Why are you afraid?

Fear is the number one thing that stops us from fulfilling the God called purpose in our life! Whether it be fear of failure, fear of success, not wanting people to see us, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves, etc...but the thing is when we are walking in God's will we really only draw attention to Him, not ourselves!

And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Matthew 8:26

In Matthew when they called on Jesus because of the storm, he was not upset with them because they disturbed His sleep, but because they were fearful and focused on their circumstances not on the answer! Jesus is the answer to everything! He wants us to come to Him with faith and trust that it is all in His hands...not fearful of what may happen if we step out into our calling. When Jesus rebuked the wind and sea there came a great calm, that same great calm will come into your life when you are where He wants you to be...you too will have peace!

Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Proverbs 15:16
I like this verse...just come to God with what you have, little is much with God, give Him your life, your talents, your gifts and He will make it great, not you, but your ministries!
I just want to encourage you to step out in faith, don't fear and God will use you to change your world!
I love y'all...

Recycling

Something you hear a lot about these days is recycling. When we lived in Hawaii it was really big, I mean you would see people going through the trash and dumpsters to find things to recycle! There were trucks set up for recycling, people bring their stuff and they get their money. They can make just about anything out of plastic, paper, cardboard and glass, it amazes me! I took the kids to a free activity at the community college, and they were handing out rulers made out of old phone books and pencils that were made of recycled denim!!! Cool huh? I believe in recycling, because I think it shows good stewardship, but honestly I don't recycle all that I should! I realized a neat thing about recycling, God is the master of it! Think about it for a minute, we first come to him, a mess and not at all what we should be, but He takes what we have and creates something new in us, He recycles that negative attitude, that addiction, the sinful outlooks we had into useful tools to reach our world!! The kids and I walked to and from school a lot when we lived there, and along the way the sidewalks were just littered with bottles and wrappers, in fact Briana would mention often she wanted to bring a trash bag to clean up as we went, then recycle what we could, and then throw the rest out. Now that I think about it, there is a lesson in it, yes it is great that they waned to pick up the trash, but also about how God has came through each of our life's "picking" up the trash, He recycled the useful things and got rid of the rest! Who would of thought that there would be any use for that old phone book or used denim? That is how people used to see us, we weren't worth much we had no real use, you may even feel that way now, but God looks and sees the potential for "recycling" in us! Recycling or re-purposing is just turning old things into new things, that is truly God's business! Re-purposing is a great word, God takes our old, sinful purpose giving us a new purpose, a new perspective!! He gives us beauty for ashes, turning that old junky stuff into new beautiful useful gifts to use for His glory! Let God look into your heart daily, so He can get rid of the trash and make you a glorious example of His "recycling" power!!!
I love y'all...

Do you hurt?

I got inspired today when I saw a post by a dear brother...he was talking about taking time for yourself to heal, it pricked my heart, because I know we don't do that, God brought to my remembrance of the times He got alone to pray, don't you think He was wounded too? He says He felt the things we feel, well that means hurts too!
I remember as a child my family along with my aunt were at the beach, well we kids decided to play follow the leader, so my aunt jumped over a piece of glass, I tried, but I landed on it cutting my heal wide open. We were out the road so we had to drive into town to get to the hospital and by the time we got there the sheet I was using on my foot was pretty much red.... the experience at the hospital wasn't the best, they had to clean out the sand and rocks with water, and I still have a big scar after all these years, but the wound is all healed, but if my parents would have just taken me home and didn't pay any attention to the wound it probably would have turned out different, I probably would have dealt with an infection. The same thing happens when we don't deal with hurts and wounds in our heart...they become infected then bitterness comes..
Like the Eagle, there comes a time when an older Eagle must go up into the mountains to moult..they lay prostrate out under the sun, they rest and stay there until the process is finished and in place of their old worn feathers they now have shiny new ones! But it hurts at times, and they aren't themselves....
One great thing I have discovered about allowing yourself to heal is the process God takes you through...it really is beautiful, yes it hurts, but in the end your ministry has a new shine too it, because a price has been paid, it takes sacrifice to have a ministry, and sometimes that means hurts at the hands of others! Just remember to let yourself heal, sit at the Masters feet, soak in His presence every chance you get, and before you know it you will be on your feet again and completely whole!
I love y'all...

A vessel

One time when I was little I remember being really thirsty and getting a big glass of water, but when I took a drink of it something didn't taste quite right...upon further inspection I saw little "floaties" in my glass...ugh! I don't know about you, but nothing can turn my stomach quicker than that..yuck! For some odd reason this story just came to my mind a few minutes ago...weird, but now I feel like it is because God wanted us to know our vessel must be clean, we have to be floaty free to be used of God! When God uses us He doesn't want us to taste weird, but we need to be refreshing to those around us...and to Him!