Have You Ever Had Days Like This?

Have you ever been in the place Spiritually that this picture portrays?  Have you struggled, worked and worked to do your best in a situation, and still seemed to be in the place where this adorable example depicts?  Granted, during these times, it wasn't this cute or even remotely funny! (insert a grin)

How do we get here?  How does it this seem to happen?  I have asked myself these questions many times while in the middle of these situations in my life.  I found myself asking God why, when the things that I wanted wholeheartedly to do for Him, just wouldn't seem to ever work out.  I knew enough to examine my motives and even they seemed to be right, so what was the problem?

I have learned over time that our biggest battle within ourselves isn't having a heart after God, we generally want to be in His presence, always be ready for the next assignment (or so we think).
The mistake that we sometimes make, can be out of more than one scenario.
 
Sometimes God will give a glimpse of what He has for the future; and maybe we try to make it happen, instead of waiting on God to help us walk out the path where He will prepare us
for that time and place. Maybe it would just be something that we honestly want to do for God but He actually never  said, "This is what I want you to do." Sometimes we see something that is a good thing and we want to do that, for Him.
Either way, we would be like a football player, grab it and go!  Wholeheartedly. Really wanting to please God, but then that is where things begin to be out of alignment.

There is plenty of reason to stop right here for a moment.  God wants to teach us many things about this time in our life. And there was for me, more than one lesson to learn.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, but we will always need His direction first!  In every situation in our lives, God will present the opportunity for us to self evaluate.  Hear are some questions we should ask ourselves:

• Did the Father instruct me or open the door for me to do this, or is this just something that I want to do? Just because it is a good thing, doesn't mean that God intended us to go in that direction.  It must be Him that sends us !
• Is my struggle because I am trying to make this happen or is it opposition? There is a huge difference between struggle (making it happen) or opposition (hurdles).  When we do not listen for wisdom before we act, we will struggle until we get to the place that we can hear the Father say wait... wait..... I didn't want you to do that, I want you to be here with me..... 
• It is always harder without Him than it will be with Him !! That I can declare with confidence.  We always need to want to be where the Father wants us, even if it's on the wheel shaping us into the vessel He needs for such a time as this.. He always has the best planned for us.  We must trust Him !!
• I am doing what God has called me to do, but I am getting ahead of Him, instead of waiting for His direction?  The same rule applies.  We Must Wait upon the Father! We must daily seek out His will for us .
• Am I staying in His presence which is our protection and covering? Sometimes we keep going and we say, "I don't hear Him instructing me....."  But when we stop, we can realize that we aren't seeking Him and "walk on away a little bit"  Thankfully this a problem with an easy solution!

We can always come right back to the Father and ask Him to forgive us and He will begin to direct our paths again..... We just need to be mindful daily, that we are following Christ.  Wanting to be in the Father's presence and His will for us!!  He is always there, His mercies are new every morning.
Oh how grateful I am that He never gives up on me, and He will never give up on you either!! 

He is waiting on us in the Secret Place of His Presence..... There, all things are made new.
Blessings friends, Have a great day !!

Where Are We Safe?

Recently I have had many prayer request from friends and people that I know from all different areas and walks of life.  Prayer has always been a huge part of my walk with God.  Most things that I have learned in my relationship with Him, I have learned in reading the word and prayer.  Even though prayer is a passion of mine,  I am not any more unique or special to the Father than anyone else.  Just because I have those who will ask me to pray for them in my prayer time, doesn't mean that God hears my prayers anymore than yours. Why? Because God has called us all to prayer. This is how He has designed for us to learn from Him. Think of that: learn from HIM!  I think that it is amazing that God wants to teach us Himself! So how important are you? Very Important !!



So I would be honored if you will walk with me though a passage of scripture. Now mind you that I am nothing special.  God will teach you exactly the way that He wants to teach you when you lend your ear to Him. But I would like to walk you through what He has showed me, and I have prayed this samething many times over my own life and the lives of my loved ones.  As the picture above quotes Psalms 91:1 lets look at this chapter more closely.

What I have done for many years is to pray this scripture when I read it. I pray it in the 1st person context. Ps 91:1  "When I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, I shall abide in the Shadow of the Almighty. (2) I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him will I trust. (3) Surely He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

     [  Look at this image.... He really covers us! No wonder God used this metaphor to help us understand His protection ! ]

 Vs 4: You shall cover me with your feathers and under your wings I will trust; Your truth is my sheild and buckler.....      Isn't it awesome !!  We can have the assurance that no matter what is going on in our life, That God doesn't just watch out for us or over us, but we are actually safe under His wings or arms.  When I was little, there was no other place that was more assuring than sitting up under the arm of my dad or grandfather. God wants us to feel just like that!  God is our sheild and buckler.



 Vs5: I will not be afraid of the terror by night; nor the arrows that fly by day; (6) Nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor the destruction that wasteth at noonday; (7) A thousand shall fall at my side and ten thousand at my right hand but it shall not touch me.

We have the assurance that no matter what may try to overtake us, we have a Heavenly Father who is always there to protect us and guide us, as long as we are willing to follow Him!!


Vs 8 Only with your eyes shall you see the reward of the wicked.....
 It is hard for us as humans to remember that we not to want to see destruction of a person, God loves us all and sent His son Christ Jesus for us all, but if/when judgement comes, it will be in God's timing, not ours.

Vs 9 Because I have made the LORD, who is my refuge and even the Most High my habitation,
(10) There shall no evil befall me, neither shall any plague come nigh my dwelling.

Vs11 For You(God) will give your angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways.

Vs 12 They shall hold me up in their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone.

Vs13 (Because of you oh God) I will tread upon the lion and the adder(cobra) the young lion and the dragon(serpent) shall I trample under my feet.









Vs14 Because I set (focused) my love upon you, you will deliver me; You will set me on high, because you know my name.

How much more provision could we possibly need!! 
Our freedom and authority of who we are in Christ will happen when the truth in this scripture becomes real to us!!!



Notice that the picture above used the pouring of water as a symbol of Holy Spirit Moving, it can also show us pouring our love out on the Father.  I believe that this is an extremely important truth.  Remember in the last entry, that water is a symbol of the Word of God.  So this reminds us that when we want to grow closer to God, and we often times do not know what to pray.  When we pray the scripture like we are right now, reminding God of what He has promised us; We are actually pouring words of faith back to God which is pouring our love back over Him as He has poured or given these words to us!!!  This is one of the most mind blowing realizations that I came to in my walk with Christ!!!!  No one taught me this..... God Himself, taught me, and He will teach you as well. We just have to make ourselves available to Him!!  I wish that you could be sitting here with me right now and know the joy that is in my spirit.
To have the honor of proclaiming HIS truth that You are so special to Him..... He has made provision for you. Look below, if you do not believe me :)                                                                
                                                                 

Vs. 15 I will call upon you (God) and you will answer me: You will be with me in trouble; You will deliver me and honor me. (16) with long life you will satisfy me and show me your salvation.



Oh how our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us!  I pray that this scripture gets way down in your spirit and blesses you today!

 I pray that you continue this journey of getting to know the Father as we walk with Him!!


Blessings to you my friend!! Have a great day !!



Why & What Are You Seeking

How many times have we as christians spent a lot of our prayer life asking God to show us what it is that He wants to do in our lives?  Honestly, I can unfortunately say, a lot.  Now I realize that this is good thing to ask, but if we take a minute to evaluate our time in prayer, we will not only realize that we spend more time speaking(petitioning) than we do listening; but also that we are asking the same things over and over when our answers are in the Word. 

It's hard to for us to reconize sometimes that we want to know what God has in store for us; and if we know these things in advance, then we have by-passed our faith. But the word says that without faith it is impossible to please the Father.(Hebrews 11:6) He wants a relationship with us but as for all relationships, without trust, you have an accquaintance.  Our Heavenly Father doesn't want us to be an acquaintance.

I can speak from experience that when we are learning to pray or even deepening our relationship with Him; in the process of "seeking His will" for our lives, we spend more time "seeking" than "Being".  What do I mean by that?  I'm glad you asked!  For instance, when we except Christ as our Savior and begin this journey of life that we are always talking about, and we feel a call on our lives to do something for the Kingdom; this is a good thing.  This isn't just for those who will be nationally known and more, it is for us all. We all should feel this burning instinct inside of us like there is something that we must do. And even though we ask God to show us and guide us, we do not wait until we get the epiphany of our purpose for this life.

  In Matthew chapters  5-7, We not only have the "Sermon on the Mount" but direct instructions on how to live our daily lives.  If we are being His hands and feet, then we are being the Heavenly Father extended to others that we come in contact with.  What greater prupose could we have?  Showing God's love to others while being Him extended is the one most important opportunities that we should never pass up!  When we do this, we are a vessel that God can work through.

Just like the glass pictured above, when we fill ourselves up with His word, His love, and His purpose daily; we will, like the glass, be overflowing with Him and it will spill over onto others.  The picture above is representing the overflow of Christ to the world through us "the vessel", but water is also a symbol for the Word of God.  So why would we look for our purpose any where else but His Word?

He has a plan for us all, I promise.  And when we continually show Christ to the world, instead of wondering what we are meant to do, God will expand our territory and we will walk/step into what it is He has plan for us. 

He never leaves or forsakes us. He will make our crooked paths straight! Why? Because He is our Heavenly Father.

Have a great day friends! Blessings to you !