Joyous Living

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self discipline.  [2 Timothy 1:7 NLT ] When Gideon destroyed Baal's alter as God instructed him to do, the Midianites found out and were furious! They gathered a force of 135,000 men and prepared them for battle. Then "the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon" and he took his first step of faith (Judges 6:34). He blew a trumpet summoning allies to follow him, and sent messengers throughout the region, calling his people to arms. But suddenly something changed, and Gideon's fear returned. Gideon asked if he could place a wool fleece on the threshing floor and for God to confirm His promise to save Israel by Gideon's hand  by putting the morning dew only on the fleece and leaving the ground around it dry. Then Gideon would know that God would keep His promise. And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day. He squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew, a bowlful of water. But. ...

So something I've been thinking about lately is what all Jesus is. Jesus is so much more than what we try to think up or fathom with our tiny minds. As we journey on through life, we face obstacles. Problems we think there might not be any answers for. And then we let confusion come in and cloud our minds, and start thinking that maybe God doesn't know what all He's doing. But I am here to tell you that that is not so. God knows exactly what He's doing. It does not matter how big, how unique or how different you might think your problem is. He is the answer. No, in fact let me make this clear. Jesus IS the Answer!  Jesus is the answer to all of the circumstances you might be facing. From the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible we see clearly that Jesus is the Answer. Let me just give you a run down of it. In Genesis, He is the Breathe  of Life. In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus, He is our High Priest. In Numbers, He i...

My question to you today is this. At the end of your life will you leave a legacy behind or will you have just lived? Will you have made a difference in the world or even just one person? Will your life have made an impact on someone else life for the better or for the worse? Ok, yeah, that's more than just one question but they are relatively the same. Kind of. Ish.  You know, when you go into a grave yard and you look at a grave stone, what do you see?  You see when the person was born and when that person died. But you know, there is also that little "dash" - in between the two years of birth and death. No one ever pays attention to that little "dash". Maybe we should stop and reflect on that little "dash". Because you see, that little "dash" is the life you and I are living right now. I want to live my life in such a way that leaves a legacy when I'm gone, when I'm dead. I don't want to live my life for me, but for Christ. I w...

So I'm just gonna write my thoughts once again, because this is what I do.  I've been thinking about how many people actually advance towards the Kingdom of Heaven and how many start on the journey to Heaven but don't finish, or they turn around because of some uncertainty or some other reason. But yes, they did have full intentions of finishing but .. Well .. Didn't. Why is this? So I'm just going to be real and open and honest.  I noticed in my own life that this has been happening to me.  Yes! I wanted to advance towards the Kingdom! But something kept holding me back.  And I didn't know what it was. I prayed. I read the Word. I pleaded with God to tell me what's wrong. What I am doing wrong. And nothing. I got nothing. Or so it seemed. But the last two weeks I was hit with a revelation of why this is. In my life anyway. Everyone is different. But I came to realize while sitting in a service that I am not letting go of the past. In my life. My mistakes. I...

So....It's been a while since I've blogged. Life happened. It's like you think you have a busy life and then all of a sudden you're twice as busy as before!! :) There are not enough hours in a day anymore to do everything! But, I decided to take a minute to share what's on my heart today. So what is on my heart? A lot. And now I can feel you staring at me. :) Last weekend I had the privilege once again to do "Light Of Hope's" Prison Crusade. I went in as a singing team with my siblings and a few friends. And yes, we had an amazing time! We all left feeling so blessed. (I'm sure I can speak for the others on that.) My Dad was the Evangelist in our group and the one message He preached was on the Shulamite woman in Song of Solomon. I'm sure you all know the story there... But if you don't, read Song of Solomon. It's a love story yes, but allegorically it pictures Israel as God's betrothed bride, and the church as the bride ...