Not as serious.

I started a new blog: http://withallthatfreetime.blogspot.com/-- visit me. It's not near as serious as this blog and I think I'm going to turn this one off for a little while. I'm still free, still loving Jesus, just working through the intimacy of my relationship with him, and what that entails (see #1 blog post on new blog).

Cheers!

A few things on my mind.

These are the most recent things I've been working through and wanted to share.

1. Why do people (I will not exclude myself) feel the need to update their status on facebook or twitter with a prayer? For instance, I saw just today someone say "Oh, Lord. We need your awakening. Please come quickly." Now here is where I am: we are called to be doers of God's word, to speak it, proclaim it. But does that mean we are to pray so that others may read it? hmmm. Just a thought. I don't think, in the right context, that offering up a public prayer is wrong. I do think that we are far to concerned that others see us being spiritual. Offering scripture as encouragement and edification is necessary and pure. Asking God to come quickly via facebook seems, well, just weird. There is such an intimacy that God desires from our hearts and minds that I fear we have made public for our own good-reason. Facebook, Twitter, etc are not places to offer up a prayer to the God of the universe. Get on your knees, face down and be intimate with Him. [there is a special note that this is something I am coming to grips with. Don't talk to Jesus via social media. That is dumb. You can talk of Him, but get in His word, or get still to talk to Him.] It's almost like we've become modern day pharisees. That is scary, folks.

2. God surely loves to bless us, and sometimes even when we don't deserve it. I have not been reading my Bible the way I should. As I know the Lord longs for the closeness, it is my loss not His. My life is so much more stable when I am quieted before Him. Well, at least my spirit. Even though I'm not spending as much time with Him as I should in His word, he's teaching me new things daily. One thing is that he loves the details and wants me to quiet down and trust those details. Another is his favor over his children. Although I know reading his word keeps my life stable, I also know that my relationship with him is an all-day, everyday thing. He's good to remind me He's in it for the long haul.

3. My house is almost ready. The house that God built me. If you know me well, you know of many things the Lord has told me about that house. It's the house that God built me, and I pray that it will be a place to bless many others - with his encouragement, his word, his teachings. I am dwelling right now on the word....INVADE.

A big ole S on my forehead.

I love Elisabeth Elliott. I love her heart, her desire for Christ, her willingness to tell it like it is. Not always do I agree with how hard-core she is, but most often in her books, I am reminded of God's design and for that I am so thankful.

I have read The Quest for Love a few times, and am about to start reading it again. There are so many words offered, through scripture, to help in times of waiting. To remind us why we must wait.

Was flipping through just now, and found this, "...the Lord would have to make it clear to a guy that I was not going to make a single move. I reasoned that since I was only interested in marrying a godly man, then I could trust God to lead him to me, for he would be a man attuned to God's voice and would know that God was directing him to pursue me."

That is some seriously grounding, real stuff. If what we want is truly someone that God prompts to us, then we must wait. The end.

Details, people. God doesn't miss the details.

What is wrong with you? Wait. What is wrong with me?!

One of the many ways that Jesus has refined me over the years is to immediately ask me where I am wrong in situations where I am so quick to judge, hurt, or point a finger. It's so easy to be the victim. To think you've been wronged. But as a follower of Christ, it is mandatory (a) to suffer for His sake, (b) to check yourself and search the depths of you, understanding that we all are dark and only by His grace may we ever see light.

Someone sent me the quote below this morning and it spoke all over my heart, mind and soul.

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be." Thomas à Kempis

I prayed last week that God would show me where I was wrong in current areas of my life and why I was in a holding pattern in other areas. He shows in a loving way. In a way that makes me want to care more. To change. To love more. He is the only thing that is steady as a rock. He doesn't change. He loves me in spite of my darkness. He is not exclusive with His love.

Oh, how thankful I am for that love. A love that captured a wretched soul. That same love renews the wretched soul with kindness, mercy, gentleness and love.

1776. Independence Day.

So last September I woke up in the middle of the night, somewhat fearful of a situation going on in my life. I couldn't sleep so I got up and read my Bible. I prayed. I begged God for relief. For freedom.

A few days later, He showed this to me in his word:

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. - Psalm 18:19

I knew the answer. It was time to sell my house. Time for the Lord to rescue me from that time of life. Time to move on to the next phase. So I put my house on the market and it sold in a week. For sale by owner, and the 2nd person to look at it bought it. Did I mention it was for sale by owner?!

He spoke loud and clear. He told me something else was coming. So here I stand, ready for that next phase. I've started building my new, more spacious house. It's beautiful. It's overwhelming. There are tons of trees. It's peaceful.

You know what the square footage is? 1776. Why, you ask, is that important? It was when the declaration of independence was signed. Freedom for our country. Freedom in my life!

My God does not miss a detail. He loves to line stuff up. To confirm His message, His word. I think He has a sense of humor too. I mean, come on...1776!? How does that stuff happen?

Come see me!

Depth and details.

I've started going with my bro and sis-in-law to Sunday night church at their church. It's a spiritually deep church, full of big words like sanctification, holy grace, redeemed....well, it's just challenging stuff which I love.

We are studying Exodus - right now, Moses. You know one thing the minister mentioned last week - the water is not to be disregard. Moses was put in a basket as a baby and delivered by that water. Later, he would deliver God's people right in the middle of the Red Sea (another body of water). He was delivered as a baby, God used him to deliver as a man. Seriously. God does not miss any detail.

I also heard last night that flesh is not "the body" as we tend to make it.....rather it is the untamed soul not in congruence with God's desires. Good stuff to think about.

Loving my soul being fed again.

(Image: RED SEA)

Someone I love.

I have a few friends that truly know me. That will be honest with me. That will tell me when I need to adjust my attitude, my spirit. I love these friends with all of my being. I love when someone I love and cherish tells me to pull it together, for that makes a lasting bond.

I went walking with one of these friends the other night. For a long time. We talked about anything and everything but the best of which was the suffering of Christ. To know Christ is to experience His sufferings. Does it hurt? Like nothing else. Is it worth it? Above everything else.

My friend is going through a time of suffering. A time of loss. Her heart, mind and soul are grieving, yet she feels the heartbeat of Jesus lift her and pull her near to Him. She gets a glimpse of her small sufferings in comparison to His sufferings and it makes everything easier. Make sense? The more you suffer, the easier it is.. It's the peace of His nearness. The mercy He pours. The hope He gives.

Not sure how anyone that experiences hard things in life is able to cope without the hope of something to come. I heart Him. I heart how He changes us, how He allows us to see His love in the midst of our hurt in this fallen world. I heart how He will come and rescue.