What Do I LOOK Like?

The last couple of days I have been drenched in the presence of a Holy and Loving God.  He has allowed me the privilege of praying for people I know, and even those I do not.  I have been reading a great book...it's been stepping on my toes, but that is good, too. I have been reading one of my favorite blogs.

In all these different avenues of my life...God is speaking to me. Showing me new things. Building a heart of compassion in me.  I am seeing differently. Feeling differently. Wanting to LOOK differently.

I have so many whispers in my heart from God.  So many seeds that want to grow, and are...little by little. I have come so far in my walk, yet I have so far to go. I fail. I get up. The Lord gingerly whispers again to my spirit.

I am pondering the holidays quickly approaching. Thanksgiving...Christmas...A New Year...What do I look like to those who spend time with me, even if for the minutest moment?  Do I look different from the masses?  Do I show God's splendor in my expressions? Does my Home point to the creator?  Do people See JESUS when they see me, or do they see hypocrisy?  Of course there is a little of that in everyone...we are after all, human and in being so...we are less than perfect.  Do I talk the talk and forget my walk? Do I live out my passions, convictions or just talk about them? 

The upcoming holidays have struck a chord in me.  I want them to look different.  I want them to be MORE than the shoe box we pack for a few children.  More than buying gifts for people who have everything they could possibly need or want.  More than just reading the birth of Christ from the Bible or saying our thanks to the All Powerful God of the Universe around the Thanksgiving meal.  More than empty Resolutions for the coming New Year.  I want to DO more.  I want to LOOK different. I don't know how to do that...people already think we're weird... No Santa...No Tree...No Stockings....but that is just the baby steps to what God is laying on my heart. I want to be INTENTIONAL.

Lord, use this vessel.  Pour into me what you would have me pour out to others.  Change my countenance like you changed Moses' when he radiated as he descended the mountain from being in Your presence. May I walk in your presence and look to you for ALL things.
 

Longing for LIFE

I am longing in my Spirit for MORE.  I am longing to live everyday to the Fullest.  What does that look like?  I don't fully know but I have a picture in my mind's eye.

I know that I long to spend more time in the Word and Prayer...just getting to know my Savior better.  I long to radiate like Moses did when he came down from the mountain after spending time with the Lord.  I want to be moved with the same compassion as the Samaritain.  I long to spend time with my children laughing and crying...LIVING.  I long to be a wife that brings honor to her husband.  Who lift him up and doesn't tear down with words.

I am longing for LIFE.

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" John 10:10

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:35-36

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." John1:4

" I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."Galations 2:20

"Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it."

1Peter3:8-11

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." (John 14:6) That is the LIFE I am longing after!  The living Savior who directs my paths...who pours out his compassion on me, so that I may have compassion on others.  The one who beckoned the Little children so that my heart, too, will be soft toward my own.  What layed his life down...not only to save mine, but to be the example of true love, friendship...and LIFE.

I am not ALL I long to be...I have days that it's two steps forward one step back...but I am Longing for Life. 

What do you LONG for?

Vigilance

I am often caught off guard when Satan attacks!  I shouldn't be...but I am.  I am right in the middle of a battle when I stop and realize that it is a battle!  Scripture says in  1 Peter 5:8-9, that we should be vigilant, or be on alert.  You see, when we are sleeping, spiritually, that is when Satan attacks.  We let him in by not keeping him out. This is an everyday...many times a day...renewing of our minds and focusing of Christ. 

Scriptures says that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour!  I don't want to be devoured!  I don't want my relationships and time to be devoured!  The Word also says that Satan comes to kill, steal and DESTROY!  He is out for your life!  "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10.


Jonathan Mayer, The Devour



Satan wants to steal ALL that God has promised you.  He wants you to be in the pits of despair so you can't, or won't, move forward with Christ.  You see, he change who you belong to, but he can change how you respond to who you belong to.

When I notice that I am in the midst of a battle...I have to take up my sword and fight...or be defeated.  It is a choice.  I want to live in the life that Christ paid for me to have!  I want to head off the attack...not struggle to defeat it.  Watch...Vigilantly..."Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Ephesians 6:16

Adventures Await

Do you ever wonder, "how am I going to walk this out?"  I do.  I feel a call on my life, a tug at my heart, a simple request to move and I sometimes respond as Moses did..."but God...surely you don't mean me! I ...." filling in the blanks with all my excuses.  But then I draw strength from the Word of God.  

"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."2 Peter 1:3-4


"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1-6

The Lord never expects us to "go it alone" or without a road map.  This isn't a guessing game. We are not unprepared for the journey in which he has called us, nor are we left without resources to get the job done. 

There are exciting adventures waiting and God is waiting on you, and me to get movin'!