I WOULD RATHER LIVE MY LIFE

"I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live my life
as if there isn't, and die to find out there is."

This is a quote that I received in an email today. I find it interesting that it came today. But, for me, it just proves that God is very involved in our lives and knows how to affirm us if we allow Him to.

Last night I had dinner with two of my friends. On the way to the restaurant I was relishing in one of the rare moments of alone time with God. It's very difficult to find alone time when you have 5 kids- one of them being a 3-year-old.

The CD playing in the car was a compilation disc that I play quite often in the car. It is a variety of Petra songs.

My favorite Petra song is "Adonai". As I drove down the highway, singing along with the music, I began to visualize my Master speaking everything into existence. My minds eye saw Him speak the stars into existence, His majestic hand reaching out to place each star in its specific place. I saw Him become playful, smiling, because He "saw that it was good."

One of my favorite ways to worship God is in nature. No, I do not worship nature itself, but I smile because I see that "it is good". Adonai alone is worthy of my praise and worship.

All of nature cries out to Him. All things were made to worship God Almighty. It is such an honor and pleasure to me to know Him and worship Him.

When I read the quote that I opened with today it fit so perfect with my thoughts. I know that I am not wrong in my beliefs. I know without a shadow of a doubt that God IS real. I know that He alone created the heavens and the earth and all that is within, above and below. However, in the minuscule "chance" that I am wrong, I would much rather worship God in my life, and find out in my death that He does not exist than not worship Him and believe in Him in my life and find out in my death that He DOES exist.

Each of us are given a choice. I cannot make anyone believe in my Creator. My heart aches for those who do not believe in Him and know Him as their Savior. But we are all given free will.

Lord God, how I pray for those who do not know You. I truly cannot imagine my life without You. My Adonai, You are the Master of the earth and sky. You alone are worthy.

I continue to pray for Congresswoman Giffords. I cannot wait for the day she walks back onto the floor of Congress. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

I pray for this nation. Lord God, we need You desperately. I pray that hearts will be humbled before You. I pray that this nation will repent of her sins. I pray for our President. I pray for all elected leaders, that each of them will be safe. Protect them from harm. Humble each of them before You, that they will turn their eyes upon You and seek Your will for this country.

I pray for Israel. The entire world is coming against her. I know it is prophesied and will happen. I know You are in control. But I pray for Your chosen people.

I pray all of these things in the precious Name of Jesus Christ- Amen.

ONE DAY

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)


One day, every knee WILL bow, and every tongue WILL confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. For me, it will be the most awaited day of all of my life. To be at the feet of my Jesus, loving Him, honoring Him, praising Him. For others, it will not be such a glorious day. I pray for these people.


I do not believe that these people have long to wait. I am so excited for that! Daily, the news points to that coming day when this scripture will come true:


"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."
Revelation 19:11-16


Oh Glorious Day!

People get ready! Jesus is coming! He is not willing that any should perish!

Lord, every day time grows shorter and shorter. While people have been saying this for thousands of years, and it still may be a long time in our view, we never know when we will breathe our last breath. I pray that You will open blinded eyes and soften hardened hearts.

I continue to pray for Congresswoman Giffords. I read a tweet today saying that she may run for Senate. Nothing has come out officially, but if this is even being discussed then it appears as though things are looking absolutely amazing for her! All glory, honor and praise be to You, Jesus, for the miracle in her life. I also continue to pray that the man that acted out this heinous attack will be given justice. Please do not allow political correctness to prevent justice in this.

I pray for President Obama. Lord, I get so angry! Please help me to not sin in my anger, where it concerns the man that is our president. I continue to pray that he will humble his heart before You, Jesus.

I pray for this nation. I pray that people will wake up and stand up for what is right. I believe many people have, but there are still too many who are complacent.

I pray for the nation of Israel. Protect her and bless her beyond measure.

I praise You for the mighty work You have done in my life. If it were not for my faith in You, I do not believe I would be alive today. Thank You for never giving up on me!

I pray all of these things in the precious Name of my Savior Jesus Christ- Amen.

YES, THIS COUNTS!

I received an email today that is going to be the topic of today's post. My brother sent me the email, and he had added a note that yes, this was his niece (his wife's sister's daughter). I called him and asked him if he could get their permission to post the picture on my blog entry for today, because I have never seen anything so beautiful in all of my life!

When I talked to my brother after he talked to his brother-in-law, he told me he was surprised to find out that it is not his niece! This is an email that was actually forwarded to his brother-in-law. They are all amazed at how much like this little girl my brother's niece actually looks.

So, I am going to post the picture, as the note at the bottom of the page says to forward to your friends. If the parents of this child sees the picture and would like it to be removed, please let me know. I would never want to offend them in any ways.

So, before I go any further, here is the email text, as well as the picture, of the original email I was sent:

Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

DOES THIS COUNT?

Yes, this most definitely counts, sweetheart!

This little girl understands more than most adults do. While I believe that it is imperative and very beneficial to read, study, disect, meditate and analyze Scripture to grow in our faith, walk and understanding of God, I beleive that a lot of times our analyzing gets in the way of the true heart of the matter. As my husband has said before, too often, the most "intellectual" of minds have absolutely no faith in God because He cannot be explained. Faith is believing in the unseen.

A WRETCH LIKE ME

This time of the year is extremely special to me. On February 25, 2004, a movie was released that reaches down into the very depths of my soul. While I know the story well, I've never seen it depicted in this exact way.

The movie I am referring to is, "The Passion Of The Christ".

Within the first month after the movie was released, my husband and I went to the theatre 7 times to see it. At the time, we were Youth Leaders at our church. Since the movie was rated "R" due to the extreme violence depicted, we were required to view the movie before taking students to see it. For the students to see the movie their parents had to sign a permission form, for the exact same reason.

I was raised in a Christian home. I often joke that I went to church before I entered the world, and started my entry into the world at church! My Mom actually went into labor during the Sunday night service. A funny side story here that my mom loves to tell. She went to the restroom, and her water broke. Obviously, she had to send someone in to get my Dad.

My grandparents, as well as a couple of my aunts and uncles went to the same church. My Dad sent one of the ushers in to let my grandparents know what was going on. It was at this very moment that the congregation was sitting, and the choir was getting ready to sing. My grandfather did not realize what was going on, so he was standing up, in the middle of the church, looking at my aunt, who was in the choir, shaking his head "yes" So this is how the congregation knew I was ready to make my entrance into the world!

Well, I've gotten a bit off track here. But, the point of telling this funny little tidbit of my life is to say that yes, I attended church regularly as a child. When the church doors were open, we were there. I knew the words of the old hymns by heart. In fact, I was even known to give a concert for my grandparents at the drop of a hat! There are even pictures of the performances, my "brush microphone" in hand.

Even if you are not a church-goer, it's quite likely you know the words to the ever-famous hymn, "Amazing Grace." In fact, there is now even a movie of how the hymn came to be. This was one of the songs that I loved to sing the most.

Strangely enough, though I have known the words of "Amazing Grace"  by heart pretty much since I uttered my first words, It was not until I was 31-years-old that I truly grasped the true meaning of this beautiful hymn.

LIFE IS A PUZZLE

After my first husband committed suicide, my life as I knew it literally ceased to exist. Everything that I knew, believed and lived shattered into a million pieces. It was at this point that God lovingly picked up one, single piece of my shattered, brokenness and placed it in the middle of His canvas, which is my life.

All of the shattered pieces of my former life are still there today. While it may not appear that way, the shattered, broken pieces have been lovingly healed and mended by the hands of The Master Who created me and loves me so dearly. Many, many pieces have been loving placed where they belong, and yet, many others still are in the process of mending and healing.

One thing that God showed me, after my husband died, was how yes, we are indeed created in the image of God. However, as humans, most everything we do is opposite of the way God does things. It is a strange concept, in one sense. Yet, it makes perfect sense as well.

An image is a reflection of an actual thing, not the thing itself. When you look in the mirror at yourself, it is the opposite of reality. Your right side appears to be the left side, and vice versa.

When you work a puzzle, what is the first thing that you do? You start with the outside pieces, and put the entire border together. At least, this is the way I do it, and this is the way I've seen most people work a puzzle.

God began to show me that my life is a puzzle in progress at the work of His loving hands.

YOU GOT TO KNOW WHEN...

As I've thought over my previous post, I am reminded of an old Kenny Rogers song, "The Gambler". I'm sure that if you've read my previous post you are wondering how in the world this song comes to mind. The post has nothing at all to do with gambling, playing cards, or anything that entails.

However, the course speaks volumes for me, in my life:

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done

Now, one thing you will learn about me is that I march to the beat of a different drummer. I've always been this way! In fact, I grew up in the '80's and was always known for wearing a "different style" of clothes... and this is in the '80's, when "different" WAS the style!

Maybe the reason this chorus reverberates over and over in my mind as I look back over my life experiences is because so much of the time I did not know when to hold 'em, fold 'em, walk away, or run. So much of my life I have made the wrong decision, no matter what decision I made.

I'VE COME TO A REALIZATION

I just got finished with a major rant on Twitter. My husband just showed me an article that has blown my mind! For your reference, here is the article that caused my rant:

U.S. Debt Jumped $72 Billion Same Day U.S. House Voted to Cut Spending $6 Billion

Now, why in the world would this send me into a tizzy, you are probably asking. It is quite obvious that our debt and continued spending is completely out of control. It's been one of the main topics of discussion for- oh, I don't even know how long!

So I will tell you- my rant was caused by the sudden realization that no one in Washington gets it! And I do mean NO ONE! I say this, because if anyone at all truly got the enormity of this crisis, this would be the ONLY thing that was being discussed!

I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3

Israel is the time piece and compass for everything that happens. Israel is God Almighty's time piece.

God makes it very clear that all blessings and curses are administered by how Israel is treated.

EVERY KNEE WILL BOW

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11

This is another of my favorite passages of Scripture in The Bible. The Bible says that one day, EVERY knee will bow, and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ Is Lord of lords and King of kings!

For me and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a day we long for! As the Mercy Me song says,

HISTORY COLLIDES WITH THE FUTURE

"For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't, no proof is possible."

Interesting. I saw this quote come across on twitter today, and it resounded with me. I retweeted it, not knowing who said it originally.

Later, I started thinking about what I would blog about today. I remembered this quote, and wanted to see who said it. 

I was quite surprised when I found it it was actually Stuart Chase, a Neo-Socialist. I just skimmed the information about Mr. Chase, but it did not take two seconds for me to know without a doubt there is very little, if anything at all, that Mr. Chase and I would have in common.