Altar Sunday

Awaken Church! Let the power of God move you to revival!  

When Clarity is Given

When God clarifies your purpose, and opens your eyes to the reality of what it entails, a sense of understanding and peace fall upon you.

"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear. They will reject the truth and follow strange myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at bringing others to Christ. Complete the ministry God has given you." 2 Timothy 4:3-5

How to Stay Focused

How do you keep your focus on Christ in the midst of all the craziness?

Three ways

1. Pray
2. Read the Word
3. Trust His Promises

When You Work

"Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically." Romans 12:11

When you work…

Work joyfully
Work diligently
Work enthusiastically
Work thankfully
Work selflessly
Work lovingly
Work humbly
Work intentionally to please Him, honor Him and reflect Him.

"Work hard and cheerfully at WHATEVER you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Colossians 3:23

Brotherly Love

This is the sad face of a little boy who LOVES his brother so much he cries when he leaves.

This is what we hear every morning,"Bye Avery, I love you so much. I am going to miss you. I love you." Then the door closes and it's tears for this little man. 

Heartbreaking but heartwarming all at the same time.

Love that these two love each other so much. 

Always

10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it." Isaiah 55:10-11

All we have to do is make ourselves available and useful to The Lord and He will do the rest. 

You are never a waste. You are loved and desired. He wants to help you fulfill the purpose he has placed within you. 

This should excite us. It should drive us to do more for Him. Jesus never fails! His Word will always accomplish what He wants it to and it will always produce fruit. 

11 
    

You Choose

I am loving my study of Proverbs. I love the simplicity that is found within every verse.

The Lord makes it so clear the benefits of being godly verse the destruction of being a fool. Every passage gives us a choice. Will we choose to be godly and live a godly life, reaping the blessings, OR will we choose to live foolishly reaping the consequences?

Here's a little example of how I break each passage down, and yes I am going passage by passage. I want to make sure I digest every ounce of wisdom God wants to pour over me.

This is one example.

"Disaster strikes like a cyclone, whirling the wicked away, but the godly have a lasting foundation." Proverbs 10:25

The Fool
-Will be whirled away

The Godly
-Will have a lasting foundation

It's our choice. Will we choose to be the fool that will soon be whirled away or will we choose to be godly and stand on our lasting foundation, which is Jesus Christ?

Then to really grasp what the Lord is saying I do some major cross referencing along with what I call CAB (Command-Application-Benefit)and I LOVE IT!

Matthew 7:24-25-"Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on a solid rock."

     -What Command is God giving in this passage?
            *To Listen and Obey

     -How can I Apply this today?
            *Speak less and listen more-then go and DO what God has commanded me to do. Jesus help me to always have my eyes, heart, mind and ears open and ready to hear from You. 
            *Listen to the advice of the godly. Listen to the voice of God. Listen to my family when they speak.
            *Do what God has commanded of me-love, be gentle, react calmly, react when the Holy Spirit prompts.

    -The Benefit (s)
         *I will grow in wisdom, I will remain on Christ's lasting foundation that is solid and unwavering.

There is so much to gain when choosing to be wise.

Psalm 15:1-5 is a continuation of the benefits of being godly.

"Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and DO what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people WILL stand firm forever."

I don't know about you but I choose to be godly and live a godly life. To me the choice seems simple and the benefits of living a godly, wisdom filled life far outweigh any worldly benefit.

What will you choose today?

Altar Sunday

Jesus came to set us free. He paid the debt for our sin, let's walk in His deliverance. Let's approach the altar of freedom and be set free from the bondage of sin.

Ladies, A Challenge.

Ladies as we approach another new week, let's seek to build our spouses up.

Our sweet men carry such a big load. 

They carry the load of...

Being the leader of the home

The finacial leader

The provider

The protector

The Spirtiual leader

The need meeter (I know meeter is not a word, but is my lovely word.)

The mind reader (Yes ladies we do expect this)

The encourager 

The helper

And so on. It's a heavy load! 

So here's the challenge.

Rather than place more on them by expecting things from them only Christ can fulfill, let's focus on helping ease their load. 

How do we do this, for starters, let's nag less and encourage more. Then, let's look to Christ to be...

Our Leader

Our Provider

Our Protector

Our Need Meeter

Our Helper

Our Encourager

When we take this off our spouses and place it upon Christ, not only will it lighten their load, but it will place our trust in the One for whom it should be in, in the first place-Christ!

Ladies, if we put Christ first in our lives and focus on serving, pleasing, and honoring Him, we will then desire to serve, honor and please our spouses. 

Christ should always be our main focus! 

This Sweet Lady

Kassie Garlock is the precious woman who did an amazing job updating my blog. She is very talented, and knew exactly what I wanted, even when I was unable to explain it. I am so thankful for her vision and guidance in making this blog so amazing. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. If you are ever in need of a face lift for any of your Social Media, give her a shout. You will be blessed! Thanks Kassie for making this experience so wonderful.

Be a Student that Studies

"But don't just listen to God's Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." James 1:22-25

When we take the time to "study" God's Word, we are also taking the time to "apply" His Word.

Look at the key words in this passage.

Listen-if we just read through rather than study, we are not really listening. Studying requires you to listen to the instruction given. Which then requires our next key word.

Do-This is a required action. While reading and listening are good, doing is even greater.

Look Carefully-when reading we simply focus on the next word ahead, rather than looking carefully at each word spoken. When we study, we pay attention to detail, we dig deeper and we seek to see the details that make up the bigger picture.

       -I love the example the Lord gives us in this passage. He uses our physical feature to drive His point home. A quick glance does not suffice. Imagine if you had to get ready in the dark. You would have no idea what you looked like, until you stepped into the light and stood in front of the mirror. This is exactly what Christ is telling us. Taking a quick glance into My Word is not going to really benefit you. You will still be standing in the dark. You need to look carefully into My Word, focus on all its features, take it all in, and then make use of it by applying it.

Let's be students of the Word!

3 Rules to Godly Advice

"The godly give good advice, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense." Proverbs 10:21

3 Rules to Good Godly Advice

1. Always speak the truth (Even if it hurts)
2. Speak only when the Spirit directs
3. Speak of what God's Word says, NOT what your feelings say.

Jesus guide and direct our speech in every way. May the advice we give always be useful, helpful, God led, Spirit directed, and based on the truths of Your Word. Amen 

Several Things to Try

There are three things to try today.

1. Study God's Word rather than read God's Word! (There is a HUGE difference.)
2. Be FULL of thanks rather than FULL of complaints.
3. Speak only words that build up, encourage and breathe life into others.


"So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:10-11

Knowing When

"Dont talk to much, for it fosters sin. Be sensible and turn off the flow." Proverbs 10:19

Knowing when to listen and when to speak is such a treasure we should all be in search for. 

Let's be listeners and discerners of the Spirit's leading. He will always let us know when it's time to turn off the flow. 

Jesus direct my speech today that it will be life giving. Prompt me at all times when to speak and when to remain silent. Amen

A Thankful Melody

May our lives be a thankful melody heard by all, for the goodness of Christ that lives within us.

Altar Sunday

"We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:3

We can all relate to God's goodness, protection and presence. Let's offer the sweetest sound of worship, praise and thankfulness that will fill every inch of heaven. 

Jesus Makes All Things New

Isaiah has been restored!

Love, love that my baby loves God's Word so much. 

When Longing turns into Pleading and Interceding

I have this unexplainable desire to be in a state of worship that brings the presence of God so near to me I can't move. It's a longing for Him that will always be, until He takes me home.

Do you ever have that deep longing for His closeness?

So much so you want to feel Him breathe, hear the beat of His heart, and feel the warmth that radiates off of Him?

In these moments of deep longing, I know it is Him drawing me closer. It's Him reaching out and desiring to be with me, this moves me to tears every time. The Most Holy God desires to be with me.

His love is so binding, so powerful, so moving, so humbling, so filling. I can't ever get enough. I can never get close enough, at least the way my heart desires. But one day, one day I will. One day I will be in the direct presence of the Father. One day I will be complete, longing for nothing.

Yet in the midst of my deepest longing, I am suddenly interrupted by the overwhelming thought of those who have never experienced His love, His calling, His presence, yet they have all sensed at some point Him drawing them in, yet they ignore Him, they run from Him, they deny Him.

This thought makes the longing in my heart expand, deepen, even ache because of the loss. Lost lives perishing in a place where there is no love, only suffering.

Then I realize the greater purpose of why my heart longs for Him. Because I have realized what I have been saved from. I have been saved from the place of suffering, burning, and agony.

Yet so many have never realized this. So how can I through Christ tell others what He has done? How can I show them, explain to them what His death and blood has done for them?

How can I express the urgency of this before it's to late?

This brings me to a place where my longing turns into crying, pleading and interceding for the lost.

Jesus please show them what You came to save them from. Show them it exists and is real and if ignored will be their eternal forever home. Yet it's not home, it's torture, it's suffering, it's worse than anything they could ever imagine. Show them why You came and what You have done for them and what You are preparing for them, Heaven. The place where You dwell. The place where love abounds. The place where there is no hurt, no pain, no suffering, no sorrow, no longing; just peace, love, joy, and an overwhelming amount of goodness, beauty, and Jesus. 

Jesus may the existence of hell be so real it becomes life changing. Amen

Open The Eyes Of My Heart

No matter your earthly state, God can and will ALWAYS bring glory to His name. So much meaning in these words. This is such a powerful testament to how amazing our God is. 

Our Relationship

I always seem to be brought back to this particular passage, "Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Exodus 33:11

The more I understand the significance and importance of my relationship with Christ, the more I realize how important it is for me to invest in Him, like He does in me.

This will always be a relationship where His investment far outweighs mine. He is Perfect. He is Sovereign. He is the Creator, Holy and All-Knowing. His invest and love will always be greater, and I am ever so thankful for that. 

I desire with every ounce of me to invest in Him like He so desires. I want our relationship to be real, genuine and like no other relationship. I want to have those face to face meetings with Him like Moses did. 

I can sit here and type a million "I need to's" but I don't want my relationship with Him to be "Jesus "I need" to spend more time with You. "I need" to invest in us more. "I need" to talk to You more. "I need"to…

I want to be all in, completely and fully devoted, giving of myself at all times to honor and please Him. 

The Lord is showing me daily how important our relationship is, without Him nothing matters. 

Without Him, there is no joy, no hope, no laughter, no life, no healing, no purpose. 

Just yesterday, as I was driving home, the Lord revealed to me a greater sense of urgency to invest and commit more to our relationship. 

Jesus wants more from me; more attention, more time, more listening, more communicating, more trust. He wants that face to face meeting with me, daily, with no distractions, just pure undivided attention. 

Jesus could walk away from our relationship at any time. He has that power, authority and right. He doesn't have to be with me. But He chooses to. 

"I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn't confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't chose me, I chose you." John 15:15-16

He chose me. I am chosen by the Most High. The King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. The Great I AM!

Through the Holy Spirit in me, I want to have such a thriving relationship with Christ that every time I leave His presence my face is glowing from being in His Holy Presence. 

"When Moses came down the mountain carrying the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn't aware that his face glowed because he had spoken to the Lord face to face. And when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses' face, they were afraid to come near him." Exodus 34:29-30