A word

Busy today keeping kids occupied on our second day snowed in and I ran across these words on love in an old notebook from last year. I don't know where they came from or even if they are my own but I needed to read them today. God is right on time, as always.

True Love

True love laments only when thy beloved laments

Be it lover or offspring

Father or son

True Love may bring longing, without loneliness

It is loving a person both up close and from afar

Knowing what your beloved is doing is making them truly happy

True love knows no rejection, only encouragement and support

of all you do, of all things "you"

And when you are in love it's as if you carry a little "peace" of that person wherever you go

As sure as you carry the Holy Spirit in your heart as a Christian

You are a believer in Love

Being a Jesus girl

"Or what man is there among you who if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  Matthew 7:10-12

What does it mean to be a Jesus girl? It means God is for me. If I've learned anything about God these past few months it is that He intends me no harm. He means for me to have in abundance; love, forgiveness, hope, kindness, gentleness, compassion, mercy; not for me to keep all to myself but so that I am able to give those things to others. Whatever we give to God He will multiply. If we give Him our money through tithes and offerings, He will multiply it. If we give our time and resources to Him, He will multiply them. If we give our love to Him, He will multiply it. Not so that we will have more money, time, or love for ourselves but so that we can be His hands and feet in this world. So that we can have more than enough to share.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you." What you do with it once it's given is up to you. That's a wonderful thing about God; He lets us choose. We can choose to spend all of our money, time, and talents on ourselves or we can choose to spend them on the kingdom. Nothing feels better than spending the treasures God has entrusted me with on His kingdom work; loving on those He has placed in my life. Nothing feels worse than having those gifts thrown back in my face. To offer my time to someone and have them reject me. To offer myself to someone and have them use me for their own purposes and then toss me aside when I'm no longer useful. I can bring those feelings to God and He will mend my broken heart. I can offer those people to God as well.

Being a Jesus girl means I value my time and integrity. It means I honor my word and my body. It means my life is a testimony to what God has done for me and what He can do for others. It means I can trust in His protection and provision for me and my family. It means I can give up unhealthy thoughts, feelings, habits, or relationships with confidence that God will replace them with healthy ones. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. His ways are higher than my ways. Sometimes that means getting back to zero. It means giving up everything I formerly found my identity in and finding my identity in Christ. I am who He says I am. I am worthy. I am valued. He calls me beloved. He calls my children beloved. He calls YOU beloved!

A line in the Sand

John 8:2-12

"Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?" This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear."

Jesus was in the middle of teaching, doing what He does. He is the greatest teacher who ever lived. They interrupted His teaching with a "teaching moment." This often happens in our lives. The ultimate teacher uses circumstances as teaching moments. We don't know for sure what he wrote on the ground, it has been suggested that it was the ten commandments;  whatever it was, it served as a "line in the sand." 

"So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last."

Those scribes and Pharisees brought that woman to Jesus thinking they were going to teach her a lesson or to test Jesus. What they got was a lesson of their own. He drew a "line in the sand" showing them their own sin. They left "being convicted by their own conscience." Not condemned but convicted. He showed them that they had all sinned, they had all fallen short. None of us is perfect.

"And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

I can only imagine how that woman felt. Terrified of being stoned to death? Ashamed of her behavior? Obviously she knew it was wrong. Jesus was merciful. He saved her and said go and sin no more. He did not condemn her for her sin, neither did He condone it. We can get caught up in sinful attitudes, behaviors, or even sinful circumstances and end up living outside the will of God. Others may point it out to us. We may miss opportunities or just feel spiritually sick because of it. God may even remove His protection and provision if we continue to live outside of His will. As we draw closer to Him and spend more time in His Word and in prayer we will come to hate our sin. Jesus will draw a "line in the sand" on our hearts. 

I have often heard that saying in reference to something that will not be tolerated. Yes, we are forgiven. Yes, His grace is enough to cover all of our sins. That does not mean that God will tolerate us hanging on to our sinful ways. If we truly want to be in His will for our lives we must repent and turn from our sin. We must go and sin no more. The awesome thing about Jesus is that He promises to help us. He has already overcome sin so if we rely on Him; He will make a way out of that sinful attitude, behavior, or circumstance. 

Recently God drew a "line in the sand" on my heart and boy is He teaching me. When my fiance proposed to me last October he wanted to go ahead and get married ASAP. We were living together. I said no way, not yet. Don't get me wrong; I love my fiance like crazy. The only person I love more than him is Jesus but, after 2 divorces, marriage had been a bad word as far as I was concerned for several years. I had said yes to the proposal but figured we could wait a year or so. While I knew it was God's will for us to marry, I wasn't ready yet. Then Jesus drew that "line in the sand." A couple months later I became convicted that we couldn't continue to live together unmarried. So I asked my fiance to go ahead and marry me in a few weeks. He said no. Attacks from the enemy had come on every front, my health, my finances, my family, a missed ministry opportunity, and worst of all my relationship with my fiance. I was miserable and sunk into a deep depression. I thought if we just went ahead and got married it would get better. Then others pointed out our sinful situation. We had chosen the way of the world instead of the way of the Lord. My fiance opted to move out rather than go ahead and get married. I prayed and fasted, and cried and cried and cried some more. That was a week ago and things are getting better. God truly is working things out for the good of those who love Him. I love my fiance and I trust that he loves me. We both love Jesus and are committed to God's will for our lives, continuing to cover each other with prayer. Trusting God to repair the damage done so we can move forward in obedience.

 We began pre-marital counseling and I think we both realized there are some things we need God to work on in our hearts before we marry. I am so thankful and grateful for His presence in both our lives. Because of Jesus and His great love for us we can move forward in love and in our relationship knowing God will use this time to draw us nearer to Him and each other. I am certain that God will bless us for our obedience; honestly He already is. I have spent more time in prayer in the past week than I did in the past month. He has placed me on a prayer team and placed a wonderful new prayer partner and friend in my life. He is teaching me to be patient and trust His perfect timing. As I sit here alone with my children asleep in bed, I still long for someone to share my life with. Even in the storms of life; all I can do is say thank you Jesus for your loving correction and presence. You are enough. Surrendering all to Him and trusting His perfect will and plan. Hoping that this post inspires you to step out into obedience. God doesn't expect us to be perfect and we are all forgiven, washed clean by the blood of Jesus. Able to draw near to God because of His sacrifice. If Jesus has drawn a "line in the sand" on your heart, I encourage you to lay that sin at his feet. God loves us far too much to leave us where we are, He longs for us to grow into the people He created us to be. It's never too late; you're never "too far gone." He promises to save you and forgive you. Please know that I am only sharing my own experience and am in no way judging anyone who may read this. "There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy."

Some verses to hold on to

"Come to me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock;" Matt 7:24

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whether you turn to the right or turn to the left." Isaiah 30:21

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

#Press On

 Phil 3:13
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.


As I heard this verse in church this past Sunday I had been feeling very discouraged. The holidays are always stressful and as we start a new year and evaluate the past one I was feeling discouraged. This past year has been a difficult one; my children and I have dealt with a great deal of loss and change. We have dealt with death, illness, financial troubles, teenage rebellion and drug abuse just to name a few. I have come to realize through these trials God has refined His warriors.  He has pulled us through and now we press on.

My family and I have been engaged in a fierce spiritual battle. God has allowed these trials as tests. Some I have failed, some I have hopefully passed; from each of them I have learned and I press on. I've learned about fasting and prayer; using God's word as a weapon and trusting Him to provide when I give sacrificially. I've learned to offer everything up to Him. He will work all things out for the good of those who love Him...in His time. What does He require of us? press on

Sometimes to press on is to "be still." (Psalm 46:10)  To just keep grinding away and pray until something happens. To just keep doing the next "right" thing. Other times to press on is a call to action, to make changes that line up with His word and what He's put on your heart.  If He asks you to do something, if you feel convicted to make a change in your life to align your will with His own; He will make a way for you to do so. No matter what your action this pressing on must include prayer and time in His word.

1Cor 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

We will make mistakes, we will not be perfect, we will fall but our God who is faithful will be there to pick us up so that we may press on.  Seeking Him and His reassurance; the promises in His word will comfort us so that we may press on. He will place people in our lives to support, encourage, and pray for us so that we may press on. He will open doors of opportunity that we walk through in obedience so that we may press on.

 James 1:2
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience

These trials are our training. I am a runner. I have never run a marathon. If it was my goal to run a marathon it would require a great deal of training. There would be milestones of distance that I would reach before moving to the next phase of training. As I build my strength and test my body there would be injuries to overcome. I would have to make changes in my diet to accommodate the rigorous activity required of my body. Throughout the training and especially as I made it to that next longest distance there would be daily celebration. To attempt to run a marathon without training would be foolish. Our lives are like a marathon and God is the ultimate "personal trainer" so that our lives may bring Him glory.

Acts 20:24
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

As I have prayed over my goals for the coming year and evaluated how far God has brought me from the past year, I am no longer discouraged but encouraged......full of faith and ready to press on. I can see the progress from the trials and proclaim that God is so very good! Some of these goals I may reach, some I may not but all will be an opportunity for growth; which happens to be the word God put on my heart for 2014.

This song by Mandisa says it even better than I can:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXxBqbTM-2U

So my prayer is this, that like a plant that has been placed a bit away from the sunlight, that I would grow toward it.....reaching and stretching towards Jesus, spreading roots that tap into His living water, sowing seeds of His word so that my life becomes a story of His glory and not my own. Empty me of myself and fill me up with you Lord. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may have the strength and endurance to press on.

Of  course as soon as I finished this I accidentally deleted it, but not before "previewing" it. So I copied and pasted and I press on ;)