I'm Ready For The New

Lately, I have noticed a difference or a shift in my prayers.  I still pray for the things that I should.  For my family, my church and spiritual leadership.  I still pray for my community, region, state and nation.  All the things that we should pray has not changed in my prayer life.  But what has changed is a deep longing inside of me for the things of God that I haven't experienced yet.  You see, because  of the fact that I have been a christian and "Gone to Church" for a long time, there are a lot of things that "I can do" per say.

But what has been stirring inside of me is that fact that there is more in Christ and that for me, I know that I have not yet experienced.  There is something else to do for the Lord.  And even though I have "done" many other things in the church, FOR THE LORD, I know there is still more.

My spirit longs for more of His presence, more of His love, more of His purpose. 

Mark 2:22 NLT says: " No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

You see the shape that the red holder is in?  Notice that the blue one is new and fresh.  This is exactly how seasons are in our lives are.  It doesn't matter what we have done for God in the past.  Its good to remember, but you can not live on yesterday's meal.  We need to be hungry and searching out God for more, for what He has for us in this next season.  I do not know where you are in your walk with the Father, but I can tell you that it is time for something more!  And since it is 9/4/13 I can say  " L'Shanah Tovah"  which is a greeting for the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). Not only is it a new calendar year for the Jewish people, but it is a new season for the Body of Christ.  No matter where you are!!

So I challenge you to go to God in prayer and ask Him to show you and direct you to what He has for you in this season.  I promise you one thing; if you ask Him, believing for an answer, you will hear Him. Step out, and don't be affraid.  New territory in the Kingdom of God is always a good thing; and in our family's experience, its never been a dull ride !!!

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank You and bless You for Your goodness to all of us, Your people.  I thank You that Your plan for us all has devine purpose and great joy.  For You, oh Lord, are our source.  Show each one who reads this entry, what you have for them in this season.   Send them who and what they need.  And You be glorified in us all.  For it is all for Your Kingdom's cause, and we worship You in the Mighty Name of Jesus - Amen.

Do We See The Warning Signs

           

Have you ever been at the beach or at least in the vicinity of, when it looked like this picture?  How about driving down the highway and you come upon the area where all of the sudden it is completely black and its obvious that you are entering into rain that  is about to be dangerous and you are wandering if you should pull over or keep going?  I am referring to that feeling of "oh my goodness, what should I do?"


If you have ever been in the water with rip currents, you will know that there is more than one warning sign that a possible mirage of rip currents are inevitable. One, is the wind blowing. It just feels different.  Its not peaceful at all.  I have sat on the beach, when the wind blows and you take a deep breath in and out, and in that moment you just know that Life will not be more peaceful than this.  Then other times the wind is blowing and it like you can just feel that its telling you that something is in an up roar. It's stirring or churning. You're not sure what, but you can feel it in the air.

I have stood on the edge of the water when it was calm, and just enjoyed my feet getting wet during a walk along the shore. But I have also stood on the edge of the water and could feel the sand leave out from under my feet quickly when the drawing of the tide would beckon it.  I didn't need a danger sign to tell me that the current was beginning to pick up, and it was time to get back on the beach. I didn't just sense it, the ocean physically showed me that I needed to get back on the beach!  But what if I had to be not paying attention.

 There are many situations in our lives, good and bad, that we should be seeing the signs of something changing.  The Bible tells us that  those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Isaiah 40:29.  We can go on in the difficult times, He will sustain us!  It says that we are to be sober and vigilant so that we know what is happening around us. 1Peter 5:8   This is not talking about knowing our neighbor's business, but to be aware of what the Lord is doing. If we are looking, He, Jehovah, should be our focus and He will direct us. It tells us several times in the Bible that we should watch and pray, for it is there that we will find the answers that we are looking for.  Luke 21:36,  Mark 14:38,  Matthew 26:41 and others.

We are all at one time or another going through transitions, some may be uncomfortable and at times turbulent, but if our eyes are upon Him, He will see us through.  He knows our end from our beginning, and He knows all too well what provision we need.

Dear Abba,
I thank you for each one that reads this entry. You know who they are and what you have in store for their lives for Your glory.  I pray that you open up our spiritual eyes and ears, that we may know your voice as you guide and direct our paths.  May we all learn to just love you and spend time in your presence, so that we will be in the place to see your instructions through the Holy Spirit.  Thank you for loving us, providing and caring for us.  I give You alone, all of the praise, the honor and the glory forever and ever, In Jesus Name- Amen.

Look to Abba, He is God Almighty. There is none like Him and He cares about you!
Have a great day friend.

Stress, What is Expected, What is Generated

As we walk through this life, we will go through situations that we will not love, and seasons that we will not enjoy.  Life will not be a bed of roses just because we are living our lives for the cause of Christ.  Wow, what an opening statement, Right?  Well, even though it is true, it doesn't have to be so gloomy. There is light at the end of the tunnel. After all, Jesus is the light of the world :)

But before we get to the "light at the end of the tunnel", let's talk about the journey a little while.  There are things in this life that are considered as "normal stresses of life".  Everything from keeping up with our finances, deadlines at work, to even our kids moving off to college.  There are "stresses" in our life that we can not get around.  And with our oldest daughter moving off to college very recently, this subject hits home. 

There are couple of different things to look at and consider when you reflect on this topic.  One, is that life can get so busy very quickly, and we must periodically evaluate what we are allowing in our life.  Are these situational stresses necessary, or are there adjustments that we can make to be better stewarts of our time, our family and most of all, our walk with Christ?  It's very easy for us to be so passionate about what we do, deadicated to all we do, (or even just plainly be work-a-holics) that we take on too much and before we realize it, there is so much going on that we can not keep up.  Have you ever felt that feeling like you are drowning with everything going on around you?  I have.  I have had seasons of taking on way to much at one time and then realizing that I had been living everyday with my panic button stuck in over drive.  It wore me out !  Thankfully there is a solution.

Then there are the obvious issues of life that we will go through.  We have them at every stage in life.  There are the times when are kids are small and you have to have your eye on them every second or they might bring down the house on top of everyone.(Don't worry, that won't last forever)  Then there are sports and other extra cirricular things that they want to do.  We are running from here to there constantly, all the way through school juggeling that with work, obligations at church or other places that you have obligated yourself for and there are relationships, everyday.  There is also college with our precious ones leaving home; and then later in life, there is even a strong probabilty that we will be taking care of our parents at some point in our lives. 

There are situations that will be in our lives, in every season in our lives.  It is a given.  But here is that light that was mentioned earlier.  We are going to go through these things in life, no matter who or where we are.  But the common denominator is that we can go to God in prayer and in the Word daily and HE will give us strength and wisdom to do all that we have to do.

Let's see what the word says about spending time with God.

Matthew 11:28-29

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

John 14:27

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
 

Proverbs 1:33

But all who listen to me will live in peace,
untroubled by fear of harm.”
 

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

 

Friend the Lord is always present to lead and guide us through every season of our life. In every situation.  There are no exclusions.  We only have to give time to Him daily so that He can lead and instruct us.  Give the Lord a little of your time each day, and you will be amazed at what He will help you through.  Give Him the opportunity to lead and give you direction...... He is your light at the end of the tunnel!
 

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you that You not only saved us, but You are our Provider, Comforter and Source of Strength. Help us all, to remember to give You a some of our time everyday so that You can lead, guide and direct our paths in the way that you want us to go.  And we will know that You will always comfort us and refresh us while in Your Presence.  We thank you for loving and caring for us everyday, In Jesus Name - Amen
 

Blessings friend, Have a great day !!

Has Your Life's Road Seemed Foggy?

Has a season in your life seem to start out like this? 

The truth is that we will have more than one season that will seem to be or even be uncertain.  It could be at the beginning of a situation or right in the middle.  It could be any number of life experiences: finances, relationships and any character building issue that we will ever walk through.  These situations will happen to us all, at some point in time.  But when we have Christ in our lives, these situations do not have to frighten us.  

 When we walk down our life's path, that place can become frightening. But with Jesus we can see through the fogginess of life and begin to view the color and splendor of the things around us. We will not only see the grey, bleek existance or situation.  Pain and fear of situations are very real emotions that we must acknowledge and replace it with the truth of God's word.   It says in Phillipians 1:6  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;  Our Heavenly Father can complete a work in us that we can not do alone.

Proverbs 13:12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick,  But when the desire comes,

it is a tree of life.   So you see we are always to keep our hope and trust in Him and not ourselves.  It is our Hope and Trust in God that will get us through ever situation.  Everytime without fail. His love never fails, but it will when we our focus off Him and back to our situations.  Our eyes must stay on the only source of strength that we have. He is our strength!

                                                                                    

      A well known speaker in some religous circles made the statement saying that when you are in the fog of your situations to always remember that the Son shines above the fog.  This statement is true in both the physical and the spiritual experiences of life.  In the physical, after we have been in the fog a while, we can see the sun begin to shine through or even begin to see it lift because of the sun's presence and warmth changes the atmosphere.  In the Spiritual situations of life, God wants us to draw strength and comfort in the truth of when we trust Him, believe in Him, and completely turn out situations over to Him.  He will show us that He is in the midst of our life.  He is always very Present.  He holds our solutions.  Trust in Him my friend.  Soon that foggy situation will look like the picture below.  The fog will not be so daunting, and the beauty of the Lord will be seen all around you.  Believe in Abba today,  He has many good things in store as you seek Him and His will for your life!!   Blessings Friends, Have a great day.

Where Is Your Tent of Meeting?

Do you have a place where you meet with God? Alone, just you and Him? This question has come to mind after reading in Exodus today. Let's go there. Just pryor to Exodus 33:7, God was upset. While Moses was with God in the mountain, giving him the Ten Commandments, the Israelites had Aaron created a golden calf for them to worship because they thought Moses was never coming back out of the mountain.  He had been gone way too long for thier comfort.  

Now let's think on that for a moment.  How many times have we given up on God because He didn't work in our situations fast enough? Or how many times that when it seemed that our situations existed long enough for us to doubt that God was ever going intervene?  You know that doubt always creeps up in our minds and says, " I know the word says He will never leave you or forsake you..... so where is He now?"  You know, that kind of doubt.

Well, I promise you that you are not alone.  The enemy will try and discourage you, to make you think that you never see answers to your prayers and the situations that are around you. Self inflicted or not. You can look back in a previous entry called; The Promises of God.  You can see that God promises over and over in His word that He is there for us.  Galations 6:9 tells us, that we will reap a harvest if we faint not.  Now that sounds like to me, that at times we will have to wait. And if our heart and mind are not stayed upon Him, then it will not be long that fear has made its way to the front of your mind, and you will be suddenly convienced that there is no way out. Why do we do that to our selves!?!   Ok. You get what I'm saying......... back to the scripture.

Moses Meets with the Lord

⁷ Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 
 ⁸ So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 
 ⁹ And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
¹⁰ All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 
 ¹¹ So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.  And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.

So let's break this down.  I underlined key points in each verse.  Let's see what we find, shall we?

One statement from each verse, literally sums it up and leaves nothing out.  Vs 7 says, that anyone who wanted, could go out from the camp to the place designated to meet with God, when they wanted to.  They had access to God, that they did not utilize.  That sounds rediculous to think about it, yet we still do it today..... Don't we?

Vs8 says that when Moses went to meet with God, everyone watched from the door of their own tent.  I do not think that this place was ever a secret......

Vs9 says, that they saw the pillar of cloud at the door showed Gods presence while speaking with Moses....  I do not know about you, but I would hope to think that I would want to experience that as well if I witnessed it happening.  But how many times do we think that someone you know has a direct line to God that you do not?  Hmmm...

Vs 10 says that they believed enough to worship.  But sadly they didn't believe that God would meet them there, because they did not go for themselves.

Vs 11 says that with Moses' interaction with God, God spoke to Moses as a man speaks to his friend.

I do not know about you, but friend in this life, I can not go a day without my Abba.  I need to spend time with Him.  I need Him to speak into my life and my situations.  And He wants to be there!  I ask you to take a moment and ask yourself.  How much or how often am I letting God have the dialog in my life?

Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for each precious person that is reading this entry today.  I thank You, that You are their Way, their Truth, and their Life.  I pray that each one's spiritual eyes are opened and that they see You ready to act on their behalf.  I pray that they see You waiting on them, to give their situations to You so that You can work out all things for their good and Your Glory.  I praise You and thank You that it is Your presence in their life that makes all the difference; and that You truly want them to know that You will call them, "Friend".  Bless each one of them today where ever they are, In Jesus Name, Amen.

Dare to believe that He is able and willing to be all that you need.  All you need to do is Trust and Believe; and that through your obedience to His Word, will release His provision in your life !!  Blessings my friend.  Have a great day !

Finding Our Answers Through Prayer

Since last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, the importance of prayer in our lives has been continuously on my mind and heart all day.

 Life has a way of turning up something that we do not know how to deal with, inevitably. Its not a coincidence and it is not always about our mistakes, though we make plenty. God wants a relationship with you. One where you actually talk to Him and where you really listen to Him.  We can cry out to Him about anything that hurts us, we can talk to Him about the day to day events in life that puzzle us.  When we choose to come to Him, we show that we trust Him. 

Our praise is our weapon and makes us strong in our faith.  Our prayer time strengthens us and our relationship, because all relationships are successful when time is put into them, and will fail when we do not.  Because God has given us the privilege of choice, what ever we give our time to, is what will grow.  Faith or Fear, strength or weakness, favor or obstacles, all of these things will rely on what we are giving our time to. 

Pentecost Sunday is a great representation that faithfulness in prayer and obedience in His instructions, God will do great things.  He wants us to have great testimonies of His goodness!  He wants to show through you that all things are possible to those who believe.  It is not for a select few, but His favor and provision is for all who pray and believe.  And the only way to know who we are in Christ Jesus, is to spend time with the Father, let Him speak to you in that Secret Place of His presence and by reading and studying His Word.

It's not complicated, its simply about your relationship with your Heavenly Father and your spiritual growth through the truth of God's word. 

Take time to be with Him.  He's waiting on you, and the benefits are to numerous to number!

Psalms 103:1 - Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

I challenge you to put this to the test.  Spend time with Him, talk to him about your situations, and let Him speak to your spirit in His presence and in His word.  You will be amazed at the results!

Blessings Friend, Have a great day!

I Prayed And He Heard Me

                          

Have you ever walked through a time when it seemed like everything was walling

 up around you?  A job, finances, or relationships.  It could be anything that concerns you. 

Anything at all.  One of the purposes of our prayer life and relationship with the Father is that open line of communication with Him, because He is our source and strength. There are several scriptures that says, "I cried out to God and He heard me."  Let's look at a few. 

Psalm 34:17 NKJV  The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and delivers them out

from all their troubles.

This is a promise that we can read over and over that says "He WILL". 

This is something that we should stand on.  Let's look at another.

 Psalm 3:4 NKJV  - I cried out to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His

Holy Hill.

In this psalm, David made a statement in his song.  He cried out, and God faithfully heard him.  Past tense. This is a testimony of what God did in this situation, For David.  God provided for David's need, when he ask of the Lord.

Psalm 18:6 is an example of scriptures that are testimonies of what God did when one cried out to Him. Let's take a look. 

Psalm 18:6 NKJV  -  In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; 

He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came upon Him, even to His ears. 

Now what is so amazing about this passage is if you continue to read this chapter, you will see God's response to this prayer.  The Earth responded to God's voice once this prayer reached His ears.  God can speak one word into your life and everything can completely change because God Himself Speaks !! 

Now, there is only one element, that separates what has happened in the Bible from where you stand.  The one common denominator that we must have while praying is this...... BELIEVE.

In Matthew 21:22 and Mark 6:22-24 , Jesus Himself teaches us that the condition to answering the prayers of His children is believe. 

So I encourage you today to not only pray and believe that Jesus will answer your prayers, but BELIEVE BIG !! He can change every situation that we have in our lives.  Have Great Faith that the God of Heaven and Earth can answer any prayer you pray when we seek Him and Believe in Him!!!

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you for Your Presence in the lives of Your children.  I thank you for meeting each person that reads this and is seeking You; that they find You with Great Faith.  I thank you for moving in their situations in such a way that it will be undeniablly shown that they give You only the Glory for their answered prayers.  I thank You for strength, endurance, peace, restoration and salvation that can only come from and be found in You!  Bless Your People Oh Lord, that they might know You in a deeper way.  That their relationship with You will grow from Glory to Glory in Jesus Name, Amen

You now have scriptures that gives you Promises, Statements of facts, and Examples of what God does when we cry out to Him!  All we have to do is believe.

Blessings Everyone.  God's got you !!

How Does God Really Feel About Me?

This scripture above never gets old to me.  Why? Well, I am glad you asked.
There are so many times in life that I have questioned myself in the past.  Questions like: Am I good enough?  The truth is there is nothing that we can do in our own strength that we could "earn" God's love and His blessings that come to us.

God's love is not earned, it is given simply because we have asked Jesus Christ into our hearts, thus we become children of God.  We live in a world of extreme expectations; And though there are Godly standards or principles to live by, there also pressures to become like everyone else, do what they are doing, buy what they are buying.

This is why we need to daily stay in the Word of God, "renewing our mind" as in Rom 12:2.  When we read and reflect over what He says about us, what He did for us, and how He IS with us everyday; then the truth of our relationship takes root inside of us, and from there it can truly begin to grow. 

God loves us.  He Truly Loves Us! His Word says that He takes great delight over us and will rejoice over us with singing.  I do not know about you, but I am one who loves singing and good music.  But I do not know anyone that I would rather sing over me than my Abba.  My Heavenly Father.  He is so good!  

So matter what situations are before you, know that God cares about you first, and is also there to help you with whatever it is that is on your heart. He cares for you so much that He paid the price for your freedom, before you were ever born. He knows you so well that he cares about the things that you care about.  His Word says, that He will never leave you or forsake you, and that He is closer than any brother.  

Never give up on your relationship with Abba.  Never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough or that your life can never change for the better.  God's says the opposite and His Word is truth.   

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank you and bless Your Name today.  I pray today for each person that reads this and needs a touch from you.  I thank you for Your presence to be made known and active in each life and territory today.  Where trouble abounds Father, You and Your grace and mercy much more abounds.  Be glorified in each of our lives today, and may Your Glory be made known in every life. 

In Jesus Name.  - Amen 

It's a good day for a new outlook and even a new start. God is with you, and He is waiting on you!  Have a Great Day Friends.