Please Pray

Brethren please pray for my precious friend Dana. The cancer is beginning to spread to quickly.

We are still believing God can and will heal her, and we know how powerful prayer is. So please, please pray for Dana and her family.

Our hearts are so heavy with this news and Dana is so tired.

So again if you would please remember this family in your prayers everyday.

Jesus we trust Your decision and know You are in control. We also know You are with Dana right now and we praise You for staying with her. Please Jesus heal Dana! Amen

Like Father, Like Son

"In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. ” The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the L ord ’s coming! Clear the road for him!"(Matthew 3:1-3 NLT)

As a Father I can't help but compare and relate John's message with the message I send to my children. As the leader and example in my home how does my message sound to the ones around me? Do I represent the same message John did? What would my family write about my message I show with my words and actions?

During these holidays I pray that I can live as faithful as John the Baptist did. Remembering how influential my life and message is to the ones around me.

"Like Father Like Son" as the saying goes.

Father thank you for revealing in a new way the message of John the Baptist. Thank you for showing me what YOU want my message to be throughout my family. Help me be a living example of you daily, no matter the cost. AMEN

How Will You?

Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

As the New Year approaches, we often make plans of what we want to do different, change, and strive for.

For me, I want to make the most of the time I have left. I want to be a better child of God. I want to be joyful, kind, loving, patient, and gentle. I want to serve others more, live wiser, work harder, and share Jesus more.

I want to shine brighter for Him and listen to Him more. I want to be changed, cleansed and filled up with Jesus more than I ever have.

I want to be set free from the sins that have entangled me and walk in His freedom.

I want to laugh more, live by what I know is His Word says, and walk with confidence.

I want to doubt less, trust more, and be so much of His reflection that others immediately see Him.

I want be more prayerful and be there more for others than I have been.

This New Year, I will prepare more for His arrival, stay alert and ready, and be clothed in His armor.

I will, in 2013, by the power of the Holy Spirit continue to overcome Miss “Me”

Jesus help me to make the most of my time so that I might better serve and reflect You. Amen

Don't Question It.

"You spread out our sins before you-our secret sins-and you see them all." Psalm 90:8

Sometimes I think we forget that Jesus sees and knows everyone of our sins. I am not sure if we choose to ignore that fact, or if we hide from Him because of them. Either way He knows all of them.

And He still loves us. I think it is so important for us to know that.

For me it is sometimes hard to understand how He can still love me, but He does and I don't want to question that, I just want to accept it, soak it up and walk in His mercy and grace.

Jesus Your love is beyond measure. Thank You for Your grace. Amen

The Greatest Gift

Today, for most children it's all about the presents under the tree. But out of everyone of those presents lie a greater present that was given to us long ago.

His name is Jesus. Today we celebrate Him. We celebrate His birth and all that His birth brought us.

Hope
Joy
Salvation
Peace
A future
Forgiveness
Grace
Mercy
Love
But most of all Life.

Jesus thank You for the greatest gift of all. You! May our hearts be full of praise and gladness for who You are and what You have done for us. May Your name be glorified today and everyday. Amen

Am I Prepared?

It's the night before His special day and as I lay my head down my heart wonders if its prepared for Him.

Can it really grasp the extraordinary event that took place long ago? Does it comprehend the meaning of His birth? 

I am not sure I have ever been able to fully digest His love. Who am I that He would leave His place of honor to come to earth and die for me? 

His love for me/us is so big it can't be contained. 

I am thankful to have a Savior such as He.

Jesus thank You for loving us so much that You entered the darkness so that we might have light. Prepare our hearts for tomorrow as we wake to celebrate Your birthday. Amen

Altar Sunday

Today we have the opportunity to gather together and begin celebrating Jesus' birthday.

May our hearts be open and full as we sing praises to His name.

It is in fact all about Him anyway and always! He is good and He is worthy of our praise!

What Was It Like?

I wonder what Mary's pregnancy with Jesus was like. Did she get tired? Was she ever sick? 

The day of her delivery was she in pain? What were those moments like for Joseph as he anticipated the birth of Jesus

Did he ever have doubts or fears that he wouldn't be good enough? 

Sometimes it's hard for me to really comprehend that it was real. It's so amazing, so astounding, yet to real to grasp.

Do you ever feel that way? 

Jesus was born in a stable, placed in a manger, and His mother was a virgin who found favor with God. 

Amazing isn't it?

I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have seen His birth. 

I wonder if Mary held Him for long periods of time. Did she sleep near Him? How many kisses did she give Him every second. 

 

Did her heart stay full?

I wonder what the moments were like 33 years later when she watched her Son tortured and beat then hung on a Cross so that we could all have life. 

I don't know what any of it was like for her, but I know I am thankful. I am thankful that Jesus did what He did for me.

I know what my heart feels. I know how overwhelmed I become when I think of His love for me and what He was willing to do so I could spend forever with Him. 

Jesus thank You for showing me a little more everyday just how much You love me. I may never fully understand it, but I believe it! Amen

Before We Dive In

"Come on, let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." Luke 2:15

As the day approaches, how have we prepared our hearts and our children's hearts for this celebration?

Have we prepared the best for Him?

Have we sent out the invitations and spread the Word?

The Shepherds couldn't wait to go see Jesus.

The Wise Men set out on a journey to see Him.

Are we that anxious and excited to see Jesus and celebrate His birthday?

Let's not let presents filled with materialistic things fill us with more joy than celebrating the life of Christ.

Maybe this year we could spend time praising Him before we dive into the gifts.

Eyes on Him

"We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish." Hebrews 12:2

As we enter the Presence of the Lord we must keep our eyes fixed on Him. Removing all of ourselves and focusing solely on Him.

It is easy to enter the relationship focusing on our own needs and expectations, but to know more about Jesus we need to focus on His needs and expectations.

Let's put ourselves aside today and place Jesus first.

The Way to Know

 A good way to see if you are getting to know Jesus more is by how much change is taking place in your heart.

"So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8

His Willingness and Joy

Do you want to know something wonderful about Jesus?

"He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward." Hebrews 12:2

Jesus thank You for Your love and willingness to die for us. Amen

More than the Given

Knowing Jesus is more than just knowing the basics of His name and what He has done.

Knowing Jesus is knowing the intimate and special parts about Him. Knowing Jesus is knowing what He likes and dislikes.

Knowing Jesus is knowing His Word.

Jesus You left us two amazing gifts that allow us to know You more. The Holy Spirit and Your Word. May we listen to the Spirit as He teaches us more about You through Your Word. Amen

Altar Sunday

I can't shake the events that took place this weekend.

 I can't get the visions of those innocent babies crying out in complete fear for their mommies and daddies out of my mind.

I can't get the thoughts out of my head of those teachers who lost their lives protecting those children.

It's unbearable. This pain in my heart. It is a crippling fear that makes me want to keep my precious babies at home with me. 

It is my prayer today, that as we gather together in the Lord's house, that we will enter His throne room as one body and lift up these families who are mourning the loss of their babies and loved ones. 

Seeing Who I Really Am

“Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.” Ephesians 5:17

I can’t tell you how many nights I have laid in bed since we have moved and asked the Lord why. Why here? Why this?

What is here Jesus? Who is here? Maybe nothing is here, maybe He brought us here to reveal to me who I really am when all is stripped away.

This is hard. I am learning things about me that are saddening. I am seeing that I still have more of my old self in me than I realized. Maybe it’s always been there and I have just ignored it instead of dealt with it. Maybe I have pretended to be someone I am really not.

Here I feel lost, really lost. I feel like the wandering Israelites. Did I complain did I doubt You Lord?

When one wanders lost and alone, several things happen. Satan attacks, temptations rise, and choices are made.

When the frustration of going in circles stays constant, it’s easy for anger to set in.

It’s easy to ask why?  But it’s hard to listen to the answer. It’s hard to see who you really might be.

It’s hard to see through the fog of confusion, frustration, anger, doubt, and hopelessness that His purpose in doing this is for my protection or for my true transformation to take place.

Pray for me. Pray for us. Pray that God will cleanse us, purify us, restore us, and make us new in Him. Pray our eyes will be open to see God’s purpose in all of this.

The Horrible Devastation

The devastation that has taken place today is more than my heart can bear.

I am waiting for my precious Avery to get out of school and I am unable to contain the tears.

I am broken for these families.

I have thoughtlessly dropped Avery off at school assuming everything would be fine, but today things have changed.

Today I will be more prayerful. I will be more cautious. I will be more mindful.

Jesus comfort theses families, each and everyone of them. Especially the ones who have lost their precious babies, wives and husbands. I pray that through all this chaos Your presence will be felt. Amen

Are We Really Doing His Will?

" Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis" Colossians 4:12


How do you know your doing what the Lord has called you to do?

Do you know the difference between His will verse man and fleshes will?

Was the last decision you made in His will or in your own?

Jesus I wonder today how many of us are doing what we have called for ourselves to do rather than what You have called us to do? Are we living outside of Your will for our lives?

Help us to not step outside of Your will because we are fearful, because we feel pressured, because we are unhappy, or because we listen to man rather than You.

Keep us focused on Your will for our lives because being in it is way better than being outside of it. Amen

A Gift that Last's

“Love will last forever." 1 Corinthians 13:8

I was taking Avery to school this morning and we got to talking about what we wanted to get daddy for Christmas when Avery said, "Mommy I think the best gift I could give daddy is my love."

How right he is. Don't you think the best gift to give Jesus and others is the gift of love?

It would last longer than any materialistic gift.

Remind Me

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who had heard what John said and then followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him. We have found the Messiah.” (which means the Christ.) Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus.” John 1:40-42

What was the first thing you did when you met Jesus for the first time? Did you go tell your family like Andrew did? In that moment didn’t you want to tell everyone about Him?

Do you still feel that way today?

Once we taste of His sweetness we are never the same. We want more of Him and we want to share that sweetness with others as well.

We should have that same desire for Jesus today that we did when we first met Him.

Jesus remind us of how special that moment was when we met You for the first time. Amen

 

 

Knowing Jesus

"Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

Why is getting to know Jesus so important? Because He is the perfect Lamb of God who takes away our sins.

He is the One who has done more for us than we could ever do for Him.

He is the One who gave up His life so we could have life.

Jesus as Your birthday approaches I pray more and more people will come to know You. Amen