This mornings writing is again a result of my time alone with the Lord. I dont just recommend spending time alone with Him in prayer and reading His word, but I believe it's vital for us in this day and time. Time alone with Him will keep you and preserve you. You know as your Momma canned fruit and vegetables this summer kind of thing? God preserves you because of your time alone with Him. He imparts to you His wisdom for the day. Who wouldn't want that?
I actually heard a message last week from a TV preacher, which i dont watch much of these days, but i'm recovering after a hospital stay and frankly I have way too much time on my hands. lol. But this preacher did have a good message and one particular phrase out of the bible he quoted has stuck with me. I got out the bible last night an chewed on that phrase before i went to bed. This morning, getting back up and reading those passages again, has come this writing.
The scriptures I'm referring to are found in Mark 4 where Jesus is talking about the different soils in people's lives. I believe these different soils can even denote various times in our lives as we move through crisis' and trials. We all have the tendencies to be a little more closed to others and God as some circumstances change what we have to deal with.
However in Mark 4:17 a really good point is made. Here Jesus is talking about the stony ground and where it didnt have much earth, let's back up to verse 16 to get the whole idea of this soil He's talking about: "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended".
Do you see the words I highlighted? This is what has stayed with me for a week that I cannot shake. I always know God is wanting to open His thoughts to me when this happens, so I meditate on it.
The word is sown and then affliction or persecution come for the word's sake. It's nothing you've done. Affliction doesn't come because you're out of the will of God. It comes to try the word in you. The word is sown, and then these things come for the word's sake.
In verse 15 it says this: "And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, satan cometh immediately, [to do what?] taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
There is great worth in getting the word of God in our hearts and satan knows this. What is this great worth? What is the value? Why is satan after the word in our hearts? We'll find that answer in verse 20: "And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit...". He is after the word of God taking root in your heart and bringing a change in your life. That's the fruit. He knows if it takes root, it will be change your life and he has less effect on you. Who wouldn't want to satan to have less effect on them. My goodness, who wouldn't? Are we after a truth here that helps us grow as a follower of Christ more into His image and satan having less of an effect on us? I believe so.
In your time alone with God each day, sow His word. Sow and let it grow. In this manner you will become stronger, and satan will become weaker!!!!
Be Blessed Beyond Measure, I want to see some growing trees out here! okay?
your friend, Cindy~
Friday, November 5, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Though.....
Though i have no place that's my own....... I live with Christ.
Though i have no style..... I am clothed with Christ.
Though i have eats.......I hunger for Christ.
Though there be past terrors.......I am safe with Christ.
God is amongst us, loving, protecting and shielding us. Doesn't feel like it? Well maybe He is giving you the opportunity to open your heart in a greater way to Him.
In the past year and a half He has asked me to walk a very dusty but steep road with Him, trusting His plan and His love for me. Walking it was the most devastating thing I've done in almost EVER in my life. But as He asked me to walk it, I know He had good waiting. This is the place you have to come to; to be in His true calling.
surrender your path. surrender your way. And you will find a freedom you have never ever experienced in your life.
with love, Cindy~
Though i have no style..... I am clothed with Christ.
Though i have eats.......I hunger for Christ.
Though there be past terrors.......I am safe with Christ.
God is amongst us, loving, protecting and shielding us. Doesn't feel like it? Well maybe He is giving you the opportunity to open your heart in a greater way to Him.
In the past year and a half He has asked me to walk a very dusty but steep road with Him, trusting His plan and His love for me. Walking it was the most devastating thing I've done in almost EVER in my life. But as He asked me to walk it, I know He had good waiting. This is the place you have to come to; to be in His true calling.
surrender your path. surrender your way. And you will find a freedom you have never ever experienced in your life.
with love, Cindy~
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A little Stressed? boy do YOU need this!
I am writing this by the leading of the Spirit. I was in my quiet time with the Lord this morning, in my devotional and the scriptures referenced took me to Matthew 11. In verse 28 Jesus is speaking and says ‘come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’. I then read on in verse 29 where He says ‘Take My yoke upon you’….. I had to stop there.
Many of you cannot take one more thing on. You cannot imagine taking on one more thing on your back. You’re so heavy right now with so much you’re carrying, you cannot even think of adding one more thing to your life. This burden you’re carrying may be your schedule where you’ve got so many things lined up; your responsibilities at work, your life at home with your Spouse and children, or perhaps you’re a single Parent and have it all at home, the whole burden. You have the kids schedules on top of your own, your obligations with helping your Parents that are aging, your friends that constantly beckon your attention, and your Church life of helping with the youth, or being on the Worship Team. You’re stacked. You’re stretched. You’re heavy with all this load. Plus many of you are having financial troubles on top of all this burden. It’s not enough that the world is pulling at you, but your personal foundation seems to be crumbling. You’re nervous all the time, you’re not sleeping well, you’re eating tums like they are skittles……. You feel like a wreck inside.
So as I read where Jesus says ‘take My yoke upon you’ I told Him “Lord so many people can’t read this and be relieved, help me see these verses in the manner you meant them”. My eyes went to end of the verse above it and stopped; ‘and I will give you rest’. There it is. We read through these verses in the bible, not knowing what they truly mean. Seriously. We wouldn’t tell someone that’s walking down the road hitchhiking to come to the next stop and sit with us and we’ll give them rest. We’d tell them to come to the next stop and we’d help them take off their backpack, unload their heavy carrying load and help them relax. Now….. we know a little more of what Jesus is saying here ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will take off your load, help you get seated, and even help you relax’.
How would it feel to unload your life’s pack?
It would feel good, wouldn’t it? It’s okay, be truthful. If you’re in a real stressful season there is noise all around you. Others may not be able to hear it, but you do. Stress was designed to be our warning sign. But in our culture today, it’s become the norm and it’s even stylin to be under some of it. Well…. I totally disagree. Stress is our warning. It’s our warning that too much is coming at us, and we need to close the door on it. Some stress you can’t close the door on permanently. But you can close it for this evening. You can close the door, leaving it outside, not to get in at you. But much of our stress can be closed out permanently.
I’ve just come through one of the most stressful things I’ve gone through in quite some time. I have extreme health issues, causing severe weakness. I knew I wasn’t supposed to sign the lease on my little house I was renting for another year. Well, then that means I had to move. Severe horrid stress began to knock on my door. I’m a very responsible person. I’m not a slacker. I get things done somewhat early, so there’s no hairy deadline. I don’t do that in life. I’m efficient. I’m a planner. Well, I did what any planner does. I put dates on the calendar for this. Then another date on the calendar for that. That would enable this to get done after that. All these dates on the calendar began to loom over my head with no energy, but weakness left to do them. As time wore on, I knew surrender to God along the way was my only hope. I knew He had a plan through this. And as time moved, my plan was plucked up and His put in place. Though it should have calmed me down, the responsibility in such a weakened state wore at my very fiber.
This is what stress is designed to do; wear at our very fiber. It’s an underminer of all our securities, our sure foundations, our surities.
So as Jesus says ‘come to Me’, we are given a great opportunity to go to Him and get a little rest. But how do we receive this rest? How do we allow Him to take our heavy pack off our back? The first obvious thing is we have to be willing to allow Him to take our burden. That seems like a duh, but so many people aren’t familiar with His ways, and they willingly walk away from the greatest place of rest known to Man. First, be willing to allow Him. Choose to say ‘yes Lord. I’ll let you take this burden’. Then second we have to ask Him to take it. He doesn’t manhandle us. We have to ask Him, allowing Him space in our space to do it. Would you like to do that right now? Then let’s do it, let’s ask Him:
Lord Jesus, we have a problem. But according to the scriptures, You are able to take the problem. You are quite able. You are Mighty and Powerful. You, as Creator know how you made me. You know what level of burden I’m able to bear, in how you designed me. I’ve got too much on me. I have too much to carry. Will you take off this burden, relieve my heaviness and replace it with rest? I’m asking You. I’m coming as You say in scripture to receive this rest you talk about. I’m allowing You now to take it, Jesus. I am allowing You in my space to relieve my pressure. I’m allowing You to take control and leave me lighthearted. I’ve needed this for so long. I accept Your peacefulness into my life, into my space, into my heart. I’m letting go of the burden now. I am accepting Your peace. I thank You for this. This is much lighter to carry. You were right. You have given me rest. Now walk on with me. Walk on into my future so I don’t take on more again, more than I can carry. Watch over me that I carry only what You want me to carry. I’m amazed at the light feeling I have. Only You could do this. In Your Name, Jesus. Amen………
ps: you know how Jesus took my burden of moving? He called on many of my special friends to come pack and move me. MIRACLE! thank you Guys!!! I can never repay you! And .... thank you Jesus!
Many of you cannot take one more thing on. You cannot imagine taking on one more thing on your back. You’re so heavy right now with so much you’re carrying, you cannot even think of adding one more thing to your life. This burden you’re carrying may be your schedule where you’ve got so many things lined up; your responsibilities at work, your life at home with your Spouse and children, or perhaps you’re a single Parent and have it all at home, the whole burden. You have the kids schedules on top of your own, your obligations with helping your Parents that are aging, your friends that constantly beckon your attention, and your Church life of helping with the youth, or being on the Worship Team. You’re stacked. You’re stretched. You’re heavy with all this load. Plus many of you are having financial troubles on top of all this burden. It’s not enough that the world is pulling at you, but your personal foundation seems to be crumbling. You’re nervous all the time, you’re not sleeping well, you’re eating tums like they are skittles……. You feel like a wreck inside.
So as I read where Jesus says ‘take My yoke upon you’ I told Him “Lord so many people can’t read this and be relieved, help me see these verses in the manner you meant them”. My eyes went to end of the verse above it and stopped; ‘and I will give you rest’. There it is. We read through these verses in the bible, not knowing what they truly mean. Seriously. We wouldn’t tell someone that’s walking down the road hitchhiking to come to the next stop and sit with us and we’ll give them rest. We’d tell them to come to the next stop and we’d help them take off their backpack, unload their heavy carrying load and help them relax. Now….. we know a little more of what Jesus is saying here ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will take off your load, help you get seated, and even help you relax’.
How would it feel to unload your life’s pack?
It would feel good, wouldn’t it? It’s okay, be truthful. If you’re in a real stressful season there is noise all around you. Others may not be able to hear it, but you do. Stress was designed to be our warning sign. But in our culture today, it’s become the norm and it’s even stylin to be under some of it. Well…. I totally disagree. Stress is our warning. It’s our warning that too much is coming at us, and we need to close the door on it. Some stress you can’t close the door on permanently. But you can close it for this evening. You can close the door, leaving it outside, not to get in at you. But much of our stress can be closed out permanently.
I’ve just come through one of the most stressful things I’ve gone through in quite some time. I have extreme health issues, causing severe weakness. I knew I wasn’t supposed to sign the lease on my little house I was renting for another year. Well, then that means I had to move. Severe horrid stress began to knock on my door. I’m a very responsible person. I’m not a slacker. I get things done somewhat early, so there’s no hairy deadline. I don’t do that in life. I’m efficient. I’m a planner. Well, I did what any planner does. I put dates on the calendar for this. Then another date on the calendar for that. That would enable this to get done after that. All these dates on the calendar began to loom over my head with no energy, but weakness left to do them. As time wore on, I knew surrender to God along the way was my only hope. I knew He had a plan through this. And as time moved, my plan was plucked up and His put in place. Though it should have calmed me down, the responsibility in such a weakened state wore at my very fiber.
This is what stress is designed to do; wear at our very fiber. It’s an underminer of all our securities, our sure foundations, our surities.
So as Jesus says ‘come to Me’, we are given a great opportunity to go to Him and get a little rest. But how do we receive this rest? How do we allow Him to take our heavy pack off our back? The first obvious thing is we have to be willing to allow Him to take our burden. That seems like a duh, but so many people aren’t familiar with His ways, and they willingly walk away from the greatest place of rest known to Man. First, be willing to allow Him. Choose to say ‘yes Lord. I’ll let you take this burden’. Then second we have to ask Him to take it. He doesn’t manhandle us. We have to ask Him, allowing Him space in our space to do it. Would you like to do that right now? Then let’s do it, let’s ask Him:
Lord Jesus, we have a problem. But according to the scriptures, You are able to take the problem. You are quite able. You are Mighty and Powerful. You, as Creator know how you made me. You know what level of burden I’m able to bear, in how you designed me. I’ve got too much on me. I have too much to carry. Will you take off this burden, relieve my heaviness and replace it with rest? I’m asking You. I’m coming as You say in scripture to receive this rest you talk about. I’m allowing You now to take it, Jesus. I am allowing You in my space to relieve my pressure. I’m allowing You to take control and leave me lighthearted. I’ve needed this for so long. I accept Your peacefulness into my life, into my space, into my heart. I’m letting go of the burden now. I am accepting Your peace. I thank You for this. This is much lighter to carry. You were right. You have given me rest. Now walk on with me. Walk on into my future so I don’t take on more again, more than I can carry. Watch over me that I carry only what You want me to carry. I’m amazed at the light feeling I have. Only You could do this. In Your Name, Jesus. Amen………
ps: you know how Jesus took my burden of moving? He called on many of my special friends to come pack and move me. MIRACLE! thank you Guys!!! I can never repay you! And .... thank you Jesus!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Where there is Sin
Where there is sin there is grace. Never from the point in time after Christs' death, burial and resurrection has there been an absense of grace. God forgave, still forgives, and will forgive our sin. He took that upon Himself onto the splintered cross.
Many of us though, take our sin into each day, never addressing it before God. We take that days sin into the next. Can you get to the point where you are not sinning every day? Yes. Are most of us at that stage in our walk with God. No. Many of us sin daily. This should not be, but it is. Yet we do not daily get before God and ask for His forgiveness. Daily we should go before God in our hearts and ask Him to forgive us, asking Him to cleanse our spirit of all unrighteousness. Ask as David did, to search our heart and know us, that there may be no wicked way within. Then as God brings things to our mind to confess, confess those things as sin, asking Him to cleanse us of those sins. Many times over as I do this, pride comes to my mind. I confess pride before Him, and ask Him to forgive me, to wash me of all pride, that I may live humble before Him. Many of those that know my past, know I had a major pride issue. I was so hurt growing up. I went my own way to protect myself, and pride became my closest friend. But I fell so much as the bible talks about because of it. Pride is a sin. It's not something to be proud of. Pride separates you, not only from those you love through your deeds, but separates you from God Himself. He cant help the proud. Matter of fact, the bible says God sets Himself against the proud. So, when you are prideful and things begin to feel tougher, like you're up against the wall, you're really up against God Himself. Wow. Talk about not being able to win! lol. seriously. You cannot win against God Himself.
But. All it takes is asking Him to forgive you. Asking Him to forgive you is an act of humbleness. You're acknowledging you are not God, and He is. Simple but very profound. Knowing this has been my past, it tries to creep up again. Sometimes I dont catch a reaction as pride. But as I have my alone time with God, I dont feel so right before Him. This is the way He has created so I sense the sin between us, so I dont continue in it. That I confess it so He can forgive me and us have true relations again. Just like a friend.
Many of us are walking our own way, even though we have become a Christian.
I urge you to spend time with God right now and ask Him to show you your ways. Again, this will bring up your sin. Confess it. Acknowledge it. He will forgive you and you will be free once more. Dont be discouraged as you do this the first time in a long time if alot of sin comes before your mind. Let it out. Speak it out. And God will get it out!
Be Blessed my friends.
Many of us though, take our sin into each day, never addressing it before God. We take that days sin into the next. Can you get to the point where you are not sinning every day? Yes. Are most of us at that stage in our walk with God. No. Many of us sin daily. This should not be, but it is. Yet we do not daily get before God and ask for His forgiveness. Daily we should go before God in our hearts and ask Him to forgive us, asking Him to cleanse our spirit of all unrighteousness. Ask as David did, to search our heart and know us, that there may be no wicked way within. Then as God brings things to our mind to confess, confess those things as sin, asking Him to cleanse us of those sins. Many times over as I do this, pride comes to my mind. I confess pride before Him, and ask Him to forgive me, to wash me of all pride, that I may live humble before Him. Many of those that know my past, know I had a major pride issue. I was so hurt growing up. I went my own way to protect myself, and pride became my closest friend. But I fell so much as the bible talks about because of it. Pride is a sin. It's not something to be proud of. Pride separates you, not only from those you love through your deeds, but separates you from God Himself. He cant help the proud. Matter of fact, the bible says God sets Himself against the proud. So, when you are prideful and things begin to feel tougher, like you're up against the wall, you're really up against God Himself. Wow. Talk about not being able to win! lol. seriously. You cannot win against God Himself.
But. All it takes is asking Him to forgive you. Asking Him to forgive you is an act of humbleness. You're acknowledging you are not God, and He is. Simple but very profound. Knowing this has been my past, it tries to creep up again. Sometimes I dont catch a reaction as pride. But as I have my alone time with God, I dont feel so right before Him. This is the way He has created so I sense the sin between us, so I dont continue in it. That I confess it so He can forgive me and us have true relations again. Just like a friend.
Many of us are walking our own way, even though we have become a Christian.
I urge you to spend time with God right now and ask Him to show you your ways. Again, this will bring up your sin. Confess it. Acknowledge it. He will forgive you and you will be free once more. Dont be discouraged as you do this the first time in a long time if alot of sin comes before your mind. Let it out. Speak it out. And God will get it out!
Be Blessed my friends.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Breach
The breach is there. The face of horror within ... is there.
The breach is a division, a crack, a separation within your soul. You cant stand to be messed with. You feel weak at times, strong at others. But at all times you do not feel like you can truly do this on your own. You have no one. There's no one to confide in, to help. You take matters in your own hands, knowing you must be able to do something.... just something. Anything. Your brokenness is showing up in the most ridiculous ways. Very erratic at times. You cant help it. Seems as if you could be two people without even thinking it through.
This .... is a life without Christ. A life that is hopeless.
Do you feel this way? Are you trapped within and cant get out?
its simple
Just call on the Lord Jesus Christ and He will show up. He will take this brokenness and exchange it for a real life, a life with hope. A life with light. A life with joy.
If you would like this life.....pray with me
Lord Jesus, I ask you for this life. I ask you for this hope. I want what You can give me. A life of joy. I have so much on me that I cannot shake. I ask You to come into my life and change that. I believe You died to save me from hell. You died to give me life. I confess I have gone my own way all this time. I confess I have walked in sin. You died and I accept Your death in my place. I accept the sacrifice You gave of Your life ..... for mine. I believe You rose from the dead and are alive. I take what You are offering me now. I denounce satan and all his works. I denounce the lifestyle I was leading. Give me a new life. Take what I am and make me new, not fixed, but new. Take the breach in my life and heal me, raising me to newness. I cannot do this on my own. I need You as my Savior. I accept You and what You've done for me. I dedicate my new life to you Lord. Take it and create in me a heart of right standing, a heart that beats for You, God. I want this new life. I give You myself and all I am. I walk, now, for YOU! in Your Name, Jesus Christ.....Amen.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have just been given new life!
now let me pray over you
Dear Lord, I know the mighty power that you posses. I know the praise that is Yours. You are King. You are our loving Father. Right now, I ask you take this life that's just accepted You and make them whole. Create in them a hunger for your ways, for your life, your word. Place your people around them to minister to their needs Lord. Only you know their lives Lord and their needs. Take them and make their lives beyond cool, Lord. Let them see there has always been love for them. Let them feel your arms around them now Lord, as a loving true Father. We give you praise and honor Lord, for your works are mighty! in Jesus' Name!
please comment so i can continue to pray for you! welcome to the Kingdom of God!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Let it be real....
In my study this morning, I began in Romans 12, verse 9 "let love be without dissimulation...". Now some of you may know what dissimulation means, but let's look it up anyway [okay, I dont know what it means, so stick with me while I LOOK IT UP] lol.
All I had at the time was websters dictionary, so I climbed into it, and there it was. 'dissimulate = to conceal under a false appearance. dissemble = to put on a false appearance; to conceal facts'.
So this verse reads 'let love be without a false appearance'? Verse 10 'be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love'.
Then as I was reading these verses, the Holy Spirit brought to mind scriptures where it talks about the last days and the lack of love. So i turned over to 2 Timothy 3:1-2 where it says 'In the last days....Men shall be lovers of their own selves....'. So we can rest that in the last days, it means people will love themselves more than they love others. They will be selfish, not caring for their fellow man MORE than they care about themselves. It will all revolve around them, me, myself and I as I learned as a child. ME ME ME!
Do you know anyone like that today? Come on! Admit it! You do, dont you? Well duh, we all do, dont we? We all know some of those people that the whole wide world revolves around them for one reason or another. I dont like dealing with those types, as no one else does, but I am glad to see them. They remind me of myself, once upon a time. It shows me how great God's grace and His mercy was on me to change.
Now. Do you believe we are in the last days? So many of us do, yes. Well, then it's safe to say that since in the last days people will be lovers of their own selves would be the norm, wouldn't it? It seems to be. Yet, to be in obedience to God's word in Romans 12 about 'loving without false appearance' would mean that we will have to be pushing against the flow of loving ourselves more than loving others. In the last days everyone will have this all over them, and we have to push against it to obey what the Spirit of God is telling us to live our lives like. Verse 10 in Romans 12 finished out saying 'in honour preferring one another'. Whoa. It references Philippians 2:3 where it talks about 'in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves'. Why in lowliness? Can you esteem someone else better than yourself when you're walking in a haughty spirit? Or all puffed up in pride? Lowliness of mind is a mind that doesn't think more highly of itself than it ought to. There's a scripture against that as well. Danger Will Robison, Danger!!!! [remember that show? My favorite Martian? I LOVED THAT SHOW!] Well, it is dangerous, because God says pride comes before a fall. So, we esteen OURSELVES better than another person, and we will definitely fall. God says it, it will happen. Bank on it. Well, dont just bank on it, take my word for it. I had such a pride problem in my life all along my 15 years of Christ following. Boy did it take God a long time to break that. I can now say, though I have to keep that weakness of the past under the blood of Jesus Christ [thru prayer] and under the control of the Holy Spirit [thru yielding], I am free of thinking of myself like that. WHEW! Boy were those hard knocks on the head. To fall is one thing. For everyone to witness you fall, is a total other creature. Wow! and Ouch!
When I later looked in Strongs exhaustive condordance, I found that dissimulation means simply put 'pretend and hypocricy'. so when God told us 'let love be without pretending, esteeming others better than ourself', He meant it.
We are in the last days. We all have the flow against our Christian walk to become selfish DAILY, MOMENT BY MOMENT. There is a smell of selfishness in the streets. It's horrid. We have to push against that temptation all the time to be aware of our fellow man, to place value on people, take up their burdens and help them. It's a choice ya'll. We chose to do it, not pretending.
God knew in this day and time we would need His help more than ever. He says to yoke up with Him, learn of Him, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Two that yoke together, pull together. When a young ox gets pulled out of the pasture to train to pull, they place him with an older, wiser, more trained, well mannered animal. They yoke their necks together with a wide strong piece of wood. There's no gettin away. But Jesus said 'take my yoke', it's a choice. Chose you this day whom you will serve. Yoke with Him, take on that walk seriously. He says learn of me. Learn what you can of me, because I'm your life saving chance. Learn of me like a young ox looks to the older wiser stronger ox to teach him. That's where the term 'kicking against the goads' was coined. The goads are the strong buckboard piece behind the legs of the animals that is attached to what they are pulling. The young ox cannot stand the pressure of the yoke against his neck after hours of pulling. He cant stand it. It gets on his nerves, makes him restless and ancy. He just has to rebel and let it out. So he kicks. He kicks against the only thing he can reach. Arent' we like that? Aren't we just like that young strong untrained ox in OUR lives. We are yoked with Jesus, but I think we have on a pretend yoke. We pretend we are yoked with Him, training with Him, reading His word, bowing our heads and praying and feelin good about it. But we are exposed when God instructs us to do something we do not like. KICK. He demands our attitude to change to be more loving and less selfish. KICK. He expects us to return a kind word to someone that just snapped our head off. KICK. Why is it we are kicking against the pressure?
Jesus says come to me those of you that are burdened and heavy laden. We are pretending to be a pulling animal and doing our duty of this mission of the Gospel and we try to do it in our own power, our own emotion, our own effort, we are weary, tired, worn out, sick and tired of being sick and tired. Jesus says come to me and I will give you rest. I will take your yoke of pretending and place my will around your neck of love, My love He says, and I will love through you to these I am asking you to love without pretending. My yoke is easy He says. My burden is light. I will take this heavy pack off of you, and place it on Myself, He admits, and give you a life that is easy to carry. I .... will do it through you.
So when He says 'let love be without pretending' He's saying let Me love through you. Then ..... it will be real!
All I had at the time was websters dictionary, so I climbed into it, and there it was. 'dissimulate = to conceal under a false appearance. dissemble = to put on a false appearance; to conceal facts'.
So this verse reads 'let love be without a false appearance'? Verse 10 'be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love'.
Then as I was reading these verses, the Holy Spirit brought to mind scriptures where it talks about the last days and the lack of love. So i turned over to 2 Timothy 3:1-2 where it says 'In the last days....Men shall be lovers of their own selves....'. So we can rest that in the last days, it means people will love themselves more than they love others. They will be selfish, not caring for their fellow man MORE than they care about themselves. It will all revolve around them, me, myself and I as I learned as a child. ME ME ME!
Do you know anyone like that today? Come on! Admit it! You do, dont you? Well duh, we all do, dont we? We all know some of those people that the whole wide world revolves around them for one reason or another. I dont like dealing with those types, as no one else does, but I am glad to see them. They remind me of myself, once upon a time. It shows me how great God's grace and His mercy was on me to change.
Now. Do you believe we are in the last days? So many of us do, yes. Well, then it's safe to say that since in the last days people will be lovers of their own selves would be the norm, wouldn't it? It seems to be. Yet, to be in obedience to God's word in Romans 12 about 'loving without false appearance' would mean that we will have to be pushing against the flow of loving ourselves more than loving others. In the last days everyone will have this all over them, and we have to push against it to obey what the Spirit of God is telling us to live our lives like. Verse 10 in Romans 12 finished out saying 'in honour preferring one another'. Whoa. It references Philippians 2:3 where it talks about 'in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves'. Why in lowliness? Can you esteem someone else better than yourself when you're walking in a haughty spirit? Or all puffed up in pride? Lowliness of mind is a mind that doesn't think more highly of itself than it ought to. There's a scripture against that as well. Danger Will Robison, Danger!!!! [remember that show? My favorite Martian? I LOVED THAT SHOW!] Well, it is dangerous, because God says pride comes before a fall. So, we esteen OURSELVES better than another person, and we will definitely fall. God says it, it will happen. Bank on it. Well, dont just bank on it, take my word for it. I had such a pride problem in my life all along my 15 years of Christ following. Boy did it take God a long time to break that. I can now say, though I have to keep that weakness of the past under the blood of Jesus Christ [thru prayer] and under the control of the Holy Spirit [thru yielding], I am free of thinking of myself like that. WHEW! Boy were those hard knocks on the head. To fall is one thing. For everyone to witness you fall, is a total other creature. Wow! and Ouch!
When I later looked in Strongs exhaustive condordance, I found that dissimulation means simply put 'pretend and hypocricy'. so when God told us 'let love be without pretending, esteeming others better than ourself', He meant it.
We are in the last days. We all have the flow against our Christian walk to become selfish DAILY, MOMENT BY MOMENT. There is a smell of selfishness in the streets. It's horrid. We have to push against that temptation all the time to be aware of our fellow man, to place value on people, take up their burdens and help them. It's a choice ya'll. We chose to do it, not pretending.
God knew in this day and time we would need His help more than ever. He says to yoke up with Him, learn of Him, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Two that yoke together, pull together. When a young ox gets pulled out of the pasture to train to pull, they place him with an older, wiser, more trained, well mannered animal. They yoke their necks together with a wide strong piece of wood. There's no gettin away. But Jesus said 'take my yoke', it's a choice. Chose you this day whom you will serve. Yoke with Him, take on that walk seriously. He says learn of me. Learn what you can of me, because I'm your life saving chance. Learn of me like a young ox looks to the older wiser stronger ox to teach him. That's where the term 'kicking against the goads' was coined. The goads are the strong buckboard piece behind the legs of the animals that is attached to what they are pulling. The young ox cannot stand the pressure of the yoke against his neck after hours of pulling. He cant stand it. It gets on his nerves, makes him restless and ancy. He just has to rebel and let it out. So he kicks. He kicks against the only thing he can reach. Arent' we like that? Aren't we just like that young strong untrained ox in OUR lives. We are yoked with Jesus, but I think we have on a pretend yoke. We pretend we are yoked with Him, training with Him, reading His word, bowing our heads and praying and feelin good about it. But we are exposed when God instructs us to do something we do not like. KICK. He demands our attitude to change to be more loving and less selfish. KICK. He expects us to return a kind word to someone that just snapped our head off. KICK. Why is it we are kicking against the pressure?
Jesus says come to me those of you that are burdened and heavy laden. We are pretending to be a pulling animal and doing our duty of this mission of the Gospel and we try to do it in our own power, our own emotion, our own effort, we are weary, tired, worn out, sick and tired of being sick and tired. Jesus says come to me and I will give you rest. I will take your yoke of pretending and place my will around your neck of love, My love He says, and I will love through you to these I am asking you to love without pretending. My yoke is easy He says. My burden is light. I will take this heavy pack off of you, and place it on Myself, He admits, and give you a life that is easy to carry. I .... will do it through you.
So when He says 'let love be without pretending' He's saying let Me love through you. Then ..... it will be real!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Notes
Seems like what's mostly being posted these days are notes from me, with the occassional serious download note from the Lord.
I've been studying, but I"m not posting. I will share what God is showing me for today, for instance.
I am currently ministering to a single Mom that had to flee her home with her 11 year old daughter. Not many of you know, that last May I had the same experience. When someone threatens your life, your whole world changes. You're trapped. But what's worse, is you're trapped in your own home. Everything normal suddenly becomes abnormal. This person will have before now been showing red flags, but until they threaten to hurt you, you just begin to pull away, one day them not even knowing who you are. But the day they threaten your life, your safety, your whole world turns ON YOU! You dont feel safe in anything you do.
Fear is the main engine the enemy uses here, of course. His plan is for you to open up to fear. With a threat on your life, or your childs life, you pretty much open up and let fear come in to reside. Once you leave your home, fear is with you wherever you go. You dont think straight, act straight, you even have dreams that aren't straight. Once you open up to fear, it pretty much has the wheel on driving you to make decisions you would not have made before.
To insure me that He was near, God gave me a scripture that was somewhat odd to the 'normal' environed person, but went straight to my heart. The day I left began a path of guilt and shame. Guilt and shame have no part in a normal environment, but when your world is opened to fear, guilt that you ran too soon, or wasn't strong enough to tough it out begin to bombard you. Yes, a person that is codependent will indeed have a hard decision here. They are not always drawn to the abuser, they are sometimes guilted to go back. Shame is a natural feature in this too. Once the initial fear is subsided you move toward thoughts of 'why did this happen'. You have thoughts like 'I just cant have a good relationship' and 'everyone is going to know now' and 'I cant tell them I've had to leave'. All this is normal behavior for someone that's been threatened. However, typically someone that's being threatened has lived a life of verbal abuse, controlling behavior from the partner and they have had to endure hardship emotionally for quite sometime before the threats begin.
The scripture God gave me that broke the hold of all guilt and shameful thoughts was Matthew 6:25 when Jesus said 'is not THE LIFE more important than meat and the body more than raiment?'. What the Lord was telling me is my life is more important than my clothes I left behind, my pictures I left behind, even my puppies I left behind. THE LIFE and saving it from harm is more important than what I left behind.
If there is someone you come in contact with that has had to flee their home to make a new home somewhere else, please show them kindness. Let them know you really really do care about them. Give of yourself and your stuff. Show them the love ..... of Christ~
I've been studying, but I"m not posting. I will share what God is showing me for today, for instance.
I am currently ministering to a single Mom that had to flee her home with her 11 year old daughter. Not many of you know, that last May I had the same experience. When someone threatens your life, your whole world changes. You're trapped. But what's worse, is you're trapped in your own home. Everything normal suddenly becomes abnormal. This person will have before now been showing red flags, but until they threaten to hurt you, you just begin to pull away, one day them not even knowing who you are. But the day they threaten your life, your safety, your whole world turns ON YOU! You dont feel safe in anything you do.
Fear is the main engine the enemy uses here, of course. His plan is for you to open up to fear. With a threat on your life, or your childs life, you pretty much open up and let fear come in to reside. Once you leave your home, fear is with you wherever you go. You dont think straight, act straight, you even have dreams that aren't straight. Once you open up to fear, it pretty much has the wheel on driving you to make decisions you would not have made before.
To insure me that He was near, God gave me a scripture that was somewhat odd to the 'normal' environed person, but went straight to my heart. The day I left began a path of guilt and shame. Guilt and shame have no part in a normal environment, but when your world is opened to fear, guilt that you ran too soon, or wasn't strong enough to tough it out begin to bombard you. Yes, a person that is codependent will indeed have a hard decision here. They are not always drawn to the abuser, they are sometimes guilted to go back. Shame is a natural feature in this too. Once the initial fear is subsided you move toward thoughts of 'why did this happen'. You have thoughts like 'I just cant have a good relationship' and 'everyone is going to know now' and 'I cant tell them I've had to leave'. All this is normal behavior for someone that's been threatened. However, typically someone that's being threatened has lived a life of verbal abuse, controlling behavior from the partner and they have had to endure hardship emotionally for quite sometime before the threats begin.
The scripture God gave me that broke the hold of all guilt and shameful thoughts was Matthew 6:25 when Jesus said 'is not THE LIFE more important than meat and the body more than raiment?'. What the Lord was telling me is my life is more important than my clothes I left behind, my pictures I left behind, even my puppies I left behind. THE LIFE and saving it from harm is more important than what I left behind.
If there is someone you come in contact with that has had to flee their home to make a new home somewhere else, please show them kindness. Let them know you really really do care about them. Give of yourself and your stuff. Show them the love ..... of Christ~
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