Archive for December, 2009

So, another year is coming to an end.  Was it a good year for you?  Are you sad to see it end?  Or, are you looking forward to what 2010 will bring?  New Year’s Eve usually brings many emotions with it —- some good, some bad.  There are those who will look back over this past year and remember all the good things that has happened:  they graduated from school, they got their first car, or maybe a dating relationship has developed.  Pleasant memories will come to their mind.  Then, there will be those that will reflect back on all the negative things that have occurred in 2009:  they lost a loved one through death, sickness happened to them or someone they love, financial disaster came to their family.  Depending on what actually happened during the year, usually determines most people’s outlook for the upcoming one. 

What are you looking forward to?  What are you glad to be leaving behind?  Remember, regardless of where you’re at right now, God is still beside you.  He rejoices when you rejoice; He holds your tears in His hands when you cry.  Go into this new year with a greater determination than ever to have the best year you’ve ever had, regardless of what may come your way.  Allow your relationship with Jesus Christ to become so deep “that the things of this world will pale in comparison” to His love and glory.

May you have a very blessed and  Happy New Year!  Be safe in all you do, and remember, God is always watching.  Make wise choices on this New Year’s Eve!

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:

“Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”  

(Ephesians 5: 8-14)

Just the other night, I was laying in bed doing the usual run through of thoughts in my mind. Everything that I needed to do the next day mixed with thoughts of what I had done that day and the day before. I began to think about a paper that I needed for work the next day. It was very important, and it had to be turned in. I was almost certain that it was in my desk drawer in the other room.  I began tossing and turning worrying about that piece of paper. What if it wasn’t there? What if I had actually lost it? I knew I would eventually have to get up and check, or I would never be able to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, everyone had already gone to bed, and the house was completely dark. I stumbled out of bed and made my way through the dark hallway. I reached the other bedroom where I hoped I would find the paper. I got to the dresser, opened it and fumbled through this messy drawer filled with many different types of papers and random belongings of mine. Right at that moment, I realized that I would soon need a light or this paper would never be found. I then remembered, just below the drawer I was rummaging through, was a flashlight in the bottom drawer of the dresser. I opened it up and found the tool that I would need to recover the paper. I flipped the switch, and, automatically, everything in the messy drawer had an identity. I knew what each thing was, and luckily, I found the item that I had so desperately been looking for. I could now go back to sleep and rest calmly, knowing that I had recovered what I thought I had lost.

But, what was so interesting about this find was that when I turned on the flashlight, I noticed on the switch that the brand of the flashlight was ‘Eveready.’ At that moment, I began to realize that my little journey through the dark house actually had a spiritual meaning. The familiar scripture began to run through my mind: ” I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.” The flashlight I found is just like the light of the Lord. He is “Eveready”, waiting for us to step into the light. If you ever find yourself in darkness, know that He is there to comfort us and give us guidance in what seems like hopeless situations. In the dark, everything blends together; you can’t distinguish one thing from another. Just like in my desk drawer, I couldn’t tell one paper from the next. But with the light, everything was made visible. Walk towards the “Eveready” light, shed the covers of darkness, and all things will be made clear.

I would like to recommend, that if you want to learn how to walk with God and the person Jesus, then listen to people who walk with Him and know Him. Watch the ones that have been doing this for a while and look at the fruit of their lives, and see if they walk in love. I listen to Aaron, not because he speaks well, or he is the leader of the youth group.  I listen to him because I see his fruit and have watched him walk in love.  Find people that do this and study their lives.  I also recommend, that instead of watching TV in your spare time, pick up the word or read about people that truly understood Jesus (Mother Theresa, Brother Lawrence, Mike Bickle, Oswald Chambers, Eugene Peterson).  I don’t say that religiously;  if you want to watch TV, then watch TV.  I watch it all the time, but if you want to grow spiritually, then feed your soul with books and the Word sometimes.  How else will you know God if you don’t? Always keep God present to you and have conversations with Him all day.  He is there with you all day — talk to him.

It is important to understand that we don’t understand that much. Wisdom is all around you. It is in those that have walked with God for years and bear fruit of his presence. It is in the Word. It is in those who came centuries before you and those that have grey hair now.  Here are some people I recommend:

Eugene Peterson

Eugene Peterson 

Jason Upton

Mother Theresa

Jesus told this story as a parable to explain the heart of his Father toward us:

Luke 15:11-32 (The Message) The Story of the Lost Son 11-12 “Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ 12-16″So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. 17-20″That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. 20-21″When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ 22-24″But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time. 25-27″All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’ 28-30″The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’ 31-32″His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’”

This is one of my favorite songs. She sings from the point of view of the son (us, God’s children) through half the song and then from the point of view of the Father (God). This song always reminds me of the forgiving, loving nature of our Father.  I listen to it all the time and, especially, when I feel like I am the prodigal son.

Joanna Reyburn … \”Who Is This\”

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

It’s the day after Christmas and from that day till the first of the year, I usually find moments to reflect on the past year as well as the coming one. It’s a good time to think about what I would like to continue doing in 2010, what I would like to stop doing, and what I would like to start doing. I haven’t decided what all of this is for me yet, but it’s in process. I long ago gave up resolutions pertaining to the natural realm. If I decide to do anything in that area, I will just do it. I like to try and evaluate myself spiritually to admit where I failed and what I can do better. It’s a process that will go on until I leave this world since I will never reach the end of that road here on Earth. Still, it’s so exciting to try to reach beyond where you are and try to find another level. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful year in the Lord, but I wish you even more for next year!

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs!  At this very special time of the year, let’s remember how holy our Lord and Savior really is.  May we focus on the night of His birth instead of the presents underneath the tree.  And, may we always strive to practice holiness throughout the year.  I hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas day!

This week I was blessed to travel with the Local Go Team to the Casey County and Russell County hospitals. We delivered some small gifts and visited with patients. We enjoyed both trips, but they were both different. In one of those, we found favor with the staff and truly had the help of the Holy Spirit from the first room we visited. What I have found with Missions is that if you go into them listening for what God wants to teach you then you will always walk away with more than you gave away. It seems even small events like a couple hours at a hospital can change your spirit in some way, if you let it. While there, I couldn’t help but notice how much pain people are in right now. I met people who were in emotional pain for many other reasons than the one they were in the hospital for. Most of our prayer requests came for peace first, health second. In this busy life, it really is true that we are all “one phone call from our knees” as Matt Kearney puts it in the song below. In these times, people need God most but they also need other people to be be God’s hands and feet. If you know someone in a desperate or painful situation right now, reach out to them with the Spirit of the Lord. Reach out to them without a thought of your own needs. Just reach out to them in love. If you find yourself being the one in need right now, know that your Christian brothers and sisters are praying for you and we love you. On our knees, whether we are there on behalf of ourselves or someone else, we are closer to love than any other place.

Closer To Love Lyrics (Matt Kearney)
She got the call today
One out of the gray
And when the smoke cleared
It took her breath away
She said she didn’t believe
It could happen to me

I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees

We’re gonna get there soon
If every building falls
And all the stars fade
We’ll still be singing this song
The one they can’t take away
I’m gonna get there soon
She’s gonna be there too
Cryin’ in her room
Prayin’ oh, Lord come through
We’re gonna get there soon
Oh, it’s your light
Oh, it’s your way
Pull me out of the dark
Just to shoulder the weight
Cryin’ out now
From so far away
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love
Meet me once again
Down off Lake Michigan
Where we could feel the storm blowin’
Down with the wind
And don’t apologize
For all the tears you’ve cried
You’ve been way too strong now for all your life
I’m gonna get there soon
You’re gonna be there too
Cryin’ in your room
Prayin’ Lord come through
We’re gonna get there soon
Oh, it’s your light
Oh, it’s your way
Pull me out of the dark
Just to shoulder the weight
Cryin’ out now
From so far away
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love
Cause you are all that I’ve waited for all of my life
(We’re gonna get there)
You are all that I’ve waited all of my life
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love
Pull me closer to love (You are all that I’ve waited for)
You pull me closer to love
Closer to love
Closer to love (Cause you are all that I’ve waited for)
Closer to love
Pull me closer to love

1 Philippians 1:6 (NLT) - “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

1 Philippians 1:6  (NIV) -  “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

I haven’t been walking in this journey with Jesus very long, and already I have hit a couple rough spots. I find myself messing up all the time — doubting, confused, dry, falling and failing, lost, wandering around and wondering where I am going at times. I have learned in those times to quote and pray this verse over and over and over until I believe it again.

It reassures me of several things:  First, God began this work in me.  I didn’t do it —  it was His doing.  Secondly, God will continue it. He has a plan for me, and if He starts something, then He won’t abandon it. In Isaiah 55:11, God says this…

(New International Version) “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

(New Living Translation)  “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

You are called by God and are a word from heaven.  You will not return to Him until you do what He has called you to do and accomplish what He desires. You will not return to Him void.

 Third, it says God will continue the work He started in you. He will continue it….think about that!  That means if He starts the work, He will see it through until the day that Christ returns to reign. You are not alone. He is working something in you and me even when we can’t see it. He has a destination for you. I like the way the NIV puts it, be confident in this. Trust Him. He knows what He’s doing; He’s been doing this for years now.

This song is probably my favorite song ever. It’s my ringtone for text messages.  It reminds me of his faithfulness to me and to His work in me…….Heres the link … Cory Asbury – Faithful To The End

During this Christmas season, I have never been so touched and inspired through the Word of God pertaining to the birth of Jesus Christ. Particularly Luke 1:26-38, when Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel, and it is announced that she would be giving birth to the Son of God. This woman of faith was shocked, frightened, and confused when the angel of the Lord explained that she had found favor with God, and she would give birth to Jesus. “How can this be?” she questioned. “I’m a virgin!” Gabriel replies, “With God, all things are possible!” Gabriel gives Mary a word that simply states, “God has chosen you and honored you as the one to give birth to Jesus!”

You know, we may not have everything quite figured out in our lives.  We all have dreams, and for certain, we all have destiny. Just like Mary, we can be in a state of confusion as we are trying to figure out life day after day.  How do I get from point A, to point B? Where am I going in life, and what am I supposed to do? And, we continually ask, “How, why, when, where?” And in the middle of this battle of confusion that wars in our mind, we begin to even think negative of ourselves, and we put ourselves down.  “I am a nobody; I’ve got nothing; I am nothing; I’m never going to be anything; I’m not smart enough, not good looking enough,” and the battle continues.

In all reality, we were given a special gift through the birth of Jesus Christ. Such a wonderful gift that will always be ours — a gift that can never be taken away. And most importantly, He will never leave; after all, He is Emmanuel, “God is with us!” Just like Mary, God has chosen each and every one of us, each with our own individual destiny. Through this entire journey, always remember He is with us! Even in the battle of confusion, we must push ourselves to serve and love Him above all else. We may not have it figured out, but be reminded of the words Gabriel spoke, “With God, all things are possible!”