Friday, June 20, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
MY REAL MORNING COFFEE!
June 14, 2014
Summer is here and kids are out of school. What a difference that makes. I'm on a good schedule and then BAM! Schedule's blown and now I'm on an entirely different schedule - a new one of my own making, though I marvel at how fast the process takes place and it's hard to get back to the old schedule which was working so well.
I used to send my child off to school and when my house was quiet, I would pray. I like to start the day out right. When I can't pray before leaving the house in the morning, I feel as if something isn't right. It isn't that God is angry with me that I didn't pray, or bad things happen to me throughout the day. It is just that closeness that I crave and feel as if something is amiss when I don't have it. Jesus is my morning coffee!
This morning I opened my eyes and my first thought was to roll out of bed and pray while the house was still quiet but I didn't. I stayed up much later that usual and I was more tired that usual so I rolled over and fell back to sleep again and didn't wake until my six year old came bounding in my bedroom, nagging me like an annoying alarm clock with no snooze button.
Once my day starts, it's busy and I don't have many opportunities to spend with the LORD. Today was no exception. The Holy Spirit was nudging me to go pray and instead I had my coffee and checked emails. Again, He nudged me to go pray but this time it was breakfast that was the pressing issue.
Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for work. I thought (again) that I'd have time to get some prayer time in before heading out the door but my mom called with a request that would require me to leave even earlier than I had planned, leaving me no time to pray. That is always the case when you are busy. Things happen that make you even busier yet, it never fails.
Do you know what one of the biggest lies the enemy tells us? - That we have plenty of time and can "get to it later". Imagine waiting in a doctor's office and you are told "he'll see you eventually. Or your sitting at a red light and it will turn green "one of these days". That kind "of thing doesn't sit well with us. We get so annoyed when the person in front of us doesn't gun the engine the second the light turns green - horns are blaring. Why then, do we do that to God? We start out with good intentions, then He slides to the #2 position and before we know it, we stop reading His word everyday, we stop praying and praising Him, we might even stop going to church. Satan is all happy with this. He whispers lies in our ears that we have nothing to worry about, it's all good. God will always be there for us. We can come to Him anytime we want (just not now). And the sad part is...we buy the lie.
I was being selfish this morning, plain and simple. There is no way around it. It was pure unadulterated selfishness on my part. I wanted to do what I wanted to do and so I did and then felt horrible after that I didn't give God two minutes of my time.
For me it was a lack of praying; for you it may be something else that He is calling you to do and you are dragging your feet, perhaps it's coming to Christ for the first time or after backsliding. Whatever it may be, soon the decision will be made for us, only not by us, but the LORD and Hebrews 10:31 tells us "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God".
We are told in Isaiah 55:6 seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Next time I will be more in tune to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to my heart - I won't be selfish, and will seek Him early.
Blessings to you all. May God grant you the will to seek Him will all diligence while He may be found.
James 27:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Summer is here and kids are out of school. What a difference that makes. I'm on a good schedule and then BAM! Schedule's blown and now I'm on an entirely different schedule - a new one of my own making, though I marvel at how fast the process takes place and it's hard to get back to the old schedule which was working so well.
I used to send my child off to school and when my house was quiet, I would pray. I like to start the day out right. When I can't pray before leaving the house in the morning, I feel as if something isn't right. It isn't that God is angry with me that I didn't pray, or bad things happen to me throughout the day. It is just that closeness that I crave and feel as if something is amiss when I don't have it. Jesus is my morning coffee!
This morning I opened my eyes and my first thought was to roll out of bed and pray while the house was still quiet but I didn't. I stayed up much later that usual and I was more tired that usual so I rolled over and fell back to sleep again and didn't wake until my six year old came bounding in my bedroom, nagging me like an annoying alarm clock with no snooze button.
Once my day starts, it's busy and I don't have many opportunities to spend with the LORD. Today was no exception. The Holy Spirit was nudging me to go pray and instead I had my coffee and checked emails. Again, He nudged me to go pray but this time it was breakfast that was the pressing issue.
Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for work. I thought (again) that I'd have time to get some prayer time in before heading out the door but my mom called with a request that would require me to leave even earlier than I had planned, leaving me no time to pray. That is always the case when you are busy. Things happen that make you even busier yet, it never fails.
Do you know what one of the biggest lies the enemy tells us? - That we have plenty of time and can "get to it later". Imagine waiting in a doctor's office and you are told "he'll see you eventually. Or your sitting at a red light and it will turn green "one of these days". That kind "of thing doesn't sit well with us. We get so annoyed when the person in front of us doesn't gun the engine the second the light turns green - horns are blaring. Why then, do we do that to God? We start out with good intentions, then He slides to the #2 position and before we know it, we stop reading His word everyday, we stop praying and praising Him, we might even stop going to church. Satan is all happy with this. He whispers lies in our ears that we have nothing to worry about, it's all good. God will always be there for us. We can come to Him anytime we want (just not now). And the sad part is...we buy the lie.
I was being selfish this morning, plain and simple. There is no way around it. It was pure unadulterated selfishness on my part. I wanted to do what I wanted to do and so I did and then felt horrible after that I didn't give God two minutes of my time.
For me it was a lack of praying; for you it may be something else that He is calling you to do and you are dragging your feet, perhaps it's coming to Christ for the first time or after backsliding. Whatever it may be, soon the decision will be made for us, only not by us, but the LORD and Hebrews 10:31 tells us "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God".
We are told in Isaiah 55:6 seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Next time I will be more in tune to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to my heart - I won't be selfish, and will seek Him early.
Blessings to you all. May God grant you the will to seek Him will all diligence while He may be found.
James 27:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Friday, June 6, 2014
ARISE, WAKE FROM YOUR SLUMBER AND FIGHT!
June 6, 2014
ARISE, WAKE FROM YOUR SLUMBER AND FIGHT!
As I was praying this morning the LORD gave me this word:
Now is not a time for slackness on the part of My people. Wake up, and see the darkness that has come. It surrounds you. Rise up! Take the armor that I give you - be clothed in it and fight the good fight.
My people you are living in dangerous times. You will need My protection, and you shall have it. In this time of worry and strife, you shall have provision at My hand. You are more than conquers in Me. You are heirs in My kingdom; don't let the enemy tell you otherwise, for he is a liar and the father of lies. He roams the earth seeking the weak as his prey. Be strong My people, that he will flee from you. For he will see that you are in Me as I AM in the Father, and he will run from you.
Push back the darkness that creeps into your lives. Don't allow it any access, for it will surely take over if you do.
I have given My people a time of rest to refresh you in body, mind, and spirit, but now I say to you, the time of rest is over. It is time to charge forward and win souls into My kingdom. My great harvest is at hand and I AM sending out the workers to gather in the lost. The enemy knows this - he knows his time is very short indeed and he works tirelessly to interrupt My plans, but he will not succeed.
Pray for those you know who need an outpouring of My grace. Pray for your families, friends, and neighbors who have not yet, accepted Me and My free gift of salvation. Pray for those who are sitting on the fence, who think they know Me but they do not. Pray for the workers going out into the harvest fields that I will refresh them anew with a zeal for the lost that they will be successful in the task that I have set before them.
And pray for yourselves that I will continue to cover you with My precious and holy blood that no harm shall come to you. Be strong in Me and don't waiver in your walk with Me. I will surely do amazing things and bring you safely home.
Ephesians 6:10 -17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Luke 10:2 Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Revelation 12:12 "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time".
James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
S.O.S.
June 5, 2014
The other day I was sitting at a traffic light when I looked over and saw a tow truck next to me. I've seen a hundred of them but never noticed this one special feature - the part of the tow that goes under the vehicle to lift it up was in the shape of a cross. How ironic that the most important part of a tow truck was shaped like a cross. There there to help us when we break down but who do we call when we break down spiritually, emotionally, or physically? Shouldn't it be JESUS, the One who created us and loves us unconditionally? Why is it that so often when we find ourselves in a tough spot, we look to others around us, or we look to crutches like cigarettes and alcohol to comfort us? Shouldn't our very first thought be to bring our cares to Him? He tells us to do just that - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28) Don't we trust Him enough to love us and care for us? Why then do we repeatedly look elsewhere first? Matthew 7:9-11 says: Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Isn't it interesting that Jesus refers to us as "evil" and yet we give good gifts to our own. How then can a completely Holy God give bad gifts? He is simply incapable!
Just before this verse in Matthew 7:7 Jesus tells us "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. An important observation here is that we are told that EVERYONE who asks receives, not just some people, the absolute righteous perhaps (because we know there is no such person) but everyone. Why then do we ask and not receive? Is there some secret? The key to asking for things is to first make sure it is in alignment with His divine will. God is not going cause us to win the lottery so that we can buy our dream house, because He knows that will ultimately corrupt our walk with Him. Secondly, we must believe that we will receive what we ask Him for. Believing Him for what we don't see yet, is our faith in action. Mark 11:24, Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. So we must first, make sure that what we are asking for isn't going against the will of God and secondly, we need to exercise our faith and BELIEVE that He will provide those things that we are asking for.
Remember: Jesus is way more than just a tow truck driver who is there when we need Him to get us out of a jam. He created us, He loves us, and He seeks a relationship with us. He is always there even when we don't feel His presence, even when we sin against Him - He is faithful to forgive us when we repent and turn back to Him.
The LORD does use other people to bring comfort to us when we need it, but we should never make that person an idol, nor any other thing that steals away our affection and consumes our time.
The other day I was sitting at a traffic light when I looked over and saw a tow truck next to me. I've seen a hundred of them but never noticed this one special feature - the part of the tow that goes under the vehicle to lift it up was in the shape of a cross. How ironic that the most important part of a tow truck was shaped like a cross. There there to help us when we break down but who do we call when we break down spiritually, emotionally, or physically? Shouldn't it be JESUS, the One who created us and loves us unconditionally? Why is it that so often when we find ourselves in a tough spot, we look to others around us, or we look to crutches like cigarettes and alcohol to comfort us? Shouldn't our very first thought be to bring our cares to Him? He tells us to do just that - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28) Don't we trust Him enough to love us and care for us? Why then do we repeatedly look elsewhere first? Matthew 7:9-11 says: Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Isn't it interesting that Jesus refers to us as "evil" and yet we give good gifts to our own. How then can a completely Holy God give bad gifts? He is simply incapable!
Just before this verse in Matthew 7:7 Jesus tells us "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. An important observation here is that we are told that EVERYONE who asks receives, not just some people, the absolute righteous perhaps (because we know there is no such person) but everyone. Why then do we ask and not receive? Is there some secret? The key to asking for things is to first make sure it is in alignment with His divine will. God is not going cause us to win the lottery so that we can buy our dream house, because He knows that will ultimately corrupt our walk with Him. Secondly, we must believe that we will receive what we ask Him for. Believing Him for what we don't see yet, is our faith in action. Mark 11:24, Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. So we must first, make sure that what we are asking for isn't going against the will of God and secondly, we need to exercise our faith and BELIEVE that He will provide those things that we are asking for.
Remember: Jesus is way more than just a tow truck driver who is there when we need Him to get us out of a jam. He created us, He loves us, and He seeks a relationship with us. He is always there even when we don't feel His presence, even when we sin against Him - He is faithful to forgive us when we repent and turn back to Him.
The LORD does use other people to bring comfort to us when we need it, but we should never make that person an idol, nor any other thing that steals away our affection and consumes our time.
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