Posts

Several times I have been thinking about something and wish I could see or think in three dimensions.  I want another angle on something or I need another perspective.  Many times God is that third dimension for me.  Where I can go beyond myself and my limited thinking.

Also, I think it is important to surround ourselves with sound teaching.  Listening or reading what other's have to say is not a substitute for our own relationship with God, but it can provide another view.

God reveals himself in so many wonderful ways and I love to read the excitement others have when sharing their experiences.  I have listed some resources on my blog and I hope you will enjoy them. Batterson, Jentezen and Moore are a great place to start.  Do you have any other resources you would like to share.

Also, I have been searching for new, deeper worship songs that can really minister to my family.  We all love to sing and there is nothing like a good song to touch the heart.  Here is one of my recent favorites.  I love to preview songs on You Tube since it has become quite expensive to buy so many songs.  Enjoy this simple song that is so profound.

We all go through tough times. At times I have heard people say, "Oh my problems are small compared to this or that."  God cares about each one of them.

I love reading God's word.  I have learned that when you read it in the good times, you are more prepared for the harder times.  So many people are short on answers but the word of God is the answer.

I love seeing how God works through other people's lives that are truly seeking God.

The three devotionals that I love to read are Mark Batterson at www.evotional.com, Beth Moore at livingproofministries.blogspot.com, and Jentzen Franklin.  They all have very different styles of blogging but I know they all love the Lord and value biblical truth. 

For many years I was jealous of other people and what God was doing in their lives, but I came to the realization that God's plan for me is straight from Him and is for no other.  I have learned to not covet other's dreams above God's dreams for me.

I pray you enjoy these resources for yourself.  I encourage you to explore how God is working and moving and that you seek God above all. Read Matthew 6 and Ephesians 3 for a great reminder of who God is and just how much He loves us.

Love, Carol

I think it is very important to have a solid group of resources to count on in your spiritual walk.  These resources should be spiritually sound but stretch us in many different directions.  I like to read blogs, books and listen to music of many different faiths.  I don't want to be guilty of "group think" on issues on one hand, but on the other hand, everything must line up with the word of God.

In the coming days I will be sharing some highlights of these resources and how you can use them in your life. I know they have been a huge blessing in mine.

On that note, here are some of my regular favorites:

Blogs:

Mark Batterson (pastor,author) - National Community Church:  www.evotional.com

Jentzen Franklin (pastor, author) - Free Chapel:  http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/blog/

Beth Moore (speaker, author, bible study writer) - Living Proof - http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com

Family Resources:

Focus on the Famiily:  www.focusonthefamily.com

Family Life Ministry - www.familylife.com

Music:

Jason Upton - www.jasonupton.com

Hillsong Music - www.hillsong.com

Casting Crowns - www.castingcrowns.com

Worship Music - www.worshipmusic.com

Favorite Ministries:

Samaratains Purse - www.samaratainspurse.com

Life Today - www.lifetoday.org

So many times I have wanted to be eloquent or profound.  To say something that would impact a lot of people and reap a great reward for the Kingdom of God.  I am learning that the most effective ministry is based in humility.  Of sharing our total desperation to trust in God.  I am nothing apart from God.  Thank God for the vine.  Read John 15 about the vine and the branches.  I am learning total dependence and depravity.  In our weakness God is made strong.  I feel like my life has given God a lot to work with.

I thank God for his healing power in the deepest part of my soul  and spirit.  I love you Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Show me your glory Lord.  I am desperate for you and surrender my life to you.

Have you wholly surrendered your life today, laying down your pride.  Lay it down or it will be taken from you :) to truly walk in Him. 

I love reading Streams in the Desert.  I often feel in the desert and these wonderful devotions are a reminder of Paul teaching us to be "content in every situation."  I pray for this often. 

Enjoy a new devotional every day here:  http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/

Songs of Praise Rise From Affliction

"Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Rev. 15:3).

The following incident is related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who was a great sufferer for more than a quarter of a century:

"At the close of a dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on; and though all was bright within my cozy room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked,

"'Why does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?'

"These fretful questions were quickly answered, and through a strange language; no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my heart.

"For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken only by the crackling of the oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window.

"'What can it be? surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.'

"Again came the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke our wonder. My friend exclaimed,

"'It comes from the log on the fire!' The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music from the old oak's inmost heart!

"Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all was well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousness, and the vehement heart of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. 'Ah,' thought I, 'when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed we are purified, and our God is glorified!'

"Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles around us, and releases notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will.

"'As I mused the fire burned,' and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely set forth before me.

"Singing in the fire! Yes, God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before."

I was having a bad day this past week.  Feeling sorry for myself, grumbling out loud to myself in the car.  Then I drove by a man with no legs sitting in a wheel chair.  I felt convicted and the Lord brought this verse to mind:

Philippians 4:12 (New International Version)

¹²I 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.

Some people are type A and some people are type B.  I want to be type J - Jesus focused.

Lord forgive me when I do not trust in you completely.  You have always been there for me and my family.  Let me always remember the man with no legs and learn to be like Paul, content in all things.  I know I must seek you first above all things.

I am one of those people who is always looking for a lesson or a "moral to the story" in everything.  I always see lessons I can learn through simple things. 

For example, I received a $25 Starbucks card for my birthday.  I gave up my regular trips to Starbucks a long time ago so it is always a treat to get one.  On the way home from church today we stopped at Starbucks and I bought the largest coffee Frappucino they make and shared it with my husband and daughter.  (I really didn't want to share but felt guilty being the only one with a drink, LOL).

I thought about God's grace and when we receive a lot of it, we spend a lot of it.  I was lavish in buying a $4.15 drink because I had plenty to spend.  When we have a lot of love, we give a lot of love.  But what about those times when things are tough, we tend to tighten up our finances and not spend as much.  We eat at home all the time, skip the trips to Starbucks and get stingy with our money because we have be careful and make it last.

I think many times we get stingy with sharing our faith, sharing God's grace and sharing God's love and forgiveness.  It is easy to share it when we have plenty but much harder when we don't receive a lot of it.  I am challenging myself to always give freely as I have received from God and not ration based on what I receive from man.

Today I took my girls to the pool for a girls afternoon out.  My youngest does not swim so I was holding on to her.  She was having a great time but knew I would never let any harm come to her.  She knew I was her lifeline but was secure. 

God used this simple picture to remind me that he loves me and when I am swimming in the deep end, there are still times of joy and that He will never let me go.  When my other two girls were swimming, they would swim on their own but always say, "mommy, make sure you don't go to far so we can grab on to you."  Again, God reminded me He is always there to hang on to and his presence is always close.

God is teaching me deep, profound things in simple ways as I press on to be the best wife, mother and friend I can be. 

Do You Have Faith?

This is a question I have been asking myself.  I have been a Christian for a long time, but at times I come to expect the worst.  I realize that all of the negative things going on in our country are from a country who has forsaken God and his Word.

Yes, there are Christians but so many have compromised.  So we expect the worst and it happens.

The Lord has been lovingly convicting me of my lack of faith.  So many times I expect bad things to happen.

Recently I was reminded of the story of Nehemiah.  He left the comfortable life with a king and went back to Jerusalem to rebuild it.  One man made a difference.  One man made a difference.

So many times I think I have to convince people to do things in my own strength vs. trusting God to do his supernatural work in men's heart.

God has challenged me to go deeper with him, worship him, pray to him, read his word and trust him.  I truly believe God is able but I often say, "I know he can, but will he?"

I believe that answer is YES, he will hear our prayers, save our nation.  But it starts with one prayer, mine and yours.  What if we dared to trust?  What if we dared to believe?

Do not forget that a few people on the day of Pentecost had waited for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them.  A handful of people said, "I trust you Lord."  It was the beginning of the church!!!!  3000 were saved at once in one place.

I AM GOING TO BOLD AND SAY, "I TRUST YOU LORD."  I WILL PRAY AND THE LORD WILL DO THE REST! 

Obama scares me.  I am not going to use fancy rhetoric to be politically correct.  He cares nothing about the unborn, nothing about the family, and he thinks taxing the rich to make everyone equal will move this country forward.  He is under such deception and it is scary.

I put my hope and trust in Jesus and I am praying for the church to wake up and pray.  I feel called to do something radical.  I have been praying about my faith walk and truly trusting God.  I am praying for discernment between the burden of prayer and trusting God.  I challenge you to do this with me.  Pray fervently but..............

Philippians 4:6 (New International Version)

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Thank you Lord for your Word and your protection.  I love you Lord and recognize I am nothing without you.  Please make order out of the disorder of this country.  I repent for not praying more about this.  I commit to be in your word and to not be anxious about anything.  You are the Faithful One.

TRUST HIM AND PRAY

There is nothing like good discernment.  Good discernment comes from God.  I love the following verse from 1 John 2:27 that says the anointing of God teaches us.  While I value a great sermon, Christian book or discussion, this verse says the Holy Spirit is the true teacher of all things. 

The Lord told me a long time ago, "Carol, you cannot live off of someone else's revelation, I will give you your own."  I believe this was good council to say, read what you will but my will and truth for your life comes from my word and my anointing.

At the end of the day, aren't you glad you do not have to trust man for truth.  Read the word, pray and live in the anointing.

1 John 2:27 (New International Version)

²⁷As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

(Bible Gateway www.biblegateway.com) is a great resources to read verses in many different versions for free)