God has a plan

Luke 23:44-46 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45) And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple wast rent in the midst. 46) and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this He gave up the ghost.

What love. What total selflessness. What a mighty God we serve. Each time I read about Jesus crucifixion, it breaks my heart. What He did is beyond words, beyond what my mortal mind can truly comprehend. When we think of Jesus and what He did for us, we need to remember that although He was God, He went through all of that as a man, just like one of us. He was born, lived and died as a man. However, at any given moment He could have said stop! He could have said, "I don't want to do this? They are not worth it, they don't care what I'm doing for them." And, beloved, He would have had every right to do that. Even then most didn't believe who He was. Even in those days they did not accept Him for who He truly was and is. You know why God sent His only Son? God has a plan.

It was never His intention for man to be lost. At the risk of repeating myself, God cannot lie. His word says He will always give us an escape from temptation, that began with His sending Jesus to die for our sins. He was/is our escape from sin and temptation. If we fix our eyes, heart, mind on god - He will deliver us from temptation. He says it in His word, He has to do it, He cannot lie!

I am not writing to those who read this, again, every word of this is for me. I am compelled by the Spirit to share this with whomsoever will read it. I need what the Lord is saying just as much IF NOT MORE than those of you reading right now. The devil tempts and attacks me continually and sometimes I stumble, sometimes I fall down and fail miserably. I am NOT giving up. That is the lesson I have learned. Don't give up. God has a plan.

I have been accused of thinking I'm perfect and that my life is perfect and everything goes my way. All I can say to that is far from it! Do I strive to be perfect? Most definitely. Do I succeed? Most definitely NOT.

Do I have trials? Yes! Right now I'm going through a painful divorce, I have severe financial difficulties, my car needs an oil change and freon, my kids have problems (and any parent knows your kids troubles ARE your troubles also lol). My life is far from perfect. I claim His promise, He will provide. If I didn't have God, I shudder to think where I would be or what I would be doing. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here to write this blog. I get angry, sometimes I allow myself to worry, I say things I shouldn't and then I have to repent. To be honest, sometimes that might take a day or two until the Holy Spirit shakes me up and reminds me where I came from and what can happen if I don't let things go and let God take care of them. I have to pray it through and like a rebellious child sometimes I don't want to! My life is a journey, not perfect but I've learned, most (if not all) of my problems are from trying to do things my own way my whole life, without waiting on God or asking His will. Now, in all truth and honesty, I'm reaping what "I" have sewn. But, God has a plan.

He could make my life perfect, He could clear up all my problems without blinking an eye but then what would that teach me. Just like a child, I must learn lessons from my mistakes. As I write this, I know He is working everything out. I know He is providing all my needs and even some of my wants, I have to wait on Him and I have to keep my faith in Him. How could I learn to depend on God for my every need if satan were not attacking me and I wasn't going through trials. God has a plan.

Now is the time -- for all of us. There may not be another day, or even another breath.

If you are facing trials and temptations, turn to Him. If you stumble or fail miserably, as I do daily, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, ask God for forgiveness and guidance and try again.

God has a plan.

Think about Jesus - what He did for all of us. Trying to live in God's will is not easy, no one said it would be, but the rewards are "out of this world". Don't expect to never see trials, troubles or temptations again, what would that teach us? We must keep our faith, stay in touch with God through prayer and His written word. Claim His promises, they were written just for YOU.

God has a plan, a perfect plan.

If you enjoy reading these blogs about what God is doing and has done, check out my friend Joseph's blog http://serious-things.com/

May God richly bless you,

his servant

pray for the peace of Jerusalem

Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps. if you are not willing to move your feet.

Choices - Which Way Do I Go

We all make hundreds maybe thousands of choices everyday beginning from the time we wake up in the morning until we fall asleep at night. Many are made without much conscious thought, like swinging our legs off the bed after we have decided to get up. The first choice we make in the morning: Do we get up or do we lay in bed and sleep a while longer?

Before we make that choice though, we should take a moment to thank God for (to quote my husband), "the precious breath of life", and we should choose WHOM we are going to serve that day. Before we get up every morning we should make a conscious choice- today I will serve God. Ask Him to help You serve Him this day and deliver you from temptation and the snares of the devil. You will be pleasantly surprised at how it will change your whole perspective for the day. (I didn't say it would change circumstances, I said it would change your perspective).

Let's discuss some other choices. We don't want to do wrong and we don't want to cause others to do wrong, so how can we make these choices?

If we choose one course of action:

1) Does it help our witness for Christ? (1 Corinthians 9:19-22)

2) Are we motivated by a desire to help others know Christ? (1 Corinthians 9:23, 10:33)

3) Does it help us do our best? (1 Corinthians 9:25)

4) Does the choice go against a specific command in scripture and result in causing us to sin?

(1 Corinthians 10:12)

5) Is it the best, most beneficial choice? (1 Corinthians 10:23, 33)

6) Are we thinking only of ourselves or do we truly care about other people? (1 Corinthians 10:24)

7) Are we acting lovingly or selfishly? (1 Corinthians 28:31)

8) Does it glorify God? (1 Corinthians 10:31)

9) Will it cause someone else to sin? (1 Corinthians 10:32)

10) Have we truly prayed - "Lord lead us not into temptation but deliver us from (all) evil (and all appearance of evil)? (parenthesis and italics mine)

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

God gives us all free will, however, he also gave us an instruction manual to live righteously and gloriously through Him. The first choice is to accept it, to read it, to follow it, to live it. It is just as relavent today as it was when it was being written. I hear a lot of people say, "this is 2010, it doesn't apply now". That's so far from the truth, every precept in the Bible can be applied to our lives today. As Jesus said on the mount, "nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will".

I leave you with these scriptures and pray God blesses you and and gives you integrity and wisdom in your choices today.

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I'm far from perfect and I make bad choices everyday, sometimes I have to ask God to forgive me but the one choice I have made is to follow Him.

His servant-tawanab

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Going to the enemies camp

I've been struggling lately with a lot of things. Trying to take my own advice and give everything over to God but being human still can't quit thinking about it. Monumental changes are going on in my life and that is never easy. Alot of them, I don't like and some of them hurt so bad they are tearing me apart inside, however, I do know that God has it all in control. Something my younger daughter said one day came back to me, "if you are going to pray, don't worry and if you are going to worry, don't pray". I'm the mom, wish I had said that lol.
The enemy is very good at what he does, he has to be because he wants to win, even though he knows he isn't going to. He might win some little battles individually at times but he is destined to lose the war. He knows this, but the final outcome isn't as important to him I guess as the destruction he can do in the meantime. Every trial, every temptation we face that we don't turn over to God, satan smiles over. He scores a victory.
Yesterday was a particularly bad day for me, I cried about everything, I whined to God, I talked to God, I even ask Him why a few times because that is the relationship I have with Him and I'm so thankful for that. I can talk to Him about anything and I can tell Him how I feel and He understands me, He already knows without my telling Him.
The first song they sang at church yesterday went like this, "I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me , took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me. I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me, now he's under my feet, under my feet, thank God he's under my feet." Wow, did my light bulb go off. I realized that he has stolen and is still trying to steal things from me and I put him on notice yesterday. I went to his camp and I'm taking back what he stole from me!!! He knows what it is, God most assuredly knows what it is and I now realize what it is that is going on. The sermon yesterday was around the woman in the bible who KNEW that if she could just get to Jesus, just touch the hem of his robe that she would be healed. Faith. This is just another one of the enemies feeble attempts to take my mind off God and to weaken my faith. It's not the circumstance or what is going on that is important to him, its just a means to an end for him. When I questioned God and cried to Him yesterday, He took me to the book of Job. (I love how He does that, talks to me through His word). Now what I read probably wasn't as much of a lesson as just the fact that He took me there. Job was a man of God, certainly strong in his walk with the Lord, yet he suffered trials that would put most of us in the ground. Through it all, his faith never wavered. I'm not Job, not anywhere close, so who am I? I'm a child that God loves just as much anyway but I'm not better than Job, I should be thankful and realize that things can always be worse. It was also a gentle reminder that He will take care of things, He will not put more on us than we can bear and in the end no matter what the trial, we will come out as conquerors. Through just that small thing He gave me peace. I do serve a God that is in control. I serve a loving God who chastises when He has to like a good parent but always looks out for me, has my best interest at heart and takes care of me.

No matter how bad things may look, try getting "out" of the circumstances and "in step with God". No matter how bad things might look right now God can turn any situation around. Use whatever you are going through to bring you closer to God not further away. God still loves you, He is still in control. Make Him the center of your life and while life might not be easy your focus won't be on trials.
This was my word from the Lord today and I'd like to share it with you, its an excerpt from an email I get called "What the Lord is Saying Today".

There will always be things that confront you and try to pull you down. This is your enemies plan and purpose. Get your learning cap on and take your dunce hat off. Get off the stool in the corner. You are not a victim. You are an overcomer. I have called you to walk higher. Walk the high road. I have called you to walk in peace and joy wherever you are. I will bring you through. You walk in victory.

And these verses:
James 1:2-6

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

You are fully armed, now go to enemies camp and take back what he stole from you. We are more than conquerors.
God bless
Tawana B
pray for the peace of Israel