Little Girl with a Big Heart

          The cutest thing happened during work yesterday and I just let it happened. It all started with the simplest of things and it got bigger as it went on. It was really neat to see it happening around little children but yet God always told us to have faith like a little child. What happened yesterday was a good reminder for me. The thing that happened was this: a little girl started talking about God and how He died on the cross for us. It got the other children talking about it too.
            The little girl started talking about it because of the craft she and her classmates were making. We started off by talking about the stars and how they made shapes in the sky. That you can see the shapes when you are camping outside at night. We watched a YouTube video about the stars and then we actually showed them the stars using an app on our phone that showed where the shapes really were in the sky even in the daytime. It was called something like "Sky Scrape". Some of the shapes we talked about were the Big Dipper, Big Bear, Orion, and the North Star. Then the children made their own shapes in the sky if they wanted to or they could make a shape that was already in the sky like the "Big Dipper". 

            The little girl that was talking about how Jesus die for us started because she made her shape of the cross and a circle around it. She even wrote, "God did (died) rite here." It was really cute! When she would read what it said, it would just start the other children talking about it too. The children made their shapes out of silver sequences and glue on a blue piece of paper. They made a lot of their own things like fish, rockets, the cross, and even flowers but some of them just stuck with making the Big Dipper too. There was a lot of different things and shapes that were made. It was hard to keep track of what they were really talking about. 

              I remember some of the things were things like how God died for us and then that lead to the children sharing who have died in their family or people they knew that have passed away. I also remember them saying things like, "God died a thousand years ago.", "God is by my side.", and even talked about how God lived after He died in their own understanding. It was a fast convo. but really cute one at the same time. It reminded me of a lot of things as a grown up. Here are some of the things that convo. reminded me of. 

              We should never be scared to share our beliefs, even when it is just out in the blue. We shouldn't be scared to talk about our faith and the differences between beliefs. We should be really outgoing about our faith and love talking about it. We should do it with a smile on our face. What got me with the little girl was she was saying what her picture was with a huge smile on her face and she wasn't even thinking about it. She also just kept repeating what she was saying, even when other children tried to disagree with her or when she think someone didn't here her clearly enough. It was also neat that she thought about the cross and a circle around it while they were suppose to making shapes in the sky.

                In a way, she was putting Creation and Jesus dieing on the cross for us together but yet she had no idea. It was kind of like saying, "Jesus died for all Creation." when you really think about it. It was just a moment that highlighted my day and a great one to the end of a long week. It is a moment I never what to forget about so that is why I am writing it out plus I haven't done one about the children in awhile so I thought it was about time. It just amazed me how children can be outgoing about their beliefs but us adults are too scared at times. When children do that, it never creases to amaze me! It is always a good reminder for me. 

The Long Wait

"The long wait Home is easier when you are focusing on the Trophy."

(aka "The long walk home is easier when you are carrying a trophy."-The Hunting' Grounds)



              I will say this entry thought process has been in my drafts for a long time with that saying above. I still like it so I am not going to delete but I might take a different turn then I was going to when I first thought of this entry because I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. I will go ahead and tell you that I was going to focus on how our journey to our Heavenly home is a long wait but it makes it easier when you are focusing on the Trophy, that is God. Here lately, though, God has been showing me another meaning of the Long wait that I really want to write about instead. The Wait I want to talk about now is: The waiting process in a relationship. I know I am taking a sightly different turn but then again I am not. They can go hand in hand if you really think about them both at the same time.
             When waiting to see if a guy likes you and for him to start the relationship (yes, I am old fashioned), it might seem like the longest process in your life. That is if you just met the guy randomly of the street or somewhere like church or school. When you have known the guy for a few years and are really stubborn, then it seems like the longest process ever or at least it does to me. I have come to a sense that I can't make a guy like me. Yes, I can pray about it and leave it in God's hands and ask God to do certain things but there is never that assurance that God will do what you have asked of Him. Trust me, I have done those things too. Any of my guy friends will tell you, though, that I can be pushy at times with or without knowing it.
             I admit it really didn't bother me that much in high school or college because well, I didn't have my life even close to ready. I have grown so much since college in all the ways. One way I started to see things differently is my heart and the heart of the person I cared a lot about. His intentions were in the right place when he would let me down softly and had every right to do so now that I look back but I didn't realize it back then. Because I didn't realize it back then, I will admit I was a little pushy, okay maybe a lot of pushy, depends on who you ask but it came from a good place or that is what I thought at least. Here lately as I learn more about myself and who I am and more about the guy, things started to become clearer.
              I feel like God is just telling me to wait on things. I don't know what things just yet but I feel like He is telling me to wait and just enjoy life. He knows my heart's desires and He is getting things ready for me and getting me ready for those things too. This past year in May (May 2016-May 2017) I had a really hard time understanding what Love really meant and what it meant to have a relationship even with God. I just didn't understand certain things and the way they were happening, I guess you could say. I had a certain situation that I didn't understand at all but didn't even know it had a real affect on me until this past May. I even totally forgot about it until the day was coming up this year. It wasn't easy coming up to it again but I will say that this month as been the strongest month yet for me to understand what having a relationship with anyone really means.
               I have stepped back and stopped being so pushy since this year and I would like to think I am getting better every month. I have also become more real with people around me or at least I am trying on that. But like I said, this all happened a year ago and that year went by really fast but after this May, things started to get slow again and take forever. It is the long wait for someone to love you. I am starting to see that it is a wait and that the longer it feels and takes the more that person is worth it. Why? You might ask. Because God is taking His time to prepare them and you for what is ahead. I find myself praying for the person or myself when I feel like it as been too long. I will say the last time I wrote a friend of mine was just last month around Mother's Day and that seems like a long time. I want to write that friend again.
              But there are times where I have to hold myself back, those are the times that I pray for my friend because usually it is something that I want to tell them about myself or what I learned or just sometimes, yes I do this, even to connect them but I don't. Instead, I take it to God and I hand it over to Him and let Him handle it with my friend. I'm letting God have more and more of the situation even though it seems like a really, really long wait. It is a process just like everything else is in life. You might not understand it at first but as you get older and around more people you start to understand it. It seems like it has been 3 months when really it as only been one month. I haven't told you this yet either but I have tried to stop or back off in the past especially when I started to realize that I was being pushy but there was always that little something I had to tell my friend or comment to my friend.
              I don't even do that anymore. It all goes to God. The deepest feelings for anything or anyone goes to God. That is how I handle things right now and to be honest, I probably started that after my first friend's wedding in April this past year because I just couldn't take it anymore. It is just strange the things you will do for a person you really care about and sometimes the most important thing you can do is wait. I don't know any better way to show a person that you really care by doing that and praying in the process. Yes, it drives me nuts sometimes but then I look at the past and remind myself the past is not something that I want to repeat so why don't I keep trying it this way and see if it words. Trying to do it God's way and be happy with it instead of doing it my way. I have also experienced it with my jobs but that is a whole other entry in itself. That is like: "The Long Wait-Part 2".
              I guess what I am trying to say here is that: "The Long wait, rather it is waiting to go to your Heavenly Home or waiting on something or someone, is always worth it. You will be amazed at what God can do during those waiting times." I can be sure that when you look back at the times you felt like you were waiting for things, you will be grateful that you did follow God and waited at that moment in time.

Daddy, I Give You My All

Daddy, I Give You My All

Daddy, I give you my all. You
Have given me a lot more so why
Should it be hard to give you my
All. It shouldn't be hard. That is
Just it. It should be easy but we
Live in a sinful world. We live
In a world that is controllable.

Daddy, I give you my all. I give
It all back to You. I give it 1,000
times more. When I try to figure
It all out, I mess it all up. I can't
Do it all at the same time. It's
Just not possible. I start by giving
You my thoughts. I want them to
Be positive and used for You.
I need them to also be focused
On you.

Daddy, I give you my heart. I
Want You to live in it. I want
You to check it out before things
Come out of it. It is the well spring
Of my life. I want good things to
Come out of it that gives You
The Glory. I want the right things
For my relationships to come out
Of my heart.

Daddy, I give you my all. I give
You my all because I want Joy
In my life. I want You to be the
Center of my life and the center of
all the others that comes in contract
With me. I want to be the one that
shines Your Glory on the outside
for all to see. I don't want to keep
It all inside of me.

I want to put my all on your shoulders
Like it intended to be in the first place.
I don't want it on my back anymore.
It just doesn't work that way and I know
Now. It has just taken me this long to see that.
Daddy, I want to Give You My All.



Written By: Tiffney Wilson

Written On: June 18th, 2017 (Father's Day)

I Purpose to Daily.......

Serenity.


            That is my word to fit my phase for the month of June. Sorry that the month is almost over and I am now just writing this entry. Another word for serenity is: tranquillity. It makes more sense to say, "I purpose to daily tranquil."I picked these words for this month's theme because I need some of that serenity. I started the summer program for the first time at my job since I started in September. I heard it was going to be hard and crazy so I picked this word for some calmness and to remind me to take a break every once in awhile. It has helped me these past two weeks since the summer program started. I feel more content and peaceful with everything. There is also something else that made me pick this word.
             When the month started and before this month started, I started to say the Serenity Prayer for my life every week. A friend of mine suggested that I started to do that especially if I wanted to be in a Bible study that does the same thing this coming Fall. Now I don't know if I will take that Bible Study because there has been a lot more studies that have came up since then but it is still a good idea to say that prayer every once in awhile. I said it twice as a prayer before I got distracted with so many other things and I admit it did help the next day and that whole week to go better. I need to get back on that train soon but that isn't the case here. I just wanted to write about what that prayer means to me because really it is what Serenity is about.
              To have serenity or tranquility in your life, you need to accept the things that you cannot change. If you keep trying to change the things you want in life, you will just get more and more stressed out and that makes everything and everyone around you more miserable then they really have to be. Then you need to pray for the courage to change the things you can because it can be scary at times and you could sit on that one thing for the longest time wondering if you should do it or not. Most of the time, people don't end up doing it and it eats them up inside. They wonder what it would have been like if they would have done it. Then there is the most important thing: wisdom to know the difference. You have to have wisdom to know when to do certain things and the not to do them. God is the only one that can give you that kind of wisdom and when you listen to Him it can make things easier but it doesn't always.
               It is strange because you have to pray for these things one day at a time because that is the easiest way to live. If you live one day at a time, then you aren't worrying about the future or the past. Some of us get so caught up in one or the other or both at the same time sometimes that it steals the peace from our lives. We don't get to enjoy the moment at that time because we are so busy thinking about other things. We need to take that time to enjoy each moment especially if you have children because they grow up so fast or for someone like me who doesn't have children but only get them for so long. I can't stay mad at them or just shove them away and not try to help them through their toughest times. That isn't me. I need to think about them more then I need to think about myself. Myself can wait til I get home but in that moment at work, I need to be thinking about the children.
              We just need to surrender to God's Will and do what He says. Yes, it might be hard at times but those hard things could lead us to a more peaceful moment in life. If we learn it now, then we can apply it later in life because applying it is easier then learning it. Right? We just have to take on this sinful world as it is and stop trying to make it into something that it isn't. Yes, we would all love to live in a happy and wonderful world but that isn't the case, is it? No, so we have to be like Jesus to the world around us whether it might be easy or hard. That is God's True Will for us. As along as we remember that we are taking this world on with Christ by our sides, we can get through anything and everything. We want to be happy in this life because that just means that we will be much happier with God in the next life. If we can look past everything and just live in Serenity until that day comes, then we will be blessed even more then we are now.
               All this to say that is why I picked the word "Serenity" to be in the phase for this month of June. I am learning how to have Peace and calmness through all of what life throws at me. Right now, this month has been the toughest one so far. God knew what He was doing when He wanted me to pick this word. New things and changes call for some serenity and wisdom to know what to do and say in hard situations. You never want to say the wrong thing especially when you are at work or just around people since it is the summer and all. That would be really bad.

Daisies at Sunset

Daisies at Sunset

I look at what's in front of me.
The beauty that is before me.
The our whiteness in a big field.
Nothing but white. It looked so
peaceful with the wind swaying
It back and forth.

Not only was there a field of
Pure whiteness before me but
There was also a little bit of color.
The white was against a background
Of orange and pink colors. The
Background of those colors were just
Glowing so brightly. The glow was
Like a light shining on them from
Down below.

It was as if someone painted a picture
Just for me. The picture is called,
"Daisies at Sunset". The whiteness in
The field are the daisies in the field.
The orange and pink colors in the
Background are in the sky. That is
The sun setting in the evening. It is
A beautiful picture showing what a
Peaceful life looks like.

That beautiful picture is painted on
A great canvas. The canvas is the
Country where it is always peaceful.
The picture adds to the country. You
can never go wrong with a peaceful
sunset. The Person who painted it
Knew that too. He painted it just for
You because He loves you very much.

He wants you to see the Amazingness
around you that is His Creation. He
would never let us down. When we
Are down, all you have to do is look
Around yourselves at the beautiful of the One
Who loves you so. He paints and makes
Things beautiful in its time. He does that
To keep life at its simplest.

It is the beauty of His Creation that keeps
Your mind at ease. It was and is God that
Does this every day and every night. He
Starts the day with a beautiful sunrise and
Ends it with a beautiful sunset to remind
You that "You are worth it in His Eyes".



Written By: Tiffney Wilson

Written On: June 17th, 2017

What the Holy Spirit Does?

-Life in the Spirit

         -Luke 3:21-22
                 -An initial event.

         -Eph. 1:13-14

-Having the Holy Spirit is a promise answered.


-These are the ways we think about the Holy Spirit.
           -Baptism
           -Regeneration
           -Sealing
           -Indwelling


-Words to describe the Holy Spirit or moment when in life.

             -An Ongoing Process
                     ******-Luke 4:1-2
                                 -Luke 4:14-15

              -In the desert.
              -Lives changed.
              -Determined Faithfulness.


******-Eph. 1:17


-Eph. 2:18
         -Shows the Trinity-"Him" means Jesus
            -"Father" means God


******-Eph. 3:4-5, 16-17a


******-Holy Spirit is like a person sitting by you reading a letter you wrote to them and showing them you understand. A Pat on the back.


-Eph. 5:18-20

              -We should be influenced by Him where we overflow.
              -Behavior should be the same as the Holy Spirit.
                         -Encouragement


-Eph. 6:17-18
          -Pray in the Spirit-speaking


******-Gal. 5:16
                   -Pray one fruit per month.  


-The marks of the Holy Spirit.

            1. The Christ of Scripture is exalted.

            2. The Church of God is united.
            3. The saints are empowered for ministry.
            4. The believer is transformed in character.

           

The Commands For Us

1. Do not grieve (Eph4:30).

2. Do not quench. (1 Thess. 5:19) 
3. Be filled. (Eph. 5:18)
4. Keep in step. (Gal. 5:15)

This is Who God is to Me

These are the top 6 things that God is for and to me.....



Daddy- 
        He is there for me when I need Him the most. He will wrap me up in the comfort of His Wings when everything else just seems to be falling apart around me. He tells me that I am beautiful and will always be His little girl. I never grow up in His Eyes. He is there when I need to talk to someone about the deepest things in and on my heart. He is my Daddy. 



Provider-
         He provides things for me when I need them the most. He makes sure I have just the right amount of things when I need them at the right time. He can do that with things, with people, or with His Word. He can provide whatever it is that I need at that right moment. It could be a song that I needed to hear or advice or encouragement from a friend. It could also be the right amount of money that I need for the right amount of things. He also provides the wisdom that I need to do what is right in certain situations because I know I have been in some situations that I couldn't gone through without Him providing the strength, love, or patience to get through them. He knows what we need and He will provide those things at the right time. 


Lover-
          He is the Lover of my Soul. He loves me no matter what. I can act in the worse way possible and He would still be there holding onto me. I could run away from Him but yet He would be in the same spot waiting for me to come back to Him and if it isn't that He is following me hoping that I will take notice and turn back to Him. He died for my sins a painful death. A death upon a cross just because He didn't want me to die after I have sinned. He loved me that much. He could have gotten out of that because He was God in the flesh but He chose not to because He loved and cared for me. He treats me like I am a bride and He is the Lover.


Guiding Light- 
             He is the Guiding Light in my life. The Guiding Light for my feet and soul to follow. He is the Guiding Light that I need to follow all of my life. He knows the best path for me better then I do for myself. He knows what is in the future because He planned it out for me. He is the Guiding Light that will get me through the hard times. All I have to do is just focus on Him during those times and He will get me out of them when the time is right. When I am confused, which is most of the time, He is the one I can turn too and He will show me the way that I should go. 


Peace-

           He is my peace in the busiest time of day, and if I want to take it it farther, the busiest and most confusing time of my life. When chaos surrounds me, He is there keeping me calm and peaceful. He is telling me that everything will be back to normal soon. Things might get busy in life but God is the peace that I can turn to. He is the person that I can just sit in the still with and don't even have to talk and He would know what  I want. He is the Peace that, when it seems I should be going crazy, keeps me calm so I can handle the things around me better then I would have otherwise. He is the Peace I feel a lot when I got children all around me wanting things yet I feel like I can get through it and will get through it. It is when I feel happy and content with life and just letting it go on without a worry in my mind. That is what God's Peace feels like to me. 

Hope-
       He is my Hope in a time of worries and stress. He is my Hope when I have nothing else to look forwards too. He keeps me going when I feel like giving up because I am just hoping for something better to come along. I know that God can make that happen in one way or another. He is the Hope that I cling onto when everything else seems hopeless. When everything around me seems to be moving on but I seem to be stuck in the same spot. He is my Hope when things are so bad that I can't turn to anyone else because I know they won't understand. He gives me hope when I have no idea what to do about certain things or how certain things will turn out. He is my Hope when my anxiety gets the best of me. Reminding me that there is more to life if only I can get past the things that bother me and make me anxious. He is the Hope of my Life. 

Restore Me to Health

           I found these verse this morning in my devo. by Sarah Young. I couldn't believe how perfect they fit my life right now. I'm doing this entry because I want to remember these verses to look back on when I need reminded of the healing and hope in Christ. 



Jeremiah 30:17

"But I will restore you to health
    and heal your wounds,’
declares the Lord,
‘because you are called an outcast,
    Zion for whom no one cares."

            This verse helps me with my anxiety. I thought about it when I read it in my devo. book. "Restore you to health and heal your wounds" got to me because I need to be heal of my anxiety to where I can live a regular life and without being on the meds. the drs. give you. I also liked this verse because of the wounds it talks about. I know it doesn't talk about the hurting wounds on your skin but the wounds inside of me and my heart. The wounds that other people made like old friends and even the ones I made myself but thinking negative things about myself. 

             I have also felt like an outcast a lot of times because of my wounds and strange health. My anxiety has made me felt like no one cares for me in the past. I would get into moments where I just felt that way. I really can't explain it but it happens especially when I change my meds. to try new ones. This is just a good reminder that I can call on the Lord because He does care for me, the outcast at times or whenever I feel like that. He can and will heal my wounds and restore me in Him, which is way better then before. 

     

Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."


               Then there is also this verse that was in the devo. This verse has always been a favorite of mine. It just reminds me that if I think big, God can think bigger. God has better and bigger plans for me then I could ever think of. I might not see where I am going right now but I know and believe that God is teaching me things to handle bigger and better things in the future. It might be hard now but this verse reminds me that it is the good kind of pain and I will look back at these moments and thank Him for them or that is my hope at least. It is only bigger and better if we let God use His Power in and through us. We cannot do the bigger and better thing on our own. If we try to do it on our own, we will fail, but with God, we never fail. 
                It is just fun to think about or at least try to think about what God has in store for us. If we think something is so great now on this earth, then what does He have for us in Heaven. Or if we like the moment in our life that we are in now, what bigger and better plans does He have for us down the road? It makes us aware of God's Hope and Presence in a way because we just can't want to see what He will do next in our lives. We hope that it is something better then where we are right now. 



Luke 18:2,7

" He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.............. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?"


                 These two verses made me read all of Chapter 18 or the first story in it at least and it was very interesting in the eyes of someone that was thinking about Hope through God's Presence. It showed me that if I was persistent enough that my prayers and/or request will get answer. Now we have to remember that they might not get answered the way we want them to be but when He does answer them that way, it is just another thing to be grateful for and knowing that we are blessed for it. In the chapter, this women kept persisting the judge to let her step away from the person that was being mean to her and he wouldn't for some time but the women never gave up asking. She kept asking until the judge saw that she wasn't going to stop asking. The judge answered not because he feared God or people but because he got sick of the women asking.
                  The women kept crying out to that judge until he answered her. Isn't that the same way with prayer for us? Don't we cry out for things, hoping that God will hear us enough to answer our most desperate need or want. God will answer our prayers in the way that brings us, His Chosen Ones, justice or that is best for us. It might not be the way we see it but as always we know that God's way is always the better way.  The word "Justice" means: due process, integrity, right, truth, consideration, reasonableness, or evenness. Put those words in the place of the word "justice" in the verse and see if it makes more sense to you.

"And will God not bring about Truth for His Chosen Ones."

"And will God not bring about right for His Chosen Ones."

"And will God not bring about integrity for His Chosen Ones."

"And will God not bring about reasonableness for His Chosen Ones."



Luke 11:10 (AMP)

"For everyone who [a]keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened."


                   Then there is this verse that is a famous one if you grew up in the church. I did it a different version though so you could see the togetherness with the other verses. It especially goes with the last verse and chapter above. If we keep doing these things (asking, seeking, knocking) then we will find, receive, and the door will be open to us. I love how this version puts the word "persistently" in {} to remind us of that.


Summary


                All these verses go together in one simple way and that is why I love them together and am writing them out like this. When you really read the verses, you will really see the connection. The first one is about the healing and restoration that you want from God. The three that follows are how you get it. The main way, seems like, is to ask and talk to God over and over. In other words, persistently. God will give you the Hope that you need to get through things if you just keep asking and it will get better with that Hope.
              These verses are a process that is gone through every day of our lives or at least it is for me. I keep asking for things in my life and then hope that He could do more with it. Sometimes I will see that He is doing more without me in certain situations and I am upset at first but when I see that person happy with life then I am happy for them. It really should start with the backwards then the way I have it, with the last verse first and then up from there and that is another way to look at it too. It can start that way because you have to pray and ask about it before God can heal and restore you but either way is fine, as long as you get the idea.

God, You Are My Guiding Light

God, You are My Guiding Light.
You tell me where to go and lead
me on that right path. It might be
hard along the way but with You,
that's no problem. You help me
when I am confused. I can turn to
You for help anytime of the day.


God, You guide me in the way
You want me to go. If I get off track,
You don't mind because You will
Help me get back on the right one.
I can always count on You to be
there when I need to find my way
through hard or easy things. You
will always lead me to the way
that is everlasting.


God, You are the Light in my life.
It is You that shines through my life
so people can see who You really are.
It is You that gets all the glory
Throughout my life. You are the Light
because You want to be seen and not
hid away. You want people to know You
and serve You. The only way to do that
is if You are seen through my life. It
is the outward world that You shine to.


God, You are My Guiding Light.
You guide me in the way You want
me to go. There might be some bumps
along the way but You are beside me
to help me with those bumps and to
get back on the road smoothly. I can
turn to You for help anytime of the
day. God, You are My Guiding Light
and I want you to guide me through
this life. I want to live it so I will bring
Glory to You.


God, You are the Light in my Life.
Sometimes people wonder why I am
so different and happy even through the
hard and painful times. They wonder
what I have in my life that is different
then theirs and I tell them that it is You.
I tell them that You guide me through
everything and that this might be hard
right now, You will get me through it.
At the end of this hard tunnel, there
is a bright light shining just for me.


God, You are my Guiding Light.
For that, I am thankful because
without that I have no idea where I
would be right now. I can say, for
sure, that I am where I am suppose
to be because I know You have
guided me here for now and this
moment.



Written By: Tiffney Wilson


Written On: June 11th, 2017

Your Bones are Rotting

Proverbs 14:30New International Version (NIV)

30 A heart at peace gives life to the body,
    but envy rots the bones.

         
           The next few paragraphs below are not written by me. They are written by an author that works for Proverbs 31 Ministries. The paragraphs are from one of the devos. that was written awhile back. The devo. is called "Coming Apart at the Seems". The link is at the bottom of this entry you can click on it or if it doesn't work, then copy and paste it on top.

            Our key verse in Proverbs reflects this well, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” This verse may seem pretty straightforward. Envy keeps you from experiencing peace. While this is true, a dig into the original Hebrew language gives us even a more vivid snapshot of its intended meaning.

            Envy here doesn’t just mean that initial, “Must be nice” thought that dances through our minds when we spy the blessings of others. It means “passionate and zealous jealousy.” This indicates our emotions are involved. Our hearts go through the ringer as we spend energy dwelling on the increasingly envious feelings that come from seeing someone else who seems to have a better life than we do.

              And the word “rots” means decays. It brings about not just a rotten state — like fruit that is starting to spoil — it ushers in death. In this verse, that means the figurative death of one’s very strength of life. However, let’s not just dwell on the dreary picture painted here. What about the other half of this verse?

             The heart that is at peace literally means one that is sound, wholesome, healthy and cured. So, the way to have a healthy heart emotionally and spiritually is to keep envy at bay.

             We do this by switching our thinking and fighting against the “poor me” mentality. We may not be rich, but do we have a roof over our heads? We may not dine out at expensive restaurants, but did God provide enough to eat today? Our bodies may not be supermodel fit, but are we still alive and able to move, serve or at least pray for others? Thankfulness chases envy away and settles our hearts in God’s perfect peace.

             So the next time we are tempted to come apart at the “seems” while staring at the pics on our phone, let’s log off for a moment — or a week! — and start counting our many blessings. May we be grateful to God for what we do have, and stop wanting someone else’s life. Then, we’ll discover that true contentment isn’t having what you want. It is wanting nothing more than what you already have.

- See more at: http://proverbs31.org/devotions/devo/coming-apart-at-the-seems/#sthash.N7olnOSq.dpuf

Who is the Holy Spirit?

-Acts 2:32-33, 37-38


-John 16:7
         -Holy Spirit is a person.
                 -Helper
                 -Comforter
                 -Advocate
                 -Strengthener
           -different versions of a person or who a person can be


-John 14:16-17
        -"In us"
        -"with us"


-John 14:12
         -"Empowering us"


-The Holy Spirit is the root for everything.

-Romans 8:11
         -8:2, 6, 11, 13, 14, 26
         -I like verses 6 and 26.


-8:6 talks about how we should set our mind on the Holy Spirit because it is there we get life and peace.


-John Bunyan
        -a poem
        -1628-1688-birth and death


-John 14:25-26
         -16:13-15
******-"God is guiding us."


-John 15:26-27
-Acts 1:8
      ****** -"God, the Spirit, Reveling God, Son."


-"He is a person who we can relate to personally."


-Postive Responses about the Holy Spirit
           -Gal. 5:16
           -Gal. 5:18
           -Gal. 5:25
           -Eph. 5:18



-Negative Response to the Holy Spirit
           -Acts 5:3
           -Eph. 4:30
           -Isa. 63:10
           -1 Thess. 4:5 and 5:25


******-"We yield by trusting power and obeying lead."

Me Without You

"I'd be packin' my bags when I need to stay

I'd be chasin' every breeze that blows my way
I'd be building my kingdom just to watch it fade away
It's true

That's me without you."- "Me Without You": by TobyMac          

            I'm using a song title and some song lyrics from TobyMac because they fit my life perfectly right now. TobyMac never fails me when it comes to the meaning of his songs. He has always been one of my favorites and always will be. I will explain what each of the song lyrics mean to me. Even though, the song is mostly repeated, it has meaning behind it for those who will listen. I was just looking at the lyrics this morning and noticed that they are all the same. For some reason, while listening to it, that never dawned on me. The part the really gets me is the course.
           I think He meant for it to. He meant for people to hear the course over and over because that is the most important part and needed to be repeated. I copied it from a website and part it on the top of this entry in bigger letters because I wanted it altogether for people to read. Now I will take it apart piece by piece. "I'd be packin' my bags when I need to stay" is really a good one because that is how I feel at times in my life. I feel like I just need to pack up and move on. This is not the first time this song got to me with it meanings. The first time was when I first moved to AR and things were so hard and just not going right. It was then that I really wanted to pack up and go back home but here I am 6 years later still in AR so I stayed.
          Lately though, it is a whole other meaning for me. I have been thinking about changing churches the last few months because of some situations I have been in and am in right now. There isn't packing that needs to be done but I do feel like moving on to another church. Then I got to thinking about that this past weekend because of talks I had with friends and with God, even, and I'm thinking that I just need to stay because if I go it is like running away from what is hard and I can't do that in life every time things get that way. "I'd be chasin' every breeze that blows my way" means almost the same thing too. It just means that I am chasing every good thing or every thing that I think is good and easy and not really doing the Will of God or not really where God wants me whether it is easy or hard. It is easy to pack up or chase every breeze especially if it is every good and easy breeze but sometimes God doesn't want us to do that. He wants us to stay where we are and make an effort and if that doesn't work, just humbling give it over to Him and see what He does with the situation. As humans, we tend to like easy, but God made us for the challenging times because He will be with us all the way.
            Staying where it is hard too, will humble us if we let it, there is no doubt about that. I know that the situation I am in right now and will continue to stay in and with will humble me straight back to God where I needed to be in the first place. "I'd be building my kingdom just to watch it fade" is really want is getting me right now in the mist of everything. I honestly think I am trying too hard and I should just leave everything alone right now. I think I got too caught up with where my other friends were in life that I was trying to get there too and in a hurry like within the next few months but it won't happen that way for me if God doesn't want it to whether I do it by myself or with God. I don't have the timing, God does. It is hard to remember that sometimes but when you do it is worth it. I just think I wanted to build my own kingdom in my own time and it doesn't work that way.
            If I built my own kingdom, aka, family or anything, on my own time and that means finding a husband or hurrying up the process then it will fade later on in life and I don't want that at all. I want God to be at the center of it and bring us together when it is time for the both of us, not just one of us.   Building your own kingdom, whatever it may be, is not a smart idea because we all know, if we are Christians, that only God's plans prevail and ours never does. We can't stand on our own strength and rules because if we do, or kingdom will fade, just like it says in the song. We are nothing without God. It is all true that is us without God. I will also say here, that God wants to be part of our lives, He loves us enough to care about every little thing in our lives if we just let Him. He will build on top of every little things. That I truly believe. He will build His Kingdom off of the most annoying and sadness person if we just let Him. He can turn that person around and make them happy and caring.
             He can take our dumbest mistakes and turn them around for the good for us and/or even for the people we meant for them to be for, we just did it at the wrong time or in the wrong way. He can build, even, on those dumb mistakes. The person that did the mistake can learn from it or the person that is receiving the mistake can learn from it but the lesson might be different then we thought it would be because God had another plan for it. Let me summarize it for you. If we live our life by packing up our things when things get too hard, if we chased every breeze that blows our way just because it is easy, if we build our own kingdom just because we can't wait on God, we won't have much of a life to live at all. To be honest, it would make us so stressed and crazy that we might do things we would regret later on in life.
            God knows we mess up that is why He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins but we have to be careful at the same time because we just keep messing up when we know it is wrong, just because God made a way for us. So don't go packing when He tells you to stay, don't go chasing every easy breeze that comes your way, and don't build your own kingdom because God knows what He is doing every step of the way. He has you where He does for a purpose. He wants to challenge you to help you grow in Him. He wants to be a part of your life by helping you build a Kingdom for Him to be a part of. That is the Loving and Caring God we serve!

I Can't........When........

I can't support when I'm not giving the chance.


I can't help when I'm not giving anything specific to do.


I can't encourage when I don't have anyone around me.


I can't have empathy when I don't have the whole story.


I can't change when no one will give me the chance to.


I can't open up when I am scared or don't know the person at all.


I can't live when all I feel is loneliness around and inside me.


I can't show that I care when I don't have anything to care about.


I can't feel complete when I'm just sitting around with none of these in my life.


Just give me a chance. Don't be harsh, just try to understand what's going on
with me. Why drop me like a bomb? Let's forget about her and move on.


I can't tell you how I got where I am today when you judge me. It hasn't been
an easy path at all for me.


I can't go fast right to success when people take the time to know me. I am
slow but I will get there because I am determined.


I can't be taken seriously when I look young then I really am.

Confession of Sins

Psalm 32:1-7New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.[a]

1 Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent,
    my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
    your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
    as in the heat of summer.[b]

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
⁷ You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Why pray for forgiveness? Isn't it already ours? 

-2 ways of religion 

         -legal way of religion

               -means going to Heaven or Hell

         -Relationship way of religion

                -Sin will affect the relationship outlook. 

                -Eph. 4:30 -" And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

-Real spiritual meaning of marriage is to understand the relationship with God and church.

-God sees us as a righteous person in Him after we ask for forgiveness.

-"We are blessed because of what He did at the cross, Not because we have thing."

-Jer. 6:15 -

         "Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

    No, they have no shame at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the Lord."

-There is a healthy shame and guilt.

          -Scared to confess sin but needs to run to God and confess sin anyway, not away from Him. Makes it easier because God understands.

               -Matthew 6:12 - "And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our         debtors."

-Jesus is our True High Priest so yes we have to confess to Him. A priest.

-1 Peter 2:9 - "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

-Sin could have consequences.

          -Teach me through the consequences so I can use them for you.