Beware of Shortcuts - Tools @ PurposeDriven.com
Father, may I always be aware of the pot holes in the short cuts. Show me how to be ethical, and do your will, at all times.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Don't Get in a Hurry - Tools @ PurposeDriven.com
Don't Get in a Hurry - Tools @ PurposeDriven.com
I need to remember to not always get in such a hurry. I wonder at times, why am I not ----- why do I still do ---- ? God is faithful. I do see him working in my life but at times it seems painfully slow...
I first started praying for a quiet and gentle spirit when I was a new believer. I remember being at Hume Lake in the early 90's and telling Terri Frigulti that when I grew up I wanted to be just like her. I remember her telling me that I should want to be like Jesus. She was right (even though it hurt my feelings)... I do want to be like Jesus, but I so get in the way at times. November 2008, I resigned from my position of working in the sound booth at GCC. In a letter responding to my resignation, Pastor Brian thanked me for my quiet and gentle spirit. 17 - 18 years later. It's really taken a long time.
What makes it hard, is you can't always know how you are perceived. So for years, I perceived myself as a "cut up" always making jokes, and no quiet spirit at all. Sometimes you have to hear it from your peers. Father, help me to share the positive character traits in my friends. Lord, I know that I'll need to do this at work - and it's a good thing. Build others up. Forgive me for not taking the time to do that now. I desire to have an encouraging heart. Instead I look at things through my own eyes. Forgive me..... Show me things you love about your people. Father, forgive me for always looking at the negative.
I need to remember to not always get in such a hurry. I wonder at times, why am I not ----- why do I still do ---- ? God is faithful. I do see him working in my life but at times it seems painfully slow...
I first started praying for a quiet and gentle spirit when I was a new believer. I remember being at Hume Lake in the early 90's and telling Terri Frigulti that when I grew up I wanted to be just like her. I remember her telling me that I should want to be like Jesus. She was right (even though it hurt my feelings)... I do want to be like Jesus, but I so get in the way at times. November 2008, I resigned from my position of working in the sound booth at GCC. In a letter responding to my resignation, Pastor Brian thanked me for my quiet and gentle spirit. 17 - 18 years later. It's really taken a long time.
What makes it hard, is you can't always know how you are perceived. So for years, I perceived myself as a "cut up" always making jokes, and no quiet spirit at all. Sometimes you have to hear it from your peers. Father, help me to share the positive character traits in my friends. Lord, I know that I'll need to do this at work - and it's a good thing. Build others up. Forgive me for not taking the time to do that now. I desire to have an encouraging heart. Instead I look at things through my own eyes. Forgive me..... Show me things you love about your people. Father, forgive me for always looking at the negative.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Character of Fear
The character of the wicked is fear -
These verses help, because I believe I'm getting ready to do battle, God is preparing me for something that I don't want to do. This time, I want to stand firm, and trust in God alone.
Proverbs 28
1 The wicked man flees though no one pursues,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Revelation 21:8
Listen to this passage
View commentary related to this passage
8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
There have been many times that I have not done something out of fear. Father, I don't desire to be cowardly. I desire to stand firm - in all things, Lord.
Character of the Saints - Fear God
Mal 3:16, Acts 10:2
mal 3:16-17
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17 “They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession.Or Almighty, “my treasured possession, in the day when I act
">a I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.Acts 10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
I so desire to be seen in God's eye's, as God Fearing! I also pray that I will finish strong, that I will always choose life, and that my prayers and gifts are acceptable to God.These verses help, because I believe I'm getting ready to do battle, God is preparing me for something that I don't want to do. This time, I want to stand firm, and trust in God alone.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Fear B
Ephesians 6:9
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
What do I fear? Where does fear come from?
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,Or to slander me
">awhen my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
4 One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice when I call, O Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek hisOr To you, O my heart, he has said, “Seek my
">b face!”Your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.
13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
What do I fear? Where does fear come from?
Fear - a
July 19th - My mom's birthday. I'm not sure Tony realized the day - maybe he did... Friday night, as we were talking - an amazing thing happened. First off, it was for the most part a pretty calm conversation. No yelling(until the end, when every other word was a curse word, and Craig told him he needed to not talk to me that way) - he called me names - but they were more to hurt me, than belligerent name calling. At one point, I realized that I was dealing with more than a brother doing drugs. I'm dealing with spiritual warfare. It was bound to happen. Craig and I have been praying for Tony and Katie for some time. Since about the time they moved to Eureka. I've also been growing closer to God, and that is going to affect the way things happen as well. (but that's another story - for another time)
I think this is my new favorite passage at the moment -
Ephesians 6: The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
My struggle isn't with my brother. I love him very much. I believe that Satan would like to see the love torn apart. Currently, I don't much trust him with my emotions - but God can heal that. Our battle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The battle isn't against Tony - but against the forces that want to see his soul destroyed. There is a great battle going on for him right now- even when we aren't talking. I am praying that God will complete the work he began in him - even before he started attending church in Modesto. Tony met the Lord in High School, and has been running ever since.
Friday night, I saw first hand - what I believe was demonic work. Tony said a few things - that were weird. The whole evening was weird, but when I confronted him on getting into some type of drug counseling, he dismissed it by saying if it wasn't court ordered it was a waste of time. I reminded him again about First Step - he asked, 'through your church?" "yes" And then his face kind of contorted, and his voice was different, "I don't like your church" I don't LIKE your church "I don't like YOUR church" I felt as though Satan himself was telling me that he doesn't like my church. I think that's a good thing - and more the reason to pray for the church...
As typical in many relationships where there is drug abuse - there are boundary issues. (I really need to go to first step on Tuesday) I feel as though God is working in me, and with Craig's help and being in the Word, my boundary's are firm. This is evidenced by the various ways he tries to manipulate - manipulate may not be the right word, but I think he's so used to getting his way - by different tactics, that as soon as one tactic doesn't work - he tries another one. So, Friday's tactic didn't work - he left. Didn't hear from him on Saturday, Sunday he phoned, and is questioning the trust. I'm OK with that, except that there were some implied threats. He doesn't think I'm handling things appropriately. (Although that didn't seem to matter when he dropped Alan off and the kids cleaned everything up - it doesn't seem to matter to him that Deven has pretty much done ALL of the upkeep on the property since before my mom passed away either) He told me he was homeless last night - which he is - but it's really by his choice. He was able to stay with us - he just had to do some things - because of his various issues. The last thing we wanted to do was to enable him. I don't know that he'll ever see it this way.
After our conversation last night - (he said something along the lines - I don't want to get anyone in trouble, I asked what he was talking about and he never really said. - he's either implying a threat, that since he thinks I'm mishandling the trust, that I'm going to get in to trouble - he's started something - or he's going too) I listened, quietly to what he was saying - until he told me he understands me not wanting my kids to live with me. I interrupted at that point and told him he was very wrong, I do want my kids living with me - but they are young adults, and I understand that they want to live on their own. I think he hung up on me at that point. the phone just went silent. I wasn't sure if we lost connection, or he hung up, so I called back - and told him that...(wasn't sure if we'd lost connection or what)it went straight to voice mail. I was sick to my stomach at that point - it was as I was processing this - talking to Craig that I realized what happens is I begin to be fearful. Fear stops me in my tracks. I guess my response is to emotionally flee. Not deal with whatever. When hard conversations come up - I tune out sometimes. When I divorced, I left everything - because of fear of the fight. With the property - I quit fighting for it, because of fear - I just couldn't do it anymore... So now I'm on a quest to see what the Lord says about fear. I find it comforting, in Ephesians 6 that Paul prayed to not allow fear to get in the way of spreading the gospel.
I think this is my new favorite passage at the moment -
Ephesians 6: The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 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. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
My struggle isn't with my brother. I love him very much. I believe that Satan would like to see the love torn apart. Currently, I don't much trust him with my emotions - but God can heal that. Our battle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The battle isn't against Tony - but against the forces that want to see his soul destroyed. There is a great battle going on for him right now- even when we aren't talking. I am praying that God will complete the work he began in him - even before he started attending church in Modesto. Tony met the Lord in High School, and has been running ever since.
Friday night, I saw first hand - what I believe was demonic work. Tony said a few things - that were weird. The whole evening was weird, but when I confronted him on getting into some type of drug counseling, he dismissed it by saying if it wasn't court ordered it was a waste of time. I reminded him again about First Step - he asked, 'through your church?" "yes" And then his face kind of contorted, and his voice was different, "I don't like your church" I don't LIKE your church "I don't like YOUR church" I felt as though Satan himself was telling me that he doesn't like my church. I think that's a good thing - and more the reason to pray for the church...
As typical in many relationships where there is drug abuse - there are boundary issues. (I really need to go to first step on Tuesday) I feel as though God is working in me, and with Craig's help and being in the Word, my boundary's are firm. This is evidenced by the various ways he tries to manipulate - manipulate may not be the right word, but I think he's so used to getting his way - by different tactics, that as soon as one tactic doesn't work - he tries another one. So, Friday's tactic didn't work - he left. Didn't hear from him on Saturday, Sunday he phoned, and is questioning the trust. I'm OK with that, except that there were some implied threats. He doesn't think I'm handling things appropriately. (Although that didn't seem to matter when he dropped Alan off and the kids cleaned everything up - it doesn't seem to matter to him that Deven has pretty much done ALL of the upkeep on the property since before my mom passed away either) He told me he was homeless last night - which he is - but it's really by his choice. He was able to stay with us - he just had to do some things - because of his various issues. The last thing we wanted to do was to enable him. I don't know that he'll ever see it this way.
After our conversation last night - (he said something along the lines - I don't want to get anyone in trouble, I asked what he was talking about and he never really said. - he's either implying a threat, that since he thinks I'm mishandling the trust, that I'm going to get in to trouble - he's started something - or he's going too) I listened, quietly to what he was saying - until he told me he understands me not wanting my kids to live with me. I interrupted at that point and told him he was very wrong, I do want my kids living with me - but they are young adults, and I understand that they want to live on their own. I think he hung up on me at that point. the phone just went silent. I wasn't sure if we lost connection, or he hung up, so I called back - and told him that...(wasn't sure if we'd lost connection or what)it went straight to voice mail. I was sick to my stomach at that point - it was as I was processing this - talking to Craig that I realized what happens is I begin to be fearful. Fear stops me in my tracks. I guess my response is to emotionally flee. Not deal with whatever. When hard conversations come up - I tune out sometimes. When I divorced, I left everything - because of fear of the fight. With the property - I quit fighting for it, because of fear - I just couldn't do it anymore... So now I'm on a quest to see what the Lord says about fear. I find it comforting, in Ephesians 6 that Paul prayed to not allow fear to get in the way of spreading the gospel.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Isaiah 47:1-11
Isaiah 47:1-11
What an incredible passage - God allowed his chosen people to led into captivity - the captors were cruel - and God exacted a punishment from them. They lost everything. Lord, I desire to always be in Your Will. Father, please forgive me when I wander off on my own. Please fill me with your spirit that I may grow to be more and more like you. I desire to not be full of pride - or hate. I desire your will for our lives. thank you for providing a savior.
I'm also praying for Tony right now - I know without a doubt it isn't my brother that I'm up against. I know that the battle we are waging is for his soul - it's against the principalities and powers, against the dark forces and rulers in this world. Last night, the eeriest thing happened. We were having a pretty intense discussion - I was pointing out issues that needed to be resolved. When he first came - he said that he'd be agreeable to counseling. Then it turned into mandated counseling by the county - and since he didn't have his paperwork - it was a waste of time to go.... I suggested First Step - the 12 step program at church - more than once. Last night when I brought it up - he had this weird look in his eyes - and in a really obnoxious voice - said I'm not going to your church. I DON"T like your church - I don't like YOUR church - I don't like your CHURCH. The strange thing - is that he did - both times he went - he did.... I felt immediately that it was demonic forces that I was dealing with. I wanted to lay hands on him and pray, but I was afraid. Lord - please give me the power in your name to pray next time I'm confronted with this. The way he was communicating - I'd say something - he didn't have a response - and then he'd change the subject. Again and again it went on. at one point, the same voice - and crazed look said he didn't like my house.... Thank you Lord - that if it is a demon - that you're hand is on our house - please continue to keep us under your care and love. thank you Father.
What an incredible passage - God allowed his chosen people to led into captivity - the captors were cruel - and God exacted a punishment from them. They lost everything. Lord, I desire to always be in Your Will. Father, please forgive me when I wander off on my own. Please fill me with your spirit that I may grow to be more and more like you. I desire to not be full of pride - or hate. I desire your will for our lives. thank you for providing a savior.
I'm also praying for Tony right now - I know without a doubt it isn't my brother that I'm up against. I know that the battle we are waging is for his soul - it's against the principalities and powers, against the dark forces and rulers in this world. Last night, the eeriest thing happened. We were having a pretty intense discussion - I was pointing out issues that needed to be resolved. When he first came - he said that he'd be agreeable to counseling. Then it turned into mandated counseling by the county - and since he didn't have his paperwork - it was a waste of time to go.... I suggested First Step - the 12 step program at church - more than once. Last night when I brought it up - he had this weird look in his eyes - and in a really obnoxious voice - said I'm not going to your church. I DON"T like your church - I don't like YOUR church - I don't like your CHURCH. The strange thing - is that he did - both times he went - he did.... I felt immediately that it was demonic forces that I was dealing with. I wanted to lay hands on him and pray, but I was afraid. Lord - please give me the power in your name to pray next time I'm confronted with this. The way he was communicating - I'd say something - he didn't have a response - and then he'd change the subject. Again and again it went on. at one point, the same voice - and crazed look said he didn't like my house.... Thank you Lord - that if it is a demon - that you're hand is on our house - please continue to keep us under your care and love. thank you Father.
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