"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." - Laura Ingalls Wilder


Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Ushering in the Presence of God...


When I woke up Monday morning, I stayed in bed for a while to pray.  I began thinking about the Sunday morning service and our evening growth group get together.  Both were a blessing and refreshment to me.  As I was pondering the word given in the service and our discussion that followed that evening, I believe God put this on my heart - “The word given and worship experience is a small foretaste of a greater ushering.  These times do not change your heart, rather, your change of heart will usher in more of Me.”  I started to pray for God to change my heart, then He began to show me a beautiful picture of the fruit of the Spirit.

LOVE – To fully be able to love others, I need to believe that God truly does love and accept me.

JOY – “This is My commandment that you love one another, that your joy may be full.”  When I believe that God truly loves and accepts me, it brings forth an abundance of joy.

PEACE – By embracing the Father’s love and experiencing abundant joy, I have a peace in knowing Whose I am.

PATIENCE – Embracing the Father’s love, experiencing abundant joy, and having peace in knowing Whose I am, brings security to be patient with myself and others, which gives a willingness to wait and tarry.

KINDNESS – Embracing the Father’s love, experiencing abundant joy, having peace in knowing Whose I am, and being patient with myself and others, allows me to understand how to show kindness to others.




SELF CONTROL - Embracing the Father’s love, experiencing abundant joy, having peace in knowing Whose I am, being patient with myself and others, showing kindness to others, walking in righteousness (by grace alone), being faithful toward God, as He was faithful toward me by sowing Goodness in my heart, allowing me to be a full extension of the same gentleness with others, as my Father is with me when crushing and pressing to make new wine, rids the urge of indulgences as there is no room left for idols.

God is so good to us.  He loves us.  He forgives us.  He refines us.  He fills us with His Sprit.  He gives us spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ.  He uses us to be an extension of Himself to others through the fruit of the spirit. He gives us weapons for battle.  May we earnestly seek His face and be willing to lay ourselves and our traditions down, and allow His Spirit to move in this place.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Capture My Heart




 I have enjoyed Christmas break, especially being able to linger in bed in the morning to spend time with God. This morning, I woke up with a song on my heart, and this one phrase kept repeating in my mind - “Holy Spirit, capture my heart”. I began to meditate on that and was led to pray, asking God to free me from “self”. From what I want. From how I feel. From what I crave. From what I desire. To deliver me from ME. After praying, I could see an image of prison bars in my mind.  Directly after, this is what I heard - "Prison bars are continuous rows of the capital letter "I".  I began to ponder and and chew on that.  How easy it is to get locked behind the prison bars of loving self more.  Protecting self.  Serving self.  Being behind prison bars creates an emptiness, a loneliness, and an inability to love others well.  This truly is the default of our flesh - to love ourselves most.  I am so thankful that God had, and perfectly executed, a plan to save us from our own self destruction.  Through Christ alone, we are over comers.  We need to allow the Holy Spirit to capture our hearts and set us free.  Father, I beg of you to help me take my eyes off of "me" and focus my eyes upon You.  I want to love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, AND love my neighbor MORE THAN myself- that my joy may be full in You.
The still, small voice is a beautiful one.  Let us take time to not only petition, but also to listen.  God desires intimacy with us.  He is faithful.