Surrendered

There is an old old song, I remember singing as a child in church, I Surrender All, it was written by J.W. Van Deventer in 1896,
All to Jesus, I surrender;All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,In His presence daily live.
Refrain
I surrender all, I surrender all,All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender;Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;Take me, Jesus, take me now.
Refrain
All to Jesus, I surrender;Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,Truly know that Thou art mine.
Refrain
All to Jesus, I surrender;Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;Let Thy blessing fall on me.
Refrain
All to Jesus I surrender;Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!Glory, glory, to His Name!
Refrain
(courtesy of cyberhymnal.org)

Do we surrender ALL.
What are you holding on to?
Jesus, he gave it all, even to the point of death. He isn't asking us to die for him,
He is asking us to LIVE for him.
He wants you to live your fullest life, he loves you so much, have you met with him today?
He is waiting for you.....

Temptation, Prayer and Fasting

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.......JESUS WAS TEMPTED, but not persuaded.

Many of us are at the near end of a long period of prayer and fasting, 40 days! Just like Jesus, he fasted and prayed for 40 days in the wilderness, he had no people around him to help encourage him through this time. But he had his Father, ever present with him. Just as we do.
The last days are the toughest and satan will do everything he can to discourage and to persuade you to not fulfill the mandate you have placed on your lives. Keep yourself firmly planted in the word and remember Jesus used the word to thwart off the temptations of satan.
Let it not be said that we were persuaded to fall short of the goal, of the glory. Let us stay steadfast and focused on the Glory of God. It will be so exciting to hear all the testimonies of Prayforpensacola.com. Friday marks the end of the event.
Last night I was listening to a message about Jonah and the city of Nineveh, and I though it very odd that as many times as I have heard the story and read the story, it never has registered how we are in the same frame of events. Joe Miller, heard the word of the Lord about our city and proclaimed a 40 day time of prayer and fasting to save our city, I guess our Pensacola could have the name of the Great City of Nineveh, a very important city.
The king issued a decree;
Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered in sackcloth. LET EVERYONE CALL URGENTLY ON GOD. LET THEM GIVE UP THEIR EVIL WAYS AND THEIR VIOLENCE. Who knows, God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish. Jonah 3:7-9.

The word of God is for everyone, everyone! No matter how good or bad they are, it is for everyone. IF WE ONLY PROCLAIM WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD AND GOD HIMSELF, WE MAY BE SURPRISED AT WHO IS PERSUADED.

Blessings~

Who's Watching Now?

Recently I had the honor to go to DC, our nation's capitol. It has had a profound effect on my life, in many ways.

I went before many of the team members and had the opportunity to tour and walk and walk and walk ;-) ! My two little eyes took in so much information and so many sights and so very many people. People from every corner of the world was there. This was not always obvious by sight but by their language. "I" was taking it ALL in, as much as I could.
As you stroll through you notice there as you do here or where you are from, that there are those cameras everywhere for traffic, well they have them everywhere in abundance especially around the high profile areas, which by the way, is everywhere you go in DC, almost!

I remember taking many, many pictures, and not of just the monuments and great Architecture in the area, but of some of the people too. I came to realize that I was being captured in pictures also.
As much as I was looking as others I was being looked at, I was being watched. This was kinda weird to realize. But the fact is, is that we are all watched in everything we do. All the time. And guess what,( for those of you older you'll get a kick out of this), it isn't Big Brother!
I have had many come up to me and say, you know, what you did really ministered to me. I basically have no idea of what it was I did, but I thank them for letting me know. Some times they tell me specifically and some times they don't, and really it isn't necessary for them to tell me, because in reality it was a blessing from God.

In all we do, in all we say, in all we don't do, in public, in private, God sees all, he sees everything.
EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! So it isn't just the fact that everything we do all the time is a witness to someone else, we are also being a witness to God. Afterall we are his representatves.
And he is our daddy. And just like the daddy he is, he takes in all we do, watching over us all the time. He cradles us in the palm of his hand when we are hurt. He is grieved by those that do us wrong, he is grieved when we do wrong. Especially in the wrong we do when we think no one is watching. Because HE IS ALWAYS WATCHING!
He watches over us when we bring joy to others and in bringing joy to others we bring that same joy to him and it pleases him so much. When we bless others in secret it makes his heart beat with so much happiness he rejoices and all in heaven rejoices with him.
So next time you are looking around and taking in all the sights and doing the people watching thing, like I do, remember you are being watched too. Your daddy God is always watching after his kids, taking in all they do. In public and private. Remember we can bring him joy or we can bring him grief. What is your choice today?

Blessings~

please feel free to leave comments here any time!

You Can Trust Me

How often have we heard this line, " You Can Trust Me"? Aw, come on you know you can trust me? I wouldn't let you down. I wouldn't do that to you. You CAN trust me!
Well, this morning as I was getting ready to post I opened my Bible, on my search for todays manna and it wasn't necessarily the scripture that I came to as much as it was what I had written there, "Trust Him Completly". It was all I could see on the pages. Trust HIM completly.

The scripture ~ Psalm 99 and Psalm 100

I am sure there are other scriptures stating his faithfulness and un-ending trust his offers us, but this one ministered to me.
In the time that we live in presently, it is hard to trust anyone, but I am telling you that if you get to know the friendship of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, truly know their friendship, you will be amazed at the changes in your life in areas of trusting.
Quite frankly, in many other areas in your life as well. Trust me! ;-) No, actually TRUST HIM, completly!

the things we go through sometime we have no clue what it is all about, i am not unique in my trials of late, many have gone through various tribulations. i can not say this morning that I came through it unscathed, i was wounded, i was on that last little string of the rope, but hanging on knowing who had a grip on the other end of that rope. My daddy God!
to become transparent to tohers sometime is a very difficult thing to do, but it is in our transparency that others truly see the work of God within us.
I made a disicison to set myself apart and all hell broke loose on me, satan has attacked me with all that he has at present for me, many things around me has fallen to the ground, many of my plans and hopes and dreams. But you know, it was a distraction, a ploy from the enemy to keep me from thinking on what God has for me. For me to think on myself and the things I was going through was his ploy, merely the work of satan. God knows me and he has purposed for me and for you great and mighty things. He knows his plans for me, for you. A long time ago Jeremiah 29:11 became one of my fav scriptures.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Just remember that and know you can trust that!

TRUST HIM COMPLETLY

Blessings ~

it is good to be back and remember to put your armor on daily.

Farming and Baking a Cake

If you taste flour, salt, baking powder or cocoa ... well maybe not cocoa ;-), raw egg, or oil separately you would not like it very much. As you combine and beat the different ingredients together they begin to have a pleasing aroma to them and when you have completed your sifting and ready to bake the mixture it actually tastes good and smells good but it still is not ready. then the batter has to be fired, you know, baked in an oven. Soon your kitchen and whole house begins to have this amazing aroma all around it and soon with the just right amount of heat and time in the heat you go to the oven and open the door and there before you is this amazing creation with the perfect color and texture. The edge has pulled away slightly from the pan giving you a visual that your creation is done to perfection. Your cake, mmmmmmm. What started out as many different ingredients, some wet some dry some tasty and some not so tasty have now become this wonderful cake pleasing to both the eye and the palate.

That flour has really been through some stuff, first it was planted and was grown in a field. Then some machine came through and harvested the wheat or if you are a gardener maybe you planted it in your back yard and grow it your self. A 10x10 area of wheat will yeild anywhere from 10 to 25 loaves of bread. Once it grows and it has been cut, you gather it together and let it dry and turn nice and golden. Then you have to thresh it. Doing it by hand, you take bunches of it and beat it on the sides of a metal bucket or drum barrel, then winnow it to get the chaff out of it. There you have the best of it and are ready to mill it when you are ready to use it. To mill it it gets crushed and from this process you have the flour to make your cake or bread or whatever you use it for.
Well by this time I imagine you are wondering, ok what's you point?
We are much like this wheat. Much happens before we even begin, I left out all the soil preparation even though that is a vital part as well, but we are planted and we think we are doing really good, we grow and grow and think, well I am doing what I am suppose to be doing and then all of the sudden some thing or some one comes alongs and wacks you off right at your ankles and you fall to the ground, BOOM! Well then you are picked up and you rest for a bit think you are getting better and then BOOM! You get beaten around for a bit for you feel like you are losing part of who you are, but at this same time you notice you have taken on a new lightness and think well this is good I feel good and look good and am even more healthy and have a goodness for those around me. Then BOOM! Man like you never thought it could get worse you begin to feel this incredible crushing, you begin to think wow I don't think I can handle this and as you are press and rolled through this mill you emerge as flour, you think ok God now what are your plans for me I think I have done everything you have created for me to do. I was planted in the dirt, someone cut me off from that, then I was beaten senseless, then as if all this wasn't bad enough, I was grinded to this flour mess, now what? Or do I dare ask!
Every stage you felt as though you were there, you were in part of your destiny and every stage BOOM! But every time you continued and you perservered to endure, because you know your God and you know he knows you. But now you are this flour and you wonder what can I possibly do now, God how can you use me now?
Someone comes along and scoops you up and places you in the bowl with some other ingredients that have been through similar things and you go through this mixing process and yes then the heat, being fired to perfection.
Every phase of this process you have an aroma to God and a very pleasing one, just as to a gardener every stage of growth is a pleasing aroma. Breaking the ground, picking weeds, cutting and pruning, and harvesting and the things that come after. Every stage has an aroma.
The gardener or farmer has the bigger picture, he knows what the final result is, He sees it as he is breaking the ground. Just like God, he sees the final picture, everything we go through is a process, every step closer and closer to the bigger picture. He can see the destination, not just journey. That is how we make it through it all, with him, he sends of his spirit to be with us to get through it and continue on this journey this process to become what we were truely created for.
Not all of us were created to be cakes but we all have similar journeys and processes.
Hanging there and encouraging one another when we are going through the process is good.
I know it is hard to think of things when you are in the process but remember that God is pulling you through and He sees what you can not. He sees the cake even before the ground is broken.
He never leaves us, he is always with us. Always tending to us durnig all of this process. He never leaves us, even when we leave him, he is always there. Because HE SEES THE CAKE!
Blessings~

Happy Valentine's Day

Another Valentine's Day~
A day set aside to "Love". We remember the one we love, that very special love in our lives. For many, it is our spouse, for many who are not married it is the boy friend or girl friend in our life, and for others still....the one we dream will steal our heart one day, the one yet to come.
I want to share about my valentine.
My Valentine is the greatest~ He is the lover of my soul. His love for me is everything to him. So much so that even when I mess up and forget to show him my love he still loves me without hesitation. When I forget to start my day with a good morning, he is still there, just loving me, just the way I am. And in the evening when I forget to say good night to him, yes, you guessed it, he is still there loving me, just the way I am.
In the mornings he greets me everyday with the dawning of each new day, I feel his warmth from the rays of sunshine beaming down upon my face, giving my brightness throughout my day. In the evenings he is there to light my way with the sparkle of all the stars he has placed in the sky, and for my enjoyment, you know, he knows them each by name, every one of them. And let us not forget the brightness of the moon, even when it is but a sliver of light in the sky, I know he placed it there for me. What a love, that valentine of mine~
He does this for me everyday~ Even on days I forget to remember him. And you know what? He does the very same thing for you, for all of us. No matter what, he loves you too, just the way you are~ Right now, where ever you are, what ever you think of yourself, HE LOVES YOU, just the way you are. He loves you unconditionally~
In case you haven't guessed, my valentine, his name is Jesus! He wants to be your valentine too~