Our God is an Awesome God

     How many times have we heard that, "Our God is an Awesome God'? I know I've heard it, but when we are going through life's struggles sometimes it's not always easy to see the bigger picture. And He does!

     God's faithfulness is never ending, His love so encompassing that it can be inconceivable to comprehend that He has amazing plan for our lives, if we just let go and let God. 

Proverbs 3:5

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."

 

Romans 8:28

"And we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

     This is easier said than do," to let go".  For each time I even want to let go I am afraid  I will loose a part of myself.  It can be as simple as getting rid of a piece of clothing that has out grown its use (or I have out grown it ;) or as big as letting my children go.

     How thoughtless of me to hold my children hostage to be obligated to stay near home base, just because I was afraid of separation, of change. I decided instead of being sad they were growing up, I looked at it as a blessing. After all we had worked hard raising two great kids, and it was their time to spread their wings. I looked at them as a gift from God and how could I be selfish to not share them with the world.  
     By letting go, it allowed all of us to grow. Me stronger in my faith and in developing passions I didn't even know I had. My relationships with others became more meaningful and genuine. My life's pace  slowed from the pressure I often felt with being "on call" all the time as a mom. My husband and I are more relaxed and just have fun being together again.  Our children traveled other country's and many states, they grew more independent, self confident and secure in themselves. They discovered on their own that Christ needs to be the center of their lives.

God is an Awesome God, He allowed us all to let go and grow, which helped us become stronger as individuals, yet never loosing the tight bind us as a family.

   Fear and control could have prevented this growth. To come out of our comfort zones takes courage and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. We never know the big picture God has in store for our lives, but in every situation he is teaching us something new. We are NEVER to old to change to grow to be still and listen to His Spirit speak to our souls.

    I am so grateful God releases me from my fears instead of letting them hold me back.  He is with me in every situation, and out of every situation I then become closer to Him.
   I pray you are able to let go of something, even small and be blessed by how much more God will pour in.
   In His Precious Name I pray.
   Amen




May we see His reflection
 despite the traffic in our lives

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself









God is soo good!

How many ways are there to reach our neighbors. Yet I regularly seem to miss the simplest opportunities standing in front of me. My neighbor doesn't have to be in a shelter, it could be my co-worker who just needs someone to talk to. 

I am amazed at God's timing. I started this post March 6th and life had me busy. Then today I was doing my devotion and my thoughts kept going to love your neighbor as yourself. I was like I need to post something on this yet I do not have much time this morning, but feeling prompted I opened my blog and could have cried. I had totally forgotten I had started this post a month prior, but God knew and must have been prompting me to finish, as I opened my Bible I read

Matthew 19:19 "...love your neighbor as yourself"

Mark 12:30-31 " Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is love your neighbor as yourself."

The Holy Spirit is powerful, he reminds me of the important things in life, spending time with Him, thinking of others, being more compassionate. Sometimes we do not understand the season of life we are going through, but I am amazed how Christ brings it full circle if we keep our eyes, hearts and minds on Him.

I am humbled by my illness last summer, until then I had always been healthy. Now I see people and their situations differently, my empathy has expanded and I can relate to their suffering. I am so grateful that God has given me the life I have, He goes before me and knows the outcome, all I have to do is trust and obey in Him.

Life is continual, we are here for many seasons, never stop living exploring and trying new things. This opens opportunities to share His word, sometimes just by others observing the life we lead will prompt them to ask questions and follow Christ.

I pray we all follow the prompting to love our neighbors as Jesus loves us.

Jeanne





May we see His reflection
 despite the traffic in our lives



Learning to Slow Down and Live Your Life

 

Seeing His Beauty in Every Situation


I love you Lord and I lift my voice to worship you oh my soul rejoice, let it be a sweet sweet sound to your ears. (from the song I love you Lord by Petra)

I love it when out of no where the joy of the Lord fills my soul. What a blessing it is to be completely in His Presence. I know from my own experiences even as a Christian,  I tried to fill that void or longing to be complete by staying busy.  I would try to fill the days with working, volunteering anything to keep moving.

But all God really wants us to be is still in His presence and He will fill that void and direct our paths.  That stillness does not come easy in a world that implies we need to be constantly busy, social media leads us to believe if we are not moving then we are missing out.  But in reality if we are able to block out the world and focus on our creator He will bring us the fulfillment we are longing for.

 

Matthew 5:6
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."



Last summer I was gravely ill, prior to that I was trying everything possible to quench my thirst. I was in constant motion. God literally had my life come to a complete halt both physically and mentally in order for me to hear Him speak clearly to my soul.  It took being laid up in bed to realize that the world will keep going even if I do not. That I was not really missing anything and there is nothing more important then living the life God intended for me, not even the one that I was so desperately trying to create on my own.

While confined to the house I read the book  God Isn't in a Hurry, Learning to Slow Down and Live Your Life by Warren Wiersbe. I highly recommend it.  Initially I even found this book difficult not  to "hurry" through ;)
This book helped reveal that all the "things" I was doing to get closer to God, were really getting in the way of what God wants and that is a communal relationship with us.

I feel blessed for my illness, obstacles in life are not planned, but they do not  need to be stumbling blocks. Instead we should use them as opportunities to grow closer to our heavenly Father. By drawing closer to Him, He will set us on the path that He intended for us.

In His precious name I pray that you allow the path you are on to bring you to a closer fellowship with Him.

Jeanne



May we see His reflection
 despite the traffic in our lives

 

~God is So Good~

         My son sent me this picture from his phone while walking a trail in Petaluma, California. I on the other hand just finished shoveling four plus feet of snow. But when I saw that picture I immediately went to that peaceful place in my mind, my happy place.

         How often do we focus on the situation we are in rather then what gives us that internal joy regardless of the snow piling up all around us?

2 Corinthians 4:18

"We are to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Clarity comes when we are able to push aside the chaos jumbling up in our minds.

Here is my go to song by Chris Tomlin~ Good Good Father

http://www.bing.com/search?q=chris+tomlin+good+good+father&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=

When you have a moment to be still, please listen, let it speak to your soul. You are loved, we are  uniquely made for His perfect plan. I pray you know Him personally, Christ can encourage you out of any struggles you may be facing.
In His Precious name I pray.

Jeanne





 

May we see His reflection
 despite the traffic in our lives

     

Being His Reflection

 

~God is Good~

 

~I journal, that is what I do and what I love~

 

Spending time in God's word is so revealing to me, as hopefully it is to many of you.

He speaks to me not audible but through Scripture.

Often I journal then read my Bible and find that He guides me to scripture that reinforces what I believe the Holy Spirit has been impressing on my heart.

I constantly struggle not with being better, but a more consistent Christian.

 

Mark 13:35 "...watch (be ready) because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back...."

 

Wow, to me this reiterates what I needed to hear. Be ready, though I know I am saved if the Lord would come at this minute or while I am in the grocery store, or talking to a telemarketer or with my husband would I be proud of that moment? Would the other person walk away knowing by my actions and words that I was a child of God? 

 

I can not undo the past, but I can live from this moment on trying to emulate His likeness, this may be the last encounter I have with that person, let it be of love and reflecting the joy Christ has given me.

 

In His Holy name I pray.

Amen







May we see His reflection
 despite the traffic in our lives