It is all about Him

I grew up in a traditional church that was confusing in what I learned. I heard the message of the gospel...I was taught that you are saved by faith, but then I also heard you have to do this and that. I was taught the law. I grew up dressing a certain way, living by this code of conduct set out before me in order to insure God loved and accepted me. For a long time I even questioned if I went to college and study to be a youth pastor in order to earn something from God...like how could God not love me I am in ministry!. My whole life was obsessed with trying to perform well enough and in my twenties I was burnt out and gave up! I quit trying and I quit seeking God. I didn't do anything extreme, I was just tired of trying to be good enough.

In my thirties I began to seek some counseling for some issues and ended up in a Christian Discipleship Counseling program. It was then that I began to understand the grace of God, the concept of His life exchanged for mine, of letting Him live through me...I began to see that nothing I could do was going to change God's love for me, but on some levels I still struggled with the legalistic stuff I grew up with and I couldn't just negate obedience to the Word...which is NOT the message of grace...in time I came to understand that God loves me simply because I am His child, like I love my kids. He loves me no matter what, but just like we have rules and expectations for our children, God has rules and expectation for His. None of these will save us, none of them will change His love for us.

We choose to obey His laws, to serve Him not out of a need to justify ourselves before Him, but out of our love and commitment to Him! Just like we tend to want to bless our children when they are doing all we expect or trying to...God wants to bless us as we seek to honor Him!!

Our salvation is based on what God did by sending His Son to die for us. Our faith in that is all that is required....everything else is just us loving God and wanting to honor Him with our lives.

Romans 28, 31 (Amplified Bible)
For we hold that a man is justified and made upright by faith independent of and distinctly apart from good deeds (works of the Law). [The observance of the Law has nothing to do with justification.]Do we then by [this] faith make the Law of no effect, overthrow it or make it a dead letter? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law.

Created Equal

In the USA we say that all men are created equal...but that is not how we treat people...In the church, sadly, we really don't treat people equal. I have been in churches where race, education, statas, socail class and gender carried the weight. Basicly if you were a white, successful male that had all the nicer things...you were a leader in the church...there was no place for anyone else...this was years ago and I wish I could say that was then, this is now, but there are still many churches that hold to lines of division among people and judge people for being who God created them to be.

I cannot change the fact God created me female and gave me a voice. I can't stop the passion that He has given me to share His message with whowever He opens the door for. I really don't want to debate women leaders in the church. I want to challenge you to look at what you believe about the roles of different people in your church...Could a woman share a message with the body...not be the pastor, share a message, could she be a pastor...would your church be open to someone of a different race, denomination coming in and sharing...what if the guest speaker arrived driving a broken down truck and in torn clothes, would his message be recieved?

Romans 2:11 says "For God shows no partiality." Thank God He treats all of us the same and died for each of us!

Lets try to do the same and treat each other with the respect that we want and love each other as Christ has loved us!

Desire Him

I hear people say that God will give you the desires of your heart or question why God is not giving them what they want, what they think they deserve in life. The verse that they are quoting is Psalm 37:4 (Amplified Bible)Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

Yes it does say that God will give you the desires of your heart, but it also says to Delight yourself in Him! There is a promise here, but also a command. If you delight in Him, He will give you the desires of your heart.

We have three daughters...one of them is rebellious and fights at tooth and nail...we have a hard time giving her things she just wants...we love her, but we feel like all she wants from us is what we can buy her....on the other hand we have another teenage daughter that we would give the world to. She is a plesant, loving, fun child that delights in spending time with us and sharing her life with us. She desires to please us and honor us...see the difference.

I think a lot of the time we approach God like my oldest daughter, demanding what we want and getting mad when He says no! He doesn't want us to just want Him for what He can give us! He wants us to delight in Him! Think about when you fell in love...how much pleasure did you take in making time for that special someone, getting ready for him....you could talk all night and then some, you went out of your way to find ways to spend time with the them...that is what God wants...He wants us to want to be with Him...to desire Him...

When we desire Him, we delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart....granted they may change as we build a relationship with our Father...but He will honor His Word and give us the desires of our hearts as we delight in Him!

Not Ashamed!

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is God's power working unto salvation for everyone who believes with a personal trust and confident surrender and firm reliance, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16 (Amplified Bible)

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! That is a strong statment and I wonder really how many of us can truly say we are not ashamed of the Gospel. Not don't getting offended, lets just talk about it.

In our daily lives, do we share this gospel we claim not to be ashamed of? Is there anything different about our lives that would lead others to believe we are not ashamed of the Gospel. If I could come to your work, your school, you family....how many people would know that you are a Believer in Jesus Christ? Does your life reflect it in the places you go, way you talk, what you listen to, what you watch, what you do? Can people see a difference in you that would either point them to God or lead them to ask you why you are different?

If someone ask you what makes you different from them what would you say? Could you stand there and tell them that you are a Jesus follower and you live your life to honor Him, to bring glory to Him? Could you share the Gospel with them, would you?

I think it is easy for us in America to say we are not ashamed. We can freely go to church, we can say all the right things....but when it comes down to it...do we live a life that reflects....I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Gospel is the power unto salvation...it is by sharing that gospel that we plant seeds and see a harvest of souls for the Kingdom...are you planting seeds...are you seeing a harvest?

Are you ashamed of the gospel? Remember Jesus said many would say Lord, Lord and He would tell them to get away from Him, He knew them not! If we are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us!

Lord Help live a life that draws people to You! Help me walk daily in a manner that makes it clear I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

He Arose!

Today is Ressurection Sunday! On Friday we remembered the death of Jesus. Some of us took time to reflect on what He endured for us on the cross. Today we celebrate the fact that He rose again! He conquered the grave and defeated satan! He is alive!! The Apostle Paul said that if Jesus did not die and rise again we do what we do in vain. It is a waste of our time. The very core of what we believe is His death and Ressurection! He came and died for me and for you. His love was so great for us and the Father desired to be in relationship with us so much that He allowed His Son to die so we could be saved! That is so amazing to me. I love many people, but I don't think there is anyone that I would sacrifice one of my children for.

Jesus came and died that we could have life and an abundant life. Take time to think about how your life has changed since you came to Him. If you really don't see a change, maybe you have simply remained and infant in Christ and not grown into a mature dependent relationship...seek Him and He will reveal Himself to you. He longs to know you and to be known by you.

Celebrate today! Jesus died, He defeated satan and He rose again!! The enemy is defeated! Lets make our praise LOUD!! Let your voice be heard as you lift it up to praise the ONE who give you life, victory and loves you so much that He would have died just for you! Make it loud...be heard today!!

The Colors of Life

The Colors of Life



Years ago I was in treatment and recovery from an eating disorder. During that time someone gave me a key chain that said, "If all you see is black and white, you miss the colors of the rainbow." Back then, all I saw was right and wrong, good and bad. I still believe in the absolutes of right and wrong, black and white. The Bible is very clear about what is right and what is wrong in life. Today, however, I also see the many colors of life and that is what I want to share with you today.



1. Red...love, the Blood of Jesus shed for us, passion, life....

John 3:16 tells us that Jesus died for us because He loves us so much. We use red roses to say I love you. Red indicates passion and fire in a relationship. This is what God longs for in our relationship with Him! Passion for Him and for all that He is passionate about. How often do we start something, full of passion for it, a new diet, a new job, a new relationship or a new ministry, just to feel tired and bored with it in no time...God doesn't want us to serve out of obligation, but out of love and passion for Him. So where do you need to find more red in your life?



2. Green...ever green, never changing, eternal, everlasting, constant.

The promise of John 3:16 is everlasting life! To live eternally with our Father! That doesn't start when we get to heaven, it started the second we accepted the gift God gave us, yet how often do we live like we are dying?? Christians should be the life of the party...we have the real reason to celebrate. We know that our life here is just a spot in time!

Constant, never changing....Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! He is a constant. People say that the only thing you can be certain of is change, but with God you can be certain of His not changing....if He said 2000 years ago, it applies today! He doesn't change His mind based on a whim...we can count on Him to be constant and to stand by what He has said in His Word!! How awesome is that when there seems be so little you can count on??



3. Blue...calmness, water, serenity, the Holy Spirit...

I relaize this is my opinion and I leave it at that, but when I think of the Holy Spirit, I think of water. When I sing about going deeper I think about stepping into a river of the Holy Spirit and letting Him wash over me and permeate every fiber of my being...

In John 16:7 Jesus says He must go away to send us the Counselor (Holy Spirit). In other places the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Teacher, the Helper, the Comfortor. It is the Holy Spirit in us that allows us to commune with God. To enter into that secret place of rest and refreshing. It is the Holy Spirit that prays through us when we don't know how to pray. That prompts us to stop going in one direction and turn aroung. It is the prompting of the Holy Spirit that has me sitting here typing this message...The Holy Spirit is our lamp so to speak and we direct our path as we learn to listen to His voice.



4. Purple...royalty!

Purple was a color of royalty in the Bible. It was reserved for the wealthy, the set apart! But we as believer are heirs to the Kingdom of God! He has chosen us to be called His children and that makes us royalty! We are His princes and princesses. Ephesians 1:5-6 tells us that He chose us before the foundations of time and predestined us to be adopted as His children through Jesus!

My now 14 year old said when she was little and her dad was removed from her life, that is was okay. Her real Father was the King of Kings...she was His daughter and that meant she was a princess! What an awesome way to go through life...not dreaming of being royalty, but accepting that is who you are!



5. Orange...excitment, joy and energy!

To me orange is a color of energy and excitement. Psalms 149:3 says let them praise His Name with dancing. We are told to count it all joy! Trust me, I know that life can be hard and there are times when it seem there is nothing to be joyous about, but then we have to remember who we are and Who we belong to! We have ever reason to find joy in life... I think if we ever got grasp of the love God has for us, our source of joy would be different, the worship we offer would be different....we stand in churches quiet and reserved, which is a form of reverance and worship, but I think when we get God love for us, our worhsip would be come so much more intense, we would dance out of joy and excitement at what God has done and will do in our lives.



6. Brown...regeneration...

Now before you say huh?? In the winter, most everything turns brown, but it is not dead, it is being renewed. There are times in our lives when we feel dead, but most often those are times of renewal. God is working in the quietness of the time and we are being regenerated. When spring comes everything blossoms to life and when we let God work in our brown times, we too will blossom again. 2 Cor. 5:17 says that we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. I do believe that is talking about the old sinful man being gone and a new creation alive in God, but I also think we go through times of growth where the old is taken and the new comes as God prepares us for what is to come in our lives at a given time.



God has created a wonderful array of colors for us to see and enjoy. Take the time to see the colors of life and look at how they fit into your life.

The Power is In Us!

I don't want to sound basic or too far out there in my teaching. Understand I read the Bible and I am simply sharing what I feel God is revealing to me from what I read and/or listen to...

How often have we prayed for God to do something, and then said that didn't get any higher than the ceiling or beleived that God didn't act on our behalf? I know I have many times. The reality is that prayers don't have to go anywhere, God is IN us in Christ Jesus! and many times we don't see God move because we are asking Him to do what He has already done for us and we have just to recieve it, or we are asking Him to do that which He commanded us to do!!

It seems like we walk around like weak, defeated Christians, singing our songs about how we love Him, or come Lord come, or Through Him the blind will see, through Him the dead will rise...but we don't practice that!! We send the sick to the doctor, the dead to the funeral home! When was the last time you saw a pastor pray for the dead to rise? For some of us even prayers for healing are rare! It shouldn't be this way!

Ephesians 1:17-20 is talking about Pauls prayer for people to have wisdom and revelation, to understand the hope of our calling, the inheritance of the saints(us) and then he says "...so that you can know and understand what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surapassing greatness of His power IN and For us who believe as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead...." (vs 18-19).

These vereses do not say that we can understand the power He has, or the power He works with...it says the power in us and for us! Where is Christ...as beleivers He is In us! If Christ is in us, then His power is In us! Jesus did not command His followers (us) to go out and pray for Him to cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, make disciples...through out the Gospels we are told to go make disciples, heal the sick, raise the dead, speak in unknown languages.....the command is for US to Go and make, go and heal, go and raise the dead....not go and pray for God to move....why... the power to do this is IN us!! We can move and flow in the power in us when we move in faith...it is Christ in us at work!

Apart from Christ we can do nothing, but He lives in us so we are never apart from Him and all of His power flows through us!

John 15:5-6
Matt. 10:1,8
Luke 9:1
Acts 3:1-8.

Rightousness Really?

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new. All things are of God. who hath reconciled us to Himself thought Jesus Christ, and hath given us to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ stead, be reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the rightesousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (KJV)

Wow there is a lot in these verses! I really want to focus on a couple of things that I see. We get so hung up on who we were and what we have done in the past. Many times even as we come to Christ, we feel that we can't be of much use because we have things in our past that man would hold against us, but God says we are a new creature, the old man is gone! The literal Greek says we are new species of being that never exsisted before! The old us died and we were born new!! That means our history, our past is gone in God's eyes...we are brand new! Our spirit is reborn, but we must renew our mind to the Word of God to control our physical bodies.

Then the one that I really want to look at is "that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" As believers in Jesus Christ, we are the righteousness of God Himself! That is huge, but often confusing for us. I don't feel very righteous often...

Righteousness is not a 'goody-goody' way of acting or something to be attained. It is a free gift from God, provided by Jesus' completeed work of the cross. By grace we are declared righteous. Traditionally, we confuse righteousness with holiness. Righteousness is not about how you act, it is what you are--the nature of God. Righteousness literally translated means "in right standing". We have been put in right standing with God through Jesus Christ and that does not change because of our actions...it is a completed work of grace that we receive when we accept Christ. We are in right standing with God.

Holiness is about our conduct. what we do, we are commanded to live a holy life..set apart for Christ!

So yes really we are righteous in the eyes of God!
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Rivers In The Desert

"Do not remember the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth: do you not percieve and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

So often it seems that we are in a dry place. The town I live in was once called Dry Pond! Spiritually it is a dry pond! At one time there was an Awakening just down the road from me. It is marked with a historical campground that celebrates what was every year...I wander how often we are content to remember what was, comfortable to sit where we are and miss what God wants to do in the now? I don't want to be comfortable and content! I long to be restless and hungry for more and more of what God has! I don't want to remember what was, I want to experience what God has for us today! More of Him, More of His glory in my life, in my churches, in my city...that is the cry of my heart! More of You Lord, more of YOU!!

A Dangerous Prayer

by Trisha Baxter on Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 3:50pm. I came across this sometime ago in a book I read. I used to pray it often and need to pray it again. I challenge you to pray it as well. God will hear and answer our prayers. Are you ready to pray a dangerous prayer in faith that God will respond? Pray it often, declaring with your whole heart and expect God to move!



A Dangerous Prayer (By Jill Austin)



God tenderize my heart again so that I desire to return to You as my first love. Wherever my heart has drifted or got lukewarm, return me back to you God. I give you permission to do whatever it takes to make me wholly Yours! Set my heart on fire for You! Send a holy ambush of Your Spirit in my life to usher me out of the ruts that have hindered me from being a dreamer, a lover and a warrior.



Please forgive me for ( name anything in your life you need forgiveness for, being specific as you can be and take as long as you need). Thank you for Your total forgiveness of my sins. That is a precious gift to me.



How I ache to know You more, draw me close and speak tenederly to my heart. I want to develop a secret history with You, Lord. Captivate my heart with the gaze of Your eyes. I want to see You face to face, not through the lattice. Put Your seal on my heart so I am fully Yours.



Now Lord I ask your release the fiery whirlwind of Your presence with fresh impartation of Your heart into my heart. I ask you to revolutionize my life from the inside out. Let an earthquake in my heart, shake up the fallow ground. Let the lighting of God strike me so I become God-conscious instead of self-conscious.



Jesus I am ready to give up control of my life and put You in charge again. Forgive me for thinking that I know what is best for my life. It is hard for me to let go, the warfare has been so intense and the storms of klife so great. But I can see that my way is not working. I am heartsick about my life. I want to run to You and not from You. Give me grace an humily to accept Your timing in my life.



Burn in me a holy desperation and craving for You. I need a profound touch from You, a fresh baptism of fire from the Holy Spirit. I want a force field of Your glory surrounding me so I am dangerous for You God. Will You radiate Your love and power through my life so I can do exploits for Your glory as Your promised?



I am a carrier of Your glory and go outside the walls of the church, touching people in every arena of life. Lord I know the times and seasons we live in.



Let me see people through Your eyes and not my own; help me feel Your heart for those around me. Break my heart for the lost. Help revival to burn so deep in my spirit that others can't help but be changed by being around me.



I do not want buisness as usual, Jesus! I want a readical visitation from You. I want an open heaven over my life. Will You help me legislate Your mandates from heaven, to bring them to earth so I see things from your perspective and not my own? I am asking You for divine strategies so Your kingdom with come.



Open my eyes that I can see what is happening in the realm of the spirit. How I need keen discernement for the days I live in. I want to get Your plans, Your blueprints, so I do not build on the 'land mines' the enemy has planned for me.



I want my heart to bless Your heart and give You the love that You deserve. Awaken my heart to worship You. I want to be one who desire You only.



Lord, I want to give You my life no matter what the cost. Even as You died for me, help me be willing to die for You. You are worth everything I have. All that I am--my past, present and future--is at the foot of the cross. Take all of me.



Help me to be a dreamer with You, dreamer God.

Help me to be an extravagant lover of You, my Bridegroom.

Help me be a fierce warrior for You my King!



A-men!!