Regardless the results of the election for President, this nation needs to turn back to God. For too long it has been turning its back on God. Prayer is not allowed in schools. Sexual perversions run rampant in the media and marketplace. Individuals, companies and government entities are overcome with greed. "Numero Uno" is the god above the Alpha and the Omega. It's legal to murder children before they are born, but it's inhumane to deprive inmates of cable TV or the Internet. Drunken oblivion and one-night-stands are humorous (i.e. "Two and a Half Men" and other comedies).
When will this nation awaken? It has reached a spiritual stupor. We, as Christians, need to gather to pray for this country. We are in the midst of a battle, and it isn't about party lines. It's taking place in the spiritual realms. A realm that most of America is blind to.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:13-26 (NIV)
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Rest in God alone
Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
~Psalm 62:1-2
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
~Psalm 37:5-6
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
~Psalm 56:3-4
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
~Psalm 91:2
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 4:4-7
(All above verses are from the NIV)
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my salvation comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
~Psalm 62:1-2
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
~Psalm 37:5-6
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
~Psalm 56:3-4
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
~Psalm 91:2
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 4:4-7
(All above verses are from the NIV)
Glo Bible Premium - PC - Home & Hobbies (Google Affiliate Ad)
Monday, October 22, 2012
Holy Spirit move me: take two
We saw the Holy Spirit move at church yesterday. What started out as ordinary Sunday worship quickly changed into something extraordinary. Holy Spirit took the service and ran with it. People were being healed. Others interceded for loved ones. We stood there praising God for over an hour, maybe almost two. I don't know how long it went really. It could have lasted all day if we hasn't dismissed.
My only regret is not going forward to the altar. I had just asked for prayer during our morning Bible study for my index finger that feels like I jammed it. It just doesn't want to bend properly right now. Why didn't I go forward? In writing earlier, my first attempt at this post which won't be posted, I came to the conclusion that it is because of fear. Fear that I will not receive the healing that others were receiving. The fear that I would just have to deal with it. Why can't I just go beyond that fear and experience freedom? I am praying for the heavens to open up again during service. The Holy Spirit is moving in our little church. We have already faced opposition from the enemy. The enemy has had to report an uprising. God is going to do things through this church. Big things. We don't know yet what God has in store for us. But we are prayerful and are continuing to seek Him.
My only regret is not going forward to the altar. I had just asked for prayer during our morning Bible study for my index finger that feels like I jammed it. It just doesn't want to bend properly right now. Why didn't I go forward? In writing earlier, my first attempt at this post which won't be posted, I came to the conclusion that it is because of fear. Fear that I will not receive the healing that others were receiving. The fear that I would just have to deal with it. Why can't I just go beyond that fear and experience freedom? I am praying for the heavens to open up again during service. The Holy Spirit is moving in our little church. We have already faced opposition from the enemy. The enemy has had to report an uprising. God is going to do things through this church. Big things. We don't know yet what God has in store for us. But we are prayerful and are continuing to seek Him.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Silence
Bible study this evening was an amazing study/discussion on spiritual warfare. This study will last several weeks and is from a series titled "The Invisible War". I'm not going to get to be there for all of the sessions in this study but I'm excited for this.
During the discussion we were asked to give a response to a question, which several people did. During Sunday morning Bible study there is always discussion and questions. Even last Sunday evening we had a sort of spontaneous meeting and were given the opportunity to discuss various topics and input our thoughts.
My problem is I may have something to say, but I rarely speak up. I never feel like I have anything worthwhile to say that will add to the conversation. Or I just don't want to interrupt. I don't like to talk over anyone to make my point heard. If I do have something to say and actually want to say it I will usually not speak very loudly at first. If no one hears me trying to get into the conversation I usually just hold on to the thought. Although after a few seconds my thought will escape if I don't write it down first!!
I think part of it too is that I'm a quality time/small group kind of person. With one to three people I'm usually fine talking. That's small enough of a group for me to actually get a chance to speak. I don't like trying to speak up in a group of more than four or five.
I just get so annoyed at myself for feeling like I had something I could say, something to add to the conversation, and I don't speak up.
The same goes for spiritual things as well. Every once in a while I may feel that Holy Spirit is doing something. Sometimes I'm able to discern what it is and speak that. Other times I can just sense that He is working, but on what specifically I'm not sure, so i may not say anything. If there's a specific picture I'm given, I can usually tell then what I'm supposed to say.
Those are my thoughts tonight. I want to have the boldness to speak up more. I have the freedom to do so. There are plenty of opportunities. But just speaking is the hardest step for me. To add my thoughts or experiences to the mix. Not that I don't trust my church family with what I would say. I trust them. I just don't trust myself to say things the right way the first time. I tend to write things out and edit my thoughts before I will say them. Or just edit them in my head a million times so sometimes I don't know if I said it out loud or just thought it really intently so it sounded loud in my head. Maybe I'm strange. This is why I write instead of talk most times. Because sometimes what I say may sound strange.
That is all I have for now. Leave your thoughts or comments below. (Seeing views on my posts and no comments is like me sitting in Bible study and being silent. I'm there but what am I contributing to the conversation?)
During the discussion we were asked to give a response to a question, which several people did. During Sunday morning Bible study there is always discussion and questions. Even last Sunday evening we had a sort of spontaneous meeting and were given the opportunity to discuss various topics and input our thoughts.
My problem is I may have something to say, but I rarely speak up. I never feel like I have anything worthwhile to say that will add to the conversation. Or I just don't want to interrupt. I don't like to talk over anyone to make my point heard. If I do have something to say and actually want to say it I will usually not speak very loudly at first. If no one hears me trying to get into the conversation I usually just hold on to the thought. Although after a few seconds my thought will escape if I don't write it down first!!
I think part of it too is that I'm a quality time/small group kind of person. With one to three people I'm usually fine talking. That's small enough of a group for me to actually get a chance to speak. I don't like trying to speak up in a group of more than four or five.
I just get so annoyed at myself for feeling like I had something I could say, something to add to the conversation, and I don't speak up.
The same goes for spiritual things as well. Every once in a while I may feel that Holy Spirit is doing something. Sometimes I'm able to discern what it is and speak that. Other times I can just sense that He is working, but on what specifically I'm not sure, so i may not say anything. If there's a specific picture I'm given, I can usually tell then what I'm supposed to say.
Those are my thoughts tonight. I want to have the boldness to speak up more. I have the freedom to do so. There are plenty of opportunities. But just speaking is the hardest step for me. To add my thoughts or experiences to the mix. Not that I don't trust my church family with what I would say. I trust them. I just don't trust myself to say things the right way the first time. I tend to write things out and edit my thoughts before I will say them. Or just edit them in my head a million times so sometimes I don't know if I said it out loud or just thought it really intently so it sounded loud in my head. Maybe I'm strange. This is why I write instead of talk most times. Because sometimes what I say may sound strange.
That is all I have for now. Leave your thoughts or comments below. (Seeing views on my posts and no comments is like me sitting in Bible study and being silent. I'm there but what am I contributing to the conversation?)
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Battle Cry
I was watching the Today Show this morning. They referenced a recent Pew study (see link at end of post) which found that those who identify themselves as being a Protestant Christian are declining, and those who identify as having no religion are on the rise. While this is not surprising results, it is surprising to me that it actually made the morning headlines.
Immediately after they went to a segment of Today's Professionals. The first story they talked about was a recent football game where the crowd cheered when a player was injured somewhat seriously. They asked themselves why the crowd is cheering when bad things happen to the opposing team. They thought that was a backward way to act in America.
How blind this generation is to spiritual things! They cannot connect the fact that a godless generation is going to celebrate the offensive and disgusting things! They even paraphrase Scripture when they themselves admit that people are calling wrong things right! (Although they don't reference it they have at least heard it enough to admit that these actions are not how people *should* act.)
"Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20 NIV)
Now is the time to pray for this country. Now is the time to tell people about Jesus Christ and the fact that He is not on the same level as all these false gods out there that people worship! We are facing a spiritual warfare that cannot be fought with nuclear, biological, psychological, or otherwise physical weapons.
I guess what I'm saying is that we need to pray. For our churches. For our families. For our states. For our nation. We are waiting on the bridegroom to come, and every day is one day closer. I guess my platform for telling people about Christ is here, this blog. I know I don't have that many readers outside of immediate family. But that's more people than I speak to face to face each day.
I just don't get how people can walk through life without looking through a spiritual lens these days. Looking through the spiritual lens is like looking through a SLR camera. You see what is actually there. It helps you focus. If the view is crap it shows you. It doesn't photoshop it before you click the shutter release! So many people walk around with a photoshopped reality that isn't a reality at all! My heart hurts for those people. And not being a very socially adept person, I really don't know how to reach them.
That is all for now. I need to sleep. I am weary from running errands and trying to get the words right to say what I felt needed to be said here tonight.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gg5uvl6ga6druha4eANeJ8EGIT1Q?docId=ee4252b92bb54316a1ed2c22866b6df6
Immediately after they went to a segment of Today's Professionals. The first story they talked about was a recent football game where the crowd cheered when a player was injured somewhat seriously. They asked themselves why the crowd is cheering when bad things happen to the opposing team. They thought that was a backward way to act in America.
How blind this generation is to spiritual things! They cannot connect the fact that a godless generation is going to celebrate the offensive and disgusting things! They even paraphrase Scripture when they themselves admit that people are calling wrong things right! (Although they don't reference it they have at least heard it enough to admit that these actions are not how people *should* act.)
"Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20 NIV)
Now is the time to pray for this country. Now is the time to tell people about Jesus Christ and the fact that He is not on the same level as all these false gods out there that people worship! We are facing a spiritual warfare that cannot be fought with nuclear, biological, psychological, or otherwise physical weapons.
I guess what I'm saying is that we need to pray. For our churches. For our families. For our states. For our nation. We are waiting on the bridegroom to come, and every day is one day closer. I guess my platform for telling people about Christ is here, this blog. I know I don't have that many readers outside of immediate family. But that's more people than I speak to face to face each day.
I just don't get how people can walk through life without looking through a spiritual lens these days. Looking through the spiritual lens is like looking through a SLR camera. You see what is actually there. It helps you focus. If the view is crap it shows you. It doesn't photoshop it before you click the shutter release! So many people walk around with a photoshopped reality that isn't a reality at all! My heart hurts for those people. And not being a very socially adept person, I really don't know how to reach them.
That is all for now. I need to sleep. I am weary from running errands and trying to get the words right to say what I felt needed to be said here tonight.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gg5uvl6ga6druha4eANeJ8EGIT1Q?docId=ee4252b92bb54316a1ed2c22866b6df6
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Praising God for those in my life who are such an undeserved blessing to me.
Praising God for closing doors on purchasing certain vehicles, and praising Him for opening the doors to the decision to get my new (to me) car.
Praising God for the ability to get a vehicle... one that runs; and stops; the windows all go up and down; the trunk lid actually closes (and even opens automatically!); keyless entry!!; A/C and heat that works; a radio that works; LED headlights; cupholders!; doors that aren't iffy; it doesn't veer off toward the ditch the moment I let go of the wheel (only to test the alignment!); and my Mom likes how it sits! :-)
Praising God for time to seek His face, even though it won't be at church, and it will be difficult missing the women's group.
Praising God for a schedule that will allow me to have time to clean up my apt, and craft, and actually sleep.
Praising God for the things He is doing at NPCC, and the spiritual growth going on right now.
Praising God when it's easy or hard to do so.
Praising God for closing doors on purchasing certain vehicles, and praising Him for opening the doors to the decision to get my new (to me) car.
Praising God for the ability to get a vehicle... one that runs; and stops; the windows all go up and down; the trunk lid actually closes (and even opens automatically!); keyless entry!!; A/C and heat that works; a radio that works; LED headlights; cupholders!; doors that aren't iffy; it doesn't veer off toward the ditch the moment I let go of the wheel (only to test the alignment!); and my Mom likes how it sits! :-)
Praising God for time to seek His face, even though it won't be at church, and it will be difficult missing the women's group.
Praising God for a schedule that will allow me to have time to clean up my apt, and craft, and actually sleep.
Praising God for the things He is doing at NPCC, and the spiritual growth going on right now.
Praising God when it's easy or hard to do so.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Treasure Map
How often do we hear Jeremiah 29:11 quoted when speaking of plans that God has for people or churches, or even high school students/college students the day after graduation and you haven't a clue where life is going?
Yesterday morning we (women's group at church) talked about this passage a little bit, and it impressed a image in my mind about it. To get the most out of this verse, you have to read it in a little more context.
"11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." ~Jeremiah 29:11-13.
While praying after we talked, I got this picture in my mind of a treasure map, like you might see in relation to pirates. You know the ones: The brown parchment paper with weathered and torn edges, and a thick red "X" where the treasure is buried.
This map represented that we have the promise from God that He knows the plans he has for us. The red "X" is the plan. It is there waiting for us, but it isn't something that we just wait to have delivered to us. It's something we go after by seeking His face and praying.
Yesterday morning we (women's group at church) talked about this passage a little bit, and it impressed a image in my mind about it. To get the most out of this verse, you have to read it in a little more context.
"11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." ~Jeremiah 29:11-13.
While praying after we talked, I got this picture in my mind of a treasure map, like you might see in relation to pirates. You know the ones: The brown parchment paper with weathered and torn edges, and a thick red "X" where the treasure is buried.
This map represented that we have the promise from God that He knows the plans he has for us. The red "X" is the plan. It is there waiting for us, but it isn't something that we just wait to have delivered to us. It's something we go after by seeking His face and praying.
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