I have not written in awhile on here and really have been wanting to. I think it is mostly because I want it to sound good but it kinda looses the point of allowing God work in me. So here I go. God has really been showing me alot lately how in control He is and how perfect His way is for me.
Alot went on this summer at work. I got to be a full time teacher for five one year olds. Wow alot of work but very rewarding. It is kinda funny how at the beginning of the summer I was fretting about what would happen with the unknowns of daycare life. One teacher was going on a six week mission trip...so maybe I would help in there. But they were needing a school age teacher...maybe I would be in there. But nope not at all what I thought would happen. They needed someone to be in the pre toddler classroom for the summer and put me in there. At the same time two new kids were transitioning in as I was. What was I going to do? They were constantly crying. Be still Kristina! In two weeks both were settling in very attached to me. I also was not a big fan of nap time. I had one kid wake up like only a hour after they went asleep and within 15 minutes would have all the others awake and it was only 1:05pm! Even if I made them fall asleep later then the others they would still be up and have everyone else up early. Kristina who is in control?! I soon realize ( will confess still struggle with) that God woke up the kids when He wanted to and how I responded was what I was in control of. There was days when I had to do things for the class and they woke up and I had to give them toys to play with until I was not busy. They got upset and I had to redirect them. They just got louder but you know what no one woke up! : ) lol Kristina who is in control again? ; ) As the end of the summer came, I began to start thinking what's next? It started to affect my attitude but then God showed me two verses.
Psalm 32:8-9 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.
2 Samuel 22:31 31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
He knows and He will direct me! And it will be perfect and I need to know His promises and word is proven or flawless like niv version says and seek Him as my shield until He shows me. Today was my first day kidless and you know what Satan was attacking me hardcore. "if only you had your own kids!" mmmm... Kristina is your way perfect or is God's?
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Holiness and Love
I am currently reading a book called Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. It is a pretty good read so far. He plants in our mind a challenging and thought provoking way of looking at God's holiness and how we can pursue it in our own lives. Apparently I never have really thought about God's holiness before but it really has struck me as important in my life now.
So to start my journey on learning about God's holiness was to look up the verses that Bridges had used in his book. The first one was Leviticus 11:44
"For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Now whats cool about having a study Bible is the notes at the bottom and they led me to Leviticus chapters 17-26. They called them the holy chapters. So if I wanted to learn more about God's holiness and what He expected I had to read these chapters. I will confess I was scared. I have not been a fan of this particular book of the Bible. It is just scary. But if my God changed this heart of mine from thinking the Bible was an emotionally dead book to reading and understanding it on a whole other level, then I know I could read these chapters in Leviticus. I have been and wow He has showed me alot.
For starters, God HATES when we allow other things in our lives other than Him such as I read in Leviticus 20:1-8
"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you."
God compares us to prostitutes when we put other things more importantly before Him! Ok I dont know about you but people who give themselves away to just anyone makes me sad and I will confess, even disgusted. But I do it. I put other things before God and I am a prostitute. No wonder James calls us adulterers and adulteresses in James 4:4 when we choose the world or things of the world before God.
"4 Adulterers and[a] adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
But at the end of the chapter God gives Isreal 2 promises that we too can remember,
24 But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples... 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine."
You shall inherit the land and I will give it to you to possess is the first promise. I think it is awesome how God gives this land to them even if they still have to go and fight for it. Even then God comes alongside them and fights for them. For us, I know God has not given us land to possess but we do have our new life we have inherited from God who is our Father in Heaven. We have to live life being conquerors through Him battling the sin so we can have a life with peace and joy.
The second promise is that they were separated from the peoples which made them His. They were the Jewish nation with a chosen land given to them by a God who was ultimately and supremely holy. He gave them a life set apart from others that glorified Him. We too are the same way, We are chosen by God to be people set apart from this world. We need to be different living by His standards and grace. As He said we need to be holy as He is holy.
It really got me thinking, God is very serious about our sin. He does not tolerate it at all. He cant be around it. I mean He is serious when He says that if we have sin in our lives that He cannot hear us. I mean if you read onto the next chapter, He also gives Aaron and his sons strict guidelines to even go into His presence. They were even more special then Isreal with entirely different rules. It should be the same with us. How is our heart when we approach God? Do we have sin in our lives? Did we think something mean to someone else the day before or mistreated a total stranger at work? Anything that is not of God puts up this barrier between us and God where we should not approach Him until we confess our sins. Something I recently have started was reading Psalm 139: 23-24
Now what is even more cool on how God has been working in my life is how one of my pastors at my church have been talking about the attributes of God and mentioned God's holiness but also His love. Ever since I have been focusing on God's holiness, I have this fear that I am going to go legalistic or focus too much on the sin aspect and become graceless. I also think that I have not fully been aware of God's love for me. I think I have this human like love stuck in my head and think that God does the same thing. But He doesnt. My thoughts are how can one balance out His love and holiness and live a life conscious of both? I believe God is showing me things. So I am excited. But if there is anyone who would comment about finding that balance that would be cool. I am curious to see what He will show me.
So to start my journey on learning about God's holiness was to look up the verses that Bridges had used in his book. The first one was Leviticus 11:44
"For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Now whats cool about having a study Bible is the notes at the bottom and they led me to Leviticus chapters 17-26. They called them the holy chapters. So if I wanted to learn more about God's holiness and what He expected I had to read these chapters. I will confess I was scared. I have not been a fan of this particular book of the Bible. It is just scary. But if my God changed this heart of mine from thinking the Bible was an emotionally dead book to reading and understanding it on a whole other level, then I know I could read these chapters in Leviticus. I have been and wow He has showed me alot.
For starters, God HATES when we allow other things in our lives other than Him such as I read in Leviticus 20:1-8
"Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you."
God compares us to prostitutes when we put other things more importantly before Him! Ok I dont know about you but people who give themselves away to just anyone makes me sad and I will confess, even disgusted. But I do it. I put other things before God and I am a prostitute. No wonder James calls us adulterers and adulteresses in James 4:4 when we choose the world or things of the world before God.
"4 Adulterers and[a] adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
But at the end of the chapter God gives Isreal 2 promises that we too can remember,
24 But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples... 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine."
You shall inherit the land and I will give it to you to possess is the first promise. I think it is awesome how God gives this land to them even if they still have to go and fight for it. Even then God comes alongside them and fights for them. For us, I know God has not given us land to possess but we do have our new life we have inherited from God who is our Father in Heaven. We have to live life being conquerors through Him battling the sin so we can have a life with peace and joy.
The second promise is that they were separated from the peoples which made them His. They were the Jewish nation with a chosen land given to them by a God who was ultimately and supremely holy. He gave them a life set apart from others that glorified Him. We too are the same way, We are chosen by God to be people set apart from this world. We need to be different living by His standards and grace. As He said we need to be holy as He is holy.
It really got me thinking, God is very serious about our sin. He does not tolerate it at all. He cant be around it. I mean He is serious when He says that if we have sin in our lives that He cannot hear us. I mean if you read onto the next chapter, He also gives Aaron and his sons strict guidelines to even go into His presence. They were even more special then Isreal with entirely different rules. It should be the same with us. How is our heart when we approach God? Do we have sin in our lives? Did we think something mean to someone else the day before or mistreated a total stranger at work? Anything that is not of God puts up this barrier between us and God where we should not approach Him until we confess our sins. Something I recently have started was reading Psalm 139: 23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
It is pretty amazing what He brings to mind when I sincerely approach Him as the holy God He is.
Now what is even more cool on how God has been working in my life is how one of my pastors at my church have been talking about the attributes of God and mentioned God's holiness but also His love. Ever since I have been focusing on God's holiness, I have this fear that I am going to go legalistic or focus too much on the sin aspect and become graceless. I also think that I have not fully been aware of God's love for me. I think I have this human like love stuck in my head and think that God does the same thing. But He doesnt. My thoughts are how can one balance out His love and holiness and live a life conscious of both? I believe God is showing me things. So I am excited. But if there is anyone who would comment about finding that balance that would be cool. I am curious to see what He will show me.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Be Still Verses
Starting in Exodus 14, the Parting of the Red Sea.
In v. 4 God tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and let him come after the Isrealites. BUT that they will know that He is the Lord and will kick butt. I thing I thought of was "That's it! God does not tell Moses how He will do it but that He will. Moses had faith in knowing God would protect them with no questioning.".
In v.11 The Isrealites start complaining despite all the other faithfulness of God
In v. 13-14 Moses replies in a nice way, "Do not be afraid, stand still and the salvation of the Lord you will see...the Lord will fight for you."
In v.15, God tells Moses what he needs to do
In v.19-20, 24-25, 27-28 God did fight for them
1) the pillar of cloud confused them and did not allow them to proceed on. It put out darkness towards the Egyptians and light towards the Isrealites
2) While Pharaoh came after Isreal on dry ground, He took off their chariot wheels and put fear in the Egyptians
3) God covered and overthrew the Egyptians in the Red Sea
Nehemiah 8
The walls of the temple are rebuilt. They are restoring Jerusalem but now Ezra and Nehemiah and the Levites are going to restore the hearts of Isreal by reading the law of Moses.
In v. 2-3 Ezra reads to all people the law of Moses for 6 hours! They read and read until the children of Isreal understood it.
In v.6 Ezra starts out by praying to God for them to be blessed and the people said amen in agreeableness. They then lift their hands and put their faces to the ground.
In v. 8 the Levites were there to help them to understand
In v. 9-10 Ezra encourages them to make this day holy. They are of course by this time weeping because they were convicted. But Ezra kept on encouraging them saying this is a holy day, celebrate because God's word brings joy.
In v. 11-12 the Levites tell them to be still and go out and eat and drink and celebrate.
In v. 14 they come together again to read some more
In v. 15-17 this time they implemented what they read from Lev 23 which said to go out and build booths made out of assorted branches. This was to remind them how God provided for the children of Isreal while they were living in tents in the wilderness. They brought remembrance and glory to what God did for their people.
Psalm 37 ( one of my favorite psalm)
In v.3 Trust in Him by dwelling in the land and feeding on His faithfulness.
In v.5 Commit and trust in the Lord and He will bring it to pass
In v.7 rest and wait patiently in the Lord. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way. REST and WAIT!
In v.8 cease from anger and forsake wrath, it only causes harm
In. v. 9 do evil= be cut off; wait on God= inherit the earth
In v.13 the Lord is laughing at the wicked because they think they are so hot but He knows when they will be put away
In v. 17 arms of the wicked will be broken but God with His strong right hand will uphold up the righteous.
In v. 30-31 the righteous speaks wisdom and justice because the word of God us is in his heart and God allows his steps to be steady
In v. 34 wait on the Lord, keep His ways= He will exalt the land and you will see the wicked cut off.
In v.39-40 salvation and strength in time of trouble is from the Lord. He helps, delivers, and saves them from the wicked BECAUSE THEY TRUST IN HIM
1 Thess 4
This chapter comes in 3 sections
Section 1 v1-8
In v. 1-2 Paul encourages and urges them to apply what was taught but also from God's word. So they could walk and please God
In v. 3 In one way is abstaining from sexual immorality
In v.4-6 1) on a personal level watch out for yourself not passion of lust and 2) not taking advantage of others sexually too.
(this means also what is in our minds with the movies or tv shows we watch or books that we read. EVERYTHING THAT GOES INTO YOUR MIND)
In v 7-8 God called us to holiness not uncleanness
Section 2 v9-12
In v.9 Paul encourages them by saying that they are good at loving others
In v. 10 but of course they need to increase in that more and more
In. v 11-12 they need to work on with loving others in 1) leading a quiet life or BEING STILL, 2) mind their own business, and 3) work with their hands. In result, 1) they walk properly, 2) lack nothing, and 3) that others who is not of Christ will see you
Section 3 v13-18
In v 13-14 apparently people were telling this church that their love ones were not going to rise again when Christ comes back but Paul tells them straightforward that whoever believes on Jesus who died and rose again with rise with Jesus
In v. 15 as a matter of fact, they will rise first (darn them ; ) )
In v. 16-17 Paul describes the wonderful event of Jesus coming back, them first and then us and we will meet them in the air with Christ : ) : )
In v. 18 he concludes that we to comfort others with these words
1 Peter 3:1-6, 8-12
In v 1-2 wives ( or people who want to get married one day needs to prepare themselves now ) need to be submissive to their husbands even if they do not obey God because they might "win over" their husbands by their good conduct.
In v. 3-4 It is the heart of the woman that matter not the outside. It has to be a hidden person (that is why all the godly girls keep guys guessing), w/ incorruptible beauty (something that does not fade away) and wl a gentile and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God
In v.5-6 holy women from the OT who adorned themselves with God and allowing themselves to be submissive, respected their husbands. Sarah was an example of that.
In v 8 after talking to citizens of a country who also could be slaves, wives and husbands, Peter tells us TO BE ONE MIND, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and be courteous.
In v.9 dont return evil for evil or rude remarks to another rude remark (dont put others down) BUT bless other because we may inherit one too
In v 10 Peter quotes from Ps 34:12-16 which gives us the "secret" formula for one who loves life and who wants to see longer days 1) refrain from speaking evil or deceit, 2) turn from evil and do good, and 3) seek peace and pursue it. Then the Psalm gives us a nice reminder THAT GOD LOOKS OUT FOR THE RIGHTEOUS AND LISTENS TO THEIR PRAYERS, BUT TURNS HIS FACE FROM THE EVIL OR THE ONES WHO DONT FOLLOW WHAT WAS SAID ABOVE.
SOOO A RECAP!!
Exodus 14- Have faith in who and what God says He will do...He will fight for us!
Nehemiah 8- Read the Word! Apply it! It brings us joy and restores our soul!
Psalm 37- Trust, Rest, Wait on the Lord! He knows the outcome!
1 Thessalonians 4- To live a quiet or being still life, we need a pure mind, loving others, and encourage others that Christ is coming back
1 Peter 3:1-6, 8-12- In order to be the woman of a gentle and quiet spirit, we need God to be #1 and being one mind with others.
In v. 4 God tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart and let him come after the Isrealites. BUT that they will know that He is the Lord and will kick butt. I thing I thought of was "That's it! God does not tell Moses how He will do it but that He will. Moses had faith in knowing God would protect them with no questioning.".
In v.11 The Isrealites start complaining despite all the other faithfulness of God
In v. 13-14 Moses replies in a nice way, "Do not be afraid, stand still and the salvation of the Lord you will see...the Lord will fight for you."
In v.15, God tells Moses what he needs to do
In v.19-20, 24-25, 27-28 God did fight for them
1) the pillar of cloud confused them and did not allow them to proceed on. It put out darkness towards the Egyptians and light towards the Isrealites
2) While Pharaoh came after Isreal on dry ground, He took off their chariot wheels and put fear in the Egyptians
3) God covered and overthrew the Egyptians in the Red Sea
Nehemiah 8
The walls of the temple are rebuilt. They are restoring Jerusalem but now Ezra and Nehemiah and the Levites are going to restore the hearts of Isreal by reading the law of Moses.
In v. 2-3 Ezra reads to all people the law of Moses for 6 hours! They read and read until the children of Isreal understood it.
In v.6 Ezra starts out by praying to God for them to be blessed and the people said amen in agreeableness. They then lift their hands and put their faces to the ground.
In v. 8 the Levites were there to help them to understand
In v. 9-10 Ezra encourages them to make this day holy. They are of course by this time weeping because they were convicted. But Ezra kept on encouraging them saying this is a holy day, celebrate because God's word brings joy.
In v. 11-12 the Levites tell them to be still and go out and eat and drink and celebrate.
In v. 14 they come together again to read some more
In v. 15-17 this time they implemented what they read from Lev 23 which said to go out and build booths made out of assorted branches. This was to remind them how God provided for the children of Isreal while they were living in tents in the wilderness. They brought remembrance and glory to what God did for their people.
Psalm 37 ( one of my favorite psalm)
In v.3 Trust in Him by dwelling in the land and feeding on His faithfulness.
In v.5 Commit and trust in the Lord and He will bring it to pass
In v.7 rest and wait patiently in the Lord. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way. REST and WAIT!
In v.8 cease from anger and forsake wrath, it only causes harm
In. v. 9 do evil= be cut off; wait on God= inherit the earth
In v.13 the Lord is laughing at the wicked because they think they are so hot but He knows when they will be put away
In v. 17 arms of the wicked will be broken but God with His strong right hand will uphold up the righteous.
In v. 30-31 the righteous speaks wisdom and justice because the word of God us is in his heart and God allows his steps to be steady
In v. 34 wait on the Lord, keep His ways= He will exalt the land and you will see the wicked cut off.
In v.39-40 salvation and strength in time of trouble is from the Lord. He helps, delivers, and saves them from the wicked BECAUSE THEY TRUST IN HIM
1 Thess 4
This chapter comes in 3 sections
Section 1 v1-8
In v. 1-2 Paul encourages and urges them to apply what was taught but also from God's word. So they could walk and please God
In v. 3 In one way is abstaining from sexual immorality
In v.4-6 1) on a personal level watch out for yourself not passion of lust and 2) not taking advantage of others sexually too.
(this means also what is in our minds with the movies or tv shows we watch or books that we read. EVERYTHING THAT GOES INTO YOUR MIND)
In v 7-8 God called us to holiness not uncleanness
Section 2 v9-12
In v.9 Paul encourages them by saying that they are good at loving others
In v. 10 but of course they need to increase in that more and more
In. v 11-12 they need to work on with loving others in 1) leading a quiet life or BEING STILL, 2) mind their own business, and 3) work with their hands. In result, 1) they walk properly, 2) lack nothing, and 3) that others who is not of Christ will see you
Section 3 v13-18
In v 13-14 apparently people were telling this church that their love ones were not going to rise again when Christ comes back but Paul tells them straightforward that whoever believes on Jesus who died and rose again with rise with Jesus
In v. 15 as a matter of fact, they will rise first (darn them ; ) )
In v. 16-17 Paul describes the wonderful event of Jesus coming back, them first and then us and we will meet them in the air with Christ : ) : )
In v. 18 he concludes that we to comfort others with these words
1 Peter 3:1-6, 8-12
In v 1-2 wives ( or people who want to get married one day needs to prepare themselves now ) need to be submissive to their husbands even if they do not obey God because they might "win over" their husbands by their good conduct.
In v. 3-4 It is the heart of the woman that matter not the outside. It has to be a hidden person (that is why all the godly girls keep guys guessing), w/ incorruptible beauty (something that does not fade away) and wl a gentile and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God
In v.5-6 holy women from the OT who adorned themselves with God and allowing themselves to be submissive, respected their husbands. Sarah was an example of that.
In v 8 after talking to citizens of a country who also could be slaves, wives and husbands, Peter tells us TO BE ONE MIND, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and be courteous.
In v.9 dont return evil for evil or rude remarks to another rude remark (dont put others down) BUT bless other because we may inherit one too
In v 10 Peter quotes from Ps 34:12-16 which gives us the "secret" formula for one who loves life and who wants to see longer days 1) refrain from speaking evil or deceit, 2) turn from evil and do good, and 3) seek peace and pursue it. Then the Psalm gives us a nice reminder THAT GOD LOOKS OUT FOR THE RIGHTEOUS AND LISTENS TO THEIR PRAYERS, BUT TURNS HIS FACE FROM THE EVIL OR THE ONES WHO DONT FOLLOW WHAT WAS SAID ABOVE.
SOOO A RECAP!!
Exodus 14- Have faith in who and what God says He will do...He will fight for us!
Nehemiah 8- Read the Word! Apply it! It brings us joy and restores our soul!
Psalm 37- Trust, Rest, Wait on the Lord! He knows the outcome!
1 Thessalonians 4- To live a quiet or being still life, we need a pure mind, loving others, and encourage others that Christ is coming back
1 Peter 3:1-6, 8-12- In order to be the woman of a gentle and quiet spirit, we need God to be #1 and being one mind with others.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
God is Working!
It has been awesome to see how God is working in my life right now! I just got back from visiting my family. It was nice to relax and get away but really focus on those relationships with those I love and don't see often.
My first weekend there I went to a ladies retreat with this amazing speaker. She is the founder of a 2 year old ministry called Zebras. The whole concept is that God made zebras to travel in herds. God made their stripes to combine together to make them like a huge animal and to scare their prey. It is the same with us as women who are Christians. We need to stick together, lifting each other up by focusing on who God is and His attributes. Her website is http://www.zebraminstires.com. You should check it out! But any who... God really used her to move in my life on a whole other level. She gave us some verses on being still and when I got back from the retreat still visiting my family, God began to beckon me to read those verses. At first I was not sure because I was working on something else for a devo I have to write but He kept saying read these verses. So I did and wow did He prepare me for so much. He is so faithful!
A few days before I had to go back to PA, I began to be restless. I was not ready to go back. I realized how I busy I was at home. I work at a daycare at various random times. I help out my husband at his business. I clean my house and pay the bills. I know that seems like life but its overwhelming. I was just so tormented but I just kept hold of those verses and wow He is working. I have been praying to see what changes I need to do to prioritize my time better. But oh the strength, the peace He has given to me.
There is something that God also showed me about being still from the ladies retreat. The speaker told us about refreshing ourselves after we have had an emotional time or heavily involved in ministry. She said after awana she would always go for a big bowl of cereal to just relax and regroup. But she encouraged us instead of eating something or in my case watching tv, we need to draw near to God. For me, it made me see the importance of going to Him at every moment I could during the day instead of just once in the morning when I wake up. I have spiritual breaks breaks at work I could take advantage of. I have also made the commitment to get into His word when I get off work at six. It has been amazing to see how He is working.
I encourage you guys to be still and get that "big bowl of cereal". : )
Thursday, March 15, 2012
God's Faithfulness and Eternity part 2
Lately I have been up and down in my emotions, worrying about the things of this world and really allowing it to alter my mood. It is frustrating in a way because I dont like being this way. I become ineffective for God and there is little joy. But what is so cool is that God is SO FAITHFUL TO ME. I wish I could hold onto that better in my mind and thought process but hey it is about progress not perfection (Elizabeth Elliot) Everytime I seek His face, He helps me and brings peace even if I continuously keep coming back day after day. For instance, all weekend was rough and Monday came around with a new week of work. It was rough. I did not sleep well the night before and I was struggling with my mindset. I got ready and did my routine as usual and went to my husband's business to help him open. It was hard but all of a sudden BAM God's peace with constant prayer came upon me. Work at the daycare went well and after work, my husband surprised me to take me out for coffee just to spend time with me. We also were celebrating because we now officially owe our trailer. It was a good day. I could not even think about how I was that morning. God is faithful even now when I am still struggling.
Another thing on how God is faithful is how eternity keeps coming up. I read more of my book called Desire by John Eldredge and he was talking about groaning. We groan for the things that are not seen and sometimes we dont allow it. As humans, we hate pain but as he stated, pain brings acknowledgement of who God is in our lives. He uses the example of a lady who wanted to relax after being a speaker of a huge conference. She goes antique shopping. The first store she goes into is this real expensive one. She walks in sad and astounded by the prices. But then something caught her eye in the corner of the store. It was this beautiful stain glass window. She longed for it but then saw the price of 8000 dollars. She became angry and sad but then had a thought. She will be getting one just like that in heaven in her mansion God is building for her now. She walked away happy. So I started to think how can life around me that affects me bring eternity to mind. I started to think about Bob our guinea and his crazy squawking. Sometimes I also listen to the other birds that sometimes sound like Bob but isnt. They also sound more pretty then he does ; ) But how does that remind me of heaven? And then God brought a thought into my head. They are like little angels here are earth singing to their creator. It almost made me cry. God is faithful even in the small things
Another thing on how God is faithful is how eternity keeps coming up. I read more of my book called Desire by John Eldredge and he was talking about groaning. We groan for the things that are not seen and sometimes we dont allow it. As humans, we hate pain but as he stated, pain brings acknowledgement of who God is in our lives. He uses the example of a lady who wanted to relax after being a speaker of a huge conference. She goes antique shopping. The first store she goes into is this real expensive one. She walks in sad and astounded by the prices. But then something caught her eye in the corner of the store. It was this beautiful stain glass window. She longed for it but then saw the price of 8000 dollars. She became angry and sad but then had a thought. She will be getting one just like that in heaven in her mansion God is building for her now. She walked away happy. So I started to think how can life around me that affects me bring eternity to mind. I started to think about Bob our guinea and his crazy squawking. Sometimes I also listen to the other birds that sometimes sound like Bob but isnt. They also sound more pretty then he does ; ) But how does that remind me of heaven? And then God brought a thought into my head. They are like little angels here are earth singing to their creator. It almost made me cry. God is faithful even in the small things
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Eternity
Off and on God has been laying on my heart about eternity. Sometimes our pastor at church mentions a family who just lost a member of their family and they are at peace because they are in the presence of Christ. But like Monday and yesterday, God really has been pressing it more on my heart.
Monday started like any other day except it was warmer outside so I decided to jog. As I was making my laps, I heard our friendly neighborhood guneas which Cyrus and I have named bob and Betty. They r the funniest creatures especially to watch when they get separated and squak until they find each other. Well on this morning, I only saw bob, the black, grey, and white one but there was no Betty. It was kinda weird. He was just by himself and they never like leaving each other. It was weird. I did not think too much more about it until when Cyrus took me to work. as we were driving down our street, there was poor bob and still no betty. Then Cyrus noticed tons and tons of feathers on both sides of the road. We both got the feeling at the same time. Did something happen to Betty? Cyrus went back to the house to investigate after he dropped me off. He texted me saying there was no body anywhere and no blood on the feathers. It was just so sad. I thought about it all day and thought it was the sadest thing that this could be the end of Betty. Cyrus and I kept on thinking that maybe she is ok and just got scared and ran off or maybe the worse that a dog ran off with her and killed her. It is just so sad. Also that night, I also read some of my book called Desire by John Eldredge. The basis of his book is "how to learn how to uncover our desires and learn to decipher them". Desires aren't bad. Desires were meant to be spent forever and forever in eden with God, but as humans we ruined that when we took control. Now we battle with our desires. Are they good or do they consume us and our thoughts? He then states that we try to "arrange" our life to fulfill our desire and what we think is right for us. But what about eternity? What if our desires were so consumed in eternity? How would our everyday perspective change? How about the people we work with? The family members that are not saved? I will confess I love to "arrange" my life. I have made the comment several times, God you can come back when I have kids, maybe grandkids and have this amazing ministry. But what if God does not allow me to have any of those things? Would I be happy? Cyrus talked to an aquaintance of his yesterday. Recently his friend suddenly lost his wife. He has 3 kids and owns his own business. He told Cyrus that he hs spent the past 3 weeks in bed out of grief. How sad is that? I feel so bad for him. I cant imagine that happening to me. That is certainty not in "my plans" for my husband to die. Once again eternity is the answer. Focusing on eternity on heaven. Sin in our world is such an awful thing. It twists our thoughts and confuse us from what we really need to focus on. I need to focus on the kids I work with everyday even if they drive me insane. They need Christ. Will I see them in eternity in heaven? I challenge you as my reader to truly mediatate what it means to have an eternal perspective in this twisted world. It will be interesting to see where God takes this in my life. I have seen him already change alot of my thinking because of just one bird. http://www.ransomedheart.com/?q=node/87
Monday started like any other day except it was warmer outside so I decided to jog. As I was making my laps, I heard our friendly neighborhood guneas which Cyrus and I have named bob and Betty. They r the funniest creatures especially to watch when they get separated and squak until they find each other. Well on this morning, I only saw bob, the black, grey, and white one but there was no Betty. It was kinda weird. He was just by himself and they never like leaving each other. It was weird. I did not think too much more about it until when Cyrus took me to work. as we were driving down our street, there was poor bob and still no betty. Then Cyrus noticed tons and tons of feathers on both sides of the road. We both got the feeling at the same time. Did something happen to Betty? Cyrus went back to the house to investigate after he dropped me off. He texted me saying there was no body anywhere and no blood on the feathers. It was just so sad. I thought about it all day and thought it was the sadest thing that this could be the end of Betty. Cyrus and I kept on thinking that maybe she is ok and just got scared and ran off or maybe the worse that a dog ran off with her and killed her. It is just so sad. Also that night, I also read some of my book called Desire by John Eldredge. The basis of his book is "how to learn how to uncover our desires and learn to decipher them". Desires aren't bad. Desires were meant to be spent forever and forever in eden with God, but as humans we ruined that when we took control. Now we battle with our desires. Are they good or do they consume us and our thoughts? He then states that we try to "arrange" our life to fulfill our desire and what we think is right for us. But what about eternity? What if our desires were so consumed in eternity? How would our everyday perspective change? How about the people we work with? The family members that are not saved? I will confess I love to "arrange" my life. I have made the comment several times, God you can come back when I have kids, maybe grandkids and have this amazing ministry. But what if God does not allow me to have any of those things? Would I be happy? Cyrus talked to an aquaintance of his yesterday. Recently his friend suddenly lost his wife. He has 3 kids and owns his own business. He told Cyrus that he hs spent the past 3 weeks in bed out of grief. How sad is that? I feel so bad for him. I cant imagine that happening to me. That is certainty not in "my plans" for my husband to die. Once again eternity is the answer. Focusing on eternity on heaven. Sin in our world is such an awful thing. It twists our thoughts and confuse us from what we really need to focus on. I need to focus on the kids I work with everyday even if they drive me insane. They need Christ. Will I see them in eternity in heaven? I challenge you as my reader to truly mediatate what it means to have an eternal perspective in this twisted world. It will be interesting to see where God takes this in my life. I have seen him already change alot of my thinking because of just one bird. http://www.ransomedheart.com/?q=node/87
Friday, February 3, 2012
Man and Our Total Depravity
As I continue to grow in my relationship with God, He shows me so many things in my life and how He remains faithful to me as I slowly "get it". My husband loves to watch post nuclear times such as The Road or The Book of Eli. He also likes to listen to Glenn Beck and all his things about how economical and political hardships are going to happen and how we need to prepare for it. To be honest, I don't know what to believe. I do know our world, our nation, is settling for second best and probably the most self absorbed group of people ever. Clearly, we feel like we can do whatever we want because we are "so powerful" and everything is given to us on a silver platter. The people who govern over our nation are desperately wicked and evil and think clearly only about their own needs and not the needs of our failing nation. But this is not my point of this blog. My point is we are failing as a nation because our Human existence is evil and depraved focusing only on ourselves and not God. And because God is a holy and just God, He can't really allow this for much longer. Huge nations just don't last long. Rome only lasted for 200 years. We have a quite a couple more decades to even reach our 300 birthday. So we are going to fail. It is just how it is. And how are we going to react? When our economy hits rock bottom or we get taken over by a more powerful country, how are we going to take it? To be honest, Cyrus and I are your typical young couple just getting by living simple. Yes we are very fortunate for the things we do have that are nice. But imagine having none of that? My question still remains, how will we respond? When I watch these movies, (ok I know these are just movies but go along with me on this) the people are so down right evil. They think only on how to survive and thats it. I mean in the movie, The Road, the dad is clearly a dad who takes care of his kid and does anything for him but when it comes to the point with this poor guy who does steal their things he is down right merciless. I mean his true sinful nature comes out of him. I will confess being poor or living in a different place every night or not sure what you are going to eat for the day is scary, but I think man's depravity scares me the most. I know what I am capable of thinking when I allow my flesh to get the best of me. But imagine people who dont have Christ. I don't know. In the long run, it makes me feel very thankful for God's perfect gift that He has given to me. I also know that He is faithful and only puts me through things that He has prepared me for in order to handle them. My only thought for you as my reader, how will you respond? How will we respond if Obama get re elected for another 4 years and changes more things in our nation? I know our God is a good God but He is also a God who needs to be glorified. That is my point. In our human depravity, in our human struggles, in our human rebelliousness and pride, God will be glorified. No matter how much I fret or try to control or reason about the condition of our world, my God will be glorified. All I need to do is keep my focus on Him. In Him, I am strong. In Him, I can overcome the world. Oh how I wish that for my frail human existence today.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)