Living Life But Always Watching

There seems to be a whole lot of concern over is today the Day the Lord returns May 21,2011 I can tell you from my standpoint it very well could be. Everyday at any moment it could be the day. God's word tells us in Mark 13 vs.32 "Be on guard! Be Alert! For you do not know when that time will come. Therefore keep watch. Okay so you ask me how do I apply that to my life? Do I get scared or nervous about the return of the Lord. Am I to put my life on hold and sit around and wait? No, by all means I am to keep living the Christian life God has set before me. I am to be a lifeline of his love and continue to share the goodnews of the Lord with others. We are to keep on enjoying our families and honoring God. We are not to live in despair and darkness. Like a single candle that burns in the night and illuminates a room, so are we to be a candle in a dark and confused world. We now more than ever should show people that God is love and not to be scared of his return. Will he come today or tomorrow or next week or year. That is not man's job to predict. The Bible says in Mark 13 vs. 32 "No one knows the hour not the angels in heaven nor the Son, only the Father". So as we go about our Beautiful day today enjoy it, smile more, love deeply but be always mindful that this could be the day of our Lords return. In the words of one of my favorite old hymns - Until then my heart will go on singing until then with joy I'll carry on. Until the day my eyes beold that city umti the day he calls me home.

Faithful Friday

Today is Faithful Friday.  Faithful Friday is a day in which I can look back and share the way our Heavenly Father has been faithful to us.  Deuteronomy 7 vs 9 says "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands."

Looking back over my life it is almost impossible to list all the ways in which God has been faithful to me.
I love the song "He's been faithful, faithful to me, Looking back his love and tender mercies I see. In my heart there have been questions, even failed to believe but He's been faithful, faithful to me."

1.   After several years of marriage, I so wanted a baby and got pregnant and then miscarried.  I was very hurt and even a little mad at God (that's alright God understands when we get mad at him, after all He made us.)  In time I got pregnant again and God was faithful to me, he brought me a beautiful baby girl  (Kelly) and 3 years later he brought me another beautiful baby girl (Holly).
2.   The Economy has hit us all pretty bad and sometimes I am get discouraged and think "When will this ever end and why is this happening?"  I wonder how will we get through this?  But looking back I see the Faithfulness of God and how he has carried me all these years.
3.   Holly went through a difficult divorce and I prayed and prayed for a true 'soulmate'.  In God's timing he brought into her life a wonderful Christian man.  God was faithful to her and to me as a Mother whose love and concern never grows old for their children.
4.   I lost my job several years ago and God provided me with another one.
5.   Kelly at a young age went through a horrible accident outside our home with some other kids playing wiffle ball.  She was hit in the eye with the ball and it tore her retina.  The Doctor's said she would probably not be able to see 100% out of that eye because of the tear.  After much prayer, she left the hospital seeing 100% and now in her thirties she can still see at a 100%.  God was Faithful.
There will be more Faithful Fridays to share even more of the Faithfulness of God.

We Will Never Forget 9/11/2001

I remember September 11, 2001 exactly where I was when our country was attacked.  I was at work and I got a call from my husband telling me "you have to find a TV or a radio, our country is under attack!"  I immediately shared this with one of my co-workers who was sitting by me at the time and she got really scared. She asked me "Is this the end of the world, are we all going to die?"  I didn't have all the answers for her, but of this one thing I was sure, no matter what the outcome God was going to see us through this horrific time.   I was able to share with this co-worker the love of God and that nothing man would ever do to us or our country, would ever take away his love.  Life in the United States would never be the same, so many innocent lives were lost, so many families were broken.  But one true thing became a constant in all of our lives, we were all aware of the great sacrifice that was made for us all by our fellow US citizens.  In the words of President George Bush "Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.“  We will never forget!

Let God Calm the Storm or Calm You

Okay, so today I feel like a sermon is coming on :) If this is not for you, then I can promise you it is for me!!!

Sometimes God calms the storms and Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:21-22


We may never know why some requests are not answered the way we expect them to be answered. It is hard to understand how God seems to move mountains to change one situation and then in our next request he simply seems to be beyond our reach. All we can do is to continue to present our requests to God and believe God will hear our plea and answer. If what we are asking for isn't in line with what God has for us, then I believe He will give us something greater than we could have ever imagined.

Most of the time we have no clue how hard God is working to move in our situation. And for this very reason and because of our belief and faith, we cannot give up on God and what He can do on our behalf. I heard someone say on the radio the other morning, that we all have BIG needs and BIG problems, especially with the economy like it is, BUT, we also on the other hand have a BIG God. He is able to move mountains, turn water into wine, part the seas, the list goes on and on... I think as we look back in life, we are able to see all the ways in which God 'Always' answered the right prayer or request for us. Sometimes God's saying 'NO, not now', was exactly what we needed. And then there are the times that God just says 'NO'. God knows what is best for us and his 'NO's' turn out to be actually the best thing for us.

Today, my prayer for you is that you will exercise your faith and confidence in God and allow him to work in your life. Allow God the opportunity to either calm your storm or to calm you. Like everything in life, it is always about 'timing'...God's timing!!!

'SECURITY'

"Security"One of the greatest human needs is a sense of security. In all aspects of life, we naturally gravitate towards anything that makes us feel safe"

This is a quote from David Bowman of the Bowman Art Studio in Snowflake, Arizona I ran across the awesome artwork of David Bowman while visiting another blog. I immediately gravitated towards this christian art. I think David has captivated exactly how Jesus feels about each and everyone of us, through his art "Security". Just like a child runs to the arms of his parent when he is hurt, discouraged or confused, this is the same way that we should do when we face trials and heartache. Jesus is our constant companion and his arms are opened wide and he loves for us to take comfort in him.

I am going to take some more time off of the blogging world. I do love it, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of new and interesting and loving friends out here, who genuinely care about each other. Spring is coming and that means getting outside when I come home from work and not sitting down at this computer for hours upon hours. I will be back from time to post something and to check up on all of you, but I really love spending time with my family and this darn blog is taking up way too much of my time. I just really been thinking lately, if you blog more each day than you spend time with your family or read your bible or pray. Than you might want to take a look at yourself also. Blogging is fun and it is fun giving and receiving comments, I think it makes some feel a sense of security inside this computer screen. But the reality is, that our lives are so beyond this computer screen. And our real security is in Jesus and the family that he so blessed each and everyone with.

So to each of you happy blogging and happy spring and pray that you each find security in the arms of Jesus.

God Is Love

On Valentines Day, we show our love;
We express our deep affections.
Those who are important to us
Get cards and sweet confections.
But Christian love
is not just for
The ones we hold most dear
Jesus said "love everyone;"He made that very clear.
For Christians, it is every dayWe should care and love and serve
Everyone we meet in life,
Whether they do or don’t deserve.
Let’s follow Jesus’ good command
To love everyone we meet.
Valentine’s Day every day
Will make life twice as sweet.
I am so thankful on this Valentine's Day that I can share God's love with you.

My prayer is for each of you to know the love of the Father and that he will find favor in all of your lives and bless you and the ones you hold dear.

FALL LEAVES

With fall on its way, it has me thinking about the leaves changing and how beautiful they are in their mixture of red, orange, brown and yellow. All spring and summer they have served their purpose on a budding tree as this rich vibrant green leaf and in the fall a transformation takes place to give them their rich warm colors of fall. And then as fall gives way to winter, these same warm colored leaves fall from the tree and in the spring a new vibrant green leaf starts to grow.
I wonder how many of us can relate to the changing of a leaf's color to our lives? In life sometimes everything in our lives are going along at full speed, we are enjoying the rich vibrant blessings of the Lord and all of a sudden our lives start to change, the rich vibrant green starts taking on a new color. It can be a physical change that zaps our health or the health of one of our loved ones. Sometimes it is an emotional change like the death of a loved one or a failed marriage. I am reminded of a verse in the Bible, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" Ecclesiastes 3 vs 1. I think that just like the leaves when they fall, our lives can change colors too. There is a time for everything and there is a time of renewing and refreshing in the ways of God. And when we find ourselves faced with life's challenges and changes, it is then that we can draw from God's word and know that he has promised us provision for our lives. God will not leave us alone. Just like the leaves of fall, they die off and then new leaves are formed. This same transformation can take place in our lives. When we yield all we have to God, he can make something beautiful out of the fallen leaves of our lives. He can start a new budding process and with his grace and provision a new green vibrant leaf will form.

LEGACY

"I want to leave a legacy, How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to you enough? To make a mark on things I want to leave an offering A child of mercy and grace Who blessed your name unapologetically And leave that kind of legacy. (nichole nordeman-lyrics)



I just added this song to my music playlist. I have always loved it and thought it represents a lot of who I am and who I want to be. I don't want to be just remembered as someone who was a good Wife, Mother, Grammy, Daughter, Sister and Friend. Sure, I love all of these roles and count myself blessed to be in them. But because God put me in these roles, I owe it to everyone of them to leave a Godly legacy. As one of my favorite old songs says "It Is Well With My Soul", that is what is important, it's not material things that make me happy, it is having that assurance that God is pleased with me. I want my legacy to show that I shared God's love with everyone and that I helped to point the way to him. I want to be known as someone who was not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.




"Not well-traveled, not well-read Not well-to-do, or well-bred. Just want to hear instead, Well done, good and faithful one" (nichole nordeman-lyrics)

DOORS

Did you ever think about doors? Some are heavy, made of steal and hard to open and some are made of wood that sometimes can be easily opened with a little force. Some doors come with locks like Fort Knox and no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get the lock open. Some doors come with little key hole locks and if you tried hard enough, you could probably open one with force, like a small bobby pin or credit card. And then there are doors like on our closets, they just open up with no effort at all.



As I have been studying lately, it has been about open and closed doors. As quoted by Charles Stanley "God answers prayer in one of three ways, Yes, No, or Yes, but not yet! I find myself so many times waiting on these answers for all of life's situations. I have always been the type of person who wants the answer right now! My patience is full of anxiety, I get frustrated when the door want open, I try to unlock it on my own and just make a mess of things. I sometimes feel alone and think I am the only person who has issues. Do you ever feel this way or is it just me?



I think of Daniel, in Daniel 6 vs. 10, it says that Daniel got down on his knees and prayed 3 times a day, giving thanks to God!! Wow, in our busy lives, that is alot! But it brought forth an answer for Daniel. Daniel's big metal door was starting to open. In Daniel 6 vs. 23 the door did open! "The King was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God." Daniel was bold enough to pray 3 times a day (even when it was against the law of the land). If you can just see yourself as Daniel. There you are in this den of lions, you are scared, not sure what is going to happen today or even tomorrow. You start thinking, am I going to get through this and how is going to happen and when will it happen and what can I do to make it happen. And then you realize the only one thing that you can do at this point is get on your knees and pray to God. He holds the key, mine and you're entire future (today and tomorrow) lie in his hands. Colossians 1 vs.11 "being strenghtened with all power according to his gloriuos might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light"



God, today I choose to wait on you and trust you for provision in my life. I trust for all who read this blog, that they will wait on you to open doors for the answers that they need. I pray that they will find sometime in their busy schedules to sit at your feet and may they rest assure that you open and close all doors in our lives according to your perfect will. God, don't let us get ahead of your schedule and teach us to wait patiently on you.

Mary, Edwina and Martha

2 Chronicles 31 vs.21 "In everything that he undertook in the the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

In todays world, I so want to be like Mary, always finding ways to worship and sit at the feet of Jesus. Mary just like Edwina and Martha had so much stuff going on in her life, her home, her family, her job all the daily things that would keep her away from sitting at the feet of Jesus, but Mary realized the thing she needed the most in order to make all these other things fall into place, was just sitting at the feet of Jesus, taking care of him and the relationship that she had with him. She knew that if she kept the relationship with Jesus first and foremost in her life, then all the other things in her life would fall into place. Don't get me wrong I enjoy being like Martha, being distracted at times and making preparations for my family, my home and other areas of my life. But sometimes being like Martha, I can get into trouble. I think alot of times, nobody wants to help me prepare for all the things in my life. I am in this all alone. I even get mad at Jesus some times, just like Martha did. She said to Jesus in Luke chapter 10 vs. 40 "tell her to help me" Martha had a meal to prepare she was getting mad. But Jesus told her "you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed". I pray that I will find a good combination of Mary, Edwina and Martha, so that not only will my home, family and things that I hold dear, be in order, but also my relationship with God will be the most important part of what makes me who I am.