last blog of 2009

( It looks like I have a pipe in my mouth! haha It's one of those party noise makers. lol )

Hi Friends!
It's the last day of 2009. Wow, this year flew by. I am glad to see this year be history. I am looking forward to 2010. I have found my new year verse: Matthew 16:26, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" I am so happy with that verse. What an awesome challenge to live a selfless life. Read verses 24-27 to get the whole feel.

What's is up with me?
I know that I haven't really written much in the past few days. I promise tomorrow the first day of the year to blog what exciting things the Lord is doing in my life. He is definitely doing great and mighty things all around me. He is on the move and I desire nothing more than to be a part of that good work.

I wish you a very happy new year filled with increadible God moments.
God Bless You!

Psalm 45:1

Beautiful words stir my heart. 

I will recite a lovely poem about the king,

for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet.

Psalm 45:1

   

 

You are the river,

That purifies and cleanses me.

Your Spirit calms

The storm in me.

Your commands are

Melodies that provoke

My soul, my will, my all

To Surrender.

Like the wind,

You offer me breath.

You are a shattered rock,

Through the cracks

flow sacred blood

Giving me life.

Your shadow alone

Would be a save haven for me.

Merry Christmas & Lyrical Friday

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I have to confess that I haven't been jolly... more Scrooge-like. I didn't want to put up the Christmas tree, I wasn't able to collect my unemployement check (that meant no gifts) and to make matters worse, the "ancient of days" in the family didn't want to celebrate BIG like we usually do. But God- placed it in my brother's heart to set up the Christmas tree and all I had to do was decorate, God provided just enough money to get me through the basic gift giving (I love giving gifts) and He gathered a good chunk of my family tonight for our Christmas Eve dinner. Jesus came through for me and rescued Christmas! Ok, so yea, this is of no importance when compared to the magnitude of what happened in the town of Bethlehem. To me, it is inconceivable that God would become a baby, a human to rescue me. Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank you for being my wonderful Savior.

Today is Lyrical Friday and Oh come, oh come Emmanuel is the song I will share with you. This is probably the only Christmas song that I really enjoy. It is more than a song, it is a prayer. May the cry of your heart be "Come Emmanuel."

 (you may want to mute the music player on the side bar)

Lyrics below to follow the video

Oh come, Oh come Emmanuel
*This version is by Selah

Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice, Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, Oh Israel!

Oh come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Thy people with Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, Oh Israel!

Oh come, Thou rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'ver the grave

Rejoice, Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, Oh Israel!
Rejoice, Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, Oh Israel!

Intimately Acquainted

Hi Friends.
Have you ever felt alone in the world? As if you didn't matter? That feeling of solitude, that no one could possibly understand what you are going through? Or if you shared your thoughts and feelings, no one would care? To that lonely and dark feeling this is all I have to say:

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thought from afar.

You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Psalm 139:1-3 NASB

Wow! Intimately... that is deep. I can't say that I am intimately acquainted with anyone on this level. I have read this Psalm many times, yet it wasn't till recently this year that someone shed light to this wondrous thought. How precious and comforting to know that God is intimately acquainted with you, with me. I don't feel so lonely anymore. And knowing that He is aware of my every need helps me to trust in Him all the more. Verse one reminds us that He has searched us and knows us. Dang, have I taken time out of my busy day to search the Lord and know Him? Reading these three verses has aroused within me a desire to search Him passionately and know ALL of Him. 

Challenge: To be intimately acquainted with Jesus like He is with me.

 

a bit of the Word

Hi All.
This morning as I spent time in the Word I came across Isaiah 7:9. The second part of the verse is what hit me like a cold shower:

If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established. -NKJV

Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm. -NLT

It got me thinking... Am I truly believing all that He has promised me? Is my Faith firm? Am I standing firm? Could I be holding myself back, from living the abundant life that God has created for me to live?

My challenge: to stand firm in my faith.

Lyrical Friday- Albertine

Hi Friends.

Last night God gave me awesome insight on songs as our midweek service was not preached through a well written sermon but was delivered through song by our amazing worship team. And so the idea for Lyrical Fridays came to be. Every Friday I will post a song that is not only sweet to listen to but that will challenge us to be lilies among thorns. Be blessed with today's selection, Albertine by Brooke Fraser (you may be seeing a lot of Brooke :-] on Lyrics Fridays ).

ALBERTINE
Brooke Fraser

I am sitting still
I think of Angelique
Her mother’s voice over me
And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent

And on a thousandth hill
I think of Albertine
There in her eyes what I don’t see
With my own
Rwanda

CHORUS
Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go ‘til you are

I am on a plane
Across a distant sea
But I carry you in me
And in the dust on, the dust on my feet
Rwanda

CHORUS

Bridge
And I’ll tell the world
I will tell them where I’ve been
I will keep my word
I will tell them, Albertine

CHORUS

I am on a stage
A thousand eyes on me
I will tell them, Albertine
I will tell them, Albertine

To watch the music video click here...

If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:26-27

As I wait...

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

Never under estimate the power of God, nor His methods. Yesterday someone who has no clue of my prayers, my struggles, my thoughts sent me this verse. What a timely word it was. Thank You Jesus.

At this very moment I find myself in search for an answer to a very deep prayer. I know that before God gives me a green light, He wants to prepare me for the road ahead. But in the searching and waiting I have often found myself in a traffic-jam-like anxiety... you know, the one where you feel you can't move. But then God reminds me that I should not worry about tomorrow. He will use my daily gleaning in His word, through a song or even a faithful messenger, like yesterday.

As I wait on the Lord, I rest in peace knowing that my life is in His hands... what have I to worry about? In our darkest moments let us hold fast to the promises He has given to us in His word. There is light at the end of the tunnel always- with Christ!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

torn between two lovers

I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the LORD.

~ Hosea 2:13

Hi Friends!
I came across this post on my Myspace blog from 2007. This was a teaching that Pastor Scott taught. It has ministered to me so much today and I pray it does to you too. I don't remember writing it. I encourage you to take out your bible and follow along. The word of God is powerful and relevent. May it bless you as much as it did to me.


Torn between Two Lover, Pastor Scott Claunch

Last night God spoke through Pastor Scott in a message titled, "Torn between two Lovers" out of Numbers 22-24. You can't help but fall deeper in love with God. His unfailing and unchanging love is better than anything this world and other lovers have to offer. Just meditating on it can blow your mind away. To grasp the magnitude of his sacrifice for us in the midst of our failing love really breaks me.

We looked at the life of Balaam. He was a man whose love was divided between God and wickedness. As we studied this adultery Scott pointed out five lessons for us to apply:

1.(Numbers 22:1-20) Don't be for sale, or even for rent
-Satan will persist even if you resist
-God's preventive will: God lets go but He gives us warnings

2. (Numbers 22:21-34) Watch for God's warning. Don't take them lightly
-God will put people (donkeys) in your way to warn you, don't get upset or dismiss them, take heed!
-The Lord will use the foolish things of this world

3. (Numbers 22:34-24:19) No one can curse what God has blessed
- No weapon formed against you shall prosper

4. (Numbers 31:16/ Revelations 2:14 Be a walkie-talkie not a talkie-talkie
-You can talk all you want but character is what matters. There can be much talk coming from a person but look at their life are they walking a spiritual walk or a biblical walk

5. (Joshua 13:22) Sin carries a built-in curse
-God's blessed people cannot be cursed, but sin comes with its own curse; death. Like a shampoo bottle with built-in conditioner it can't be separated.

So we see that even though Balaam loved the Lord he was separated from God. And I quote Greg Laurie's teaching this past palm Sunday, on how to not lose the fire of our first love, "You have to love what God loves and hate what God hates." Balaam was unfaithful to the Lord for the love of…. Balaam and all that Balaam desired. I ask you today who or what is competing with God in your life. What is separating and tearing you apart from loving God. And I don't mean from loving God first, I'm talking about loving God exclusively, loving God only? The kind of love that is so strong and passionate that you can't even conceive the thought of sharing it. That is love in its purest form, unconditionally and without reserves.

"I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…" (Jeremiah 17:10), I encourage you to ask Him to reveal those things that are dividing you. He will do it: Jeremiah 33:3, ''Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.''

Something said last night really stuck out to me, Balaam's donkey! Scott said to not beat the "donkey" because it's warning us. I love God and his sense of humor. He showed me then and there that there will be people who will be "donkeys" in their attitudes and their way of life that will get to me (and trust me I have a few in mind right now) but they/he/she are in my life because God purposefully placed them there to keep me in check… lol you are too funny Lord. I don't know if that made sense but it did to me! "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27:17 is so true! God I'm trying to love them!

Also, if there are people who are getting "in the way" of things and are acting like Balaam's donkey stop and check yourself. God loves you too much to let you go. He knows what is best for you, so he sent that donkey friend of yours to stop you from committing yet another stupid mistake. Remember that you are worth too much, you are worth dying for- don't give in to the temptation/ to that person/ to that lie/ to that drug/ to that relationship/ don't give the devil a foothold- you were, you are and will always be worth dying for. And because you are God has sent people to warn you, guard you and protect you, listen to them and apply your ears to the word of God. Whatever has you torn today know that God is calling you back!

"Therefore, behold, I will allure YOU,

Will bring YOU into the wilderness,

And speak comfort to YOU.

I will give YOU her vineyards from there,

And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;

YOU shall sing there,

As in the days of YOUR youth,

As in the day when YOU came up from the land of Egypt.

"And it shall be, in that day,"

Says the LORD,

"That YOU will call Me 'My Husband,'

And no longer call Me 'My Master,'

For I will take from YOU mouth the names of the Baals,

And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

In that day I will make a covenant for them

With the beasts of the field,

With the birds of the air,

And with the creeping things of the ground.

Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,

To make them lie down safely.

"I will betroth YOU to Me forever;

Yes, I will betroth YOU to Me

In righteousness and justice,

I will betroth YOU to Me in faithfulness,

And YOU shall know the LORD.

"It shall come to pass in that day

That I will answer," says the LORD;

" I will answer the heavens,

And they shall answer the earth.

The earth shall answer

With grain,

With new wine,

And with oil;

They shall answer Jezreel.

Then I will sow YOU for Myself in the earth,

And I will have mercy on YOU who had not obtained mercy;

Then I will say to those who were not My people,

'YOU are My people!'

And they shall say, 'You are my God!'"

~Hosea 2:14-22

(Now that is poetry, and straight from the heart of our Creator. He's calling you out to live a set apart life for him what are you waiting you.)