A little about me

Hello my dear friends! To all of you that have recently joined this page, welcome!

So, a little about me. I realize I haven’t really shared much about myself. I tend to just jump in and post either something I've written and want to share with all of you or a video clip that I'd like to share of other teachers or singers.

So, who is Mildred and why did I choose the name “Reflecting Truth Ministries.” I am happily married. My husband and I have been blessed with 18 years of marriage. We have three kids, 2 boys and a girl sandwiched in-between them. I have been teaching the Word of God for a long time now, like for twenty four years. I am a writer, not just of the short teachings I share with all of you but, I also am in the process of writing a novel. I have other projects I'm working on as well. Praying to become a published author soon. I'll keep you posted on that. I’m also working on setting up a YouTube Channel. I’ll also keep you posted on that.

The name "Reflecting Truth Ministries" was prayed over. God gave me this name. Why? This is what we are to do, day in and day out, reflect Truth. We are to be a reflection of our God daily. "Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 (NIV) “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom…the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:13, 7-18 (NKJV) The ministry’s verse is Proverbs 27:19: "As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart." Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)

This ministry page is such a blessing to me. I pray that all the Lord leads me to post may be a blessing to you. Know that I pray for all of you. I welcome your comments. You’re always welcome to share my posts with your loved ones.

How about you? I’d love for you to share something about yourselves too.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post! God bless you!

Time Keeps on Moving

    Most people consider themselves to be busy. Busy seems to be the norm for a lot of people. In fact, if you're not busy people think there's something wrong with you. Our busy-ness keeps us distracted from the reality that no matter what we are doing time keeps on moving. If we are not careful time will slip on by us and before we know it we have lost precious time. It's not necessarily that we do not spend time on what's important. It's that we need to watch how much time is being spent. How much time do we set aside for God, our spouses, our children, friends or even for ourselves? If we were to actually stop and pay attention to how much time we actually spend with God, our loved ones or on ourselves, I think we'd be surprised. Yes, grant it, there are some of you out there that do spend time wisely and if that is so, then Amen! But, if not, it's time to do some introspection.

It is important for all who are part of the Body of Christ to understand how vital it is to appreciate time. Time is given to us freely by God. It is not given to us to waist. It is not given to us to only do what we please. It is given to us so that we will use it wisely. God will do what is necessary to help us use our time wisely even stop time if necessary. During a very important battle the Israelites were in that was headed by Joshua, God answered Joshua's request to stop time. "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day." Joshua 10:13 (KJV)

Unless God answers our requests to stop time, it will continue to move on. Using our time wisely keeps us from being distracted with things or people that we shouldn't spend any time with. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV) Stay focused on God and everything else will fall into place. "…and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to." Matthew 6:33 (TLB)

****************************************************************************

My dear friends, thank you for reading! I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic in the comments below. Praying for you! 

 

Dove Choose Beautiful | Women all over the world make a choice

I had to share this one! Saw it on a friend's page and was moved to tears! TOO MANY WOMEN JUDGE THEMSELVES SO HARSHLY!!! We are all beautiful because we have been created by the ARTIST CALLED GOD!!! He is the one that has made us how we are and HE said IT IS GOOD!!! Who are we to say that we're not?!! WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL!!! I pray that if anyone of you had to choose a door to walk through that you would choose the BEAUTIFUL one because that's how God sees you! That's how I see you! That's how I pray you see yourself too! God bless you all!

Stubborn!

The definition of stubborn, according to dictionary.com is: "unreasonably obstinate; obstinately unmoving…" The definition for obstinate is: firmly or stubbornly adhering to one's purpose, opinion, etc.; not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty."

There are many stories of stubborn people and the consequences that followed in the Bible. One such stubborn person was Jonah. Jonah was a prophet who was sent to Nineveh by God because He wanted to give them a chance to repent from their evil ways. Jonah didn't agree with God's mercy on the evil people of Nineveh (as if he had a say in who God can be merciful with). His stubborn-self took a trip to Spain, by ship, the complete opposite side of where Nineveh was on the map! There was an awful storm on the way. Jonah asked the men to throw him over because he knew that the storm was God trying to get his attention. He asked the people to throw him over into the water so that they wouldn't suffer his consequences and possibly drown to death. The storm calmed and Jonah was swallowed up by a great big fish. This fish took him towards the direction he was supposed to go in the first place! When it arrived at the shore, three days later, it "puked" and out came Jonah. He set off for Nineveh and spread the message God had for them. Wouldn't you know, they repented! His stubborn heart was angry with God for forgiving those people. He was stubborn in accepting God's leading to go to Nineveh and he was stubborn in accepting God's mercy on those people. When his work was done he continued to travel. The sun was scorching and there was no shade to be found. The Lord grew a plant for Jonah to have some shade. The next day he allowed a worm to have a go at it and it killed the plant. Now Jonah was angry about this too. The very last two verses of the book of Jonah it says, "Then the Lord said, "You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?" Jonah 4:10-11 (NLT)

God is merciful, patient and reasonable. We need to reflect those attributes out to the world. When we're being "unreasonably obstinate" are we reflecting God's attributes? "…make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5b-8 (NLT) 

Gold-mine!

Just recently a new family moved in to the house that’s across the street from us. This family owns two dogs and we couldn’t wait to meet one of them, the Great-Dain. A few Sunday’s ago I was hanging out in the front of the house with the family and our dog, a Mini-Schnauzer named Chip. That day, our new neighbor brought both of his female dogs over so that we can meet them!

Okay, before I continue I need to let you in on a debate our family has been having for a while now. We cannot decide whether to neuter our dog or not. So, he’s still, without, you know, experience in the area of female doggies. (I hope you get my drift). Anyway, the dogs were doing their thing of getting to know each other, you know, sniffing each other all up in their privates and don’t you know! Athena (the Great-Dain) was, well, let me just be blunt, in heat! Chip’s ears turned up and he was ready to go! He stood up on both his hind legs and started to inch towards her back side when I pulled on his leash and told him to stop (which if you have a male dog you know is totally useless!). It was so funny watching this dog actually try to attempt the impossible! Even though he was standing on his hind legs it was useless! She’s such a tall dog that his head could barely reach her belly. He was nowhere near her “gold-mine!”

I have to give him credit for at least trying. That’s the type of attitude we need to have as believers in the One True God. Sometimes when we are faced with difficult challenges in our Spiritual walk we cave. There are times we give up without even trying. If we were like Chip we’d try anyway! Yes, my dear friends, I was reminded of a very important truth by the leading of the Holy Spirit. This truth is this, when we believe that triumph over the challenges of life’s circumstances are completely out of reach, we need to try anyway!

We need to stop giving up and feeling defeated afterwards! We need to stand up firm and stand our ground! “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…” Ephesians 6:13-14a (NIV) Yes, we need to go for the “gold” no matter how difficult we may think or feel the situation is. Nothing is impossible when God is involved. If He led you…if it is in His will…if the Spirit is prompting you then go for it! “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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-22 (NIV)

****************************************************************************
My dear friends, thank you for reading! I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic in the comments below. Praying for you! 

Good Friday

r.T.m.
Reflecting Truth Ministries 

When others see you what do they see?

"As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."

Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)

"One of a Kind!"

Why is it that we love to complain about what we don’t have instead of celebrating what we do have? How about when it comes to our looks, our bodies, our hair…even how our toes look? I have heard so-o-o-o many complaints from both men and women about their looks that it’s exasperating! Come on now! It’s time to stop! It’s time to take a deep breath and exhale slowly. It’s time to really look at ourselves, not from our point of view or from any other human’s point of view. It is time we look at ourselves through God’s point of view. 

Years ago I was confronted by God on this very issue. The lack of appreciation for how He made me was something that I was unaware of. I was so caught up in the “why is it?” that I was too distracted to realize God’s tugging at my heart, mind and spirit. It wasn’t until I was confronted with His Word that I was able to see, truly see just how special He made me. 

You see, my dear friends, I was blinded by what the world was saying was beautiful or even acceptable, that I couldn’t see the reality! The reality was and still is that I am one of a kind and so are you! “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14 (NKJV) When I was confronted with His Word conviction soon followed. Did my “soul” really “know very well” that God created me exactly the way He wanted just like an artist creates a beautiful piece of art on a canvas that was once blank?

It is when we finally accept that every part of us is what He intended for us that we can finally see just how precious we truly are! It is then that we can take our eyes off of what we think we lack and put our eyes on what we do actually have! Everything, including how we look, is part of His one of a kind, tailor made, plan for us. He’s given us all we need, inside and out, to accomplish our purpose, our calling here on earth! “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) 

My dear friends, you are a masterpiece! You are one of a kind! There is no one that has ever existed or will ever exist that is just like you! That in and of itself is mind blowing! Stop falling for the lies of Satan! You are unique! Beautiful! Not just good enough but a MASTERPIECE! You are one of a kind!!!

****************************************************************************
Thank you for reading! I consider it such a blessing to share my writing with you! I'd love to read your thoughts on this topic in the comments below. Praying for you my dear friends!

Feeling Better!

Hello my dear friends! I'm feeling so-o-o much better! Praise God for His healing! Thank you Lord for your answered prayers. My sciatica is no longer causing havoc! Woo-Hoo!

I hope you are all doing well. It's been a little more than a month that I wasn't feeling well but now I'm back! Looking forward to all God has in store this year! Thank you for your prayers! God bless you all!

Class on Romans

Praying you all have a wonderful weekend! 

If you are not already committed to something else on Sunday's @ 10:25am I teach a class on the book of Romans. You are more than welcome to join us! Faith Assembly of God, 9307 Curry Ford Road, Orlando, FL, 32825, Room E-202. There is a service at 9am and another at 11:15am and there's something for everyone of any age there, from babies through 100+. 

If you were already planning on going to your church/a church that makes my heart smile. In fact I'd love for you to share where you guys go on Sunday mornings! I'd love to pray for your church (I pray for all of our church's in the US and across the globe. So what I mean is specifically for your church or your church's prayer requests).

May God continue to bless you and yours! Love you guys!

“Do resolutions go hand in hand with procrastination?”

Hmmm. I think the obvious answer is “No,” of course not. The reason they don’t go hand in hand is because they’re complete opposites. I was curious as to just how opposite these two words were. So, I looked them up on Dictionary.com and following are their definitions (the short, version).

Resolution: “the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.”

Procrastination: “the act or habit of…putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention.”

Trying to mix these two would be like trying to mix oil and vinegar. This is why resolutions never worked for me. It’s not that the resolutions themselves never worked it’s that I never gave it a chance to work because of procrastination. That pesky word! It’s been a problem of mine for years. It’s one of those bad habits that if you don’t pay attention to it, it can linger around for years without ever being detected. Mind you, others can detect procrastination quickly in you, but we tend to not see it in ourselves. Maybe because we don’t want to?

I decided not to name my goals for the new year “resolutions” this year. For whatever reason the temptation to procrastinate on implementation of those resolutions in my life are too great for me to handle. I tend to cave into the temptations and before anything new can stick for good in my life I quit! There, I shared a very personal bad habit of mine. Don’t judge me.

So, instead of calling them resolutions I just call these desires for change what they really are, “things you better do or else!“ No, really, I call them “dreams,“ “the year of change,” or, okay really being honest here, “things God wants you to change now!” I write my list in my prayer journal and frankly, pray over them, all year. It takes more than just a couple of days or a month for lasting change to occur, at least that’s how it is in my life!

You may be wondering where I’m at with that pesky procrastination problem. Hmmm. PRAY FOR ME! Okay, I am better at it but, still have a ways to go. So, attention off of me and where it should be. What does the Bible say about resolutions? Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This same verse in the Message Bible reads, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
*******************************************************
Thanks for reading! I'd love to read your thoughts on this post in the comments below. What do you think about resolutions? Are you good at keeping them or do you even bother making New Year's Resolutions?

May God continue to bless you & yours!

Thought of the Day: Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Christmas is in 11 days! There are Christmas-y things to do! Like going to see Christmas lights. Going to church Christmas events like  musicals/dramas. Decorating the house with Christmas tree, lights (oh wait, we haven't put up our lights yet...), house decorations. Going shopping. Baking cookies. Wrapping presents. Decorating. Visiting family. Get ready to cook for Christmas Dinner. Cook Christmas Dinner. Clean up after Christmas Dinner :(  But wait...among all of the things to do what's the one thing we should be most pressed to do?

It's the same thing we should be doing year round! It's...thanking Jesus for coming as a baby! Thank God for sending Him! Thank the Holy Spirit for being with Him during His time here in ministry! Thank you GOD for Jesus! Jesus is the reason for this season means more than just a beautiful slogan. He really is the reason this holiday even exists!

It's in memory of the beginning of His time here on earth as all man and God at the same time. We cap our celebration of Jesus' ministry while on earth with Easter. So, Christmas is the first celebration in memory of Jesus' ministry and Easter is the second celebration in memory of Jesus' ministry. Christmas is my most favorite time of year! I love all of the celebratory things that we do but, it's so important that we remember why we celebrate it in the first place! So, Happy Birthday Jesus!
.......................................
Thank you for reading all of my Thought's of Days in 2014! I may post at least another one before the end of the year, but just in case I get too busy (which we're all pretty busy this time of year) I want to say thanks! Love you! Praying for all of you my dear friends!!! May God continue to bless all of you & Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Building or Tearing Down?

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV)


It’s really easy to point out the faults in others, isn’t it? There are hidden lists of faults of people in our personal lives tucked away in our hearts and minds. The minute one of them messes up we quickly add their blunder to their list of faults. These lists of past blunders can sometimes be added up and then we have several blunders we keep holding on to for years and years. The purpose of building these lists of faults is due to the unwillingness to forgive and let go. What we do is use these lists of faults (usually during a heated “discussion”) against them. The list of past offenses and or faults starts to fly out of our mouths faster than anyone can blink. That’s when words like “always,” or “never,” or “here we go,” are used.

These words, among many other negative words can quickly become harmful. We neglect to realize that these words can tear down instead of build up a person. Our need to win, or to prove that we are right at any cost can quickly cost us the closeness of the relationship we have with the other person. We tend to forget that God is paying close attention to how we are managing our “discussions.” We do however notice when our feelings get hurt. The words that are told to us, that is if the other person is willing to say anything at all back to us, are the ones that we tend to focus on more. Why is that?

Are any of us free of any faults? No. Are any of us willing to admit that having to always be right or the need to win a “discussion” is a fault in and of itself? What did Jesus mean in Matthew 7:1-5? Is it that we can’t point out anyone’s faults at all? No. We can but, we need to first look at ourselves, really look at ourselves with the same type of measurement or expectation we have for everyone else. Let’s build up our loved ones instead of tearing them down. ‘“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’” John 13:34-35

Really?

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (MSG Bible)

"Really?"

Okay, I don't know about you, my dear friends, but I'm in a state of shock here. Is the year really almost over!!! It's November!!! What! Really???

Our youngest the other day happily said this to me, "Mom, in about a month and a half it's Christmas! I can't wait!" The look on my face surprised him. I was shocked. I just didn't put the math together. December 25th is quickly approaching which means that the New Year is quickly approaching too! Really?

I pretty sure I'm not the only one in the world that's shocked by how fast the clock seems to be ticking. Time seems to disappear. Our way of life not just here in the States but in most of the world has changed dramatically in just the last twenty years. Everyone seems to be busy all of the time. "Down time" is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Who has time to stop and take it easy?

It seems as though every other person I speak to is so busy. They're exhausted almost all of the time. When I suggest they take it easy they look at me like my son did. Like I'm clueless. I live in this world too. I know how stressful life can get. I know that there are "twenty-million things to do" just about all of the time.

Thing is, I have had to learn how to slow it down. I'm easy going by nature so it wasn't too difficult for me to learn how to slow down but, I did have to work at it, still do. It's all in our perspective. If we look at our lives as a never-ending-to-do-list then that is exactly what it will be. But, if we look at our lives as something precious, a gift that had a start date (our birthday) but an end date was not given then that's what our lives will be, a precious gift.

We know our birthdays but we do not know when our last day on this earth will be. I'm actually thankful that I don't know. Life would seem too sad. Every day would be one day closer to the end. No, I'm happy not knowing but, I also know that I shouldn't live as if there is no tomorrow. That means that I can take today for granted and expect a tomorrow. That is also not a good way to live.

The Bible teaches us to live our lives one day at a time. Sound familiar? We know it in our heads that we need to enjoy every day that we are given. We know in our heads that we need to stop and smell the roses. But, do we know it in our hearts? Are our hearts and mind connected to the fact that every day well lived is a day lived well? Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is it's one thing to know and its another to live it out.

News!

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:33-34

It seems as though more and more people are worried about the world these days. There's a whole lot going on everywhere. The world is pretty chaotic but, we need to remember that what is on the news does not surprise God. We may be shocked with the news but God knows all things. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Turn to His Word before you turn to the news. It's what helps us to stay focused on God and the fact that God is our good news, day in and day out!

The following is the whole passage on worry:
"25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

“I Disagree!”

How frustrating it is to have disagreements! A disagreement can lead to even more disagreements if they are not dealt with. If things are never cleared up what happens next? A lot of the times what happens is that the relationship will break. How many friendships have broken up because of disagreements? How many marriages have ended in divorce because of disagreements? How many families have suffered because of disagreements?

Sometimes all it takes to clear up a disagreement is to talk about it with the other person. Listening to the other person and having them listen to you can do wonders! The key is to talk not argue. Something else is needed to clear a disagreement…forgiveness. The ability to forgive is not always easy but doable. The only way really to forgive another is to ask the Lord to help us forgive and to help us let the hurt go which is the “forget” part that we hear people say all of the time…”forgive and forget.” Another key part in clearing up a disagreement is time. We need to be willing to give each other time to sit and talk things through…time to forgive and heal (“forget”) and time to let time do its thing. “Time heals all wounds,” to a certain point I agree but healing, true healing can only happen if the truth was stated which is what is needed to clear up a disagreement.

There’s an example of Paul and Barnabas in the Bible having a disagreement. When they were planning out their second missionary trip Barnabas told Paul that he wanted to take John (also known as Mark) and Paul disagreed. Their disagreement was so bad they went their separate ways!

Acts 15:36-41, “Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

It’s amazing to me that these two men of God had such a “sharp disagreement.” They had gone through a lot together and accomplished a lot. Even though they had such a great history together they could not see eye to eye on the issue of John. Paul didn’t want to risk being abandoned by John again whereas Barnabas wanted to give him another chance. Barnabas ended up going on a separate mission trip with John. Can you imagine how John must have felt? It was because of his decision to leave Pamphylia when the circumstances grew difficult that changed Paul’s mind of him. He no longer believed that John had what it took to be a dependable missionary.

Thankfully the story doesn’t end there. Years later while Paul was under house arrest in Rome he wrote a letter to Timothy and in it he mentions John Mark. 2 Timothy 4:11, “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” In Philemon 1:23-24 Paul mentions Mark’s name too, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.”

Disagreements will occur. Reconciliations can follow if we allow them. As we see in Paul’s case he gave Mark another chance. My dear friend I know firsthand how much a disagreement can cause discord, hurt, and or frustration. I’ve had situations where reconciliation never occurred, relationships were broken and hurts took longer to heal from. I also know that when there is reconciliation the problem is resolved and the relationship can grow and blossom into what the Lord would want it to. So, like Paul, we too should give another chance and resolve the problems through prayer. If the Lord’s will is for the two parties to split then that’s what needs to happen. 

Busy!

It's hard to believe how the busyness of life can truly keep you from doing what you really want and know you need to do! You know how it is. You set goals, you decide wholeheartedly that you're going to do it and then WHAM! Life happens. Thing is this is what happens a lot, to a lot of us, a lot of the time! What to do? Pray! That's what I do. I ask the Lord to please help me not get overwhelmed with this gift called life that He has given to me. Yes, it's tough. Yes, I get tired too but, I don't complain about how busy I am anymore. I've learned (and am still learning) how to see my life through the lenses that Christ offers to me everyday.

The Holy Spirit guides me into seeing my life more clearly. Instead of focusing on the negative I focus on the positive. Instead of getting frustrated I stop and praise the Lord for the bountiful blessings He has given to me. Perspective is key. It's all about how you look at life.

So, now as I write this to you I have a "million" things to do and I know that the end of day is coming soon so, that means that most of these "million" things are not going to get done. But, instead of allowing stress to settle in I take a deep breath, close my eyes and focus on God. I say words of praise to God. I'll sing or I'll smile and thank God for my life. "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 (NLV)

Want

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)

As I was working this morning I thought of something. You know how you can play with words? You know, use the same words but in different order? For example, you can say "Good Morning again," but now if you use the same words in a different order it changes the meaning a little. "Again, good morning," it has like a sarcastic flair to it. Same is true with these words, "I want God," and "God I want." See? Two different meanings even though they're the same words.

With the "I want God," one it means that you want God. The word "want" (according to Dictionary.com) used as a verb and with an object means "to feel a need or desire for; wish for...need, crave, demand, or desire." So, these three words used in this format, "I want God" can mean that God is needed, desired and or craved. The meaning of these three words changes in the second example. With "God I want," the use of the word "want" is now different. The word "want" (again, according to Dictionary.com) used as a verb and without object means "...wish; like (often followed by to)...to feel or have a need (sometimes followed by for)."

Which way do you use these three words most? Do you usually say, "I want God" or do you usually say "God I want?" Can we be honest here? Don't we tend to use "God I want" more. We have various needs, wants, desires, for others as well as for ourselves, that we go to God with in our prayer time. It is important to stop and remember to also want God, more of God. To desire a deeper more meaningful relationship with God daily. Not just the needs and or desires met but more importantly our spiritual lives fed and nurtured by the ONE and ONLY too. How about you my dear friends? Do you feel the same?

When it rains it pours…

It never ceases to amaze me how a bad day can quickly turn into a horrible day in just seconds! Have you been there? I'm pretty sure we've all been there before. The way I see it, I can either have a pity party, you know, whine about my day, complain, feel sorry for myself or I can do something else. I can refuse to get down and stay focused on God. When I stay focused onGod then my day is smooth. Instead of focusing on how wonderful or awful my day seems I'll focus on His joy. Joy. Yes. Let me focus on God's joy.

Joy is different from happiness. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is from the Holy Spirit. It's more awesome than happiness! Joy is sustained no matter what's going on around you. It doesn't mean you'll walk around with a constant smile and an upbeat mood because you have joy. Joy means that you can withstand whatever life throws at you with a positive attitude. "But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." Galatians 5:22-23 (MSG)

I’ll choose joy. How about you?

Thanks for reading this post! Praying for you! God bless you.

I can't see!

The type of garage door that we have has a remote. When you open the door with the remote a light in the garage automatically turns on. After some time I have become accustomed to this light. You see, the garage is very dark at night and without a light you can barely even see your hand even if you place it right in front of your face. Well, this light that I have grown so accustomed to automatically being there for me has gone out. It needs to be replaced. It's not anything difficult to do but, it just hasn't been done yet.

I have stumbled several times or have banged into something during my short walk from the car to the door that leads into the house. I know this is not a serious problem, its just a nuisance. I miss the light because I can't see well without it. I miss the light because I like to see what's around me. I want to know what's ahead of me before I step into that direction. This way I know I'm not going to trip or hurt myself or knock something out of place and break something. It's the same with everything else in life.

I like to know ahead of time what's in front of me so that I can plan accordingly. I like to know what I'm about to face before I face it so that I can be ready. I like to be prepared. Except, life isn't always so neat. Life is full of twists and turns that we can't always be ready for. We all have a journey that we're on in our lives. As believers in Christ this journey will ultimately end up in the same place, eternally dwelling with the Lord. Until we get there though what do we do when we know we are on the "right road" in life but yet we can't exactly see what's beyond the bend. Be it an illness, loss of work, problems with relationships, a death of a loved one.

Until one of us actually remembers to go to the hardware store to buy the little light bulb to replace the light that has gone out I have come up with ways to find other sources of light. Sometimes I leave the headlights of the car on while I walk over to the main light switch. Other times I leave the garage door open and use the dim light that filters in from the outside to guide me to the door. Other times I remember to tell the family to leave the light on for me.

When we encounter the unknown bends in the path on our journey of life there are different things the Lord does to help us see more clearly how to handle the circumstances we are in. He knows what's going on in our lives and His ways of getting through the "bend" is the best way. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) "Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes." Ephesians 3:20 (TLB) Oh, precious God, thank you for being a light that will never go out!