Forgiven Loved and Victorious

Occasionally I believe that reminiscing about the "old days" would be nice and I take a trip down memory lane.  On this trip my mind begins to chase rabbits and get lost in stinkin thinkin..." Oh that was fun that time we raced...but then I did something stupid, I can't believe I did that.  I am so happy I am not that person anymore...Oh look I remember that place I used to walk by there all the time...and I did that other thing then too, that was stupid, people were horrible to me and I was aways so depressed..." and so on. 

I am making it a point now to avoid places that send my mind down memory lane, at least the places that send my mind off to the times I had been a hurtful person and times I had been hurt.  I have made amends when possible and asked forgiveness from those I was able to and from God, I have also given forgiveness to those who wronged me, knowingly or unknowingly... I have NO need in revisiting past pains.  These tried and true scriptures fit here...

Philippians 4:8

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

⁴ since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments ⁵ and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. 

Through Christ's strength, I have come too far to look back and He did too much for me to think I am so powerful that my sins are too great and need to be dwelt on and gone over and over.  

I gave my life to Christ, He washed me white as snow...that's all I need to know.  I have to face the fact that I did a lot of terrible things and a lot of terrible things had been done to me, but I do not need to dwell on it.  If others do not forgive me I do not have to carry their unforgiveness, it doesn't seem fair...it's not.  I was granted grace, unmerited favor from God.  I don't give back gifts from my FATHER.

1 Corinthians 15:10

¹⁰ But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 

Luke 7:47

⁴⁷ “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”


I testify to Luke 7:47. Once I gave my life to Christ I was on FIRE and I wanted the world to know.  I knew what had been done for me, the chains and burden that was lifted in one moment will never be forgotten.  I may have to cast down a million wrong thoughts a day but I know "I am forgiven and loved." 

 My recent days have been roller coasters from stress to praise.  I don't just praise God when I receive unexpected money, or one of the children eats their veggies, I am praise God when I finally allow the Holy Spirit to speak to my spirit and remind me what I am here for, remind me I am loved, remind me that I love to look at where I have come from after a storm.  I praise Him because I am in complete awe of Him, like today when I asked for prayer and drove off and ended up right in the midst of a test.  A test for the receiving of the very thing I needed prayer for.  See if we want an A on a test, we must first take the test before we can receive the A.  If I pray for peace, I have to learn to get, make and keep peace.  If I pray for patience, I have to build it by facing various trials.  God has shown me just how beautiful this dance we are having is.  Even when I have two left feet, He makes the dance graceful and breath taking.   He has reminded me that even though He delivered me instantly from X Y Z, some things I am left to work out with Him daily till they are pulverized.  I truly would have it no other way.  As hard as it is facing my giants, I love the victory and personally I find victory tastes sweeter when I had to fight hard to obtain it..  The enemy likes to fight battles even though he forgets often that he is about to get the whoppin of a lifetime.

Let us whop on Christian soldiers!
God bless!

http://youtu.be/aNpRjBQAjLc

http://youtu.be/Sixmn4ZLTAE


 

Hanging On By A Rope

Ecclesiastes 4

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Last night I dreamed I was climbing a super steep hill that was paved down the center like a road.  I had a rope tied around my waist which was attached to the waist of a fellow sister in Christ who was climbing ahead of me. This hill was nearly a 90 degree wall, it was terribly difficult to climb.  In the natural I would do better then my sister in Christ at something like climbing this hill wall, but I believe this was not a "natural" dream.  Less than half way up I wanted to give in and rest but I knew I could not because if I stopped to sit I would surely fall down the hill and take her with me.  As I looked at her taking this hill with the strength and endurance of an ox, I began to notice that I was beginning to fall off of the side.  In fear I yelled out ahead to my friend, "I am falling off keep pulling" my weight did not even seem to sway her, she kept her head forward and her body positioned to pull, she looked like one of the "strong men" in the competition where they take a tow strap and pull semis.  I began to breath a sigh of relief as we neared what seemed like the top and I began to get my feet on solid ground again...but then there was another smaller hill after just a few feet of flat ground and my partner...well at this point she had been more like my caretaker, she just kept on keeping on. At the top she looked out at the view and just...was...  I took the rope off and looked out and I wept.  I was thankful to be alive, thankful to be at the top but I was also crying because of a broken relationship in my life.  I wonder if that is why my sister in Christ had to basically pull me to the top...I guess for now only God knows the meaning and clarity on it's meaning will come in time.

For now I will keep on planting myself in His word and working through that broken relationship, which I know God wants and I need. 

Questions for pondering, 

Do you have someone in your life that can lift you up if you fall?  

Are you someone who lifts someone up when they fall?

 and also

Are you someone that needs lifting and are you stuck in a spot where you can cause more harm then good to a brother or sister in Christ?

http://youtu.be/yvgvYFxW_QM

God bless you and may you receive His peace and strength in this journey!

Being made strong...sure makes me weak

2 Cor 12:7... in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


I sooo get this.  I am not persecuted, but I do understand weakness, insults, hardships and difficulties, and I understand how He strengthens me.


A few people in my life have seen a glimpse of what happens to me in a days time...this is not even the things I bring on myself, I am talking about the things that happen beyond my control.  Like walking down a hallway with my dog and having him out of nowhere without so much as a gag, puking all over the bottom of my jeans and my foot.  That is just a tiny example.  Many times I have thought about listing ALL the many things like the above which happen to me in a day, but I realize hardly anyone else would REALLY understand me. 

No one can help me, nothing in the natural can stop the overflow of pooey things which happen daily...so I began to become depressed, and often thought "What's the point?  Why try?  What am I doing SOOO wrong?  I just want to be a nice happy person not a person who goes from mini crisis to mini crisis, angry and frustrated by those around her who are skating by unscathed."   But then I look at this world and the people in it and I see there are so few left who have compassion. 

I hear almost daily how through one way or another,  how people feel about each other and I watch as many beg for forgiveness but refuse to grant it in return.( Great example in Matthew 18 starting in verse 21) I also see how they expect grace and refuse to give it too.  I am guilty in having a hard time with grace when I have been hurt by someone and God reminds me that I know what I need to do to live a happy life.  Everything I have EVER NEEDED God has given me.  



By asking to be more compassionate and to have a clean heart, a heart that breaks for what breaks His and facing many trials which build this character in me, have me second guessing my prayers.  I now begin to pray and I say " Lord help me to love...." then I pause and think, "do I want to ask for that...am I ready for what I may go through to get that?"  This does not mean God is mean in ANY way, He is the most loving father and He is an awesome teacher and I wouldn't have it any other way.  What a huge impact it has when A has come through a trial just like the one B is facing and A can share with B God's mercy and grace...through empathy and compassion.


So when Paul says he "delights", I get it.  I am so thankful to know God hears and answers my prayers and that Philippians 1:6 is very evident.


Phil 1:6 ....that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.





God bless it's good to be alive!

Walking shoes

Got someone else's shoes on?  Get them on and let's go walking!
 

Recently I have been feeling burdened to share on the majority's lack of noticeable concern for one another, and I believe it is because we have let society and all this new technology rob us of our compassion.  Right now my mind is screaming out "the r word, talk about the r word"  The "r" word should never have become the "r" word...some may still not know what it is.  I am referring to the word retard. Webster defines it here  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retard .  Why this word ever became a title for someone with a developmental delay is beyond me, we have been a cruel society since the dawn of time apparently, but in my short 35 years it seems to have worsened drastically.  Yes the word means to slow or hinder...it is VERB not a noun.  The person has retarded development they are not a retard...it doesn't fit.  They are a PERSON.  To use the word as slang to describe someone, well it shows our own retarded  development of compassion.   The word is not meant to define a person so I will not attach it to a person, I will attach it to a process such as development.  I am not attempting to be "pc" I am wanting to show compassion to people.  I am guilty of being ignorant in my past and in many ways I am still ignorant...this is just not one of them.

Recently I had been diagnosed with two tough pills to swallow, so I haven't swallowed them, but I am growing from the experience that comes along with learning of them.  I am also going to a support group and working through my past hurts, hang ups and addictions.  These things are helping God work in me to give me greater compassion for others.  I am not perfect and never will be, I am beginning to understanding grace on a whole new level. 

 I am confounded by people who say they love someone and then demean them horribly and judge them critically.  I've done this and it is a "hang up" of mine that is easy to drop for those outside my personal life but not so much for those inside and that breaks my heart.  I should have more compassion for them, but I find myself having less.  We tend to examine others lives and intents with a microscope all while not realizing our own. 

Conversation...
Woman speaking to gossip buddy :"Sally bought a doughnut today.  I thought she didn't have money. Must be nice I want a doughnut but I REALLY can't get one. "...To cashier " Yes I would like a pack of Marlboro" ...
We often fail to realize one it is not even our business in the first place and maybe there is more to what we see than meets the eye???  Maybe that is not Sally's doughnut, maybe she was given money to get herself a doughnut because someone saw her struggle and wanted her to have it, maybe she is battling depression and thought the doughnut would make her feel better??? The possibilities are endless...which is just one reason why we should move on...nothing to see here!

I could easily write a novel on so many pointless things I have done and seen, but I will touch on just one more area for now.  This one is near and dear to me.  Compassion for the sick.

I had been so guilty of not sharing it in the past and I still at times have to purpose myself to show compassion.  This world can easily take my attention away from what really matters.   What I have learned is, most people want an ear that listens and does not change topic.  
Example:
Paulette: " I just heard from the doctors I have a disease that is stealing my vision.  So far there is no cure and in ten years they say I will be blind if no cure is found, either way I will still have irreparable damage to my vision."

Nancy: "Wow that is terrible...  You know I went to the Dr. the other day and I had to get a new prescription for my glasses.  I am a 1.25 now instead of a 1. I just paid all kinds of money for my last pair and now they are no good!"

This is not an exaggeration,  people really do talk to each other that way! Why? Who knows for certain, but I believe one reason is because the world is starving for someone to listen so we blurt out our own problems when they seem to fit the conversation.  Paulette was talking about eye sight so Nancy thought "eye sight" hey maybe Paulette will listen, cause 'Jimmy' didn't care"...

Nancy would not have been able to fix Paulette, but she could have shown more compassion and shared her story with someone else.  It could have gone like this...

Nancy:  "Oh Paulette, I am sorry to hear that. (hug) I don't have words, there are no words.  Hearing that news I imagine can give you so much to think about.  Is there anything I can do to help?  I want to be there in anyway you need me to be." or "Can I pray with you?" etc.

Some people are not going to receive any kind words we share or any help we offer, they are stuck in their own pity, but that doesn't mean we should ignore them.  Love them anyway, we should show them we love them.  

For the "get over it crowd", I shake my head in disbelief.  That is NOT what Jesus would do.  Never once in the Bible does it say, the sick were brought to Jesus and He mocked them for not having enough faith to heal themselves, or, He mocked them because they believed they were sick!  Sure there are many thoughts on healing, some say Jesus heals all, others say healing is not for today and still others say healing is only for some and we each have a purpose and sometimes it involves sickness.  Well one thing I CAN tell you, I did not believe myself sick...in fact I had rather enjoyed how healthy I was...not pridefully but joyfully giving thanks to God.  I did not sin some particular sin and was cursed with a sickness, it just happened plain and simple. If sin were the cause everyone would be sick physically. That would be great...I can see it now a confession drive through...

Priest or Pastor etc.: " What is your sickness?"
Sinner: "I have a disease which causes blindness."
Priest or Pastor etc.:  Let's see, ahhh yes there it is, that is caused by lust.  Just repent from your lust and your vision will be healed.  Please pull up to the next window where a self righteous bigot will throw a stone at you before you leave, pay no attention to their skin condition, it's caused by being self haughty."
I can also guarantee The LAST thing a person who is battling an illness wants to hear is that it is "their fault".   

Never down play another person's feelings," you have X well X is not as bad as Y...you will live." Or "I have no idea what that is myself but I think someone else I know had it and they are fine. " "You look fine and don't seem like you are sick so you must really be okay and just want sympathy. "etc.

Family and friends of people who are sick, don't be so wrapped up in yourself or worse, technology, show compassion even if you stink at it...simply tell the person you care and stink at showing it. Purpose yourself to try to show you care, and take the time to learn what shows THEM you care.  Maybe you like flowers but they like jokes...etc.   

So the meat of the story all wraps up into...We don't know as much as we pretend to know.  Love and take the time to learn how to love each person.  Be as close to Jesus as we can in our talk and our WALK.  Go show that person you thought of when you read this some of Jesus' love in you.  Don't live life wasted and don't let perfect moments to show love pass you by, you may never get the chance again.

God bless, peace in and peace out!

http://youtu.be/4omFQJEAAVc

Out of the darkness she climbs

I was watching my children in silence at the table today during breakfast...I was in silence they were in debate, torturing each other...whatever you would like to call it,  My 9yr old was angry at my 3 yr old and my 3 yr old just wanted to "touch" my 9 yr old.  My infant just wanted to eat and so did I.  As the battle waged on the dialogue went like this.

9yr old: LEAVE ME ALONE!!!  She keeps trying to touch me!

Me: Leave him alone, keep your hands to yourself and eat your food.  Be nice.  And you calm down she is not hurting you she just wants to touch you.  Let her touch you touch her back and then say " Okay now let's eat". 

3Yr old is reaching to touch still.

9yr old: LEAVE ME ALONE!!! I will never let her touch me! I'm going to spank you!

Me: (trying to calm myself) Okay, please understand, she is just trying to get a reaction from you, you are giving her quite a show. (jumping around in his chair and moving his chair all around.)  Just redirect her like we have been working on.

9 yr old: No!!!

At that moment, I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me and reminded me that my life is much like what was happening at my table...yes that was my life, but my unspoken dialogue with God is often the same as my 9yr old's to me.  I want problems to leave me alone and go away, He is telling me how to get them to, in fact he gave me a whole book of instructions.  I know they work because I have used them before and seen how they work, yet I keep reverting back to doing things MY way.  and the "3yr old" keeps trying to touch me.

From the outside looking in, it is clear that I should just follow His will and His way.  Yet from the inside, it is clear that my intent doesn't match my action.  I seem to become "blind" to what I am doing and often times I do not even realize I am doing things "My way".  I love the Father and I would never purposely not follow His instruction.  But am I purposing myself to be in His Word enough?  Do I realize when I am being distracted?  Am I on task for His plan for me?  Do I know what His plan for me is?  Am I trusting Him? 

I recently found out that I had buried a lot of pain in my life.  I thought I was done with it.  I had been trying to convince myself it no longer existed instead of  working it out through Christ.  I had lied to myself and said I was healed of all kinds of emotional pain that I really wasn't healed from. That coupled by the recent seemingly non-stop attacks and I had become a "closet monster".  The closet monster doesn't show it's self in "daylight" aka public, but once it's "dark", aka behind closed doors, the beast is unleashed.  I try to hold myself together but I am powerless, I am a mess and at times I can't stop myself from getting angry and sinning(yelling/cussing).  I can bottle up the things that hurt me and cause mega stress, but "contents under pressure may explode" and they have always exploded. It's ugly.  So I entered a new to me program at my church, and I am not free yet, but I am closer to freedom than I have been in years and that feels good. 

I dedicate this new step in recovery to my dad who left this earth to be with the Father June 13th 2012.  He loved hearing about what I came out of and how it all happened, I know someday we will get to finish conversations we started and never got to finish.  When I look back on the things that my dad said to me, even things my grandmother who passed said to me, it is clear how they were used in God's plan for my life. I am so grateful  I always used this scripture below to explain myself, but I never had as much of a handle on it till I started the recovery class.

Romans 7
¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin 

Please know you do not have to have been an alcoholic or have used drugs to need a recovery program. There are so many areas we as people can have struggles in.  You can copy and paste the link below to your browser and see where you can start celebrating recovery in your area!  Not one in your area?  Talk to your church leaders and see if they know of programs that can help you and remember we are followers of Christ, not of men.

http://www.celebraterecovery.com/

God bless!

Making pooh into fertilizer

John 11:4-7,32-44 at the end of this blog is the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  

Recently during a terribly poopy day, I believe God showed me that I was not being given lemons in my life.  Instead of lemons the enemy was handing me big steaming piles of pooh...sometimes quite literally.  I had been just dealing with the pooh as I was accustom to.  My life before Christ was lived by "Murphy's Law" so it was only "natural"...aka habit, for me to just roll with it and fight the depression that continued to try and set in.  BUT this day I was reminded, the pooh doesn't come from God for His glory of seeing me trudge through it.  Sure it is a great testimony of His awesome power and peace when a person can still some how keep being a light through their trials, but the pooh comes from the enemy and I can send it back.  I still have to deal with it, but I do not have to accept it....just like a rotten wedding gift...which is fitting since we ARE the bride of Christ.... I can simply return it(rotten gift).  I do not have the receipt but I DO know where it came from. The greater glory is given to God when we are Victorious.  A battle is not lost while the battle goes on...but it is not won either.  The victory comes when we emerge triumphant!

In the verses below I highlighted the portions that spoke to me the most.  Jesus wept, we are reminded of this often in sermons,  Jesus was angry, but He took His anger and turned it into a miracle...He used it to "move" Him. So in essence He took the pooh and made it fertilizer. 

We are also reminded that He can stop things from happening, but what gives God the greater glory?  For me I see it like this...
A man is crossing the road and he doesn't see the car barreling toward him which would have killed him BUT another man stopped the car and saved him.  The man who was saved carried on unknowing of what nearly happened to him.  He was not thankful that he was saved by the stranger because he did not know he was saved....BUT when the man is crossing the road and doesn't see the car barreling toward him and another man jumps out in front of the car and pushes the man to safety, then the first man knows how blessed he is to be alive.  The second man(God) did not cause the car to nearly hit the man, BUT he saved the first man and was given glory for his actions.

We as people drop the hedge of protection which is placed around us, the enemy can then enter...he does as he wills BUT we have the authority to take back what is rightfully ours to give God glory.

Though nothing is mentioned in the below scriptures about the enemy...and the passage is giving us a description of Lazarus in his burial cloth, I like the way the words can be used for reference to what the enemy does in our lives when allowed...he puts us in bondage which Jesus must loose us from.  ...
And that is all for now... 
God bless you all on your journey and may all we do be for His glory, leading the lost into His light, by walking in His ways.



<sup>John 11

 

4</sup> When Jesus heard it, He said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.  ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after that, He said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

³² When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and told Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”
³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ “Where have you put him?” He asked.
“Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.”
³⁵ Jesus wept.
³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Couldn’t He who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?”

The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, angry in Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ “Remove the stone,” Jesus said.
Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, he’s already decaying. It’s been four days.”
⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. ⁴² I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me.” ⁴³ After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”

What is it all for?

I often replay the song of Josh Garrels - Farther Along.   For me this song reminds me that there are so many levels of depth to this life that if one tried to pull all the layers apart they would end up in a state of pure confusion, yet I am drawn time and time again to this "table" where my life lays out before me layer upon layer and I stand gazing upon all the layers and can't stop myself from pulling out the tweezers and trying to separate the layers and find out why I am the way I am, why "this" happens, why "that" happens, why I do "this" when I should do "that", why I allow "this" when I know better, why "this" feels out of my control but "that" is no problem to control and get past... and so on and so on.  I stand before my table and in my vision I can see the tables of others as well and I ask myself, "Am I the only person or at least one of the only people who sees they have areas of weakness which COULD and SHOULD be worked on?"  In no way do I want to attempt to pull the speck out of mt brother/sister's eye when there is a log in mine, but I wonder...do they stand before a table too?  Or are they standing before my table talking amongst themselves?

As I look back at my table I see all of my layers are currently piled on top of my children's layers.  There is a clear distinction of which layers are mine and which are theirs, but some of my layers are beginning to rub off on theirs.  Some of the layers rubbing off are leaving a great impression and some not so great.  I notice my layers still have traces from people of influence in my life, family and other, good and bad.  Some of the layers of influence appear to be washing away others are more clear.  I can see the impressions I left on my children's layers are washing away in some areas as well.  This for me, is one of the hardest things to see.  Seeing this makes me ever aware that ALL I do leaves an impression on my children, and although I cannot be perfect, am I doing ALL I can to show myself Christ-like?  I can answer that with a huge NO.  Sure I may do "this" better than most but there is too much I am sharing which I am not pleased.  For me...THIS is what it is all for. 
 

God blessed me with my particular children and has given me a responsibility to raise them up to follow His ways.  While they are in my care, and even after I have a purpose to be Christ-like in the way I behave and teach.  This calling is a huge responsibility, especially knowing that my impression will leave a mark on their layers and their layers will leave a mark on their children's layers and other people they influence.  The only way the bad impressions are washed away is by the healing only Jesus can bring. It is vitally important to me to leave the best impression I can, yet I can't do it well enough.  Am I expecting to much of myself? Am I not leaning on God enough.  Do I need to let Him take something I am holding on to?  Probably.  I also know I let the "Martha" duties of this life take away from the "Mary" duties.  What else do I know?  Well I don't have a year to tell all...lol, but I do know the devil FEARS me.  he (lower case for a reason) has tried so many times to use my weaknesses against me, expecting me to try to do things in my own strength and fail, and I have done just what he wanted time and time again, and honestly it was not till this moment that I caught him hiding out in "Murphy's Law" again.

I used to think my life was all Murphy's Law, till I began to understand how the Kingdom of God worked.  Thinking about the things that have been happening to me recently, I can see clearly now how the devil has been hiding...sly devil.  I just kept pressing on and trying not to flip out and get depressed, never thinking I did not HAVE to be going through all that powerless.  To share the laundry list of recent disasters would take a century so please just know it was bad, but God's got it now, cause I let go.  Okay that is my "rabbit trail" moment and...I am done. 

I believe it is a worthy question to ask of ourselves... "What is it ALL for? REALLY?"  I don't believe it is the cars, the money, the house etc.  What a worthless purpose.  We can't take it with us when we go and those things will not leave an impression of greatness on the people we influence.  Does Jesus get excited "Boy I can't wait to meet with him/her, he/she had a GREAT house/car!!!" I think not.

So God bless you all and good night!

Matthew 13:44 (HCSB)

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Priceless Pearl

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. ~ via biblegateway.com