Weakness...

Just for starters, I hate that I have friends that know me well enough to see that there is more going on in my life than I will admit at times. And yet, I LOVE YOU! (All of you know who you are....) So thanks! Thanks for having invested enough in my pitiful life to know me in my weaknesses and still put up with me! You are each an incredible blessing to my life! And with that said....let's move on!

Lately, I have been a bit stressed, if you didn't know. I have no problem admitting to that, but it does hurt my pride some when others can see that in me. It is a sign of weakness, as if to say "I can't handle life right now." But just yesterday, a friend of mine, who probably has no idea that they did this, really humbled me and reminded me that it isn't about me. In a conversation, after I had stated that I was stressed, this friend of mine asked, "But is Jesus still on His throne?" My response, "ABSOLUTELY!" Thanks! You really brought me back into perspective by reminding me that regardless of what is going on in my sad little life and of all the things that seem stressful to me, He is still a sovreign God who sits on His throne and is not surpirsed by anything that happens. In fact, He is using this time in my life to teach me so much about His character and to shape me into the woman He wants me to be. All that is happening in my life right now, it is for His glory and He has purposed it for that reason alone. Praise the Lord that He is so much bigger than my stress!

There are two sources that I have learned to cling to lately. The first is a verse found in a well-known worship song entitled Wonderful, Merciful Savior. The last verse of the song states...

Almighty, Infinite Father

Faithfully loving Your own

Here in our weakness You find us

Falling before Your throne.

WOW! That has been the story of my life as of late. I pray that I never leave the thone of Christ, weak or not. And the second source of strength as of late has been a verse in Paul's second letter to Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy that

"if we are faithless, He remains

faithful— for He cannot deny himself."

2 Timothy 2:13

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand and comprehend why God wouldn't just give up on me. I mean, I am not always faithful, and yet, He never gets aggravated and just quits! His love is steadfast and His mercy is renewed each morning. How great is our God! He is worthy of all the praise and glory! Thank you God for being patient with me in my weakness and still putting up with me. Help me to rely on You in my stressful times and never forget to lift all the glory to You. God is so good........ :)

Get Pumped....

So, for those of you that don't know, I will be going to Cali in Feb for a conference and I AM PUMPED!! I am so jazzed about it and I would encourge each of you to check out the website and learn more about it and consider it an option for yourself. Take my word, you will experience serious growth in your walk with Christ. You will be challenged and return home changed. Check it out! Hope to see you there! God is so good........

http://www.gracechurch.org/Resolved/

Faithful Friend...

No longer do I call you servants, for the

servant does not know what his master is

doing; but I have called you friends...

John 15:15

I have been learning a lot lately about the importance of friends. I have found myself clinging to the friendship of my Savior and praising God that I have been found worthy to be considered His friend. His friendship to me is an honor FAR beyond my own comprehension, but I can trust that He will always be faithful to me in our friendship. He will never get mad and walk away, He will never judge my flaws, and He will never replace me. He will forever be faithful when I am faithless, strong when I am weak, sufficient in my own insufficiency, fruitful when I am fruitless, and He is ready to listen and guide me at all times. He is not only the best friend I'll ever have, but He is my refuge, my help, my portion, my deliverer, my redeemer, etc. He is all I know and all I need. He holds the universe on His fingertip, and yet He still wants to be my friend.....

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

It is my prayer that I will no longer overlook the incredible friendship that comes from the Father. Who else will I ever need in this life? I pray that I will find satisfaction in being alone by the standards of this world and use that "alone time" to always reflect on the goodness and freindship of Jesus Christ. Who could ask for a better friend? I have no doubt that He will always have my back and willingly die for me, HE ALREADY HAS! He has given up so much to be my friend, what an honor! May I never take for granted this faithful friend. God is so good...... :)

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear

Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.

Psalm 25:14

Worship...

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true

worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,

for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

John 4:23

Recently, I have been learning much about worship. What is worship? What isn't worship? What does worship look like? When is worship genuine? How often should one worship? At what point does worship turn from worship to ritual? What does a true worshipper look like, act like, talk like, live like? What or who is the best example of a true worshipper? Are you beginning to get the picture or should I go on?! I will spare you the redundancy and just get to the point.

So, what have I learned? It is only appropriate that a pupil be tested on what they have learned and leave it to our MIGHTY God to test me in ways that I never thought He would. Which, on a side note, just don't ever put God in a box! I mean, He can balance the entire universe on the tip of his finger, so there is no box big enough to hold Him! Back on track... I have learned that worship is a state of mind, it is a matter of the heart, it is done out of awe and not ritual. Worship is no joking matter. Some great Biblical examples of worshippers who walked with God through the pages of Scripture include, Isaiah, Job, Hannah, David, Jesus, and the list goes on. I have learned much about the different apects of life that worship becomes essential to. Not that worship is not important in every aspect, but the examples listed above show how to worship in the vital times, the dark days, the life or death matters. Worship bcomes essential in suffereing, in awe, in abandon, in warfare, in perseverance and humilty, and in Spirit. Basically, worship is not singing songs and dancing, worship is a lifestyle. So if you are living worship, then in all that you do, you will be giving praise to God. And for only one reason, HE ALONE IS WORTHY!

Lately, I have fallen in love with a cd by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, entitled Let the Worshippers Arise. It has such an incredible line-up of songs. I would have to rank it has one of my favorite worship albums. I recommend it to anyone that is in the market for a new worship cd.

1. Friend of God
2. Because I'm Forgiven
3. You Are God Alone
4. In Christ Alone (Medley)
5. Let The Worshippers Arise
6. My Redeemer Lives
7. Be The Praise Of My Heart
8. Awake My Soul (Christ Is Formed In Me)
9. Making Melody
10. Mighty Is The Power Of The Cross
11. Wonderful Merciful Savior

May all the praise and glory go to God alone because that is why I was created. He alone will be praised forever! May my heart forever be fixed on the cross of Christ and my worship forever be genuine! It is my prayer that my attitude and actions will always reflect the image of Chirst. Be glorified in my, oh Lord. I don't want this world to know me or my motives, but to bow before You and sing praises to You alone. Use me to exalt Yourself and glorify Your kindgom. You will forever be on Your throne and worthy of Your crown! God is so good....... :)

A Growing Desire...

I don't know how to write this post. I want to share with you a developing desire, passion, if you will, that God has placed on my heart as of late, but I don't have any stories or analogies to help me this time. Not that I need one, because it is suffice to say that this is the Lord's hand over my life and working in my heart, but it just makes it easier for me to write and you to read if there is a fun story or whatnot to go along with it. But here goes (forgive me if the "flow" is not up to its usual par).......

Recently, meaning this summer, I have found myself falling in love with missions. You see, growing up, I never really knew a lot about missions. I mean, I knew what missionaries were and what they did, to an extent, but I never understood the concept of missions. I was one of those people that thought missions only existed in the farthest corners of the Earth and that the only way you could take part in missions was to sell everything and go into "the bush" and share the gospel with lost people. Pretty ridiculous, huh? But it was a matter of not being educated about the subject matter.

Now, I go to one of the nations most mission-minded churches and I have learned and grown to understand the truth of what missions are. My eyes have been opened and I now realize what it means to be a missionary. And this summer, I have grown to LOVE missions! I don't really know what that means at this point. I know two things. I know that right now, I am called to follow Christ anywhere He leads me and that right now that is Auburn, AL. I also know that He has a plan for my life and the ultimate purpose of that plan is to glorify Himself. But right now, I am so excited about the thought of sending laborers onto the field and even more excited about being one of those laborers!

So what am saying?! As of October 2005, I was dead-set in my way. I told several people that I felt no calling, nor had any desire, to be a life-time or an international missionary. At the time, and still presently, I had a very strong desire for our nation. But now, I really feel that God is opening my heart for the world, for the nations. I mean, it is to the point that I am in tears when I sing a song about "the nations" crying out one day. About "every tribe and tongue" bowing before the throne. I don't know what it means. I don't know if God is just softening my heart and making me aware how urgent the need is or if He is preparing my heart to accept a call to be involved in missions full-time. Am I one of the laborers of the harvest? Will I be one of the chosen to go to one of the unknown people groups in the world and make the Word of God famous among that nation? Am I the next Amy Carmichael or Corrie Ten Boom? Who knows...He does!

So now comes the fun part! I need your help in this matter. I sincerely ask that you make this a matter of prayer on my behalf. Pray that God's will for my life will be clear and that I will accept that without any questions. I know that it can be scary to step out on faith and go to the corners of the earth, but I pray that God will make my heart bold and will empower me with His Spirit to follow His calling for my life. I want Isaiah 6:8 to be a true reflection of my heart on this matter. I do not want to be found in disobedience to Him, and if He is calling me to be a worker for the Kingdom harvest, then I want to go! I want to do His work. Thank you for your petitions on my behalf. I am truly blessed by those of you that care enough to invest in my life. God is sooo good and He will be glorified.... :)

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8