Passion

Today I went to my women's life group but this week it was at the church and Zach Neese talked about Passion! He read from the Song of Solomon and talked about the women who responded to the knock at her door, in the middle of the night, when her love wanted to see her, and she responded with, well...I have taken off my robe, do I have to put it back on? I have washed my feet...do I have to soil them? She didn't respond with the same passion as her lover. Jesus pursues US with passion, he wants to KNOW us!! How do we respond to Him? Do we say well, I will have my "moment" with God when I am at church this Sunday, but do we realize that Jesus wants to have these "moments" with us when we least expect them! Maybe when we walk outside or see a beautiful sunrise, maybe when we are singing to praise music in the car. He wants to whisper things to us all day long, every moment is an opportunity to hear from God and seek him, but we have put them in the "Sunday" box. We say, " I will make time for you Sunday, God." I know I have done that...we get a sniff, just a tiny little sniff, or a goose bump, a little sense of his presence on Sunday and we will hold on to that to last us ALL week until next Sunday. WOW, I heard this today and it was FOR ME!! God wants MORE!!! He LONGS to be with us, to give more of himself to us and more of us to Him! I had a divine appointment today at Lifegroup, this was FOR ME! I have been going to church and getting a great sniff of his presence and maybe even at times had good intentions of leaving and spending time with Him throughout the week, but guess what happened. The worries and weights and cares of this world and just the DISTRACTIONS of my flesh have kept me from it. God is pulling on our hearts, He wants more, He deserves more. And if you are reading this right now...you are ready. I really felt God speak to me today and say something to me that I have known and heard a million times before but I got it in a new way today! He said...Lay down MORE of you (lay down my distractions, my worries, my weights) and then you can pick up MORE of me! Die to MYSELF, and have MORE of HIM! It's worth it...I know it is!! NOTHING can compare to what he has to offer me.

On a personal note, I just wanted to share this because I thought it was so sweet. At the end Zach said to pray and ask God how He sees us and also how He wants us to see Him. So I prayed and He told me that He sees me as a life-giver, that people seek after life...they are drawn to it and I am called to be a life-giver. (to me this means what I have known but he reiterated today-to encourage, edify,build up, praise other's) And that I am a precious gem to Him and I am one of a kind!! (that's how he sees you too) I asked Him how he wanted me to see Him and He said as a Shelter from the storm, a soft place to fall, a haven...that I am supposed to draw near to Him and he will equip me with what I need to take back out into the ugly, dark, disappointing world, and that when I go back to it after resting in Him, I will have what I need to deal with the trials and tribulations that I will have to face. So I encourage you to ask God this as well and let Him whisper this to you!! And lastly, I just want to pray over you what Zach prayed over us, which was that you will love God the least today...you will love Him more and more everyday and the distance between you from Him will shorten and shorten! Wow!! I hope this minister's to you as much as it did to me!!! Thanks for reading and letting me share it!!

Faith

"…faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead"
(James 2:17, NIV)

This is what I am learning right now! So I am stepping out and putting action behind my faith! I am trusting God! I am doing something that I could never dream up in my wildest dreams, I would never feel capable of doing, I would never have the guts to do! But I have faith in God. He has a plan for my life, he has given me visions of this plan, and so therefore I will put action behind my faith and go forward!! Scary but exciting!!

Fly

I had a revelation this weekend at our church's Encounter service. It was that God wants me to Fly...I have been struggling with everything that has happening around me, I have been focusing on the question's I have that I do not understand. God spoke to me and told me to let them go, let the questions go, HE is the answer and that is all I need to know. These questions I have, the storms going on around me are weighing me down. He wants me to surrender them so I can fly. Fly over the storm, be unmoved by them, remain centered in HIM regardless of what is going on around me or regardless of what I don't understand. I have made the decision to let go, so I can fly!! I already feel diferent! I hope that doesn't sound weird to you but makes sense! : )

Today's Word with Joel Osteen

I LOVE Joel Osteen!!! Everyone has an "opinion" about Pastor Joel, mine is that it seem's to me that the hand of GOD is on his ministry. I think his calling and his message is to share hope,love and happiness. I subscribe to his daily word, I get it via email. Everyday is good, and lately they have all been about praising God. I love it! Today's is SO good for me...I needed it, so I have to share it!

Get into Position

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
"Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth…"(Isaiah 54:1, NLT)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria
Sometimes, when we don't see our dreams and desires coming to pass, we can feel empty and barren like a woman who is unable to have children. But look at what this verse is saying: if you've got unborn promises, don't just sit around in defeat. Don't just give up and say, "Too bad for me." No, God says when you're barren, the first thing you need to do is sing a song of praise. You might think, "Well, Joel, I'm kind of depressed today. I'll sing after I have my 'baby.'" No, this passage wasn't written to people who were holding their baby and had seen their dreams come to pass. It was written to empty-armed people; people who didn't have what they were believing for. Do you know why? When you're giving God praise, do you know what you are doing? You are activating your faith and putting yourself into position to give birth to that promise. You are setting yourself up for God to move on your behalf.
Why don't you get into position today by singing a song of praise? All throughout the day, thank Him for what He is doing in your life and watch those dreams and desires come to pass.

Faith

Everything in my life right now is all about having Faith. I love the line in the song Faithful God that says "I can't see past this storm but I am counting on a Faithful God" and also "Your faith fullness, it will endure" I have been really discouraged lately...it's hard when you pray, pray, pray the same prayer for months or even years and you don't see it being answered. I have been praying for almost 9 months now that God would bring Jared a job and it hasn't happened yet, I have been praying for a family member for YEARS to be set free and it hasn't happened yet. I am discouraged. I have faith in God, I KNOW he is faithful, I know there will be things that don't make sense sometimes and we don't get the results that we want when we want them. But I also know he is working behind the scenes in these area's. I know I serve a Faithful God. Last night I was talking with a friend and sharing with her that I felt very discouraged and just exhausted. She prayed a very long prayer right there on the spot, it was powerful, and it was everything that was in my heart but was to tired to pray right now. I later thought, this is what God wants for us...when we can't stand in Faith, we need to surround ourselves with people that will stand in the gap for us. Do you have a friend that will pray immediately, boldly, over you? OR Will you be that friend to someone else? It's something to think about!

"If God is for us, who can ever be against us?"

It may seem like your facing some impossible challenges, but NOTHING is to difficult for God. Focus on Him instead of those challenges and have the faith that he is in control. He knows the end from the beginning and he has plans to keep you and not to harm you, plans of hope and a future.

Experiencing God's Overwhelming Love

We talked about this some at Lifegroup today and I have been thinking about it all day. I realized that I have reached a new and exciting level with God over the last few weeks and I want to share what I am feeling and thinking with you. For so long, I have been so focused on growing and learning, and more growing, and yet more learning. I am always consumed with what I NEED to learn and what I NEED to be better at and how I can grow spiritually. Over the last few weeks, I have felt overwhelming grace and love from God. Basically, I feel like I have entered this new level with God where he is telling me, Yes of course, I want you to keep growing and learning, but I want to overwhelm you NOW, where you are NOW with my grace, love, and presence. I think that I have thought, I have to be BETTER to have this, I had to know MORE to experience his love on this level, but God is saying to me, no,quit focusing so much on how shortcoming you are, and instead just receive what I have for you. The moments that I spend worshipping, praying, and seeking Him are SO different lately. Almost as though I just rest in Him. I don't have to work as hard,I don't have to constantly focus on the growing, even though it's important, I don't have to be "there" to be OVERWHELMED by Him. It's amazing. I hope that make sense. So I guess what I want to tell any of you, is quit beating yourself up about how far you need to go, and instead think of how far you have come. He wants to pour his love out to you on a new level that you have never experienced before and all you have to do to receive it. Seek Him, and have the faith that it can happen. Just pray a prayer and ask him to overwhelm you with His love. I pray you feel his love and grace on a whole new level!