HE HAS A PLAN

Isn't GOD just Awesome??!!! Sometimes I think that I am just getting further and further from GOD, when all I really want to do is to get closer and closer to GOD!  It's kind of funny how GOD works through those times with us to let us know that HE has really been there all along. I'll try to explain what I'm talking about. I have to go back in time a few years...

About eight years ago I was still living in California. I attended a good church and even was one of the sound and camera techs...I was always there. Even though I had went to this church my whole life, I was not a Christian. At one point the Pastor decided he was going to do a DVD series, from a well known speaker, on Sunday nights. Almost immediately when we started it the first night I knew I didn't want to be there. I didn't like what the man had to say and it really made me irritable and agitated. I didn't want to go the next week but I did and I was even more agitated, and angry, that time. So, I didn't go back while they were doing that series. Life went on and I continued living a lie. Everyone believed that I was a Christian. Whenever this speakers name was mentioned I always said that I didn't like him. No one could understand it because they all thought he was a good speaker...

About 6 years ago I left California and moved to where I live now. This turned out to be a good move because in August I will have been a Christian for 3 years. The odd thing is, I never changed my mind about the Christian speaker from the DVD series. I read a lot of books but never would read, or even pick up, one of his...until this week. On June 12th I turned on my TV and there he was. I almost changed the channel but something stopped me. Actually, GOD stopped me. I listened and what he said really spoke to me. GOD used someone that I thought I didn't ever want to listen to again, to speak to me. In fact I quoted him in my post on June 12th. It was John Bevere. So, I was thinking how amazing it all was how GOD uses what we perceive as negative things in our past, to help us in our present. Well, I found out yesterday that GOD wasn't through with this whole subject...

I went to the Christian book store, and  while standing in line to check out, turned around, and saw a book by John called "Extraordinary". It was sitting on a shelf marked 50% off and there was only the one. It was as if my eyes went directly to that book. I knew I had to go and get it. Tonight I picked it up and started to read it...

I "know" God plans every moment of our lives. From when this all started...8 years ago until now...GOD knew what my struggles as a Christian were going to be. One of them is...it's hard for me to believe that people could love me. It's even harder for me to believe that GOD could love me. I know HE does because HIS Word says so. HE loves us unconditionally. Satan likes to make us believe that we aren't good enough, we've messed up to many times. But, if you read GOD'S Word and believe it you know that is just not true. However, sometimes I let satan win that fight...

Tonight I started reading the book and it's great! The second chapter is titled...You Are Loved!! It is really good! I have only read the first two chapters and I know that GOD led me to this book. I highly recommend it to everyone. As soon as I finished chapter two GOD let me know that I needed to write this post.  I believe there are other Christians out there that need to read this book. It is about the Extraordinary life that you are meant to live. Isn't it funny how GOD uses people and they don't even know it. GOD used someone I have never met to show me how much HE really does love me. I am hoping that someday John Bevere comes to Idaho so I can hear him speak in person.

GOD does have a plan for every one of our lives. Here are a couple of my favorite verses.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation)
¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 1:5 (The Message)

 ⁵"Before I shaped you in the womb,
   I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
   I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
   that's what I had in mind for you."

SHINE BRIGHTLY FOR CHRIST

GOD is just absolutely amazing! It still blows me away when HE tells me to do something and I just know beyond any doubt that it is HIM talking...to me!!! It's after midnight, I'm reading a book and clear as day I have the thought...Get your Bible. I read a couple more words and again it's...Get your Bible. So I get up and get it and I'm thinking...okay but I don't know where to read. There it is again...that still small voice...Philippians. I'm thinking, okay...but where. I turn to Philippians and right there on the top of the page is the heading; Shine Brightly For CHRIST...chapter 2:12. I'm thinking "maybe" that's not it. So I turn backwards another page and start at the beginning of chapter 2. Nothing. I knew that what I was reading was not "it". I read on. When I got back to the heading, "Shine Brightly"...I knew that was it. Actually the middle of verse 12.

Philippians 2:12-16 (New Living Translation)

Shine Brightly for Christ

 ¹² b. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. ¹³ For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

 ¹⁴ Do everything without complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. ¹⁶ Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.

WOW!! I can't believe this is not highlighted and there is no little flag on the page! You see in all my Bibles if I highlight the verse I most always  put a "post-it" flag on the page. That way when I am having a bad day and don't know what to read I just pick up a Bible and turn to all the flagged verses and read them. There is always at least one that works for what I need to hear that day. So...back to what's important...

GOD wants me to know HIM deeper. HE wants me to "just do" what I know HE is telling me to do. Which is...read HIS WORD, talk to HIM more, and write what HE tells me to write. HE sent HIS SON JESUS to save me from a life of despair, and certain death in the end, to tell everyone I could about what believing in JESUS as my LORD and SAVIOR has done for me. This whole passage fits so well! HE has done a tremendous work in my life and is continuing to work in me, and change me, daily.

HE wants us all to know HIM deeper. None of us should ever worry about what others may think or say about us when we are doing the LORD'S work. What people say about you, or what you do for HIM, can't hurt you. But...not doing what GOD tells you to do...can! Like the verse says, live your life so you shine brightly for CHRIST. Don't live like the world. When we see CHRIST face to face we want HIM to say to us...

Matthew 25:23 (New King James Version)

²³ His LORD said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your LORD.’

My final thought is...

Make GOD proud of you. Live a life pleasing to HIM. You are the only one that can do what GOD planned for you to do. No one's journey with HIM is like yours. Make yours count for CHRIST!!

LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23

Lamentations 3:22-23 (New Living Translation)

 ²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
      His mercies never cease.
 ²³ Great is his faithfulness;
      his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Tonight when I was reading, this verse just jumped out at me.  My thought was that it doesn't matter how bad we mess things up during the day. All we have to do is be sincere and ask the LORD to forgive us for any thing that we did wrong, then go to sleep believing that HE did. Then in the morning when you awaken remember that it's a new day. The LORD forgave you and you get to start with a clean slate. HIS love for you never ends!

1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-17

Charles Swindoll writes in his book on Romans;

"When the LORD turns the page on this chapter in history, the time for final judgment will begin and the time for choosing will have ended. Should that occur at sunset today, would you be ready?"

We all need to ask ourselves that question. If anyone is not sure that they could say yes...you need to immediately do something about it. Pray and ask JESUS to forgive you and come into your heart. There is a prayer at the top of this page you can say. Or just talk to GOD in your  own words and tell HIM how you feel. HE will listen and forgive you and make you new.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (New King James Version)

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

  
Watch this video on youtube then decide for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlz79qOLnss&feature=fvw      

JESUS is coming soon!!! Are you ready???

AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP

In last nights post I mentioned that GOD has been telling me HE wants me to "Go Deeper" to have a more intimate relationship with HIM. I have felt that for a while. Yet the more I knew it was what I needed to do, the more difficult of a time I was having with it. I was struggling so much that I was ready to give up a few times. The old road was looking good!

You remember the movies where the person would have a little devil  on their left shoulder and a little  angel on their right shoulder? The  would be telling them to go ahead and do the bad thing and the  would be telling them to do the right thing! That is what it was like. There was a war going on with me and it was so hard not to listen to the  on the left. But, somehow...the little  on the right finally got through to me and won!

Amazingly enough, after all the battling back and forth, GOD is "still" impressing on me how HE wants me to "Go Deeper", have a more intimate relationship with HIM. In fact today HE confirmed that to me. For the first time in a couple of months I turned my TV on to a Christian channel and actually listened to what was being said. It just so happened that John Bevere was on a talk show. The interviewer asked him to tell in 60 seconds what he believes GOD is doing right now. John said, "GOD is bringing a great awakening to the need to have a very intimate relationship with HIM. In the Bible Daniel said in the last days those who know their GOD shall be strong and do great exploits for GOD."  John Bevere said, "It is important to have a personnel connection with GOD."

For me I know that I need a better connection. If you aren't connected on a more intimate level it is so easy to drift in the wrong direction. In this time that we are living in, we need to stay close to GOD. HE is the one that will help us to get through the things that are happening all around us. We need to be ready when JESUS returns. Listen to the right voice. Find what you need inside of yourself to "Go Deeper" with GOD. Have a more intimate relationship with HIM.

William Carey (1761-1834) an English Baptist Missionary said..."Expect great things from GOD, attempt great things for GOD!"

Ephesians 6:10-11 (New Living Translation) 
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

Daniel 11:32 (New King James Version) Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

GO DEEPER WITH GOD

When I found the picture of the heart held in a pair of hands, I knew it belonged on my blog. Most of what I blog about has something to do with me. I am always putting a piece of me out there for everyone to read about. On my blog I have nothing to hide behind. Like the heart in the hands...it's out there for everyone to see. No walls, human or man made, around it. GOD gives me things to write and I post it...sometimes with a little grumbling because you learn more about me and my struggles. The thing is...I am not the important part of this blog. GOD IS!! The purpose of everything HE gives me to share about is when I tell you what HE has done for me because of my situations. And more importantly...what HE can and will do for you. If you ask HIM too! HE is mighty and powerful and is just waiting to give you strength, courage, peace, hope, happiness, joy, love, friendships, abundant life...and all the other good things you have been missing in your life.

What it says on the picture is also very fitting for my blog. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent...about things that matter." What is the one thing, that really matters, that we should never be silent about? JESUS, our relationship with HIM, and the relationship HE wants to have with you and everyone that does not already know HIM. For myself, I have found when I stop talking to others about JESUS I start to lose the excitement I have in and about HIM. If I am always willing to share with others, either on my blog or in person, and do it whenever the opportunity arises, I have a hard time remaining silent. HE gives me the words to say...verbally or in writing. When I stop and become silent...it is as if a part of me is slowly dying. My life as I have come to know it is in a sense...ending. I start feeling lifeless and like life really has lost a lot of it's meaning for me. This may sound a little drastic and over the top but for me that's how it is. I start to lose my joy.

Tonight when I looked at the picture I got a whole new meaning.

Those are my hands and my heart. I am handing it to JESUS to do with as HE wants. I know HE will take care of it because that's what HE does. HE guards our hearts!! JESUS delights in taking care of us! As GOD is showing me this it is so exciting! HE has been letting me know that HE wants me to "go deeper" with HIM...in my walk with HIM. Get to know HIM better...more intimately. GOD wants you to do that also. It doesn't matter if you've been walking with HIM for years, or if it's only been a short time, HE wants us all to "go deeper". GOD is saying to take a chance. Put your heart out there. Place it in the hands of JESUS and let HIM take care of it. You will not be sorry. You will only find that good things come from doing that. Give HIM all of you. HE is waiting for you to step out and take that chance.

Go Deeper With GOD!!

 Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 Isaiah 26:3
 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Psalm 62:6 
He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.

FROM THE INSIDE OUT

It's been some time since I have posted anything. During this drought, as I will call it, I think I have learned some good things. The most important thing I have learned is...GOD is always with us. No matter the circumstance or what the devil may want you to believe...GOD doesn't change. HE loves us above everything else. Sometimes it seems like you're on your own...even GOD has left you. But I know...GOD didn't leave me. I am the one who drifts away.

In my last post I talked about how GOD will help you get through...as HE was doing for me...and that HE will  restore your soul! No matter what is happening in your life...outwardly or inwardly...physically or spiritually...HE is with you. At times HE needs to change things inside of us. Over the last few months GOD was trying to give me the breakthrough that I had said I wanted. To change things inside of me. Whenever HE would start "fixing" me...I would stop it. I found out that I could stop anything from happening if I chose to. I also found that the more I did that, the further it seemed that I was getting from GOD. When that starts to happen you have to decide if you really want to be different. Do you really want to change..."From The Inside Out."

I know that it can be a hard choice to make. When you ask the LORD to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and life, the healing begins. It doesn't stop there however. For some of us, because of our past life, GOD has a lot of work to do to heal us. Just like Salvation...healing is a choice we have to make. GOD can and will do it, but we have to be willing. HE will work in you ...heal you...if you allow HIM to.

So, I have made the choice to allow HIM to continue to change me..."From The Inside Out".

Psalm 73:25-28 (The Message)
 ^25-28 You're all I want in heaven!
      You're all I want on earth!
   When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,
      God is rock-firm and faithful.
   Look! Those who left you are falling apart!
      Deserters, they'll never be heard from again.
   But I'm in the very presence of God—
      oh, how refreshing it is!
   I've made Lord God my home.
      God, I'm telling the world what you do!