Man...

I just love Jesus.

Being in His presence ALL the time...

I've had quite a lot of incredible experiences lately. I see God in everything these days. You ever just feel like there is something more to this thing we call "being a Christian?" Well, I'm here to tell you there's a whole lot more. There's a fullness that we can experience in our Christian walk that is like nothing else. Once you've tasted His glory, you'll never want to go back to being a "normal" Christian again.

I have learned that half the battle is just being so wrapped up in Jesus' love for us. He loves us and we are saved by grace and by grace alone. End of story. He sent His beloved son to die so that we might be saved and through Jesus alone, we will one day meet our Father. He allowed His son to die so that we don't have to. He allowed the world to kill the Son of God to create many Sons of God. What an honor to be a child of the utmost?!

Anyhoo.... so yesterday, I had to run some errands for work. I know this sounds crazy, but I do work... sometimes. ;o) I went up to Walgreens to get some stuff. I was in the checkout line and all of a sudden God just downloaded some things to me about the cashier. She was an elderly woman who had such a gentle spirit. I heard in my spirit that she had been praying for one of her daughters for a very long time and that this daughter was sick in some way. I also felt as though she had asked God for confirmation that he hears her prayers. He continued to tell me more about the situation as I began to ask... well what do you want me to do Lord? He said tell her. As she was handing me back my change, I very nonchalantly asked if she had a daughter. He said yes and that she actually had three. Then she wanted to know why I was asking. Well, I went on to tell her exactly what God had shared with me about her daughter and that her healing was coming if she remained diligent in her prayers about this particular situation. She began to cry and I could tell God was touching her. It was incredible. God was able to minister to her on such a personal level. I then asked her if I could just pray for her and her daughter right there in the line. She was more than obliged. I was awestruck. God is simply amazing.

I left knowing that He had spoken to both of us with such accuracy that there was no room to discredit His power. Needless to say, I love Jesus.

That's not all... it's more than enough, but that's not it for the miraculous of events for yesterday. I then walked out of Walgreens to see this guy on crutches walking down the road. I heard as plain as day... pick him up. I was like Jesus...lol, you sure about this? He was sure.

Anyhoo, I then was able to talk to this guy the entire trip to Red Bank. God ministered to him as well and continued to blow me away.

The day was full of constant things happening like that... and was incredible to say the least. I say all of this though, for no other reason than to just give God glory and encourage each of you to walk in the fullness of His glory and what He has in store for your life. He has given you so much to operate in even now in your walk. Take up your cross daily and allow Him to be Lord over all...

Until later... Be blessed and be a blessing.

Strength...

It's funny how God has many of your friends deal with the same issues you deal with, simultaneously.

A friend of mine wrote this and I think it says a lot. Check it out...

"Strength is perfection in weakness.
Strength is not resistance to change.
Strength is not durability, nor is it longevity.
Strength is perfection in weakness.
Strength is wrought with inability.
It is infused with shortcomings and limitations.
Strength is perfection in weakness.
Strength is not something you strive for, it is something that is bestowed.
Strength cannot be seized, because you have no access to it naturally.
Strength has nothing to do with being strong; it has everything to do with being weak.
Strength cannot come in a day, it may not even come in a year, strength may not even surface in a decade.
Strength is perfection in weakness.
Strength has nothing to do with you.
Strength has everything to do with Him.
Strength is the end of your road, and the beginning of His.
Strength will fail you inevitably, weakness will persist indefinitely.
But that’s when it all happens.
That’s when you give up.
That’s when you surrender.
That’s when HIS strength is made perfect in YOUR weakness.
Strength has nothing to do with being strong; it has everything to do with weakness.
Strength is perfection in weakness."

So if you ever see someone that is strong or seems to posses a lot of strength, if it is indeed TRUE strength, then you are looking at a very weak person.
Strength is a measure of your weakness. Be vulnerable. Be weak.

Going off of that... man, you ever feel like nothing is going right? You have your head above water, but just barely. You are constantly asking God to put you where He wants you and you see no change. You have asked God to search your heart and bring any hidden sin to light so that it can be taken care of... but yet again, you are dealing with all of your issues, but seeing no results. This is when God is screaming at us, "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!!"

God reminded me of this recently. He said something like, "When are you going to stop asking me to take action, and start asking me if you can be a part of MY action?"

Whoa nelly... talkin' about a reality check. I had to stand back and think for a moment. All the things I'm asking God to do or let me be apart of, did I ever really ask Him for His advice? Did I ever consult Him on His desires? Were they based out of selfish motives or were they truly for the kingdom?

Fact is... we have to daily surrender to His plans, His will, and His ways. I know for me, my flesh is weak. My heart is fragile. If I'm not careful, I begin thinking that God is a God of contingency, but He's not. It's not a work based faith. He must know our hearts are pure.... He knows our motives. I've been comforted that if things aren't going exactly how you had planned, praise God. He sees the whole picture. He sees how we must be in order to truly fulfill our destiny in the kingdom. It's all about Him and His kingdom... bottom line. When we forget that, sure... things don't go right. We get frustrated. We get angry and hurt. It's ok... He holds your heart more closely than even you in your own chest. Be relieved He has your best interest in mind. He wouldn't withhold from you the treasures He's prepared for you. It's about timing and readiness? Are you ready?

Be Blessed, til later....

Sovereignty.

Well, it's been a while. I have been incredibly busy and alot has changed in my life over the past month or so.

Again, I am blown away by God's sovereignty, period. He's got everything under control. Sometimes God likes to remind us of that. It's almost as if he says, "Hey, you. Calm down. I got it. Let me move." I love Jesus. Yay God.

I've been learning alot about the perfect will of God and the unity in the body recently. Have you ever been in such a close nit group that when one is hurting, the other knows and helps, without fail? When someone is happy, the other knows it just by default? It's awesome to see God's supernatural power in these things. He wants to get involved in our every day life, but we have to welcome Him. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman and will not go where He's not wanted... keep that in mind. If we want God to do big things, we have to usher those big things in. Half the battle is knowing that God can do more than we can imagine, but He can. Scripture tells us just how much can do and more.

You know... it's so easy to get frustrated with people. They will let you down and disappoint you and you them. It's natural. We have the ability to be slaves to righteousness once saved, but it's so hard to walk the straight and narrow. The past 2 days.... wow. I have a hard time dealing with stupid people, but God says love them anyway. Praise Jesus, it is He who lives within me.

I must die to myself daily in order to live as Christ lives. I'm just a conduit who's available.

Love and be love.

Life... is good.

I love the fact that life is good, no matter what the circumstances. It's amazing how our perspective of good and bad change as our hearts change and mature. We realize that people everywhere are suffering... some for the sake of Christ, others because they constantly put themselves in situations of sheer torture and pain. I truly just want people to walk in the fullness of the Lord, by whatever means necessary. I want people to experience the supernatural powers of our Savior. Need healing? He's our medical insurance. Need financial help? He's our money tree. Need friends? He's our comforter. Need life? He's our salvation.

It's so beautiful. God is on our side. Believe it. Live it.

Funny story....

So God is incredibly providential but loves to get a laugh in every once in a while. I go home the other day, go in my house, and for some reason leave my windows down in my car. I never do this... but God knew what was goin' down...lol.

I change clothes, get my cell, lock the door, and walk right back out... without my keys, car and house.

Well, I never grab only my cell either, but so I did this time. Praise Jesus, because I don't have a spare key hidden anywhere around. So, I immediately start praying and God places someone on my heart to call.

Long story short, this person helped me break into my own house over the phone (that I never have without my keys), using a credit card (that came out of my car with the windows down...lol).

Needless to say, I was relieved to get in my house, but I then realized that I need new locks. :o)

I think as we grow in our walk, it's not that God blesses us more, it's that we see how much God does bless us. God is in the little, big, and between. May we be more sensitive to His spirit and know He is God. Amen.

Prayer & Responsibility

God's really been teaching me a lot about prayer and intercession lately and it's so interesting that I have got to share. Feel free to talk to me about any of this... I'd love to dive deeper.

I know you've heard people say God doesn't need us, He'll do it with us or without us. This is very true, but the fact is, He wants to accomplish all things through us... big difference. Let me explain this as best I can.

Fact: God can, but will not disobey His own rules. Example: God is loving and kind, merciful and gracious, but must be just and show wrath at other times. When He says the wrong shall be punished, He has to finish what He starts. The important thing is God is so loving and kind He never wants to hurt us, kill us, only discipline us... in order for us to grow. It's just that sometimes it's necessary to do the hard and what we deem as "unfair" stuff to the body because He can NOT contradict himself.

This brings me to the next revelation. God is sovereign, but what does that really mean right? His whole purpose in creation was to glorify Himself. Sounds selfish, but... He did this so that we in turn can have eternal life and be blessed throughout our life here on earth. It was and is the best for us.

He calls us to do certain things. People say you're supposed to pray just because God says to, but then people say, why should I pray if God is going to do what he wants to regardless? Here is where we miss the boat. God, in His awesomeness... first made the choice to work through us, thus He must finish the work in which He starts in us. If God did everything for us and we just lived in a great world with no sin, where there was no evil, how would be know just how truly blessed we are? We wouldn't because we'd have no comparison, so that in turn would not be the most glorifying thing for Himself and definitely would not bless us or be most beneficial for us. Follow me?

Ok... bare with me for just a few more minutes. Back to prayer... God calls us to pray. Yes, He could do what he wanted without us praying, but here's the thing. Our prayers do work. Our prayers do make a difference because it's the purest way God uses us to "intercede" for others and sometimes even ourselves. We admit our shortcomings and say God I need your help. We pleed for mercy and He gives because He is gracious. See, His desire is to love... more than anything. He says "Ask and it shall be given... Seek, knock..." This must be taken in context, but here's the point of this. God's rule was to work through us, therefore needing us to plea for others and pray in thankfulness. We intercede (Note: Misconception is that people think this means prayer itself, it doesn't... it is defined as a "meeting; go between") for what God places on our heart.

For instance, you know when someone just comes to mind. You don't know why but let's say you call them. Sometimes God places those people on our hearts for more than us just calling. He may want you and me to pray for them. They may be in danger, having a rough day, or even worse. God uses us to help others. We're responsible for this as well. Ignoring the call, or heart, is ignoring God and what you could and may prevent or aid in preventing by "pleading" the case for someone else.

Now let's take this a step further. This truly explains why catastrophic events ever happen. It really does. Keep in mind, it's all a part of the plan and God knows what is to come, but He ordains us to be a part of that.

Let's take that huge tsunami that hit Thailand a few years back. Who's to say God didn't place that nation on a group of believers' hearts to pray for them as a whole and stop that wave. Can you imagine a band of angels being commanded out of heaven to stand before that city at the edge of the sea and hold back the water. What a sight?! A true miracle of God. Who's to say He didn't place on the heart of His people somewhere, but they ignored the call. They ignored the calling to intercede on that nation's behalf. Now grant it, sometimes God just does things, but think about it... We're all wicked if we go back to the basics of the fall. Our nature is sinful. You don't have to teach a child to lie. You have to teach them not to. Therefore, ultimately we all deserve eternal damnation. So when we look at the tragedies like this... we can then "understand" why those things happen. God wants to do good through us by therefore using us to get His work done. This goes back to the whole principle that God won't break His own rules. He wants us to intercede for others because He wants everyone to have a chance. He doesn't want the "innocent" to die but sometimes it's necessary to live out His own provisions.

This puts so much more emphasis and importance on prayer. We have a responsibility to pray for those whom God places on our heart. It's a duty and privelege to know we're helping in a much bigger plan. We really do make a difference. This whole concept also makes the phrase "their blood will be on your hands" so much more real. It's literal to a degree. If God calls us to intercede and we don't, and He has to follow His rules and wipe whomever out.... blood on our hands. Judgment by God will fall on us as individuals, if He had placed it on our hearts to help in intervening.

Now, this doesn't mean we need to be scared that we're killing people if we don't pray. It just means we need to be sensitive to the spirit. We need to be walking and talking with Jesus daily so that when He speaks it's not so distant that we can't hear or understand Him. He must be our first priority. We can be better used when He is ALL we desire. Our desires then are transformed into His desires. We need to live like a Christian and not just "be" one. You never know when the person you may be interceding for is one of your own.

All this fits so perfectly together. It's amazing just how sovereign and intricate our God really is.

Until later... Love and be love.