God Is Not Static

People want to imagine God as a static being. There are some attributes of God that don't change, but there are different season's in how God deals with us, so there has to be different season's that even God goes through. Times of desiring intimacy and times of desiring respect. We can't put Him in a box and say this is God~ because He is so big! so amazing! so complex~

The Day After Christmas

     Yesterday Was Christmas
   
     Yesterday was the day designated to celebrate Jesus' birth, we're going to avoid any discussion here about whether it's the correct day. It doesn't matter to me! I'm just glad we take time to marvel at the fact that He stepped away from heaven to be born as a man! That deserves celebration, right? And even more, that birth set into play a chain of events that has given me freedom from the dark world of sin that I was previously destined to live in. I'm happy to celebrate Jesus' birth! Joy to the world! Rejoice! and again I say Rejoice!
     But....I want to ask a couple of questions for you to consider, were you like the Inn Keeper? Did you have room for Jesus, or did you put Him in the stable? Did you give him a place of honor in the "guest room", a place He can visit again next year or maybe even Easter? Or did you clean out room for Him to have His own place...a place He can claim for the rest of your year? the rest of your life?
     Second question, now that we celebrated His birth...what are you going to do with Him? Forget Him until next year or celebrate Him everyday?
     I'm not going to tell you what to do here, I'm just trying to stir up something for you to think about.
     Oh, okay, I am going to tell you something to do, a teacher's heart is always trying to teach! Don't pack Jesus up with your Christmas ornaments, just to wait to unpack Him next year, same time, same place.
     Keep Him close to you, look to Him each day. Let the gift of His birth change your life! Live in the grace of His presence.

Giving ~ God's Principle

Giving ~ God's Principle

"Tis better to  give than to receive"~ 

Has anyone heard that? I was always told that as a child, but I didn't really understand it. I always thought people were telling me that to manipulate me into not wanting to receive! 

     Now I finally understand! One of the principles that God has tried to teach us from the beginning is to not worry about what we receive, we should be more concerned with what we can give~

     He shares so many examples of this idea~

Proverbs 11:24-25 

Some give freely and still get richer, while others are stingy but grow still poorer. The person who blesses others will prosper; he who satisfies others will be satisfied himself.

Deuteronomy 15:10
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Psalm 21:26 b
the righteous give without sparing.

(I am striving to walk a righteous path, so I'm told here that giving is part of that path...without sparing.)

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully

     There are many more of God's teachings about giving and receiving, because He wants to bless us, but we have to be a willing participant, doing our part! He wants to give but He wants us giving also!

     Why do you think He wants us to give? Maybe so we recognize that what we have is from Him? He will let us scrape and get by with little, but He longs to bless us. He is our Protector and Provider.

     

"Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. Malachi 3:10(The Message)"  

     If you're like me, you can have some pretty wild dreams of blessings! But also notice, He doesn't say I'll shower you with blessings and then you give...it's for us to bring our full tithe in and then He will pour out the blessing. 

     But finally, we're not doing this just for the blessing that God wants to give us, but we're doing it to honor Him! In giving, we become His tools here on Earth, we're His body, fulfilling His work, and bringing Him glory and honor through our lives, our actions and our giving. 

They Comfort Me

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

The rod God uses against our enemies, to beat them away.

The staff God uses on us, to guide us, to change our direction, maybe even to get our attention? 

Anyway, it is a comfort to know that He is in control, He will protect us, but He will not neglect correcting us also. 

Thank You Heavenly Father.

Father's Prayer aka the Lord's Prayer

                                                     

Dear Father,
(Address Heaven)

    I love You and honor even Your name Father!
    I long for You to be here, Your will and Your purpose to be done here with me, as You have it done at home with You! 
    Please give me the things I need today, food, shelter, You know what I need better than I do!
    Forgive me Father, when I fall short of Your purpose in my life, or when I make really bad choices and do the things You don't want me to do, and help me forgive people when they make bad choices against me.
    Please help me avoid those things that You know are bad for me, You know, the tempting things.  Please keep me from the evil things!
     You are my Father forever! It's Your Kingdom, Father, it's Your power and for Your glory!

I love You Father,
Your daughter

PS Please write back soon!  XOXO

“Pray, then, in this way:

 ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

 ‘Your kingdom come.Your will be done, On earth as it is in    heaven.

 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.

 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

 For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.’

Matthew 6:9-13

Are You A Saint?

     Are you a saint? Your automatic response is probably, "NO WAY!". You hear it often as people speak about themselves, they say, I'm no "saint". 
     But shouldn't you see yourself as a saint? In scripture Paul often refers to God's people as "the saints", such as
"To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi Philippians 1:1" NASB. 

     Is it humility to refuse to see yourself as a saint? Or embarrassment in front of the world? We don't want to appear any differently from the world right? They might hold us up for ridicule. Yet we are called to be a holy people.

     We have a holy God and He calls us to be holy. Maybe we better start trying to be what He calls us and not be concerned with what the world holds up for ridicule? If God calls us to be saints, which is actually a person set apart for Him, then hadn't we better start calling ourselves saints?

     When I searched for the definition of "saint" in the dictionary I found several we could accept, but if we put it in perspective with scripture, I don't believe they will all work.

     One definition says it's for "those noted for their holiness and venerated during their lifetimes or after death" but if we go with that definition, it definitely limits those that had been addressed in Paul's writing. He wrote "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi" and now we read it as part of the scriptures for us, the people he wrote it to weren't dead and neither are we! 

     I have written a lot here just to convince you that you are a saint and should recognize yourself as one and live as one! However, here's one more bit of evidence that you are called as a saint, if we look at other translations of the same verse the word "saint" translates to "All God’s people united with the Messiah Yeshua"(Philippians 1:1 Complete Jewish Bible Translation).

     Don't you want to be one of those people? If you are one of those people then accept it, you are a saint! See yourself as God sees you, a person set apart for His purpose, to live a holy life, to be joined with Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a saint.

Too Heavenly Minded? (Updated)

     Too Heavenly Minded to be of any Earthly Good?
     What can that really mean? I seem to get caught up in phrases and wonder what their real meaning is, and this is one that grabbed my attention in class a couple of Sundays ago.
     The phrase seems like a contradiction in itself, we are to be focused on God and the things of His realm. I don't mean we have to be focused on what's going to happen when we get to heaven, but to be focused on the One Who lives there and on the things that flow from heaven.
     Love, joy, peace~ 
Love ~ God's love, our love for Him, our love for the things He loves. 
1 John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Joy ~ Joy comes from knowing God and the reality of Who He is and the reality of who we are. 
John 15:10-11 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Peace ~ Peace doesn't come from earth, it comes only from God. 
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
     I had these thoughts and then I read a Pastor's article about this subject and believe that there is no way I can say it better than he did, so here is the link to his article . (Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good (1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5) by Keith Krell)

Prayer October 21, 2014

     Good morning Lord!
  
     Thank You for today! Thank You for Your word ~ Your promises!
     This morning in my study Your word speaks of: 
Your creation ~ Genesis
Your power ~ Psalms
Your concern for Your children ~ Matthew
     You have given people so much, all that we need! - but we focus on our "wants".
     Please forgive us Lord, please open our eyes, our hearts and our spirits; soften our hearts that we hear Your voice, Your call - Let us learn to walk with integrity and righteousness, bringing to You first, pleasure in Your children and second, glory in Your workmanship.-
     Let our love and worship please You Father, let it wash away the bitterness of our neglect.
     In Jesus name~

In The Garden~

     In the garden one morning I found a big fat tomato hornworm on the cherry tomato plant,  the worm is pretty huge with a voracious appetite and would have been certain death for the plant if I hadn't found and removed it! It had already stripped the leaves from several stems.
     A few days later when I went to the garden I found another tomato plant starting to wilt and not looking well at all! I started looking more closely at the plant expecting to find another tomato hornworm, but as I brushed a leaf I saw little, tiny white flecks fly up. It was little, itty-bitty leaf hoppers! Often a spiritual lesson is brought to me by things of this world that I observe; the small, still voice of God speaks to me and I learn lessons that transfer from life situations to spiritual situations. 
     The lesson that day was that people often feel only the big errors or sins, like the big tomato hornworm, are worth their battles or of any real threat to their spirit and that something as tiny as a snowflake, the leaf-hoppers can't be too dangerous.
     We need to be vigilant even against the tiny sins. If we're not alert, we never even see some of the little sins slip in and suck the very life from our spirit! But there is even a scripture that warns to deal with the little sins so they don't ruin our fruit! 

“Catch the foxes for us, yes, the little foxes! They are ruining the vineyards when our vineyards are in bloom!” Song of Solomon 2:15

     

     We need to understand that for the Christian, there are no big or little sins, God calls them all sin, period!        The big worm was obvious and could eat the whole plant in just a couple of days, but the the little leaf hoppers went easily unnoticed until the plant started wilting and then it was a major battle! While I could pull the big worm off of the tomato plant and save it, I was not able to save the plant with the little leaf hoppers! I did try! I Googled leaf hoppers and followed all of the recommended steps, but the plant was too weak and the leaf hoppers too determined. 
     The spiritual moral to this story? While you still are able...take the little things/sins in life seriously, get rid of them! 
     We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back.  Hebrews 12:1b
     

          
     

Devotion, Not Sacrifice

     Sometimes when you're reading God's word a new part will jump out at you and become alive! This happened to me with this verse~
     I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know(chesed, hesed) me than burn offerings to me. Hosea 6:6 Good News Translation
     Not that I have made any "animal sacrifices" because Jesus freed us from the need of sacrificing blood for forgiveness. Once and for ever His blood covers those who accept Him and follow Him as their Saviour, Redeemer and King!
     Now back to my epiphany! It seems that the English language doesn't quite have the words to explain "hesed" or "chesed", the Hebrew word that is used in the original writing of this verse. The English language has limits that some other languages don't face because they have many words to describe different levels of the same thing, like "love". In America we can love something/someone or at best really, really love it or them! The Hebrew language has different words for loving in different degrees, or different subjects. 
     This may not hit anyone else like it did me, but what I have studied and found this verse, Hosea 6:6, to say is that God really wants us to faithfully, steadfastly, unalterably, unswervingly, unchangingly love Him and recognize His love to us. He wants us in a devoted, marriage like relationship with Him! No matter what! For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, He wants our devotion, just like any spouse would want!
     This realization makes my heart melt even more towards my Heavenly Father! He wants our devotion, our attention....in a marriage relationship, how do you expect your spouse to treat you? You want to be greeted daily with love! You want to be cherished and respected! You want to be more important to them than anything else in life or the world! You want their choices to have your concern in mind before anything is chosen! You want them to talk to you before they make that choice!
     This sounds really basic, but have you really let it sink in? Most people take more time finding and choosing a spouse than they do in thinking about what it means to make God their "God".
     God is a "hands on" kind of God, He wants to be in every area of our lives. Many want to accept the idea that He is their God and then put Him on a shelf....how would that work for you in a marriage? Not so well! It's the same for God, except He is loving, patient, kind, long-suffering...so He let's you go your way, ignoring Him for awhile...until, if you're lucky, you find yourself in a situation where you need Him and you go running back to the shelf to dust Him off and talk to Him.
     We've all been guilty of going about our lives thinking we've got everything lined up...everything going our way. And we've all been guilty of putting God on a shelf while we handle our lives, making our own choices. What we need to recognize is this is not the way God wants our relationship with Him to be. He wants in on everything! I love Him so much and it makes me so happy to think of that! It makes me smile as I sit here typing this, the joy bubbles up in my heart! God wants to be my constant companion, my comforting BFF(Best Friend Forever), my wise Mentor!
     I think I have neglected this side of God because I have grown up more focused on the "fear of the Lord" side, and yes that is important, but the God that put the word "Chesed/Hesed" in the scriptures wants a personal, close, devoted loving-kindness from me too.
     I hope that this word and understanding stirs your heart to a new level of devotion to the One that has created you, cherished you, pursued you and died to be resurrected again....all for you! What an amazing God!


My research included these sites~
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Chesed/chesed.html

http://www.bible-researcher.com/chesed.html
    

Peace And Happiness

     In Christ we are required to let go of much! And like in many relationships of love we think we can do that easily. Let me be the first to tell you....it's not always so easy.
     In Christ we are told to consider others as more important than ourselves...it's not so easy either! 
     In Christ we're not to cling to the things of this world, but to lay up treasures in heaven....yep, not so easy either(small note here, some people have no issue with this, or any of it for that matter, I can only share from my own experience)
     I am a sentimental "collector" and have many things that are filled with memories. I remember where I was and how I felt with those things, kind of like a song or fragrance can stir memories. Letting go of those things is like ripping away those memories...like having part of my past(or myself) sliced away. 
     As you go through life you are forced to let go of many things, the first I remember that I was forced to let go of was a kitten~killed by a dog...the next was a purse(and trust)~stolen from me...then relationships, dreams, homes, cars~ I'm not talking about things you let go of yourself, because you wanted to, but things that life's circumstances and other people have forced you to let go.
     The experiences are scattered through the years and you don't have to let go of everything all at once; so it can sneak up on you until all of a sudden you feel quite naked standing there having let go of everything!
     Yesterday I had one of those "naked" experiences. God has taken me through a lot of experiences lately of letting go of things, showing me that it's ALL His~ I don't mean just the things that we already know... the sky, the mountains, the sunset, the sunrise~  He has shown me that it is ALL His...the man He lets me live with as my husband is really "His man", the sons I gave birth to, are His men also...the house we live in, the clothes I wear, the very skin I wear is His~ in the kitchen is a cutting board with my name burnt into it, but it's His too! The hair on my head is His! (Let that soak in and quit complaining about your body, your features and your hair, they are all His! and you can also apply that to your spouse! Should you really criticize the things of God?). 
     When God was showing me all of this, I easily agreed, "Yes Lord! It's all Yours!". It's a lot easier to do things when you're in a conversation with your Heavenly Father, than when life just hits you in the cold daylight.~ 

~As I've walked through life in my own human wisdom, I have let go of much! Somethings by choice, somethings not by choice at all. My parents moved quite a lot during my childhood, and I let go of friends, homes, schools, teachers, stability~ from there I went through a difficult marriage, I let go of more, the hardest and most regretted is innocence and belief, I let go of my hometown, friends, family, trust, security, as I let go of hope the marriage ended~ 
     I walked through life with little hope for several years(I was not walking with Jesus then, I don't recommend this!), I was looking for a place to be, a little, quiet corner of the world, left alone to live my life, to heal and not deal with so many things taken by force or to have to let go.
     Find a place to heal I did! I found a life of peace and soul's contentment, for many years I lived in "peace and happiness", I loved my cocoon! But as life always does, change happens and you have to let go of things again. My cocoon crumbled around me and there was the hard world again, ready to take things from me ...my elderly father, my husband, my spiritual father, my marriage, my home, my family, my world~ 
     Picking up the pieces that were left I gathered the things that I could, things that had been part of my "peace and happiness" and moved on again, looking for another corner of the world where there could be a new "peace and happiness". The search can be tricky and treacherous! Sometimes we think we've found it when actually we've found something worse than we left. (Now I know to search in God). I have come to learn that peace and happiness are not in things or places, but in God.
     With going through my recent lessons from God, that it's ALL His, I thought I'd learned that "peace and happiness" can only be found in Him! But yesterday I was shown that I'm still holding on to things(it was a little Piggy Bank that could transport me back to the "cocoon of peace and happiness"), that even in clinging to memories I'm preventing myself from walking where He intends for me to go. How can I cling to things, to sentimentality, to memories, to "peace and happiness" and still be able to pick up my cross daily and follow Him? 
     This is my current lesson! The first step is to choose to let go, recognize that it is truly ALL His, then ask Him to help you with the rest. So Lord, please help me to let go of the desire to create a cocoon, help me grow into the "peace and happiness" of Your presence and it alone! I surrender all~ 

     These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Christ In You

Christ In You~
     What a concept! 

     There are a few things that you need to do on your side of this before you can make this claim or even try to grasp it yourself. 
     You need to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that He was born to a virgin, that He did die on the cross for your sins(a whole 'nother study! but you probably get the idea?) and that He was resurrected(He was alive again!) and that He is now at the right hand of God speaking in our behalf.
     Okay then, can we move on? If you are a believer and follower of Jesus, or otherwise a "Christian", then you need to come to understand and live with the knowledge that Jesus is living within you. If you fully grasp it, it will change your life, it will make a radical change in you!
     Galatians 2:20  My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. New Living Translation

     If you are still living only for yourself and of yourself, don't you have to wonder if you truly are a believer and follower of Jesus, maybe you're a "knower"? Maybe you "just" know that Jesus is the Son of God, but you have not actually received Him as your Saviour? Head knowledge, being a "knower" and heart knowledge, being a "believer" are two different things. If you just "know" that Jesus is the Son of God, it doesn't necessarily change you or your actions, but when you truly "believe" it, you'll do everything you can to follow Him!

     When you are a "believer" you can move on to accepting that Jesus is living in you! When you accept that Jesus is living in you, you can start grappling with what that means! 
     Romans 6:11 In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus. 

New Century Version
     Luke 9:23 Jesus said to all of them, “If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. New Century Version

     It should mean that you no longer live for yourself, you are now a servant of the Most High! You no longer have to stumble around in darkness trying to find what will make you happy! Your focus should become what will please your Saviour and King! After all, He is living in you! What pleases Him will ultimately please you.
     Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  New American Standard

     

For You So Love God That You Give......?

Good morning Holy Spirit! Good morning Abba! Good morning Jesus! 
     It's all about You! All that I am I lay at Your feet, the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses~ You alone can take it all and make me into what I should be. If I try by myself I fall so very short! If I ignore it, I wonder around never accomplishing the callings and work You have for me.
     So Lord, I pray You bind my heart to You and complete the good work that You have started. Please forgive me for sins of neglect, selfishness and ignorance. I fall so short of the woman You have created me to be, even as Your word says, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Please strengthen my spirit with Yours and help me to subject my flesh to Your perfect will. 
     Growing up always believing in You I have had such a selfish, self-centered life! If I believed in You, why has my focus always been on myself? Why in the world would I not have focused on You! the Great I AM, the Creative Genius of all things? I have been so obtuse! Here is little me, weak, helpless..oblivious! and there is You! strong, all powerful....omniscient! And I focus on me! How ridiculous! 
     I can't take credit for all of my mistake, many Christians, leaders and followers focus on the "people" side of the "God and His children" equation. It makes no sense actually! 
    As a woman I have learned to focus on many other people before myself, growing up I focused on my parents, I learned their requirements, their likes and dislikes and I learned to walk within those guidelines, trying to please them. As I grew older and became a "girlfriend" I took great pleasure in learning what was pleasing to my "boyfriend", I learned his likes and dislikes and tried to incorporate them into my own patterns. As a young wife, I really tried to do the things that I thought was fitting for a married woman, I tried to please my husband, the way we spent our time, the things I cooked, the way I dressed, the things I did, were focused outside of myself. Then when I became a mother I really kicked it into high gear, I had a little person I was responsible for, to keep happy and healthy and to please! No crying for my baby! 
     I see the pattern here that I was dedicated to pleasing the people in my life. And I applied the same thinking to You! I tried to dress like I thought You would want, I did the work I thought You would want. In all of my doing though, I didn't actually do the one thing You would want, I didn't spend time with You, fellowshipping with You, praising You, praying to You. I was too busy trying to do the material things I thought You would want me to do.
      Our relationship was still focused on me, not You! People tend to make things about themselves Lord, we are a selfish bunch! If we could learn to take our eyes off of ourselves and focus on You, You would be free to make us into the people You want us to be...the better part of ourselves. The world changing people that You have called us to be!
     Every person that has heard any scripture seems to have heard John 3:16,  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. But have they ever heard of Your attributes, of the things that please or displease You? They know that they're loved and that's all that matters? Lord please forgive us! 
     Please reveal the reality of Who You are! Please help us to focus on You and not ourselves! You are the Great I AM! The Alpha and Omega, the Genius Creator of all things! You are the "Father that ran"~ how blessed are we? Amazing Lord, You are mindful that we are but dust, but that is no excuse for ourselves that we should not bow down, pick up our cross and devote ourselves to pleasing You instead of ourselves! 
     I have observed that people in need are so grateful when something is done for them, then they grow into expecting it to be done repeatedly....then demanding it! I had not equated it into their behaviour to You Lord, until now. People are thankful that You so loved them that You sent Your only Son~ but they want You to keep giving! They don't want to see that they might need to take some actions also! They might need to give their best back to You! No, they limit themselves to receiving, with little thought of giving. And they don't want to see that if they don't grow into a loving walk with You their life may have consequences that reflect their selfish attitude of taking and demanding! 
     So instead of focusing on "For God so loved the world that He gave" ~ Shouldn't we start asking "For the world so loved God that it gave"! What will you give? Your best? Your worst? Something you don't want or need anymore? If you will give your best, what is it that you value the most? Your time, your money, your attention, entertainment, energy.....will you give that?
     For you so love God that you give.....what?
     
      

Far Better Things~

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. 
Quote from C. S. Lewis


Amen! Streets of gold, no illness or tears not to mention being in God's presence!  I truly believe that people that take drugs CAN NOT get high enough to feel the euphoria of being in God's presence, but their spirit knows what it's missing and is trying to get a fix anyway it can...either by drugs or alcohol or whatever addiction makes them have a rush of highness for a short time. Give up on man made highs and seek the euphoria that accompanies God's presence!!~

Free To Walk

Free To Walk

     A lot of times people turn on the TV for background sounds for their day. I usually turn on the Christian radio station or a praise CD while I'm in the house; outside, the birds and breeze are the soundtrack for my day.
     One day while I was working in the kitchen, or painting, or making jewelry, or something like that I had the radio program on and caught a bit of story shared about a child that had been in Sunday School and was relating a story they had learned about Enoch. When asked to retell the story the child said that every day God would come by Enoch's house and say "Hey Enoch, let's go for a walk!" and Enoch would say "sure!", and away they would go. Each day God would come by and ask Enoch to go walking and each day Enoch was ready and off they would go for a wonderful day of sharing. One day they had walked further than normal and it was getting quite late. Enoch told God that they better head back to his house so he could get home before it was too dark and God said "Enoch, we're closer to My house than to yours, why don't you just go home with Me tonight?" And Enoch did! That's a pretty good summary of the story of Enoch as it's told in the bible!
     The same day I heard this story I also listened to a lesson given by Cindy Jacobs about prayer. The lesson concerned how we block God from answering our prayers by unforgiveness. I went through thinking of offenses I had taken in my life and forgave everyone that was involved. I've done this before several times and you'd think I wouldn't have anymore left but it's amazing how many little things we can pack away in our trunk of offenses! It starts in childhood or maybe babyhood? And goes through every day we breath! Being offended is easier than to NOT be offended! Anyway, I worked to bring to mind anything I needed to let go of and prayed about it, releasing the people, the offense and myself!
     Later when I was working in the garden the Holy Spirit showed me how unforgiveness binds us to an anchor that keeps us from being free to doing the things God wants us to. He showed me how it's like a big ball and chain! When God comes by our house to ask us to go walking with Him, as He did with Enoch, we can't even get out of our doors because the ball and chain has us anchored! When we work on it, we make it smaller and smaller, but it is a continual work and it doesn't usually happen overnight. Many times we need to give the offense to God and ask Him to help us to let it go, to help us heal, to put it away from ourselves. And many times we have to do this day after day until finally we find it gone! Then we have the freedom to go walking with God, to go where He wants us to go!

Our New Garden

I took some pictures today so you could see our garden!
    Lane has worked so hard on it and it's really a wonderful place! We had tried to decide which part of our yard would be best for a garden area and the far corner behind the pool was where we had the most sun, so we chose there and I'm really glad we did, it's kind of private and aways from the house so it's like my own little world. When we decided the far corner, we went out to look at it and started digging around and realized there was some concrete blocks or something there under the grass, it was so overgrown with grass we didn't really know what was there.

      I started digging at it one day while Lane was at work and when he got home I was in trouble! He doesn't like for me to do too much manual work, so he took it over and sure enough we had a nice size patio under all of the grass! Once we realized that we had a patio under the grass we decided how to place our raised bed garden, we had thought about 2 of them, but one was plenty enough and we thought if we liked it this year we could add another one next year, Lord willing. So then Lane really kicked it into gear and built the frame for the vegetable garden areas, and I put some cement blocks up to hold the dirt for the flower bed in place. Lane hauled dirt, dirt and more dirt! We were really blessed by the boss he worked with at the time, he was given top soil and sand and a lot of mulch just for the hauling. We knew we had to put up a fence to keep the dogs out so we chose a dark green wire fence that would blend in and not be so distracting.

      The things for the garden just seemed to come together, there are some metal wheels from my dad's farm that my sister was wanting to get rid of, so we took them and put them up on the privacy fence for a little country charm. They were getting rid of some golf cart seats at work so we used them for a little bench where I can sit while I work on the garden. We've had the tomato cages for years and years and while we were living in Tulsa we had bought an old gate at a garage sale and it worked perfect for our garden! (It had just been laying in the garage while we moved around,( I'm sure Lane wondered what we needed an old rusty gate for but he never complained, he just loaded it up at the garage sale and hauled it with us for a long time!)

      Now we have a garden where God has told me we have an open heaven~ well, He told me to remember that for our whole yard is an open heaven and I know we have open heavens everywhere we claim them, but I really enjoy it in the garden!

      I took the pictures starting while I was sitting in one of the two metal chairs we keep on the patio. (Lane was able to get them painted at work too! They had originally been rusty old black chairs, but now they're spiffy shiny red ones!) I took pictures to my left, starting with a big pot our neighbor gave us from her yard because she's moving and I planted Yellow Crook Neck Squash in it, then down and kind of behind it I planted a tomato plant that was left over from our planting, along with the tomato plant is another orphan Squash plant that was left over~ that garden bed was supposed to be for Okra and we did plant about 15 plants or so in it but we had a bunch of volunteer sunflowers come up too, I let some of them grow but I'm trying to keep their leaves trimmed back so they don't overshadow the Okra too much. At the end of the Okra bed are a couple of Potato plants and then a Hollyhock that we transplanted from the farm and and an Iris on the outside of the bed.

      From there is the vegetable raised bed, we planted a lot in it! It's about 4 by 8 and we put onions, turnips, beets, carrots, radishes and spinach in it for the cool season, now I've added some peas, beans, cucumbers, zucchini squash and jalapeno peppers. We have some herb plants tucked here and there in other parts of the yard too~ some lemon thyme, basil, rosemary, pineapple sage, dill, chives and mint. It has been so fun! I'm like a kid in a candy store to be able to plant and grow so many things!

      Carol, my sister gave us a lot of Iris starts, they sold their farm and have moved to town now, so she was digging up a lot of her flowers for starts at her new house and shared with us. After we planted the Iris' we saw some at Lowes and saw the price was $10 a bulb! We came home and counted up that we had planted a value of over $200 dollars of Iris' that Carol had given us! We've transplanted Hollyhocks and Peonies from the farm too. and our neighbor that is moving gave us starts from her plants too, We're creating an oasis! Thank You Lord!

     This has turned out to be pretty long, but it seems like our garden has had God's hand in it all along, even from the gate in Tulsa, so I wanted to do it justice! and Lane has put a lot of labor in on it too!  Our dog, KC, snuck into a couple and the one picture from the start has Lexi, Luke's Dog and KC with Lane.

Hope you enjoy the tour and that it's not too long!

 

 

This is how it looked when Lane first dug out our patio, that was hidden under grass.

 

These are volunteer Sunflowers that came up, they're trying to take over the area for the Okra!

                                   Looking down the patio to the raised bed vegetable garden.
                                    (We've since added mulch to all of the walking area around
                                     the raised bed and the tomato cages to fight the grass back!)

                                                            Pink and purple Petunias.

One of the wagon wheels from my dad's farm.

The flower bed down one side of the patio.

Our Patio and Garden from an outside view.

It's still a work in progress, but I love our little garden area!

Thank You Lord for this blessing!

Questions~

     Several things have come together to create this post.
     This morning in my study time I had a praise CD by Misty Edwards playing (I almost always have praise music playing, either a CD or the radio or streaming online). The lyrics that stood out to me were "people get ready He's coming".
     This last weekend was the Shekinah Glory conference at our church in KC, we weren't able to attend, but we did watch all that was available online. The last days message was that the glory will usher in the return of Jesus.
     Our Pastor was teaching that we, as the church, are the Bride that Jesus is returning for. And that as the church we are to be spending this time of waiting to prepare ourselves for His return! We shouldn't be waiting for Him to return and then expect Him to prepare us for heaven, but I believe that many people are waiting for just that.
     Many American believers have bought into the idea that there will be a rapture and that everyone that ever said the "sinner's prayer" will be zapped into heaven. But there are several verses that have over the years caused me to worry and now seem to be congealing with the last conference's teachings. There is the parable told of the men that had lived doing things like healing and casting out of evil spirits in Jesus's name, but at the end when they approached Jesus He told them to leave and that He had never known them. What a horrible shock that would be! And there's the parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom, 5 have oil and 5 have run out of oil. When the bridegroom shows up the virgins without oil miss it because they had to go back and get the oil! Another horrible shock! All 10 of the virgins were waiting for the same event and believed and had faith, but 5 ran out of oil and missed it.
     Is it possible that everyone that has said the sinner's prayer is waiting for the bridegroom? What percent of  "sinner prayer" repeaters even know the bridegroom is returning? And how many people know who the Bridegroom is returning for? *Hint, His bride!* Okay, who is His bride? And then who are the virgins that run out of oil? So many questions! (In my life everyone says I'm the person with the most questions and I often find that nobody else has even considered half of the things I have questions about! Even my granddaughter told me that I have "a lot of questions!". (It's rare for a child to tell an adult that! I feel honored!!)).
     I have mostly focused on how to live after recognizing that Jesus is the Son of God and Lord of my life, so I have many areas of the future days that I have not spent time studying. I do believe that if I live each day as Jesus wants me to, that He will take care of me and my future. However with all of that said I've recently developed a concern that a lot of people are living in a false sense of security just waiting for that day they get to cash in the "Rapture" ticket. So I'm tackling the part of the message that I've learned so far~
     Okay, back to the basics of what I have begun to understand ~ Jesus is the Bridegroom, He has promised to return for His bride, the church is His bride, the church is supposed to be growing more beautiful with it's growth as it waits for the return of the Bridegroom, and the bride should be waiting for the return of her groom with great love and expectation! Now the part that will probably shock a few people~ the church that is the bride is holy, set apart from the sins of the world, it is a corporate body, it should be growing in loveliness. If a person is not living a life dedicated to being the bride are they one of the virgins that runs out of oil? or are they one of the ones that Jesus said "leave Me, I never knew you"?  See, more questions to be prayed about~