Boxes!

I'm in a place spiritually where I hate boxes or at least the kind of boxes that most people use! What are boxes used for? Boxes are used to package something nice and neat and present with something inside, they are used to store things, they are used to display...etc.
Our spiritual gifts are not to be displayed, stored in boxes nor do they have to be nice and neatly packaged.
Sometimes we or others try and box these amazing gifts that the Lord has given each of us...sometimes these gifts are to be used for a lifetime or a season or a moment. Sometimes we see one gifting and place it in a box and allow no room for others. Sometimes we use our gifts in a way that it is controlling...I mean if we see someone else growing in the gifts...let them be an active participant. Let us not become so arrogant to think God can't use the baby to heal or move in miracles. Sometimes God calls us to a season of equipping and teaching others how to even walk in that power. I have been thinking about why we do this. Why do we box gifts? Why do we exercise all control? Why do we not allow more room?
Lord, help us to keep our eyes on you, focused vertical, delighting in you. I ask Lord in the name of Jesus that you do whatever it takes to strip us of pride, control, an I know better attitude, jealousy, envy and I ask that you release a fresh dose of your love as we operate in your gifts, as we serve others and to receive a deeper revelation of you...not for my Glory, but all for You!

How can Blood make us white as snow?

Today in my devotions I was reflecting on Mark 15:38...
"The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."
I began to go deep into the blood of the Lamb and was rejoicing in what we have through the blood. In the Old Testament the only one who could go into the Holy of Holies once a year was the high priest...only once a year, but when Jesus died on the cross it reconciled us to the Father...there no longer needed to be a curtain...we have ALL been given full access. We no longer needed a sacrifice to atone for our sins...Jesus was that perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish. He was the sacrifice for our past, present and future sins. Through His death we have forgiveness and cleansing...we are made NEW! Man, when I think about how He has forgiven me...how can I not forgive others, how can I hold offenses towards other. What if God did that to me? Through His death we have wholeness and healing. The Bible says in Isaiah 53:5, "But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
Thank you God for sending your Son Jesus to die on a cross for me, because you loved me THAT much. Thank you Lord for what I have received through your blood...the blood of Jesus!

Birthday Reflections

Well today is my 37th birthday and so far received birthday loving from all my favorite people...so its a good day! :) I received a phone call from the most amazing man in the world!!!I got kisses from my little ones, email cards, call from my mom and complete retelling of my birth story...I love hearing my mom share this on an annual basis, phone call from by best friend, visit from my dad, singing trio of VFCCers and lunch with two of my favorite little people...It's a GREAT day! God blessed me with another second, minute, hour, day, week and year. He blessed me with this life...a life I can openly live for Him.
Thank You Lord for the blessings you have poured down on me, thank you for another year to worship you, love you, follow you and serve you. Father God continue to do that work in me that you have begun, so that one day it would be found complete...all for your glory!

A Good Medicine: The love of the Father

I woke up this morning and had some great one on one time with my Father. I talked He listened, He talked I listened and somewhere in the process of that I had an experience. I will try and describe exactly what I felt. I believe what I felt was the love of the Fathers heart for his children...the ones who are far off, the ones whose hearts are broken, the ones who are being held captive. As these feelings flooded me I began to weep and sing...Oh How He Loves You...and that was my cry this morning that all those who are far off, broken, hurting and bound would know and feel the love of their Father. The love of the Father is so grand we really can not truly comprehend...we try, but we really only see in part...and yet, He is still revealing and places handfuls of gems in our pockets as we seek to know Him more! Ahhhhh I ask that today you place yourself in a position to receive from your Father. Stand with your arms outstretched and heads lifted high in expectation and anticipation...He is a good and gracious Father who loves us!

What's the Worth of your Wait?

America is a wonderful country to live in! We have so many luxuries and wonderful opportunities afforded to us...we can chase dreams...we have freedoms...our nation crys equality...She is the land of the free and the home of the brave!
I have noticed though that in a land so accustomed to pursuing the AMERICAN dream, a land where we say things like I can earn it and I deserve it, we tend to miss the beauty in the wait. I say beauty, because something special happens in this place. I have to confess I TOTALLY dislike waiting! I will avoid that line at the amusement park that is the longest, I will put back my bread and milk at the grocery store instead of waiting in that long line, just because we are about to get blasted by a NOR'easter, I will hang up the phone if I am put on hold and Black Friday shopping...Geez...I do this every year and this is such a stretch for me...cause I dislike waiting in lines. However, there have been AMAZING things I have waited for...like the 9 months I waited for each of my children to be born...SO worth that wait! I think thats the key...What is the worth of what we are waiting for? The old saying, "Some things are just worth waiting for," is so true! So, whatever God has you waiting for...try and enjoy THIS place...the place of wait...for there is something absolutely beautiful about to be birthed...for all things that have been conceived will be birthed! Conception to birth is a process...a wait...Lord,I will delight in you during the wait.

Something happens in the place of delight!

What happens when we are looking vertical and our eyes are fixed on the King...when we are in that place of delighting, as if there is no one else there...just you and Him? The place of true intimacy, the place where lovers eyes lock...DELIGHT...the place where oneness is felt stronger than any other place. You see nothing else matters!!! Nothing at all except the passion between the two...the entwining of two who become one. When this happens...when two become one...all parts are entwined and our hearts become like His, our minds become like His, our souls become like His. This is the transforming that our Father in heaven talks about in His Word.
The Greek Word for desires is mish 'alah and it means prayers or petitiions.
You see when we are so entwined with Him and we are experiencing that beautiful oneness our very own "prayers and petitions" line up with Him, His will and for His Kingdom. Ultimately I believe when we are experiencing that real, true intimacy our desires are simple. I believe they are to know God, love God and serve God.
Lord, let us not become so concerned with the desires that we neglect in delighting in you. Help us Lord just simply delight in your GREATness!

What's in a word like *Delight*?

Recently on my fast the Lord had me do something different. He had me meditate on a single scripture, usually I meditate on a passage. The single scripture was Psalm 37:4.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. So often we focus on that last part...We want the desires of our heart...we have a gimme gimme attitude! The word Delight in Hebrew is 'anag and it means to be happy about, take exquisite delight in...While meditating I heard the Lord say what does it look like to delight in me? We delight in the Lord through praise and times of thanksgiving, when we reflect on His goodness, faithfulness, patience, gentleness, love, mercy, grace...etc...When we reflect on just who He is, not just what He has done for us or in our lives. When we can stand back and say I will praise you during good times and praise you in the storm. Let's DELIGHT in Him more! Let's be full of expression and excitement!
You see, when we are in a place of delighting in Him, our eyes turn vertical and not horizontal. Our current situations...we do not see like we used to, because when we are focused upward even our peripheral vision changes. I had this image in my mind. It was a famous photograph in history of a father coming back from Vietnam and his children were running toward him. When you look at the picture there is nothing that daughter wants more than to be in the arms of her father. She IS delighting in him!