Christmas Fire

Man- I LOVE WHEN JESUS SPARKS THAT FIRE! And i love when we don't expect it! :) Church of the Highlands wrapped up a series on forgiveness today and it blew my socks off.. One line in particular.. "Time doesn't heal wounds Jesus heals wounds".

I think we've all heard "it'll get better with time".. How many of us know that "it" does not get "better" with time. WHY? That's what we talked about today. It doesn't get better because that wound happened.. it's there and there's probably a scar to remind you. and remind you and remind you. So how do we get rid of this scar.. 

...Long pause...

We don't. INSTEAD we fight the devil's attempt to remind us of our shortcomings (we're all sinners SAVED by GRACE)- AND WE FIGHT the devil BY USING OUR SCARS TO GLORIFY JESUS!!!!!!!!! We stay in His word! We claim His holy and righteous Name! Jesus THANK YOU for choosing me. God YOU are my REDEEMER and PROVIDER and NO ONE can take that from me. We are going to face tragedies. trials. upsets. heartbreaks. WHY. 

Imagine your worst day- think about how you got out of that worst day because you did get out. It was a process but you succeeded.... because Jesus succeeded. 

Now imagine someone just like you- same situation except they do not serve the Lord. Imagine how they get out of their "worst day". What if they don't?

The Lord our God has not sent us here to just have life and just live.. We have to experience all that life has to offer so that we can have relationships with people who do not know the Lord and need to know HOW you got out of your worst day. How did you see the light? What carried you thru that time? How did you bear it? 

AND we must respond. God has equipped us all with experiences BUT He also left us with a Book of experiences. We have to equip ourselves so that we can equip others in battle with TRUTH and LIFE! 

1 Corinthians 1: 30     "Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus. He has become God's wisdom for us. He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free."

please be in the word and fight everyday. the devil wants to bring up your past and tell you lies. do not believe those words. You are Chosen and you must fight with the Word. Pray His Word. Claim it. Believe that Jesus gave you a past so that you can help someone else get past theirs.

-E

A Journey Home

I had the privilege of being home for two weeks for Thanksgiving. I always look forward to it mostly because I feel so loved while I am home. The basis of all our relationship ultimately stems from some source of love. We desire to be loved, and we seek relationships where we can find that. I found myself so encouraged by my friends over this two weeks and seeing what they are doing to grow in the Lord. From Zane's bible study and hearing all the fruit from that, to genuine conversations with friends and family. I find peace and encouragement from knowing that my loved ones are doing well, and I evaluate their wellness by their spiritual growth.

We have a desire as believers to help the needy, love the unloved, and seek the lost. Everyone is searching for love. Give it to them. And there is no love like the love of our Lord. So put other before yourself, and consciously do things that help others experience love. Form relationships and introduce them to a love that is beyond our understanding. That God would send His Son to suffer and die on our behalf and raise Him from the dead.

Secondly, be in prayer for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Lift them up with intercessions and praise God for the work that is being done in their life. Plead mercy for their transgressions. Not only will God hear your prayers and be present in their lives, but you will develop a loyal love to that person.

I didn't even get to spend time with everyone I wanted too, but it was so good just to sit or talk with people I love and am so thankful they have been a part of my life.

Praise Him in the storm

This morning on the radio they were talking about being content. I have studied what it means to be content a lot this year mainly because it's something I struggle with. And God has shown me over and over that it is something that I lack. But today this girl called in and spoke some truth, she said that she didn't think that contentment was a feeling but a choice. 

.................................................................

Insert dagger in heart.

Life happens. Seasons happen. It's how we allow the Lord to work in us that I think counts as contentment. For example, Job was tested with just about everything. His family, his possessions, everything was taken away from him and even inflicted with disease. It's hard to imagine it. I can't think of how I would react if Brad and my brothers and sister and mom and dad were taken away. And then I don't have a house or a way to get around. And then get diagnosed with cancer. And while experiencing all that having the courage to be strong in my faith and seeing that the Lord was in control. Job had no idea that he would be a name to last the ages. A name that stands to perseverance, faith, and grace. For that matter, look at Jesus and all that he suffered through... I believe a reason that His experience was so horrific was so that He could identify with us.  Okay now what if our situation was looked at from that perspective.. that hundreds of years later people found truth and guidance from the faith it took for you to walk through a situation. Read Philippians 2.

What if tomorrow someone came to you that was experiencing a similar situation.. wouldn't you be thankful that you had been through that experience because it enlightened you.I know that was a round about way to get to that point.. BUT if we can look at a situation no matter how devastating or exciting and be THANKFUL first.. because He chose for that to happen to you. That is His will for you. It just changes your whole attitude. Because no matter how painful, God is good and He will work good into every situation if we allow Him. I don't think contentment is a feeling that lasts a month once you have a revelation. It's a choice every day. It's looking at your clock in the morning and thanking Him for waking you up. It's getting to work and realizing that you got there safely... and hey you have a job. It's driving home in traffic for an hour and being able to listen to great praise music uninterrupted. I don't want my legacy to be that I had a lot of things I wanted to accomplish. I want to send my praises to Him for allowing me to be a part of His story. And grateful that He trusts me with trials because He knows there is faith in my heart, and that encouragement is my root and my branches will be fruitful. 

Whatever God has in your life right now, whatever process your in- know that it is serving a big purpose. I'm so thankful for the encouragement and prayers and love- all of your words have been divine and in perfect timing. God is so sweet in that way, He knows exactly what we need. He also knows what others need so be open to be used by His hands. so thankful for His love shown through you. 

A Word of Encouragement

I know I am a couple of states over from all of you, but I want you to know it warms my heart when I get to talk to my family and friends back home. Even when I think about all the things that God put in place for us all to be together it just fills me with joy. My deepest desire is that God would continue to use each and every one of you to use your specific gifts to bring praise to Him. I hope all of you have built a firm foundation that cannot be shaken, and will continue to worship the Lord the rest of your days. I know I struggle with fear, worry, lust, insecurity and so many more things on a daily basis. I always remember that my God is more powerful then all these things though. He is in control and through the death of His Son I no longer have to be enslaved to these things. Although I live in freedom, I will gladly submit my life to the Lord because I know that is the only place where I can find hope and peace. Guys you are an incredible group of people and I long for the day that I can be with you doing ministry. I am not even sure who all reads this, but I encourage you to challenge yourself to go deeper in your relationship with the Lord. Ultimately, that is the only thing that truly matters. Everything else will vanish, but the Word of the Lord remains forever. So just know you have a friend in Dallas praying for you guys that the Lord will reveal Himself in awesome power through each of your lives.

Answer To Prayer

Just got an update from the guy mentioned in the previous post and he has found some temporary work and someone got him a motel room for a week. He is counting his blessings and continues to seek permanent employment. Prayer works so keep doing it! His name is Chris by the way.

An Unexpected Teacher

Coming home from class the other day a man approached me. He explained that he had recently lost his job and because of a bad relationship with a woman he had lost his money. Two days ago he had become homeless. This is not an uncommon situation so I was getting ready to explain to him that I didn't have any cash. He told me that he didn't want money, that he simply wanted something to eat. I took him to the jack in the box and gave him $10. He bought his meal and brought me change. It caught me so off guard because I had this terrible impression that he just wanted to take advantage of me. Here was a guy who was dressed normal, easy to talk to, only took what he needed, and was in a terrible situation. We talked about a lot of stuff and he mentioned to me some advice a friend gave him. His friend told him how easy it is to give up in these situations and if he truly wants to get his life back on track he has to work hard. So my  friend shared with me how his favorite biblical characters overcame adversity. He shared in fulfilling God's plan that Abraham had to overcome many obstacles while growing in his faith. Abraham learned how to trust God and kept pressing on, even amidst some mistakes, and his faithfulness was rewarded by God. My friend told me that he is going to look for a job, work hard, and not let this situation beat him. He explained how he knows that God will teach him through this mess and will be glorified through it. I exchanged numbers and have been praying with him and got to help him out one more time.

It was so refreshing seeing a person just be so open and relying on God. He wasn't trying to impress me or too proud to ask for help. He knew he needed help and he knows he needs God's grace. It made me realize that in all the worries I have in my life, which seem so small talking to him, that faith is all we need. We must persevere and trust God. We are so self-absorbed we constantly weigh how pleasing we are to God. God's love is unconditional and his grace is infinite. We have great worth in the eyes of God and we can rest in that. He simply wants us to trust Him which means following Him. He is holding us through the difficult times and we must muster every ounce of strength to keep our eyes focused on Him. Through faith and obedience He will shape our lives and be glorified through them.

Lord, I trust you

The past 3 months have been a roller coaster of emotions.. Elated to devastated to peaceful. There are so many emotions that I feel like God has allowed me to feel.. mostly frustration. Not so much with Him but with myself. I keep having these break throughs of peace and love from the Lord only to be clouded with an attack from Satan. Here's my thought process.. I don't deserve God's love no one does that's why it's the most beautiful gift.. It can never be repaid or earned. Nothing we DO will ever be enough to say "Lord, look at what I've done I should be rewarded with..." We have already received the ultimate gift as believers. This I grasp and do my best to cling to. However, there is this spirit of doubt and fear that creeps in and tells me that I don't deserve the things that my heart desires and you will never be able to experience motherhood. For some insane reason this is easier for me to believe...
And it crushes me.
I keep thinking and planning my life like I have control of it.. which I obviously (thankfully) do not. And it actually has made me sick and many times state of panic. This is not going to defeat me.So just this past Friday I was making the drive to work and the Holy Spirit spoke some words onto my heart and they have been words that I have clung to for the past 5 days and I think I will forever. "Lord, I trust you" pretty simple.. words we've probably repeated before. In times like this, it's hard to relinquish trust when it would be so easy to attempt to take control... Over and over I repeated these words, "Lord, I trust you.. Lord, I trust you" I began to realize that this was not a statement that I said with confidence in fact it brought me to tears of the little trust that I have in my Lord and Saviour. These words scare me (if I'm being completely honest). I am so scared that the Lord has this whole other plan for my life that has nothing to do with my plans.. (once again the fear creeps in) And so I repeat "Lord, I trust you.. Lord, I trust you". It's such a peaceful statement, even if you're trying to convince your own self.
I've been trying to research in the Word and find encouragement where ever I can. One of my favorite leaders is Beth Moore. She has experienced so many things and has found the light of the Lord through them all. She is a better leader and woman because of her trials. I couldn't sleep last night and found her blog http://blog.lproof.org . And I read many of her posts and stumbled upon what I was seeking.The Lord led me to this passage and it gets me so fired up. Big Sisters and Little Sisters was all about one generation passing on encouragement to a younger generation. You can read for yourself Beth's passion. In her post at the end, she encourages readers (all ages) to remember to be in the Word (it is our light).. specifically requests to read Psalm 25. I read some of the comments and found myself dozing off. It wasn't until today at work that I was speechless and brought to tears of my Father's love for me (again). Psalm 25 

Of David.

¹ In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.

² I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.

That was enough for me....

But the entire passage just leaped to my heart, tore down my fear, demolished my doubts, and freed me to my Lord. HELLO! What have I been praying for the past 5 days? I do NOT believe in coincidences. However I do believe in this GREAT MAGNIFICENT God that knows exactly what my heart desires and exactly what reaches the depths of my soul. These moments remind me that "Lord, I trust you" even if I try to take back control of my life my God knows that He has me... right in the palm of His righteous hands. I do not deserve His love or His signs.. nothing I do will ever make me worthy of anything BUT through His son Jesus, our precious Jesus, that debt is already paid. He is my gracious Giver, who delights in our praises.

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
⁹ He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
¹⁰ All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
¹¹ For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Thank you Jesus.. for blessing me with everything that I do not deserve. 
-E