wasted

a wasted life.. 

not so when you gave all.. what ppl do with your commitment of love and sacrifice is on them. 

Do it.. take the chance.. love even tho you don't get it back.. even tho your hopes and dreams are shattered.. get wasted.

You are who you are.. who you choose to be...
whether ppl love you or hate you. Be true to yourself and
"Let God be true and every man a liar."

night ♥

LIFE AND TIMES OF A KITCHEN REMODEL: THANKSGIVING

LIFE AND TIMES OF A KITCHEN REMODEL: THANKSGIVING

Was fixing a turkey dinner Sunday.. just because... Boiled a ginormous pot of potatoes and attempted to make mashed potatoes.. Initially, there was a quest to remember where I put the mixer since I had to unload all the cabinets and find new temporary locations for all my gadgets, it ended in success... then I went to plug it up in our make shift kitchen in the other room.. forgot the outlet by that sink is dead.. unplugged the mixer to go to the other room to find an outlet that works, attempted to carry the mixer and pot of steaming potatoes I just drained the boiling water off of..

*pause for effect*

Rushing to finish preparing dinner before guest arrived, I grabbed up both, not realizing that the cord of the mixer had wrapped around a handle on the cabinet.. I turn like the STOOGES doing NIAGRA FALLS.. took about two steps when the cord jerks the mixer in my hand causing the pot in my hands to go flying into the air throwing taters, butter, milk, and all into the air and all over the floor, cabinets, and anything else fortunate to be in the way...

*sigh*

Now I have no mashed potatoes for the turkey dinner, no dust pan, and no mixer... (mixer broke when I threw it at the pile of potatoes in the floor, and my dust pan is in the yard covered in potatoes and butter).

*grin*

I was not a happy camper.. made some microwave potatoes to go with dinner.. which was wonderful despite it all.. later, when I was laying in the bed talking to God about my day.. I apologized for not even thanking him... Would have been so easy for someone to have been standing in the kitchen, or Capo to be right there in the floor, or the pot to have fallen in a way to have splashed the potatoes all over me.. but it didn't. No one got burned or hurt. It took some effort to clean up.. but was quickly passed us and just a bad memory.

My initial reaction should have been to tell him THANK YOU... but I didn't.. and yet, he loves me anyway. He knew I would see it eventually, his hand protecting me and those I love, allowing so much to grow me into maturity, but only so much. Funny that a pot of boiling hot potatoes can seem so insignificant.. but if they had caused serious burns it would have been a very different story. So often we miss the happy endings because we are so focused on broken mixers and dirty dust pans and spilled potatoes and milk.

Look for his hand of protection in every miserable encounter of life, and thank him for drawing a line and telling hell, "only this far.. and only so I can bring even greater things to this child that I love so much."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK!
♥

Somebody Slap Me.. and Hard!

~ What if churches and gatherings of believers were conducted a little more like the summer festivals.. not different stages but different stations of worship.. huge stage with sold out worship leaders ushering us into the presence of God.. and several open areas to dance and worship.. walls available for artistic expression with paint and media... keyboards of lights somehow rigged so that ppl can take turns creating light shows of worship in various areas of the auditorium.. scrolling boards as ppl type in poetry and song lyrics they have written and prayers and praises for all to see in literary form... brings to mind a vision the Lord put in my heart years ago about the seven avenues of worship and setting up a sanctuary where ppl can enter not to watch a performance.. but to worship God with the many gifts he has put in them to praise his name.. not just with song and instruments... I had lost hope of ever seeing such a thing.. but this generation moves closer and closer to such a thing.. I pray God allows me to see it manifest before my final days on this earth. SOMEBODY TAKE US THERE, THE CHURCH IS SO HUNGRY FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS ♥

~ Problem is that is would require the church taking a risk instead of the micromanaged safe roads... not everyone worships the same, not everyone will be approved of, not everyone will walk and talk and smell like a church clone... that is the stumbling block.. picture the scene at Peter's house or Matthews.. chaos, unclean ppl in the midst of the ppl of God.. standing alongside the rest of us sinners who are no different than them.. except for one thing.. we have married ourselves to Christ and strive to be like him.. the undoing of forms of godliness... where are the men of God, the men of courage and love?

~ Christ welcomed all in such settings.

~ The church is so far off the mark.. we have so much capability and potential to reach a generation.. but we fail to allow them to be honest and messy and led by the Spirit of Truth to the God of Truth... we are the stumbling block with our arrogance and condescending systems and attitudes... we need to repent!!!

~ God has put all we need in our hands to further the Gospel.. but we refuse to let him lead..

~ (comment by a friend) "it does not have to be sponsored by a church but by the people........that is the term for a Gathering.....someone get a site.......people put money in the bucket.....and from that money get whomever we can..."

~ But if the church isnt involved follow up is not gonna happen realistically... and besides God established the church to be about the Fathers business.. and this is def his heart beat... down the road ppl are gonna need groups of believers (churches) to have the same passion that such an event stirs.. if the church hasnt humbled itself and invested itself, it wont be on the same page when the dust settles and walking this thing out for really real... thats what I mean.. the church -- if it is gonna call itself the CHURCH -- is sposed to be leading us in this.. but they murder anyone that God raises up... persecution is horrid.. but what else is left to take the church out of the hands of the selfishly ambitious and to let the Spirit of God lead.

~ last comment was from my cell.. bleh.. so hard to type complete thoughts, or to avoid typos.. lol

~ Anyway.. I don't know how it will all play out.. I just know that this generation of believers has so much love to scream out before God, so much crap heaped upon them to break through with unbridled ridiculous offensive passion to praise God.. they are seeking Good Things.. and such things come only from God.. the church, man, family, enlightenment, knowledge, liberalism, systems of men and the world, corrupted systems wearing Christian titles.. they have been disappointed, let down, deceived, used as warm bodies by all, but something in the deepest places of their heart refuses to give up.. you can feel it when you talk with them, interact with them... they are searching, begging, hoping, crying out for something honest and real.. for Truth... as are we all. Something must change, the church needs to be shaken, and hard, maybe even slapped if that's what it takes to bring it to its senses.. idk.. but you can feel something coming, the Spirit of God is on the move and a great wind is causing all things called by his name to tremble.. and only what is built upon that solid foundation that is Jesus will remain standing.. a fear and trembling mixed with a great and intense joy as God prepares to lay his hand upon the ppl of God with great anointing. Exciting times my friend <3

In Losing, You Win

~ " an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind." (Prov 23)

~ "Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day." 

(Prov 23)

~ Some days you feel like such a loser no matter how hard you try to live a good and Godly life... and you are... by the worlds standards. Prov 23 says not to envy sinners... why would he need to tell us that.. perhaps because some times it seems that sinners get to wear the Christian label, be the center of everyone's desire, as they secretly fulfill every lust and temptation hell has to offer... Sin can appear fun.. Sinners/hypocrites can appear winners.. and they gather up accolades of the world.. 

but whose standards are we living by?

Loneliness, rejection, betrayal, devastation... are real in this life. It can feel like you lose quite often. Jesus said he was hated and rejected and that we would be as well. It is natural to want to be affirmed, admired, accepted and respected by those around us. But as Ecclesiastes emphasizes.. there is a right time for everything. And wanting those things in this world, from this world, in this lifetime.. is bitter sweet.. because it is a smoke screen, a vapor as the Bible says.. it doesn't last.. it satisfies for a moment, lies to you that a Christian label is good enough and will get you by.. and then it is a death sentence in the eternal existence that is coming upon us all...

we are losers in the sight of this world... but we are winners in Truth and for all eternity. Hang in there. Be a loser, and embrace it... for now.  Because in losing, you win ♥

~ "When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

(Isaiah 1)

~ " the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift"   (Romans 3)

"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 6)

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. "  (Romans 5)

"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  

(Romans 10)


~ wow.. Good Stuff... I John 1-2... so worth the read,
like a solid friend walking this life beside you <3

~ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

~ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Repentance is married to Forgiveness

~ While there is no sin that God will not forgive... People that teach a gospel of Forgiveness without Repentance.. do not teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ... Forgiveness is not a washing machine so you can be free to go out and dirty up your life again by hurting ppl with your selfishness... Forgiveness is a chance to be free from your guilt and punishment for hurting others, and to CHANGE, to treat ppl with more kindness and justice and love. So often ppl teach contrary to what God says in the Bible, a forgiveness that enables rather than one that brings salvation through the death and suffering of our Lord to free us from the judgement we all deserve ♥

~ Mark 1:4
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

~ Luke 24:47
and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

~ Acts 5:31
God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

~ What exactly is repentance?... lots of explanations but bottom line...

REPENTANCE: doing whatever you gotta do so that you don't have to lie any more when God or someone else asks you about it... removing temptation from your life that will lead you into things that keep you from being honest with yourself and with God and with others.

Lust (Matt 5)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."

If you have cheated on your spouse, or you are being tempted to... don't be alone with that person that you know you shouldn't be alone with, don't answer their email and texts, don't take their phone calls, sneaking around with him/her as a friend doesn't make you a kind person, being a sounding board for them to complain about their spouse isn't helping them.. it makes you a liar and a cheater, and opens the door for them to lie and cheat.

"But Jesus would stay in close touch with him/her or he wouldn't be a good friend." Don't kid yourself, that's not what Jesus would do. He would do what he said for you to do in Matt 5 and he would cut that relationship off in what ever manner was necessary to keep his heart right and clean.. so he could live in Truth.