God knows what you need before you even ask Him.

“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Mt. 6:8
What does that mean? Like them? Them who? Them what? Simply them who haven’t met Him yet. I love “them”. I know because, I was there, I won’t judge anyone.
We so limit our God. He’s everywhere, hears it all and knows it all. He reads our hearts every day. Can you imagine a God that knows what you need before you even ask Him? You could ask, “Well if we’ve got a God who knows what I need, why ask Him? Why pray? Besides that, why does he allow me to go through all of these things?” Because, He wants to hear from you, after all; He is the one who created you. Besides, He’s given you a free will to do as you please.
Think of it this way: You are where you are because of a thought, and you eventually carried out that thought. Woe is our thoughts if we do not choose to change them.
Isn’t it delightful when your first born says a few words to you and begins to grow in their love toward you. They look up and smile and you smile back and as they grow, they ask you for things and sometimes you say a no because you know what is good for them at that age. Other times, you are delighted to give them things. A very wise man that has a gigantic help ministry once said to me “Sometimes God says NO.” Boy we don’t want to hear that. But you see, just as God knows what we need, He also knows what we do not need. A leader of the Prophets once said that the worst thing you can do for your child is to give him everything or to do everything for him. I say “amen brother!”
I call Him father, because He’s been my Holy Father since I was five years old. I didn’t understand it, but I knew He was there. I knew He was my guardian.
Isn’t it great that when you are hurting and struggling; we have a great God that actually knows what you need right at that exact time!

Getting Older isn't for Wimps

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes;: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to the bones.” KJV Proverbs 3:5-8

It seems when you hit a certain age you start noticing odd aches and pains. I realize I am not unique because we all seem to be on the same journey. If you have been healthy for the most part of your life you become shocked and dismayed with your body. What is going on anyway? We become like an old modelay needing a 30,000 mile overhaul. Our engine doesn’t seem to be running the way it should and sputters when it tries to start. After all,the car used to automatically know where to go, but now we have to take a few minutes to think why we went into the garage in the first place. You went to the Dr and discovered you then became a statistic of many other thousands of women who needed their gallbladder out. Your back ache becomes a real challenge and you know it isn’t your great bed. All in all, you look around and see so many others treading on our journey a lot worse off than you and not whining about it.
As I see it, there has to be a lot of backbone in you to be able to continue on our journey of aging.
Behind every thought of mine is a continual trust in God. I certainly won’t pretend that I know and understand everything that is written in the Bible, but I do know that when you take it to heart; it will change yours. When you take that one small leap of faith in trusting God, he meets you the rest of the way and takes your hand and makes the journey a little bit easier. It is so easy to try to figure it all out, especially when you have an analytic mind like mine. I have always sought the “whys” and “motives.” God says it is he who gives us understanding and wisdom when we seek him with everything inside of us. We have a God so big that for some reason we seem to keep trying to bring him down to our level to understand him. That isn’t necessary. Isn’t it time to realize that there really isn’t anything too small or big for him to handle? Can you honestly believe that? Can you change your thinking processes from doubt to faith assured that the character of our God is love? He will move mountains upon your behalf if you can only believe.
Have you found yourself in a quandary about which way to go? Acknowledge God first and then take that step forward. Believe me, if you aren’t supposed to walk through that door, he steps up to the plate and closes that door. He may have a better one in mind for you. I always love it when he closes a door, because he has heard my prayer.
Knowledge and wisdom is a good thing and we should be seeking his way all of the time, but do not depend upon man’s storehouse of wisdom. Why do we always seem to do things our self and depend upon our own “wise” ways? Too many times we will find ourselves going in circles until we learn that it is all by his spirit.
Fear the Lord. I see this as remembering that whatever we do in this lifetime we are planting seeds of some sort. Seeds of trust for others to use, seeds of hope to extend encouragement, seeds of love to those who are in need and seeds of favor. All those are good seeds that will reap an abundance of a healthy harvest in your life, but there are the unwise seeds that we choose to plant too and there is definitely a harvest time for them also. God’s sowing and reaping principles are seen everywhere. In fact, one single sowing began with one thought from our mind. Whether it was a building to be built or a divorce and from those seeds each gathered a harvest. Be very careful what you plant in your garden of life, there will surely be crop come up.
Depart from evil. Today’s message in the world is that there isn’t any difference between good and evil. We know better when we hear the news. If you are struggling with evil or any bondage, seek counseling and help. You can be delivered from it, but you first must desire this to happen. In order for light to open up darkness you have to make that one small step and seek help. This is what a powerful God of love can do for you.
The above verse gives us a promise that when we do all of these things we will have health to our navel and bones. Navel signifies life and when you get a little bit of age, you will want some extra marrow in your bones so you won’t creak.
God doesn’t expect us to be perfect; but we should examine our heart and ask for forgiveness and forgive those who have offended us. In fact, bless them in some way, but that is another word for later. Remember God knows our weaknesses before we confess them. It is important that we acknowledge him, trust in him so we can lean upon his strength instead of our own. A small amount of trust and acknowledgment will open up a door to give you more faith. Forgiving others will bring forgiveness when you need it. Extending a kind word will reap a perfect word in the perfect time in your life. Leaving an old way of life will give you the blessing to see his strength and promise to carrying on in your journey.

A Mish Mash of Yarn

A Mish Mash of Yarn

Have you ever tried to put another pair of glasses on over the reading glasses you are already wearing? Well, you just do not know what you are missing if you haven’t experienced that yet. What about not remembering if you added the sugar to the cake you are making? Oh don’t ask! It seems to be a part of the “maturing game.” I refuse to use that word old because I do not believe in it.
Are you a nurturer? That is someone who feels like they have to take care of everyone and everything around them. A mothering spirit, I’ve heard it called. Usually someone who is a nurturer has received more than their share of the gift of empathy. In fact, I’ve often wondered why I have so much empathy and so many around me, do not seem to have any. Super empathetic thinking is: “well if I were that parrot, where would I like to fly? And how big would I like my aviary?” They automatically understand that all birds must fly to exercise their wings, dogs must be allowed to run and cats must prowl and jump. They also know almost every thought their mate is thinking before he thinks it and when he opens his mouth she can easily nod and say she understands.
Who said that men were the stronger sex anyway? Maybe physically and why does a strong woman attract a weak man and weak women attract a strong man? Perhaps the “weak woman” isn’t really weak at all but an extremely intelligent lady who knows how to get the attention of a strong intelligent man. Therefore, could it be that our strong appearing woman may not be that strong after all if she is still attracting a weak man? Could it be because she subconsciously feels she still must control the whole relationship or roost, when the more “weak” intelligent woman has learned how to control the roost in a more intelligent and feminine way? Did you get all that? Who knows!
Why do we see the 6’2” gent dating the petit 5’2” lass? Is it because he has this protective spirit toward her, or is it because the lady has an IQ of 195 and knows exactly what she is doing? Could it be like “they” have always told us from the beginning, that opposites just simply attract?
For those of you who have carried some grief and bitterness possibly through a devastating divorce and seem to still be carrying the memories of his infidelity in your memory banks, may I take this moment to share with you something that I just learned the other day? Ladies, you have my permission to get a little bit excited about this!
When your mind does repeats about the “way back when’s” most of the time it is because you have put it on the “auto” while you are laying there on your bed; thinking about it all again! Yes, once again, you’ve just relived the love, the heartaches and horrors and all of the anxieties of your past. You are a smart cookie, you already know that wasn’t a good thing, but trying to stop it is another chapter in your journal. What if you discover that you are grieving over finding out that your ex wasn’t the man you thought he was in the first place? You think you are grieving over the whole situation, but in reality you are grieving over what you thought he was? Isn’t it possible to grieve and mourn over a make believe person? To have a wakeup call and know that person didn’t really exist after all? If you didn’t know he was a cheat and a liar and you assumed he was a good guy, you were deceived and completely innocent and not only that but you thought only the best of him. Consider yourself set free now, because the one you loved was not alive. Love always thinks well in a person. Forgive and move on, you deserve it!

God, do you mean me?

When God speaks do we really hear Him, or do we think it is our minds thoughts playing overtime? When He talks, what does He sound like?
I believe that God speaks in the language of every unique person so that they will be able to understand what He is saying to them individually. And, we certainly are all individuals. One person may refuse to give up southern fried chicken, while another one wants their nightly ice cream if possible, then; a nice nightcap is always soothing after a hard days work. We’re all different and that is what makes our lives so exciting.
Usually, when the Holy Spirit talks you’ll discover that He will be talking about the same thing to everyone only in various degrees and ways. For example: lately I have been noticing a lot of talk about being in the favor of God and acceleration. When you are in Christ and He is in you, there is a favor placed upon you because you were adopted into the family of God. This means you are royalty and God looks to you as His child, one to whom He can bestow favor and blessings, if you will believe and allow it.
Today there seems to be an acceleration in almost everything when you look at the world. From the speed of NASCAR to athletes who take steroids to accelerate their speed or buff up their muscle. Hollywood puts out movies so fast, it makes our heads spin and when any one does something that fast, how good can they be? Think about the word acceleration and all you have to do is look at the iPods, the cell phones and television. What if God Himself accelerated all of those lost years in your life and brought the breakthrough you’ve been praying for? It can happen if you believe that it can happen. It is easy to believe there is a store around the corner, because you’ve been there, but what about an area in your life you haven’t tapped into yet? What about getting out of your comfort zone when you hear Him talk to you? You may not feel equipped to go to the other side of earth and give a message, but He knows what you are made of and wants you to do it.
It will happen. It can happen, but you must believe with great expectations, knowing that our father brings only good in your life.
God is not the one who creates cracked pots, we do it to ourselves by the thoughts we provoke our lives with. The thoughts we hang onto that we think will protect our ego. Oh us of such little faith. Besides, our ego doesn’t need any protection. It is time to let it go and get on with the real life that brings us up and no longer pulls us downward.

We all have skeletons

In the catacombs of the Paris underground there are thousands of skeletons. One can walk through and you can see them all neatly lined up, after all it saves space.
http://tides.sfasu.edu:2006/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Digital&CISOPTR=4234&CISOBOX=1&REC=8
And:
http://tides.sfasu.edu:2006/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Digital&CISOPTR=4231&CISOBOX=1&REC=10
Of course, they felt that they had to do this because they were saturating their cemeteries. There were many plagues and so many deaths, they didn't know what to do with all of their bodies. While there are many catacombs in Europe, in truth; we all have our own catacombs. The old saying is "we all have skeletons in our closets." But, what are we to do about these past things? Everyone has them, so we need not feel insecure or inferior. We just know ours, but not those of others. The skeletons are there and will always be there, but it is something that should be dealt with in your mind and heart. I don't know about you, but I needed forgiveness and Christianity is the only belief that supplies that need. Forgiveness offers freedom. The skeletons can stay in the closet, but in Christ they can no longer bother you. You are dead in your sins. Keep your closet closed and turn just let it all go once and for all. That was yesterday, but today you have a life of grace.

Forgiveness

What is forgiveness? I believe it is a gift from God because there are some things that happen to us while we are on this earth that seems almost impossible to forgive. Yet, we all have our limitations to understanding why there are those who react in ways that will hurt others and possibly even scar them for life, if we allow it.
Forgiveness sets you free from being a victim any longer and when refuse to forgive the only person we are hurting is ourselves. We have to ask ourselves what good is holding on the bitterness, because eventually it will harm you physically. I can remember one time praying and telling God that I was willing to be made willing to forgive. I think there are a lot of scenarios to think about when someone deliberately lies or hurts you in someway and when you get right down to it, most of the motivation can be selfishness, fear and assuming. Sometimes, you just have to think it all out and reason so you can see it a little bit plainer than you did when you were so upset. It's best to try to dig up a little bit of compassion inside of you if you can for the one that hurt you, because most of the time they are the one carrying the huge burden of wrong, not you; unless of course you decide not to forgive. When you forgive you can at last have the happy life you desired. There is an old saying that the best revenge is to be happy. Just make sure it is sincerely happy through forgiveness.

Forgiveness