Footsteps In The Valley

A Year Of New Beginnings

2008-01-16T11:55:00.000-05:00

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful and blessed New Year full of new beginnings. It is great to finally get back to my blog and to begin posting again. With my schedule right now I am going to start posting weekly unless God has other plans.

God has been doing a lot of renovation in my life since I took a break from my blog back in April. The biggest change was my move with my daughter from South Carolina to the land of the mountains. I now live in beautiful Colorado where I get to see a glorious view of the mountains every day. It is a land and a time of new beginnings for both us. A new home, new jobs, new directions, new goals, a new church, new friends etc. I must admit there were many tough pills to swallow along the way. God's prescriptions for my faith and my walk with Him have meant some tough love as I walked through my valley, but it has made me a stronger person of faith and a better person all the way around. Oh, Satan put obstacles in my path trying to discourage me. There were times when I felt his blisters on my life too. I am sure that he hoped the pain would pull me away from, the "valley" that I was dealing with. However, even at my lowest God showed me that He was (and is) always there with me. He is just a prayer away giving me strength through faith to deal with whatever I needed to face. I can now look back over the last few years amazed to see how far through the valley I really traveled. My legs of faith were once so weak with fear that they would buckle whenever things got a little rough. Now I take strides stronger each day as I look forward to a year of new beginnings. Once it was hard for me to share my faith and writing with others. Now I know that the courage comes not from me but from our loving God and Savior. Even more amazing is how it has all threaded together. The pastor at the new church my daughter and I have been attending spoke of 2008 as a year of new beginnings. He spoke about the meaning of the number 8 in the Bible. It is a number that symbolizes: A new beginning, and a new day. It made me start to wonder if there were other things to learn by looking at the meaning of numbers. What I found out was amazing to me. My first footsteps in the journey God has had me on, began in 2005. I’ve been born again for over 20 years, I read my Bible, and went to church but at the time my faith had grown stale and dormant due to the painful fear and distractions that I was dealing with. It was a real low in my life. It was when I was facing a terrible divorce and when I realized how the trials of life had made me more and more distant in my faith.

We have a wonderful loving God that wants a close relationship with us. I realized how true that was when I turned to Him for comfort, strength, and direction. As soon as I fully surrendered to Him things started to happen. Several people that were close to me declared for me in their prayers, "2005- Glo's Year To Be Alive.” The other night I looked up the meaning for the number 5 in the Bible and found out that it is the number that symbolizes God's grace and overcoming obstacles in life. 2005 was truly the year that God's grace brought my faith back to life. It was my year to come alive for my faith. Since 2005, I have made up a new saying for each New Year. When I looked up the meaning for those other numbers surprisingly it all fit together."2006- Working On What God Wants To Fix.” 6 is the number that symbolizes incompleteness. God knew where I was and where He wanted me to be. The problem was that there were several incomplete areas in my life that were holding me down, holding me back, and things I needed to change. The more I turned to God the more God worked in my life to heal me, build me up, protect me, and direct me."2007- Nothing Is Impossible With Prayers Sent To Heaven.” 2007 was a year when so many things looked impossible. Yet God made things happen to open my eyes, open my mind, my heart, and even open up the doors necessary for me to continue my journey. 7 is the number that symbolizes completeness. I know God’s loving wish is for me to be complete through Him. The potter molds the clay to create a vessel suiting His purpose. The gifts that God has so graciously given us are there to serve and glorify Him. They are there so we may use them to better honor His will for our lives. If we our honoring His will for our lives then nothing is impossible!

I’ve now decided on my saying for 2008…

“2008- Are You Making God Wait?” 2008 is a year of new beginnings only if you hear His call and act on what He is calling you to do. Set your goals of faith for 2008 and then act on them. Don’t procrastinate waiting around of something to happen. God will continue to bring us back to the valleys in our lives until we are willing to deal with what He is calling us to face and change. He does this not to be mean and cruel. God does this because He loves us. You would not attempt to climb a mountain without the right training and conditioning. Our faith is the same. As God moves us higher and higher in our faith, from one mountain to another, we at times must pass through “valleys”. These valleys can be tough and discouraging if we don’t look up to focus on the mountain ahead. The valleys are there to train us, condition us, and sometimes just for a time of rest. God is preparing us for our next climb in faith. He calls us to use our gifts to reach out to others and bring them closer to Him. He calls us to use our gifts to honor and glorify Him. Are you ready to climb your mountain or are you stuck in a valley?

As I write my goals for 2008 I must ask myself, “Did I complete what God has already asked me to do?” We must have the courage to be obedient to His will even when we don’t understand the direction God is taking us. He will never lead us astray. He will always lead us closer to Him. We must spiritually prepare ourselves so that when God has a call for us we are ready. Do you have the passion in your faith to say as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:8, “Here am I; send me.”

FaithfulToOne©2008

A New Year’s Call

Crystal icicles shimmer
In a new pure light,
God’s majestic mountains
Now all robed in white,

New beginnings come
To greet me today,
Faith ready to receive
What He has to say,

Prayers said quietly
Seeking a New Years plan,
I know God’s is greater
Than any by man,

Willing to honor
My Savior’s direction,
Praising the blessings
As well as correction,

Reading scriptures and
Singing praises in church,
His words in fellowship
There guiding my search,

Devotional goals
Dedicate new vision,
Hands held high awaiting
His holy decision,

Lord light the path
You wish me to walk,
Guard my thoughts closely
And my words when I talk,

Give me strength to swing
Your battle sword,
Proclaiming to all
You’re our risen Lord,

My most precious Savior
Your will is my way,
Wherever You lead
I wish never to stray,

Intense passion comes
When we finally see,
Lord here I am
Oh please send me.

FaithfulToOne©2008

Isaiah 6:8
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me!”

Find the prayer for this post at http://www.morefootstepsinthevalley.blogspot.com/
If you have prayer concerns you can also use the link above to post them in the guest book at this site.To subscribe to this blog and have the posts emailed to you, look on this blog page where it says Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz and enter your email address.

Slip Sliding Away

2007-04-21T15:40:00.000-05:00

Today I heard an old song by Simon And Garfunkel, titled Slip Sliding Away. The last verse of the song and the chorus really stood out as I listened,

Whoah God only knows, God makes his plan,
The information's unavailable to the mortal man
We're workin' our jobs, collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway, when in fact we're slip sliding away

Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away

How many days are we just gliding through our lives. We just basically go through the motions without any real compassion or mission to our lives except for wanting to make it through the day or the week. Are you on fire for your faith or just going through the motions. If you are just going through the motions then you are slip sliding away in your faithful walk with God. We can't please God by just gliding and going through the motions. We can only please and honor God when we are actively pursuing God's will and plan for our lives. We must be on fire with our faith, actively using the gifts God gives each of us to use in order to Glorify Him and to bring others to Him.

I got a wonderful complement yesterday. It was a beautiful day outside and so I decided to take my dogs for a walk to the park and back. Now normally walking three dogs might be a trial, but mine are trained well to heal so it is a joy. When we got to the park there was a church picnic going on. As I walked up to a bench to rest for a minute before our return trip children approached. I told them that the dogs were friendly and that they could pet them. A couple parents followed behind to see the dogs too. I started to talk to one of the moms and after a few minutes she asked, "Are you a Christian?" When I told her that I was she said something so sweet to my ears. She said, "I knew it before I even asked you. There are some people when you meet them, that you just know they have to be a Christian." Wow what a wonderful complement. It is my faith's goal to live my life so that all will know me by my faith. How clearly does your faith show to others? Do you strive to live your life so that all will know you by your faith?

It is not enough to say that we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. It is not enough that we read our Bible or go to church. God does not want us living our lives just gliding along. When we are not on fire for our faith, active in our faith, and living our lives to glorify God it is easy to fall between the cracks, giving in slowly but surely to the temptations of the world until we just start slip sliding away. Me must stay strong to when we go through the valleys in our lives. It is easy to start sliding in our faith as we grow weary of the tough times in our lives. Turn your burdens over to God and get a good grip as you are climbing. Yes the more we grow in faith the more there will be sin and temptations there in our path making that time slippery to climb. We can trust in God though to be there for us with a helping hand reaching out to help us through the rough times. How could you use your gifts to actively pursue God's plan for your life today?

FaithfulToOne©2007

Keep My Faith On Fire

Dear Lord guard my heart and mind
from temptations that would make me slide
Keep my eyes constant on the narrow path
So that You will always be my guide

Though trials make life a bumpy road
And things of the world tempt me to slide
I know Your gracious love never leaves me
It's with trust and faith in You my soul abides

Precious Lord set my weary faith on fire
Give me strength to keep the coals aglow
Let me use the gifts You've given me
So that today new seeds of faith I'll sow

FaithfulToOne©2007

Find the prayer for this post at http://www.morefootstepsinthevalley.blogspot.com/ If you have prayer concerns you can also use the link above to post them in the guest book at this site.

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Finding Solutions To Our Sins

2007-04-21T11:16:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me how foolish people can be. Oh, I count myself included. I woke up this morning with a headache. After I took a couple of allergy pills, let the dogs out, grabbed a little breakfast, and had my morning cup of coffee I sat to ponder my day. How I wished I could be like the character in the TV show Bewitched today. Then it would not matter if I had a headache, I could just wiggle my nose and I would take care of everything. I could wiggle my nose and my laundry would be done, my house would be clean, bills would be paid etc. How great that would be right? Well I tried it and it didn't work, not that I really expected it to. Yet, we all would like to find the quick fix and the easy answers to our problems wouldn't we? The problem with the quick answer is that usually the underlying problems would still be there and just get worse. If we don't take care of the problems and just look for quick solutions to the effects we are still left with the problems and they will just surface again and again. What it all comes down to is us making the hard choice to discipline ourselves if we want to solve them. The longer we live with the problems and in sin, the longer and harder it is to brake bad habits and achieve solutions to our problems.

If we are going to successfully deal with any problem we must first stop avoiding it or trying to find the simple painless solutions to solving it. A good example of this is the very GROWING problem America is having with being overweight and under fit. Again, I have to count myself included. Now for some of us there can be medical problems that are part of the root problem. This is true in my case. After I had my second child I had to have a hysterectomy. Since that time I have battled weight problems due to hormone problems. Saying that I will also tell you that I have not always done a good job at attacking the problem and staying in control of it. Things go well for awhile and then I get busy and backslide until I again have no choice but to face the problem. By current statistics I know that I am not alone. Now, I am not saying we all should look like the body builders or the twig looking models. Weight control should be looked at as health maintenance. What I am saying is that we would have far less medical problems if we would tackle our obese problems head on. We would not have them at all if we would tackle the problem while it is still a small problem. What is even sadder is to see the statistics of our youth that are facing major health problems because of early obesity.

Do we face our weight problems and tackle them head on smartly? Well some do but most aren't. We ignore the problem, look for miracle cures in a bottle of pills, try the latest diet fad, make short lived resolutions to change, talk a lot about it, and in some cases wait until the problem is so bad that we are willing to risk our lives to find a cure.

Still Gluttony is a sin that Christians often seem to try to ignore. We find it very common to hear sermons or messages given on the evils of smoking and drinking as sins, but gluttony seems to be one of those sins that offends people to talk about it, so few like to preach on it. It becomes one of our "tolerated" sins. The Bible makes it very clear however what God thinks of gluttony. Proverbs 23:20-21 warns us, "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags." It also speaks of gluttony in Proverbs 28:7 when is says, "He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father." Proverbs 23:2 tells us, "put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony."

Gluttony is a sin just like any other sin and God hates sin. When it all comes down to basics, all sin revolves around the root problem of our ability to control ourselves and not give in to temptations. If we are unable to control our habits of what we eat, we are letting our eating control us. If we are not showing self-control here we are also probably allowing lack of control into other areas of our lives too. Just like those pounds that can creep up on us so easily if we do not have a good plan of defense against them, other sins in our lives can do the same thing too.

God is a gracious and loving God who blesses us by providing for us the things that we NEED on this earth. We need to honor God by not letting the sins of greed, temptation, and lack of self-control get the better of us. 2 Peter 1:3-9 tells us, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

How do we honor God by not letting the sins of greed, temptation, and lack of self-control get the better of us? The answer to tackling any problem must first start with God. A good way to start would be facing your sin head on as Psalm 51:1-4 says, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge." It is though the strength God can give us by our faith and trust in Him that we can tackle our sins and develop the strength of self-control to resist the temptations that would have us backslide. It is not really self-control as much as it is faith-control. The more we turn control of our lives over to God the stronger our faith-control becomes.

We don't need to look for miracle cures or quick fixes. Our cure is through faith in God alone. We need to make sure that with any plan we are making to handle a problem we are having in our lives, that we include God in our solution if we want to guarantee success. Remember just as it is easy to let our weight slide on the scale without being active and proactive in controlling it with the proper ways of eating and good old fashioned exercise, it is also just as easy to let our faith slide if we to not take active and proactive steps to include it in our lives too. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Strive to honor God mentally, physically, emotionally, and faithfully in all you say and do. It is through faith-control that we grow closer to God.

Find the prayer for this post at http://www.morefootstepsinthevalley.blogspot.com/
If you have prayer concerns you can also use the link above to post them in the guest book at this site.

To subscribe to this blog and have the posts emailed to you, look on this blog page where it says Email Subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz and enter your email address.

FaithfulToOne©2007

Solutions

I keep looking for solutions
I know the quick fix I'll never find
It is only through faith-control
I'll find my peace of mind

Some days it's one step forward
Other days it's two steps back
Forgive me when I backslide
And the faith that I still lack

When temptations overwhelm me
And in strength I grow weak
Lord let me feel your presence
It's courage though You that I seek

God I seek your guidance for my sin
For answers I'll search Heaven above
I know my solution will be found
Surrounded in God's gracious love

FaithfulToOne©2007

What Are You Afraid Of?

2007-04-18T22:23:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how God can show us things so clearly when we least expect it. This last couple of weeks has been amazing to me. Fears first and then computer problems have done there best to keep me off line on this blog, but I am up and running again. A smarter and more blessed person for the ordeals I have been through and for the miracles God has blessed me with.

The first trial I had came with tax time. As tax time kept creeping up my world got more and more stressed. Although I did keep up with my devotionals my writing seemed to hit a block. Last week was a very tough week for me. Even with doing my devotional time, I had something that seems stupid to tell someone about that had to be dealt with. Fear!!! Do you have an uncontrollable fear that you have to deal with? I get so stressed out with this fear that I even went to websites to see if it is a real phobia that other people have to deal with too. Well, I went to the following web site, to find a list of phobias from A to Z http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/phobia-list-2.html . Oh my gosh, I could not believe the amount of phobias that there are and also some of the really weird things people have phobias about. Here I am thinking other people are weird.

I could not believe after I read the whole list of weird and strange phobias that mine was not on the list. What is my phobia you might ask? I have a real phobia of taxes and the IRS. OK, laugh if you like but I really get stressed out every year. I don't lie on my taxes or do anything illegal that under those circumstances might give me a real reason to fear these things. I also realized that it was so stupid to get so stressed out every year like I did, but every year it happens all over again. You should of seen the year they decided to audit me for no apparent reason. Boy was I a real basket case then.

Now, I realized that the first step to conquer this fear was going to have to start with God. Fear can be one of Satan's most powerful weapons when we allow him to cripple us with it. That was what Satan did to me. I was so stressed out that it effected my sleep, eating, writing, etc. Fear if left unchecked can limit us, cripple us, and even destroy our lives. At least my fear only happens once a year. What if you had one of these phobias: "Amaxophobia" - Fear of riding in a car., "Agoraphobia"- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place. Fear of crowds., "Ablutophobia"- Fear of washing or bathing., "Agyrophobia"- Fear of streets or crossing the street, etc. These are just a few of the phobias that start with the letter A. How would your life change with one of these phobias?

Well, I finally got my tax stuff put all together. I took it with my daughter's tax stuff to get it taken care of. Little did I know how God was at work. My first miracle and blessing that happened during this whole ordeal was that through a turn of events due to my work, and God working behind the scenes I ended up getting my taxes and my daughter's taxes done free of charge just a few days before they were due. I knew God had His hands on what was going on.

Now, I did not get a big unexpected refund. In fact after all was figured out, I did have to pay. I had thought I was going to get to use my daughter as a deduction for one more year, but that was not the case. She did get a very nice refund for all her hard work though. The second blessing came when I called my daughter to tell her the news. The first words out of her mouth after I told her how things had worked out were, "Can you pay yours Mom? You can use my money if you need to." I was so touched. You see during my very tough divorce my ex-husband's goal was to run me into the ground financially. He left leaving me with all the bills. It has been a tough time working on my financial recovery. However, when I have been truly in need God has always been there, just like He was this time to help me out. When I told someone about this later and they talked to my daughter she replied, "My mom has always been there for me and I will always be there for her." My daughter's love means more to me than any riches I could ever have. I had to stop and think if my daughter loves me this much how much more does God love me? Why was I ever so afraid of something so little compared to the big picture of my life? God showed me that He was there for me and would always be there for me. Little did I know how much he would show me this again just a few days later.

I was also plagued with some computer problems during this time, but this did not get me down. Although I could not post for several days I still got back to writing again. I was so thankful that God again answered my prayers. When ever I am dealing with trials I pray for God's help. Now I know we would all like God to remove the trials we go through, but sometimes there is a greater purpose we just don't understand. I have learned that I find comfort when I add to my prayers, that if God can't remove the trials from my life that He at least will show me in some way that His hands are on the situation and that He is in control. There was no doubt that God's hands were dealing with my tax time fears. But God went one step further too.

Earlier this week I had to drop off some art work across town before going to school. As I finished dropping off the work and headed off to school for my day of teaching I started getting some really strange feelings. As I continued to drive my thoughts turned to prayer for the day. I like to pray before starting my day teaching. It puts me in a good frame of mind to start my day. It was a very windy day that day but it was also sunny and clear. I was almost to school when I got behind a large vehicle like a suburban (I'm not much for identifying vehicles). On top of the vehicle there were two thick particle board panels (4 x 8 feet) tied down to the roof. After I prayed I still felt uneasy feelings, but could find no reason for them. A moment later I would understand.

With no notice, a very large gust of wind came up and caught the front end of the particle board panels snapping both of them in two. With no time or no way to avoid it I now had four thick large pieces of particle board blowing straight for my windshield edge ends first. People would tease me later, telling me that it sounded like the movie scene in, "Final Destination". All I could see was that these four boards were coming straight for me and I could do nothing. I could not pull to the right, because there was no shoulder just a deep gully. To do this would mean I would surely flip my car. I could not pull to the left because there was another car coming the other way and that would only mean a head on collision. There was only one option and that was to turn it over to God and to put my faith and trust in Him. Yes it was scary but the moment I turned it over to Him I got such a peace in my heart. It was amazing and so is what happened next.

I could still just watch as time seemed to slow down and the four panels edge first kept coming closer to barreling straight into my windshield. Then right at the very last moment before they hit, another strong gust of wind came. Three of the panels blew up and over the roof of my car and the last one that was trailing a bit behind the others blew down and hit the street. Only part of the last board bounced off the street doing only minor damage to my car. I was not hurt at all and my car only got a few scraps and scratches to be repaired. I could not believe my eyes and neither could the man that was driving the vehicle that the boards were tied to. All I could think was how much God's hands were there to touch every minute of our lives, even when we least expect it. I thought, "What do I have to fear when I am in God's hands?"

The more I have thought about the experiences that I have gone through lately the more I know that God was teaching me that with Him I have nothing to fear. Satan would love to have us all crippled with fear. When Satan does this He can keep us from serving God's will in a way that honors God's will and glorifies His name. Tax fears could not stop me, computer problems could not stop me, and nothing else will stop me either when God is with me.

The only thing that can limit me is my faith and trust in God. God has shown me again that there are no limits to His love for me. If you have fears turn them over to God. He is there to make your fears meaningless and to give your faith true meaning with His love and guidance. I praise you and thank you God for showing me that you are always there.

Find the prayer for this post at http://www.morefootstepsinthevalley.blogspot.com

FaithfulToOne©2007

No Cause For Fear

I count my blessings many
The times I fear grow few
The faith and trust I find
Helps my spirit to renew

The times that I get weary
The days when I am weak
I find a quiet time to pray
God's strength is what I seek

He's there when I don't see Him
My God hears me when I call
With loving grace and forgiveness
He picks me up each time I fall

I look for comfort in His word
My time for trials I'll not bemoan
The plans I follow are in His hands
The final answers are God's alone

With you my God I find my strength
With you there is no cause for fear
Safe within your loving hands
Showing me your always near.

FaithfulToOne©2007

A Season, A Reason, Or A Lifetime

2007-04-08T17:42:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a person come into your life that you just knew God had a hand in it? Well for me I can say it has happened several times. Today I was checking up on one of these people. His name is Brad McGill. Now Brad didn't live near me, we didn't go to the same church, and we didn't have mutual friends that introduced us. What we both had was faith and a call to write.

I met Brad on a website that both of us were blogging on. I read his blog occasionally and commented and he did the same with mine. Then one day I was reading comments to a post I made and felt the Holy Spirit at work. Brad had left a comment. In his comment he had challenged me to do more with my writing. Little did either of us know at the time that this one seed would be the one spark that would set off a fire works display for faith that neither one of us could ever imagine.

It all happened so fast that when I think back it almost makes my head spin. Brad and I started emailing each other and getting to know each other. We then progressed to phone calls. We don't live close, but that has never been a barrier to God's work getting done. Brad lives in Minnesota and I live in South Carolina, yet the more we talked the more we felt like there was a definite "Extension Cord" between us. It was not an Internet romance, in fact we both made it clear from the start that we both felt God was at work in our lives full time and that a relationship at this time would be an interference to whatever God needed to accomplish. At first we had no idea why God brought us together except for faithful friendship and support. We both knew in our hearts that something was up and God was at work. We both prayed on it and turned it over to God.

When Brad found out that the site we blogged at http://www.bigchurch.com/ which is suppose to be a Christian dating and friendship site, is own by a company that has other sites that promote pornography and many other sinful things, I knew I could not stay on the sight. I still wanted to blog and felt that God wanted me to continue blogging too. Brad and I talked about this and a flame was ignited inside me. God had me on a mission. For the next two weeks I was on the Internet checking out blogs and blog sites. I have a Masters in Technology in Education so I was the best one for this mission. Brad will probably laugh when I say that he is technology challenged. I was looking for something that would allow both of us to be able to set up new blogs so we could continue with our writing as we felt called to do.

Wow! Praise the Lord! These are both understatements to what happened over those two weeks. I feel so blessed that God brought Brad into my life. It is because of his faithfulness that God was able to us him to inspire me with my writing and encourage me to take the next step. Little did I know at the time, that it was my faithfulness that God was using me to answer a prayer Brad had prayed months before he ever met me. It seemed that as I set up my blog whenever I needed something God directed me to it. As Brad and I communicated about what would be great to have on a devotional blog, God would help me find it. It was not about either of us as we were sharing our thoughts, it was all about being obedient to what we knew God was directing us to.

Well once I got my blog set up, started posting on it, and worked all the bugs out, I knew it was time to help Brad set his blog up. I will tell you I felt so blessed that God was using me to help Brad set his blog up. Brad and I could not believe that everything Brad had ever wanted for his blog (and more) I was able to set up for him. My favorite things on our blogs are the little map and the counter that tells us how many people have visited our blog and where they are in the world. It is wonderful to see new dots on the map and to know that God's will is being spread throughout the world. When God brought Brad and I together in faith it was a 2 for 1 deal. He used both of us to be a blessing to each other.

One night after Brad's blog was up and going I called him. He was so pleased to have his blog so that he could now give out his blog address to spread seeds of faith. He told me about a prayer he had prayed months ago. He told me it was several months before he even met me. He knew God was calling him to write. He knew God wanted him to make a commitment to his writing, to use his gift as a way to spread seeds of faith. The only problem was that Brad had no idea how to do this. So what did he do? He prayed and turned it all over to God. Little did we know when we first met that I was the answer to that prayer. We could feel God's hand on it all. Brad told me that never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined something as nice as he now had with his blog to spread God's word. It has been a real blessing too for me to check in on Brad's blog. We both started out with about the same dots on our maps, but I had more on my counter because my blog was started before his was. I now say praise the Lord as He continues to bless us both. To us, it does not matter how many people read our blogs, because we know that God will direct those that should read our blogs to them. What is wonderful for me to see is how our maps are changing. Brad now has different dots on his map, so I know God is at work spreading our seeds of faith in many different directions now. Praise the Lord.

I thought about posting this because of Easter. After Christ was risen He gave a call to His disciples to reach out to others and spread the seeds of faith. We all have gifts and talents that God has given to us. He wants us to use to spread the seeds of faith and bring the lost to Him. When we are faithful and have an open heart, God will us our gifts and talents in a way that honors and glorifies Him. He also uses us to help and serve others. What seems so easy to us can be such a blessing to others when we use our gifts and talents to honor and glorify God by being of service to others. I can tell you that the blessings comes on both sides too. It is not just a blessing when someone helps you, it is a wonderful blessing when you help someone else too. As our Lord gave a call to His disciples to reach out to others we need to follow this call too. I have heard more than one person tell me that God brings people into our lives for a season, a reason, or for a lifetime. I have had all of these happen to me and can tell you no matter which it is, when it happens it is an amazing blessing. You may not always know which one it is when God brings you together, but you can be sure that it will change your life and put "Miracle Grow" on your faith when it happens too. That is how you know God's hand is on it. I invite everyone to visit Brad's blog at http://www.straighttotheheart.blogspot.com. Thank you God for bringing Brad into my life. Thank you Brad for being faithful and obedient to God.

FaithfulToOne©2007

Faithful Friend

Across a vast distance of loneliness
Your words knocked upon my door
Showing kindness and compassion
Your challenge offered so much more

Their were no false dreams or playing games
Your words shared faith and prayer instead
God used you to free my cynical heart
Giving me fresh new hope to look ahead

It’s written when two or three gather together
The Lord says, “I’ll always be there with you.”
The night when we talked I felt closer to Him
Listening to your prayer so faithful and true

Even though many miles still separate us
Still by faith I will call you my friend
Our Lord’s love graciously blesses me
With the prayers and messages we send

He uses your words to inspire my pen
Your insightful messages brighten each day
Sharing special faith and fellowship together
His plan now directs and steers our way

Now as I get ready for bedtime tonight
I’ll kneel with head bowed praying for you
May God’s will and wisdom be your faithful guide
Bringing His blessings and joy to you too

FaithfulToOne©2007

Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”

Remember to look for the link below to More Footsteps In The Valley for the prayer that goes with this post.

May Your Will Be Done

2007-04-07T14:53:00.000-05:00

I can remember when the movie The Passion first came out. One of the things that critics complained about was how violent the movie was. The movie does have graphic violence in it, but I must say it has less violence in it than a lot of slasher movies that did not come under attack by the critics for the violence that these movies had. The thing that Christians really need to remember and meditate on, is that the movie The Passion showed very little of the violent torture and suffering that our Savior went through so that we might be saved.

It is very hard for me sometimes to deal with some of the trials that I face in life when I can't see an end to them. It is hard when we must live our lives during trials with blind faith to know that God is there for us and that He is in control. I know that I can never fully imagine the weight that Jesus felt on His shoulders the night that He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. I do know that even though Jesus was under severe stress with the burden He was carrying and that He was struggling with it as He prayed, Jesus turned His burden over to His Father's will. It says in Matthew 26:39, "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.'" Jesus knew what was to happen and the pure Hell He was facing. Yet Jesus humbled himself to God, and although He wished that He did not have to go through it, Jesus accepted His fate knowing it was God's will. Matthew tells us that later Jesus again turned it all over to God. Matthew 26:42 says, "He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.'"

There are times that I am fully convinced that the reason God does not reveal everything to us all at once is that God knows we are not strong enough in our faith to deal with it all at once. God knows that we must first learn to trust Him so that we are able to turn it all over to Him. I will admit that for me, that is not always the easiest thing to do. I will also tell you that it is easier today than it was yesterday, a week ago, or a year ago. It is easier because God continues to work in my life and with my faith. I am a stronger person than I was a year ago. My faith is stronger than it was a year ago. Through our trials God loves us, guides us, makes us stronger, builds our faith up, and brings us closer to Him. The more we die to ourselves the more alive we become in faith for Him. Jesus is our model as He gave His life for us so unselfishly so that we might be saved.

When we face trials and carry heavy burdens on our shoulders all we need to do is pray and turn it all over to God. He is waiting for us to come to Him. He loves us and intercedes for us even when we are not aware of what is going on behind the scenes of our trials. As we walk through our valley in the darkness He will be our light and lead us if we turn to Him. When we feel overwhelmed by trials that we face we need to remember the prayers Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. We can pray for our burdens to be lifted but we must also turn it over to God. Let HIS will be done. May God's light always shine on you and may you feel His love with the blessing of this Easter Holiday.

FaithfulToOne©2007

The Journey

How many chances will it take
How many mistakes must I make

For my journey to be done...

The lonesome nights I have faced
The restless times my brain has paced

Where peace has found no home...

The things that faith now must change
The ways my life must rearrange

As I prepare to face the climb...

How many steps will it take
What sacrifices must I make

Resisting Satan's subtle calls...

My courage I will seek in prayer
I know my Savior's always there

To lead and be my guide...

Oh yes my journey has a cost
To find what with sin once was lost

His cross and nails paid my price...

True faith brings joy when suffering
I now sing praises to my king

In the darkness He is my light...

From the valley to the mountain peak
Lord it's always you that I will seek

You'll be there when my journey's done...

Looking down to see how far I've come
Through the journey what was won

His love and blessings my reward...

Until again God's call I will hear
With a new journey drawing near

A new mountain I will climb...

FaithfulToOne©2007

Remember to look for the link below to More Footsteps In The Valley for the prayer that goes with this post.

Did You Know God Keeps A Scrapbook?

2007-04-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

One of the latest craft trends that has really taken off in the last few years is scrap booking. It is no longer just a matter of sticking little corner holders in a photo album to hold the family pictures and saving newspaper clippings. Now people are creating wonderful works of art with their scrapbooks. Fancy papers, stickers, and a lot of other wonderful new extras are offered to frame our special photos and memories with. There are now whole sections at craft stores devoted to scrap booking and there are scrap booking parties where people go to buy materials or share time together as they work on their own scrapbooks.

A couple years ago at Thanksgiving time my older brother and his family came down from the Chicago area to visit. He is the only one that lives far away from the rest of the family, so it is a wonderful time when they are able to come. My sister-in-law is very much involved with her scrap booking hobby and asked if we could help her when she came to visit. My brother had a bunch of photos from our childhood and my sister-in-law wanted to make an album with them. She thought that we could help her by giving the times, places, people, and stories behind the photos so that she could record the information as she put the pages together. What I thought was going to be an activity that took just a couple of hours went on for hours and hours, turning into one of the most special Thanksgivings the family has ever had. We started out looking at pictures and ended up remembering, sharing, laughing, and teasing about the wonderful memories that went with the family photos we went through. We gave our own perspectives to the memories and events, as well as filling in the gaps for each other's memories. I can't remember when I've had so much fun with my brothers and my sister.

We all like to reminisce on special memories in our lives. Things we did, times shared with loved ones, activities with friends, and touching moments forever engraved into our hearts by something said to us. We laugh, we cry, and we smile as we look back at the wonderful times in our lives. Did you know that God keeps memories like this too? Did you know that He keeps a special scrap book with records of what the faithful say and what is on their hearts?

Malachi 3:16 tells us about a book of remembrance. It says, "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name." God loves to see his faithful children sharing His word, witnessing to others, praising Him for the blessings in their lives, and meditating on His name. When we do this He is recording it in a special book, just as we do when we scrap book. He is looking for memories of the faithful.

Just as Jesus wanted His disciples to hold Him to be more important than anything else on earth, He expects the same of us. This is a weighty responsibility that can only be met with the purest commitment to Him. He must be the most important thing in our lives. We must love God above everything else, just as it tells us in Exodus 20:3 when it says, "You shall have no other gods before me." God is looking for those that are willing to give up all worldly possessions, forsake all worldly relationships, and obey Him above all others. He is not looking for memories from those that just give lip service to God and their faith. He is looking for memories from those that live by their faith, those He knows personally through prayer, those that seek His knowledge in the scriptures, those that reach out being servants to others honoring Him, and those that seek the lost to bring them to Him. In other words, God is seeking memories for his book of remembrance that honor and glorify Him. He is looking for those that have their faith written across their hearts.

In Malachi 3:16 it tells us that when we live by our faith and do the things that honor and glorify the Lord, He hears us and listens to us. When we live by our faith we have an open communication line with God. He listens to us, He hears us, He is able to be an active part of our lives, and He will bless us. What have you done today that God would want to put in His book of remembrance?

FaithfulToOne©2007

His Book Of Remembrance

This morning when I wake up Lord
I will sing out and praise Your name
For the salvation that has changed me
My life will never be the same

I will meditate on Your name
I will seek wisdom in Your word
Today let me spread Your seeds
To those Your name they've never heard

Let me live my life to honor You
In all the things I do and say
Forgive me for failing You falling short
Please never take Your loving mercy away

I pray that my gifts and talents
Glorify You when others look
And that they bring You pleasure
to be recorded in Your book

FaithfulToOne©2007

Forgiveness At The Crossroads Of Love And Anger

2007-04-01T16:56:00.000-05:00

Finding Forgiveness

Where do we find forgiveness
What must be offered and must be sought
Forgiveness from pain and agony
It can’t be bartered for or even bought

Where is the place called forgiveness
A place our souls can find a home
Where remorse finds peace and deliverance
With forgiveness each can call their own

Where vengeance and guilt find no place to hide
A place where broken hearts can mend
To find the love that once was lost
A place where friendships never end

Lord light the path that leads us now
To a special forgiveness of our own
For true forgiveness can’t be found
Unless true faith is in the home

Only faith removes these heavy chains
That binds anger tightly to the heart
In prayer we must look to the cross
Where true forgiveness had its start

Our Savior is our loving refuge
And our righteous battle sword
Trust in Him to give you justice
Our power’s in the Living Lord

Forgiveness you must give
If it is to be received
Only then can chains be broken
Only then our souls relieved

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Harvard Women's Health Watch published an article a while back that said that forgiving those who hurt you can improve your mental and physical well being. In the article it gives five reasons that we should forgive someone. We often think that giving forgiveness to someone only benefits the person being forgiven, but that is not true. Harvard Women's Health Watch discusses the five health benefits that were scientifically studied that effect the forgiver:

1. Forgiving reduces stress in the forgiver. Relieving grudges and offering forgiveness can reduce strains that can show up physically in ways such as: Muscle tension, higher blood pressure, and increased sweating.

2. One study found a link between offering forgiveness and a healthier heart. Offering forgiveness showed improved blood pressure, better heart rates, and an eased workload put on the heart.

3. A 2004 study showed that a woman that was able to offer forgiveness to her spouse and show compassion for him was much better and more effective in resolving conflict situations and had stronger relationships. Men do you care to step up to the plate on this too? If God calls the man to be the faithful head of the home this is something he should be modeling for others too.

4. One study on people with chronic back pain found that if they practiced meditation that focused on converting angry feelings into compassionate feelings, they felt less pain and anxiety than those who just received regular care.

5. Forgiveness effects the forgivers bringing them greater happiness. One study revealed that if a person talks about forgiveness during therapy sessions they exhibited greater improvement then those that didn't. When you forgive someone, you are taking responsibility for your own happiness instead of giving it to the person that hurt or betrayed you.

John 20:23 says, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." So what are the dangers of not forgiving someone? Mark 11:25 says, And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Matthew 6:14-15 also warns us, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." The Bible tells us if we wish to have our slates wiped clean when we go to the Father and ask for forgiveness, then we must be willing to forgive those that have wronged us too. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

If you are seeking help with healing and forgiveness I would recommend the daily email messages from the DivorceCare website. I have a link here on my blog. Even if you are not getting a divorce there are some very powerful messages for dealing with the breakdown in relationships. I can with all faith and honesty tell you that I feel the ones I got recently were messages from God. The reason I can say this is that God used them to help me forgive someone in my life.

There was once a man in my life that I loved and cared deeply about. He was the one that broke off our relationship and we parted on very bitter terms. I had made peace with the situation, because I believed it was God's will at the time. I had not wanted to harbor any ill will for the man and prayed often for God to help me forgive him. I thought over time that I had completely forgiven him, but God knew that I still harbored pain for the hurt that was caused by our break up. God knew me better than I knew myself.

After our break up, there was one attempt that was made to reconcile our feelings and move on. I had hoped that we could at least be good friends in faith, but it ended with emails that only vented angry, bitter, hurt, and very negative feelings on both sides. We were both at fault this time. They were emails that did not show how two Christians should be treating one another. After that there was no real contact going on except for the occasional impersonal email being forwarded to each other. Over time I again prayed to find forgiveness and move on, but still I now know there were pains of resentment from some of the hurtful things he had said to me.

During this time we were not talking to one another so I did not know what was going on in his life, but after we parted ways God knew that there was work to be done with both of us. I can tell you that during this time God did a lot to bring me closer to Him and to give me real focus on things I need to accomplish for Him. God also had work to do for the man that had hurt me. Again, God knew him better then he knew himself. He had been harboring anger and bitterness in his heart for a long time. The longer it was there the more it ate away at him until finally in complete frustration he turned to God. As soon as he humbled himself in prayer and turned to God, God got busy. God revealed a lot to this man as he turned things over to God and continued to seek His will and direction. Saying all this God still had more to show him, because even though the man prayed and prayed, he saw no intersession.

What was God waiting for? Only later, would we both understand that God was working behind the scenes and it was God waiting on him. As God began to work in the man's life, he wanted to reach out to me and ask for forgiveness. The fear of rejection and the bitterness he thought I would respond with held him back. Then one day he took a chance and forwarded a touching story to me. He almost didn't email it, but he felt the Holy Spirit strongly urging him on. The email had no message or plea for forgiveness with it, it was just the story. The Holy Spirit was working on the other side too, because the story touched my heart. I sent him an email that thanked him for the story. I did not swing the door wide open, but it was the Holy Spirit leaving a crack in the door. If I had been more faithful at the time, I would have seen what was coming next a whole lot sooner than I did.

As God was preparing the man's heart to ask for forgiveness, God was preparing mine to receive it. I did not realize until later the many times God had tried to reach me, but I was too busy with the many things going on in my life, to hear His messages. Praise God, because he never gave up. God was determined to have His will known. I often find that if you really want to know what God is trying to tell you, that you have to find quiet time and a quiet place with him. When the world invades that quiet time and place, it is like static on a cell phone that keeps you from receiving what the other person is trying to say. God will find many ways to reach us and He will never give up on us. I find direction in God's word, through the scriptures and through devotionals that I read. Several times I have turned to the scriptures, heard a song on the radio, watched a sermon on TV, or read a devotional message that I know was a message from God or a direct answer to a prayer.

I have subscribed to three devotionals that are emailed to me everyday. I also get daily email messages from the DivorceCare website. The DivorceCare program and their daily messages did a lot to help me heal when I was going through my divorce. I still receive them because they are great messages that often inspire my writing. I am sorry to say that due to my very busy schedule at the time, I had fallen behind reading my messages and devotionals. I had gotten some strange feelings over the last two weeks and now see the ways that God was trying to reach me, but I was not focused on Him at the time, because I was too busy. It was so subtle the way I put God on the back burner. I felt so ashamed when I realized I had missed His messages to me. When I realized this I asked for God's forgiveness. To be forgiven we must forgive.

The day the man chose to email me the story, God emailed me a message too. It was from DivorceCare titled, Forgiveness Is A Choice. This is part of that message: "'It's not a matter of how you feel,' says Harold Graham. 'It's not even a matter of how you think. It's a matter of your will. Your will is the part of you that makes your decisions. Either you will or you won't, or you do or you don't. It is that cut and dried. The difficulty is once you make that decision, your emotions will kick in and say, 'Time out, I really don't want to do this.'" The rest of the message gave some very good ways to look at forgiveness. It ended with the prayer "God, I cannot forgive through my own strength. Thank you that there is forgiveness with You. Amen." As I read this I consciously did not make the connection, but I now know that the seed was planted.

I emailed a simple reply to the story the man sent. This email and the work God was doing in this man's heart was finally enough to break down the wall of hurt, anger, and bitterness that he had built. The next day, I was totally caught off guard and was not prepared for the email I received. It was a touching message of how God had been working in this man's life since our last bitter exchange. It was also a sincere heartfelt message asking me to forgive him. After I read it I just sat there because I could not believe my eyes. Could this really be coming from the same man? Was he really being sincere in his message? Could there really be hope in repairing our friendship or even more? Could God really change some one's heart so much?

These are just a few of the questions that rapidly ran through my brain, heart, and soul. Then came the big question! With all honesty, could I really completely forgive him? I wanted to forgive him. I don't ever want to have ill will in my heart for anyone, but wanting to do something and having the will to do it as the DivorceCare message said, are two different things. I wanted to respond immediately but I couldn't. The more I tried, the more I reread the email, the more my doubts held me back. I knew of nothing else to do but pray, turn it over to God, and then wait on God for guidance. I knew what the Bible said about forgiveness, but the doubts that plagued me were very strong. Later that evening I was floored again when I opened up my DivorceCare message for the day. This message was title, Forgiveness Is A Decision You Make. The following is an excerpt from the message, "'Forgiveness is a decision only you can make. 'Forgiveness is a decision you make,' says Doug Easterday. 'I can't do it for you. Even the person who offended you can't. God can't do it for you. You're the only one in the history of the world who can make this choice. Therefore, you have something to say about your own destiny if you choose to forgive.'" As I read the rest of the message I knew God was definitely trying to speak to me.

After I prayed, I knew what I needed to do. I tried several times to write him back but could never find the right words to say, so I prayed harder. I got the same answer each time I prayed, "Free yourself and let him heal, forgive him." Still the words to write would not come. I was so busy and overtired with things going on in my life, I could not think. Finally out of desperation I prayed for God to give me strength. The next thing I knew I was calling the man on the phone, yet in the back of my mind I was hoping he would not answer. I had no idea what I would say and prayed that God would find the words for me. God did, because when he answered God gave us both strength. Our doors swung wide open and we forgave each other.

The next day I discovered something really amazing that I knew I had to share with him. While the man was praying for forgiveness from God and for my forgiveness, he had no idea how many times God was trying to intercede for him. I didn't realize it either until I went back to my email. When I reread the man's letter and the DivorceCare messages I began to wonder what was in the other messages I had been too busy to read. To my astonishment I found out that for eleven days God had been trying to reach me with messages about forgiveness. For eleven days the theme for the DivorceCare messages were on forgiveness. When I stopped to think about that I also realized other ways God had been planting seeds of forgiveness. Seeds I had not even realized until now. So what messages from DivorceCare were still to come over the next few days? I knew that there would still be doubts springing up? Did God have more messages for us? So I went to the DivorceCare site to check. God was not leaving anything to chance. He knew that our new found forgiveness would need reinforcement and nurturing so the messages that were still to come over the next few days were on forgiveness and reconciliation.

At this point I knew the messages I had received (and ones I was going to receive) were not just for me but they were for him too. Little did I know how right I was. When I talked to him that night he was in awe at the way God had been interceding for him even when he still had his doubts. We know God brought us back together so that both of us could forgive and heal. Our faith has taken another leap with this shared experience and we have committed our friendship to God. We will take one day at a time with our friendship and continue to pray that God leads us in our faith. We will seek His direction and His will for our lives. We know that even when forgiveness is honestly given it takes time. It does not mean that you just start over where you were before. We know that God loves and cares for both of us and that He does not want His children to suffer. It feels wonderful when you find forgiveness and break the chains that hold you back. If you are having trouble forgiving someone pray and turn it over to God so that He can heal you too.

FaithfulToOne © 2007

My Dream- Which Way Are You Facing Today?

2007-03-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

One night I was reading the Bible before I went to bed and read Psalm 138:7, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. " That night when I went to bed I had a dream.

I dreamt that I was walking on a path. As I walked I noticed that only one set of footsteps were on the path that was behind me now. Long dark shadows were clinging tightly to my heels, casting fearful shapes that distorted everything they covered. The things in my life that lined the path I was walking became very distracting and kept me from feeling the peace I thought should be around me. I was like a child waking up to a dark bedroom in the middle of the night. Disoriented, I was fearful and scared because I saw everything through a dark veil. Anxious to be free of this nightmare, I closed my eyes hoping it was all a bad dream, only to open them again to the silent sights and sounds of loneliness. I felt hopeless and overcome by my restless feelings of abandonment. Then, just like a small child I cried out in prayer to my Heavenly Father. I had one plea and that was for Him to rescue me with His Heavenly light.

When I finish praying I heard God call to me like a loving and reassuring parent saying, "I am right here with you my child." "Where are you God? I can not see you!", I responded with great urgency in my voice. "Turn around child", He said. When I turned around His glorious light bathed me with His love. My heart rejoiced as I again felt His comfort and strength. In joy I praised His Holy name. Then dropping to my knees, now humbled and fully aware of the power that surrounded me, I prayed for God's forgiveness. I realized that God had always been with me. The darkness and shadows that had scared me were cast because of His light that He had always been shining on me all along. It was dark because I had turned my back on His direction and wandered off the path He had for me into the shadows. There was only one set of footprints on the path of trials that I was on, but I was never alone. He was there shining His light on the path that was His will for me, waiting for me to turn around and correct my way. Then I remembered that James 4:8 says, "Draw nearer to God and He will draw nearer to you."

God's light is always there ahead of us to light our way with His love, wisdom, mercy, forgiveness, courage, and strength. If we have faith and focus on His light trusting in Him, we have nothing to fear. The shadows that are behind us can not hurt us or blind us with darkness to the direction we should be heading to honor and glorify God.

I prayed, " Father please forgive me for ever doubting you. It was not you, it was me that had made the errors in our relationship. When I lost my focus on you I got distracted, turned around, and lost. All I could see was my past and what you had already put behind me. I could only see my life scared through the veil of darkness. Thank you for hearing my fearful prayers. You are the God as written in Psalm 68:19 who daily bears my burdens, and I praise you. You called out to me when I was scared and lost with such loving comfort, turning me back to you. Father, I pray that you now keep me focused forward so that your light shines brightly on me always. Guide my steps, so that the darkness can no longer scare me for my life is now yours. I now focus on you with great joy, for the blessings and the trials I face. I know that you are always there for me when I am in need. I wish to seek Your will and blessings for my life so that my life reflects Your light in a way that honors and glorifies You always. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

I woke up from the dream with such a peace and joy in my heart, as if a great weight had been lifted off of me. I also quickly grabbed pencil and paper so that I could share this with others. My question to you is, "Which way are you facing today?"

What Kind Of Pack Rat Are You?

2007-03-27T19:48:00.000-05:00

Well my feet ache and my head is stopped up from dust. I have been putting in many extra hours at school over the last week, doing some "Spring Cleaning" for special visitors we are having to the school. It is amazing how fast the clutter can pile up in an art room if you don't stay on top of it. There had been a lot of clutter before I started at the school because they had not had an art program for several years and everything for the art room had been tossed in boxes and put in storage. I had the great honor LOL of unpacking it all, going through the stuff and cleaning out the dusty storerooms. This is actually my first step for cleaning, because I intend to spend several days of my Spring break this year doing some "Faithful Spring Cleaning" at home too. I know I need to do cleaning before I can sell my house so I can find a place to live where I don't have so much yard to take care of. I also know God is making me deal with some issues I need to face.

Now I must admit when it comes to Spring Cleaning I have a genetic flaw which is one thing God is really dealing with in my life right now. My genetic flaw is that I am a pack rat. My mother was a terrible pack rat and my dad still is. This is partly one of those sins of your parents things, but I do accept responsibility for my own pack ratting behavior. With me being the creative artist type, it is like I have 2 strikes against me that I am battling! But my daughter has been helping me to face this head on and deal with it. I am pleased that she wants to help us get free from the chains I have created in my life.

The first thing I must say is that for the most part, Americans on the whole are all a bit like pack rats. Most Americans have too much "Stuff". The fact that so many Americans are in such credit card and other debt situations proves that we have a Needs vs Wants problem. Advertising doesn't help much either. They can make every want sound like we are going to die if we don't get it. I hear children now days often saying, "I need this and I need that." when all their requests are wants, one after the other. How many parents give in and are just as guilty too?

Paul wrote in Philippians 4:12-13, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." How many people have the faithful internal peace that Paul writes about? How many people can say that they can be content like this regardless of their circumstances? I know that when you are use to living comfortably with all your needs met and most of your wants met too, when something drastic happens and you have to live not knowing if your needs are going to be met, it can be very stressful, scary, and even devastating. It changes you and your whole perspective towards "stuff". You could care less if you have an IPOD or not, when you don't know if you are going to be able to pay your mortgage this month, If you loose your home and have to live out of your car, or if you don't know if you're going to have to go to bed hungry tonight. For many people in the world hunger is a real life threatening issue. Yet in America, statistics on obesity show many of us are pack ratting food in our bodies. You know the super size this and the extra helping of that. That is really what overeating is.

Another form of pack ratting comes from procrastination. Stuff piles up and we can give all sorts of excuses about being tired or that you have so much to do, but the fact is that this is a form of rebellion. A lot of times these pack ratting people are called lazy or as the Bible says sluggard. Proverbs 13:4 says, "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Proverbs 21:25 says, "The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work." Procrastination is a very deceptive thing. The person may not be a lazy person. He or she may be a very busy person. People will make time and have energy for the things that they value. If it is not high on their list or important enough to them, it gets shoved aside for the things that are high on our lists. If we don't want to do it, we put it off until the consequences become more painful or costly than what we have been putting off. Proverbs 6:9 says, "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?"

What we often don't realize until it is too late, is that procrastination creates chains that bind us up, drag us down, and weaken our faith. We could meet the task head on, face it, do it, and then it is done. Yes, it may be unpleasant or painful, but the longer we wait the more links in the heavy chain are added. Heavier and heavier it hangs around us and drags us down. Inaction is one of Satan's greatest tools, because it can start off very subtly.

This can be applied to so many areas of your life. It might be the clutter in your house, garage, etc. This is one of my guilty areas, because I put things off because of the pain I was going through during my separation and divorce. When you continue to put off dealing with clutter it does not stop and wait on you, it will just keep growing and growing. When you finally look at it, just the thought of dealing with it is overwhelming. In this case the best plan of action is to set small goals you can meet. If you break one link of the chain at a time it will come off. The first link is always the hardest, but by setting small goals that you can realistically meet, you can feel good with what you accomplish. It just takes time, but then you are free.

Church groups could be a real help to these people too. Often they won't ask for help because they are embarrassed and then they can become very withdrawn depressed people. People in the old days had the right idea when they would join together to have a "Barn Raising". Church groups could make lists of things people in the group want to get done but haven't gotten done yet. It may be painting a room, cleaning out a storage area, cutting down a tree, etc. Then schedule to do it together and help each other out. When you get done with that list you can expand and help others too. You not only get your work done (with fun and fellowship), but you are then a service to others too.

Another area that pack ratting hits hard with procrastination is with emotions. You get in an argument and hurt the other person's feelings. You would rather procrastinate and pack rat those emotions then deal with them. In the mean time the other person is hurting because you refuse to apologize and ask for forgiveness. You fester from the issues you won't deal with. This can drag you down for days, months, years, or even a lifetime. When some one hurts us we can pack rat our hurt and pain too, because it is too painful to deal with. The longer we pack rat our emotions and live in the past, the higher the wall is that we build around us, the more links in the heavy chain we add, and the more withdrawn for our true emotions we become.

Sometimes stuff and emotions intertwine to make matters worse. Instead of defining ourselves the way God would have us do through faith, we start to define ourselves by our stuff. Our job, what kind of car we drive, what kind of house we live in, what kind of clothes we wear, what country club we belong to, etc. all become the things we value ourselves with and define ourselves with. The problem is there is never enough. We have to have more and more, we have to keep up with the neighbors, we have to work more to get more stuff, etc. We pack rat more and more stuff because it makes us temporarily feel good about ourselves. We then see the next thing we want and justify why we think we need it. The more we get the more we have to have, the more debit we are willing to put ourselves it to get it, and in the end we still feel an emptiness. When we pack rat material things our faith pays the price.

We begin to slip into the habit of spending our time and efforts in the "Material World" instead of in the "Godly World". We spend time pleasing ourselves instead of pleasing God. We spend time in front of the TV or on the computer instead of reading our Bible, praying, and following God's will for our lives. Beware, if you are right now ignoring God's repeated calling for you to do something. He will get your attention one way or another. If you are too wrapped up with your stuff, and you procrastinate when God calls, because you really don't want to do it, BEWARE." He may take it all away to get your attention and to lovingly redirect you back to Him and His will for your life. If we let so much build up in our lives that we are overwhelmed and stressed out, we can't be good servants for God. When I was trying to deal with severe financial problems during my divorce, I noticed that I kept growing closer to God. As I trusted in Him more and more, He revealed to me things He wanted to deal with in me. He wanted to make me stronger in my faith. As I have been dealing with them, My faith continues to grow.

Now, I am trying to stay in my new purging state of mind, because I know God is working in my life on this matter. When God is working on something in our lives we need to trust Him and turn it over to Him. Keep your communication lines open to Him with prayer. If it is a real issue for you it probably won't all happen over night, but God will help you get through it. You will have to do your part. You will need to do some time management, goal setting, set up a plan of action, and then stick to it. When Satan starts telling you it can't be done you need to stop being a pack rat and turn it over to Him, God will help us face the mountains, tear down the walls, break the chains, or what ever else needs to be done so that we can all be free in faith with His love, to honor and glorify Him.

FaithfulToOne©2007

Anger Is The Wind That Blows Out The Light Of Reason

2007-03-26T02:15:00.000-05:00

Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason. Like love, anger is one of our strongest emotions. There are two different types of anger. The first is a righteous anger that we see examples of in the Bible when judgment and justice were passed against sinful people. It says in Numbers 14:18 “The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” I often wondered about this verse until I became a parent. Your children will not only learn your good habits and teaching, they will learn all your bad habits and weak character traits too if you are not careful. You condemn your children to the sins you have if you do not do something about them. If parents smoke there is a lot higher percentage of chance that the children will smoke too, than if they grow up in a smokeless home. If parents or other family members swear, use drugs, get involved with pornography, are abusive, have anger issues, etc. there is more of a chance that the children will follow in the parents footsteps than if they did not grow up around these things. These families will continue to suffer until someone has the faith and strength enough to break the chain and break free of the sins that continues to punish the family.

Anger is one of those emotions we can’t avoid but it is up to us to control. Anger is good when it gives us a call to action against injustice, but if we let it control us then it take on a very destructive and sinful form. This is the second type of anger: Anger that is a destructive parasite.

The Bible tells us that we should not let our anger get the better of us when we see the injustice and evil succeed around us. Instead it tells us to trust in the Lord and let Him take care of it. In Psalm 37:7-9 it says, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.” I hold tightly to this verse when people wrong me or others and they seem to get away from it. I know that God has so much love for us and only wants the best for us, but I also know that I would never want to make Him angry with me. Psalm 86:15 says, “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” He is slow to anger but He does not hold back forever. He will deal with the sinful that do not repent and turn from their wicked ways. Isaiah 13:13 says, “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.”

The one thing I have discovered is that the second type of anger is a parasite that preys on its host. It is an emotion that can’t exist by itself. Matter of fact, it often masks or hides other emotions. You might see someone getting angry because they are jealous. Jealousy is the cause and anger is the effect. Someone can get angry at their spouse. Why? There are several reasons: They are selfish and did not get things their own way, because their love was hurt from betrayal or broken trust, because hurt feelings were never dealt with, etc. Anger is a reaction to things that happen to us. Uncontrolled anger is a parasite that continues to feed off its host, getting stronger and stronger building grudges and making us bitter unless it is discovered and removed.

We should strive to be like our Lord as it says in Psalm 145:8, “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” It is impossible to expect anyone never to get angry, it is not impossible to learn how to control it so that it does not control you. There are all too many ways that we see anger free to run in this world today: Road rage, divorce, domestic violence, swearing, and the “I’ll screw them before they can screw me attitude”.

The Bible addresses this type of anger several times. James 1:19-21 says, “dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” Ephesians 4:25- 27 says, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” When we allow our anger to fester and feed on us we are giving Satan a weakness to exploit and prey on. If we confront our anger and deal with it then it can not control us. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This tell us that not only do we need to be responsible for controlling our own anger but that we should also help others control their anger too by not inciting more. When someone is showing the signs of loosing control your calm demeanor can go a long way to keeping the hot water from hitting the boiling point. We are also warned in Proverbs that we should not be friends with those that have anger management problems. Proverbs 22:24-25 says, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.” Lynch mobs and crowd violence are good examples of this. A few in anger stir up trouble until emotions are high and things get out of control.

Here are some suggestions to deal with your anger:

1. Take care of problems when they are small. Don’t allow them to fester and get the better of you. Don’t allow others to push your buttons. When you do that you loose control and give it to them.

2. If you are really angry about something don’t try to handle it in that frame of mind. Walk away and give yourself time to calm down first. Remember hurtful words said in anger can never be taken back.

3. Make sure you understand why you are angry. Is your anger masking another problem that is not being dealt with? If you have a real anger problems these issues that you mask with anger may go all the way back to your childhood. You may need to seek counseling to find out what childhood issues prevent you from expressing you anger appropriately. These might include fears, abuse, denial, etc.

4. You need to forgive and move on with your life. One of the best ways to relieve ourselves from stress and anger is to forgive someone. When you do not forgive someone you are hurting yourself more than you could ever hurt the other person. If you are dealing with anger issues it may be because you are still harboring your inability to show forgiveness and only feel bitterness against someone. If you are doing this you maybe punishing others with your anger because you refuse to forgive someone that has made you bitter and move on. If you are feeling guilty about something the person you may need to forgive is yourself. Ephesians 4:31-32 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” You need to take these issues to God in prayer. In prayer turn your bitterness and pain over to Him to heal and ask Him for the courage to forgive the person or people that wronged you. When you have done that then leave it with Him and focus on today and your future. Anger lives strong in our hearts when it has good hooks planted in the past. Remove the hooks and it has no hold.

5. Find appropriate ways to express your anger and ways to keep it from boiling over. For me prayer is the only sure fire answer. Listening to relaxing music to keep you calm on your drive home, to take your mind off traffic, might be an answer if you tend to get road rage. Keep a journal or write a letter. Sometimes it is just a need to vent our frustrations or express our hurt and pain that can help us control our anger. We may never even need to give the letter to the other person, but it can sure feel good getting it out. Exercise is also a great way to deal with anger. When we exercise our body releases endorphins which makes us feel better and will help reduce our stress levels too. Things like alcohol, drugs, overeating, etc. are all things that are escape tools that do not solve the problem they only mask it further and make it worse. Proverbs 29:11 says, “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”

Anger is a parasite that will continue to feed off of us until it show on us physically, mentally, and emotionally. This can show physically as: high blood pressure, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembling, constipation, sleep problems, contracted pupils, impotence, and more. Mentally and emotionally it can show itself as: Criticism, irritation, hated, silence, passive aggressive or aggressive behavior, resentment, bitterness, envy, jealousy, vengeful, insecurity, poor self-esteem, being judgmental of others, condemning, anxiety, apathy, depression, vindictiveness, malaise, and more.
Let us live by love not anger. If you have anger issues you are dealing with you can’t be focused on God’s will for your life. If you are dealing with anger issues give them over to God. Strive to live as the Lord is described in Psalm 145:8 “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” If you have wronged someone with your anger, ask them and God to forgive you. Jeremiah 10:23-24 says, “I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. Correct me, LORD, but only with justice— not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing." God will show His love and mercy if we repent and ask for forgiveness. When He forgives us that is it. We are forgiven and we need to put it behind us and focus on what will honor and glorify Him. Nahum 1:3 says, "The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet." Why should you harbor your anger and bitterness when God can and will deal with your issues so much better. Forgive the person, free yourself from your parasite, and move on with your life in a way that honors and glorifies God. Let God deal with the guilty as the Bible tells us He will do.

Anger and forgiveness are for you to control. No one can do it for you. That does not mean you don’t have help. God will give you the strength to deal with it if you let Him. Pray and He will help you.

FaithfulToOne©2007

Love, Love, Love!

2007-03-22T16:51:00.000-05:00

I love listening to music. Maybe it’s because to me, music is poetry with a sound that reaches your heart and soul in a way nothing else can. For the most part I listen to contemporary Christian music. I always have His Radio on in my car to and from work. It is a great way to pull my focus to where it should be in the morning and it helps me leave work behind by refocusing my attention on God when I leave work. It has been so amazing and such a blessing how God sometimes picks just the right song I need to hear, for something I am dealing with at the time. I think of it this way… Sometimes I listen to CD’s to the music that is my choice and when I listen to the radio I often pray that God choose the music He thinks I need to hear. So I let God pick out my music too. Now you may jest but before you are too critical of what I just said you might want to try it. I can’t count the number of times He has blessed me with selections I truly believe came from Him.

I do listen to other music too. There is some wonderful music out there in other styles. I have a real weakness for the blues and jazz when I am working on my art work and there are times when my heart just wants to hear some love songs. They can be the classics or more current hits. There is just something about a love song (I am sure this is probably more of a female thing. Men let me know if I am wrong about this.) that can touch my heart the way no other music can. I heard this love song by Monica the other day and it made me stop to think about how strong the emotion of love is.

For You I Will

By Monica

When you're feeling lost in the night,
When you feel your world just ain't right
Call on me, I will be waiting
Count on me, I will be there
Anytime the times get too tough,
Anytime your best ain't enough
I'll be the one to make it better,
I'll be there to protect you,
See you through,
I'll be there and there is nothing
I won't do.

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero your strength
Anything you need
I will be the sun in your sky
I will light your way for all time
Promise you,
For you I will.

I will shield your heart from the rain
I will let no harm come your way
Oh these arms will be your shelter
No these arms won't let you down,
If there is a mountain to move
I will move that mountain for you
I'm here for you, I'm here forever
I will be your fortress, tall and strong
I'll keep you safe,
I'll stand beside you, right or wrong

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon (yeah, yeah)
I will be your hero your strength
Anything you need (I will be..)
I will be the sun in your sky
I will light your way for all time
Promise you
For you I will

For you I will, lay my life on the line
For you I will fight, oooooh
For you I will die
With every breath, with all my soul
I'll give my world
I'll give it all
Put your faith in me (put you're faith in me)
And I'll do anything

I will cross the ocean for you
(I will cross the ocean for you)
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero your strength
Anything you need
I will be the sun in your sky
I will light your way for all time
Promise you (Promise you)
For you I will, I will, I will, I will,

I will cross the ocean for you
I will go and bring you the moon
I will be your hero your strength
Anything you need, (Anything you need)
I will be the sun in your sky (yeah, yeah)
I will let you wait for all times
Promise you (I promise you)
For you I will (Ooooh)
I promise you
For you I will

Have you ever stopped to think how many love songs have been written? How many you’ve done me wrong songs or my heart is broken songs have been written? Oh please don’t include the in lust songs. So many people confuse being in lust with being in love these days.

Love is the strongest emotion we have. Love can make our lives and it can destroy them too when it is betrayed or not returned. We think how tragic when some one loves another the way this song illustrates it and the love is not returned. Oh but how beautiful it is when both feel this kind of love.

Now look at this song again and imagine Jesus singing it to you. This is how our loving Savior feels for us. He is always there for us when we are in need of Him. He wants us to come to Him when we can’t handle things. He has already endured the pain and suffering on the cross to give His life for us. He can move mountains for us if it is God’s will that they be moved. The only part of the song that is not true is the part where it says, “I’ll do anything for you”. The one thing Jesus would not do is sin. Satan tempted Jesus but He would not be moved. He is our hero and our greatest strength. What He offers us is salvation and that is greater than anything of this world he could give us.

The Bible speaks many times of love. According to the website, http://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_WordCount.htm
The word love appears in the King James version of the Bible 310 times, New American Standard Version - 1995 ed. 348 times, New International Version 551 times, and New Revised Standard Version 538 times.

1 John 4:16 says, “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” When we love God, God’s love lives in us and shines out from us for all to see. The Bible even tells us that the most important thing is our love for God. You can find this in Mark 12:28-30, “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'"

God also expects us to share His love with others. 1 John 4:19-21 says, “We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

The Bible also gives us a guide to judge what true love is. Paul wrote in
1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Here are two websites you can go to for great love songs and lyrics http://www.romantic-lyrics.com/ and http://www.jamesness.com/index.html . Check them out. Now ask yourself, “Does my love for God come first in my life, above and beyond all else? When I listen to love songs (not lust songs) do I feel that way about God? Am I willing to give up my life and be born again in faith as Jesus gave up His life for us so that we might have eternal life?

God wants us to feel love for Him the way that He feels love for us. He also wants us to reach out to others in love so that they may seek His love too. Before we seek to find love with another person we should first seek love from our Heavenly Father. His love is the only love that is perfect and will not let us down. Once we are immersed in His love, we will then have a model to follow and judge others with to see where they are in their faith. Are they "Real Men" and "Real Women" of faith that know what true love is? Do not get so obsessed and wrapped up in finding a partner to love that you miss out on feeling all the love around you that is offered to you. Build on your love with God, build on your love with your family, build on your love with your friends, build on your love with fellow Christians, build on your love with strangers by reaching out to them, and build on your love by being a servant to those in need.

True love is not that complicated because true love is an unselfish love that shows how much they value that love 24/7. It can be found in very simple things. One of the simplest love songs written still touches my heart so deeply. It says what love is in only six lines. Now you might interpret it (and it may have been written) as wanting to make love, but I have always seen this song in the purest form. Read it in that frame of mind and you can see how we can feel about God when we are saved. You can then also see how we can feel when we have true love in our hearts.

Colour My World

By James Pankow
Sung By Chicago

As time goes on, I realize
Just what you mean to me.
And now, now that you're near,
Promise your love that I've waited to share
And dreams of our moments together.
Color my world with hopes of loving you.

There is one other old song (Now I am dating myself. LOL) that I really like and want to share with you. The song again is a simple on that is done almost completely in similes (making comparisons to things using the word like or as). Read the lyrics to this song and then I have a challenge for you. If you were to write a song about God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit what similes would you use? If you come up with any good poems or lists of similes, please post them in the comments.

Fine As Fine Can Be

By Gordon Lightfoot

You're as soft as the rose
You're as sweet as the honey
You're as warm as the bright morning sun
You're as cool as the breeze
on the last days of April
You're as fine as fine can be

You're like time is to space
You're like faith is to trustin'
You're like blue is to feelin' unkind
You're like joy is for love,
You're like dreams are for chasin'
You're as fine as fine can be

And when I am gone
my thoughts are all with you
You're my little angel you see
You're as bright as the moon
You're as light as a feather
You're as fine as fine can be

Like the rain is for the crops
You're like food for my thoughts
You're like true is for knowin' what's not
You're like leaves are for trees
You're like bees are for buzzin'
You're as fine as fine can be

You're as bright as the moon
You're as light as a feather
You're as fine as fine can be

Please remember to select the link below for More Footsteps In The Valley, to find the prayer that goes with this message. Take care and God bless.

FaithfulToOne©2007

Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates. You Never Know What You're Gonna Get.

2007-03-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

Well it is all the way you look at it I guess. I remember when the movie Forrest Gump came out in 1994 and Tom Hanks spoke Forrest’s now famous quote, "My mamma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.’” Then we got a far more cynical view in 1996 when the Cigarette Smoking Man on the TV series The X Files said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So you're stuck with this undefinable whipped mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while there's a Peanut Butter Cup or an English Toffee. But they're gone too fast and the taste is... fleeting. So you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts. And if you're desperate enough to eat those, all you got left is an empty box... filled with useless brown paper wrappers.”

So which way do you look at things? Are you like Forrest that takes life each day for what it is and tries to make the best of it, or are you like the Cigarette Smoking Man who prefers to see the worst of things and then has to make sure everyone knows about it too?

There are things in life that happen no matter how prepared or organized you are. Car accidents, the death of someone close to you, loss of a job, etc. are all things that can happen to us that we have no control of. What we do have control of at all times is how we choose to react to the things in life that happen to us.

First of all, there may be times we do not always understand why something happens to us, but we can lean on our faith during these times for strength and guidance. There have been several times in my life that I have gone through situations that were very low valleys in my life, however looking back on them I can see how events during that time either shaped my life and faith to make it stronger or how I was a key puzzle piece in the change of the course of events, that I know was part of God’s plan. I got a fortune cookie yesterday that said, “Courage does not come without fear or suffering.” As coaches often tell their athletes, “No pain… No gain!”

What it all really comes down to is whether or not we are living in the Spirit or not. It says in Galatians 5:16-18, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”

You can slide into a negative lifestyle because of things that have happened in your life and become like the cynical Cigarette Smoking Man with your sinful nature evident for all to see. When you don’t live in the Spirit you can carry a black cloud with you where ever you go, casting a shadow on everything you come into contact with. Galatians 5:19-21 warns, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

You must make the choice whether or not you will dedicate your life to Christ and focus on making your life one of good character and strong faith. When we dedicate our lives to God we are blessed by the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-26 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” If we are willing to honor God’s will for our lives and work through the sanctification process, there are blessings and the fruits of the Spirit that we can look forward to.

Nehemiah 8:10 says, “…Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." When we keep our focus on God the things of the world that would drag us down begin to fade away. We can begin to see God’s hand and purpose even in some of the most difficult and hurtful times. We can stand strong and hold fast onto our faith, because we know that God has no limits to His love or His power.

Life really is like a box of chocolates. True, you might not know what you are getting, but often there are clues for you to follow. By experience we learn what kinds of flavors come in what shapes, colors, and sizes. There may even be a diagram or description if we take time to look for it. With experience as we grow in our faith we learn and understand more too. The Bible is our best description and diagram for our lives if we would take the time to study it.

We may not always like all the chocolates in the box but some people must like them or they would stop making them. We may not always see things the same way or have the same opinion as other good Christians, but that does not mean that we can’t work together to honor God’s will and glorify His name. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the reason for the “assorted chocolates” in your life are not for just you to eat, but they are there for you to reach out with the sweetness of life to share with others? What may mean so little to you, like the discarded chocolates you don’t care for in the box, might mean everything to another person if they are their favorite flavors. Oh, please don’t be one of those selfish and impatient people either, that goes through life poking holes in the bottoms of the chocolates, taking the one preferred piece and ruining the rest of them for others.

So what if you don’t like the chocolates. At least someone thought something of you to give them to you. Think of how many people won’t be remembered in any way. It is the thought that counts, just as it is how we choose to live and think by faith that will make the difference in the end. If you don’t like the chocolates rejoice that you can be a blessing and share them with someone else.

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Don't forget to find the link below for More Footsteps In The Valley. You will find the prayer that goes with this message there, along with other interesting links and information. Take care and God Bless.

Lord Give Me Patience and I Need It Right Now!

2007-03-18T19:29:00.000-05:00

Psalm 27:14
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

The verse, no actually the whole chapter is one more than any other that I hold fast to because is does a lot to sustain me through rough or troubling time when I am walking in the valley. This one verse however, I have to admit is the part I have the most trouble with sometimes. You got it, the patience part. There are times when I pray, that I do get an answer right away, just as I wanted things to go. There are times when I pray, that I do get an answer right away, but it is not the answer I expected. At least I have my answer. Then there are times when I pray, that I don’t get an answer right away or I am told to wait for my answer. That is what Psalm 27:14 is telling us to do. It is not telling us to expect the worst, give up, make assumptions, or sit and worry. It is telling us to trust God for his reasons and wait on Him. Even if we are in the middle of a battle, if we truly trust God and have faith, then we should be at peace while we wait because we know God is in control. We are to be watchful of signs He gives us while we are waiting so that we stay on the path He has for us.

Now, I do have patience of some things. You have to have patience to be a good teacher. But, I also admit there are things I get very impatient for. My friends and family know if you want to drive me crazy just tell me you have a surprise for me. It will drive me crazy trying to figure it out. The unknown that I have no control over makes me very impatient. Where can impatience strike? It may be your job, family relationships, finances, etc. that needle at you. Another area a lot of people lose patience over is in the heart department. Often singles are so impatient to find Mr. Right or Miss Right that they don’t ask God or wait on God’s directions.

Stop, think, and pray. There usually are four reasons I can give you that God could be telling you to wait. The first reason is that He is still working to put into place key pieces of the puzzle for the situation you are in. You are praying for a new job and God intends to give it to you, but He is putting things into place right now and it is not ready yet.

Second, you are not where you need to be in your situation or in your faith and God needs to work on you and strengthen you first, so that you can handle what you must face in the future. This is not necessarily a bad thing it can be a good thing too. People don’t run companies well without the proper training and experience. God knows us better than we know ourselves and we must trust Him in these judgments.

The third reason works in with the second reason. The reason you may have been asked to wait is to test your faith. God wants to see if you are ready for promotion or for the relationship you are praying for, so He tests you by asking you to wait. If you have a strong faith, you trust God and turn it all over to Him. You know that He will make the best judgment for you. If what you want means as much as you say it does, than you are willing to make the sacrifices to get it and it is well worth the wait for it.

The forth reason is often the most painful one. This reason is because we are wrong and God needs time to make us see this and redirect us. The more blind we are to our faults, the more off the path we wander, the more stubborn we are to listen to God, the harder it will be and the longer it will take to get back in His light and on the path again.Oh yeah, God can answer our prayers with WAIT, but will we listen? When He tells us to wait, this is not just His opinion this is his call for faith and obedience. We can heed his warning and obey or pay the consequences. When we are asked to wait we need to find time to be quiet, step back, catch our breath, be calm, stop, think, pray, and not make any knee jerk reactions.

God does not leave us out there hanging alone as we wait. If you read the rest of Psalm 27 you will see that He is there for us and will protect us too. In Psalm 27 David refers to The Lord as his light and his salvation, the stronghold of his life, his fortress, his protection against enemies, his best defense, his confidence, his refuge, his rock of strength, his teacher, his leader, the one that is always there for him even when no one else is, the one he seeks above all others, and the one that he praises and shouts with joy for during his troubled times. Why would he be praising the Lord and shouting with joy in the situation that he is in, where his life is obviously in danger?
He is praising the Lord and shouting with joy because he has faith in the Lord and trust that God has already gone ahead of us and by faith He will lead us safely down the path that follows His will, to a place of safety and blessing.

So why can things go so wrong sometimes? I can tell you that we fall prey to our temptations, weakness, rash impatient judgment, or stubbornness. We don’t accept God’s command or we think we can work our way around it, or even bargain with God on it. God does not change His mind when He asks for obedience, God does not make bargains in exchange for obedience, and we can not sneak things past God either.

When we do not accept God’s judgment we take things into our own hands and try to run ahead of Him. We run past His light into the darkness and then have to look back to Him for help. In the darkness we don’t have clear footing so we stumble and fall. Then we are in pain and look back crying for God’s help. The further we have gotten away from the light and the further we have strayed from His path, the longer it will take to get back in the light and the harder it will be to get back on the path. We may have also sacrificed the blessings that God had intended for us in the first place. It does not mean He has given up on us and that we will never be blessed again.

We are God’s children and He loves us. We may need to face correction, redirection, and teaching, but He will never give up on us or leave us. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’" We need to free our lives of anything that we put above God and be content in the path God has planned for us. When we can do this we can be at peace even during the roughest times, because we have given control over to Him and no man or evil has power over God. When we are in the dark it is because we have moved away from Him, and not that He has left us.

So what do we do while we wait? Romans 5:1-5 tells us clearly, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” We can rejoice because we know that God has a plan for each of us and His plans for us are perfect and all we need. You should be encouraged by that.

His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts and His timing is not our timing. God will do things in His time and in His way. By faith we must trust and believe in Him at all times. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, ‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” When you find yourself impatient you need to find a quiet place to refocus and pray. God tells us that if we are obedient, trust him, and wait on Him, He will give us the courage we need and strengthen our hearts. He will also give us the peace and contentment that will sustain us as we wait. We can focus then on what must be done and on serving others instead of being chained down to our worries and anxieties. Praise the Lord!

Waiting can be nerve-wracking and the anxieties can overcome us with temptations to rush ahead and try to handle things ourselves if we do not hold strong to our faith. Lust can take over for love, greed can overtake common sense, stubbornness can make us blind or shortsighted, weakness can give in to addiction or obsession, and impatience can cause us to make wrong rash judgments. Hindsight may be 20/20 and we can often see where God has tried to warn us not once, but several times, and yet we still chose to rush ahead into the darkness. When God finally does get our attention and we finally do trust in Him, He will brings us back to Him. Then, how many of us will ask, “What took You so long God?” What we really need to do is face our faults when God asks in return, “What took YOU so long?”

Please do not rush into relationships or make other decisions that can and will affect the rest of your life without the proper direction. Pray and wait on the Lord for an answer. Seek His counsel and then follow it, no matter how difficult it may be. Trust in God. Don’t give God time limits either. If your wish is to be a good Christian then it requires obedience, patience, and direction. Your best direction will be found in the scriptures. Measure all your judgments with God’s Holy Word. Proverbs 1:8-10 says, “Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.” What this is telling us is that we can also seek Godly counsel from others that walk in faith, and then use their counsel to be a stronghold for us.

For instance, if a man or woman you are interested in can not honor your life by faith then you should not have any part of that relationship, because you will always be tempted to stray from the faithful path God has for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Test everything. Hold on to the good.”
How can you put God first in your life if you can not focus on His will for your life? Psalm 37:23-24 says, “If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

God is our loving Heavenly Father. He loves us and only wishes the best for us. Just like young children do not always understand the tough love parents must give their children, we will not always understand Gods command to wait. God wants you to ask Him for His help and guidance. He is your Heavenly Father and He will not withhold what is good and right for you. James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Psalm 119:165 says, "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” You must make the choice now whether you will walk in His light or stumble around blind in the darkness by rushing ahead.

If you are in the dark right now seek His light. You can not be in His light and also live in darkness. If you have sinned or made mistakes by rushing ahead of God, STOP! Turn back, pray, ask for direction, and pray for forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God will not give up on us when we fail. We must also forgive ourselves and others too in order to move on. When we call for Him, He will always lead us back to Him.

Are you in the valley right now with something you are dealing with in your life? Don’t rush into a relationship or a decision with impatience. Wait on Him and stay in the light.

FaithfulToOne © 2007

How Heavy Are Your Burdens?

2007-03-17T20:09:00.000-05:00

How heavy are your burdens today? Do you feel impatient for God's answer to your prayers? Are your days spent in worry full of anxiety and stressed out, because you can see no end to the valley you are in right now? Maybe God has given you an answer to your prayers. Maybe you just don't want to deal with His answer. Has He given you the command, "Have courage and trust Me. Wait on Me. Hold strong to your faith and I will be there for you when you have patience now." If this is the case and you are seeking guidance check my blog tomorrow for my Sunday post titled, Lord Give Me Patience, and I Need It Right Now!

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Burdens

I do not carry my heavy burdens alone
Though fragile and weak I feel strong
My gracious Lord be with me now
Give me courage not to stumble or fall

I am fully aware that it is your love
Coursing faithfully through my veins
Once a lost soul without you Lord
With no direction, courage, or strength

Terrified I would run and hide

My Lord when I am with you
Dark shadows do not scare me
Your grace lights my troubled path
A Heavenly light so pure and bright

Shadows that cast fear can’t survive

I praise you Lord
For your merciful peace
Contentment calms my heart
Allowing me to focus on you
Discouragement fades away

Lord walk with me
I feel protected close to you
I do not carry my burdens alone
With prayer your spirit
Fills me full

FaithfulToOne © 2005

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Freedom

2007-03-16T22:54:00.000-05:00

Free to be me! It just cracks me up to see things like tie-dyed clothes, peace symbols, flower power cloth patterns, toe socks, etc. return to the fashion scene with young kids acting like these are all whole new things. Then there are some new fashions like the ripped blue jeans too that are currently popular. Oh I’m sorry let’s not forget one of my personal NOT favorites- Slouching pants. You know the ones that wear the waistline down at their knees with a shirt pulled out over them (Sometimes with their boxers showing). Oh, ladies I can’t say I care much for your thong straps showing either.

I remember when I was younger, back when mini skirts first came in style. Of course the big argument at home was, “How short was too short?” Well, I can remember my father’s statement on this, “The skirt or dress could be short enough to be interesting, but it better be long enough to completely cover the subject.” He said, “If you have to go out advertising it all the time, then it can’t be worth all that much.” Oh, there are definitely those fashion statements that we would for sure say, “No Way!” if they ever tried to bring them back again, like the men’s polyester pastel leisure suits of the “70’s”. I really want to know how those ever came into style in the first place.

All this so we can express personal freedom and style. What is so funny is that often we think we are expressing our own personal freedoms and styles (especially when we are teens driving our parents crazy with them), but the funny thing is that we are often just getting sucked into the fashion trends of the time, with others dictating what is cool and current for today so that they can profit by it. Those that are really free in expressing themselves are usually the ones that people make fun of because they don’t fit in with the rest of the “Cool Group” of popular kids.

Then there is the whole freedom of speech thing. This is a very important right that we have as Americans in this country. The fact that we are free to express our religious views without fear of being thrown in jail or worse (like in other parts of the world) is something we often take for granted. However, with that said, I sure wish people would use some common sense with this. Our news media never ceases to amaze me in their quest for headlines. Like the one night I was listening to the news about a kid that was arrested after he made pipe bombs. When ask how he learned how to do it, the reporter said that the boy had learned how to do it from a site on the Internet. OK that much is fine, but then the idiot (sorry but this is my opinion) news people go and tell people the exact Internet site where they can find the directions on how to build a pipe bomb can be found. Gee, let’s give more troubled and dangerous people information so they can build them too!

There are so many people that take our freedoms for granted and don’t understand that there are responsibilities and a cost that is paid for the freedoms that they have. It is the same for Christians too today. Christ paid the price on the cross so many years ago, so that we are free with our faith in Him. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 says, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Having freedom with the Lord means we are free from the bonds of death. We are free to become all that God has planned for us to be.

The more we grow in faith the more we are free from the temptations of our own sinful nature and the life we use to have. The more we trust God the more we free ourselves from fear, worry, depression, and many other emotions that can weaken our walk with God or even destroy us if we let Satan prey on our weaknesses. This does not mean we are free to do anything we want and still call ourselves good Christians. Galatians 5:13-14 says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." This means it is up to us to maintain self control, through the control our faith now has when we trust in Him.

For non-Christians it may seem odd or nonsense when we say that when we give everything over to God with our faith then we are truly free. How can you be free when you give all control up? David wrote in Psalm 57:1-3, “Be gracious to me, Oh God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven to save me”. God does expect our trust and obedience but look what we get in return. If we have faith and turn it all over to Him then even in the darkest hours in “The Valley” times of our lives we can fell the freedom and peace that He gives us, when we know that He is in control and that He will take care of us.

I can remember an experience I had several years ago. I was teaching middle school art at the time. My students had painted a 6 panel mural that was chosen for national exhibition in Washington DC. Each panel was double sided and measured 4x8 feet. They were too heavy and big for me to move by myself. We were asked to exhibit the mural at our City Hall building for one week, before it was to be sent off to Washington DC. They had even planned a small reception after our City Hall meeting to honor the students’ achievement. Well, the afternoon came and I had to get the mural to City Hall and get it set up by 6:00 pm. My help fell through at the last minute so the only help I was able to get was loading it onto the truck at our school. When asked how I was going to get it unloaded and set up I told the person that asked, “Well, I prayed and turned it all over to God, because I have no solutions.” I remember seeing the expression on the person’s face more or less thinking I was crazy, as I drove off to City Hall. I did not want to disappoint my students and I had no solutions so, I trusted God and I continued to pray.

When I got to City Hall it was about 5:30 pm and it was like a ghost town. As I walked in the door all I saw was the elderly woman from our PTA that was setting up a table of refreshments for the reception. I asked her if she had seen anyone that could help, but she told me the place as far as she knew was empty since 5:00 pm. She asked me what I was going to do. I told her the same thing I told the other person. However, this time it met with a better response because the woman was a Christian with a very strong faith. She told me that she would trust in God too and that she would also pray for me as I set off to see if I could find anyone to help me. I thanked her and set off on my quest. As I walked down the hall where all I could hear was my echoing footsteps I continued to pray for God to help me find a man strong enough to help me unload and set up the mural. It was less than a minute after I finished praying that I heard some footsteps around the corner. As I hurried and turned the corner I could not believe my eyes. There walking towards me was a very big muscular man. When I asked him if he could possibly spare a few minutes to help me he gave me a huge smile. He said, “I can do better than that!” You see he was one of our city fireman that just arrived at City Hall for a meeting with our other firefighters. So not only did I get his help, but he went to the meeting room and rounded up 5 other big strong men to help too. I never touched a panel. They did it all for me. The PTA woman could not believe her eyes as I came back around the corner with the 6 men. I was smiling ear to ear and as I walked past her all I could say was, “Praise the Lord!” and she echoed my statement with a big smile of her own. God is so good. He heard my prayer and answered it with far more than what I had prayed for.

When we trust God and maintain self-control, we are protected from temptations and other things that would wear us down, prey on our weaknesses, and point out our failures. It is when we trust God and stay strong in our faith and self-control that God gives us peace and other blessings too. That faith and peace gives us true freedom. The Bible warns us that if we lose our self-control we can meet with disastrous results. There are so many ways that we can be tempted to lose our self control. When we lose self control we give up our freedom, because it is our weaknesses and vices that are then controlling us and not us controlling them. Swearing, losing our temper easily, spreading gossip, gambling, letting our quest for material things run our lives, addictions, lust, pornography, or other obsessive behaviors that do not honor God’s will for our lives rob our freedom and self control from us if we are not constantly on guard. The Bible also warns us in 1 Corinthians 8:9, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Developing self-control does not come from just wishing you had it. It is not just the action of doing something right, it is also the action of refusing to fall to the temptation to do something wrong. It takes strong faith and hard work. The frustrating thing is when we backslide to our sinful desires. It is not always easy to just walk away. But that is why we have the Holy Spirit to help us. When we pray and trust God by turning our cravings and temptations over to Him, He will bless us by allowing the Holy Spirit to move through us. When this happens, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome our sinful desires and frees us from the chains that the sinful desires bind us up with. We build self control through our faith and then we are free to resist temptations in the future. Real freedom comes with real faith. Are you ready to turn it all over to God so that you can find true freedom too?

Freedom

No ties to hold me
No Stings to bind
I need my freedom
My peace of mind
I will give you all
That I have to give
But I must control my life
To be able to live

No ties to hold me
No Stings to bind
I’ve found my freedom
My peace of mind
I will give you all
That I have to give
But my faith is with Him
And by Him I will live.

FaithfulToOne © 2007

1 Peter 2:16
Live as free men,
but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

Remember: Use the "Footsteps In The Valley" link below to return to the top of the page. Use the "More Footsteps In The Valley" link below to take you to the second page of my blog. Check it out and see what I have added. I hope that this page and the new one that I have added inspires you and helps you grow with your walk in faith.

This Page Under Construction

2007-03-12T05:24:00.000-05:00

I'm Back!

Sorry I have been gone for a few days. I have finally gotten the problems solved with my computer (Satan does not seem to like my new calling to blog). During that time I was getting it all straightened out, I started to think and pray. I have found more and more wonderful resources as I started setting up my blog. So now I am creating a second page or second blog to get it all in. The first blog "Footsteps In The Valley" will continue to contain my message for the day and poetry. It will also have tools and resources for you to help you with your walk in the valley. The second blog page "More Footsteps In The Valley" will post a daily prayer. I will have a guest book set up on this blog page for you to sign with your prayer concerns. This site will then also have additional tools and resources on it for your walk in faith. Each blog page will have link buttons like what you see above so that you can easily move from one page to the next. I pray that this will inspire, encourage, support, and direct you to a closer walk in faith. Give me a day or two to get this all connected and we will be once again on our journey through the valley. Thank you for visiting my blog and continuing to be my inspiration.

Your Friend By Faith,

FaithfulToOne

Today's Prayer

Oh Gracious Lord, You have given me so many blessings. Thank you Lord for directing my to so many wonderful places on the Internet. You have given me food of the hungry and all those that thirst for information can come here for direction to quench their thirst. Father I pray that you continue to direct my path so that more seed of faith can be spread out around the world to bring others to you. This I pray in Jesus name, Amen

God's Country

2007-03-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

I was reading something my friend Brad wrote on his blog tonight about seeing deer in his back yard, and the impression of beauty it left on him. He wrote, “As I think of the lingering affect of the deer, I have to ask myself what about my footsteps that are left when I am gone. What lingering affect do I have? Boy did this give me a lot of food for thought.

I know what Brad means when it comes to deer and other things in nature. I feel so close to God when I am outside surrounded my nature. I once got into a joking argument with a kind man I had just met. I told him that I lived in God’s country, because of the wonderful clear lakes, the ocean near by, and the mountains a short drive away too. He laughed and said that he begged to differ with me. He asked if I had ever been to Colorado before. Now up to that point I had only seen pictures, but what I saw was beautiful. I always wanted to see Colorado.

Well, I finally got the chance and went out there for a visit. All it took was one look and I fell in love. Colorado stole my heart. The mountains had a beauty that words can’t express and that pictures do no justice. I was at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs early one morning and there were deer everywhere. We had to stop the pick up truck just so I could take some pictures of them. I got to go camping in the mountains with friends and had a wonderful time. On another visit I had an awesome day with my daughter, when we went horseback riding four hours in the mountains, I went on a cave tour, saw sites and loved seeing the sun set in the mountains every day. I always felt so completely at peace there. When I was there I never wanted to leave and come home. I know when I left there that I left part of me. I would love to get back out there, but right now with the path God has me on I don’t know if or when that will be. I do know that Colorado has given me wonderful memories that I will always love and cherish a lifetime.

I think God puts us into situations sometimes to use the people and circumstances so that He can teach us and strengthen us in faith. We can stand and look at the Grand Canyon with such wonder, look at a sunset and not just see the beauty but we feel it too. God created so many wonderful things including us. I have a feeling we would stand in such surprise, praise, and thanks if we could really see ourselves the way God see us, the way we really could be if we were 100% committed to our faith. Sometimes God has to bring special people into our lives, to help us see things though their eyes (through God’s eyes). He can use a special people, special places, a special time, or special circumstances to reach out to us through them.

God has done this so many times in my life. I have been at my lowest, when I have been struggling with something, when I felt lost, when I felt weak, and I felt so alone. God brings people into our lives or changes our surroundings to get our attention and redirected the way He wants us to go. I know not where my path will lead tomorrow. I know only that I will follow Him, trust Him, and try always to honor him.

It is like a good peace of furniture. We look at it and admire it. It is easy to see the value in it. Then something happens and it gets a big long scratch across the top of it. Has the table really changed so much? What percent of the table is really damaged compare to the rest of it? Yet all we notice is that scratch. It is only on the surface and not deep. We are so upset by the scratch but, has the table lost its function? I was so wrapped up in my scratches that I felt of little value. God made so many wonderful things in this world including us. We need to stop paying so much attention to the scratches in our lives and look at the rest. Don’t lose sight of what is all around you that He has blessed you with. Let God take care of the scratches. Trust Him to work you your life. He has given each of us special talents and blessings. Focus on using these to glorify Him. He will refinish you if you let Him, and you will be better than you were before.

The outdoor photographs on this blog were all taken the day of my Mother’s memorial after she passed away last summer. It was a beautiful day and God was definitely there with us. I looked at those pictures and the ones from Colorado and realized something. Yes there are beautiful things all around us. We need to cherish what we have while we have it because we never know what the next day will bring. If we listen to God and trust in Him he will bring us peace no matter where we are or what we are going through. He will reveal the blessings all around us if we trust Him enough to look through His eyes and honor his will for our life.

So now I can say yes, Colorado is God’s country, but so is where I am at right now, even if I have no one special in my life right now. I am in the valley right now, walking God’s path he has given me. Growing in my faith and walking with Him. As I am preparing for my next climb in faith, I know that whatever I need He will be there for me. This is God’s country too, because He is here with me. He sustains me, loves me, directs me, and gives me peace. As I walk the path God now has for me, my wish is to be like the beautiful deer. I wish to leave special lingering memories by the seeds of faith left on my path. May God be with you today and bring you peace.

God’s Country

Beautiful clear lakes
Majestic Bald Eagles
Soaring high in the sky
The sun’s golden warmth
Gently caressing my face

Majestic massive mountains
Framing His creations
With a beautiful array
A spectrum of colors
He painted for me to see

I know that God
Is with me…

This is
God's country

Walking along the beach
I listen to the crashing roar
Of the rolling ocean waves
A witness to just a sample
Of God's limitless powers

Warm sand caresses my toes
Like sand through an hour glass
The Creator’s hand evident
In every grain of sand
All part of the Master’s plan

I know that God
Is with me…

This is
God's country

Breathing boldly deeply
The sweet smell of fresh air
Feeling my heart beating
With the blessing of life
God’s gracious gift to me

I will awaken everyday
With praises to God
For all these blessings
And so much more
My cup of joy overflows

I know that God
Is with me…

This is
God's country

Praying to my Heavenly Father
For his strength and hope
He is there to comfort me
His wisdom is my guide
I will seek to glorify Him

Waiting for Heaven’s glory
To be in the presence
Of our Almighty God
Through Faith in Christ
Lord Jesus I trust in you

God is always
Here with me…

So this is
God's country

FaithfulToOne © 2005

The Lord Of The Dance

2007-03-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

Have you ever gotten a tune in your head that came out of nowhere? You find yourself humming or singing it and it just won’t go away? Well that is what happened to me the other day. Now, let me state that I don’t remember hearing this song since I first learned it as a young girl, so it is not like I just heard it on the radio or sung it in church last Sunday. It has been ages (OK maybe not that long. That makes me sound too old. LOL) since I can remember hearing this song. Still there it was. It was driving me crazy by the end of the day. I remembered the tune and some of the words. I finally started to wonder if this was God’s doing. So, my next step as a teacher of course was a little bit of research on the Internet.

My search took me to The Strainer & Bell website at http://www.stainer.co.uk/lotd.html , because they hold the rights to the song I kept humming. What was the song? It is called The Lord of the Dance. I contacted the company and got permission to post it on my blog. If you get a moment it is worth the trip to their site to read the history of the song and what Sydney Carter wrote about the song.

The Lord of the Dance

Words and Music by Sydney Carter

I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he

I danced for the scribe
And the Pharisee,
But they would not dance
And they wouldn't follow me.
I danced for the fishermen,
For James and John -
They came with me
And the Dance went on.

Chorus

I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame;
The holy people
Said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me on high,
And they left me there
On a Cross to die.

Chorus

I danced on a Friday
When the sky turned black -
It's hard to dance
With the devil on your back.
They buried my body
And they thought I'd gone,
But I am the Dance,
And I still go on.

Chorus

They cut me down
And I leapt up high;
I am the life
That'll never, never die;
I'll live in you
If you'll live in me -
I am the Lord
Of the Dance, said he.

Chorus

Copyright 1963 Stainer & Bell Ltd. London, England

When I got done reading the words to the song I prayed for God to open my heart and mind so that He could communicate His message clearly to me, in a way that I could easily understand, so that I could follow His will. God will lead us and direct our feet, if we have faith and listen. We follow His will so that we may honor Him and glorify His name.

Well, when I got done praying a new thought came into my head and then it all made sense. I started thinking back to wonderful memory I had during a very terrible time in my life. This is the story.

My first marriage lasted almost 19 years. One of the things that my ex-husband and I did together and that I really enjoyed was dancing. Oh, how I loved to dance with him. There was such a special bond that was felt for us when we danced.

Right after my divorce when I was in a group at my church a man asked me out. I made it very clear I was not ready to date but if it was company and friendship he wanted that was fine. He thanked me for being honest and said that would be great. Then he asked me if I could dance. Simple question right? Wrong?

I told him yes and no. Puzzled he asked me to explain. I told him about my ex-husband and how we use to love to dance together. I told him my ex-husband was a good leader but that was for a good reason. I had a close intimacy with him when I danced. The reason it was so easy to follow his every move was that as we danced close together the inner thigh of my leg ever so lightly would touch his. I could feel his closeness, I could feel every time he was about to shift or change. Now the problem was that I was not about to have that intimacy with a friend or stranger. I did not want to lead a man on or give him any ideas that were not there. Well my friend smiled and told me no problem. You see, he had been a competition dancer for several years. Now, when I found this out I almost broke the date right then and there but I didn't because of a promise he made me. He told me he would have me dancing like Cinderella in no time that night. Ok, call me fairytale silly but I had to see this.

Well, he was right. He was a wonderful friend and he showed me such gracious kindness that night. He had me twirling and dancing in a way I had never thought possible. It was a wonderful and very special evening, but when I went home that night, I received some wonderful insight too.

So, what is the message to all of this? The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other. Having faith in God is like the dance. We must surrender ourselves to God, be willing to put our trust in Him, and be attentive to His direction. But there is one more thing that to me is the key to the puzzle. When I went home that night after my date I realized something. I danced better that night than I had ever danced before but I would have still traded all of that to have had one dance with my ex-husband still with the love and bond we had once had as husband and wife. The key that was missed that night was intimacy.

Now, please don't take this the wrong way. What I mean is when we danced as husband and wife it felt like magic on the dance floor, because of the special bond that we shared. I had no problem surrendering myself to his lead. I was more than willing to put my trust in him, and my mind and body were completely attentive to every move he made. I never had to wonder what was going on, what he was doing, or where we were going. I instinctively knew because of the intimate loving bond we had.

The same goes with our relationship with God. Do you have that intimate loving relationship with Him? A relationship built on love, faith, trust, prayer, and devotion? Do you want to just dance some fancy foot work out on the dance floor with God or do you want more? When God calls us to him He wants more. He is a wonderful, patient, and loving leader. He knows all the steps, but he wants more than that from us. He wants that special loving bond with you on the dance floor like the one I use to have with my ex-husband.

So the question I had to face with my faith was want kind of dancing did I want? Was I willing to open myself up and trust God enough to form that intimate bond? Oh, what a glorious day it was the first time I danced that way with God. I now dance with my God with an intimacy that is to be shared with no one but Him. Are you ready to dance this way with God too?

“Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he”

Dear God, thank you for all the love and patience you have shown me. I want that special loving bond with you always. Father lead me, guide me, direct my feet. Let me dance with praise for you, to honor and glorify you forever. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen

FaithfulToOne © 2007

For Our Soldiers Far Away And Their Families

2007-03-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a short post tonight because I have a wonderful blessing to celebrate. My son is back in the states and just arrived home. Praise the Lord. I have been praying for him since he left right after Christmas 2005. He is active with the Army National Guard. As blessed as I feel tonight, I would ask that everyone takes time to pray for those husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, sisters, brother, friends, etc. that are still giving of themselves for our country. Please pray for the families too that have made so many sacrifices. We know by faith that God's hand is on it all, but we need to offer our support and comfort to those in need. Pray for those that have lost a loved one too. I remember the first time I saw my son in uniform when he was training at Fort Knox. I cried with Mommy tears to see that my baby had become a man. How much love God has for us to give the ultimate sacrifice as said in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Our Path With Him

Our prayers are many
Our days are few
The time I have
My heart's with you

Our blessings are many
Our love is strong
Directed by faith
To right the wrong

Our distance still is far
As the moment grows near
When you finally join me
How I wish you were here

I have faith in our love
For the plan God has set
To one day be together
By the goals we have met

Learning to trust God's plan
His Love eases my fear
Our faith ties this love knot
God brings faithful hearts near

Our eyes keep focused on God
Our heads bow humble in prayer
Walking together God’s path
For special blessings we'll share

So as you face today's trials
Don't let temptations sneak in
I’m sending prayers and my love
Through my faith first in Him

FaithfulToOne © 2007

So This Is Love! - Part 2 The Perfect vs The Real

2007-03-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so where were we. Oh, yes the perfect man. For those of you that just tuned in, yesterday I was talking about a movie that I just watched called The Perfect Man. It stars Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, and Chris Noth. The story is a heartwarming comedy. It is the story about mothers, daughters and the lengths people will go sometimes for love. So if you missed reading yesterday’s post you may want to go back and read it first.

Today I’m on my second thought about the movie. It came because of the title of the movie “The Perfect Man”. What is the perfect man or for that fact the perfect woman? Well if all I have to do is answer this simple question my post today will be very short. The answer is there is no such thing as a perfect woman and the only perfect man was Jesus Christ. OK I’m all done. Well not really.

If we are Christians and we are looking for the perfect man, what we are really looking for is a “Real Man”. By that term what I mean is a "Real Man" of faith. Let me put it this way. What is the difference between a real twenty dollar bill and a counterfeit twenty dollar bill? They may look the same, but one has value and the other does not. What you are looking for is the real thing. There are those that say they are saved and believe in Jesus Christ as their savior, but the way they live shows that their words have no value. A “Real Man” (and “Real Woman” too) live their faith every day. You have no doubt about their faith and their beliefs, because they live to follow God’s will for their lives, glorifying Him, and honoring Him each and every day.

So where can we find some guidelines to help us judge if a man is a “Real Man” or if a woman is a “Real woman” of faith. The Bible is always the best place for that.

Colossians 3:1-4 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” “Real Men” and “Real Women” put their faith first in their lives.

Colossians 3:5-11 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” These are things that you should keep an eye out for. “Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Before you were saved you might have had no problems with these things, but now that you are saved if you are a “Real Man” or a “Real Woman” of faith, you should see these things as unacceptable. Before you were saved cussing and swearing, using bad language might have been a habit of yours, but now that you are saved this is something you should not do and you should not accept as OK either. Understand that the excuse, “Well other people do it.” doesn’t cut it with God. You are sinning and not honoring Him if you are doing these things. ”Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Oh, does this hit home when you see so many relationships going down the tubes because one or both people are not being honest with each other or God. Ladies and gentlemen you can’t be a player and be a Christian too! “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” It’s all or nothing with God. You have walk the walk, as well as talk the talk.

Colossians 3:12-14 says, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Now there are five character traits you should be looking for in a “Real Man” or “Real Woman”. “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” A “Real Man” and “Real Woman” make every effort to work things out. They don’t carry grudges and they don’t keep reminding you of your errors once they are suppose to be forgiven. We may have disagreements and argue with others. Remember, none of us are perfect. But we make peace, forgive, and move on in a way that honors God. “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Above all we love each other the way God tells us to.

Colossians 3:15-17 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” You can see the peace and joy when it lives in someone’s heart. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” This is just telling you again that a “Real Man” and a “Real Woman” live their faith.

There is another place in the Bible that you can look too. Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” We should us Christ as a model for our lives.
Ephesians 5:3-7 says, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” You can’t be a “Real Man” or “Real Woman” if you have these impure things in your life. “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Clearer words were never said. “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.” This is specifically talking to those that live their lives as counterfeit Christians.

Ephesians 5:8-14 says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” Children of the light are the “Real Men” and “Real Women” of faith. “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” It not only tells you have nothing to do with counterfeit Christians, it tells you to call them out for who they really are. “For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.” When you take a close look at people using these Bible guidelines, it becomes very clear how “Real Men” and “Real Women” of faith should be living their lives. “’This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’"

Ephesians 5:15-21 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." If you know the scripture and you know the Lord’s will for your life you can’t be fooled or sucked in by the worldly evil that is around us. “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” You don’t need to look for escapes or things to make you artificially happy if you are filled with the Spirit. An artificial “high” always come with a price too. “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Again this is just telling you if you say you believe it you live it.

Now back to the “Real Man”. Proverbs 18:22 tells us, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.” Funny, it does not say that the other way around. A woman is God’s special gift to a man and should be treated as such. I personally think it is the man's responsibility to make sure he is prepared faithfully to recognize the value of the gift God is prepared to give him. He must be ready to take care of it. He must be prepared to recognize the value of it, respect it, cherish it, and be faithful to it alone at all times. It should be cherished above all else except God. He should be ready to step up to the plate and be the Godly head of His faithful marriage. This does not mean being a dictator or a bully. It means that he is a partner to his wife that leads by modeling and by setting the example in their marriage. No faithful woman would have any trouble with a man being in charge of the household if the man truly loved and cherished his wife as the Bible tells him to. It says that a man should love his wife as Jesus loves the church. Men are you prepared faithfully to give a woman that much real love? Men are you "Real Men" of faith?

Ephesians 5:25-33 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body." As you can see God has a plan for us. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." "This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Ok women see that last line you aren’t off the hook. I personally think it is the woman's responsibility to make sure she is prepared faithfully to be a gift that has true faithful value to a man. A woman that lives her life in faith putting God first is something that is priceless above all other worldly treasures. She should be ready to submit herself to him. No that does not mean she is just his maid or slave. It means she is ready to be his partner by faith fully. To commit herself only unto him, putting him first above all else except God. To love him and give to him freely and unselfishly. No faithful man would have any trouble giving freely to his wife and unselfishly cherishing a woman that truly loved, respected, and honored her husband as the Bible tells her to. It is how we prepare ourselves faithfully that will show others if we are a priceless gem, a fake imitation, or a gag gift. Women are you prepared faithfully to give a man this much real love? Women are you "Real Women" of faith?

Ephesians 5:22-24 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

With first marriage success at only about 50% these days and remarriage success rates even lower it is telling us that we have not prepared ourselves to be "Real Men" and "Real Women" first. We must build our relationship with God first before we can look at building a relationship with anyone else.

Have you ever been asked what are you looking for in a wife or husband? We looked at this subject once in a Bible study class I was in. I wrote two poems to my future husband.

Eyes of Love

Eyes are the window to the soul
Showing emotions that we feel
I’m looking for the eyes of love
Telling me now that this is real

More precious than any diamond
They will sparkle with honesty
Twinkling like the stars above
Showing true love for only me

I’m looking for the eyes of love
Sparking with heat from passion’s fire
Mesmerizing me with their glow
Until I tremble with desire

I’m looking for the eyes of love
Eyes with tears to share our sorrows
Eyes that smile as they look ahead
To the joy of our tomorrows

I’m looking for the eyes of love
Respect that mirrors compassion’s care
That looks for strength from God above
Closing each day in humble prayer

I’ve not yet found the eyes of love
That by faith will always be true
Still I’m hoping that my searching
May now finally end with you

FaithfulToOne© 1998

Matthew 6:22-23
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Seeds

Have patience my love we’ve planted our seeds
Faith’s fruitful harvest someday we’ll both see
Our devoted hearts He has heard in prayer
The course He now steers is to our destiny

Challenges and trials that keep us apart
Still like a locked door we just can’t get through
But its God’s will in the seeds we’ve planted
So it’s by His time I must wait for you

O precious Lord Jesus Christ our Savior
We seek your blessings and pray for new life
That faithfully we walk God’s lighted path
Someday soon as faithful husband and wife

Be vigilant my love with humble prayer
Joyful in hope may God’s words be your guide
Take comfort in prayer I am with you now
Pray someday soon I can stand by your side

FaithfulToOne © 2006

Romans 12:12
12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

So This Is Love! - Part 1 God's Perfect Love

2007-03-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

I just got done watching a very cute movie that I would recommend for your viewing. The movie is The Perfect Man. It stars Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, and Chris Noth. The story is a heartwarming comedy. It is the story about mothers, daughters and the lengths people will go sometimes for love. The movie’s description says, “Holly Hamilton (Duff) is on a mission to find her single mom (Locklear) a perfect man, even if she has to make that man up! She creates an imaginary secret admirer based on a charming restaurateur (Noth). This scheme keeps Holly on her toes more than it actually sweeps her mother off her feet.”

Thinking about this movie took me in two trails of thought. My first trail of thought was about the movie’s theme “The lengths people go sometimes for love”. Love can be very blind and foolish sometimes. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, from An Essay on Criticism, by Alexander Pope sums up a lot of the mistakes we make when we fall in love. Love is a powerful emotion that can be the best of times and the worst of times. The major problems happen because we are not perfect beings. We will always fall short at one time or another. True love is when you can love someone because of who they are and in spite of whom they are.

Our love is not perfect but God’s love is. His love is always there for us. What lengths did God go to for love? What lengths did God go to in order to share The love He has for us? I can answer both those questions with one word and one name. Jesus. His love is here to save us. His love is here to teach us. His love is here to comfort, protect, direct, correct, and to sustain us. His love is here for all these reasons and for so many more. His love is here to love us. His love should be a model for all love to follow. Please read the following Bible passages on love.

John 3:16
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Galatians 5:13-15
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

My second thought about the movie came because of the title of the movie “The Perfect Man”. What is the perfect man or for that fact the perfect woman? Well ladies and gentleman I will leave that one for tomorrow. I know, I hate those “To Be Continued” episodes too, but my post tomorrow will have a lot of food for thought. Take care and God bless. This is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it. I pray that you will take the time to be glad in it also.

Dear God, You give me this day to focus on just You. God, I thank You for the many blessings You give to me and the chances that You give me to glorify your name. Father you show me so much love every day. Guide me today so that I can remember how much you love me. Let me see myself through your eyes. Father let me reach out to others today with love, your love. Help me to show love to others in a way that honors you. This I pray in Jesus name. Amen

The Rose

Love is like a rose
With care
Both start as a bud fresh and new
With time
It blossoms to become a thing of beauty
With thorns
There's always the danger of getting hurt
Without special care
It withers and dies

FaithfulToOne © 1998

The Bible As A Soap Opera On Day Time TV?

2007-03-03T16:13:00.000-05:00

Back when I was in college, I can remember walking through the Commons (A central campus building for students to come and hang out) on my way to classes every afternoon. I started to notice the same people there every day glued to the television sets. What were they watching? Soap Operas! You know- All My Children, General Hospital, etc. Now, I had never watched soap operas and never had any interest in them to start with, so I had no idea what the obsession was all about. Oh and yes for some it was a real obsession.

Not to long ago when my daughter moved back home to live with me for a while she started watching the soap opera Passions. She would tape it every day to make sure she would not miss it. A couple of times she was watching it when I was home and I sat down to see what the big deal was. This person was cheating on that person, then this person was plotting to kill that person, then this person was caught in a love triangle with that person, then this person was not really the father of the baby that belonged to that person, then this person was blackmailing that person for the indiscretions they committed and did not want anyone to know about, etc.

Oh my gosh, the drama of it all! I could always guess pretty well where the story lines were going, but it took forever for them to get there. They would drag what would normally be one episode on a night time drama, and then drag it out for weeks. Still, I could feel the way people get pulled into these soap operas and I stopped to think why?

Why are we so easily pulled into other people’s tragedies? Are there really so many drama voyeurs out there addicted to other people’s drama, sins, and miseries? Well, sadly the answer is yes. It is a whole lot easier to escape into someone else’s drama than to stop and face your own. I hate to tell you this but sin is in thought, word, and deed. Where is your mind going while you are watching all of this? Is it glorifying Him?

Then I got a great idea! Who knows maybe some big Hollywood screen writer will read this blog and I can say it was my idea first. Ok, I’ll stop the dreaming LOL. Well, my idea is why don’t they take all the dramatic stories in the Bible, put them in a today soap opera format, and spread God’s word that way. Hey, it could work.

My vote for part of the pilot show is The Book of Job. Wow, now if you want to read some drama at its best, read The Book of Job. (This is a very loose translation) So, here you have a man that is tested to his limits with one tragedy after another. Oh, the things that this man has to go through and endure are phenomenal. No, I am not going to tell you the whole story that would wreck it for you. I will tell you that the story has some powerful characters in it like Satan, God, and several more. If they put this in a soap opera format they would have people biting their nails waiting for the next day’s episode. OK, I am a sucker for happy endings, so I will tell you it has a very blessed and happy ending. You say that you have already read Job before? Well then I challenge you to go back and read it again with the soap opera format in mind. It sure made me look at it differently.

Have you ever been like Job? Has there ever been a time that you feel you just can’t take it anymore? You pray and nothing happens? Have you ever lashed out at God in anger? Have others ever been harsh with you when you are ready falling apart? Has God ever had to set the record right with you on an issue? Read Job and there you will find REAL DRAMA!

So often we are so caught up in learning the scripture, decoding the messages given to us in God’s word, listening to sermons about God’s word, and always seeing it in such a sterile setting that we miss what awesome characters and stories there are in the Bible. The Bible has it all people: Murder, mystery, adultery, betrayal, lust, friendship, love, sacrifice, etc. Forget the new television show Heroes, we have the best super hero character there is. The point that is even more totally awesome is that God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit are all real and not just a bunch of fiction.

I’m reminded of a quote my mother had with a picture of a candle hanging on my younger brother’s wall when we were younger. My younger brother could show out with a very bad temper when he was younger. So, to remind him to think first she had this picture hanging up in his bedroom. It said, “Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason!” This quote has a much deeper meaning to me now that I am an adult.

Oh, I almost forgot a couple of things since I was so excited about Job. First, if you want a bit of entertainment listen to Carman’s song, Soap Song. He incorporates the names of many of the soap operas into his song. It is a great entertaining and inspirational song. I have posted the lyrics to the song below with a link to his website. His music and messages are reaching so many people. Second, I have posted 2 poems from when I was going through so tough trials. It is so wonderful to know that if we have faith, trust, and patience in God when a window closes He will open a new door to a place that was even better than before. I look back on these poems now and can’t believe I was ever that low. I am so thankful for God’s love and His many blessings He has given me. Take care and God Bless.

Heavenly Father, I pray today for your continued wisdom and guidance in my life. Keep me from jumping to conclusions when I don’t understand or can’t see things clearly. I want my light to shine for you. Keep my light of reason burning bright so that I may not fall in Satan’s traps showing anger or doubting you. Keep my eyes and life always focused on you, so that my life may always honor you. Father, I praise you for the many doors you have opened in my life already and I look forward to tomorrow committed to my walk with you. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.

Soap Song

By Carman

Gone are the days of Leave it to Beaver,
Matt Dillon and his sidekick Festus.
Now we survive on the immoral lives
Of those of the Young and the Restless!!

It's not that they're young,
They're just uh, restless!
Not doing at all like they should!
So they go to the General Hospital,
And The Doctors can't do 'em no good.

So they keep on with their Search for Tomorrow
Not doing one thing that's right!
And they all end up in Another World,
About to fall off The Edge of Night!

But that shouldn't matter,
Cuz after all, As the World Turns
You only have but One Life to Live!

There remains a blessed hope for you
And All your Children,
More Hope than Ryan could ever give!

If we want true contentment, peace in our homes
With an end to marital strife
We must live for Jesus Christ
The Only Guiding Light
Not one, but All The Days of our Lives!

For more information about Carman's music and mission click here-
http://www.carman.org/index.shtml

If you have just made a decision to follow Jesus or if you want to put a prayer concern on a global prayer chain click here- http://www.carman.org/faith/

In Darkest Hours

I stared lost tonight gazing up at the ebony sky
Wondering why time seemed to keep passing us by
Hopes and dreams like stars once sparkled so bright
Clouds of doubt overcast the damp cold darkened night

There was neither the welcomed heat nor fiery glow
From the reassuring gentle touches felt long ago
And like the blazing sun and summer’s cheerful days
Those precious warm feelings seemed so very far away

The dark lonely winter that now brings a brisk shiver
Satan’s constant jabs causing scarred skin to quiver
His chilling cold touch penetrating deep to the bone
Stirring faithless doubts into the lingering unknown

Still pondering hard on the many thoughts you wrote,
Piercing cold rushes quickly now through my thin coat,
As evil’s grip tightens at my heart urging fright and flight,
With tears falling on my cheek like the rain into the night.

Has God’s gift to us so quickly become last years present,
A lack of faith jeopardizing precious love and commitment,
Have feet strayed from the path stronger legs once traveled,
Faltering and weak seeing hopes and dreams soon unraveled.

Sweet man let us not lose focus on His bright glorious light,
Like the stars His love can pierce through the cold dark night,
I need my “Real Man” his head bowed now with mine in prayer,
Strengthening our faith through the trials we united must share.

Together let us renew our faithful commitment to our loving Lord,
His strength can then be our battle’s shield and unyielding sword,
With prayers and praises Satan’s grip will relinquish to His powers,
We can walk safely comforted through these long stressful hours.

God forgive me for the faithless worries making me falter and weak,
Your heavenly leadership is what I still need and lovingly seek,
I pray humbled for God’s wisdom to still be my blessing and guide,
I pray that His will for you is standing strong in faith by my side.

FaithfulToOne © 2006

I Now Know A Different Path

Lost now forever in the far away distance
Where even straining I can no longer see
Connections your heart once lovingly made
Tenderly in faith reaching out to me

There I stood in faith on our path
Once feeling so lost and alone
Left to wonder why it’s your heart
That felt such a need still to roam

This ring a symbol of undying love
You proposed and asked me to wear
It came with promise and commitment
The same ones you asked me to share

Then came trials of patience and that of time
Commitment must always face the true test
Your faith failed to place love on the altar
Valued and cherished above all the rest

Then to discover your heart so unsettled
It was clear you felt a need still to roam
Your choice sacrificed our hopes and dreams
With it our future, our family, and our home

The time came and our paths were parted
Still I offered this forgiveness and I pray
That in your search someday you’re given
What you chose so freely to take away

May God now bless you and keep you
To guide you in faith each day from above
Seek Him in prayer to lead your search
For the one in faith you really should love

It is Almighty God that now directs me
And fills me full with so much love
His words healed me and now protects me
As I honor his will and direction from above

Oh it’s what He’s really given me now
And not what you chose to take away
With His love in patience I wait on Him
Because I know His love’s here to stay

I have neither worries nor a shed of doubt
My heart feels the anguishing pain no more
Because I see now when He closed a window
He chose to bless me with a new open door

FaithfulToOne © 2006

Job 1:20-22
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

God's Special Gifts To You - Your One True Song

2007-03-02T06:32:00.000-05:00

I love teaching my high school art students. Now, I won't tell you that they never drive me crazy or never get on my last nerve once in awhile, but they hold a special place in my heart and the blessings that I get from teaching them are irreplaceable. My Art 2 students are currently working on watercolor and ink illustrations and I love watching the talents of my students begin to blossom as they work. I have one very talented gregarious boy that loves playing guitar. For his practice watercolor picture he did a picture of a guitarist in shades of blue reminiscent of Picasso's blue period. He had some dead space left on his paper and when I asked him what he was going to do with it, he gave me a big smile and told me that I had to write a poem for him that would go in that space with his illustration. God has blessed me with the opportunity to share with my students some of my writing and my faith. I was flattered that he would want me to write him a poem. I laughed and told him he could use any of my poems for lyrics when he writes his songs and if he gets rich and famous he'll have to share it with me. I told him I would retire and become one of his groupies. He laughed and said, "Sure thing." I have a boy in another class that always asks what this student is doing. When I showed him the other boy’s picture, I told him about the poem the student requested me to write. When I read it to the boy, he said it was so cool and he wanted to paint it on his bedroom wall. Lord, I praise you for giving me the gifts that allow me to reach and teach my students. I pray that the seeds I plant honor you and bring forth the fruits of faith in the future. The poem Mind Strings is the one I wrote for my student.

Do you know what God’s will for your life is? What are the special talents and gifts He has given you? Are you using the gifts He gave you to glorify and honor Him? We are all like fruit trees. God gives us all special gifts so that like the fruit trees, each one of us can develop these talents to blossom and one day be fruitful and honor Him. God wants us to honor Him by taking the fruits of our talents and gifts He has given us and to use them to feed those that are still hungry in their search for Him.

I feel so blessed for the wonderful friends and family that have always encouraged me with my art work and my writing. Even when I did not believe in myself God made sure that there were others around me that did believe in me. They encouraged and gave me courage to blossom when I thought I had nothing special to offer. They supported me with faith, prayer, friendship, love, and so very much more. God used them to let me see myself through His eyes. I was special and unique to Him because He made me that way. He had a special reason for making me different from others and that is all that matters.

So what does it matter if the tree can blossom and produce lots of wonderful fruit, if it is not harvested and left on the tree to drop and rot on the ground? Is your tree without fruit because you do nothing to grow in faith? Have you discovered God’s will for your life so that your tree is full of fruit? Have you prayed for guidance and direction so that you can harvest the fruit you have and use it to feed others? Don’t let the trials you are facing now keep you from your harvest. Let God use those trials to strengthen you and bless you. Yes I said bless you. I know at the time I was in the middle of my divorce I could not understand how God could use that time of pain and suffering to bless me, but He has in many ways. God can turn bad into good. Good that will bless us and honor Him if we trust in Him.

Don’t let your tree stand bare and lifeless. Don’t let your fruits go to waste. Ask God for direction and support and He will give it to you. Be like Johnny Appleseed instead, feeding many with the seeds he sowed. If we by faith do not seek to find the gifts He gives to each of us we waste the power He gives through them to reach others. Can you hear your one true song?

Mind Strings

Each person has that one true song
A unique tune no other can hear
It comes from deep within the soul
Mind strings playing loud and clear

Your heart becomes the rhythm
The metered beating of a drum
Creative thoughts form a symphony
Your life creating a special album

Some notes high with each new joy
The low notes show all your sorrow
Creating and changing the stanzas
Hope brings promise for tomorrow

Strum your chords and serenade
Playing your melody loud and clear
Give new meaning to your lyrics
Show others the song that you hear

FaithfulToOne © 2007

A Special Gift

The pen moves now on the page
His call in silence I have heard
I feel His will and His direction
It is my writing but His word

To each He gives a special gift
It took time for me to know
What His will was and His calling
The seeds He wanted me to sow

He often speaks loudest when it’s quiet
When I use to feel the most alone
He wanted my undivided attention
For blessed insights that were shown

Once weak in faith and courage
The shadows scared me in the dark
He used my trials to make me strong
Then with His vision came the spark

Now He lights the path where I walk
The Lord I trust to take the lead
And the words in faith that I write
Inspired by Him for you to read

FaithfulToOne © 2007

1 Thessalonians 1:3
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The 50's Flu

2007-03-01T07:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, I sheepishly admit it. In January, I was about to turn age 50 and I was letting it get to me. It is not that I have to look 20 again (Hey it would be nice). I wouldn't go out and nip and tuck everything like Demi Moore did so I could be with a much younger guy, if I had the money (Well maybe a few things LOL). It is just that I really don't feel like 50. When I was 20 years old, 50 seemed so far away. Now in reverse 20 sometimes still feels like only yesterday. I stopped to think what was making me so unhappy about turning 50. Yes our bodies betray us but the shell is not the part of me that is most precious to God or to anyone else that really cares for me. Yes, I wish I could do some of the things I could do at 20 but what I realized is that the 20 year old could not do some of the things I can do now. I guess what it really came down to is that I was really just being time selfish. Time as we get older seems to go by faster and it seems that I never have enough of it anymore and I started to think with my sister battling cancer how much I have left. Then I remembered words of wisdom I read somewhere before. If you have thoughts that tear you down they are from Satan not from God. God's love is there to build us up and make us stronger so that He may use our love, character, and strength to honor his will for our lives. We don't have to be strong people to begin with. We only need to believe and trust in God. His love and strength can conquer anything if we will only believe and trust in Him. So I took my thoughts to prayer. I prayed that God would remove these negative thoughts from my mind and replace them with positive ones. I prayed that His love would show me things that would boost my self-esteem, so that Satan could not bring me down. I told Him that I gave my life to him so many years ago and that my life and my time were His. It did not matter how much I had or didn't have as long as I had God in my life.Since that prayer a number of remarkable things have happened in my life. An old guy friend from back in high school contacted me out of the blue. We were good friends in high school but had not been in contact since then. He got my email from our alumni site. We had so much fun catching each other up with our lives, families, and what we were doing with our art (We had art classes together in high school). I sent him current pictures of myself and my family as well as my old graduation picture. He emailed me back that my new ones were almost indistinguishable from my graduation picture. Now I know he was being gracious but I also know it brought a smile to my face and brightened my day. I could feel God's hand all over it. The next day my students were discussing birthdays and they asked when mine was. I told them mine was the up coming Sunday (What a joy I get to celebrate it this year on the Lord's Day). Then a student asked how old I was going to be. A boy said, "You never ask a woman that!" LOL Well I tell you the way I had been feeling I would have let it drop at that, but a joy came into my heart at that moment and so I said guess. They started at 35 (I know they started low so they would not insult me) and I kept saying higher. Now I don't know if God was clouding there eyes LOL or if they are just really bad at guessing age LOL, but I actually had to pull out my driver's license because several of my students would not believe I was about to turn 50. They said I look and act way too young to be that old. Well children or not God gave me such a shot of adrenaline joy I could not believe how he was answering my prayers. He has done so much to point out the blessings and gifts he has given me with time these past 2 weeks. All I can say is, "PRAISE THE LORD FOR YOU FILL MY HEART WHEN EVER I AM IN NEED." So yes growing old is a fact of life we can't avoid and can only try to cheat for so long. However God has shown me so much love, I can now say that I welcome 50 with open arms and praise. Oh, I purposefully left the best for last. Right after I said the original prayer God spoke to me and told me something that filled my heart with such joy that it brought me to tears then as it does now. Before I prayed I kept thinking of when I was around 20 years old. After I prayed God said to me, "Would you really want to go back to being 20 again? You did not have your daughter I gave you. You did not have your son I gave you. Your gifts and wisdom were not what they are now. Do you really want to be 20 again? You weren’t saved when you were 20. Would you really want to be there without me again? I shouted, "NO! NO! GOD NO!" At that point I felt such peace, faith, and joy in my heart. God I don't know what is in my future, how much time I have, or where you will take me. As long as I have you God my time is precious and good. Come on 50, I can't wait to see what God has in store for me!

Beauty Is Skin Deep

Firm and Fit when I was twenty
Lord I was really hot way back then
The trials that age would bring to me
My youthful body never to be seen again

It is ten times harder to lose a pound
But a whole lot easier to put them on
Days of not worrying what you eat
Well those days are all long gone

Oh other things have made their mark
With two pregnancies there was a price
My Mommy breasts no longer perky ones
Still I’d do it again and never think twice

Trying to find more time to exercise now
Since my metabolism keeps running slow
What’s my good and bad cholesterol doing
Lord there is so much more now to know

My middle aged spread tries to spread more
What ever happened to my buns of steel
Celery sticks, V-8, and diet shakes
What I would give for dessert with my meal

It use to seem whatever I wanted to eat
Was either fattening or not good for me
So I changed my diet and eat healthy now
Hoping my mirror will be nicer to me

Oh then there is that moment of truth
When you have to climb up on the scale
To see if all your efforts really paid off
Hoping now this time your diet won’t fail

I have learned it’s important to be healthy
But youthful looks are only skin deep
For no man or woman can control time
Not with special creams or beauty sleep

What’s more important is what’s inside
Faithful beauty is the true answer for me
God gives faithful men rose colored glasses
And someday one will look lovingly at me

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Decisions? Decisions? What Are You Waiting For?

2007-02-28T18:29:00.000-05:00

There are times in your life as a Christian that you must make difficult decisions to honor God’s will for your life. They may not be popular ones. Popular world views today often disagree with what the Bible tells us is right. They may be something you don’t want to do. It is hard to break old habits. It is hard to separate for old friends that are bringing you down and making you backslide in your faith. It is hard to stand out from the group because you have made a faithful decision.

Satan often tempts us and then makes us comfortable in our sin, so it is hard to change. Even when we know it is wrong, sometimes the pull is too strong if we try to do it all by ourselves. Just look at all the smokers that honestly want to quit smoking. They know the health risks, but time and time again start back up. Just look at this website to see a list of things people can get addicted to http://www.addictionz.com/addictions.htm

God is there for us. He can be our shield and sword when we include Him in our struggles. 1 Corinthians 10: 12-13 says, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” It does not say you will be able to do it on your own. It says that you can succeed if you trust in God for help.

Some decisions may be ones that totally go against what we had planned for our lives. Sometime we meet someone and think this is it, but God has other plans. Sometimes it is a call to change jobs when we love where we are and don’t want to change. Our plans are not always God’s plans. We have to remember that God sees our whole path and the final destination. We see only what He lets us see. As they say, Hind site is 20/20. How many times have you worried over something or not understood what was going on in your life, only to look back days, weeks, months, or years later to see how God had His hand on the whole situation at all times.

Sometimes God uses these times to test us and to help us grow in our faith. He closes one door for us and then waits on us to get to a certain stage in our lives so He can open the next door. When we merely tread water instead of swimming to the goal God has for us He waits. Sometimes we get scared and pick something closer to us to swim to because we are afraid we can’t make it. This detour can cause all sorts of trouble until we correct our error. Sometimes we even have to get over the fear of getting into the water in the first place, because we can’t see the bottom. It is only when we trust God enough to dive in and swim for the goal that he has planned of us that he opens up that next door and reveals His plans and His blessing for us.

I remember an occasion that this happened to me. It seemed like what God wanted me to do, made absolutely no sense at all. I thought if I do this people will think I am crazy. So I prayed and prayed for what I wanted to happen. Each time I did and each time I talked to people about it, I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach. God was telling me I already had His decision and I needed to trust Him and obey. Finally one night I fell to my knees and gave it all over to God. The next morning I woke up with such a peace inside of me. I knew it did not matter how crazy it seemed it was God’s will and it would be OK.

When I got up that morning I immediately proceeded to do what God wanted me to do. Each time I told someone about my plans and each time I did something to fulfill God’s plan I felt such a peace and joy inside me. Over the next few days all the things that I had fretted about and worried about were all taken care of by God, in a way I can only describe as miracles. He opened the next door.

I remember praying one night praising God and giving thanks. As I was praying I remember thinking, “God I still can’t believe all this. My Heavenly Father how wonderful you are, but what took you so long?” Well the answer came back loud and clear as if God were sitting right next to me. He said, “OH NO! WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?”

Psalms 37:1-6 says, “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

Is God waiting on you to make a difficult decision in your life? Is he waiting on you to trust Him enough to just dive in and start swimming? Are you worrying and getting worn out treading water when you should be swimming? As I have said before, “It is not always easy to be a Christian.” The journey from where you are to where God wants you to be can look impossible sometimes. We need to trust God and remember that nothing is impossible with Him. I now have a new saying I tell people when things are rough. “You know the saying, God will never give you more than you can handle?” Well I now add after that, “I just wish He wouldn’t have such confidence in my abilities.” God is great and wonderful. He just believes in tough love.

All In A Year

I sit here alone now to reminisce
To ponder on the past of 2006
Days now gone never to be retrieved
For some I smiled and some I grieved

The sands of time still to trickle on
A new year arrives before the dawn
The past now set under lock and key
With a future ahead I can not see

Nothing I can do can stop the clock
I have no key that can open the lock
My life is now set to His plan and time
It belongs to Him and no longer mine

I’ve had my blessings and my trials
Love found and lost across the miles
My dear mother also passed in peace
Special memories of her never cease

Paths that were traveled abruptly changed
Sadly I accepted love lost and estranged
New direction sought in tearful prayer
Emotions stripped and lied bare

Then God showed me His healing touch
Giving me the peace I longed so much
In 2007 faith shall be my guide
I know my Lord will be at my side

New hopes and dreams now for 2007
Said in prayer and sent to heaven
Waking in the morning to a new year
With God I know no cause for fear

FaithfulToOne © 2006

Patience

Straining to look through the dense foggy mist
For elusive answers I can not see
Decisions made based on only blind faith
Surely God knows His divine plan for me

Temptations seek to make my faith falter
It reaches out clawing deep to take hold
The answers now will never be given
Until it’s His plan for me to be told

My own quick answers have their costly price
When it is not what the Master has planned
The constant fretter’s cost is often high
When he thinks now without God I can stand

Lord I pray for strength and seek divine light
For peace and patience that comforts my soul
I pray waiting on God’s wisdom and grace
It’s only blind faith that gives Him control

FaithfulToOne © 1998

Psalm 37: 7-9
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret- it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

Silent Standing At My Door

Your words abrasive to my heart
Once so full of love and tender
My faith still leads me down a path
That forbids my weak surrender

The sweet verses softly playing
Now sound different from the first
But the message I keep hearing
Still the same one we once rehearsed

With love God beckons wait on Me
Show obedience don’t despair
The picture will be clear with time
Keep your faith strong with hope and prayer

I’ve released my fears and sorrows
Relinquished tears drop in His hands
God’s grace will choose the place and time
To see what’s written in the sands

Your course I’ll shadow with no blame
Though I feel you’re misdirected
A hard journey to forgiveness
Facing trials least expected

Now silent standing at my door
With feelings boding there’s no end
With God all things are possible
I must endure till He amends

FaithfulToOne© 2006

Psalm 37: 5-8
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.Psalm 40:1I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

THE BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL ON THE INTERNET

2007-02-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

Well all I can say is Praise the Lord and a big AMEN. Apparently Satan is not happy with what I am doing here in Cyber space. Last night I got home late because of an open house at my school. After taking care of a few things I got on the computer to check my email. Things were going just fine until I decided to type out my post for my blog for today and change a few things on my blog. The minute I tried to open up my blog and my blog file for today (I had it in my email files) My Internet connection went down. Yes the very second I tried to work on my blog. Hummmm I wonder why. I tried everything I could to get it fixed with no success, so I am going to call the company this afternoon because it is not my computer.

I also have a blog on another site that I am planning on leaving. I am having posting problems with it too. The blog is on bigchurch.com . This site says that bigchurch.com is an online personals site for people who are deeply committed to their faith. The Internet site is suppose to be a friends’ network fellowship and dating site for Christians to find friendship, fellowship, and a mate. I went on the site because it had a friends’ network along with offering a free blog feature where you can set up free blogs to share your faith and fellowship with other Christians. There are some very fine Christians on the site, and I have made some good friends, but after I found out the truth about the company that owns the site my faith and moral beliefs will not allow me to stay. bigchurch.com is owned by one of the largest pornographers on the Internet. See the following website for details http://www.christiandatingservice.com/bigchurch.com.html

Proverbs 3:21 says, "My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight;" bigchurch has no interest in glorifying God. It is owned by sinful greedy people that are profiting off of sincere Christians like the moneychangers in the temple. All they care about is money people (I personally think Satan is using it for his playground too). This became more evident when profiles revealed that there were scammers at the site trying to take advantage of others that were good honest people. When we would expose them it would take a while for bigchurch to kick them off the site and then the company would let them right back on again. Some were exposed over and over again. Now if this was truly a Christian site this kind of deceit would not be tolerated. Another thing I noticed before I found out about the company’s background was that there were a few people that were emerging from the blogging group that were just plain evil. Their goal was to stir up trouble, hurt other people’s feelings, make people mad and cause pain and dissension among the good Christians that blogged on the site. I also found out that the site allowed people of the same gender to seek one and other (It says they don’t but I have seen other wise on the site). The last thing that iced the cake was that in the copy of the agreement people OK when they join the site there is a part that states that anything you write in the blogs, they have rights too unless you copyright it first. That means that these kind Christians that are pouring out their hearts, souls, and faith to each other are giving this immoral sinful company all rights to whatever they write. They may use it as they wish, in or out or context They can use it however they want and can profit from it too if they like.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God". How can you be glorifying God on a site like this no matter if you are a paying member or not? Your presence there supports the site. Those that are on the site speaking falsely and stirring up trouble will pay a price, because Psalm 101:6-8 says, "No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence." But do you think God approves of a place like this that supports pornography, adultery, and other sinful things?

My goal for being on this site was to find another place to share some Christian fellowship with others and to share my writing with them too, just like I am doing with this blog. My profile was very clear about my firm beliefs and that I was not looking for casual dating experiences. I like others went to the site in good faith that we were going to a place that would honor God, with the kind of fellowship we were having. Oh, but Satan is subtle in his deception. Things that look faithful can be far from it and Christians need to be on guard and be prepared to discern the difference.

Well for me and a few others the decision was simple. We can no longer stay, but when I tried to let others know I was leaving due to faith and moral issues the site blocked my posts and now they are messing with me all the time because they don’t want others to know what the evil truth is. I know that there are those that will stay even if they know the things I have posted here and I feel sorry that they are so lukewarm on this issue. I did feel the need though to post this information here on my blog so that others do not have to fall into a trap like this. Internet dating is advertised all the time. It is big money for the companies that profit off of lonely people hoping to find Mr. or Miss right. Here is a website address that lists other sites to avoid.
http://www.christiandatingservice.com/sitestoavoid.html

Now, I am not saying that you can’t find good Christians on the Internet. However I feel you have a better chance finding a needle in a haystack then finding your true love on the Internet. It is a lot easier to be deceived by people on the Internet and to get sucked into false relationships that don’t have the real faithful cement to form a lasting Godly relationship. If more singles would get involved with their local churches and network that way they would be much better off.

Why don’t churches start singles blog groups where singles or groups of singles create blogs and share faith, fellowship, friendship, prayer concerns, etc. throughout the week just like the people are doing on the bigchurch website. This would be more inviting to people that may be shy around others or may not know just what to say. It could give them the opportunity to observe the blogs and then join in when they feel comfortable. It also would give new comers to a church a chance to get to know people through their blogs and through the things they post about. One church group or many could join in. Links could be posted on the church website for visitors to explore and then they would also get a chance to see the fellowship that goes on at the church. I hope this is something to think about people. The Blogger website that this blog was made on would be great for this because it is free and not that hard to use. Group leaders could moderate the blogs too. Your faith blogs could reach out to those in the church, in the community, and out in cyber land like mine does. Can you think of the impact this could have if youth groups would do this with their kids. What if youth groups let the kids set up faith blogs like mine. They could then link them together. The kids could post back and forth about their faith, church members could post to their blogs to support them, and the kids could share them with other kids their age as a witness tool. This would be a far better alternative to the MySpace accounts that so many of these kids have set up. Youth leaders could be set up to moderate these blogs which would offer protection to our kids in cyberspace too.

There are many good Christians on the Internet. We just need to give them the proper forum to use this tool in a Godly way. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" There is faith and hope on the Internet you just have to know where to find it and always keep your faithful guard up. I wrote the poem I posted today about a friend that I have on the Internet that writes just like I do. He challenged me and encouraged me to put my writing out there for others to see. I have not given up on personal contact and fellowship. I just also think there is a untapped mission on the Internet that Christians need to take a closer look at. I would like to recommend that when you get done reading this you scroll down my blog. On the right side you'll find the link for "Interview With The Devil". It is well worth the time you spend watching it, and I think you will see what a powerful tool the Internet can be for God when you watch it. I have some wonderful Christian men and women on the Internet that have been very faithful friends and I feel blessed to know them. I fully believe in the power of prayer and ask that you pray for me and my Internet mission with this blog. I would also ask that you please help spread the word about my blog. It would be a big help with the wheelbarrow of seeds God has given me to sow. Take Care and God Bless.

Faithful Friend

Across a vast distance of loneliness
Your words knocked upon my door
Showing kindness and compassion
Your challenge offered so much more

Their were no false dreams or playing games
Your words shared faith and prayer instead
God used you to free my cynical heart
Giving me fresh new hope to look ahead

It’s written when two or three gather together
The Lord’s says I’ll always be there with you
The night when we talked I felt closer to Him
Listening to your prayer so faithful and true

Even though many miles still separate us
Still by faith I will call you my friend
Our Lord’s love graciously blesses me
With the prayers and messages you send

He uses your words to inspire my pen
Your insightful messages brighten each day
Sharing special faith and fellowship together
His plan now directs and steers our way

Now as I get ready for bedtime tonight
I’ll kneel with head bowed praying for you
May God’s will and wisdom be your faithful guide
Bringing His blessings and joy to you too

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Where Is Your Focus and Your Vision Today?

2007-02-26T04:34:00.000-05:00

Today as you start your day, where is your focus, your vision. The alarm goes off and the day starts always too soon for me. I hate the sound of the alarm clock. I know that in heaven there will be no annoying alarm clocks. Oh back to my morning. I get up, put the dogs out, run to the restroom, post my blog, get a shower, let the dogs in, check the weather, get dressed, grab a little breakfast, pour a cup of coffee, check my email, fix my hair, etc. As you can see my day can get going pretty quickly. Unless I set a time aside each morning for my devotion with God it is easy for me to lose my focus and my vision with God. That is why I now set my alarm just a little earlier (Hey, I am a night owl type of person but it is worth it!) so that I have time for my morning devotion. It makes a lot of difference in how I start and approach my day. I also listen to His Radio (I have a link to it on this blog) on my way to work. Listening to uplifting Christian music that praises God really puts things in perspective for me (It is great at defusing road rage too if you get stuck in traffic.) When I get to school I go to my classroom and sign in. Before I do anything else I take a moment to say a prayer for the day. All these things that I have now put in my schedule take just a little bit of time but it is worth it because it keeps my focus on God. How many people stop to say grace before they eat lunch anymore? I don’t care if I am at a fast food restaurant, in a school cafeteria, or at home I take that time to give thanks to God for my food and the many other blessings He gives me every day. These little things make a big difference. The Bible tells us we are to put God first in our lives. How do we do that? We do it all day long. It is a way that we live every day not just going to church on Sundays or saying night time prayers. How can you expect to know what God wants or where He is leading if you are only in contact with Him once in a while? When you make time in your schedule you will see a big difference like I did. There is an old hymn Be Thou My Vision and Psalm 91 that inspired me to write the poem I have posted today. Will you make time to let the Lord be your vision too?

Lord Be My Vision

Oh Lord be my vision
Please help me to see
All of the changes
That you’ve made in me
You cast out my demons
To ease all my pains
I’m free from sin’s prison
You’ve broken the chains

Oh Lord be my vision
Now faith guides my eyes
To focus on Heaven
You’ve heard all my cries
Covered with feathers
I’m under your wing
With you I find refuge
Your praises I sing

Oh Lord be my vision
Protector and shield
I fear no more shadows
Now evil must yield
My fortress protects me
The victory is won
My sins all forgiven
Through God’s only son

Oh Lord be my vision
Angels watch over me
Guarding every footstep
The new path I now see
With peace and contentment
True devotion and praise
I pray for that special day
When my soul you will raise

FaithfulToOne © 2006

Be Thou My Vision

Old Irish Hymn dating back to the 8th Century
Go to this website for my information
http://community.gospelcom.net/Brix?pageID=7674

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Giving God The Tools To Do The Job

2007-02-25T09:01:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had the rug pulled out right from under you? If you have or if you are experiencing it right now then you know it is a very devastating experience. Your whole world the way you knew it is changed forever in an instant. You are lost, scared, and in a lot of emotional pain. The experience may come from someone betraying you, from life threatening health issues, from divorce, from the death of a loved one, from the loss of a job, etc. There are different things that can cause this unbelievably stressful time in our lives but the feelings that we deal with are the same. We feel crushed, not knowing where we are going to even find our next breath, or if we even want to sometimes.

I can remember people trying to offer me kind words and encouragement as I was dealing with my divorce. I would smile and thank them. For a moment or for a while I would feel better but then the empty darkness would return and the pain would roll over me again like the tide coming in, flooding me with anguish and desperation.

All that was left was my desperate cry in faith for peace. At first I cried out in faith for peace, but found none. Why was God not answering me? “God you are my only chance! I can’t take this anymore! Please help me!” The problem was I was asking Him to help me but I was not giving Him the tools to do so. How can you expect a surgeon to operate on you and remove the cancer if you don’t give him his scalpel and other tools to do it with?

First we need to throw one tool away. This tool is fear. Fear is Satan’s tool. Fear is the doubt that Satan puts in our mind to mislead us and pull us away from God. Fear is our lack of trust in God’s ability to take care of us and handle what we are going through.

Trust is the first tool we need to turn over to God. How can you expect God to give you peace if you don’t fully trust Him and turn it all over to Him.

Prayer is the next very powerful tool that we need to give to God. We need to keep our connection to God open. How can we expect to be able to deal with things if we do not have a close prayer relationship with God?

Thankfulness is another tool we need to give to God. Yes thankfulness. When we are suffering we often forget or loose sight of the wonderful blessings that we DO have. For me, the one I focused on was my children. If nothing else, I could thank God every day for the blessing of my children. Take time and make a list of your blessings big and small. It may be hard at first to think of them, but after a while it gets easier and more joyful too. Then when you are feeling down you can read over them and offer a prayer of thanks.

The more tools we give to God the more He blesses us. When He blesses us, new tools appear for us to turn over to Him. Hope is one of these tools. When we have faith in God and trust in Him during difficult times we find our hope again. When we turn it over to Him, God fills it up until it is overflowing. Then more tools will appear like peace, contentment, courage, etc. We forget sometimes when we are in pain, that the greatest tool of all is God’s love. To give God this tool to use all we have to do is reach out to Him and call on Him.

You see the real story is that God always had the tools and always will. You just needed to believe this and believe in Him. I have three poems that show the way God can heals us if we trust in Him. They show a progression that I went through. Where are you in your progression today? I pray that you will give God the tools He needs to make you stronger in your walk with Him.

Sound Of Light

Down and at my lowest I take this time to pray
Lord speak to me please
I’m alone now and I don’t know what to say

In silence I wait impatiently listening for Him
Lord speak to me please
The door is open and I want you to come in

FaithfulToOne © 2005

Psalm 37:3-10
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. 10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.

Survive

Unable to get a good night’s rest
The weight presses heavy on my chest
It threatens to take my very breath

Can I survive…

A future bleak from all lost hope
Pulls tighter on the noose’s rope
Loneliness choking me inside

Can I survive…

A desperate cry that no one hears
Now all that is shed are silent tears
Defeat shadows with no help in sight

Can I survive…

Depression’s poison flows in my veins
Addicted to my brokenhearted pains
Each new day’s unrest I can’t dissuade

Can I survive…

Exhaustion’s reward shows little peace
I pray each day that this pain will cease
Gripping tightly to my faith I cry

I will survive.

FaithfulToOne © 1998

Psalm 34:15-19
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Safe

My past a whisper in the wind
A tranquil quiet gentle breeze
Gusts no longer howl or blow
God heard my weakening pleas

Angels were sent to block the gales
Through the storms of raining tears
And now like the waters washed away
They have vanquished all my fears

I once stood frayed and frightened
In piercing winds and roaring thunder
Then lightening stuck in raging anger
Its target missed I stood with wonder

Still dazed I felt heaven’s warm embrace
My faith looked up into eyes of love
Safe and secure my head bows in prayer
God has heard me and smiled from above

FaithfulToOne © 2006

Matthew 2: 27
27The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

Faith Can Be A Tough Pill To Swallow

2007-02-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

When I was younger I could never understand why some kids made such a big deal complaining about taking medicine when it meant taking a pill. It was no big deal to me. I could swallow big pills without drinking any water, but some kids would literally gag if they tried to swallow even a tiny pill. If they could eat food why couldn’t they take a pill? Now my “bad medicine” was all that yucky (great descriptive word) foul tasting liquid medicine that would leave an even yuckier (see how well it works) after taste in your mouth. That after taste would take forever to go away. Whenever I would get sick I would try to make deals with the doctors or my parents. If that did not work I would plead (yes I would even stoop to begging) with them to give me pills to take instead of the dreaded liquid medicine. My doctor would usually look at me like I was crazy. He was so used to his pill phobic pediatric patients that he was not sure if I was for real or not. “Listen doctor, I would rather have to swallow big horse pills (That’s what we called those really big pills.) all day than take that gross liquid medicine. Well, it would work sometimes, but unfortunately sometimes the medicine only came in liquid form (I still think they were lying about that one).

My dad would get such a kick out of all the drama, when I would have to take liquid medicine. You know the avoiding, griping, holding the nose, gulping the water afterwards, rolling the eyes, etc. He would continue to tell me that sometimes you just need to deal with things you don’t like if you are going to get better. All the drama just made it worse and prolonged the suffering. He would say, “Just take the medicine! It would have been all done by now if you had just taken the medicine without all the drama.” He was right of course, but just try telling that to a very stubborn, strong-willed, dramatic sick kid. I could only focus on the dreaded medicine and what I was going to do to try to avoid it each time. Hey, I even had the Mary Poppin’s song, A Spoonful of Sugar to validate my struggles. Oh children please don’t take this line of the song literally. Trust me. It does not work. I tried it. Ok, so it was only a case of mind over matter just like taking pills were for other children, but the “matter” back then was always winning the battle. When I finally smartened up and matured I could not believe that I had ever made such a big deal over taking a little spoonful of medicine.

I look back on this part of my childhood now (especially since I had to go through it on the other side with my own children) of course and have a big laugh. But the other day when I started to think of it after I was reading my Bible I started to think about it in a very different light. There are times in our life when we are sick. Not literally sick but sick in our walk with God. God has it all spelled out in the Bible what we have to do to stay well in our walk with Him, but sometimes we just don’t listen or we figure we can push the envelope a bit and still be ok. When we start to get sick (in faith) we often ignore it and continue on with our sinful ways figuring it will just go away. TRUST ME IT WON’T! If we had only nipped the problem in the bud when it was small how much easier would that be?

Ok, so now we at least have to admit we are sick. This does not mean we are ready to deal with things. Often at first we only look at the effect of the illness instead of dealing with the real cause. When we do this, God will allow our lives to continue to suffer and run in circles until we face the cause. This can be years in a person’s life if they do not want to listen to God. Like illness and diseases, small problems can fester and spread in our lives if we refuse to look at the real cause.

I wish I could tell you that the problem is solved when we finally listen to God and face the real cause of why we are so sick in our faithful walk. Unfortunately, we still need to deal with the medicine. Here is where a whole new battle with God can start. Ok, so now I’m going to sound like my dad, “Just take the medicine! It would have been all done by now if you had just taken the medicine without all the drama.” This is where Satan likes to put his two cents in. He will try to blind us with fear, stubbornness, strong-will, etc. to keep us from our close walk with God. We are so wrapped up in our own drama that we often can not see that “the medicine” God is trying to prescribe us (His does this out of His love for us) is just what we need to make us well. All we see is the pain and problems we are experiencing. When God asks us to trust Him and take the pill or yucky liquid we do the same thing I did as a child. We bargain, we plead, we beg, we run away, we avoid, etc. We don’t understand why God would want to mistreat us the way He is, if He loves us as much as the Bible says He does. It is only when we really trust God and turn it over to Him that our eyes are opened and we get better.

Isn’t it a shame that just like when I was a child we often go through this time and time again, each time we get sick, before we finally see God’s wisdom and light. When we finally can reach this step in our faith we wonder why we ever allowed the drama to occur to begin with. God sees the whole path and the destination He is leading us on even when we don’t. All we have to do is trust Him and take the medicine. With this said, I want you to now take a look at the lyrics to the Mary Poppins song, A Spoon Full of Sugar. When you read the lyrics I want you to substitute the “element of fun” for “element of faith”. Now substitute the word trust for the word sugar. Boy does this song take on a whole new deeper meaning!

My faithful advice to you today is take some time today to ask God where you are harboring faithful sickness in your life. Pray for his wisdom and guidance so that you can see the true cause of the sickness instead of just the effects it is having on you. Next, pray that God will prescribe the medicine you need to make you well. When He answers you, my best advice to you is, “Trust God and just take the medicine without all the drama.” Grow in faith and be well!

A Spoonful of Sugar

In ev'ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
you find the fun and snap!
The job's a game

And ev'ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree!
It's very clear to see

That a...
Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his
Bits of twine and twig

Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song
Will move the job along

For a... Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

Rejoice In Hope

I’ve prayed for help to seek the light
For my brokenhearted soul
I’ve prayed to you dear Lord each night
Hoping I do not lose control

But finally I think I know
I am just beginning to see
The love you’re really trying to show
With the trials you’ve given me

Your goal is not to torture me
It’s to build my faith instead
The difficulties now facing me
Are only where you’ve led

For character is only built strong
With perseverance, faith, and hope
Your love is there to correct my wrong
I now pray for your strength to cope

Now it’s not control I pray for
But control I pray to give
In faith I wish to give you more
In your love forever I may live

FaithfulToOne © 1999

Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Are You Ready For The Potter's Hands?

2007-02-23T06:48:00.000-05:00

In The Potter’s Hands

Have you ever been doing a simple task or action in your everyday life, when God chooses to reveal something special to you? At any other time it would hold no special significance to you, but then God makes you look at it in a whole new way, to reveal His truth. When Jeremiah obeyed the Lord in Jeremiah 18, he learned God’s truth by watching a potter form a clay vessel. We can learn a lot more from the potter too. Forming the vessel is just the beginning as God reveals the plan He has designed for our lives.

One morning, as I was looking on the computer for an inspirational E-card, to send my faith partner, I was also thinking about ideas for a pottery project for my high school art students. When I skimmed through the E-cards, I came across a card that had been inspired by one of Max Lucado’s books. The picture on the front of the card was that of a potter’s hands busy at work forming clay on a potter’s wheel. The quote on the E-card was taken from Max Lucado’s book, Cure for the Common Life; “God made you. You’re as irreplaceable as the plan God designed for your life, and today I hope He reveals a glimpse of the many blessings He has in store for you.”

As I read the message inspired by Max Lucado and looked at the picture on the card, I felt God opening my heart and mind. I remembered the words of Isaiah 64:8, “Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Like the potter, God takes our formless shape and molds us into the vessel HE wants us to be, a vessel that will best serve Him. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4: 7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” God creates our earthen vessels so that they can be filled with the treasures that come from our faith in Him. However, like clay some vessels are formed easier than others.

There are days when clay seems to do everything the potter wants it to, easily conforming to the potter’s touch. Still, there are other days when clay seems to resist every attempt the potter makes to form it into the vessel it was intended to be. The potter must break the vessel down and start again. In Jeremiah 18:2 the Lord said, “Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message.” The Lord wanted Jeremiah to watch the potter at work so that He could speak though the potter’s hands. We know that Jeremiah was obedient to the Lord by reading next where Jeremiah said, “So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” Have you ever felt the Lord directing you to do something?

Just like the clay, we must be at the right stage with our faith to take on the form that God intends for us. If we are too lazy or don’t put our trust in God, then like clay that is too wet, we can’t hold the form God wishes to give us. If we are too selfish, stubborn, or too set in our ways, refusing to completely turn over control to God, then like clay that is too dry, we crack and fall apart not bending in the Master’s hands. It’s God’s design that forms the clay not ours. The Bible tells us that during this process, it’s not our place to question our form, or to try and help the potter design what we want our form to be. In Isaiah 45:9 it says, “'Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands?'" Our place in this process is to be obedient to God, committing ourselves by faith to whatever form God has chosen for us.

The Lord also teaches us in Jeremiah 18 how much love and patience God shows us? He does not give up on us. Even if our vessel is marred the first time he tries to form it, He does not throw the clay aside and quit. What a blessed assurance that even if God has to return us to a shapeless lump of clay, He will continue to work with us until He can form us into vessels that are pleasing to Him.

There is one way that we are very different from the clay. We have free will to accept or reject God’s will for our lives. Only when our hearts are ready to turn everything over to God, can He make us into the beautiful works of art He designed for us. Vessels ready to be filled with His blessings. Once we take on our new shapes we are still not complete in God’s eyes. If you have heard the potter’s story told before, this is where the story probably stopped. However, if you were a potter, you would know that for the whole potter’s story to be told, forming the vessel is only the beginning.

Our vessels for God are not complete yet. Just like clay we must go through a metamorphosis. Prior to the first firing of clay (when clay is heated to extremely hot temperatures in a kiln), if a clay vessel gets wet again after it has been set out to dry, it looses its form and returns to a shapeless lump of clay. It is only by firing clay in extreme heat that the pottery completes the metamorphosis. Our vessels grow stronger, completing their metamorphosis when we face trials with true faith and trust in God. If our faith is weak, with faltering thoughts and actions that try to place limits on God’s power, we too can loose our form for who we are as Christians. We must constantly remind ourselves that God is the potter, and we are just the clay. The clay can’t make itself into a vessel and we shouldn’t try to go through trials without God. God knows us because he made us. He won’t put us through trials until we are ready, just as a knowledgeable potter doesn’t fire a clay vessel as soon as he is done forming it.

After clay is formed, it must take time to dry and harden before it can be fired. Dried too quickly and it can crack. Fired too soon and it can explode in the kiln. The time we spend going through trials is the hardest time to keep our faith and trust strong. We often get impatient, not understanding God’s plan for us. The Bible tells us to rejoice as we are going through trials. It says in James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” When we take things into our own hands, rushing through God’s plans instead of waiting on Him, we must face the consequences. Things in our life crack or explode just like clay dried or fired too soon. We look at the pieces we wonder why?

God misses nothing as he scrutinizes our lives. We can’t hide anything from Him. When something is not right in our relationship with God, it is like an air bubble that gets trapped in the clay vessel as it is formed. You may not see it as the vessel is formed and as it dries preparing to be fired, just as we sometimes don’t realize that there are areas in our lives that aren’t right with God. It is only when the clay vessel faces the extreme heat that the air tramped inside the clay expands. Finally it causes the vessel to crack or explode in the kiln as the air breaks free. Our lives will continue to crack or explode too, if we do not deal with the areas in our lives that aren’t right with God.

Praise God for his love and forgiveness, because all is not lost. If we turn to God with repentance and prayer He forgives us and forms us again. He will form us again and again until we have learned our lesson. God’s design is a finished vessel that in the end will honor and please Him. It‘s a shame that we as Christians don’t realize that this process would be much quicker and less painful if we would only turn it all over to God completely in the first place. How many of us have had to be formed over and over again in our lives because we think we know more than the potter?

Many Christians feel that once they have been through the fire the first time then they are complete. They fail to see that they are applying limits to God’s plan. If the potter stops after the first firing, the pottery will retain its shape. It is functional, but it lacks the beauty and completeness that it could be. For the vessel to be complete with all its many colors and beauty it must be glazed and fired again. Glaze can be very confusing, just as there are times we don’t understand where God is leading us. Glaze looks very different in color before it is fired. Beautiful shiny blue, red, and green glazes can look chalky white, dull, or pasty pink like Pepto-Bismol before they are fired. Someone looking at a vessel that has been glazed, waiting to be fired might say, “How can this vessel possibly look the way you are telling me it is going to look? It looks nothing like that!” How many of us try to second guess God?

God reveals His plan for us in His time, and in His own way. We must trust in the direction he is leading us, knowing that no matter what things look like now, in the end we will shine with His glory, through the blessings that He gives us, for being obedient and trusting in Him. James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Did you notice that the vessel must go through extreme heat again after it is glazed, in order for the glaze to change into its beautiful final form? I had to stop and ask myself when I thought about this, “Have I limited myself as a Christian because I choose to settle only to be functional?” I had to honestly say yes there are times in my life that this has been true. Why? Well, there were a number of reasons that came to mind. I was to busy with other things that took me away from my walk with God. I was afraid to go through the fiery trials that it would take to get to where God wanted me to be. I was being self-centered in my life wanting to plan my own directions in my own time. I either did not like or misunderstood the direction that God was taking me, so I stubbornly chose not to follow. The clay was trying to be the potter again. Wow, what a revelation!

As an art teacher, I have to reassure my students that if they paint the glaze I give them on their pottery it will look the way they want it to look, after it is fired again. This is where Christian fellowship can be so important. As others go through their fiery trials, feeling discouraged and weak, it is our responsibility as Christians to reassure them and give them strength through God’s truth and through our prayers. Romans 5:1-5 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” It is only when we allow God to “glaze and fire” us with His will, in His time, and through His direction, that we finally become the beautiful work of art He always intended us to be.

As God forms you today, what kind of clay will you be for him? Can you put your trust in God’s will and let him guide you with His loving hands? I hope and pray that as you trust in God and honor His will, that He reveals a glimpse of the beautiful vessel He has designed for you. May you see yourself through the eyes of the potter. Are you ready for the potter?

FaithfulToOne © 2006

The Power of Creation

Worthwhile things are built

Humble like simple clay

By the Craftsman's hand

Formed and shaped

Piece by piece

Bit by bit

With time

Details emerge

Lines are engraved

With loving hands

The pieces are joined

According to His plan

Designs skillfully decorate

This earthenware construction

An understanding takes form

Functional and yet a work of art

Reinforced through constant prayer

Organized with the Artist's wisdom

With creativity made unique

Metamorphosis complete

With care by the Creator

Words, Words, Words… If You Don’t Have Something Nice To Say, Don't Say Anything At All!

2007-02-22T04:44:00.000-05:00

Is common courteously really all that common anymore? What about compassion and sincere kindness? I was so inspired the other day when I watched the movie about Dr. Patch Adams. He reached out to his patients with humor, compassion, and kindness. Yet sometimes it seems that we have forgotten what power words of humor, compassion, and kindness can have. So many people are so rushed and wrapped up in the stressful lives they lead, that now they wear blinders of intolerance and impatience. The sad thing is that it does not take a lot to make a difference. It just takes thought before speaking. Luke 6:31 says, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12 speaks again to this by saying, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” What a powerful statement. Little words can make somebody’s day, or ruin their day. Words can lift somebody up that is suffering, or they can hurt somebody in a way that cuts so deep that the pain never goes away.

Today try this experiment. Put a big sincere smile on your face. Greet people with kind word and encouragement. Watch them change right in front of you. You have just shown them that you care. For many people you will be the only person today to shows them that they matter and that somebody cares. Reach out to others with kind words today. Think before you speak. Words can work miracles!

What Do YOU Say?

26 different letters
Countless numbers of fonts and words
Words that paint different pictures
Some whose meanings are obscure

Words spoken sincere with honesty
Words spoken selfish with deception
Twisted fiction and false fairytales
In the real end are empty illusions

Words written with true emotion
Flow with a melody that’s their alone
Giving a glimpse into someone’s heart
Looking through a window to their soul

Our faithful words are blessed wisdom
Bible scriptures speak heavenly truth
Exposing the world falsehoods and lies
God’s guide when they’re heeded and heard

There are authors in each of us everyday
As we choose to whom and what we say
Do we honor Him with what we express
Would we say it if He were next to us

FaithfulToOne© 2006

Words

What words will you use today?

Words of love quench a thirsty heart
Words of faith feed the soul
Words of support lift up a troubled mind
Words of humor bring happiness
Words of friendship eliminate strangers
Words of wisdom teach and enlighten
Words of encouragement build bonds
Words of guidance develop character
Words of understanding show empathy
Words of praise show appreciation
Words of forgiveness please God
Words of prayer bring us closer to the Father
Words of hope give us a brighter future

Be careful with your words today...

Words of anger can never be taken back
Words of criticism discourage
Words of hate separate us
Words of discouragement limit others
Words of profanity show lack of self-control
Words of unforgiveness sour the soul
Words of intimidation show immaturity
Words of judgment dishearten others
Words of no value are babble
Words of gossip tear down others
Words of constant pressuring create deaf ears
Words of complaint find no solutions

Think before you use your words today!

FaithfulToOne © 2005

Inspired Words

Always continue to write inspired words
A glorious waterfall flowing with His love
Seeing the Spirit's cascading inner beauty
That's found only in true faith from up above

May your words always reach out to others
Sharing all His peace, hope, love, and joy
With the special gifts God's given you
I pray He guards so no evil can destroy

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

On The Road Again

2007-02-21T06:24:00.000-05:00

There are times in our lives that we face trials and we often get frustrated, feeling lost, alone, and search on our own to find the way. This poem was like a parable to me because there was a much stronger message I found when I read between the lines.

Destinations

I guess my GPS system is broken
The map soaking wet with a coffee stain
My windshield wipers showing their age
So it’s tough to see through all the rain

I know just where I should be now
Clues how to get there are what I need
Everything looks all the same to me
It’s so dark there are no signs I can read

Do I continue to travel blindly
Should I stop and ask for directions
Only fools rely on stubborn pride
To get to them to their destinations

Oh great I just missed the exit
And the sign says no U-Turns
I should not be driving this fast
All wrapped up with my concerns

So I slowed and pulled my car over
Then I bowed my head to pray
Lord I need you now to guide me
Please help me be on my way

I heard tires stop behind me
An officer walked up to my door
Rolling down my window thinking
I can’t really take much more

Having trouble Miss can I help you
My prayer’s answer had arrived
I was not lost or never alone
My Lord was always by my side

I didn’t have to turn around
Confident I followed His direction
Another life lesson learned that day
I arrived safely at my destination

FaithfulToOne © 2007

Psalm 43:3
3 Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Their are times since my divorce that I wonder why people even try dating. I tell you after I tried it a little it seemed like nothing but cluttered traffic. I know for now that God is doing a lot in my life that does not have me traveling in that direction. My faith has grow so much in such a short time. He has given me the strength and courage to reach out in faith the way I never had before. If God wants your attention He will stop you in your tracks and He will keep your life in a bottleneck until you step back and listen to Him. I think that is a big problem for many people today. We get so wrapped up in the traffic of life that we fail to hear God when He is trying to get our attention. Funny (not really) how it is that we get so frustrated with our lives and wonder why. Set a special time aside each day for prayer and devotion and take time to listen for God's direction for your life. With God's directions you will always know where you are going and you can travel in peace. Don't let yourself give into the road rage of life.

Roadwork

The congestion of city traffic,
Another orange sign,
“Oh no!”
Boxed in again.
Turn signal flashing,

“No one is going to let me in.”
This is Rush Hour,
“Move it!”
Nobody cares who you are,

Bumper kissing bumper,
Cutting her off,
Following too close,
“Not again!”
Slowing down,
Looking for the next exit,

“If love is a two way street,
Why do I turn onto one-way roads,
Following a maze of detours?”

Right lane closed ahead,
Merge,
“I need to post
Warning signs too,
Rough Road Ahead,
Dangerous Curves.”

“If love is a two way street
CAUTION,
ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION!”

Red brake lights stop flashing
Like a blinking Christmas tree,
Cautiously, slowly,
She continues on her way.

FaithfulToOne © 2005

Is Satan Pulling You Down Today?

2007-02-20T05:53:00.000-05:00

My father once told me when I was younger, "Nothing worthwhile is every easy or free." I thought about that the other day and how it pertained to my faith. If anyone tells you it is easy to be a Christian they are wrong. For me taking the leap of faith when I finally heard God calling was easy but since then it has been anything but easy. For me it is easy to have faith but not always easy to live in faith. The things of this world are constantly trying to dilute or dissolve your faith. Satan is very subtle in His ways too. He knows how to eat away at our faith. He will find our weaknesses and use them to take our focus and time away from putting God first in our lives.

Absence does not make the heart grow fonder when it comes to God. It distracts us, cuts off communication, and misdirects us from following the plan that is God's will for our lives. One of Satan's favorite ways is when he puts thorns in our relationships with others. Lust, distrust, betrayal, anger, fear, grief, and emotional pain all suck the life out of our faithful walk if we are not careful.

To me though there is nothing that is more distracting than a broken heart. Nothing is more distracting then when you are so wrapped up in your own grief from a relationship that has ended. The pain and bitterness can be overwhelming if we do not turn it over to God so that He can heal us. When we don't turn it over to Him that is saying to God, "I don't trust you God. I don't think you can do anything about it anyway." God can turn all bad things to good if we only trust in Him. He can bring you a peace and a comfort to allow you to deal with things and to heal you too.

Each day should be started in prayer turning it all over to Him. Each evening should be ended in prayer, before we go to bed turning it all over to Him. You would start your day in a much better mood and get better night's sleep too. I personally can't imagine how I would have survived divorce without my faith in God. The pain at times was so overwhelming but it was my faith that gave me the courage to stand up again. It was faith that healed me.

I said that my father once told me, "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy or free." No it is not easy to be a Christian. There are times that I feel Satan doing his best to pull me down. We can praise God for His love and care because He is there for us if we have faith and trust in Him. It is not free either, but the price was already paid long ago when Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. If you feel Satan pulling on you today, trust God and turn it over to Him.

Resolution

Haunted…
Recollections like ghosts from the past
Returned with a malice melancholy mask
Sleepless lonely nights that woke to somber days

Escaping…
With shallow diversions eluding the unwanted truth
Bringing temporary comfort to the crippling pain
But no lasting relief to depression’s void

Reaching…
Desperately seeking my armor of strength
I tentatively tried to slowly stand again
Finding faith’s promise and prayer my protection

Shaking…
I seek to take my first transcending steps
Patiently to live today without always knowing why
With new found hope I search for love and peace

Healing…
I’ve found learning to understand backwards
I must now face the obstacles to dream forwards
My eyes are open again to the promising new light

Knowing…
I’ll never completely dispel my haunting ghosts
I’m learning now to see transparently through them
Resolution brings to my life new goals and hopes

Living…

FaithfulToOne © 2001

Ephesians 6:13-17
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Praise God for His glorious gift to us. Our Savior's light began to shine for us the day He was born, It shines on us as soon as we accept Him by faith in our hearts, and it will never stop shining. As our faith focuses on Him it just keeps burning brighter.

My Savior’s Light

There is no colder deeper hole
Nor empty darker place
Than to live without my Savior’s light
Shining brightly on my face

My Savior’s light now guides me
Each day begins in Heaven’s care
Footsteps taken to honor Him
In His will I watch and beware

For worldly things drag us down
With shadows that block His light
But my Savior’s love never leaves
His life line shining burning bright

I now search God’s words of wisdom
His plan I continue to seek in prayer
Till the day when Heaven calls me
To finally go to join Him there

FaithfulToOne © 2006

Through The Eyes Of A Child

2007-02-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

I think one of the things I enjoyed the most when I use to teach young elementary children was their sense of wonder and the simplicity of their lives. There is something to say about enjoying adult company but there is also something special when you see things through the eyes of a child. Things are so much simpler in a child's eyes. There are times when stresses and trials we face as adults overwhelm us and we find ourselves wishing we could escape to earlier days when we did not have the world ganging up on us.

We need to just stop for a moment and remember that we are children and we will always be children in God's eyes. We are His children and it is that easy to let go of the things that are overwhelming us. We just need to have faith and trust in our Lord. Jesus calls us to Him so he can show us His love, hope, peace, guidance, courage, and so much more. All we have to do is reach out to Him.

When I was going through some old poems that I wrote before I was saved I came across a poem titled Child's Play. I added the addition to the title of the first poem when I wrote Child's Play Part 2- The Invitation in response to the original poem. If we would just stop and look at things through a child's eyes we can often see more clearly. When we see things through a child's eyes we see things in a pure form before the thinking of the world stains and taints it. Don't let the things of the world come between you and your Heavenly Father's call. He is calling. Will you answer?

Child’s Play
Part 1- The Plea

It use to be so easy to live
Doing as all little children did
Having fun and playing games
Never a care or worry came

Since I’ve grown older life’s changed somehow
The games I play aren’t so simple now
Confusion and pain are all I find
I wish I had a peace of mind

Pushed and pulled
Night and day
I need to live
To find a way

It use to be so simple then
I wish I were a child again…

FaithfulToOne © 2000

Matthew 19:14
14Jesus said, “Let all the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Child’s Play
Part 2- The Invitation

Let all the little children come to me
I am the way, the truth, and life you see
I heal the sick and give strength to the weak
Come to me if it is peace you seek

Long ago I accepted your pain
Forgiveness offered with my bloodstain
For what was gained from the loss
Is forever written on the cross

Love and salvation
Hope, mercy, and peace
Come to me now
Let torment cease

I am the way, the truth, and life you see
Be born again and come to me.

FaithfulToOne © 2000

John 14:66
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Do You Hear The Knocking? Open The Door!

2007-02-19T08:36:00.000-05:00

Being an artist I admit I can be a bit out there sometimes. Just ask my students. Henry David Thoreau said, "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Well a friend of mine once told someone, There are those that hear and move to the beat of a different drummer. Glo goes to the beat of a totally different band, but it is a good thing when you get to know her. " Yes, God made me creative and unique. In many ways I felt different from others growing up. I was a happy outgoing child but often I felt I did not fit in. I had friends but I was alone too. There was always this nagging hole of emptiness that would eat at me when I was alone. It felt like I was searching for someone that was lost and I could not find him/her. I could hear my mind calling out to him/her, I could hear an unintelligible response far away, but I could not figure out the direction to go to get to him/her. I often wondered why I had to be so different from others around me? Why can't I just be normal then more people would like me? There is no one that will ever really understand me. This continued on and on as I was younger and sometimes I picked the wrong path and the wrong people to be around searching for who was lost in that empty hole never realizing it was me that was lost in the empty hole and it was my Lord calling out to me. It was not until I realized this and called out to Jesus that I heard the knocking. The knocking was always there. He never once gave up on me. He knew me. He knew how different I was because God created me special and good that way for a reason. So what did it matter how different I was? It wouldn't matter once I had faith and a purpose for my life. I heard the knock this time loud and clear. I ran to the door and flung it open wide. My Lord and Savior please come in were the word said with tears of joy in my eyes. The emptiness was filled till it overflowed with the love of God. As my faith has grown I have become comfortable with who I am and now understand the blessings He has given me that make me different. I feel blessed now because I understand why He gave me these blessings. He is the one that always truly understands me and accepts me, because He created me that way.

Do you feel an emptiness inside you can't fill? Have you tried to fill it with all the wrong things of this world in your life? Are you searching for someone lost only to find out it is you? STOP! BE STILL! OPEN YOUR MIND AND YOUR HEART! DO YOU HEAR THE KNOCKING! OPEN THE DOOR AND LET HIM COME IN!

I Knock

I know your sorrow
I know your sin
Open the door
Let me come in…

I know you’re lonely
I know your strife
Be born again
Give me your life…

I know your heartache
I know your lost soul
Come humble to me
And give me control…

I offer you grace
I forgive your sin
Open the door
Let me come in…

FaithfulToOne © 1998

Revelation 3:20
20 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.

Choices

Our lives are full of choices

Each new one directs our path

Rewarded with God’s blessing

Or consequence’s wrath

Choices echoing their message

Something should be learned

Take heed to stop and listen

The ignorant get burned

Stubborn pride brings only folly

Fools let temptation be a guide

Trust faith to be your compass

The Lord’s always at your side

FaithfulToOne © 2005

Who Do You Play Your Music For?

2007-02-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

It seems that sometimes when we need to hear from God the most He is silent. Sometimes God is silent because He wants us to wait on Him and trust him. Sometimes it is because we are so overwhelmed with painful feelings that we shut and lock our doors afraid to be hurt more. When we do this we sometimes lock God out too.

As I was dealing in the past with a broken heart I felt my pain shutting that door. What a blessing it is that God loves us so much that He never stops knocking. I wrote the poem Fatal Mistake when my heart was in pain. I wrote the second poem Play For Me (God's response) when I heard Him knocking. Are you so wrapped up in the pain you are feeling that you can't hear Him knocking?

Fatal Mistake

You’ve played me like a fiddle
Hearing music from my strings
The kind of beautiful music
That only true love brings

But as the melody played
With a passion sweet and clear
I made the fatal mistake
Because I never stopped to hear

That the music I was playing
Came from one and never two
The music I was hearing
Came from me and never you

The fiddle now sits quiet
And the bow lies very still
The music hasn’t played again
And I guess it never will

No never will that music play
With a melody just for you
No never will I ever again
Give anything to you

Because the music that was playing
Came from one and never two
The music I was hearing
Came from me and never you

FaithfulToOne © 2004

Play For Me

One day gazing at the clouds
I heard Heaven’s music play
Humble I fell to my knees
Then I closed my eyes to pray

Dear Jesus, yes I hear you
He said, “Now, pick up your bow.
I want to hear your music
The new notes are seeds you’ll sew”

“It’s time you play a new tune
Playing for one, no not two
The music that I want to hear
Is played for me not yet you.”

The percussion was my heart
My breathing was the strings
When my soul cried out to God
I heard angels flap their wings

Now Heaven was rejoicing
As they heard sweet music play
God said, “Patience wait on Me
You’ll be blessed if you obey.”

“I have searched the world over
For someone to play for you
But first he must play for Me
Before he can ever play for you.”

FaithfulToOne © 2004

2 Thessalonians 3:5
May the LORD direct your hearts
Into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.