Wise Words from CS Lewis

Don't ask God to remove the hard parts, they are for your making. Ask God to help you through them, to mold you along the way, and to reveal His heart in the process.
-Christina

God isn't Gas, He's Oil

Often times people want to use God as a filling station. They come get filled up and replenished, then they aren't heard from again until their empty, needing to be filled again.  I know some say what's wrong with that. But ask yourself would you only want people to come see you when they need something. No nobody would. So why do we do God that way?

We have to start caring about how we treat the most important relationship in our lives.  We have to remember God isn't gas, He's Oil!  Think about it, gas runs out in your car constantly, but oil keeps you going and has staying power. You may need to replenish every now and again, but it keeps the car running day after day, year after year. We don't want to run on half, or quarter tanks of gas, we want to be full of the Oil that flows! 

God Bless U

You Said It

Speak it and it shall be so. 

 Do you believe that?

  If you don't, you should. 

 

 

 

 

I know you have heard the saying " what you say is what you will have".  A lot of times people relate that to financial situations or hopes of getting what they want.  But really that goes for everything. Every aspect of our lives can be determined by what we say about it.  If you've followed my writings then you know one of my favorite things to encourage is "speak life".  I mention this over and over again for a reason.  We have to be careful, meaning take CARE regarding the things we say.  The bible tells us that out the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).  In other words what we care about, what means the most to us, is what we talk about. 

 

Going further; not only what we speak is of importance, but also what we say about it. Negative people always produce negative situations. People who make a choice to speak positively, even in less favorable situations, have better outcomes. The things we say matter.  God is listening, He hears every word. More importantly he has read what your heart holds regarding that situation before you even open your mouth.  It's important to speak positive, to speak life.  I often think of the account of Ezekiel and how God demonstrated the power of words.  Of course there are other lessons in this passage of scripture, but let's focus on what effect speaking life (positivity) has.

 

" The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.  He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.  He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.  I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them.  Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’”  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.   (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

This passage of scripture has a lot of good teaching in it.  But again what we are focusing on is what God tells Ezekiel to do, and then what happens when he does it.  God told Ezekiel to prophesy.  He was basically telling him to speak to the bones and to speak breath.  God told Ezekiel to SPEAK LIFE!!!   Ezekiel did what he was told to do in the vision and as a result God would restore Israel.  This is the same thing for us today.  If we would prophesy, speak life to every aspect of our lives, then God will listen, restore,and bless.

I want to mention one more scripture to help you start to care more about what you say.  Mark 11:23 says, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith”.  So be encouraged to throw away the negativity.  Don't think your words don't have consequences.  Parents speak into your children's lives.  If you say mean things in the heat of the moment it matters.  If you've ever spitefully called your children lazy, stupid, dumb, ignorant, selfish, etc.  That matters.  If you've said those same things about yourself or others, it matters.  Those words don't just go away.  The pile up and become great big road blocks in your lives and the lives of those you spoke them about.

Being aware of the things we say can be one of the best things we can do for ourselves in this Christian walk.  For me, I've noticed how much better my outlook and attitude is throughout the day.  I encourage you to speak positivity, because what we speak we shall have.

~God Bless U



Joy Everlasting

I wanted to quickly encourage you today to be happy on purpose. No matter what's going on around you, or what's going wrong in your life, choose how you decide to look at it.  There are so many negative things that happen in the world, but we get to make the decision on how it affects us.  I received some troubling news today, and usually it would have been enough to keep me sour all day.  But, I remembered the scripture that says "speak those things that are not as though they are". So I decided to speak life to a dying situation. And what I found was I was encouraged to look at that situation differently. Instead of being in despair, I was empowered by the Word of God and the joy and peace it brings. It wasn't necessarily that the outcome changed, but my mindset did. I remembered that all things work out for my good and that God will supply my every need. 

I chose to keep my joy. I chose to stay in the light instead of being pulled down to darkness.  I don't believe life is about being happy all the time, but God does wants us to be happy. So much so that He gives us a greater gift than happiness... JOY!  Joy is what we have, when happiness just won't do. I'm happy when I get to the beach, or when I recieve something I've been praying for.  I have joy when I'm at the beach, and when I can't get there because of circumstances and life. I have joy when things are not going great, but I'm sure God has my back. 

 

What I've found is that joy is everlasting.  When we say to God I want to be happy, he gives us a measure of joy to sustain us between those times and  during.  So I encourage you to be happy on purpose, because God has something so much better in store.

 



~God Bless U

On A Personal Note...

I don't think I ever really write anything about myself. Today I want to share with you an area I am asking God to sharpen in me.  I need God and am believing for Him to equip me to believe in myself. 

I have enough self esteem to fool people most of the time, but never enough to fool myself any of the time.  What I mean is that lately I find self doubt a part of my thoughts more that I find self assurance.  This was once something I struggled with in childhood and I'm not entirely sure I've gotten over it.  As a matter of fact, I know I haven't.  I'm not talking about the kind of self esteem that gages how cute I am or if a boy thinks I'm worth talking to. That I have no problem with, and... well...that husband of mine is stuck with me!   I'm talking about the kind of self esteem that accepts I'm nothing apart from Christ, but also knows I'm everything in Him because of Him. I know that He didn't save me to leave me and forget about me and every situation that I will ever face.  But I find myself feeing unworthy and sometimes even helpless because of history.  On top of this comes guilt, because I know better.  I know that God loves me.  I know He has a plan for me.  I know it's not me that makes me worthy, but the grace and mercy that He gives me freely. 

So why can't I get it together?  Because sometimes even I;  the person that takes care of everyone else, that prays for others, that's always discarded until somebody wants a word from God; needs to be encouraged and reminded that God's grace is sufficient and that it's okay for me to matter.  Also, that every promise that God has made to me will come to pass.  I also need to be reminded that Satan wants to bring me down and ruin the relationship that I have with God.  But, I'm also reminded that he's a liar and a thief.  God has the final say and He's there to help his children along the way.  He won't even suffer one of us to be lost. (Thank you Jesus)

I thank God right now for this.  I wasn't sure what I was writing when I opened my computer, but I see now that God wanted to minister to me.  I needed to be able to see what He has been speaking so clearly in my ear.  I do believe that God has great things for me, my family, and my ministry.  I also know that if I can hold on a little longer it will come to pass.  If anyone reading this finds themselves attacked on every side, finds that the old things that used to plague you have shown back up from out of nowhere, I encourage you to take it to God in prayer right now.  Remember that the bible calls Satan a worthy adversary, because he plays dirty and he will do everything to deceive you and have you focused on the wrong thing.  Just remember to always enquire of the Father and He will direct your paths.  Tell the enemy, no way, he's a liar, and you refuse to play his dirty games.  Start to call out the promises of God in your life, speak life, health, favor, and blessings over yourself daily. Believe that you are as precious as God says you are.  That you matter to Him, so you better start mattering to yourself .  Know that there is nothing wrong with knowing who you are and whose you are.  You are a better person for it.   This advice I write is to myself first.  And I plan to walk in it right this moment!

After writing this I feel so encouraged to run on in the faith,  I hope you do too!

~God Bless U