Another Odd Dream ~

Woke up at 1:43am, no joke.....in the middle of a dream that I was being beaten because of my faith in Christ. The ODD thing is...that 143 is code for I LOVE YOU. (one letter, four letters, three letters)

I find it amazing sometimes how God is kind to do things uniquely in our lives that will get our attention set on Him.
He knows me better than I know myself, and how to get my attention.....and how I will interpret things that happen.

This deal I took to mean,
"I love you, suffer well"

(don't get all worried for me friends.........I only take things to heart that line up with Scripture- God's word dominates)

The Beauty of the seemingly mundane ~

"Everyday love" in marriage - and our relationship with the Father seem so similar. Days go by, things get familiar....we get to know His word more and more and it becomes us......and in the marriages that I admire most - the couples seem to KNOW each other so very well that they can read the slightest eye flicker, or hand gesture or know that a laugh is merely a "courtesy" one, when everyone else hasn't got a clue. (ie...if you're Steph, you buy the coffee with all the favorite/specifics that Tex prefers.)

I think that that is what makes the deep love in marriage such an amazing thing to behold...
And likewise, the intimacy of truly knowing the LORD.
By knowing God's word well, our disposition changes......and without even perhaps our needing to consciously think through things, we walk away from those things that we know He would not be pleased to see us do - Because we love Him.
We don't need to make a list of reasons TO DO or NOT TO DO something before our feet start moving in the direction we KNOW would please Him. It is the way of the Spirit of God in guiding our steps. The deepest feelings of love are solid because they are based on growing knowledge of the one loved.

Christ IS the knowledge of God
2 Cor 4:6
"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Col 2:2
"being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ......."

We love him because we've known him......as "Adam knew Eve and she conceived and bore a son."
Intimate.....radical.....umm....DUDE.......wow.

Of course, this thought came to my mind by Ozzie Chambers, and well, Rascal Flatts.... :) Their song "Everyday Love"
Love in marriage usually causes me to think of Christ and His church.......
The true eternal romance.

Another Active "Letting"

Couple favorite verses that free the heart to trust the Lord in all things this side of heaven. (relationships/finances/persecution, all of the 'unknowns'...and etc..)

Faith is believing what God has said.

Psalm 37:5
"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act."

2 Chron 16:9
"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. "

Active letting involves - seeking and committing our hearts to do what pleases the Father who mercifully saved us through crushing His Son.

Anyone seen my sheep ? ~ Jesus

If you find a sheep that is all dirty, bites and swears and is just all around disobedient....it may belong to Jesus. You'll know them by the way that they react when you tell them to follow you back to Christ......
ie...try using something from God's word....that's the ticket.
If they recognize the language that you're speaking to them, and they know that you tell the truth and that you serve the one who IS....they will follow you back to the Shepherd, the overseer and lover of their soul - joyfully. (sometimes, yes, they even skip :))

Just be aware that in some cases, they might continue to bite and squirm, but that doesn't mean that they are not necessarily one of Jesus' sheep. They may have had other people try to pick them up or drag them along back to the shepherd. It is far better for those sheep to just love them and be there with them in the dirt until they see how much the shepherd loves them via your steadfast love.

And He has said to us sheep "Never will I leave you, nor forsake you."

(ahem, note: God's word washes the dirt off, and you'll need to wash after each time being in the "dirt" (world) for any length of time, lather, rinse, and repeat)

Don't pretend that they don't have dirt on them.....but also, certainly don't just pretend to love them either..... Love them as the one who sent you loves you and in that you will show yourself to be truly of the flock of God.

Luke 6:35
"Love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked."

From the Mouths of Babes

This morning when I was watching Titus and Pheobe, they were telling me stories about how they fell down and got owies.

Titus (3 yrs) told me how the Lord let him fall down a couple stairs, but that God didn't let him fall "utterly"....in that God saved him from falling down all of the stairs.

Praise the Lord - he knows how to apply God's word in daily circumstance!

I believe it was his way of working out Psalm 37:24
"Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand. "

I JUST KNOW by Disciple

"What makes you different from one another?
Why do you argue about who you follow ?
There is no man that you belong to ~
There's only ONE God that can claim you ~

I don't care, if you drink grape juice or if it's wine,
and I don't care if you, get out of church on time.
What does it matter if someone lets out a "hallelujah" shout?
Have we forgotten - what praising Yahweh is all about?!?

I just know Jesus is the way,
I just know Jesus is the truth,
I just know Jesus is the LIFE,
I just know Jesus is my God !"

Biter Sheep
Dear friends of the blogosphere.......anyone else notice when God brings people into your life, (unbelievers and make-believers) AND THEN He brings up His Gospel....if you dare to ''go there" with them and are unashamed of the Christ ~ God gives you a fresh sense of the preciousness of what He was really up to at Calvary??
Nothing sweeter to remind us that WE desperately need Jesus.........

He's been so kind with putting lost sheep in my path. Three that I would appreciate prayer for.

Ty - I've known him for 11 years, he's like a brother to me and knew me well - before I was saved and now....he knows that I'm different, but hasn't a clue what is the cause, he doesn't believe that there is a God because his "truth" is obtained via the discovery channel. (everything on the discovery channel is "fact" you know......sigh......sarcasm)
He's been mocking me more now lately than ever........Oh, I hope and pray that his mocking and other sins are forgiven and not stored up as wrath against him! I love him very much.

Jim - a middle aged, post modern mentality type - new client of mine who has too much money, and heard much about God's wrath the other day in my office. For the better part of a 2 hour meeting. He's going to be receiving the book "Jesus among other gods" by Raavi Z from me in the coming week or so......he's excited to read it and has a sense of sobriety about God's justice now that will hopefully help him see himself in truth. Praise the Lord, I didn't get fired for saying the things I did....to him and other clients~

Tracy - a waitress who is in the 3rd step of the AA meetings. She's been sober for 7 months and God brought her to Allison, Jamie and I Saturday night at a restaurant in St Paul. (get this, she wasn't even our server - she just walked right up and started sharing her life story with us!!)
Ps - for those unfamiliar with the AA Big Book - the third step is the first one that involves the "higher power" - unbelievable.
We didn't get to share Christ with her there, but Jamie exchanged numbers with her and Tracy has already text messaged her. Please pray that we would get to spend time with her and love her with grace and truth.

All this for the King !!

"Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness"

Eph 2:1-10
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Destined toward wrath - but mercifully turned around.......

Jennifer