Grateful

How many times have you received a gift from someone and said to their face: "Oh this is not what I wanted." "I can't stand this." "I hate it!" ? For the most part (I would hope) that none of us would do that. Not only is it rude, it's ungrateful. Well, God showed me something about this this morning as I was getting ready for work. I did not feel like going to work today, not at all. I was complaining about it to myself as I was rushing to get to work on time. But God asked me "Are you not grateful that I gave you this job? Do you not like what I gave to you?" And the tone of His voice just sounded sad. Well, I pretty much felt just terrible. But it's so very true. I would feel horrible if my parents gave me a shirt, and I said "ew I don't want it." It would hurt their feelings, make them feel unapperciated. Now I love my parents with all my heart, but shouldn't I give God more? Why in the world would I want God to feel like that? Now we alllll have our days when we say "I don't like my clothes" "My stupid car" "I hate my job" but God gave us all of these things because He loves us. Because He desires to give us whatever we need. Weather it's big or little, God put everything in our lives. I know I will think twice before I complain about something that God gifted to me. And always remember to thank Him for everything in my life.

Here's the Facts

OK. I was thinking about reality & facts VS. faith & opinions. Is there really any difference between these? I'm sure the quick answer is, yes of course there is. Well, here is my reality & my facts. BUT before I go any further, can we all agree that Reality & Facts are the same? Example, the reality is that it is raining outside: the fact is that it is raining outside. The same? Yes...ok moving on...

Reality: I have been diagnosed with a 'disease' (PVNS) that has no medical cure. Not serious (no worries), just pain.
Reality: I have had 6 surgeries (8 if you count wisdom teeth). No surgery helps the pain.
Reality: I have a small tear in my rotator cuff. It has torn twice for unknown reasons.
Reality: My body is in psychical pain 100% of the day.
Reality: The word of God is a FACT.

Fact: Psalm 103:3 - He forgives all my sins and heals all my disease.
Fact: Isaiah 53:5 - But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
Fact: Isaiah 58:8 - Your wounds will quickly heal.
Fact: 1 Peter 2:24 - By his wounds you are healed.
Fact: I place my faith & my opinions on what God says in His word.

I put my faith and trust in God that I am healed, that I have no pain, and that I have no disease. I do this because that is what God tells me and promises me in His word. Therefore it only makes sense that since the word of God is a fact my faith is also a FACT.

Meaning
Faith: I am healed
Fact: I am healed
Reality: I am healed

Doctors say PVNS is a disease. God says I have no disease. You know the reality, so what are you gonna believe?

Strength & Songs & Such

I was asking God for strength this morning. I googled "lord is my strength" and I found various scriptures, and these two in particular are kinda awesome.

Psalm 118: 13-15
13 My enemies did their best to kill me, but the Lord rescued me. 14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. 15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!

Psalm 28:7
7 The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

These scriptures say that the Lord is my strength. And also that songs of victory and thanksgiving are sung to the Lord. In these particular scriptures God isn't requesting our praise because he gave us strength. It is explained somewhat like an involuntary reaction to already having strength. Songs of praise and thanks BURST out from us because we can't help but to sing to God for what he has done for us. (Be it strength, love, forgiveness, deliverance, whatever it is.) How often do we feel the Lords strength and forget to praise Him for it? The strength never leaves us. God is our strength and God lives in us, you can not separate the two. So weather or not we feel it in the natural, it is always there. Therefore we always need to burst out in songs or thanksgiving. We always need to sing songs to the Lord of joy and victory. If you think this could be a difficult thing to do, then try this. Take the next 5 seconds and think about God's love for you, for your family, and your life. Bursting out in praise will be an involuntary reaction.

Our Words

Jeremiah 15...Jeremiah is basically pleading with God. All of the people around him, all of his 'friends' are not obeying God. In verse 6 God says to the people of Jerusalem "You have rejected and forsaken me". Jeremiah then pleads with God telling him that he in fact does follow him.

Verse 16: "When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins.

Jeremiah then asks God why he still remains in pain, even though he obeys and follows Him.
18 Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable?
He then questions God: Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”

God replies: 19"Take back those words, and I'll take you back. Then you'll stand tall before me. Use words truly and well. Don't stoop to cheap whining."

Jeremiah obeys God, he tells God that he does what He asks, he follows Him, but why does he still have incurable pain? The Message bible actually says "chronic pain". THEN Jeremiah questions God. He says that he sees no healing in sight. The Message translation says "You're nothing, God, but a mirage" Immediately God commands Jeremiah to take back those words. To not question Him. God doesn't say, well you followed me when no one else did, you do obey me, I'll let those words of uncertainty just slide by. No, God says take back those words and I'll take you back. That shows how important our words are. How much one confession can change everything. When we remain faithful to God in our actions AND our words, then He will work mightifully in our lives.

I 'have' (and I use that term extremely loosely) chronic pain, I can understand that at times it feels like the weight of the world on your shoulders. Like the devil is just pushing you down, beating you. BUT when we remain faithful and steadfast in our faith, actions, lives, AND WORDS, here is what God does: (here's the good part...) :-)

Verse 20: I'll turn you into a steel wall, a thick steel wall, impregnable. They'll attack you but won't put a dent in you because I'm at your side, defending and delivering."

I, the Lord, have spoken!

The story ends with "I, the Lord, have spoken!" I mean really, is there even a reason to ever question what He said He would do?

DUMBO

I watched Dumbo this morning while waiting for my clothes to dry. It is a highly disturbing movie. Here is my synopsis of the movie:

1. An infant, in a sheet, falls from a cloud numerous times because a stork cannot pay attention for more than 5 seconds at a time.
2. Said infant (Jumbo Junior) is immediately mocked and humiliated by grown women.
3. We then have a classic case of wrongful imprisonment of Mrs. Jumbo.
4. Jumbo Juniors name is changed to Dumbo by his one and only friend...as if he wasn't humiliated enough.
5. Countless acts of child endangerment, or animal cruelty...it all depends on how you look at it.
6. The abusing adults get drunk and because of their negligence an unsupervised baby gets drunk as well.
7. The only good thing is at the end of the movie when Dumbo is reunited with his Mother. (This of course only after he is the drunken adults meal ticket, bringing the circus loads of money.)

Trust in the Lord

When I got to work this morning I prayed and asked God "What do you want to show me today?" He said "Look up trust" (Look up? you ask...well God knows how I study. I am not very strong in memorizing where everything is in the bible, I'm working on it, but it's not a strength of mine. I know it's in there somewhere, but I have a hard time finding it! So when I have a topic in mind that is laid on my heart, I google it on my favorite website http://www.biblegateway.com/. So basically God tells me to google things. haha) Anyway, moving on...

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

This is a very common scripture, so at first I wasn't sure what God was trying to show me. Obviously I can read these 2 scriptures, assume I need to trust God more, and go on about my day. But I read further.

Proverbs 3:7-8
7Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 8 Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.


:-) Now, for a person who is told she has a "bone" problem this is such an eye opener. It's amazing how God can take His word and continue to show us new things. We can read every word in the bible over and over again and still not get the full meaning of every scripture. There is always going to be something more God will teach us.

Trust in the Lord with all my heart and I will have healing in my body and strength for my bones.

My List

About 2 years ago I made a list of things to do. It started as a list to complete before I turned 30, however some of them can be to complete in my lifetime. Now...this list is very random, some items may seem pointless, but it's just me!

Have a child
Buy a house
Go to Africa - preferably mission work
Perform at a concert - DONE
Learn to play bass guitar -DONE (With lots of help from Josh!)
Play bass on stage - DONE - I play every week :-)
Join an orchestra
Get a degree in business
Open my own Studio
Bungee Jump
Go on a cruise - DONE
Be in a musical
Walk the red carpet
See Yanni in concert
See Riverdance in concert
Design an article of clothing
Invent something
Pass a law
Own an old Mercedes Benz car
Meet a President
See Mount Rushmore
Make a family tree - back to 1800
Read all Narnia books
Become a notary
Visit the rainforest
Become debt free
Get my motorcycle license
Visit Niagara Falls
Get paid to plan a wedding
Scuba Dive
Go on a fan/air boat

Where is your HOPE?

We did a song this past week at church, Jesus Messiah. The bridge says "All our hope, is in you." Now, I am not one that does much "preaching" per say. I'm on the quiet side and I just like to hang out and observe. But something hit me during that song that made me want to tell every person I know! (But grabbing the microphone from Mark...prob not the best idea, haha, so blog it is!) :-)

"All our hope is in you" Do you live by this statement? Do I? I think I tend to forget this sometimes. Yes, it's always in my mind, but do I truly live my life based on placing every ounce of hope I have in God? My hope is not placed with man, it is placed with God. My hope is not in Doctors, it's in God. My hope is not in what some accountant tells me, it is in God. Nothing this world tells will change my circumstances, only God can. So why put any of my energy in placing my hope where it will do no good? If people (in general) took all the energy that is spent on worry, stress, and fear; and placed that same energy in God, these people would be unstoppable for the kingdom of God. Lives can and will be changed based on where you place your hope. So place your hope in God, take comfort in knowing that God's got you covered. Placing all of your hope in God will bring you such a peace, it will change your life.

Praise God for the 'What Ifs"

WHAT IF?

Think of something you have been praying to God for, for a long period of time. Is it healing? A family member getting saved? A million dollars? How would you react if one day a million dollars showed up in your bank account? What would you do if your family member got saved after years of praying that they would? How would you feel if that healing you have been praying for, for years, happened? You would be abundantly happy, excited, you would shout out to God in victory.

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

I tend to shy away from the word hope, but personally I have faith that I am healed. I am confident in this fact. And I am assured that God has already given it to me. So why not praise him like I have no physical pain? Yes, every single day of my life I say "God thank you for my healing. God I'm healed, I believe it." But really? That's not what I would say if I woke up one day and had no pain...I would straight up FREAK OUT! React as if what you are praying for just happened. Why not rejoice and thank God for that person who IS saved as if they just spoken to Jesus for the first time. Make your actions meet your faith. Next time you are believing for something, think about how you would react in the natural. What IF you really for real, got what you wanted. Now, praise God for the What Ifs.

Choices

Our physical lives
What action do we take to stay alive? We have to eat & drink. Breathing and our heart beating all of these things are done for us. These are involuntary actions, however eating and drinking is a voluntarily action we take to keep our bodies alive. We make a choice to take these actions to stay alive, we don't have to do this. But who would choose to starve themselves? Who would take a precious life and choose to not eat and drink, knowing they will eventually die?

Our spiritual lives
What action do we take to become saved? We ask Jesus into our hearts. Done, we get into heaven. But what more is there? Do we have to do anything else? We are in heaven, awesome, but what now? Just like we don't have to think continuously about breathing and making our hearts beat, we don't have to think about Jesus every second of everyday. But what if we did? We can't survive without food or water. How long can a saved person survive spiritually without praying, without studying the bible, without connecting with God? Ask the same question as above: But who would choose to starve themselves from God's word? Who would take a precious life and choose to not pray and connect with God? We can live by breathing and our hearts beating...but we choose to eat and drink. We can be saved by asking Jesus into our hearts...but do we choose to connect with Him more?

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20 - Paul is being held prisoner in Rome. He is talking to people about what to do when the devil comes at you. He says to put on armor to protect yourself from the devil. Not from flesh (people) but from evil forces we can't see. He says use Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation to shield ourselves from the devil. Notice in verse 16 where he tells us to have faith. He adds "In all circumstances take up the shield of faith." All of these are important and necessary, but he makes an added point to say IN ALL circumstances. It is important to always have faith in everything, with everything we are, have faith. In verse 13 (in the Message Bible) it says "Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet." We can't handle this on our own, and we don't have to. God has "issued" us everything we need to defeat the devil. And we can do that and end up still standing on our own feet. We will not be knocked down. We will not be defeated. God always wins and he is on our side. God has given us everything we need to defeat the devil.

So take a look at your life. The devil may be throwing something at you. Know this, you can handle it. Something I always say is "God's got your back". Have faith, be strong, and use the tools that God has given you to fight off the devil. With God, it's not even a guess - it's a fact, you WILL win.

The Jordan, Joshua & the impossible.

Joshua 3:14 - 4:7

14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Basically this is saying, these people are trying to cross over the Jordan. When they reach the waters edge the water rose up very far away, meaning now there is dry land for them to pass over. The scripture even makes an extra point to say that the banks we overflowing. It wasn't some dry riverbed, it was a full flowing river.

4:1 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

Now God tells Joshua to pick 12 mean in each tribe, tell them to go to the middle of the dry river and pick 12 stones and take these stones home with them. My favorite part of this whole passage is the reason God told Joshua to tell these men to take the stones home with them. In verse 6 "That this may be a sign among you." God wants them to keep these stones because of the meaning they have to these men. So they can tell the story of crossing the Jordan to their children. And remember it forever. I think it is important for us to keep things in our sight that remind us of miracles, or of prayers we are believing for. God could have told Joshua to not tell those men anything, but it was important to God that these men would have a sign and a reminder of what happened that day.

I am believing for healing. I can picture the sight of the Jordan, the waters being completely cut off and it becoming dry land. Man can't do that, God did it. There is absolutely nothing impossible with God. My most recent visit to the doctor I was told that there was nothing any doctor can do for me. To fix the pain, or the PVNS. I am so glad that I do not, in any way, depend on doctors to heal me. Some people might see an "incurable" health problem as impossible, well I'm so blessed that nothing is impossible with God.

The Jordan River....