Devoted wife, mother and lover of all things which are Christ-centered. I am serious about my Faith, my Family and my Friends. With me you receive openness, honesty and genuine love.
I have to admit, I love sports! My husband and I coached, for many years, peewee football and middle school football; he was the head coach and I coached the receivers as well as being the personal team trainer. I also enjoy watching other spectator sports, but the one that I want to focus on today is track and field. Our youngest daughter participates in this sport; she runs the four by one-hundred, the one hundred meter, and she does both one hundred meter hurdles and shuttle hurdles.
The other day the team had their preliminaries and since my daughter missed track last year because of our move, I knew that she was a bundle of nerves. There were about six other teams competing, and the competition looked tough. My daughter’s last event was the shuttle hurdles, and if you don’t know what they are (which I didn’t at the time) it is where there are 5-6 lanes and each lane has ten hurdles placed among 100 meters, and each team has 4 members poised by two on each end of their lanes; once one teammate clears their ten hurdles the next teammate comes back in the opposite direction, and so on until all team members have cleared their set. *Whew* Read the rest of this entry »
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:12-13).
I have always told my family that there are two ways that I do not want to die: one is that I shiver at the thought of drowning, with my lungs being filled with water and not being able to breathe , NOOO! The other way is that I do NOT want to die in a fire; it’s just unfathomable to me, and even when I see the news about a home being on fire with people left in it, my heart weeps for them. It seems such a tragic way to pass! Yet many times we as believers are walking through fire without the flames; the heat of our trial becomes so hot that we feel that we are suffocating, can’t breathe and feel that we may not survive. We have all heard the term “trial by fire”, and it is usually applied to initiations, new employment or some other carnal ceremony or ritual. What about Godly trials? Do you have what it takes to survive them?
Just a little while ago I was listening to a song that had me praising God, and before I got two minutes into it I received bad news on two sides; one came in the mail and the other via the doorbell, and it happened in rapid succession! My trial had begun. After I got a chance to catch my breath for a second, I can be completely honest and say that I began to cry, and I could hardly catch my breath. When my son asked me what was wrong, I told him that I can usually be the strong one, take things to God in prayer and leave it, yet in that moment I allowed the fire to consume me. I told him that it was one thing on top of the next thing on top of another thing, and that I felt that it was more than I could bear. Then I laughed through my tears and remembered that Jesus’ burden was much heavier, as He carried the whole world on His shoulders. When my son asked me how he could help, I laughed again and told him, “only God can help me right now son, thanks”. Read the rest of this entry »
Yes he looks ominous doesn’t he? Scary almost in a cartoonish way, but imagine my surprise last night when during my prayer to God, He interrupted me and asked me, “are you a thief?” My mind immediately went back to Kroger, where I was earlier in the day. I used U-Scan and paid for my four items. So I answered, “no Lord, I don’t think so”, then the question was asked again from Him, “are you a thief?” Again my mind traveled the course of my life; I was 13 and in a discount department store, and despite having money I pilfered a teen book that I enjoyed reading. I got caught, was taken to security and they called my mother. My days of petty theft were finished right then a there! So I replied to God, “that was many years ago Lord, and I repented and got saved 10 years later…you know that East-West thing God?” And again He asked, “are you a thief?” Then I knew that this question was rhetorical, whew!
So let me ask you, are you a thief? Before you answer, let me show you how Jesus dealt with a thief:
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Lk. 23:43).
The conversation which took place on the cross between Jesus and the malefactors (or criminals) was very short, but also extremely significant. I can imagine that these criminals were the worst of the worst; possibly today’s rapists or murderers, robbers, or carjackers would be their equivalent. I cannot imagine that they would be crucified if their crimes were not heinous.We are not privy to what their crime actually was, but the fall back is to them being thieves, possibly because it is easier to digest than a worse crime.
Many of us, at one time or another, have battled with letting go of something or someone that we know would not be pleasing to God. Even though He tells us to cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1), we find ways to hold on to the “old things” which poison our spirit. In order to be effective ministers and messengers of Christ, we have to get rid of every sin and every weight that so easily beset us (Heb. 12:1). Let Jesus have it and be free. Enjoy this illustration by Onetimeblind Ministries.
Anyone over the age of 35 should remember these words from the “original” series…”your mission, should you choose to accept it…”, I remember watching that show with my heart pounding thinking to myself, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” I was a little bit of a tomboy, and I always thought that whatever the boys could do well, I could do as well.
So I went into the military after high school, unwillingly, but I went. Nobody told me what to expect, no one prepared me for the hell on Earth that I was going to face. No one. Had I known then what I know now, I would have gladly adopted the mountainous loads of student loans to have avoided the first experience that changed my life. I guess at this point I can tell you that I believe the military ended up hating me as much as I hated it lol. No, I didn’t give it an easy time at all; as a matter of fact I tried to do the opposite of everything instructed. I believe that I spent more time mopping floors, running laps or in C.C than I did in actual service. The one thing that someone did tell me before I left on that late night flight for San Antonio was that “Basic Training” was set up to break your will, and to break you out of your old habits. I have to agree that it is what they tried to do; unfortunately they underestimated MY will. If told to run, I walked and if told to march I would shuffle. I’m still amazed that I made it through basic training at all, possibly due to a lenient and forgiving training instructor. Or maybe because they just wanted to get rid of me.
I’ll be honest, I was always a very nice girl but I was the middle child and always seemed to fade into the background, which was fine by me. However, when I left high school I decided to exert my independence and then when I entered the military they immediately tried to stifle the one thing that I was determined to exert. That didn’t work for me at the time, so I became disobedient. I know…this doesn’t sound good at all, but it is the truth! Read the rest of this entry »
If you came to this blog and read the above, what would you do? Laugh and leave? Could you really take anything that I wrote after that seriously? Or would you think to yourself, “just who does she think she is?” I think that the immediate response would be to go to the “About Me” page to find out exactly who this Senior blah blah blah person is; likewise when we visit ministries we want to know who the “head” is since their title is trumpeted on the sign out front, on their church office door, and sometimes on their parking space. Why is having an official title so important to people?
I believe that the short answer is that we would like to be esteemed above all others, and the title is one of way doing that. We want to be recognized as leaders, when Christ instructed us to be humble, and that He would exalt us. Being a part of the Body of Christ for so long I have seen titles increase and expand in ways that I’ve never thought imaginable. It seems that no one is simply a “preacher” or a “minister”, or even “teacher” anymore; everyone is either a Bishop, a Prophet, a Doctor, Apostle, Messenger, etc. Please don’t scourge me, I believe that some title are apropos when given by God, but often times the head of the actual body of Christ is lost in the elevation of the title of the pastor of the local church. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh relax…I KNOW there are ten just as well as you do. Yet, some of us unknowingly (or perhaps knowingly) break one of these commandments on an almost regular basis. I can feel the spiritual eye rolls that I am getting right now, but give me a chance to explain! I have to stop and give credit to my husband for planting the general idea of this blog from one of the teachings that God gave him; after laying it before the Lord, and asking my husband’s permission I began this blog. So let’s start from the beginning:
First of all God informs us that it is He who brought us to freedom from bondage (Egypt): this lets us know that He means serious business in what He is about to say. Liken it to your Earthly father who is about to chastise you; he’ll say, “Boy (or girl), don’t you know I’m your daddy?” It’s a rhetorical question because we know who daddy is all the time. Then God begins to lay down the law. It’s pretty cut and dried so let’s review them. And probably what we think when reading or hearing them…Read the rest of this entry »
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Heb. 13:2).
I’m not saying that this young lady was an angel exactly, but what I am saying is that it is important for us to treat people in Godly ways, because we never know who God has sent into our lives for His purpose. Our meeting was not a physical one, as a matter of fact our communication has strictly been electronic; she found this blog, she contacted me and we began to exchange exhortations of the Lord. This young lady exhibited a maturity about Christ and His kingdom that is well beyond her years and I was impressed with her grasp of both scripture and faith. It’s funny because I have “met” a lot of people through this site, but none that tugged at my heart the way that this young lady did. As busy as my life is, I found myself waiting in anticipation for her next email and enjoying the back and forth. It certainly seems a lot longer than six days that I have known her.
Some people would dismiss someone young because they feel that perhaps they aren’t “experienced” or “knowledgeable” enough to entertain, but I have always had that mindset that God can use any one for any reason that He purposes. I’m reminded of when my eldest daughter was born. The nurse had placed her in my room in that clear bassinet thing, and whenever I wasn’t asleep neither was she. Her little beady eyes would follow me wherever I went in the room, and she made me nervous. Yes, a newborn freaked me out! I even told my mother, “that baby’s eyes keep following me wherever I go” LOL. To this day my daughter is an observer; she doesn’t say much, but she watches everything! That is how I feel about my new friend; her conversation reads like she has already lived a lifetime. In the time that I have met her God has awakened me at odd hours to pray with and for her, and even this morning at 12:35am He had me turn my lights on to make notes to put into this blog just for her: Read the rest of this entry »
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Cor. 10:13).
Have you ever been in a store somewhere and you see a woman’s purse in a cart left open and unattended, and you thought to yourself, “boy, if I wasn’t saved…ohhhweee”? No? So it’s only me huh? LOL. That scenario actually did happen to me, and my reaction to it was to wait there for the lady (who was elderly) to walk back over to the aisle and to her cart; I very politely told her that she needed to be careful because not everyone was honest, and that someone else may have stolen her purse or contents. She was very grateful and admitted that she absentmindedly left her purse in that manner. This is a common temptation, will we adhere to God’s commands or will we succumb to the temptation? What about less blatant temptations? How many times in a week do we actually say to ourselves…”if I wasn’t saved” or “if I wasn’t a Christian” or “they’d better be happy I’m in Christ”? Are you tempted to curse someone out because they pulled into “your” parking space while you were trying to back in? Or did you have to physically restrain one of the appendages on your hand when an aggressive driver cut you off? On a serious note, there are some temptations that are definitely not a laughing matter, and can cause you to fall into sin. Read the rest of this entry »
A little over a year ago my hair stylist, at the time, asked me what I knew of the Jezebel spirit. She felt that she was dealing with it in the ministry that she had currently been attending. I found it to be a very odd inquiry at the time because I had just met her, and it was also a question that had never been asked of me before but I promised to bring her a printout of some research I had done into that foul spirit. The obvious question right now would be, “Hey, IAPW why would you have done research on that?” Well, to answer that is simple…because I wanted to lol. Years before then I heard about the spirit, but knew very little about it. You see, we always tend to hear about Jezebel and think that she was just some “loose woman” who seduced kings in the bible, and the word is thrown around in the world to describe “fast” girls. Ohhh but that Jezebel…
A brief history: Before defining this dangerous and influential spirit we need to first understand who Jezebel was in the bible. Jezebel was of pagan birth (Zidonian), her father was Ethbaal, and she married a king who believed on Yawheh, the true and living God. Even though King Ahab was a man of God he was considered evil by the Israelites who had seen kings before Ahab stray further and further from God. Ahab allowed Jezebel to set up worship to Baal, and to promote it as the exclusive religion of Israel and she eventually turned him against God. (1 Kings 16:28-33). Jezebel, as queen, also had rule over 850 pagan priests, and set out to slay the prophets of God. God used His prophet Elijah to challenge the prophets of Baal and, when victorious, God allowed him to slay all of the false prophets. Word of this was carried back to Jezebel by King Ahab, and so infuriated was she that she sent a message to Elijah threatening him, this sent Elijah into hiding. God brought Elijah out to send warning to both Ahab and Jezebel, and eventually Ahab repented of his sins, but Jezebel did not; she refused to submit to the power and authority of God and vowed to relentlessly pursue Elijah. Her refusal to repent of her wicked ways led to her bloody and public demise (2 Kings 9: 29-37). Let’s stop here for a moment.Read the rest of this entry »
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