The guests at a certain hotel were being rendered uncomfortable by repeated strumming on a piano,done by a little girl who had no knowledge of music. They complained to the proprietor with a view of having the annoyance stopped. 'I am sorry you are annoyed' he said. 'But the girl is a child of one of my very best guests. I can scarcely ask her not to touch the piano. But her father,who is away for a day or so,will return tomorrow. You can then approach him,and have the matter set right.' When the father returned, he found his daughter in the reception-room and, as usual,thumping on the piano. He walked up behind the child and, putting his arms over her shoulders, took her hands in his,and produced some most beautiful music. Thus may it be with us, and thus will it be, some coming day. Just now , we can produce little but clamour and disharmony; but one day the Lord Jesus will take our hands of faith and prayer, and use them to bring forth the music of the skies."
ANON (Taken from an E.M. Bounds' book on prayer.)
Isn't that worth praising the Father for!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I don't feel like being a Christian today. Part 2
If you haven't read I don't feel like being a Christian-Part One yet...STOP!!!!!
Simon Peter
He was a man who was very close to Christ. Always up front, walked on water,and was a go-getter. He also told Christ that no matter what happened, whether everyone else left Jesus, he wouldn't. Christ told him that the Adversary wanted to sift him like wheat....just like Job. He did. Peter denied that he knew Christ three times, each time more and more belligerent...even unto cussing and swearing. Peter was ashamed after the rooster crowed and like that.... the veil had finally been lifted from his eyes. Would you believe I actually told God 3 years ago I would not be like Peter, I'd be strong. Guess what. Yep. Worse. I was two hours away from walking away from God completely. Nothing in me wanted to still follow. It was only God himself that kept me.
Do you depend on your own strength to follow God? I have that weakness...God has been very patient with me on that.
Do you follow God for the blessings? Because you were told to?
He is the I AM after all.
Like in marriage, you wouldn't marry someone just because you like the way they look, the way they treat you, or fleeting emotions would you?
I'm not married, so I am just comparing this to people who I've seen with good marriages. They aren't the ones whose lives were rainbows. They had their battles. Still do. One thing different is that they don't see marriage as a thing to get out of. They may not feel like loving their spouse some days, the looks that attracted them may have faded, and attitudes may have faded. But they are constant. One major thing that connects them is Christ. They are children of God devoted to him, so they devote themselves to each other as to God.
Never give up. Even when the world falls apart around you! Blessings to your week dear readers!
Simon Peter
He was a man who was very close to Christ. Always up front, walked on water,and was a go-getter. He also told Christ that no matter what happened, whether everyone else left Jesus, he wouldn't. Christ told him that the Adversary wanted to sift him like wheat....just like Job. He did. Peter denied that he knew Christ three times, each time more and more belligerent...even unto cussing and swearing. Peter was ashamed after the rooster crowed and like that.... the veil had finally been lifted from his eyes. Would you believe I actually told God 3 years ago I would not be like Peter, I'd be strong. Guess what. Yep. Worse. I was two hours away from walking away from God completely. Nothing in me wanted to still follow. It was only God himself that kept me.
Do you depend on your own strength to follow God? I have that weakness...God has been very patient with me on that.
Do you follow God for the blessings? Because you were told to?
He is the I AM after all.
Like in marriage, you wouldn't marry someone just because you like the way they look, the way they treat you, or fleeting emotions would you?
I'm not married, so I am just comparing this to people who I've seen with good marriages. They aren't the ones whose lives were rainbows. They had their battles. Still do. One thing different is that they don't see marriage as a thing to get out of. They may not feel like loving their spouse some days, the looks that attracted them may have faded, and attitudes may have faded. But they are constant. One major thing that connects them is Christ. They are children of God devoted to him, so they devote themselves to each other as to God.
Never give up. Even when the world falls apart around you! Blessings to your week dear readers!
I don't feel like being a Christian today. Part 1
Well...It is the truth!!
Today started fairly like any other...well maybe not.
Last night I dreamt that I created an altar to an unknown god. At this altar, the lady who attended it basically told me that this was a secret altar. It immediately caused anger to stir up in me! And against the grain of what I felt was right in my dream, I violently destroyed the altar! I woke up with the belief that this was a dream from the Father.
So as I prepared for the day I felt like He would reveal a "high place" in me that was secret. And I asked Him to reveal it! (If you ever want to grow, sometimes it takes this, no matter how earth-shattering it may feel like!)
DID HE EVER ANSWER!!!!!!!!!
I had a situation with a fellow worker within 5 minutes of entering the job I work at! Normally it would have just been an irritation, but today it felt as if I was a liar for claiming that I was God's. I didn't feel like being who I was! An Overcomer! I wanted to dredge around in rage and spew on everyone! Don't know if I did leak any but for the longest time I hated the restraints of being who I was really carried. But you can probably glean from my dream explanation that I do often "go against the grain" of my feelings. I asked some brothers to pray for me. If an verse could explain it the best it would be James 5:16. It was so true! Within 30 minutes God gave me peace to believe again. Being a disciple is beyond feeling like you are.
What is your foundation in Christ? A feeling? Someone else's faith? I've been in both of those. Both lead to great disappointment.
You see...like the parable of the two houses, God sends the Adversary to test our foundation. Hopefully before it is too late, but all the same...
Like both Job and Simon Peter.
With Job, God allowed the Adversary to take everything from him. To give him one thing. Himself. He was the most blessed man in the land. He, like many of us are very blessed. The adversary basically beat his body physically and mentally, till he finally called out for an explanation of why he was going through this. I've actually been to this place many times with God. Job's friends told him he deserved what he got. His wife told him to curse God. Basically to throw in the towel. God then showed up and told Job that he needed humility in coming before Him. He openly rebuked Job's friends and told them that their only salvation was to give Job animals to sacrifice and ask for Job to pray for them. Job prayed...and because of the one possesion he obtained, he was given increase for giving.
See I don't feel like being a Christian today-Part 2for the rest
Today started fairly like any other...well maybe not.
Last night I dreamt that I created an altar to an unknown god. At this altar, the lady who attended it basically told me that this was a secret altar. It immediately caused anger to stir up in me! And against the grain of what I felt was right in my dream, I violently destroyed the altar! I woke up with the belief that this was a dream from the Father.
So as I prepared for the day I felt like He would reveal a "high place" in me that was secret. And I asked Him to reveal it! (If you ever want to grow, sometimes it takes this, no matter how earth-shattering it may feel like!)
DID HE EVER ANSWER!!!!!!!!!
I had a situation with a fellow worker within 5 minutes of entering the job I work at! Normally it would have just been an irritation, but today it felt as if I was a liar for claiming that I was God's. I didn't feel like being who I was! An Overcomer! I wanted to dredge around in rage and spew on everyone! Don't know if I did leak any but for the longest time I hated the restraints of being who I was really carried. But you can probably glean from my dream explanation that I do often "go against the grain" of my feelings. I asked some brothers to pray for me. If an verse could explain it the best it would be James 5:16. It was so true! Within 30 minutes God gave me peace to believe again. Being a disciple is beyond feeling like you are.
What is your foundation in Christ? A feeling? Someone else's faith? I've been in both of those. Both lead to great disappointment.
You see...like the parable of the two houses, God sends the Adversary to test our foundation. Hopefully before it is too late, but all the same...
Like both Job and Simon Peter.
With Job, God allowed the Adversary to take everything from him. To give him one thing. Himself. He was the most blessed man in the land. He, like many of us are very blessed. The adversary basically beat his body physically and mentally, till he finally called out for an explanation of why he was going through this. I've actually been to this place many times with God. Job's friends told him he deserved what he got. His wife told him to curse God. Basically to throw in the towel. God then showed up and told Job that he needed humility in coming before Him. He openly rebuked Job's friends and told them that their only salvation was to give Job animals to sacrifice and ask for Job to pray for them. Job prayed...and because of the one possesion he obtained, he was given increase for giving.
See I don't feel like being a Christian today-Part 2for the rest
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Remember who you are!
This day started pretty rough. I've been struggling (well more like insecure) with where I am with God recently. All day today it felt like I was a carrying a huge stone on my back. Many things even until just after the evening teaching we had tonight, I was mopey. I had just went into a friend's house (who lives next door) for help. God met me there. In a way I didn't expect.
I don't know how many of you have seen "The Lion King." It is a cartoon about a son who ran from his problems and ends up having to go back and face his problems head on.
Well....I walked in on the part where his father "talked" to him from beyond the clouds. The father tells his son that he has forgotten about him. In the forgetting that he was heir to the kingdom and acted as an exile he had forgotten the father. He told the son "REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE! YOU ARE MY SON AND KING!"
That hit me. I had forgotten my Father in my problems. By both choosing to dwell on my sorrow and acting as if I were still a slave of sin. By forgetting that I am a child of God, I allowed my sorrow to become bigger than God himself. He wanted me all day to manifest joy but I had been in a state of turmoil.
Most amazing is that he waited on me.
How often do you forget that you are a child of God? To manifest his presence with joy?
Joy means so much more than happiness. It is second to Love. Called a "fruit" of the spirit and comes from the Father as a by-product of having the Spirit manifest in you.
I encourage you to thank God every single day if you really are the Lover's. He claimed you as his own from the beginning. That Christ came for you! That he left the Father's right hand as a representative to you that you are loved and he desires you!
The enemy works really hard to drag us from this truth.
So... REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
I don't know how many of you have seen "The Lion King." It is a cartoon about a son who ran from his problems and ends up having to go back and face his problems head on.
Well....I walked in on the part where his father "talked" to him from beyond the clouds. The father tells his son that he has forgotten about him. In the forgetting that he was heir to the kingdom and acted as an exile he had forgotten the father. He told the son "REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE! YOU ARE MY SON AND KING!"
That hit me. I had forgotten my Father in my problems. By both choosing to dwell on my sorrow and acting as if I were still a slave of sin. By forgetting that I am a child of God, I allowed my sorrow to become bigger than God himself. He wanted me all day to manifest joy but I had been in a state of turmoil.
Most amazing is that he waited on me.
How often do you forget that you are a child of God? To manifest his presence with joy?
Joy means so much more than happiness. It is second to Love. Called a "fruit" of the spirit and comes from the Father as a by-product of having the Spirit manifest in you.
I encourage you to thank God every single day if you really are the Lover's. He claimed you as his own from the beginning. That Christ came for you! That he left the Father's right hand as a representative to you that you are loved and he desires you!
The enemy works really hard to drag us from this truth.
So... REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A confession and hope for going on.
First of all, dear readers, Happy New Beginning.
Within the past year, I have learned many things, unlearned a few, and fell too many times to count.
Yet.....
With all the the mistakes,blunders, and selfish actions....God still has not left.
His love is completely humiliating to me. It convicts me sometimes and others have completely ignored his calling.
I've written the past few years about the amazing love of God, But absolute truth is there are still corners of my heart that evade his complete control. There is no place for me to feel sorry for my self in this..
This year I hope that he give only Himself...So much that if He were to withdraw himself, I would feel it.
Also, that this year I'd like to rest. I know now that my striving to be good comes to naught. I also know he is not disappointed in who he created and is not now either.
He calls me his beloved son. Just like Christ. I'm part of an inheritance that He wants on earth as it is in heaven.Part of His chosen Bride.
May his Bride go forth this year and be further purified by His hand. May we set ourselves aside for what he would give us.
Within the past year, I have learned many things, unlearned a few, and fell too many times to count.
Yet.....
With all the the mistakes,blunders, and selfish actions....God still has not left.
His love is completely humiliating to me. It convicts me sometimes and others have completely ignored his calling.
I've written the past few years about the amazing love of God, But absolute truth is there are still corners of my heart that evade his complete control. There is no place for me to feel sorry for my self in this..
This year I hope that he give only Himself...So much that if He were to withdraw himself, I would feel it.
Also, that this year I'd like to rest. I know now that my striving to be good comes to naught. I also know he is not disappointed in who he created and is not now either.
He calls me his beloved son. Just like Christ. I'm part of an inheritance that He wants on earth as it is in heaven.Part of His chosen Bride.
May his Bride go forth this year and be further purified by His hand. May we set ourselves aside for what he would give us.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A great project my friend is doing
Hi readers. Just wanted to put a small plug for my friend John Bob. It is a great cause if you are interested.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kickstarter.com%2Fprojects%2F1208808421%2Fthe-longing-debut-cd-and-amateur-community-studio&h=wAQH64mBeAQEpwcx-xQ48GUFAKSaDb_G2K21V1NuoTg3wFg
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kickstarter.com%2Fprojects%2F1208808421%2Fthe-longing-debut-cd-and-amateur-community-studio&h=wAQH64mBeAQEpwcx-xQ48GUFAKSaDb_G2K21V1NuoTg3wFg
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