This week has been an amazing week! As the 1 year anniversary of my husband's entrance into his eternal home has approached, I knew I only wanted to celebrate! Not just to celebrate what God has done for me, which is unimaginable and, completely, unexplainable, but to celebrate Jim being home, knowing, now, by sight, what he only believed by faith to be true and real! To celebrate by my faith, what I only know in part, what Jim now knows fully! Jim now sees his Savior face to face, he knows now, by experience, His complete and unconditional love; he knows complete peace! Oh, how I too, long to be home!
Though, without doubt, this has been the hardest year of my entire life, I can also say that I have never been so blessed! Jim was here one minute and was not the next, the void was massive, the loss was beyond anything I'd ever known and I couldn't stand, so God, in His great mercy, has carried me and taken care of me in ways I could have never imagined! He has been ever present!
This year my thoughts have be filled with heaven and a 1000 questions! How I've longed to see what Jim sees and to know what he now knows! I've been so blessed through his going home, in that it's caused me to be far more heavenly minded; it's caused me to realize that this life is but a vapor, we are here today and gone tomorrow. It's made me more conscious of not taking anything for granted, especially others and to be mindful of making every minute count ~ to be more mindful of purposing how I live each day. It's taken the fear of death away and made me long more to be home myself, to see my Savior face to face!
This year has brought to the forefront the height of my weakness, while, at the same time, bringing the depth of God's amazing love and presence front and center! God in His mercy took the tragic that grieved my heart til it felt like it was broken and then showed me Himself with such loving intimacy that my grief has been turned to complete joy and awe!
A year later, though it still hurts, I can still say, "My God is still enough ~ He is my ALL in ALL!" I couldn't have gotten through this without Him! He has sustained me, been my Comfort and given me the will to go on! He is my Hope and my Joy! Though, I can say, "Lord, I don't know how to move on from here ~ I don't want to be a victim, but a victor." I can also say with all confidence, that God's got me, completely ~ I am completely secure in Him and He will see me through one day at a time and one moment at a time! I look to Him, now, for everything!
God has brought many other widows into my path this year and they have been a great comfort to me ~ I have hung on their every word. Their compassion and willingness to take a moment to comfort has blessed me beyond words! Now, God's bringing me full circle and giving me opportunities to bless others too, to minister to those who have found their grief too hard to bear ~ to do the unimaginable, to be His hand, His feet, to minister as I've been ministered to ~ to be a blessing to another and that brings shear joy!
I'd love to be able to sit awhile with Jim right now and be able to share the excitement of the amazing things God has done this past year; but even more to hear the unspeakable awe of the things Jim has seen, to hear about his year in heaven and of our Living Lord that he now knows fully! How I long to be HOME, to see my Savior face to face, to hug Jim's face, but until then I will count the days and hours and I will seek with all my heart to be God's blessing to others!
God's grace has been His greatest gift ~ Jesus paid the price with His blood, He died in my place ~ He is my scape goat, He bore my sin and by accepting Christ as my Sacrificial Lamb, I have been claimed righteous, though I am a sinner, I have been saved by grace through my choice of faith, to believe what God says in His Word is true! There's nothing I can do or am asked to do for that wonderful gift of love, but simply believe by faith that His blood shed for me was enough to cover my sin!
The gift of Christmas has always been that Jesus came to save a lost world ~ but not all will believe, not many will accept His gift! I have opened that gift, but the blessing goes beyond that, the greatest gift is God in us, the hope of glory! When we choose faith, to believe and come to God on His terms, He deposits His Spirit within us, He abides in us! He will walk with us and then take us into glory! A little of heaven on earth!
Heaven has come to earth, but do you have eyes to see? Do you know our Living Lord? Do you know His voice? Do you know what it's like to walk with Him in the cool of the day? To know His peace? To know Him intimately? Do you know the depth of His love or the height of His amazing grace?
His Christmas message has always been: "Come all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest!"
The real Christmas gift lies in the verse below. Have you opened it?
Revelation 3:20 says,
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
There's much to celebrate for those that have eyes to see!
"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except by Me."
He invites you to come! If you're reading this I am praying for you! Want you come?
P.S. Yes, for those of you who have followed me through my grief ~ God is still doing the unimaginable! The unexplainable! I am in awe of Him!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Taking The Time To Give Thanks!
We have so much to be thankful for, each and every day! There seems to be so many going through so many hardships, but even for those of you that may be struggling ~ even in the face of difficulty, there is soooo much to be thankful for, we are so blessed!
Even in my most difficult moment this year, God was blessing my socks off right in the midst of it all! He has not forsaken me or left my side, but often carried me; God has gone to great lengths this year to make sure I knew He was with me and that I could look to Him for ALL things! He has continued to provide for me in ways unimaginable and has lead me step by step and moment by moment. He truly has made Himself known to me, as my All in All! He has seen me through devastating loss; He knew my grief and was my Comfort. He provided my every need, daily, in unexplainable ways; He carried me when I thought I couldn't go on. He guided me when I didn't know what to do; He whispered to me in the night watches, when sleep would not come. He enveloped me, with Himself, when my heart was broken and seemly was all alone. He showed Himself to be the Lover of my soul, when I felt love had been lost. When I could get up, He lifted me; when I was downcast, He caused me to soar! When my life seemed to be turned upside down, in His steadfastness, He held me ever so close! He has remained my Stablizer, my Comforter, my Provider. When I lost the embrace of the love of my life, God's embrace and love was seen to be far greater! I am so richly blessed!
I'm so thankful for God's compassion for each one of us ~ because, even when we were His enemies, in sin and far from Him, He humbled Himself, in His great compassion ~ a Holy God did the unimaginable, He sent His One and Only Son to die in our place! He made a way for us that we might be reconciled to Him and be able enter into the Holy of Holies, making it possible to have an intimate and ongoing relationship with a Holy God, to know Him as Father! This is the greatest blessing of all! In His unconditional love, His Son who had never sinned, both man and God, chose, in obedience to God His Father, to willingly lay down His life that we might be saved from eternal death and be raised to eternal life! His sacrifice was enough, there's nothing required of us, nothing we can do to save ourselves, He did it all! We cannot be good enough, we have only but to accept God's sacrifice Lamb as our own. To come to God on His terms, is simply to recognize our own sin, our need for a Savior and to accept what Jesus did on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all, more specifically us! It's finished Jesus paid it all!
If you haven't, won't you accept Jesus Christ's substitutionary death, as your offering for your sin? His blood was shed on our behalf; there's nothing left for you or I to do, but to believe what God has said as Truth and receive His forgiveness. It is by grace through faith that we are saved, not of ourselves! We cannot earn entrance into heaven or be good enough ~ all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God! We have to come to God on His terms. To make up who we believe God is and what we think we much do to be welcomed by Him is living by what we might call our own truth. Our salvation is found in His Truth! Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except by Me." What Truth do you live by, yours, your opinions, self made religion or by God's Truth?
There is only One Living God and He has clearly shown us the Way! What will you choose? To be your own god or to summit to Him and let Him be God?
May God bless you and yours today as you ponder all the many blessings God has bestowed on you! Happy Thanksgiving and God bless
Oh, the blessings that are made known to those who have a grateful heart ~ they are uncountable!
Even in my most difficult moment this year, God was blessing my socks off right in the midst of it all! He has not forsaken me or left my side, but often carried me; God has gone to great lengths this year to make sure I knew He was with me and that I could look to Him for ALL things! He has continued to provide for me in ways unimaginable and has lead me step by step and moment by moment. He truly has made Himself known to me, as my All in All! He has seen me through devastating loss; He knew my grief and was my Comfort. He provided my every need, daily, in unexplainable ways; He carried me when I thought I couldn't go on. He guided me when I didn't know what to do; He whispered to me in the night watches, when sleep would not come. He enveloped me, with Himself, when my heart was broken and seemly was all alone. He showed Himself to be the Lover of my soul, when I felt love had been lost. When I could get up, He lifted me; when I was downcast, He caused me to soar! When my life seemed to be turned upside down, in His steadfastness, He held me ever so close! He has remained my Stablizer, my Comforter, my Provider. When I lost the embrace of the love of my life, God's embrace and love was seen to be far greater! I am so richly blessed!
I'm so thankful for God's compassion for each one of us ~ because, even when we were His enemies, in sin and far from Him, He humbled Himself, in His great compassion ~ a Holy God did the unimaginable, He sent His One and Only Son to die in our place! He made a way for us that we might be reconciled to Him and be able enter into the Holy of Holies, making it possible to have an intimate and ongoing relationship with a Holy God, to know Him as Father! This is the greatest blessing of all! In His unconditional love, His Son who had never sinned, both man and God, chose, in obedience to God His Father, to willingly lay down His life that we might be saved from eternal death and be raised to eternal life! His sacrifice was enough, there's nothing required of us, nothing we can do to save ourselves, He did it all! We cannot be good enough, we have only but to accept God's sacrifice Lamb as our own. To come to God on His terms, is simply to recognize our own sin, our need for a Savior and to accept what Jesus did on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all, more specifically us! It's finished Jesus paid it all!
If you haven't, won't you accept Jesus Christ's substitutionary death, as your offering for your sin? His blood was shed on our behalf; there's nothing left for you or I to do, but to believe what God has said as Truth and receive His forgiveness. It is by grace through faith that we are saved, not of ourselves! We cannot earn entrance into heaven or be good enough ~ all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God! We have to come to God on His terms. To make up who we believe God is and what we think we much do to be welcomed by Him is living by what we might call our own truth. Our salvation is found in His Truth! Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except by Me." What Truth do you live by, yours, your opinions, self made religion or by God's Truth?
There is only One Living God and He has clearly shown us the Way! What will you choose? To be your own god or to summit to Him and let Him be God?
May God bless you and yours today as you ponder all the many blessings God has bestowed on you! Happy Thanksgiving and God bless
Oh, the blessings that are made known to those who have a grateful heart ~ they are uncountable!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Possessed! Extreme!
I've always had a great respect and appreciation for anyone that is really gifted or talented at what they do! Today when we hear a really good singer, we might say, "They've got the X-factor!" or of a child, say that he or she is a child prodigy. A prodigy is someone that's recognized to have extreme talent.
Recently, online, I saw a video of a young 13 year old girl, Carly Rose Soneclar, who blew everyone away on X-factor with her "old soul"! Carly's audition video views, quickly, rose to the millions over night. Last week Carly awed her mentors and was called "possessed"! "She's like a little caterpillar and you think she's going to turn into a butterfly? DRAGON, burning and scorching up the town!" "Possessed"??? What are they saying? They are saying that Carly Rose Soneclar really wants this; she is pouring her heart, mind and soul into winning ~ she is giving it her all! She's focused! She knows what she wants and she's going for it! Carly is undistracted, unwavering!
What possesses you? We've all desired to be good at something, but "possessed"? Have you ever wanted something with your whole heart? Put your entire being into it? Maybe, at one time you did have those kind of deep convictions about something, but you lost hope ~ lost your focus ~ stopped believing!
God created us and has called us all to be "possessed" ~ He calls us to love HIM with all our "heart, mind, soul and strength". He's designed us all to be "possessed" with Him. He designed us with a void that was meant to be filled with Him. When we miss the importance of filling that void with Him alone and try to fill it with other things (our kids, husband, alcohol, food, sex, drugs, etc.) then we come up short, feeling empty. He longs for us to desire Him, to seek for that intimacy, that personal relationship; to search for Him with our whole heart. This is what I want! I want my intimacy with the Almighty to be my one obsession! It's what I want to long for, what I desire to pour my heart into ~ yet, I can, so easily, lose my focus and get distracted!
Satan doesn't have that problem! His focus is just fine! (unwavering) And yes, he is "possessed" with tripping me up ~ desiring my focus to be anything, but having a real and personal relationship with the Almighty God, my Creator. Why? Because he knows the power that that relationship will bring into my life and he'll do anything to stop it!
Recently, I've been overwhelmed, I've grown distracted by life's problems; I've allowed the pressures of this life to weary me. I've been focusing on the waves, instead of the One who has the power to calm them! How easily my convictions turn to mush! We can spend time with Him, but still focus and rehearse our fears; the fears, the fretting break that intimacy. We can come to fellowship, but not feel the intimacy and walk away still feeling empty. Without faith we cannot please God.
God just used a little 13 year old girl, with an extreme talent, a prodigy, to remind me of the importance of focus! It's so easy to talk about and so difficult to maintain! How's your focus? What's distracted you? What "possesses"you? I've been "possessed" with fear! Satan's been taking ground!
Choosing to put God as that one focus, that one obsession, will bring all else into focus and allow those extreme gifts and abilities that He's given to each one of us, those gifts that are hidden in Him to come to the forefront and to shine! Extreme begins with a mind that is focused on putting God first! Focus! Focus! Focus! Set that focus to unwavering and then God's power dials us up to EXTREME! He puts His "umph" behind our gifts and abilities! I want the X-factor when it comes to God! I want to major in EXTREME! How about you? I'm praying for you!
Recently, online, I saw a video of a young 13 year old girl, Carly Rose Soneclar, who blew everyone away on X-factor with her "old soul"! Carly's audition video views, quickly, rose to the millions over night. Last week Carly awed her mentors and was called "possessed"! "She's like a little caterpillar and you think she's going to turn into a butterfly? DRAGON, burning and scorching up the town!" "Possessed"??? What are they saying? They are saying that Carly Rose Soneclar really wants this; she is pouring her heart, mind and soul into winning ~ she is giving it her all! She's focused! She knows what she wants and she's going for it! Carly is undistracted, unwavering!
What possesses you? We've all desired to be good at something, but "possessed"? Have you ever wanted something with your whole heart? Put your entire being into it? Maybe, at one time you did have those kind of deep convictions about something, but you lost hope ~ lost your focus ~ stopped believing!
God created us and has called us all to be "possessed" ~ He calls us to love HIM with all our "heart, mind, soul and strength". He's designed us all to be "possessed" with Him. He designed us with a void that was meant to be filled with Him. When we miss the importance of filling that void with Him alone and try to fill it with other things (our kids, husband, alcohol, food, sex, drugs, etc.) then we come up short, feeling empty. He longs for us to desire Him, to seek for that intimacy, that personal relationship; to search for Him with our whole heart. This is what I want! I want my intimacy with the Almighty to be my one obsession! It's what I want to long for, what I desire to pour my heart into ~ yet, I can, so easily, lose my focus and get distracted!
Satan doesn't have that problem! His focus is just fine! (unwavering) And yes, he is "possessed" with tripping me up ~ desiring my focus to be anything, but having a real and personal relationship with the Almighty God, my Creator. Why? Because he knows the power that that relationship will bring into my life and he'll do anything to stop it!
Recently, I've been overwhelmed, I've grown distracted by life's problems; I've allowed the pressures of this life to weary me. I've been focusing on the waves, instead of the One who has the power to calm them! How easily my convictions turn to mush! We can spend time with Him, but still focus and rehearse our fears; the fears, the fretting break that intimacy. We can come to fellowship, but not feel the intimacy and walk away still feeling empty. Without faith we cannot please God.
God just used a little 13 year old girl, with an extreme talent, a prodigy, to remind me of the importance of focus! It's so easy to talk about and so difficult to maintain! How's your focus? What's distracted you? What "possesses"you? I've been "possessed" with fear! Satan's been taking ground!
Choosing to put God as that one focus, that one obsession, will bring all else into focus and allow those extreme gifts and abilities that He's given to each one of us, those gifts that are hidden in Him to come to the forefront and to shine! Extreme begins with a mind that is focused on putting God first! Focus! Focus! Focus! Set that focus to unwavering and then God's power dials us up to EXTREME! He puts His "umph" behind our gifts and abilities! I want the X-factor when it comes to God! I want to major in EXTREME! How about you? I'm praying for you!
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