The Obedience Test

I'm over here today.



Do you still have that godly awe and reverence for God? When His Holy Spirit is nudging you do you obey? I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not always easy to obey, especially if what I’m being asked to do is something that is out of my comfort zone. However, obedience is what God expects, period. Do stop by to read my thoughts on obedience.

Pressing Towards the Goal

“Do you ever noticed that when everything is going well time goes by quickly and it’s those days when you’re experiencing difficulties that seem so long and drawn out?” A friend recently asked me.

Simple question… but I’d never really thought about it that way.

It got me to thinking, looking back at 2009 which period seemed never ending and which period just went by in an instant? Sadly, that the periods that dragged by comes to mind more quickly…

Why is that?

In reading through an old journal I found these words I wrote, somehow they still seemed appropriate.

Pressing toward the Goal

13 .…but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14 NLT (emphasis mine )

Forgetting the past… (Am I focusing too much on the past?)

Looking forward to what lies ahead… (Am I focusing on the good in life?)

I press… (What goal am I pressing towards?)

In this scripture the Apostle Paul lets us know that unless we forget and let go of the past we are not able to advance in Christ. Advancement comes when we are so focused on what is in front of us we leave ourselves no time to worry about the past and allow it to control what we do.

Jesus wants to be the biggest thing in our lives, not what happened five or ten years ago or even yesterday…

My journal Dec 28, 2002

He'll Take You Through

Have you ever listened to a song that ministered to you so much that you just put it on repeat and let it play so that the words can sink into your spirit?

This song by the Crabb Family had that effect on me this evening and I just wanted to share it with you.



Lyrics

He'll Take You Through

So many times I've questioned certain circumstances
Or things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
And my frustration gets so out of hand
It’s then I am reminded I've never been forsaken
I've never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories
The spirit rises up in me
And its through the fire my weakness is made strong

Chorus:
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
And the hill would not be hard to climb
He never offered our victories without fighting
But He said help would always come in time
Just remember when you’re standing in the valley of decision
And the adversary says give in
Just hold on, our Lord will show up
And He will take you through the fire again

Bridge:
I know within myself that I would surely perish
But if I trust the hand of God, He'll shield the flames again, again
(The Crabb Family)

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Walls... Protection or Prison?

A hurtful word,
An unkind look,
A friend’s betrayal,
A painful loss,

Brick by brick,
The wall was built,
Till no one dared,
To enter in.

Several had tried,
But turned away
Wondering why such beauty
Was locked away

But persistently,
One dared to try
To breech the wall,
To claim the treasure inside

A kind word…
A thoughtful gesture…

A crack appears

A reassuring smile…
A helping hand…

The crack widens
The wall weakens

Behind the wall,
She realizes
She’d imprisoned herself
From the beauty outside

Love chipping from without
She reaching from within

Destroyed the walls
Freeing the prisoner inside

There she stood…

Defenseless…
Scared…
Uncertain…

But oh so hopeful…
Oh so free…
Opened to the world of God’s possibilities

Love had persisted
Love had won

The snare was broken
She had escaped
Because of Love’s saving grace

We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken and we have escaped. Psalm 124:7


We build walls for protection but often end up imprisoning ourselves. God did not intend for us to live timidly behind self imposed walls but to boldly and fearlessly embrace His plans for our lives.


Be sure to stop by my friend Iris’ blog on Monday Jan 11. She’ll be starting a series called Living Fearlessly.

What May Have Been

Someone said it couldn’t be done
So you took his word as truth
You didn’t even try to do
That which you were predestined to do

You may have been destined for greatness
To have your name shining in lights
Or maybe you were meant to minister
To the wounded and the hurt

You may have been destined to travel
To places near and far
And tell the world of a savior
Who can heal their hurting hearts

But because someone said it can’t be done
You withdrew into yourself
You buried your dreams deep inside
And turned away from God’s call

But you’re still master of your destiny
So just take a leap of faith
And don’t allow discouragement
To cause you to drop out of the race

by Bernadine McIntosh

A Year of Thankfulness

2010… Wow! I still can’t believe it. As a child of the seventies anything beyond the nineteen hundreds seemed something my mind could not comprehend. But here I am wondering, where did the years go???

Thank you Lord for allowing me to live to see another year

As 2009 drew to a close I decided to do something I don’t really do anymore, that is make a New Year’s resolution.

Usually making New Year’s resolution means setting myself up for failure as I don’t seem to make it past January without going off course but hopefully this year will be different:)

My one New Year’s resolution for 2010…I decided that I’m going to write every single day, in a journal. That doesn’t sound like a big deal I know. But although I always have a journal for my thoughts, I usually write only when then mood strikes me, sometimes every day for a month then not again for a few weeks.

A few hours before midnight on December 31, 2009 I decided to decorate a notebook that I plan to use for my daily thoughts. As I covered it I simply thought, “Lord, what am I going to find to write in this journal every day for an entire year?”

I heard the Holy Spirit whisper… “A year of thankfulness.”

I knew immediately what thoughts were going to fill the pages of my journal. The theme of my journal writing this year will be thankfulness.

Between the pages of that particular journal I won’t reflect on the past or even dream about the future. I will simply record my gratitude for the gift of the present…

As I think about 2009 there are many things that I am thankful for but so many times the painful things are the first to come to mind. However when 2010 comes to a close I will have my year of thankfulness journal as a tangible reminder of God’s goodness towards me.