Heart of Jesus

I believe that one of the most special gifts Jesus desires to give to His sons and daughters is the ability, if we so choose, to see another person using not our own but HIS heart.  

Will you let Him give this gift to you?

Bible Quote For A Monday!

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,  so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”        Romans 12:4-5 NIV

 

I can’t speak for anyone else, but wow have I wasted time in my life wishing I could be gifted like other people and that usually resulted in a nice pity party on all I saw lacking in me.  Sound familiar?  I think many of us can admit to ourselves we’ve done some of that at some point, but if we live authentic lives in Christ, we are filled with grace and our lives are full of the gifts He has chosen specifically for the amazing life in Him that we were created for.  He doesn’t see us as “if I only” or “why couldn’t I” or anything of the sort.  He sees us as His beautiful children.  We are children of the King of Kings and all we have to do is say yes to His love and He takes it from there.  The body of
Christ!  I am so excited to be a part of it!

 

 

 

 

Why Happiness Isn’t Enough!

Happiness . . . seems at some point in our lives, our days, we’re likely feeling it or seeking it . . . but like chocolate or potato chips, somehow it seems unlikely to satisfy for very long if at all.  We seem to constantly need more and while it can be found, it grows harder and harder as we continually need more and more of it to satisfy what we believe we need.  So, what’s up with this?  One response to this is . . .

Happiness is a skill. It requires effort and time.

– Andrew Weil –

Perhaps this quote is true for some, but I think we may call it a skill because we have an inner need to put a label on the unsatisfactory nature of seeking happiness.  Happiness is something we do need to “work” at because it is reliant on stimulus.  The real answer to our hunger is not happiness, it is our need for joy!  The difference between the two is staggering!  You see, joy comes from our soul and does not require external stimuli.  It is a gift to us from Jesus Christ.  We don’t need to make an “effort” to receive it unless loving Jesus is an effort, but for those who know Him, the love comes easily in great abundance – so much so that we must give it away and amazingly, when we do share our bounty it is replenished so generously that we have even more to give! 

Happiness . . . don’t settle for it.  Jesus has something far greater in store for you!  His joy regardless of your circumstances – be lifted up by it, renewed and refreshed.  Suddenly, your circumstances, no matter what they are, won’t look the same! 

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE On Prayer Needs For Baby Khloe!!!!!

Thank you so much for all your prayer support for my friend Sue’s granddaughter Khloe!  Thank you so much as well for sharing this request by reblogging it on your own sites, etc.  At this moment, I must tell you we have encouraging news so PLEASE keep those prayers and praise going up!

This wee one is not “out of the woods” yet, but her symptoms are showing a slight improvement and we are claiming this gift as answered prayer!  Thank you so much for your faithfulness and for your support of this family.  The incredible response from all of you has truly touched my heart in a most powerful way and I am so blessed to be a part of this body of believers!

 

Pentecost – My Favorite Holy Day!

 

Yes, you read it correctly.  My favorite Holy Day or Holiday is PENTECOST.  Before you roll your eyes or shake your head, hear me out. 

]

We have other great days in the year of special significance to Christians, but BUT BUT they also have rather large earthy, human, retail tie-ins.  That being said, Pentecost has no such tie in. It’s all about the Lord and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Read the beginning of the book of Acts.  We know this amazing story.  The Apostles left their safe place, stepped into the world, and look what happened!  It happens to us as well. 

Ah, but what really gets me excited about this day?  In a rather BIG WAY it represents the beginning of OUR work as the body of Christ.  His chosen ones went about with Him during Jesus’ time on earth in human form.  It could be called an internship, but maybe that label is a bit generous.  However, when the Holy Spirit touched them, the spiritual gifts and responsibilities were poured out and they had jobs to do for Jesus.  We have jobs to do for Him now.  He enabled a bunch of tax collectors and fishermen, and He enables us.  We don’t always feel able, but if we but ask and trust, He will enable us and use us.  How amazing is He???

 

Still Rejoicing!

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”   Galatians 5:22

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”   Psalm 5:11

Do You Want to be A STAR?

 

Many of us desire to be the star of the show, so to speak.  We become convinced that we are worthy and grow frustrated when it doesn’t happen or seems to be taking forever to happen.  When we feel our audience is unappreciative we wonder what’s wrong with them and inside wonder as well what’s wrong with us. 

 

Perhaps we need to redefine “star” and while this new definition might not sound as appealing, realize that many of those we see as having everything we want had to first fill these supporting roles.  Also, consider what life, or the “show” would be like without these folks in the cast:

 

• School crossing guard
• Waitress
• Busboy
• Toilet/bathroom maid
• Grocery bagger
• Fast food clerk
• Grave digger
• Garden worker – think fertilizer
• Nursery helper – think poopy diapers
• Waiter/waitress – think fussy diners, dirty napkins, half eaten food
• Telemarketer – knowing how much we love to have them call? 
• Bank teller – who gets yelled at by every disgruntled customer?
• Customer service call center for phone company – think of how often you need to complain?

 

This list could go on, but the point is that if everyone of us insists on the lead role (as we see it) think what life would be like without anyone willing to fill the supporting roles (again as we see it) and remember the words of Paul in Corinthians:  “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.”

– 1 Corinthians 12;3-5

Angels in Charge!

God’s grace is sufficient.  I’ve heard those words so many times.  I’ve always thought that was an odd phrase.  The word sufficient, in the ways I’ve often heard it used, didn’t sound all that great.  I mean, if my teacher claimed my test score was sufficient, I kind of figured I’d passed, but sure could have done better.  If Mom said we had a sufficient amount of milk in the refrigerator, I pretty much assumed it meant one glass for each of us was “enough” and that seconds were pretty much not going to happen.  So the words “God’s grace is sufficient” have at times sounded like we are to make do, try harder, or learn to live with it.  That is so far from the truth.  His grace is, as I view it, so far, far greater than mere sufficiency can express.  After all, something that’s sufficient is in a measurable quantity.  While His grace is steadily flowing to us, through us, and around us and He just never stops giving us more!  I say this to you now because while I was at church this morning and about midway through the service, while we prepared for Holy Eucharist and sang the Sanctus, God once again revealed Himself to me in a new and deeper way.  I am even now, several hours later, still rather shaken by His majesty and His love!  Before I tell you about today, let me back up a wee bit and share a little from the past.

Months ago, while at a mid-week prayer service, I asked one of the girls to pray for me about a concern I was dealing with.  She told me that the Lord had given her a vision for me.  She said that she wasn’t sure what it meant but could describe it clearly.  It was completely visual, and there were no words accompanying it.  What He had shown her was me surrounded by many angels.  I wasn’t sure what this was supposed to reveal to me was at that time.  I had, after all, asked for prayer about a specific concern and while it’s nice hear a vision like that expressed, it didn’t answer the question I’d asked the Lord to help with.  Well, that’s what I thought at the time.  Still I thought it was really cool!  Some time after that occasion, I was at an Easter Vigil at church and while I prayed in the darkened church I saw a vision of an angel over my head as I looked up toward the church ceiling.  I shared this with the one or two folks who were also praying during that hour on that evening.   They didn’t react as I’d expected with “oh, I saw that too.  Funny how the light from the moon shining in the window makes things look.”  They were there at the same time as I was and didn’t see anything.  I’ve been there since at that time of night and in the same light conditions.   Even though I was in the same spot, the angel wasn’t there.  It was a vision. 

I’ve often been called a visual thinker or a visual person.  I never gave it much thought.  I’ve always seen or heard things the way I do.  Thinking of it now, I realize that perhaps I do notice things in a special way that some of my friends do not.  This reveals itself in the art I create or the words I write.  I am blessed to be able to notice things that others just walk by.  It’s a blessing I’ve grown used to.  For a while now, however, the Lord has been speaking to me through this blessing of being visual.  He has on a number of occasions given me a vision that He wanted me to share with another person whom He identified to me.  He sometimes gives me a word of knowledge for others.  The two messages are similar, with the difference being one is verbal and one is visual.  Something new has been happening lately.  During my prayer and quiet time, with my eyes closed, I’ve been seeing faces . . . fleeting images, but real faces just the same.   They come to my spirit and are revealed clearly in human form.  Since the spiritual gifts He’s blessed me with include prayer for healing, I assumed that these were folks I needed to pray for.  I’ve never recognized the faces and so it made praying tricky, but when words don’t come to me in prayer I ask the Holy Spirit to give me a prayer language so that my soul can do the praying for me and my intellect can be left out of it.  This is praying in tongues.  All who are baptized in the Holy Spirit are given certain spiritual gifts.  There are many and we are all given gifts as He wishes to enable us to do His work in this world.  Paul writes of this in 1 Corinthians 12 where he says “ ⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”  So, when these images have come to me, I prayed in tongues for these whom He revealed to me.  One day this past week as I rested with the Lord, a vision that came to me looked like the face of Christ.  I admit, I didn’t give that much thought and continued to pray as I typically have done.  Today, the Lord revealed something to me which brings all of these visions I’ve just shared with you together in a profound way.

As I sang the Sanctus, which I’m quite familiar with, I found my mind wandering to the words I’d just heard in the sermon and was thinking about the urging to go deeper with our faith and to seek from the Lord what He is trying to reveal to us when we keep finding ourselves stuck in the same place.  I’d mental noted it but didn’t think there was anything at that moment that required clarification for me.  That’s when it happened.  I heard the Lord speaking to me as clearly as if you were standing here beside me speaking to me.  What He spoke of was a reminder of the angel vision someone had for me when she prayed for me with the laying on of hands, and then again when I saw the vision on the church ceiling, and then of those faces that appear to me in my own prayer and quiet time at home.  He told me that those were the faces of angels He’s given charge of to be with me.  Psalm 91:11 tells us “He will put His angels in charge over you to protect you in all your ways.”  Those words are true.  I know.  I have seen them!