GIVE ME YOUR EYES, YOUR HEART & YOUR FOCUS LORD

Rush, rush, rush... it is that time of year again, when things get busy. When we as people get busy... parties, travel, events, gatherings... They can all be wonderful things but sometimes we can become so carried away by it all that we miss the really important stuff.

We can forget what it is that we are celebrating and why... we can forget to reach out, serve, love and help others... we can forget or maybe I should say not be focused on what is really important. It is not that our focus should be any different during this time of year than any other but that we have marked occasions to give thanks and to celebrate Christ.... However, it should be all year long that we give thanks to the Father for all He has done, for Christ's sacrifice, for love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, redemption, acceptance, hope... It is all year long that we should have a God focus... it is all year long that we should love & serve others... that we should be giving, caring, helpful... Yet sometimes we lose sight of these things even at the moments we are meant to celebrate and remember them... and sadly we can loose sight of these things in our hurried daily lives.

I was listening to the Brandon Heath song "Give Me Your Eyes" earlier ... & why haven't I cared... why? Lord I do pray you would give me your heart, your eyes, help me to reach out with your hands not just during this time of year but daily Lord... May I slow down and be purposeful... May I think about me less, and more about You and what you care about... more about others...

I just have this vision of me standing still while life is so busy it is blurring around me but God gives me the ability to stop and focus on the things or the people I need to at the right time... otherwise life is just chaos... That is not of God... no God has a purpose, He has a plan - for you & for me - Throughout our day there are a multitude of opportunities He gives us if we would just open our eyes and look for them, if we would just open up our hearts and ourselves to be used of Him for His purpose, for His Kingdom, for His glory.

The truth is we are in Christ - One Body... we all need each other and we are all to serve each other...no part is needed more than another... and that being said we as the Body are to be a light to the world... to be witnesses... to reflect Christ... It happens, it truly does...but there are times when we not only let each other down but we don't shine our light... times when we can be confusing to the world because we look too much like the world and less like Christ.

I grieve for the opportunities I have missed but I am grateful that each day the Lord's mercies are new, there are new opportunities and blessings He has in store for us... He loves us so... He longs to be gracious to us, He longs to gather us to himself... if we would but let Him!

Forgive me Lord for all the times I stand in the way (with my pride, self-focus, unbelief...) of what you desire for me and for my life... and more importantly for the Kingdom... I know Lord that you don't have to use me to accomplish what you desire but Lord I am honored & humbled that you want to! I thank you most gracious and loving Father for your mercy and grace that cover me... I thank you for never letting me go and for pursuing and loving me ... even when I am a wayward child. Thank you for all the times you have carried me, strengthened me and given me a deeper faith and hope... There is so much to be thankful for Lord... It is all about you and anything good in my life is a gift from you, not to be treasured above you but to draw me closer to you. Thank you Jesus, thank you! I am forever yours...

BEWARE, IT'S A TRAP!

So yesterday I was reading in Matt. and several things hit me... but for now let me just focus on this one (or two).
Matt. 16:23 -
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

(I encourage you to please read this passage in context... it will make much more sense)...
Do you ever have those moments when friends or family are trying to tell you about something that has happened to them... and you say what you think they want to hear but not always the truth... Or flip that around and you are the one being pumped up so to speak by someone when your chips have fallen... Beware! Sometimes it is what you need to hear ... because it is truth, but sometimes is it just flattery or derailment from the course you need to take (I hope I am making sense here).

We can be and others can be to us, a dangerous trap... when we do not speak truth (in love). It is not easy to always hear the things others want to share with us or to accept the truth for what it is, when it is not pleasant. But sometimes (actually more than sometimes) life is just not pleasant. We have to look at our situations and others not from a human point of view, but from God's perspective. When we don't we must beware because it is a trap! The enemy would love to see us get off course and sink into pity, selfishness, bitterness, on and on... to where we have such a worldly view and miss the opportunity God has given us in that moment... For that is when with a God perspective, we truly live, we have great victory in Christ and bring glory to the Father.

Another thing that I have been thinking about is in v. 21 where it says that from that time on (after the feeding of the 5,000+ & the 4,000+ and explaining about watching out for the yeast of the Pharisees - false teaching)... it says in the NLT - Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that he had to go to Jerusalem, and he told them what would happen to him there.... (Note emphasis mine).... I started thinking about that... that Jesus had told them not in parables or analogies but plainly what was going to happen to him... So in the back of their minds from the time the went to Jerusalem they knew what was coming...When Jesus was worshiped as the entered in... as they had the last supper, in the garden when Jesus asked them to keep watch with him and pray, when he was betrayed and carried off... on and on... Maybe it was as mentioned above too unpleasant to imagine so they fell into the trap of unbelief, maybe it was shock, I cannot even begin to say that I know what was going through their minds... but I find it very interesting.

Interesting because when God tells us something - it happens! Yet we don't always live as if we really believe that.... Believe all the prophets foretold, all that Christ has said... we don't even live every moment (as we have been empowered to do by Christ) for the glory of the Father... Our lives would look so different if we would really believe and were living out the Word!

Maybe in our minds we say yes I believe but does our actions, which flow out from our heart mesh with that? Do you live as if Christ could return at any moment? Do you study the prophecies that tells us what the signs are for his return and look for them... and live for that moment!? I know I do not always do this... How I wish I could get my act together - Amen! That I would die to self and live for Christ, that I would live with an eternal perspective and care more about the lost... That I would be like minded with Christ in my heart and mind and actions... That I would be prepared for the day that we all have to give account... The DAY is coming, Christ will return... Oh that we may live as if we truly believe it and all that He has promised us!!! We have a great inheritance awaiting us... but for others - well, that is what we should be praying and living lives that witness, share and minister to the lost.

Lord give us willing and obedient spirits, that are fully devoted to you and your will & to loving others more than ourselves. Amen.

I AM NOT PERFECT, BUT SOMETIMES I LIKE TO THINK I AM

What a weekend! My small child has been a little clingy this weekend... my husband and I were gone for about 5 days, we came back and my parents left, and later that evening my son lost his "wooby"... He has had this monkey blankie since he was born and slept with it constantly. He loves it! So suffice it to say he has had a rough week... and he wants his security blankie back!

The short version of the story is that my husband took my son out to dinner at the food court in the mall and well, monkey got left in a chair... 15 minutes later my husband remembered he had left him and went back to find people sitting at the table but no monkey. They had no idea where the monkey was, nor did the clean-up crew or the lost & found... So, I get a phone call during the end of my girl's night out movie ... and find out the bad news. I go back to the mall, and still no luck... My son screams and cries for his monkey for an hour and a half till he finally falls asleep... only to wake up searching his bed for him several times during the night and crying some more... this continues on all weekend, naps, bedtime... He is waiting, hoping, searching, then crying for it!

We searched and or called all over the area... only to find out that the stores have the same brand but no monkeys... and well our son is particular... he has rejected all other blankies and animals... He is no dummy and a substitute will not do. Don't worry we found it online and ordered two that should arrive here on Tuesday!

Here is where I have a confession to make... I have learned several things through this experience... One being that even though I know I am not perfect I still sometimes like to think I am. I say this because (my confession) here is my husband upset, broken, feeling sooo bad that he lost this blankie and I am, well mad! I am ... I think to myself "how could he have lost it!?" "I wouldn't have set it in a chair! I would have put it in his diaper bag..." Well, you get the point. So I try not to be upset and I try not to treat my husband as if this is all his fault, which in my mind it is... When in truth it is an accident and one anyone could make... But I have high standards and expectations... ones I am not sure any human even myself could live up to, at times. I like to think I am perfect and in my perfect world this would have never happened if I had been in control.

PRIDE! How ugly it is.... I can't stand it! I pray and I ask for forgiveness... because I am not perfect and thankfully the Lord not only knows it but He loves and forgives me. Which by the way is exactly what I should do... God forgets my sins and remembers them no more... He does not make snide remarks, rub them in my face or continue to make me feel guilty even after I have confessed my sin and repented... No He shows me mercy and grace and love... And that is what we are all called to do.

I know this may sound so silly ... all over a monkey blankie. But hey I would rather learn this lesson this way than with a much more serious one... I forgive my husband even though really he doesn't need my forgiveness... He did not intentionally do anything to cause me or my son harm. He loves us and he tries so hard to be the man God has called him to be... the husband and the father Christ desires ... he is a good man.

I have noticed that in marriage and maybe in other relationships as well... sometimes expectations can be a harmful thing... Especially when we set people up so high that they have to fall... because lets face it they are not God and they never will be. They are human and full of human frailty...

The other thing that this has taught me is how true it is not to cling to the things of this world but instead to cling to what is eternal. To cling to God! He is who we should hope in, search for, love, and cling to with all our strength. God is so good and His love fails not! Praise Him! There is no substitute for Him... He is the real deal and only He will do! Amen!

One last random note... My husband & I got to get away on a marriage retreat... what a blessing! Our speakers were Gary & Barb Rosberg. The Lord, as always, did amazing things... even to move our retreat location so that another couple who was not attending and were just heading in the direction of divorce - their marriage could be healed and restored! God is soooo good! One thing that I kept hearing over and over again... and even heard today at church was to be intentional! Be intentional in your marriage, be intentional in your walk... A building does not build itself, you make plans, you take action... It is that way with our marriage... Great marriages don't just happen unless you intentionally try to pursue your spouse, to continue to draw near to them, to talk with them, to listen, to share, to take time for each other... The same is said for our walk ... We can go about our day and not even share it with the LORD, or we can be intentional and seek Him, be in His Word, etc... Well you get the point. So BE INTENTIONAL!!! And be blessed!

Philippians 2:1-18

I am back from our trip and wish I had more time to write ... but for now I just want to encourage you to take a look at the first half of Philippians 2.... Dig in deep, it is so good!

Chapter 2
Imitating Christ's Humility
1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like–minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Shining as Stars
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

May our Lord bless you as you seek Him!

America Has Chosen a President

Check out Dr. Mohler's Blog titled America Has Chosen A President... I would say more but I think he covered it pretty well.

He Reigns

This morning my thoughts turned to the LORD and thinking upon His Sovereignty... He is sovereign - over all things - they rest (we rest) in His hands. He knows every hair upon your head; the number of stars in the sky; the sand upon the shore... There is nothing that He does not know and He is always in control.

Nothing happens by chance, luck or fate... God is working out His plan (not to say that He in any way promotes the evil in this world... that is not of God because He is light and no darkness resides in Him). What I am trying to say is that even the Enemy (Satan) has to ask for permission to sift Job, to which God allowed but commanded that Satan could not lay a finger upon Job, himself. And no the sifting was not fun but Job was faithful and he was blessed.

I guess what I am trying to say is that in all the turmoil in this world... many people are afraid. However, for those of us in Christ, what have we to fear? Yes, we should have a holy, godly, reverent fear of God... but if God is for us, what have we to fear?!

May the God of all Creation, the One who knows your name and has it engraved upon His hand, the Prince of Peace let peace reign in your hearts and minds today and always as you trust and walk with Him! Amen!

On a separate note I heard a great message this morning - The Glory of the Lord, check it out! If you prefer to read the transcript click here.