For the Greater Glory of God…
May your weekend be.
For the Greater Glory of God…
May your eyes see…
With a “Glass Half Full” attitude…
A weekend full of “Happy Hours”…
Deep Breathing -ins and Heart -to-Hearts…
Prayers and Peace and Joys and Smiles…
All for the Greater Glory of God…
May your weekend be!
Bountiful Blessings!
“But I believe I shall enjoy the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.” Ps 27:13
“Unhappiness” To Do List….
1. Live for yourself.
“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. ” James 3:16
2. I need ____________ to make me happy.
(fill in the blank: new car, bigger house, more friends, better figure, more money)
“Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, whch plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. ” 1 Tim 6:9-10
3. Compare yourself with others.
“But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”
2Cor 10: 12b
4. Complain. Be ungrateful.
“In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 The 5:18
5. I’ll be happy when __________.
(fill in the blank: my ship comes in, I’m out of debt, I get a better job….)
“Behold, NOW is a very acceptable time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.” 2cor 6:2b
Convicted???
Let’s bring this “To Do List” to the foot of the cross…
Let the Blood of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, set us free.
“For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Gal 5:1
Struggling in a one- size- fits- all holiness?
Trying to put on Christ like your best friend, your spouse, your neighbor, some character in a book?
Are you a do it yourself-er?
Holiness isn’t about being like everyone else.
Cookie cutter people we are not….
“Do it yourself-er”, “I am the maker of me” people we are not!
You are a “once in a lifetime”, they “broke the mold” after you, unique gift of a person.
Created by Him who is Love, molded in His mighty grace.
It takes courage to be the real you…
But when we live our uniqueness clothed in Christ…
it gives permission for others around us to be real!
so……
Lions and tigers and bears in your life?
The Holy Spirit fills you with the courage…
to be who you are and be that well!
Surrender to His grace.
Be the best you today….God needs you!
“I have told you this so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world”. John 16:33
Some days are quiet days…
Where words are embraced within the heart never reaching the outside.
Words become ideas, ideas become dreams, dreams become hopes.
A resting in the quiet within.
Gently floating up on the Mystery of His molding.
One doesn’t always have to have words,,,
And feelings don’t always have to have reasons.
Words from the heart can never be forced…
should never be forced.
The KING WITHIN touches the silence of the heart…
and CREATES.
The Potter is at work.
Surrender to the Mystery of His Molding!
“Yet O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.”
Is 64: 7
Have you ever breathed in the morning?
Deeply inhaled the fullness, the freshness, the beauty of the new day….
Held it within as it expanded your lungs…
and ever so slowly exhaled all the possibilities and hopes out before you?
Have you ever breathed in the noontime?
Paused and deeply inhaled the bustle of mid day…
Held it within as the busy-ness of it all met with the peace within…
and then exhaled this inner calmness into the world around you?
Have you ever breathed in the evening?
Deeply inhaled all the day contained within the confines of your chest…
and then slowly exhaled, surrendering all into the vastness of the night?
God’s first language is silence.
It is here we find peace.
May this weekend be filled with deep breathing in….and long, letting go breathing outs.
May the breathing in…and the breathing out….become a prayer without ceasing.
A prayer THROUGH HIM, WITH HIM, IN HIM.
“Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thes 5:17-18
Ever since the eating of the forbidden fruit..
we’ve been tempted to understand…to know.
Striving to be “Know it alls”.
Do we really need to know all the answers?
Faith tells us to embrace the mystery.
It’s ok to wrap ourselves around the why’s, what’s, when’s, and how comes.
Hugging the question carries us into the mystery.
Thinking we have all the answers stops us in our path.
Let the why’s, what’s, how comes lead the way…
Answers will come when we arrive home…and we will have eternity to understand!
Really…it’s ok to hug the question mark today…and still be at peace.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” Is 55:8-9
The caterpillar grows, then hides itself within the confines of silken thread.
In the darkness of the cocoon a metamorphosis takes place.
Chemically disassembled and reconstructed.
New life begins to burst forth…
Fluid pumped from body into crumpled wings…
Beating against the cocoon to dry off.
Kicking, pushing away the silken threads of the old existence.
If one could watch, the process of “coming to be” painful to watch…
seems almost the struggle of death.
If one were to take pity and alleviate the struggle to become
by ever so carefully cutting open the cocoon.
The emerging butterfly would quickly die.
Without the struggle ….the butterfly is unable to dry its wings.
You see the butterfly needs the struggle…
It is part of the becoming.
If you take away the struggle, you take away life…you take away becoming the beauty meant to be….you take away the metamorphosis.
Give thanks for the struggle. Your Heavenly Father loves you so much He is drawing you to Him. And in the drawing you are becoming something new, beautiful, with wings to fly.
“People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the the skins burst, the wine spills out and the skins are ruined. rather they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matt 9:17
Life is full of ups and downs….
Mountain tops to valleys…
Flying high….to flat on our face
Quickened heart beat when we run…
Slower beat when we rest.
Fast breathing in a hurry…
Peaceful breathing when we sleep.
Yes, Life is full of ups and downs.
Our hearts tell this story.
Our hearts live this story.
Sometimes we wish the ups and downs didn’t have to happen.
That life could be even keel….perfectly balanced.
But, ups and down….such is the way of life.
Ups and downs….such IS life.
For we all know that a flat line announces death.
“The God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory through Christ Jesus will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. ” 1 Reter 5:10
Live in your space…
Uniquely yours, God’s gift to you,
where YOU can make a difference.
Not the space of was and were.
Not the space of should be, could be, would be.
This space is the present…
The miracle of the here and now…
Right where God has placed you.
In union with the great “I AM”.
Immersed in the great “I AM”.
Leave behind the yesterdays…
Let tomorrows become todays.
LIVE in the “I AM”….LOVE in the “I AM”
This is a good day to do great things…
In your space….where God has placed you…
Immersed in Him who is “I AM”!
“We were indeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised form the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. ” Rom 6:4
When the pieces of life seem scattered and a mess…
Faith is the glue that puts it all together.
When the picture of God’s plan seems unrecognizable…
Faith is the glue that puts it all together.
On mountains, through valleys, in darkness, in light…
Faith is the glue that puts it all together.
Stick to Him. The masterpiece will soon be revealed.
“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me, Yes, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29: 11-13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VtiHkkbq18&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL8FFFBDC510C33D37
(This is a video I recently saw…had to share…pretty amazing isn’t it?)
through Him with Him in Him... 