Facing the Giants

Don't you just love those movies that make you feel like you can take over the world! I do. Well, I went to see "Facing the Giants" today with Crystal & Mic. It starts out a little slow, but WOW! Great movie!!! Now, go face those giants David!!!

All things (not some or a couple), but all things are possible with God!!!

ARE YOU CONTAGIOUS?

The definition of "purity": n 1: being undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material [syn: pureness] [ant: impurity] 2: the state of being free from sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil [syn: sinlessness, innocence] 3: a woman's virtue or chastity [syn: honor, honour]

Purity. What a word! What does this word mean to you? To me? I found the definition quite interesting. "Being undiluted or unmixed". The world wants to dilute you and me. The world is out to mix up the definition. Purity in it's truest since is something we should all desire. I think we, Christian and non-Christian alike, all do secretly whether we admit it or not. Think about this: You wouldn't want a drink from a bottle of water that someone spit in or to eat an orange that someone peeled, chewed on. I think God desires pure people. He wants undiluted Christians. Unmixed with the ways of the world. He wants us to seek purity in all areas of our lives. He wants us to be exactly what He designed us to be, not a diluted or partial version. I want to be completely undiluted and unmixed!! I want to be pure like a little child.

My thought today is this. When you are sick, sometimes you have a fever, right? Most times that means you are contagious. You have symptoms that clue those around you as to what you may have. Well, my question is: "Are you contagious?" Are people catching "what you have"? Every follower of Christ should have a raging fever that is so contagious that it only requires walking past us to catch our fever. I have to admit, I am certainly not as contagious as I'd like to be, but I am working on it. I ask again, ARE YOU CONTAGIOUS?

Jesus, my Precious Jesus, I desire nothing less than You. I want to be so contagious that people cannot even be in the room without "catching" what I have (YOU!). Lord, help me to live a life of purity in Your definition. Let me not settle for anything less. Father, may I bring You Glory in everything I do and not let You down! Give me boldness, patience, discernment, and wisdom. Let me infect the world in Jesus' name! I love You Jesus!

The View...

As I drove to D'ville this morning, I just listened to the words of this song, and God really showed off. The sky was beautiful, the sun freshly taking a stand for the day, and everything was so green. As I crossed the bridge over the Mississippi, I could see so much and God made it all. Such an awesome sight!!! I am so thankful to have the Lord in my life. I cannot imagine life without Him now!!!! (and I don't want to!!!) So, I'll just leave you with the words of David Crowder:

BUT THE HARDER I TRY THE MORE CLEARLY CAN I FEEL THE DEPTH OF OUR FALL AND THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL. AND SO THIS MIGHT COULD BE THE MOST IMPOSSIBLE THING: YOUR GRANDNESS IN ME MAKING ME CLEAN!
GLORY, HAL-LE-LUH-JAH! GLORY, GLORY, HAL-LE-LUH-JAH!

SO HERE I AM, ALL OF ME. FINALLY EVERYTHING!
WHOLLY, WHOLLY, WHOLLY
I AM WHOLLY, WHOLLY, WHOLLY.
I AM WHOLLY, WHOLLY, WHOLLY...YOURS!

Jesus, make me clean; let YOUR Grandness in me make me clean!
I am wholly YOURS!!!! In Jesus name I pray!

22.5 hours later...

All I can say is 22.5 hours later, I'm exhausted! I cannot go any more. Lock-in (or 'lock-out' as the instructor called it today in my class - ha!) with the real leaders at Pathfinders. NOTE: The real leaders were the ones on the 'late nite' lock-in shift from 2am-6am. The rest of you were weak!! The real winners are the 'I stayed all-night' leaders! You guys are the real leaders!!!! And a special woo-hoo to Joey - you are amazing! Such a great love for God!! I cannot wait to see what God has in store for Joey's life! GREAT PASSION!!!!

Then, training seminar from 8am-3:30pm -and- church at 5pm (which was awesome!) -and- dinner with my awesome friend at 7:15pm. Picked up my younger daughter on the way home, checked out myspace, and now it's off to bed!! I don't think I can fit anything else in today!! I don't think I WANT to fit anything else in today.

I wonder though...what exactly did I do for God today???

Lord, I love You so much! I am sorry if I got busy in my 'tasks' today and forgot to simply lean upon You. Forgive me, please! Help me to recognize when I am operating on my own schedule rather than Yours. I love You; I need You! Use me for Your will, O LORD!!! You are my rock, my fortress, my tower of strength! You are my foundation that is always under me steadily holding me up! In Jesus' name! Amen!

Zappers!

As you can tell, purple is my favorite color. I love it! But, beyond that, one thing you are going to learn about me is that I think of some pretty off the wall things every day. Take bug zappers for instance. This morning I got up early and arrived at Morning Prayer. Seemed like an ordinary day. I love the quiet stillness of early Morning Prayer. I read Isaiah 43 and just sat in God's Word! From there I was off to Starbucks. I had to have some caffeine, or I was going to sleep right through chapel (right after Michelle spoke at Morning Prayer about not falling asleep spiritually). That would have been funny!! Then, while I was worshipping at chapel, the ordinary day became extraordinary! God started revealing things about the bug zappers to me. No joke! This is what I am going to share today!!

Bug zappers have a lot of power. They are plugged into a power source. Without this power they are good for nothing whatsoever. Kinda sounds like us! Without God, we are nothing and of little use! But, for some reason, bugs are just attracted to the light. They are mesmerized with the display of light and just cannot take their eyes off of it. They cannot stop looking at it. Some inspects fly directly to it, while others seem to dance over to the zapper. We as Christians should be like bug zappers!! The zapper isn't doing anything extravagant. It's not singing or elaborately decorated. There is nothing special about them. They just simply hang where they are placed and shine allowing the light to do all of the work. When people look our direction, they should not be able to take their eyes off of the Light of Christ that is living inside of us. They should be attracted to the Spirit that lives within. They should be drawn to us before we even speak a word. There's more! Once the bug arrives at the zapper and makes contact with the zapper, a surge of electricity goes through the bug killing it. There is power in the light. We have Power inside of us - the HOLY SPIRIT. Now, if we really tap into that power, we can do so much for God. That surge of power can heal the sick, blind & lame, change water to wine, and so much more. The last point about the zapper is that the bugs die when the electricity surges through them. Like those bugs, we must allow our flesh to die when it comes into contact with the electricity! It's that simple. So, be a bug zapper!!!

God, You continually amaze me. That's one of the things I love the most - nothing is ever dull. I love how You teach me in the simplest ways! May people around me be drawn to You. Lord, I pray that the only thing they see in me is You. I pray that they don't even see me. I love You beyond words! Be my strength in everything I do and speak through me. Open my eyes to the people around me. And zap me! In Jesus' name, Amen!

Waiting...The fuel behind the passion!

I've been thinking a lot about 'waiting'! Waiting in traffic, sitting in a waiting room, waiting on the Lord, waiting on people, waiting on the Lord, someone waiting on me, waiting on the Lord... I think you get the point. Waiting is hard. It tries your patience. For some it is easy and others torture! Waiting doesn't mean sitting around and doing nothing though! I believe that we are refined while we are waiting. To make a horseshoe (that's just what came to mind first - I know...cheesy!), you have to heat the iron to extreme temperatures. The iron has to be melted completely while the heat burns out the impurities as well. The hot liquid is poured into the mold and then cools to form the shape of the mold...in this case, the horseshoe. Now, I'm sure if the iron had feelings, it would not want to be placed in the heat and would do whatever possible to escape it. HOWEVER, it would never become the horseshoe without the heat!!! Think about that one today...

Lately in my own life, the heat has been turned up. At first, I wanted to escape it! To run! But hold up! Am I not praying for God to use me? Am I not asking God to annoint me? So, why would I want to run from the heat? Now, I'm just praying for God to mold me and take out the impurities in my heart, my mind, my soul. It hurts a lot, but I'm just keeping my eyes fixed on the goal. Actually, it's just more fuel for the passion burning inside of my heart! I will finish the race that has begun!!!

God, speak into my life in whatever way You need to. Help me to see the challenges as learning experiences and not devastation. Help me to see the world through Your eyes and not my own. Give me compassion for the lost, Your precious children. Let that be the beat of my heart! I love You, & I need You!!

Use me in ways that only You can for Your Kingdom and glory, Lord!

"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him." Lam. 3:25

"Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD!" Psalm 27:14

Well, I've decided to join the trend and be a blogger. I am not sure who (or if anyone) will read my blog, but I love writing. I've been working on a book for about the last 2 years and hope to finish it soon. It's about my passion, God's Passion, for purity. I believe that God desires all of us to be pure for HIM. I'm not talking about in intimacy only. I'm talking about every portion of our lives. God doesn't like lukewarm so why would He like partially pure? Good question to think on for the day! Much love to all my friends & family!