Seek His Will, Have Patience and Trust!

Seek the Lord's will for you. What does that look like?
    Pray continually - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
    Meditate on His Word - Joshua 1:8
    With all your heart - Jeremiah 29:13
    Seek first His Kingdom - Matthew 6:33
    Draw near - Hebrews 11:6
    His will be done - Matthew 6:10; 26:39
Have Patience. What does that mean?
    Be steadfast - 1 Corinthians 15:58
    Keep faith - Colossians 1:23
    Walk in it - Psalm 26:3
    Neverending - Lamentations 3:22-25
    Courage - Psalm 27:14
How about Trust?
   When you're afraid - Psalm 56:3
   In the Lord - Proverbs 3:5
   Blessed is he - Jeremiah 17:7
   Delights in him - Psalm 22:8
   Are not forsaken - Psalm 8:10

Full Brain & Early Morning

So it's super early in the morning and I have decided to take advantage of this disadvantage created by my body refusing to go back to sleep. I have a seven page paper due on Friday and for the most part I've just been brainstorming. What a more perfect time to start typing it now, in the early hours of the morning (by the way you'll NEVER find me up this early). Let me tell you the real reason why I'm awake so early.

My mind has been full, I mean crammed packed with "stuff". Besides the fact I feel myself getting this sickness that everyone seems to have at work, my brain is keeping me awake. The Lord has placed something in my life that I've been pondering a lot of the past month. One of those moments where I say "Am I really ready for this Lord?" Being a woman, I analyze everything over and over and over. My mind runs in circles thinking of every possible result of this particular situation.

I've been praying a lot about this particular situation. Telling the Lord that I don't want to make the wrong choice. That control factor is killing me, when it's completely out of my hands it drives me crazy. Even when I know that when the control is in the Lord's hands it's ALWAYS what's best. If things were in my control they would be a disaster. I know from scripture that His ways are best, He knows exactly what I need and when I need it.

So now I just wait. I've asked the Lord repeatedly for patience and peace in this time. There is nothing else for me to do but wait on the Lord to reveal His plan to me. That's not an easy thing to do. Thankfully I have other tasks to be completed and keep my mind off of this matter, but obviously sleeping is a bigger issue here. By the end of the day you'll probably find me passed out on my keyboard at about eight o'clock attempting to finish my seven page paper.

Truth in the Word

LOVE

"Having purified your souls by your OBEDIENCE to the TRUTH for a sincere brotherly love, LOVE one another earnestly from a PURE heart..." 1 Peter 1:22

"Little children, let us NOT love in word or talk but in DEED and in TRUTH." 1 John 3:18

"There is NO fear in love, but PERFECT love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment; whoever fears has not been perfected in LOVE. We LOVE because he first LOVED us." 1 John 18-19

VICTORY

"Death is swallowed up in victory."
"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

"No, in all things we are more than CONQUERORS through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

"Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions... But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching which you were committed, and, having been SET FREE from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." Romans 6:12,17-18

Speaking to the Lord

Well, it's been a while since I just wrote whats been on my heart. I will admit its been a little difficult to put things straight in my head, life has been all over the place it's hard to put the pieces together. My thoughts have been everywhere, good, bad, moody, frustration, laughter, sorrowful, you name it I've experienced it!

One thing the Lord has been placing on my heart lately is prayer. My prayer life isn't the most consistant, it should be. I know there are things I want to pray about and should speak to the Lord about but many times I either forget, don't have the energy, or simply don't have the words to express it.

A few weeks ago I had the great opportunity to house sit with a dear friend. We both decided that we would pray together before we went to bed each night. WOW!!! It was a wonderful, empowering thing. Being able to sit down with someone and open up about our day, share our hearts and the people in our lives that needed prayer, and then to pray for each other. I wanted to do it every night. I got to thinking "why do I have to have another person to pray with?" The Lord is always waiting for me to speak to him, he desires for me to come to him, to engage in conversation and let him speak back to me. Many times I do say little prayers through out my day but many times there is lots of commotion and noise going on. It is distracting and I can't always "hear" what the Lord is trying to say in response. When I prayed with my friend at the closing of our days, it was peaceful and quiet. We were able to open our hearts, clear our minds, and let the Holy Spirit speak.

I'm still working on this, some days I write in a prayer journal, others days I say simple, short prayers as I drift off to sleep.  In times of distress I have been on my floor, face down, crying out to the Lord. I like writing because then I'm able to go back, read and see how the Lord has answered a specific prayer or see how it is working on answering one. Many times it's not in the way I expected an answer to come or turn out, but it's always the best way. The Lord is teaching me, he is always molding me into the woman he created me to be. He is my Maker and the one I want to be in charge of my life. In order for him to be in complete control I need to speak to him more often, I need to give my praise and express my heart to him. He wants me to lean on him for everything, in everything!

Never Alone!

This isn't my own writing but it's so wonderfully put that I just had to share. I have had the blessing of having friends just like this. And because of their faithfulness to listen to the Lord's instructions in Galatians 6:2 I have been able to climb out of some deep and dark trenches in my life. I hope all who read this enjoy and I pray that we all can be that friend who shares, grieves, and encourages others.

Trenches

by Lisa Whittle

Share each other’s burdens…” Galatians 6:2a (NLT)

There are times all of us find ourselves in the trenches in life — those deep places we can’t seem to climb our way out of.

Sometimes those places involve decisions of our own, where we made a conscious choice to do something that wound up hurting us. Other times, someone made a decision for us that put us there, without our permission.

Either way, there is a great need — a need for someone to understand, someone to listen, someone to be available for us, to grieve with us and cry with us — no matter how dark it may get.

I’ve been in the trenches at different times in my own life. I found myself there when I was in college and my pastor-father was facing potential prison. I wound up there, again, when I partied hard to numb the pain, causing even more for myself. Years later, I found myself in a trench when my husband lost his job and was out of work for an extended period of time.

It was in those moments that I longed for someone to say to me, “I’m here with you. I won’t leave you. You will get through this, and I will love you no matter what.” Because at the end of the day, all of us want to know that there is someone who won’t walk away from us, even when they see how ugly things can get in our biggest moments of struggle.

It is the mark of a true friend. It is a rare find.

I once heard a speaker say how in her community, it was not unusual for people to sit with one another for up to seven days during times of loss and grief. As I listened to her speak, I thought about how amazing and important that aspect of community could be to us in our greatest moments of pain — those moments we find ourselves in a deep trench from which we won’t easily emerge.

Our key verse refers to this beautiful aspect of friendship when it says, simply, “Share each other’s burdens…” For the believer, this is not a suggestion. It is something Jesus expects us to do as we represent Him.

One of the best ways we spread the love of Christ is through our selfless acts of love and serving another. It’s not easy to share in someone’s burden, especially when that burden is great. But it is right. It is good. It is what Jesus does for us.

Many of us have been in the trenches, so we understand this hard position. It is where some of us are even now. Some of the greatest ministry Jesus will ever do in our lives is when we find ourselves in a place we can’t maneuver, claw, or dig our way out of. It is the place He meets us because our desperation finally drives us to Him — a place we most need to be.

Friends, let’s keep our eyes and ears open for the opportunity to get in the trenches and share in the burdens of another. Let’s be willing to be there with our friends who find themselves in a position they don’t want to handle alone. Let’s remember the One who is always present in the trenches with us.

And let’s thank Him for His care, presence and faithfulness in the midst of our needs…the trench moments of our life.

Dear Lord, we are grateful that there is no trench too deep, no place too dark that you can’t reach us. It is because of You we are never alone. Thank You for Your care and faithful love. Help us to share in the burdens of another, and seek You in our greatest moments of need. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"I Will Rise..."

You may have heard this song on KLOVE or AIR1 recently. I just absolutely love the lyrics and the message behind it!!! No matter what place I am in, the Lord will help me to rise. Not because of who I am but because He lives in me. His power is so much greater! I will rise out of the ashes left from a fire that seemed to distroy everything, the Lord raises us out of those ashes. He lifts us up, dusts us off and makes us clean again.

The New T1 & T2

So I took a vacation this year! My first vacation by myself and it was a lot of fun! Very relaxing and I definitely didn't want to come back home. But that's not what this post is about... it's about my wonderful, beloved sister, and friend Tracy!

I am so blessed to have her in my life. While visiting her in Pennsylvania, her and I were able to catch up, be open and honest with each other, and renew our lost frienship. What a blessing to have a friend that cares so much, she has such a HUGE heart! It was just like old times... cooking, shopping, T1 and T2 adventures! I miss her so much and I want to move to PA just to live close to her. I couldn't have asked for a better friend... she accepts me for me, forgives me when I've done wrong, laughs with me, and encourages me to keep my head up. She reminds me of how amazing our Lord and Savior is, and that he has a specific plan. She has a huge heart for the Lord and she trusts him completely with her own life.
Love you Tracy!