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!

Hunger

Each night I go through the same routine with my cat, Buckeye, ...as I enter the kitchen I see Buckeye laying on the floor, and I'm sure if he could talk I'd hear him say, feed me please, I am wasting away to nothing....he rolls on the floor or rubs his paws on the cupboard door where he knows the food is. Tonight it struck me in a different way, God has been talking to me a lot lately about hungering for Him..like I do for food! The time for playing is over, we must devour His word, hunger for his spirit, desire to draw closer to Him every single day, we cannot take a day off from those very important things. I think a lot of our problems and struggles would be solved if we stopped starving ourselves, spiritually!

Oh, rain!

That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45

I'm not sure about you, but I love the rain! Living here in Texas has been a bit of a challenge in that department this past summer! We were wracked with a severe drought, it got so bad we could only water our lawns one day every other week! The dryness was suffocating to me, a person who was born in the rain, well at least I'm sure I was, because it rains nearly everyday in Ketchikan, Alaska! I remember a month ago it began raining outside very hard, and it was at night when my family was sleeping, so I went out in it, and just got soaked, it felt so good on my dry skin...
This verse is referring to troubles, everyone has them, trials, hardships, loss, hurt, whether you are a Christian or not, they will come your way! I was thinking on this verse the other day, and I realized something though, the unjust are just in the "rain" without any hope of protection, it's them against the world, but as a Christian we have hope, Jesus is our "umbrella, oh we still face the same things, but He gives us His promises, His protection. When you are out in a rainstorm even if you are using an umbrella you are still gonna get a little wet, because it'll only protect you so much, but you definitely won't be as soaked as someone without one!
Recently I saw of a video of a funeral for a very young man who had left this world due to cancer, sad? Yes, but what moved my heart the most was his wife was dancing in the spirit at her husband's funeral...she was dancing in the rain! The rain was pouring down on her, but she danced through it, God wants us to dance in the rain! When these hard times comes if we will dance we will realize God ALWAYS has a reason for each drop of rain that falls on us! Over and over this goes through my mind, these trials are not only for me, but for someone else too, think about the impact it'll have on someone when they see you dancing in the rain that is falling? What a difference it makes in you too, that rain begins to feel good on your spirit, because growth comes with that rain!
My friends, mark it down, the rain will come, but just make up your mind that no matter what you are only going to dance....

Circles have to be my favorite!

There are times when God will do something that just causes me to take a step back and survey His greatness...
When I was 10 I lived in Ketchikan, Alaska, it was a rough time for me, we had just lost my little brother and my parents' marriage also folded under that pressure, don't worry, this blog is not about my suffering, I am just setting a scene. I was a kid that was broken down by circumstances, but you know I loved basketball! I would go to Valley Park elementary school and shoot hoops with my uncle, it was there that the light came into my life...his name was Brother Glover, well His name is Jesus, but the Jesus I saw was him! He let me know I mattered, he invited my family to church, and it was there in that little home church I first heard the gospel. God really stepped in there, but what I keep looking at is, I was born in Southeast Alaska..I love Southeast Alaska, now God is sending Brad & I to Southeast Alaska to Pastor! My mind has tried to wrap itself around that, but it is a big concept in the human mind. The benefits that He has given through this are, being near my Mom again, and Brother Glover will be doing our installation service! It is just so fitting, God wrapped that gift right up, even put a beautiful bow on top!
The saying goes, All things come full circle, well, I must say circles are definately my favorite!