Friday, July 15, 2011

Bear fruit that will last...

First of all, to my friend Ginny...goodluck having that baby girl! I wish I could be there! I cannot wait to meet her when I get back from the cruise! Love you!

Bear fruit that will last
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go bear fruit-fruit that will last."
John 15:16

God is the vine and I am the branches.
I know a vine can only produce branches if those branches remain attached to the vine. I can only be one in God if I stay attached to Him because He is my source of life. I cannot live without Him. If I am living without Him, I am producing nothing but rotten waste. I want to bear fruit...I want to be a glimpse of Jesus to somebody. I want others to know me and look at me and know whom I belong to. Unfortunately, I do a cruddy job of this daily, all day.
What a disappointment I feel I am to Him. What fruit do I bear? He gave me gifts that will help me spiritually and do I use them? God placed me here on earth to increase the number of those who believe in Him and love Him. He didn't suggest it to me, he appointed me to do so. It is called The Great Commission. Matthew 28:19, " Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit." God expects me to do this...and boy do I need a kick in the pants.
Father, help me to bear fruit. Fruit that will make a lasting impact on Your kingdom. Help me to be someone who knows I love You and belong to You. I get so caught up in the drama of daily life that it gets in the way of me doing what You appointed me to do and being who You have appointed me to be. Give me the strength to just step out of the way of my life and allow You to work in every nook and cranny of it. I love You and want to bear fruit for You.


Well I hope you all have a wonderful week. I will be enjoying a beautiful cruise. I will get to experience God's amazing power, wondrous works, and complete sovereignty in a whole new way! Love you guys!

Monday, July 11, 2011

A life that actually works

In my Bible study time today, I was reading about blessedness...a person who reveres the Lord, Follows His commands and looks to Him in all situations. God is their life... their reason for being. When you have this blessedness, your life actually works.

I was thinking about my life actually working out. This means that I rejoice in the Lord in all things...good or bad...pretty and ugly...easy and hard...when understanding or when confused...when frustrated or happy.

I feel my life "actually works" when I am happy. But when I am happy, I feel it is more of a human reaction than a condition of my heart and soul. I rejoice in the good, pretty, easy times. I rejoice when my life makes sense. However, I don't rejoice when things happen in my life that I don't understand, or when things get ugly and hard. In fact, I ask , "Why, GOD?"

Now, I have never denied that God was God. I have always believed that He does work in wonderful ways, but I have denied God to work that into my life and allowing Him to make it actually work. I get too much in the way of my own blessedness. I see people I go to church with who are blessed. They love God, they follow Him anywhere He leads, they call on Him for wisdom and guidance in the tiniest matters of life...they make God their life. They exude blessedness and their blessedness bring me joy and a yearning for my own blessedness.
I have gotten better in the past few weeks of allowing God in. Allowing Him to direct my life, make my decisions, and capture my thoughts. I have worried less and less as each day passes. I know God is bigger than any problem and He will provide me a strength that is insurmountable even in times of trouble. But, I want to be blessed. I want a life that "ACTUALLY WORKS!"

Father, God, help me to walk in Your ways. May my steps be to worship, may my thoughts bring You praise, may my words bring honor to Your name. Help me to look to you even in the smallest affairs of life. Give me wisdom and knowledge like you say in Isaiah 33:6. For I know your ways are right and just...I know they are the ONLY way that I can truly live if I want to have a life of true blessedness and one that will actually work!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Well, I am back from the beach and had a fine time! One more week and I will be on my big vacation to the Caribbean!!!!
While at the beach I decided to keep my nieces there a couple extra days since they were going to be going home earlier than I was. I had a good time with them and my other niece and nephew. Once again, I was reminded and encouraged at how much I am wanting to be a mom to my own children.

I am reading about how basically, God is the builder of your home, if you allow Him to be. God will be the guardian of your home if you allow Him to be. If you don't allow Him in, you are doing all things in vain. When you allow God in, He will deliver many blessings to you.

I am so guilty of seeing the "picture perfect" family and wanting that for my life. But God did not make any one of us alike. So, not only is He a builder, but He is a custom builder. He will work hallways and staircases into your life that fit perfectly with His will for you. He will create doorways that lead to countless blessings, IF you allow Him completely into your heart.

The picture perfect family for me is one with a few children, a white picket fence, a couple of dogs...but more importantly, it is one with a foundation firmly built on the Lord. Because I can have all the kids I want, the beautiful house with all the beautiful things inside, all the little animals to make my family look complete. But the truth of the matter is NOTHING WILL EVER BE GOOD AND FRUITFUL UNLESS GOD IS THE ONE BUILDING MY HOME.

God has not decided that now is the time for Curtis and I to have a family. I am getting better at being okay with that. I am trying to patiently wait on His timing, because deep down inside I know and truly believe that His timing is best and perfect. But after reading this today, I decided that I may not be a mother to my own children, but I can be an other (like a mother) to my nieces and nephew, to the children I teach and any young person who needs someone to love them. I spend a lot of time with my nieces and I find myself teaching them many things, so then I am like a mother to them...until God builds children into my home.

So, if you want to have countless blessings, you have to decide what is more important, material things which moths and dust will destroy...""Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Matthew 6:19. These things here on earth are nothing and will always be nothing, but store up a relationship with God, do things here on earth that will bring you closer to heaven and living eternally with our custom builder, God. If you want to be a mother and are not one yet, be an other to someone who needs love. If you want a sense of family, but don't have it, find a church and build community and relationships there. And remember, your life will always seem like it is in shambles unless you allow God to build and perfect it.