lack of entries since April 20, 2010.

I cannot be specific as to the personal battle I'm fighting (poorly - I might add) because I take no pride in it. Maybe I should use my blog as a confessional so as to solicit help from loving and praying friends. But I'm not there yet. Anyone that knows me knows I am quite prideful. And to publicly reveal my vulnerability is something I am unwilling to do. Simply claiming my shortcomings is as exposed as I'll ever admit. There is safety in citing generic sins (i.e. doubt, frustration, anger, etc.) as we all deal with those on a daily, if not hourly, basis. There is camaraderie in self revelation just so long as the details are left up to various imaginations. Because in all truth, I'd rather the reader speculate of my demons than to remove all doubt. I fear their assumption would fall short of matching my reality.

All of this to say, I'm struggling. More aptly put, I'm drowning. At the start of this summer I had all the confidence in the world that I could finally claim victory in my hardest fought battles. I truly believed that my past would no longer captivate me. Maybe my confidence led to my fall. Maybe I was so consumed with announcing a win that I didn't see the blitz coming from behind. Maybe I was too intent on claiming triumph that was never mine. These are my best guesses. Regardless, I find myself once again, standing on a hill worth dying for. But I haven't the fight in me to do so. My desire? To lay down my arms. But what troubles me most is the thought that surrender would not yield happiness. In fact, I know the opposite to be true. For I tapped out about 5 months ago and it has led to nothing more than increased aggravation. Old sins die hard.

So what do I do? How do I muster the strength to start anew? Where does my help come from? Oh wait, I know the answer to that last one. Psalm 121 has something to say about that...

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

The better question then is where is my help? I do believe it is within grasp if I will ask for it. So why this blog entry? Why voice concerns over a losing battle if success is within reach? Because like a stubborn child that refuses to obey I am sitting on my hands waiting for my Father to send me to my room. God knows my heart better than I know myself. He knows my weaknesses and He knows where I stand. He sees me sinking in the quicksand yet He is still. I can feel Him reaching for me yet at the same time, I feel unreachable. How do I stop stomping my feet in defiance and end this stalemate between my heart and God's? The burden is on me yet I long for forced compliance.

This dichotomy in my soul is proof positive of the warfare that continues in all our hearts. Just as Paul stated in Romans 7:14-25, the hostility I'm feeling, is with myself. The want of peace in my soul is losing out to the desire to fulfill my selfish wishes. My addictions are ruling my actions and I am weary. Again, risking melodrama, my addictions are slowly killing my spirit. My past is ruling my present and in turn dictating my future. And I, though I know better, feel powerless to stop it.

So as this summer comes to a close I find myself a few months older yet I feel a few years further behind. The first leaf has already fallen and I am two weeks past the first kick on a college football field. Nevertheless my disappointment remains. I liken this entry to a Hail Mary. I beseech the reader to brawl on my behalf, as I haven’t strength to stand. My appeal is for prayer. Only God can clear my mind and help me conquer the personal demons that hold me so tightly. Only God can renew my vigor and bolster my will to continue on in this fight. Only God can remind me to forget my past sins and help me avoid repeating them. Only God.

The Dinner Roll

2010-04-20T13:19:00.001-04:00

Once upon a time I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President.

I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics.

There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a FREE country. There's nothing that the government can do to me if I've broken no laws. My wealth was EARNED honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.

I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room.

We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner.

The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen..

"Sorry 'bout that," said the President. "Andrew is very hungry."

"I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. "Of course," I concluded, and reached for my glass.

Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp. "And his brother, Eric, is very thirsty," said the President.

I didn't say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I withheld my comments and decided to play along. I don't want to seem unkind..

My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.

"Eric's children are also quite hungry."

With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me.

I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room.

And their grandmother can't stand for long."

I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken.

I turned back to the President.

"Their grandfather doesn't like the cold."

I wanted to shout, "that was my coat!" But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled.

Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table.

I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home.

Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.

"Andrew's whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven't planned for retirement and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do."

My hands were shaking. I felt faint I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor.

The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak, and drank his wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth that were water drops.

"By the way," he added, "I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories.

I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind.

There's a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can't come to you for jobs groveling like beggars...we need to spread YOUR wealth around..."

I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been his crème Brule.

He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.

He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if it were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss.

I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle.

Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us.

What had I done wrong?

As if answering the unspoken thought, President Obama suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands.

"You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he said.

Where is Our Compassion?

2010-03-22T14:32:00.003-04:00

A couple Sundays ago, my pastor decided to focus on Paul's message about God's Sovereign choice in Romans 9. Actually this has been an ongoing study but last week we really started digging into the meat of the message. To start the series off, Pastor Bud read the following passage:

Romans 9:1-5 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

A key component of this message is that of compassion. You'll notice that Paul doesn't water down his message but he speaks it with an unmistakable love in his heart. He affirms that he is a child of God yet he wishes he were not for the sake of his brothers, his lost brothers, for his sorrow is so great it is almost unbearable.

I wonder if I have ever experienced such a sorrow. I am blessed more than many with the knowledge that my dearest loved ones are too, children of God. But should I not be just as heartbroken as Paul from knowing I am surrounded daily by dead souls? Or am I so concerned with my own life, though it is already eternally secure, that I am oblivious to the spiritual carnage around me? How selfish can any one person be?

Of course I am quick to point out others need for Christ when confronted with questions or attacks. But my message rarely, if ever, holds an ounce of true compassion. It's true the Holy Spirit can work in the hardest of hearts. And it's further true that God can use even the most wicked to bring others to know Him. But do I truly think I am helping share Christ's light when my words are spat out like venom?

Pastor Bud told a story to accompany the message from that Sunday, two weeks ago, that helped me see just how foolish I am. I will paraphrase because my memory is poor. Hopefully the point will be as clearly conveyed by me as it was by Bud.

A small congregation struggled for quite a while to oust their current pastor. Their main complaint was that he stood at his podium and preached hellfire and brimstone each and every Sunday. He pointed out just how sinful they, as a people, are and he never let up in telling them of their need for repentance and for Christ.

Eventually, the congregation got their way and the pastor was replaced. The new pastor came in and preached the gospel and the congregation experienced a bit of a revival of sorts. You could say the attitudes of the people did a complete 180.

One day a member of the congregation, who had silently observed the entire chain of events, noticed the new pastor preached all the same texts, passages, messages, etc. as that of the former. Puzzled, he asked the congregation, why - if the new pastor preached all the same things as the old - would they be satisfied with the change? A member of the congregation spoke up and said, "The old pastor told us we were sinners in need of a Savior. The new pastor says the same. The difference is, the new pastor says it with tears."

More often than not, I speak the truth but not with tears. I speak the truth as if I am somehow responsible for my own salvation. I speak as if my soul deserved to be saved. This could not be farther from the truth. Only by the grace of an Almighty God am I adopted into the family of believers. How can I not be so moved as to cry out for my lost neighbors and how can I not love them enough to share what my Savior has done for me? Where is my compassion?

Don’t Be Afraid

2010-03-22T14:29:00.000-04:00

“Now these three abide: anger, outrage, and fear—and the greatest of these is fear.”

That’s not in the Bible.

But sometimes I wonder if I think it is.

The United States House of Representatives just passed a health care reform bill that I and lots of other Christians opposed. Such legislation should concern us. There are some bad consequences for the weakest and most vulnerable among us, principally unborn children. But should it also concern us that so many of us are talking today about how afraid we are?

Is it a problem that some of us who are tranquil as still water about biblical doctrine and ecclesial mission are red-faced about Nancy Pelosi and the talking heads on MSNBC? Is it a problem that some who haven’t shared the gospel with their neighbors in months or years are motivated to vent to strangers on the street about how scary national health care will be?

It’s not that I think Christians should be disengaged from issues of justice (God forbid!). It’s just that I wonder if we wouldn’t represent Christ and his kingdom better if we did it with a certain tranquility of Spirit, a tranquility that signals we’re not afraid of the rise and fall of temporal kingdoms and their policies.

The words “do not fear” and “don’t be afraid” are among the most common phrases on the lips of our Lord—in both Old and New Testaments—and on the lips of his angelic messengers. I wonder why?

Isn’t it because “perfect love casts out fear” (1 Jn. 4:18)? Isn’t it because we “did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear” (Rom. 8:15)? Isn’t it because the Spirit prompts us not to “fear anything that is frightening” (1 Pet. 3:6)?

In fact, the Holy Spirit through King David, in a context far more frightening than that of our own, calls us to “fret not yourself because of evildoers” who will soon pass but “trust in the Lord and do good” (Ps. 37:1-3).

Here’s why this matters.

Most of us don’t preach “hellfire and brimstone” sermons anymore, on hell and God’s judgment. But hellfire is exactly what Jesus said we should fear. “And do not fear the ones who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” our Lord tells his disciples. “Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28).

Jesus not only teaches this; he lives it. Jesus doesn’t fear the crowds attempting to stone him. He doesn’t cower before Pilate. He isn’t afraid of the Sanhedrin. He’s confident and tranquil, even when he’s being arrested. But when he faces drinking from the cup of judgment of his Father, he sweats drops of blood.

If we were half as outraged by our own sin and self-deception as we are by the follies of our political opponents, what would be the result? If we rejoiced as much that our names are written in heaven as we do about such trivialities as basketball brackets, what would be the result?

So if what you’re afraid of is a politician or a policy or a culture or the future of Western civilization, don’t give up the conviction but give up the fear. Work for justice. Oppose evil. But do it so that your opponents will see not fear but trust, optimism, and affection.

“So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).

Fear God and, beyond that, don’t be afraid.

Russell Moore

Are you on Satan's radar?

2010-03-17T23:16:00.006-04:00

While watching an online sermon from this past Sunday (03/14) preached at First Baptist Orlando, I was struck by something the pastor said. The entire sermon was a blessing but this one thought pierced my heart more so than any other. Pastor David asked "Are you on the Devil's radar?"

Let me explain the context of his question. The sermon was about Paul and his ministry to the lost at Ephesus and Pastor David read the account of how God used Paul to perform many miracles in Jesus' name. Well there were quite a few pharisaical Jews in the area at that time that both observed these acts and wanted to capitalize on them. So these "itinerant Jewish exorcists" decided to start performing "miracles" in Jesus' name as well. The next thing we see happen in Acts is really quite amazing. See for yourself...

Acts 19:11-15

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?"

Do you see what happened there? While claiming to be of God, the Jewish exorcists were confronted by the devil himself with a very telling question. "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" This question led Pastor David to ask his Sunday morning's congregation which category they would fall under if confronted by the devil. Would they be recognized by the devil? Or would Satan ask "who are you?"

Your first thought may lead you to believe there is no better place to be than off of Satan's radar. I tend to have this mentality. "I'll just blend into the back of the classroom and count down the minutes until the end of class." But life can hardly be compared to class and skirting by with a C is not even close to what it means to live your life for anything or anyone other than Christ. If I am giving my all for the Lord then I am going to be on Satan's radar. If I love the Lord then I WANT to be on Satan's radar. I want to be the thorn in the devil's side. I desire to make his job of wooing the lost sheep as hard as possible. I love to think that little, ole' Leslie can absolutely disrupt Satan's day and cause him to shake his fists at the heavens.

So despite my tendency to want to simply get by and in spite of my own selfish acts and downright laziness, I am going to do my best to be a pain in the butt. I'm going to be a disciple of Christ and I'm going live for Him. And if and when I ever come face to face with an evil spirit or Satan himself, He'll know exactly who I am. He'll know whose side I'm on. And though I am feeble and weak, I serve the most-high God who is abundantly able to do miracles through me. My fear will not conquer my faith for my spirit of fear has been replaced with the Holy Spirit who will cause even the demons in hell cower. When God speaks, hell trembles. Of whom should I be afraid?

Yes, I most definitely am going to be on Satan's radar. And should I face trials and tribulations because of this, I will rely on the promises of the Almighty God to protect and preserve me. This is a declaration to both you, the reader, and to my Father in Heaven. And to Satan I simply say, "Bring it."

First Baptist Orlando

Reflection

2010-03-09T10:31:00.005-05:00

Is it just me or do you ever pause to reflect on who you are now versus who you used to be? This is not a "I can't believe how old I am" post but it does come on the cuff of my 32nd birthday week. And I can't help but realize just how far reaching and deep God's grace can go.

The transformation that I have experienced in my 31 years is nothing short of miraculous. To some, my past may seem quite benign but to the One that knows my heart better than I know myself, my past is full of wickedness in thought and deed. I think back to the many poor choices I made in young adulthood and marvel at how my Father not only protected me from tangible consequences but how He held my soul in the palm of His hand and protected my eternal future.

It is no coincidence that I am currently learning about the promise of eternal security for all believers in my studies at church. God does not mince words when He has Paul explain just how safe our souls are in the hands of an almighty and just God.

Romans 8:35-39 is quickly becoming one of my favorite Bible passages:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the daylong; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This message is worthy of much meditation. And the more I think on it, the more I am shaken to my core. My eternal security is not about how tightly I can hold on to Christ. It's about how tightly He is holding on to me! Do you fully appreciate that statement? Beyond the sacrifice, beyond the suffering, beyond the love above all loves, God continues to draw His children closer and continues to transform us into the Christ-like disciples we are called to be.

I am not as Christ-like as I desire to be. And I realize I will never be close to perfect in this world. But today, as I look back on the past 10 years of my life, I can clearly see God's hand in it. His hands have been a protector and punisher. His hands have directed and drawn. His hands have pushed and pulled. His hands have received anger and adoration. His hands have given lessons and love. But never, not even once, was I ever outside of His hands. And for that, I am grateful. For I am not the woman I once was.

His love is strong and His love is eternal. Not even death can separate me from the love of my God! It's no wonder that my sinful past can't even make a dent in my relationship with Christ. As usual, my thoughts are disjointed at best. But my message is this: Not because of who I am, but because of who He is, I am a child of God and I am actively being drawn closer to my Father. My God is bigger than my sin.

I Love My Mom

2009-12-08T15:17:00.000-05:00

(Call to my phone)
Me: This is Leslie
Mom: Hey, can you call me right back on my cell phone? I set the ringer to vibrate and I need to make sure I did it right. I’m getting ready to go in somewhere and I don’t want it to ring if someone calls me.
Me: (snicker) OK.
(hang up)

(Call to Mom’s phone )
Mom: Hello?
Me: Did it ring or vibrate?
Mom: It rang AND vibrated.
Me: It did? (in an overly exaggerated tone) What are you going to do??
Mom: I don’t know. I don’t want anyone to hear it.
Me: Hang up from me and use the volume buttons on the side of the phone. There should be a button with up & down arrows on the side. Use that to set the ringer. Look at the display and set it to “Vibrate Only.” Then call me back.
Mom: Oh, I thought I had to go into Tools.
Me: No.
Mom: Okay.
(hang up)

(Call to my phone)
Me: Did it vibrate?
Mom: Yeah but I can’t hear it very well.
Me: Sigh.

It Is Good to Give Thanks to God

2009-11-24T10:38:00.000-05:00

PSALM 92

Throughout the Psalms, we are reminded and even commanded to give thanks to the Lord. Thanksgiving Day should never become a substitute for the daily expression of gratitude to God for all that He has done.

Because our culture is largely characterized by ingratitude, we need to work at developing a grateful heart. Even in prayer, we can become self-centered and drift from one petition to another without a word of praise to God. Giving thanks refocuses our attention onto the Lord as we remember His love and faithfulness and praise Him for who He is and what He has done.

Thanksgiving refreshes our souls as we spend time with God, concentrating on His goodness and grace. Anxiety is replaced with peace, and despondency with joy. If you wake up each morning and thank the Lord for deliverance from the power of sin, provision for all your needs, and guidance for the day ahead, what is left to cause worry or discouragement?

Gratitude to God for His faithfulness in the past increases faith and strengthens trust in Him for the future. Remember how He carried you in times of pain, helped you in periods of weakness, and supplied all your needs. You can trust Him with whatever lies ahead.

To establish a habit of thanksgiving, recall God's lovingkindness in the morning, and recount His faithfulness at night. Thank Him for blessings—and also for the deep work He is doing in you through difficulties. As you start to see situations from His perspective, your gratitude and trust will grow.

In Touch Ministries

Serving the Purpose of God

2009-10-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

2 CORINTHIANS 5:9-10

Church members sometimes get the mistaken idea that service to God must be an "up front" kind of activity. To their way of thinking, the preacher and the choir soloist serve God, but the rest of us are just trying to get through the day—and maybe in the future we'll get a chance to do some great thing for the Lord.

The truth is that much of our daily life is spent serving God's purpose. In fact, our greatest impact might come out of a small act of faithfulness. When I was 17 years of age, my grandfather spent one week with me. He likely did not think there was much eternal significance to sitting on the back porch swing talking with his teenage grandson. But the spiritual principles he shared changed my life. I've used them in almost every sermon, which means that my grandfather has blessed millions of people.

God's followers shouldn't underestimate the scope of ministry. If we limit our service to special "church tasks," we'll miss everyday opportunities to make a difference.

The Scriptures are full of ordinary but necessary things for believers to do: care for the less fortunate (Ex. 22:22); train children (Prov. 22:6); use Christian liberty wisely (1 Cor. 8:7-13); "admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak" (1 Thess. 5:14); and so on.

Believers make up Jesus' body on earth. We are His hands to reach out, His feet to go where the need is, and His mouth to give comfort and share the gospel. What role are you meant to fulfill today? Prayerfully commit to serve the Lord in everything you do.

In Touch Ministries

Give Me Ears to Hear

2009-10-12T12:54:00.003-04:00

Given the topic of the past two devotionals I have received (and shared on this blog) I think it's safe to say God is trying to get my attention. He is reaching out to me and I, frustrated, have been missing the point.

I've asked myself this question many times before but I will ask it again now. How long can one ignore the call of God before he/she forgets the sound of His voice? I've worried often that I neglected my relationship with God long enough to lose the ability to hear Him when He calls. This thought causes a desire in me to stir and I long for a better relationship with my Father. This desire is often squelched over time by other desires or mere laziness. It feels as if I am in a daily battle with myself. This aggravates me to no end but I can't imagine the frustration God must feel.

Though it is, and will always be, a battle for me to maintain my focus on God and what He is leading me to do, a great thought occurred to me this past weekend. God must have some pretty big plans for my little life for Satan to strive so consistently to distract me! What does my God have in store for me that is causing the Father of Lies to continually whisper in my ear? This bolsters my faith. It increases my spirit. It makes me want to look Satan in the eye and say "Bring it." With much prayer and with God's help I will follow Him anywhere. I want to see the plans He has for me.

The point is, God is still working in my heart. His pull on my heart is ever growing and for that I am eternally grateful. It is a testament to the fact that we are indeed saved by works. Not our works of course. But saved of Christ's works. And persevered by the Holy Spirit's works. And kept forever safe by God's works. He leads me like the sheep I am and when, despite His best interest for me, I attempt to ignore His leading, He breaks my leg so I can't wander off again. I love that about my God! I love that He knows just how fallen I am and yet He actively pursues my heart and keeps me close. He is requesting a fellowship, a relationship, with me. He knows me better than any and yet He still wants to use me. For lack of a better expression, How cool is that?! How great must His love be for me. How great is my God!

Two simple statements that ring true and hit home to me today are as follows...
"Jesus loves me, this I know." Though I can't comprehend it, I believe it with all that I am. It is evident in His pursuit of my heart. And just as simple yet, mind boggling, "Jesus knows me, this I love." And because He knows me, because He loves me, because I am His child, I am ready to hear what He would have me to hear. I covet your prayers as I struggle against my nature to hear all voices other than the Spirit's. Give me ears to hear Lord. Yours is the only voice that matters.

Listening Through Restlessness

2009-10-12T12:52:00.001-04:00

ESTHER 6:1-11

When we're too preoccupied to hear God's voice, He will often get our attention by giving us a restless spirit. The book of Esther gives us a wonderful example of this. In the sixth chapter, we see that King Xerxes "could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king" (v. 1). As a result, Xerxes became aware of an assassination plot that had been foiled by a man named Mordecai. Filled with gratitude for this act of service, the ruler made plans to honor him. What Xerxes could not have known, though, is that this hero had been targeted by Haman, one of the royal advisors. Not only had Haman plotted to hang Mordecai the Jew (5:14); he was also planning to exterminate the entire Jewish population. As a result of the king's intervention, however, Mordecai and all of the Jews were saved.

Now, what started this process? It was a restless night. Xerxes did not know why he couldn't sleep, but we know—the king had insomnia because God was trying to get his attention. The Lord had something important to say to Xerxes, and His way of getting through to him was an unpleasant night of sleeplessness.

How often has this happened to you? You go about your career and activities, but a restlessness seems to hang over you, often causing sleepless nights. In such moments, dare to bow and pray, "Lord, what is it You want to tell me?" You'll discover that God can and will speak in your unrest.

In Touch Ministries

Distracted Listeners

2009-10-12T12:51:00.001-04:00

1 SAMUEL 3:1-10

Have you ever tried to have a serious discussion with someone who you knew was not really listening to you? It can be quite frustrating. Not only is it practically impossible to get your message across, but it also betrays a selfishness on the part of the other person that we often find irritating and disrespectful.

You see, when we have a significant message to share with someone, we naturally want his or her undivided attention. God is the same way. When He speaks to us, He always has something extremely important to say. Therefore, He rightfully expects our complete focus and attention.

When the Holy Spirit communicates with us, we will often hear His voice immediately if we have been walking in step with Him. His "voice" may be a gentle whisper in our spirit, or it could be an obvious, miraculous sign "from out of the blue." However God chooses to speak, those who are attuned to His voice will hear Him.

But we don't always walk perfectly in the Spirit, do we? At those times when we are distracted, God must do something to get our attention. He may give us a restless spirit or speak a word of wisdom through a friend. He might even do something drastic, like bring about an unexpected move or career change.

When we're not tuned in to the Spirit, God's warning signs can feel like spiritual attacks. Yet these could be the very times when the Lord is revealing Himself to us. Could He be trying to break through your distractions? Prayerfully consider how He may be speaking, and see if you can discern His message.

In Touch Ministries

Ignoring God's Voice

2009-09-24T10:29:00.001-04:00

MATTHEW 7:24-27
Believe it or not, many people in the church make a conscious decision to ignore God's truth. You may ask, "Who would do such a thing?" Chances are, you know someone who already has.

Think about those Christians who say, "I am never going back to that church again. All the pastor talks about is sin, sin, sin." Or, perhaps the issue is "money," or "faithfulness," or maybe even "the cross." When we are listening to the man and not to the God who sent the message, it is easy to get irritated with a preacher's persistence.

If you find yourself reacting this strongly to a godly pastor's preaching, then you ought to take an honest look at yourself. Is there a particular sermon topic that "pushes your buttons"? Why is it that you don't like to hear about tithing, for instance? Maybe the reason is that you know your finances are not under the Lord's control. And when that happens, the natural human response is to get away from the conviction.

This is why so many people seem to run out the back door of the church--they simply can't take it anymore. They have made a decision to close their ears to God's Word, and, therefore, they cannot bear to listen to it.
In Matthew 7:26, Jesus comments on people who hear the Word but do not act on it. He compares them to a "foolish man who built his house on the sand." Do you want to be "foolish" in the Lord's eyes? Of course not. Instead, be a believer whose mind is set on becoming more like Christ.

In Touch Ministries

God is Not Shaken

2009-09-22T15:10:00.006-04:00

Lately I have felt especially tied to a recently released song, played rather frequently on local Christian radio. The lyrics that affect me most are as follows:

"I am sinking in the river that is raging
I am drowning
Will I ever, rise to breathe again
I wanna know why
I just wanna understand
Will I ever know why?
How could this be from Your hand?

When every little thing that I dream of being just slips away like water through my hands
And when it seems the walls from my beliefs come crashing down like they’re all made of sand
I won’t, let go of You now
because I know, oh, You’re not shaken

I am trembling in the darkness of my own fear
All the questions with no answers
So grip me while I’m here
And I may never know why
Oh I may not understand
But I will lift up my eyes,
and trust this is Your plan."

And I'll be honest, my focus has been more on the statement that every dream seems to slip like water through my hand. The focus has not been on the point of the song: I will trust all is part of God's plan. I will not let go of my faith because God is not shaken by these events that seem to rock me to the core.

Because my focus has been more on myself than on Christ I have slipped into an uncomfortable, sad state over the past few days. Of course I do well to hide my feelings and I choose not to discuss my troubles with those around me for I know in the light of all that is truly important, my heartbreak is not.

Today, God reached out and changed my point of view. After receiving a copy of a letter an old friend sent to another in order to share the wonderful work of Christ shown in her life, I found myself on the receiving end of a mighty slap in the face. God used the witness, designated for another, to break my heart again. The words of my friend rebuked me. The joy she feels and the fulfillment she has been blessed with are both directly tied to the active placing of Christ as first in her life. The details of from where God has brought her match mine, almost verbatim. She is a living testimony of the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.

Granted God has been(and continues to be)working in my heart and I am a far cry from where I once was. There only by the grace of God. However, my frustrations have grown drastically in the past week due only to the fact my trust has been misplaced in myself. I know better and I've learned many times, the hard way, that I will always let myself down. My focus has been on me and I have continually stumbled. Christ has not been truly first in my life for a long time.

But isn't it just like God to use an unexpected email, written for another, to bring us back to Him? Isn't is just like God to send a friend, a sister in Christ, our way when we need encouragement the most? Isn't it just like God to place His word in front of our eyes even when we refuse to take time to study it on our own? Thanks to God's working through my friend, I was reminded once again that God loves me and constantly pulls me to Himself whether I drag my feet or not. I thank God for this.

I can't begin to count the many times I have felt a tangible drawing of my heart to Christ over the past year or so. Once again my sadness and fears are being drowned out by the calming whisper of my Lord. He is preparing me for His work. I am still unaware of what this work may be but there is no doubt in my mind He is still prodding me to move. He is gently reminding me keep my eyes on Him and not on the rising water surrounding me. He is offering me the hand of the Almighty while I grasp for anything to hold on to.

I realized today how blessed I am to have fellow disciples of Christ in my life. For when I lose my focus, God uses all His resources to point my way back to Him. Sometimes those resources consist of a random email written for another. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And no matter how easily I feel the world crumbling under my feet, I am a child of God. I am held securely in His hand. And no, my God is not shaken!

Judge Not?

2009-08-25T11:51:00.004-04:00

The following was taken from an article from American Vision by Gary DeMar

“It’s been said that the most frequently quoted Bible verse is no longer John 3:16 but Matthew 7:1: ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged.’” Actually, it’s the most quoted out-of-context verse in the Bible: We cannot glibly quote this, though, without understanding what Jesus meant. When Jesus condemned judging, he wasn’t at all implying we should never make judgments about anyone. After all, a few verses later, Jesus himself calls certain people “pigs” and “dogs” (Matt. 7:6) and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (7:15)! Any act of church discipline (1 Cor. 5:5) and rebuking false prophets (1 John 4:1) requires judgment. Jesus said “Do not judge lest you be judged” (Matt. 7:1; Luke 6:37). But He also said, “Judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24; see Deut. 16:18). These are not contradictory statements since the context of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:1 tells us what He means by “not judging” and what it means to judge with “righteous judgment.” Jesus was condemning those who judge using two standards of morality, one standard for the judge and another for the accused. You know, like politicians who created a healthcare bill that requires everyone to participate but exempts them. The Bible maintains—in both the Old and New Testaments—that the standard of judgment must be equal for both parties (Num. 15:16). “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it shall be measured to you” (Matt. 7:2). God doesn’t take verses out of context."

This section of his entire article struck a chord with me. I have recently been wrestling with my own judgmental nature and I have felt convicted, rightly so, of my pious attitude many, many times. However, to judge with righteous judgment, the sins of those who unabashedly reject the truth of Christ is not condemned by God. God Himself is the ultimate judge of all. No doubt. However, to make a statement that certain behaviors and or attitudes (i.e. immorality, hatred, etc.) are wrong and worthy of death is not judgmental. Nor is it a sin. To speak the truth is a commandment that all God's children must follow. God uses us and our lives and words as examples to others in order to facilitate a relationship, a drawing of them, to Him. To evaluate what should be avoided both in our lives and in other's is to appropriately use the wisdom and instruction given us by God.

Most of the time, I believe when others refer to Matthew 7:1 they are using it as a cop-out. They are trying not to offend others under the guise of being non-judgmental. But as DeMar points out above, Matthew 7:1 highlights our tendency to live hypocritical lives and God is shining a spotlight on that. This, in no way, takes away from the truth of the Scriptures and of God's law. Certain behaviors and actions are bad. They are sinful. God has already judged us all and we are all depraved, lost souls. Only through His grace and His sacrifice of Christ are we made new and are our convictions overturned.

I, for one, would much rather err on the side of offending others with God's Word than to offend God by squelching His commandments. His message. His truth. I have lived my life as Peter for far too long. With the Lord's help I will no longer doubt & I will no longer deny. Who better to teach others than one of their own...a sinner saved by grace?

Proclaim the truth. Shout it from the rooftops. State the facts as they are presented in the Gospel. If that offends then so be it. The offense is not mine. The offended will eventually address their concerns with God. Whether they want to or not.

American Vision

Yet Another Sellout...

2009-08-10T14:56:00.003-04:00

NewsBusters

The article listed above should be read but I warn you, it is disappointing. Of course this seems to be a common thread when dealing with any politician these days.

Bob Inglis doesn’t really make sense when he tries to strike up a contrast between himself and Glenn Beck by stating he believes in an America founded by folks who overcame adversity most of us will never see to start a country made up of great freedoms and opportunities. I’m quite certain Beck agrees with him on that point. I’m not sure anyone would disagree with him. Even liberals hail our founding fathers as courageous and outstanding leaders. The contrast is in where we are now vs. where we should be. Perhaps Inglis' words are only to highlight a contrast in approach to that of Glenn Beck. I know, I'm reaching, and I don't truly believe promoting positivity was Bob's point.

Inglis' comments point out that he doesn’t understand the dire straits we have let ourselves, as a nation, fall into any more than the moron who voted for Obama because NBC told them to. I think it’s a case of Inglis simply not getting it. By highlighting what the current administration is doing to run this great nation and its most productive people into the ground, Beck is not saying our future is hopeless. He is prodding those of us who have been content to let others fight our battles to move. He is attempting to issue a call to arms. The silent majority has been silent too long. And if we believe there is hope for our nation, we must not be silent any longer. And yes, a lot of what I see going does strike a chord of fear in me. As it should. The happenings that are completely contrary to all that I stand for and all that this nation should stand for are both scary and infuriating. And it is that anger that has motivated me to become more than just a passive conservative. Just as it has motivated many others to attend tea parties, to write their congressmen, to stand up and be counted. Inglis’ comments lead one to believe that he is content with the Republican status quo. I understand not wanting to foster a spirit of fear in his constituents however there is a distinct difference in promoting hope for our party and accepting defeat by adopting the Liberal lies and agenda.

Like Lindsay Graham, Inglis now comes across as weak and I don’t want a weak moderate representing me. I hope he realizes that by sticking his head in the sand he is doing his voters a disservice and he is an embarrassment at best. Not to mention, this certainly doesn’t look like a simple contrast in approach when you see his comments in light of his voting record. I haven’t followed him as closely as I should and it’s been easy for him to fly in under the radar given the many controversies that plague the conservative party. But truth be told, he’s flip-flopped more than a fish on dry land.

I can’t help but think he’s getting ready to make a bid for the White House come 2012 on a much, much more moderate ticket (if not left of center) and this is simply laying the groundwork for such a campaign. Truthfully, I think we may have the beginnings of yet another sellout in our midst. I hope I’m wrong.

Where Are You?

2009-08-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

GENESIS 3:7-13

After not listening to God, Adam and Eve found themselves in a terrible predicament. Their first reaction was to cover up rather than "fess up." Fig leaves can never hide the root problem of sin, but even today, we still try this approach (v. 7). Instead of acknowledging and confessing sin, we often attempt a quick surface fix of the situation.
Adam and Eve's second response was to avoid God. They knew they were guilty of disobeying, but instead of coming to Him to reestablish their relationship, they hid from Him in fear (v. 8). We can do the same thing when sin breaks our fellowship with the Lord. Have you ever found yourself avoiding prayer and time in the Scriptures because you were struggling with sin and felt guilty?
A third reaction was to try and avoid personal responsibility by blaming others (vv. 12-13). Shifting guilt to another person can't remove it. We are each responsible before God for our actions, regardless of the circumstances or who else is involved.
Despite Adam and Eve's sin and their evasive ways of handling it, the Lord came to them (v. 9). Our sin is never large enough to keep Him away; our Father still calls to us and asks, "Where are you?" He knows what we have done and why, but He questions us so that we can come to realize our desperate state.
Never let guilt or shame keep you from God. He continually seeks those who have made a mess of their life and speaks to them through His Word, His Spirit, and His people. Forgiveness and a restored relationship await all who are willing to listen and respond with confession and repentance.

In Touch Ministries

Failing to Listen to God

2009-08-03T10:08:00.001-04:00

GENESIS 3:1-6

Listening to God is not a onetime event. We must continually keep His Word before us, or we'll begin to listen to the wrong voices.
In Genesis 2:16-17, the Lord gave a command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Eve began to listen to another voice and did not hold firmly to her Creator's words. All that Satan had to do was plant a single doubt about God's integrity and offer Eve one appealing advantage of doing things her own way--and she fell for it. He mentioned wisdom, but using her own reasoning, Eve added two more benefits to the temptation: the fruit is good for food and a delight to the eyes.
The schemes of the Enemy have not changed. He still whispers lies and twists truth to convince us that a) God cannot be trusted and b) His ways are not the best. In every temptation, there is a deception about the character and motive of God, plus an attractive promise of a better way.
The world is filled with voices that vie for our attention and influence our thoughts and actions. Throughout the day, consider the messages that are sent your way through the media and people. Consciously begin to compare them to what Scripture says about God and His ways.
Remembering what God says in the Bible is our safeguard against deception and temptation. Daily devotions won't protect us if they're quickly forgotten during the day. Follow Christ's example: be ready with truth in your mind and on your tongue whenever temptation strikes (Matt. 4:1-11).

In Touch Ministries

A Glimpse

2009-07-28T16:19:00.004-04:00

This email conversation is true and was copied verbatim from my inbox. To give a bit of background, we are conducting a scavenger hunt of sorts to be executed at the company picnic in August. Our department has been supplied a list of items that must be collected in order to facilitate the hunt. One of the needed items is a toupee.

Original Email: "Below is the updated list for the Scavenger Hunt – Remember, we have until Aug 20th to get all the remaining items together. If your name is beside something highlighted in orange, let me know the status of having the item in hand.
Regarding passports – Bring those on the 20th and we will determine who has traveled the farthest."

Email Reply: "The guy I got the toupee from had a heart attack & died right after the first of the year but I have a barber at my church searching for another one :)"

I can't help but wonder if the reply comment struck anyone else as odd. This is just one example of the folks I work with.

God's Goal in Communicating

2009-07-08T10:36:00.001-04:00

1 CORINTHIANS 2:9-14

Whenever the Lord speaks to us, He gets straight to the point. He doesn't dance around the issue, He doesn't engage in idle chitchat, and He doesn't talk just for the sake of talking. God always has something specific to say. He says it precisely, and His message invariably speaks directly to our needs.

Therefore, if the Lord has something important to say, and if it is vital to a deep need in our lives, then we must be clear in asking, What is God's primary purpose in speaking to me? What does He want me to do as a result of what He has said?

First, God speaks so that we are able to comprehend the truth. That is, He wants us to fully understand His message and absorb it into our hearts and minds.

Second, God speaks so that we may be conformed to the truth. Simply knowing biblical principles is not enough; we must apply those guidelines to our circumstances and live out the life of faith.

Third, God speaks so that we can then communicate the truth. If something is true, then it is true for everyone, everywhere, every time. Therefore, it is not enough simply to hear scriptural principles and apply them to our own lives. We must also share that life-changing information with others.

How can you better understand biblical truth? How can you more effectively apply God's principles to your life? How can you best share them with others? The Lord holds us accountable for our answers. Open yourself to His message today, and then submit to whatever the Holy Spirit tells you.

In Touch Ministries

No Longer Silent

2009-07-02T12:49:00.001-04:00

I have been spiritually quiet most of my life. Quiet when I should've screamed with all my might. Quiet when I should've acted boldly. Quiet when I should've talked to my Savior.

A common theme in my thoughts these days is that God is prodding me to move. He is pushing me to require more of myself as His child. Why He is earnestly knocking on my heart and awakening my heart, I do not know. What I do know is that the feel of His hand on mine, pulling me to where I need to be is tangible.

I have spent most of my Christian life doing less than even going through the motions. And now I am compelled to change my life for Christ. To the point of turning my little world on it's ear, I am asking God to show me what He would have me to do.

My most recent consumption is to become consumed with Christ. This should have been my goal all along. And I can't help but question what took me so long? But none of that matters now as I am standing on the edge of a cliff. With no information other than knowing God will hold me in His hand as I embark on His journey, I am finally ready to take the step, make the leap, and rely on faith alone.

Lord, never let this newly built fire fade from my heart. Whatever it takes, draw me closer to Christ and use my life and all that is in it to bring glory to You.

Let Us Be Alert and Sober

2009-07-02T12:38:00.001-04:00

1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-8

Many people are snoozing through life. They tell themselves that the earth's troubles will eventually end: leaders will somehow bring harmony to war-torn lands, provide food for all, and create economic stability. However, true peace and safety aren't possible in a world ruled by Satan and inhabited by fallen man.

The church must stay alert and monitor world events through the lens of biblical prophecy. Jesus warned of widespread trouble preceding the tribulation and His second coming (Matt. 24:6-14). He offered signs rather than dates so His followers would be watchful and ready to go at any moment. But we're not to neglect our kingdom duties. We should be building, serving, even while anticipating His return.

Nominal Christians run the risk of being unprepared for the troubling times ahead. These are people who come to church if the weather is good, read the Bible only when they're worried, or allow worldly pleasures to distract them from heavenly things. We're no better than drowsy watchmen if we adopt such attitudes. The wise believer is consumed by Christ--empty of his or her own wishes and pursuits and fully surrendered to the Lord's plans and desires. Only a servant completely focused upon God can be useful in His kingdom.

When God shifts things about on the world stage, people get anxious. We can encourage one another by sharing how He has worked in our life. We can also reveal the Source of our assurance and peace to a world in dire need of both. As the end draws near, realize now is not the time to be quiet.

In Touch Ministries

Getting Out of Step

2009-06-26T10:17:00.001-04:00

1 SAMUEL 13:5-14

Saul had everything going for him. The son of a respected warrior, he had good looks and a nice physique (1 Sam. 9:2). Since God chose him to lead Israel at a time when the nation had some formidable enemies, we can surmise that he was also a courageous and charismatic leader. Even the prophet Samuel was impressed and spoke admiringly at Saul's coronation, "Surely there is no one like him among all the people" (10:24).

But despite all of Saul's positive attributes, he spent much of his reign out of step with the Lord. The king's errors in judgment were mostly due to an inflated sense of self-importance. One blunder would set off a sin-filled chain reaction, as we observe in his desperate quest to kill David (1 Sam. 18-26).

The Lord hates arrogance. When people think more highly of themselves than they should (Rom. 12:3), they stop relying upon divine guidance in making decisions. Terrible consequences result from such wrong thinking. For example, the king thought so much of himself that he ignored the law and offered a pre-battle sacrifice in Samuel's place. Because Saul refused to submit himself to God's command, the Lord handed the kingdom over to a man who would (1 Sam. 16:13-14).

Pride always drives a person away from God's path. With each misstep, an arrogant man or woman wanders farther into a spiritual wilderness. Nothing of lasting value can be found in such a desolate place. But the Lord will gladly welcome back a wayward follower. Blessing and joy await those who walk in step with Him.

In Touch Ministries

Prayed Up

2009-06-18T11:47:00.003-04:00

*These are not my words. This was forwarded to me by a friend and it struck a chord in my heart so loud I had to share. The point is: I am claiming this as my own personal prayer from this day forward. God has big plans for me and I am no longer squandering this life that was meant for more.

New Adventure

I am “prayed up” and prepared for positive change today.

I may be stepping outside my comfort zone to begin a new adventure in life; however, my first step is to be prayed up and ready for a positive change.

I pray to be divinely guided, and I also use my imagination to set the scene for the good that I am about to experience. I see myself going about my day confident in whatever I am doing. I envision my new surroundings personalized for me with pictures and colors, people and activities that invite me to feel at home and comfortable.

Most important, I affirm that the spirit of God goes before me to make my way safe and secure. There is a holy preparation going on for my new adventure. I know I will meet people who are open to supporting me and being supported by me in love and faith.

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”—Deuteronomy 31:8

"Triple Grip" my eye.

2009-06-16T22:51:00.003-04:00

Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? Well wrestling a rain soaked 3x5 flag (pole included) away from an over grown Crape Myrtle tree, in the middle of an intense thunderstorm, in the dark of night is about equal to that…well, at least as far as I am concerned.

I am tired of fighting this battle but I refuse to give up. A little background for you...my porch posts are made of vinyl. Yes, vinyl is low maintenance and a much cheaper material to use than actual wood. However, nothing, and I do mean nothing, is able to attach and keep attached my American Flag to said porch post. I have tried numerous solutions, the last of which were "Triple Grip" anchor screws. Keep in mind the Home Depot helper who pointed them out to me was quite sure they'd "do the trick." He wore orange and I trusted him. In addition to his very professional apron and the measuring tape hooked to his belt, the screws bore a high rating of strength. Supposedly they can withstand more than 200 lbs. of pressure before giving up the ghost. I eagerly installed them a little more than 24 hours ago. They seemed to be up to the task and last I looked, they were holding strong. That was before tonight.

Summertime thunderstorms are one of my favorite things. But they have become what test my patience and my flag mounting engineering abilities. First big storm that comes along rips the flag off my front porch like a cheap dress off a cheaper prom date. I heard the noise and knew immediately what had happened. I donned my rain slicker (also known as a button up shirt) and headed out into the storm. I found the flag, bracket, screws, and anchors...all intact and still fastened together. The kicker is that none are still fastened to the porch post. The entire ensemble was lying atop my Crape Myrtle tree. If I weren't so darned respectful, I would've left the flag where it lay until morning. But I know better and I am glad I do. So I braved the storm and retrieved my flag. It is now properly stored, out of the storm, until I think of another option.

Sigh. Maybe glue is the next step. Was it Krazy Glue or Super Glue that held an elephant over the Grand Canyon?

Degree of Trust?

2009-06-08T18:24:00.005-04:00

Just now, I found myself searching the internet for a friend's blog. I couldn't remember the address and I hadn't saved the site in my favorites. So I typed in what I could recall (which led me no closer to the goal) and was inundated with results. One of the results was a site that yielded links to blogs upon blogs that held promise of matching my search criteria. I think it's safe to say none of them actually did. However, one entry caught my eye and before I knew it I was skipping down an unmarked rabbit trail.

As I read the blog entry, which was assumedly about Christianity, I was immediately heartbroken. No, I take that back. First, I was angry. Then I was heartbroken. The thoughts expressed on this stranger's page were baffling. Misconceptions like the following: All religion is bad, therefore all faith is bad. Christians are nothing more than judgmental hypocrites. Why can't the world be more like Buddha? etc. caused me to question how anyone could ever arrive at the same conclusion. This poor misguided heart actually thinks they have it right. They think by advocating acceptance of all religious paths yet, trusting in none they are well on their way. They believe that a god is in all of us regardless of faith or lack thereof. They hold to a lie, told by the Father of Lies, that no matter the condition of their soul, they are every bit as entitled to enter Heaven as the Son of God. Thoughts such as these caused (and will continue to cause) an anger to rise up in me that is almost frightening. I am quite laidback by nature but I found myself resisting the urge to point out just how idiotic these "beliefs" are. Realizing that would not be the proper response, I withheld my righteous judgment. Please note the sarcasm in that last statement. I bent my strong will to assert what I know to be true and I bowed my head to pray. Because I do know how anyone could arrive at the same conclusions...they have not the Spirit of God in them. Their vision is clouded if not eclipsed. They are hell bound.

As I prayed for this lost person and all those who follow, I became anxious. Even as I made a poor attempt to communicate with God the Almighty, thoughts of worry polluted my mind. What is this world coming to? What will happen if we continue on this path? What, as Christians, can we do to stop this spiral into hell? Honestly, to say we are near the end times is no longer accurate. In my opinion, we are there. As I approached my King on behalf of others, Satan attacked with these unnecessary reservations. *(As a side note, I realize now more than ever I must be on guard at all times. Even in prayer, evil rises up in me.) Back to my point. As I confidently asked the Lord to open the eyes of this outsider, I wrestled with doubt. How can I believe without hesitation my God is powerful enough to call this stranger to Himself, yet I worry this world is too evil, too far gone to be helped? How can you hold to one idea and to the other? How can I hold on to my faith and my disbelief at the same time? The point is, I can't.

Oswald Chambers once said, "Faith is complete confidence in the character of God..." Either your confidence is complete or it isn't. Either you have it or you don't. Either I trust God entirely or I don't. There is no middle ground. Faith isn't calculated in degrees. There is no scale when it comes to measurement of belief. Do you believe? "Yes!" Do you believe? "No." As much as some folks would like to claim it, "Maybe" isn't an option.

Wondering how to put words to my thought process (which I recognize as being all over the place now), I went to my daily devotional. I found the following message: Overcoming Anxiety The last sentence convicted me most. "We may be in the midst of hard times and wondering where the good is. Do not lose hope. God is sovereign and true to every one of His promises (2 Cor. 1:20)." Just as He orchestrated my day so that the message just referenced would be received when I needed it most, God is in complete control at all times. Do I believe it? Absolutely. Then why do I question it?

The lessons learned through one stray click of a mouse are priceless. By straying to a page never before seen, God spoke to me and pointed out more than one much needed message. As I judged others for their blindness to the truth, He gently reminded while praying for their salvation, that I too am often blind to my own sin. Even now as I type an incorrect thought flows through my brain with little to no resistance..."Yeah but my sin isn't as bad as THEIRS." In a brief 5 minute period, while reading another's blog, I judged (with anger) a fellow sinner's state of affairs. I elevated myself above them in my mind though I am just as depraved. I viewed myself as superior though I know full well the phrase "There but by the grace of God, go I" has never been more true. I prayed for them with doubt in my heart. I questioned my God's ability to extended His saving hand to them. I was a fool.

To wrap up this convoluted and perhaps bewildering page of thoughts, I will share the reminder that I must speak for my own benefit daily...Satan may be adapt but my God is absolute. Repeat it if necessary. Satan may be adapt but my God is absolute! Whether you fret over the condition of a single soul or whether you agonize for the future of this world, know that our God is Sovereign. And believe with your whole heart, holding on to no doubt, we can place every bit of our faith in that. Either you trust God...or you don't.

Here am I Lord; Send me

2009-05-09T22:16:00.004-04:00

Starting as far back as I can remember I used to feel that I was born for a very important reason. This is taking for granted all of God's children are here for His reasons and all reasons are important. Truly, with much conviction, I knew in my heart God had big plans for me. What qualifies as "big plans"? I couldn't tell you. But my confidence in a personal calling never wavered even though the calling I was sure of was shrouded in mystery. I never knew without doubt what God had in store for me. But I knew it was specific and I was prepared to follow the instructions to the letter. In my mind, I was simply waiting on Him.

Somewhere along the line, the gut feeling that I was being called by God, for His purpose, started to fade. I'm not sure when the Holy Spirit loosed His grip on me but I know without doubt I felt the absence of His hand earlier this week. The realization that I could no longer hear God's calling shook me to the core. The silence was deafening.

As I sang along to a new favorite song, the words laid heavy on my heart. The message was unmistakable. We, as Christians fail often. But often, the failure doesn't come in like a lion. The failure begins with compromise and our convictions slowly begin to fade. Before we know it, we are floundering, if not drowning. With little care for spiritual matters that pertain to the quiet moments between our heart and God's heart, our spirit begins to die. My voice disappeared when I began to comprehend I could no longer feel the pull of God on my will. My heart broke. How did I get here? When did I become so complacent? When did I fade?

I receive daily devotionals via my email. I signed up for the online delivery because I thought it might be more convenient than having to make time to actually sit down and read the Scripture. Of course my choice of convenience has turned into a choice of neglect. I receive the emails but I rarely read them. And when I do read them, I rarely meditate on them. Prayer is absent from my daily life and I am ashamed to admit it doesn't bother me like it should. The same week that God broke my heart through a song, I received three devotional messages that dealt with the call of God. "Loved but Lost" on Sunday. "Called for God's Purpose" on Monday. "Living in God's Calling" on Tuesday. I didn't read them. I didn't want to. I didn't have to. The title told me what I needed to hear. Don’t worry; my plan is to read them, soon. This same plan includes a reconnection attempt with my Lord and Savior. Though it is not deserved, I will pray for another dose of grace and mercy. And I will open my heart, fully, to His calling. I bring up the devotional messages to point out that God is reaching out to me once again. He is not through with me, though I have been unconsciously through with Him for years.

Aside from my shame and brokenness, my heart is glad. Glad that God still speaks to me, though I have ignored Him and deliberately shut Him out through my apathy. My heart leapt in my chest when I recognized God was speaking to me through a song, through devotion, through my faith. He is pulling me closer though my sinful will constantly fought against Him. He is still knocking on the door though I had grown deaf to the sound. I am glad my Lord is louder than my own voice. I am glad my God will not give up on me. I am glad my Father loves me more than I love myself. I am glad my Savior will not let me squander this gift of life He has given.

This brings me to a crossroads...and my point. Though I am still unsure of what God may be calling me to do or where God may be calling me to go, I am ready. Mentally accepting and willing to hear; I am ready to follow. Spiritually I need work. And that is where the simple act of reading the devotions and talking to God come into play. My relationship with God has suffered to the point of extinction thanks to my arrogance and disregard. I must, as a child, learn to crawl again. I must turn to God first, not last. I must make my connection with God the only priority. The rest, the details, are up to God to reveal in due time. He may have me stay where I am for the next 50 years. He may send me to places I've only heard of. No matter what God has in store for me, I now remember and accept that it is about Him. It's not about me at all. This plan, this “big plan” that God has meticulously designed for me is to serve Him. How did I lose sight of that? When did I mistake the truth for lies? When did I fade? No matter; I am my Father’s child. I am forgiven. I am here to do His work.

Yes, the feeling that God has something big in store for me is starting to return. The idea that I am here for a specific reason is becoming real again. The knowledge I was created for His purpose is reaffirmed. This, I am thankful for. Though I did much to drown out the voice of the Holy Spirit, I failed. I hear His voice clearly now and He asks if I'm listening. He asks if I am willing. He asks me to follow Him. I can think of no better response than, "Here am I Lord; Send me."

Lord, protect my heart from getting lost again.

A Mother's Greatest Gift

2009-05-08T10:57:00.001-04:00

The greatest gift a mother can give her children is instruction about faith principles. Do your youngsters see godly precepts lived out in your words and choices? Parents are a child's first spiritual advisors. However, if moms and dads do not instruct young people, someone else will. We absolutely cannot neglect our responsibility to train up our kids in the way they should go (Prov. 22:6).

Each person comes into the world as a "blank slate" that over time develops a belief system--a grid that filters everything the mind takes in. A child who has been prayed over and taught God's ways will see the world as it truly is. But one who's been programmed by secular culture or another religion will view life as he or she wishes it to appear--or through someone else's tinted lens.

Pastors and Sunday school teachers can help to form a child's grid, but they cannot do all the work. It is the responsibility of parents to invest whatever time, patience, and love are necessary to grow boys and girls into godly men and women. Teach them biblical principles, talk about the Lord and His ways, and show them what a righteous life looks like by living one. In other words, be the kind of believer that you hope your child will become.

Sending a child into the world without a biblical foundation is like throwing him into a lion's den without weapons or armor. Little ones cannot discern truth from error because their grid systems are immature. Parents must defend children's minds against the world's onslaught until they are ready to take over the challenge themselves.

Deuteronomy 6:1-7

In Touch Ministries

Focusing on God

2009-03-12T10:06:00.001-04:00

Genesis 37:5-11

"Man is born for trouble" (Job 5:7). There is no way to avoid or escape this common condition of mankind. As we continue to look at Joseph's life, we get a glimpse of the anchor that held him steady while, one after another, the waves of affliction rolled over him.

When Joseph was a teenager, he was given two dreams about the Lord's future plans for his life. They revealed that he would one day be in a place of authority and honor, and his family would bow down to him. Scripture had not yet been written in those days, and the Lord would sometimes speak to men in their dreams.

Previously, God had spoken to Jacob in a dream and given him a promise (Gen. 28:10-16). And now his son was hearing from the Lord in the same way. Joseph followed his father's example of faith and believed the message.

The Lord knew that Joseph was going to need a promise to get him through the difficulty that would soon follow. God's Word to him was his anchor. During all the trials, Joseph kept on believing that the Lord would fulfill His promise. He focused on the faithfulness of the God, not on his circumstances.

When the Lord speaks to our hearts through Scripture, we can hold onto what He says as an anchor for our souls. He will keep His promises to us, just as He did for Joseph. When we focus on God and His Word, our fears will dwindle, our sense of need will diminish, and our doubts will be cleared away.

In Touch Ministries

Through Times of Trial

2009-03-11T10:11:00.002-04:00

Genesis 39:19-23

When the problems of life seem overwhelming, we need someone to come alongside and help us to see our difficulties through the eyes of our sovereign God. Joseph is just such a person. Although he lived thousands of years ago, his story still speaks to us with great insights into the Lord's purposes.

Joseph experienced a wide variety of trials--hatred, rejection, and betrayal by his brothers; loss of home, family, and freedom; false accusation and imprisonment; and the loneliness and disappointment of being forgotten. His life was a series of difficult and unfair situations, yet Scripture never records any bitterness or revenge in Joseph's responses to all these circumstances.

Though outwardly it may have seemed as if God had abandoned the young man, inwardly He was doing some awesome work in Joseph's heart. The Lord had some big plans for him, and He knew that these trials would be the most effective tools for preparing His servant for the work that lay ahead.

As Joseph responded to each situation with faith in God and diligence in every task assigned to him, one fact became obvious to all who knew him: the Lord was with Joseph (Gen. 41:38-39).

We need to remember this when we are going through hard times. The Lord is with us even when our circumstances shout that He has deserted us. We may have little control over the difficulties we face, but we each have a choice of how to respond. Joseph calls to us from a time long past, urging us to trust God.

In Touch Ministries

Trusting God With Your Finances

2009-03-10T12:35:00.002-04:00

Proverbs 3:9-10

Yesterday we learned about God's plan for financial security: giving back to Him the first part of our earnings. Some of us, however, find it a challenge to put the principle into practice. Although we know what the Lord has said, the thought of giving that way can cause anxiety about not having enough. Then, there may be a temptation to replace God's plan with our own because His feels so uncertain. We should be careful not to let fear override faith.

The problem is not with the Lord's plan but, rather, with unbelief. Fear reveals doubt that God can do what He has said He will do. In today's Scripture verses, the Lord promises to provide all that is needed if we will honor Him with the first part of our wealth.

Can you trust all of God's Word? Many of us have staked our eternal security on believing what the Lord has said in the Bible about our salvation, yet some may doubt what He says about money and His provision for us. What conflicted creatures we are. We take one part of Scripture and say it is true, and yet we discount another section, feeling that the Lord cannot be trusted in the area of our finances.

God tells us to "test [Him] in this" and see if He is faithful (Mal. 3:10). In giving to the Lord, we have the privilege of watching Him fulfill His Word. Which is more reliable--our feelings or the Word of Almighty God? Say no to fear and step out in faith. Our God is believable.

In Touch Ministries

COULD THIS BE TRUE OF ME?

2009-03-04T12:38:00.001-05:00

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts 20:24

It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis.

What do I really count dear? If I have not been gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfil the ministry he had received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing. Acts 20:24 states Paul's almost sublime annoyance at being asked to consider himself; he was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument - Remember how 'useful you are here, or - Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work." That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His.

http://www.myutmost.org/

THE DESTITUTION OF SERVICE

2009-02-25T11:20:00.001-05:00

"Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." 2 Corinthians 12:15

Natural love expects some return, but Paul says - I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor." Paul's idea of service is exactly along that line - I do not care with what extravagance I spend myself, and I will do it gladly. It was a joyful thing to Paul.

The ecclesiastical idea of a servant of God is not Jesus Christ's idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of other men. Jesus Christ out-socialists the socialists. He says that in His Kingdom he that is greatest shall be the servant of all. The real test of the saint is not preaching the gospel, but washing disciples' feet, that is, doing the things that do not count in the actual estimate of men but count everything in the estimate of God. Paul delighted to spend himself out for God's interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. We come in with our economical notions - "Suppose God wants me to go there - what about the salary? What about the climate? How shall I be looked after? A man must consider these things." All that is an indication that we are serving God with a reserve. The apostle Paul had no reserve. Paul focuses Jesus Christ's idea of a New Testament saint in his life, viz.: not one who proclaims the Gospel merely, but one who becomes broken bread and poured out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for other lives.

http://www.myutmost.org/

No He Can't

2009-02-25T11:14:00.001-05:00

No He Can't - by Anne Wortham

Fellow Americans,

Please know: I am black; I grew up in the segregated South. Most importantly, I am not race conscious. I do not require a black president to know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living. I do not require a black president to love the ideal of America.

I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human survival – all that I know about the history of the United States of America , all that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a politician.
I would have to deny the nature of the "change" that Obama asserts has come to America .

I would have to pretend that individual liberty has no value for the success of a human life. I would have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million blacks in this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that blacks are permitted to play the race card), and that they were joined by self-declared "progressive" whites who voted for him because he doesn't look like them.

I would have to wipe my mind clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his administration – political intellectuals like my former colleagues at the Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government.

I would have to believe that "fairness" is the equivalent of justice. I would have to believe that man who asks me to "go forward in a new spirit of service, in a new service of sacrifice" is speaking in my interest. I would have to accept the premise of a man that economic prosperity comes from the "bottom up," and who arrogantly believes that he can will it into existence by the use of government force. I would have to admire a man who thinks the standard of living of the masses can be improved by destroying the most productive and the generators of wealth.

Finally, Americans, I would have to erase from my consciousness the scene of 125,000 screaming, crying, cheering people in Grant Park, Chicago irrationally chanting "Yes We Can!" Finally, I would have to wipe all memory of all the times I have heard politicians, pundits, journalists, editorialists, bloggers and intellectuals declare that capitalism is dead – and no one, including especially Alan Greenspan, objected to their assumption that the particular version of the anti-capitalistic mentality that they want to replace with their own version of anti-capitalism is anything remotely equivalent to capitalism.

So you have made history, Americans. You and your children have elected a black man to the office of the president of the United States , the wounded giant of the world. The battle between John Wayne and Jane Fonda is over – and that Fonda won. Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern must be very happy men. Jimmie Carter, too. And the Kennedys have at last gotten their Kennedy look-a-like.

The self-righteous welfare statists in the suburbs can feel warm moments of satisfaction for having elected a black person. So, toast yourselves: 60s countercultural radicals, 80s yuppies and 90s bourgeois bohemians. Toast yourselves, Black America. Shout your glee Harvard, Princeton , Yale, Duke, Stanford, and Berkeley. You have elected not an individual who is qualified to be president, but a black man who, like the pragmatist Franklin Roosevelt, promises to –Do Something! You now have someone who has picked up the baton of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.

But you have also foolishly traded your freedom and mine – what little there is left – for the chance to feel good. There is nothing in me that can share your happy obliviousness.

*Anne Wortham is Associate Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and continuing Visiting Scholar at Stanford University 's Hoover Institution. She is a member of the American Sociological Association and the American Philosophical Association. She has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, and honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Year by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

She has published numerous articles on the implications of individual rights for civil rights policy, and is currently writing a book on theories of social and cultural marginality. Recently, she has published articles on the significance of multiculturalism and Afrocentricism in education, the politics of victimization and the social and political impact of political correctness.

CIVICS 101 3rd GRADE

2009-01-23T11:30:00.001-05:00

We are worried about "the cow" when it is all about the "Ice Cream".
The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year. The Presidential election was heating up, and some of the children showed an interest.

I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selectio ns. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother. The day a rrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Everyone applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down. The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream."She surely would say more... She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it. She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opens his mouth, he offers ice cream, Fifty two percent of the people react like nine year olds. They want ice cream. The other forty eight percent know they're going to have to feed the cow AND clean up the mess.

(From a teacher in the Nashville area; shared with me by a friend.)

"More boos than balls"

2009-01-21T20:14:00.001-05:00

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=86743

The following is my response to the article found at the link above:

Amen and Amen! I praise Ann for the steadfastness to stand for what she knows is right and for the courage to share the truth with others. I pray the Obama Presidency will usher in a new leader in just four years as Carter's Presidency ushered in the Reagan era. This country needs a leader that will not embrace or condone behaviors exhibited at this week's Inauguration. Behaviors such as blatant racism, disrespect for both the exiting President and his family, disrespect for Pastor Warren, and disrespect for our country. Not only does Obama embrace and condone such behaviors, he participates and contributes the same damaging attitude. All the while, he preaches unity and tolerance. The atmosphere at the 2009 US Presidential Inauguration was that of division and hatred. Until we are able to open the eyes of the next generation, until we are able to open the eyes of the left wing liberals, until we are able to unite as conservatives and make our presence known and heard, we will continue on this current path and our foundation as a nation will continue to crumble. May the Lord be with us and help us through the next four years and the many years to follow. My only peace of mind comes from my faith and for that I am grateful beyond words. I pray God works in President Obama's heart as well as in the hearts of others that so obviously hate God and anyone who aligns themselves with God.

Breath Turns Into Vapor

2009-01-12T22:45:00.003-05:00

Though another year has come and gone
And all are older still
I thank God for His many blessings
Yet still long to know His will.

Each grain of sand falls just as before
Though the space is narrow
Honestly, I feel a great deal less
Than the ever-eyed sparrow.

As age envelopes my mind and body
Life's memories begin to taper
Strivings and plans matter not
As breath turns into vapor.

~ L. Bell (2009)

Auld Lang Syne

2009-01-12T22:39:00.000-05:00

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne
We twa hae run aboot the braesAnd pou'd the gowans fine; we've wander'd mony a weary footSin' auld lang syne
We two hae paidled i' the burn,Frae mornin' sun till dine; But seas between us braid hae roar'd Sin' auld lang syne
And here's a hand, my trusty friend, And gie's a hand o' thine; We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne.

~ Robert Burns (c. 1700's)

For Sale By Owner

2008-12-17T11:07:00.004-05:00

Please check out my latest photo album upload. The link can be found on the left side menu (Shutterbug Strikes Again) under the heading FSBO.

REDEMPTION CREATES THE NEED IT SATISFIES

2008-12-17T10:56:00.000-05:00

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him." 1 Corinthians 2:14
The Gospel of God creates a sense of need of the Gospel. Paul says - "If our gospel be hid, it is hid" - to those who are blackguards? No, "to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." The majority of people have their morality well within their own grasp, they have no sense of need of the Gospel. It is God Who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests Himself. Jesus said - "Ask, and it shall be given you," but God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption - it creates and it satisfies.
"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." We preach our own experiences and people are interested, but no sense of need is awakened by it. If once Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of Him. Behind the preaching of the Gospel is the creative Redemption of God at work in the souls of men. It is never personal testimony that saves men. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."

http://www.myutmost.org/

Invisible

2008-11-23T20:42:00.004-05:00

I have been invisible lately due to late nights at work and busy weekends at home. My house is officially on the market now that most of my chores are done and work is slowly but surely slowing to a reasonable pace. This will be temporary of course but the short breather will be appreciated. I thought of posting a devotion tonight but instead I will post the thoughts on my mind instead.

These thoughts came about due to an email received a short while ago. In short, the email brought to mind the current state of our nation. We are in a spiritual battle, recognized by most or not, and it is clear we are losing. Don't get me wrong, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will ultimately be victorious through Christ's return. But for now, as a whole, America is failing. We are sinking rapidly and our only hope is to return to God.

The message is clear and is what we as Christians should be focused on daily. Get in the Word. Trust God. Rally ourselves for the spiritual battle that has never ceased but has escalated to a point that can no longer be ignored. We are soldiers of Christ and I fear many of us (including myself) have laid the armor down long ago. Complacency always accompanies comfort. We have been comfortable far too long. It's time to equip ourselves for the war that is to come. It is obvious that my generation is weaker than the one before me and those after me are lesser still. And to be honest, without the peace I have in God's providential care, I would be filled with worry for what is to come. Without doubt I and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ will be called upon to fight for what is right. Correction, the call has been issued. Are we ready?

We must pray for both God's protection and mercy. We must pray without ceasing.

THE UNDETECTED SACREDNESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES

2008-11-07T18:13:00.000-05:00

"All things work together for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say - I am going to be my own providence here, I must watch this, and guard that. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God's throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Ghost makes intercession in our particular lives, without which intercession someone will be impoverished.

My Utmost for His Highest

Program of Belief

2008-11-06T17:38:00.000-05:00

"Believest thou this?" John 11:26

Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that whatever He asked of God, God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's programme of belief had its fulfilment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became a personal possession, and then slowly emerged into a particular inheritance - "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ. . . "

Is there something like that in the Lord's dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you - "Believest thou this?" What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your programme of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.

To believe is to commit. In the programme of mental belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone.

When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me - "Believest thou this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust Him before.

My Utmost for His Highest

Partakers of His Sufferings

2008-11-05T11:55:00.001-05:00

"Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings." 1 Peter 4:13

If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across. Oh, I can't deal with that person. Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to soak before Him on that line, and you barged off because it seemed stupid to spend time in that way.

The sufferings of Christ are not those of ordinary men. He suffered "according to the will of God," not from the point of view we suffer from as individuals. It is only when we are related to Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. It is part of Christian culture to know what God's aim is. In the history of the Christian Church the tendency has been to evade being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; men have sought to procure the carrying out of God's order by a short cut of their own. God's way is always the way of suffering, the way of the "long, long trail."

Are we partakers of Christ's sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp our personal ambitions right out? Are we prepared for God to destroy by transfiguration our individual determinations? It will not mean that we know exactly why God is taking us that way, that would make us spiritual prigs. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less misunderstandingly; then we come to a luminous place, and say - ' 'Why, God has girded me, though I did not know it!"

My Utmost for His Highest

The Authority of Reality

2008-11-04T12:58:00.002-05:00

"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:8

It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.

Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The feeblest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, we confess we are wrong, but go back again; then we come up to it again, and go back; until we learn that we have no business to go back. We have to go clean over on some word of our redeeming Lord and transact business with Him. His word "come" means "transact." "Come unto Me." The last thing we do is to come; but everyone who does come knows that that second the supernatural rush of the life of God invades him instantly. The dominating power of the world, the flesh and the devil is paralysed, not by your act, but because your act has linked you on to God and His redemptive power.

My Utmost for His Highest

A bond-slave of Jesus

2008-11-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Galatians 2:20

These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to the point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot put me through it. It means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with Himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus. There is no possibility of dispute when once I am there. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ - "For My sake." It is that which makes the iron saint.

Has that break come? All the rest is pious fraud. The one point to decide is - Will I give up, will I surrender to Jesus Christ, and make no conditions whatever as to how the break comes? I must be broken from my self-realization, and immediately that point is reached, the reality of the supernatural identification takes place at once, and the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable - "I have been crucified with Christ."

The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God's call would be sufficient for God to have called this College into existence. This College as an organization is not worth anything, it is not academic; it is for nothing else but for God to help Himself to lives. Is He going to help Himself to us, or are we taken up with our conception of what we are going to be?

My Utmost for His Highest

DISCERNMENT OF FAITH

2008-10-31T21:52:00.000-04:00

"Faith as a grain of mustard seed. . ." Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, it may be so in the initial stages; but we do not earn anything by faith, faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity. God has frequently to knock the bottom board out of your experience if you are a saint in order to get you into contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sun-spot of experience that had as much of sense as of faith in it, full of light and sweetness; then God withdrew His conscious blessings in order to teach you to walk by faith. You are worth far more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through spells of unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him - I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" - this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.

My Utmost for His Highest

Substitution

2008-10-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

"He hath made Him to be sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God. . ." 2 Corinthians 5:.21

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy. The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy, but by identification. He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy with us. We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world. The revelation of His Father is to those to whom He has been introduced as Saviour. Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one Who revealed the Father, but as a stumbling block (see John 15:22- 24). John 14:9 was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not - He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." It is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me.

My Utmost for His Highest

Justification by Faith

2008-10-28T15:51:00.000-04:00

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:10

I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals I can accept, instantly the stupendous Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God's grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings it with a breaking, all-over light, and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.

The salvation of God does not stand on human logic, it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvellous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done - "It is finished."

My Utmost for His Highest

THE METHOD OF MISSIONS

2008-10-27T10:49:00.000-04:00

"Go ye therefore, and teach (disciple) all nations." Matthew 28:19

Jesus Christ did not say - Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but - "Go and teach," i.e., disciple, "all nations," and you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples came back from their first mission they were filled with joy because the devils were subject to them, and Jesus said - Don't rejoice in successful service; the great secret of joy is that you are rightly related to Me. The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God, and realizes that his one purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. There is a passion for souls that does not spring from God, but from the desire to make converts to our point of view.

The challenge to the missionary does not come on the line that people are difficult to get saved, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, that there is a wadge of callous indifference; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ. "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" Our Lord puts that question steadily, it faces us in every individual case we meet. The one great challenge is - Do I know my Risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God's sight, and foolish enough according to the world, to bank on what Jesus Christ has said, or am I abandoning the great supernatural position, which is the only call for a missionary, viz., boundless confidence in Christ Jesus? If I take up any other method I depart altogether from the methods laid down by Our Lord - "All power is given unto Me . . , therefore go ye."

My Utmost for His Highest

Two Cows

2008-10-24T22:13:00.002-04:00

DEMOCRAT
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So what; let him get off his *butt and earn 'em like I did.

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour..
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Russian Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

*edited for content
Borrowed from the following: News Radio

I've turned into my mother

2008-10-24T15:36:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure how or when but I think I have turned into my mother. Well maybe not completely (though it wouldn't be a bad thing) but I have definitely absorbed some of her behaviors and/or habits.

While sitting in my office (a cube with 1/2 walls on 3 sides) this afternoon I am fighting the urge to grab a certain co-worker by the nape of the neck and hurl him as far as I can out the 7th floor window. He should count himself lucky these windows do not open. He should fear the stairwell.

Apparently said co-worker has bought a new toy at the store up the street and he is playing, breaking, or simply trying to open it. He has been trying to complete this task for the past half hour. I wonder what I'm doing wrong to have a pile of work to do when obviously there are others within the department that have more than enough free time. This is a side note. Anyway the sounds coming from his "office" are that of slowly ripping a plastic wrapper open. Yes. For half an hour I have heard these sounds. Every now and then the sounds will stop and I can't help but hope he gave up. Turns out, he's just confused by the child proof protection. Then the tearing of plastic resumes and my hair stands on end.

I think I might need to up the intensity of my workout tonight because the rage I feel in this moment is very real. This brings me to my point. Up until now I have done an excellent job of constraining my behavior to a few glances over my shoulder and a few loud sighs. This is in spite of the strong urge to plant my stapler square in the middle of his forehead. Granted the glances and the sighs are becoming more and more frequent and until I began this post I did not realize I was even doing it. This makes me think of my mother.

More than once my mother used (and still uses) this technique of glancing and sighing in church, restaurants, and any other mixed (us and all those other than us) group event. Usually it is directed at the parents of a screaming (or annoying in any way) child. Sometimes it is directed at a loud conversation or an obnoxious habit such as chewing gum loudly. I never notice that this action taken by my mother yields the result she desires but it somehow makes her feel better. And even though more often than not those around her never notice that she takes issue with them, it is as if she is no longer taking what those around her hand out but she is taking a silent stand.

I find myself taking the same silent stand today and this is what leads me to note I am very much like my mother. Surely my co-worker has noticed my backwards glances. Surely he has heard my sighs of disapproval. No. He continues to slowly unwrap the plastic around his new toy and with each click and each tear I feel my neck grow tighter. This is perhaps where the similarities between my mom and I end. Where Mom would be content to continue her alternating technique of glance, sigh. Glance, sigh. Glance, sigh. I have grown tired of a failing method and I am soon to sign off and return to my original plan of tossing his skinny butt down the stairwell.

I can't help but wonder if I should glean such enjoyment from the thought of crushing someone's new toy and making a grown man cry.

The Viewpoint

2008-10-24T13:39:00.001-04:00

"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 2 Corinthians 2:14

The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God's point of view, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don't think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint.

The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. We are not in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are - I am standing alone battling for Jesus; I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him. Paul says - I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph. Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul's secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for. Paul's joy was to be a captive of the Lord, he had no other interest in heaven or in earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. The Victor ought to have got us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him.

"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ." We are enwheeled with the odour of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.

My Utmost for His Highest

NOT A BIT OF IT!

2008-10-23T13:41:00.003-04:00

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices—He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, “God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right.” But we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.

When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (5:18). How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind … is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God—such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.

My Utmost for His Highest

The Witness of the Spirit

2008-10-22T14:42:00.002-04:00

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit …” (Romans 8:16).

We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him—we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.

Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself—He cannot witness to you, but He instantly witnesses to His own nature in you. If you received the witness of the Spirit before the reality and truth that comes from obedience, it would simply result in sentimental emotion. But when you act on the basis of redemption, and stop the disrespectfulness of debating with God, He immediately gives His witness. As soon as you abandon your own reasoning and arguing, God witnesses to what He has done, and you are amazed at your total disrespect in having kept Him waiting. If you are debating as to whether or not God can deliver from sin, then either let Him do it or tell Him that He cannot. Do not quote this or that person to Him. Simply obey Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden … .” Come, if you are weary, and ask, if you know you are evil (see Luke 11:9–13).

The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord, and to nothing else. He cannot witness to our reason. We are inclined to mistake the simplicity that comes from our natural commonsense decisions for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Throw it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give you the witness of the Spirit.

My Utmost for His Highest

Daily Devotion

2008-10-21T15:13:00.005-04:00

I would like to start a daily devotion post on this blog. I fall short of the mark in my consistent walk with Christ and this is just one attempt to meet this goal. I will post a short daily devotional for my sake. If it blesses another than all the better. I may or may not add personal thoughts and comments to the post but any thoughts by readers are not only welcomed but encouraged. Enjoy. All devotions are taken from My Utmost for His Highest unless otherwise noted.

Daily Devotional #1:

Impulsiveness or Discipleship?

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith …” (Jude 20).

There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.

Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.

"Sanctioned Theft"

2008-10-21T13:24:00.008-04:00

Taken from another blog but well worth passing on:
Joe the Plumber, One

A big dream of a tiny house

2008-10-19T22:27:00.005-04:00

Anyone that knows me, knows I long to live out West one day. I dream of owning land near the foot of the Rockies. The idea of getting lost on my own property in Wyoming, Montana, or Colorado gives me a thrill. Thoughts of sipping a cup of coffee on my front porch while looking into a vast field full of wheat...corn...cows...or something equally "ranchish" makes me smile. Looking forward to winter in the hopes of being snowed in for a few weeks is very real desire.

But I am here. I am in Greenville, SC. I live on a busy street and work in an even busier down town. I rarely spend time enjoying nature outside of the occasional hike or bon fire with friends. I dare not walk my property as I'd like because either the neighbors would wonder why I continually walk in circles or I'd cross the property line and quickly be squashed by a passing car. Glimpses into the local wildlife are limited to squirrels, chipmunks, and the all too often limp pile of fur found in the road (they shouldn't have crossed the property line.) I don't wish for a sprawling house with more rooms to clean and more taxes to pay. I do wish for an unobstructed view of the skyline and a clear view of the stars. Give me land and I will be happy. But please know it's not about wealth or impressive real estate. My big dreams don't require big houses. My happiness would be just as real in a 100 sq. ft.(Tumbleweed Tiny Houses)
home as it is in a 1000 sq. ft. home. Truthfully, it could be even more real in the former.

Most know of this deep desire of mine; to live and breathe all that is cowboy. All that is western. All that is outdoorsy. And in all seriousness I feel as if something is missing in my life the longer I stay where I am. Don't get me wrong. I love my home. I love my family. I love my life. But there is a want...no, a need for more that has always existed. My mind can't help but wonder how much longer I will put off the inevitable move Westward. My fear is the move will never come. But who is to blame for that other than myself? Has God placed this feeling of belonging in me? No doubt He has. For what reasons I do not know.

Perhaps I should start the process now rather than be content to continually talk about it. Perhaps it's time my body catches up with my soul. Yes; Perhaps it is time.

Election 2008

2008-10-08T21:02:00.002-04:00

So I know everyone has the same question on the brain these days. Who will get my vote come November 4, 2008? So far I know who WON'T get my vote and that is Obama. That's a no brainer. He stands for all that I am against and his beliefs, morals (or lack thereof), and political views are opposed to my own. So, no, I will not be voting for Obama.

Now comes the next obvious question. Will I be voting for McCain? Well, part of my brain says yes. Part of my brain says no. I like some of what McCain stands for but I greatly dislike some of what McCain stands for. Therein lies the problem.

So. Do I vote for a man that does not entirely stand for what I do and does not represent my views just to keep another man of whom I see as pure evil out of office? Or do find a candidate, no matter how much of a long shot, that stands for all I believe to be true and right based on my personal beliefs and log my vote for him?

This thought tumbles over and over in my little brain and I am perplexed. At least I was perplexed until today. When driving back to work I had an epiphany. There were no trumpets. There was no bright light from the Heavens. And no new information crossed my mind. I just saw a few things more clearly than I had before.

God is in complete control. Whomever is elected come November 4th will be because God has chosen him to serve as President of the United States. I will vote based on my convictions, as a believer and follower of Christ. I will vote based on my faith. I will vote based on the knowledge that I am in the hand of God Almighty and I must stay true to Him and no other. I am not bound to any party. I am not bound to any man-made rules of choosing the lesser of two evils. As a Christian, if my choice is between two evils, can I faithfully choose either one? Martin Luther didn't think so. Neither do I.

Again, none of this is NEW information. I know this. I've always known this. But for some reason today, the thought of bending my convictions for the sake of an election stopped me cold. The thought that I HAVE to vote for one in order to prevent the other from being elected pricked my heart. In my own arrogance I put God's sovereignty on the shelf and attempted to take control of this election's outcome.

Long story, short I know now that come election day I will vote according to my faith. I will vote as a Christian. I will vote based on my convictions. And I will walk away from the booth confident that God still has me in His hand.

Go Speed Racer, Go!

2008-10-08T09:57:00.002-04:00

This is why I love where I work. The following race took place on Tuesday, October 7 on the top level of our parking deck. One fellow (who shall remain nameless) made the claim that he was the fastest employee in the building. Others (the three losers of the race) challenged him to put his Nike's where his mouth is. At that point...it was game on.

The Rules

2008-10-03T23:02:00.002-04:00

The following was stolen from another's blog (http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/2008/09/the-rules.html) they have now been adopted as my rules to live by. Enjoy:

The Rules - Posted by Anthony Esolen

Visiting Grove City College last week -- that brave school that has long said to the government, "We shall not bow down before you" -- I was struck by the normality of the students. I don't mean that as faint praise. In fact, I have plenty of good things to say about the college, and maybe I'll say them in my next post, but the one thing that struck me most forcibly was that the students were, well, normal. Let me give you a few examples.

I was sitting in the Student Center, waiting for my host and idly looking at that only remaining section of most newspapers that a thinking person can sometimes skim -- I mean the sports section --, when I overheard a conversation among three men, discussing the stock market, how various investments were faring, what Hoover did and did not do in 1929, and how an intelligent investor should treat his debt in a time of tight credit. I figured they were three economics professors, but no, they were only undergraduates. They were normal undergraduates, in the sense that they were cut from some reliable norma or T-square, rather than dilapidated shambles of appetite and fad. The evening before, as I was walking through the giant quadrangle at the center of campus, I overheard baritone strains of opera, and looked over to see a burly young fellow filling the area with Puccini (I think) as he ran down a frisbee sailing over his head. Again, it struck me as rare, these days, but wholly normal that a young person out of doors on a pleasant day should want to sing. And it was like that all the time I was there. I was even told the undergraduate men and women had an eye to marrying one another. "Ring by Spring" is the merry proverb at Grove City. You put over a thousand good looking and healthy young men in the company of over a thousand good looking and healthy young women (the numbers are exactly even at Grove City), and it's no wonder that there are a lot of marriages. That's normal.

Now Mrs. Esolen and I have talked quite a lot about this business of marriage, especially as our daughter enters her junior year of college, and as many of my favorite students, now family friends, grow older and are looking for someone to marry. Their choices have occasionally been, alas, less than satisfactory. We've concluded that although almost everybody recognizes that a lot of students graduate high school whom only a fool would hire, the bigger problem is that even more young men and women are out there, many of them graduates of college, whom only a fool would marry. They are common, as common as nails. But they are not normal. You can have a bucket of nails bent out of shape, and that wouldn't make them normal either, not if there were a thousand to every nail that you could actually drive into a board.

So then, whom could you marry? A long time ago we came up with something we called "Esolen's Rules." They're only half facetious. But they are an attempt to get at the normal:

1. Don't marry a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs. You may marry a woman who doesn't like either, or whose reason for not liking dogs is that one of them bit her when she was a toddler. But a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs will be a Joan Crawford or Jane Wyman. Ronald Reagan married Jane Wyman, and look how sorry he was about that.

2. Don't marry a man who is neater than you are. You may, however, marry a man who polishes his tools and puts them away after use....

3. Don't marry anybody, man or woman, who says, "I'm going to call you at eight," and then leaves you waiting by the phone for an hour. Exceptions can be made for people who are kidnapped by Arabs, or who have epileptic seizures.

4. Don't marry anybody who insists on a separate bank account, bed, bathroom, vacation, or zip code. It makes no sense to be one flesh and two wallets.

5. Don't marry a woman who spends more on makeup than she does on food. In general, don't marry a woman who engages in the sin of reverse gluttony.

6. Don't marry a man who does not like dogs. Such men do not like children. Don't marry a man who does not like children. On the other hand, I have known at least one excellent man who thought he didn't like children, until he had some; seven, I think, at last count. Perhaps the rule may be rephrased: Don't marry a man whom you cannot imagine rolling on the ground in a wrestling hold, with a Labrador retriever or three children, or hollering on a ferris wheel, with a Labrador retriever or three children.

7. Don't marry a woman who exercises so frequently that you cannot tell if she is a woman or a very strange looking 13-year-old boy. I'm going out on a line here, but the real purpose of the rule is to determine whether she will mind getting fat, as happens when you are going to have a child. In other words, don't marry a woman whom you cannot imagine having a child. Do not marry a woman who does not like children.

8. Do not marry a man who treats his mother or his sisters discourteously. As he treats his mother, so will he treat you. But by all means do not marry a man who takes his direction from his mother, or who is ruled by his mother's ambitions. Mama's boys are unhappy, and they make their wives unhappy too. So are the mothers of mama's boys, come to think of it. Unhappy days are here again.

9. Do not marry a woman who sneers at innocent male pastimes, such as football. Such women do not really enjoy the company of men, and after a period soon reached, do not enjoy the company of their own husbands. They are also the most ignorant of what men are really like. You may marry a tomboy, so long as she's a girlish tomboy and doesn't take the sport with dreadful seriousness. You may marry a Daddy's girl, so long as she is not spoiled when it comes to money.

10. Never marry anyone who is secretive about money. Such people are also secretive about sex.

11. Never marry a man who lets you take the initiative in everything. You want a jellyfish, maybe? You want Burt Lancaster instead.

12. Never marry a woman who never lets you take the initiative in anything. You want a porcupine, maybe? You want Maureen O'Hara instead.

13. Never marry a woman who does not laugh at your jokes or your buffoonery. That is one of the nicest ways in which men "serve" women, and women respond by taking delight in the antics. That is why God made impersonators of Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, and Homer Simpson. It may in fact be the principal justification for the existence of Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, and Homer Simpson. This rule is simply an instance of the more general rule that you should never marry a woman who does not genuinely admire you, nor should a woman marry a man whom she does not admire.

14. Never marry anyone who delights in "exposing" you in public. Teasing does not count; in fact, never marry a man who cannot be teased. You can marry a woman who cannot be teased.

15. Never marry a man who is not admired by respectable male friends. The people in the world who know a man best are the men he works and plays with. They know well if he is a cheat, a thug, a loser. You may marry a man who does not have female friends. If anything, you should be suspicious of a man whose friends are principally female. The men may be avoiding him, and there is a reason for that.

16. Never marry anyone who is not interested in looking at your fourth-grade yearbook. This means: never marry anyone who seems unaware that he or she is marrying also a family, a hometown, a past, silly friends, comedies and tragedies. Never marry anyone who does not want to meet your father and mother. If your sister doesn't like him, dump him. If your sister doesn't like her, dump her. That is why God created sisters. Their approval, however, is not a sufficient condition; they will occasionally like losers, but they almost never detest good marrying material.

17. Never marry a feminist of either sex. That would be as bad as marrying someone with the soul (not the occupation, but the soul) of a lawyer.

18. Never marry anyone whom you catch in a lie, even a little one. Trust us on this one. People in love are about the most gullible creatures on God's green earth. In fact, beside the dictionary entry on "gullible" there's a picture of a woman in love, eyes looking dreamily upward, hands holding her chin; and a picture of an indignant young man defending the honor of his beloved, who would never do such a thing, no sir!

19. Never marry a woman who does not like to feed people, or a man who does not like to help out with the removal of a junked car, regardless of how much he knows about junked cars. By all means marry a woman who enjoys seeing men eat, or a man who looks at a mudslide and says, "I can make a really fine wall out of that."

20. Never marry anyone, man or woman, who scoffs at virtue, who reduces "good" and "evil" to arbitrary counters in the war of all against all, whose humor is flippancy, who looks down upon janitors and maids, who cannot delight in making simple things (like a batting T or a thank-you note), who thinks tradition is old and shopworn (such people are followers of every fad that comes), and who is never, ever, just relaxed, grateful for a shady seat under the maple tree in fall. That is another way of saying that you should never marry anyone who does not know who God is.

What Caused The Economic Crisis? Watch This!

2008-09-28T21:09:00.002-04:00

What Caused The Economic Crisis? Watch This!

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My own heart's desires

2008-09-28T17:55:00.001-04:00

Cowboy Take Me Away - by Martie Seidel

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly

I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of bluebonnets
In a blanket made of stars

Oh it sounds good to me I said

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you

I wanna walk and not run
I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon
And not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one
For miles and miles
Except for maybe you
And your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me
Yes it sounds so good to me

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
Oh it sounds so good to me

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
Closer to you
Cowboy take me away.
Closer to you

T.G.I.F.

2008-09-19T16:25:00.003-04:00

It's Friday! The only thing better than being in downtown Greenville on a cool, crisp Friday afternoon would be strolling Main Street USA, Disney World, Orlando Florida. I am in an exceptional mood this afternoon and I have no rhyme or reason for such. Granted I'm always in a somewhat happy, laidback mood; however today I'm downright giddy. And I can't help but marvel at this fact when you take into consideration it's not a payday Friday, I have no big plans for the evening, local news has been downright terrifying as of late, my car has only 1/2 a tank of gas left, and left shoe is forming what I believe to be a small blister on my heel. None of this matters. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's by the grace of God I have a Pollyanna outlook on this world. Perhaps I am blessed with a simple mind and therefore I am not bothered as much as others. I can't explain it. But I am grateful. I walked up the street a few minutes ago and couldn't help but smile as the wind blew through my hair. I stopped to converse with a dog and then went on my merry way. Some might question my mental capacity because of the goofy smile on my face. Then again, some might question that regardless.

Irony

2008-09-12T10:15:00.003-04:00

I just filled up my little Jeep with gas on the way to work this morning. My "little" Jeep took just over 18 gallons of this liquid gold to get the needle all the way to "F". This, my first purchase on the pay check that was just deposited into my account this morning, totaled out at $70.21. No. I'm not kidding. I don't kid about such matters. I'm faced with the realization that because I chose to fill up today might very well prevent my grocery shopping tomorrow. And as I pumped my tank full, and watched the price tag roll more and more quickly to an astronomical figure, I also watched a CNN report on the 6 inch television embedded in the pump. The report? It was on high gas prices.

Little fat kittens

2008-09-11T18:08:00.002-04:00

Here I sit, at 6:00 pm, at my desk. My workday was supposed to end about an hour ago yet here I am. To be honest, I'm not in any hurry to leave tonight. I know that as soon as I grab my computer, load up my back like a pack-mule, lock down my desk, head to the elevator (which will take approximately 6.5 minutes to arrive), trek out to my car in the garage, unload my baggage and climb into the driver's seat, I will be faced with an entirely new set of items on my To Do list.

Seems that here lately no matter how much I accomplish during the workday I still have more to accomplish when I get home. Now I know I'll receive no sympathy from those with kids, live-in parents, or invalid pets. I know my responsibilities are light compared to most. And knowing this gives me some sort of good-vibration-kind-of feeling. However I still feel a bit overwhelmed these days and I think it's a matter of my non-committal (refusal to plan ahead) nature catching up with me. Can a 30 yr. old change her ways? What if she doesn't really want to?

Anyway, I think of how my car needs gas (I've been running on empty like it's my job) and then I think of how much that will cost. I think of how the litter box most definitely needs changing and that will be another expense when I head to the store for supplies. I think of how I need (and oddly enough, WANT) to go to the gym tonight but that might use up the last few drops of gas in the old Jeep. I think of how I really don't want to eat my dinner out of a box again but I don't know that I have any other options in the house. I think of how my car taxes are due, my fridge is empty, my laundry is dirty, my deck is still unstained, my paint is peeling, and my mind swirls with responsibility. For the gal that thinks of herself first more often than not this is a new stage in life. And I'm not quite sure I like it. I'm certainly sure I didn't sign up for it.

So I stick my head in the sand and keep on typing. I think part of my weary brain actually believes the longer I sit here the longer I don’t have to take responsibility for everything left on my list. And maybe, just maybe, if I sit here long enough, said responsibilities will one by one disappear. Don’t talk to me about logic…that part of my brain shut off years ago. For now I’m going to get back to my workload and I will complete many important tasks for my employer. I will convey to co-workers far and wide that I have got it all together while the other departments of my life fall spectacularly apart. And in the midst of it all, my tried and true nature comes forth again…and I can’t help but think all will be okay. All tasks will be completed. All commitments will be met. All loose ends will come together. Why? Because they always have. And that "non-committal (refusal to plan ahead) nature" we talked about earlier makes it possible to focus on idealistic, dream-like thoughts such as little fat kittens, fresh snow, and smooth-sailing through life despite the fact I don't have the faintest idea what I'm doing.

Maybe it’s good that the logical side of my brain shut off years ago.

MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL

2008-09-11T16:38:00.002-04:00

You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news On September 11, 2001. Neither will I.

I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say 'Good-Bye.' I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, 'Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK..I am ready to go.'

I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.

I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. 'I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!' I said. 'Of course I will show you the way home - only believe in Me now.'

I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.

I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.

I was in Texas , Virginia , California , Michigan , Afghanistan ... I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?

I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name - though not all know Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.

Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn't hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames; 'Come to Me... this way... take my hand.' Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.

I did not place you in the Tower that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?

Sept. 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are 'ready to go.'

I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.

Dinner in a box

2008-09-10T21:34:00.002-04:00

I'm wondering if I should be discouraged or ashamed that tonight my dinner came from a box, about the size of a gospel tract written in an oversized font. As I was listening to my stomach growl I decided to see what my cupboards contained in the way of food. Not surprised, I didn't find much. But I did find a box of processed chicken and veggies, wrapped so air tight that (according to the box) it did not need to be refrigerated. And even though I know said box of food has been in my cabinet for over a year, I proceeded to nuke the heck out of it. I went ahead and pulled out a bottle of BBQ sauce just in case and I waited for the turntable to stop. It smelled OK so I figured it was safe to try. I'm now typing this post approx. 20 minutes after eating the entire meal without much distress. We'll see if my choice was a wise one in about an hour or two.

All of this to say, I find it somewhat concerning that here, at the ripe old age of 30, I am still living as if I am a poor college student without two nickels to rub together. Is it due to my refusal to plan ahead? To commit to any set path? To grow up? Or is it just one of those things that all folks go through and in time will pass for even me? I'm not sure. But even in the midst of my increasingly tight budget, I give thanks. Thanks that I had a mysterious box of food to heat up...some do not. And though I have my moments, I have to admit and give praise for my God has never failed me. No. Not once.

My personal testimony

2008-09-10T14:41:00.001-04:00

I stepped out on faith alone when I was only 5 years old. It sounds like such a big step for such a small person to make, but with the Lord leading my way, I was able to follow. My parents love the Lord and both made it a priority to rear my sister and myself to love and follow Christ. I thank God for them and for their direction both then and now. I vividly remember the day I answered God’s call to become His child. I was with my family and it was after our devotional time that I realized the Holy Spirit’s working in my heart. Being just a child, I did not know the right words to say but my prayer was that of complete humility and surrender. I knew no other way to pray. That is one of the beauties of having the faith of a child. I asked God to forgive me for being a sinner and I asked that He let Jesus come live in my heart. I gave over my life to Christ in that moment.

Of course, as I aged, I grew to believe my ways were best. I strayed from God’s leading and tried to forge my own path in this life. More than once I realized I was fighting a losing battle and asked for grace and mercy again. And each time I was given both. As I have reached adulthood, I have realized now more than ever, how important it is to let God direct my thoughts and actions. And I try to dedicate my footsteps daily.

My mind immediately draws on what I know to be a blessed life. I should not be amazed at how wonderfully the Lord weaves our lives together but I cannot help but stand in awe of His perfect plan. I am blessed. I have a wonderful family. I want for nothing. I have experienced love, both giving and receiving. And I know things “the angels long to look into.” Not only has God bestowed his mercy on me, by not giving me what I deserve, which is death. But He has also given me abundant grace, by giving me what I don’t deserve, and that is a wonderful earthly life, full of blessings, and most importantly, forgiveness and life everlasting.

Others say it better than I. But that is yet another worry I do not have to claim as my own. God knows my heart. He knows my struggles. He knows me, for I am His child. The life my Lord has given me is a testimony in and of itself. Once I was dead. Now I live.

“As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” Psalms 55:16-17

Welcome

2008-09-10T14:28:00.000-04:00

Ok so I really have no desire to blog. But that must not be entirely true because here I sit, typing my first post, on a blog I just set up in my name. This may be the first and last post to my blog but I'm not going to back myself into a corner. Anyone who knows me knows I don't do commitments. So I will neither commit to posting on a regular basis nor will I commit to scheduled neglect. As with every other area of my life, we'll just see what happens.