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.

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

Don't tell God how big the mountain is -

Tell the mountain how big your God is. Trusting in Jesus means I don't have to try and "fix" everything and everybody! Isn't it funny how sometimes things just "come" to us and it's like a light bulb being turned on? I've really honestly learned to turn my trials and troubles over to God and let Him handle them, although being human I occasionally still try to "fix" things myself. When God wants me to learn something knew He isn't shy about it. Everywhere I turn, everything I look at, everything I pick up to read will illustrate His point and what He is trying to teach me.

You might say today's lesson is "Lean on me". I open facebook and see a status that says, "Let Go and Let God". My message of the day says, "The weight you carry on your shoulders is too heavy for one human being. Give some of that weight where it belongs, - to God and have faith that what happens is for the best, whether you understand it or not." I get a daily email called, "what the Lord is saying today", that also has a lesson about NOT trying to fix everything myself. Now what would you think? Think the Lord is trying to tell me something? I sure do, and I'm listening Lord.

Yesterday I got an answer to something I've waited on for almost two years and finally after all this time the answer was yes, praise God. However, after finally getting a positive answer, the rest of the day I worried!!! I worried what if -- what if they change their mind, what if something happens and they reverse the decision, what if one side still doesn't agree and decides to fight it. Very quietly that small still voice is telling me, "it's okay. Didn't "I" fix this, am I not still in control here? Haven't I been telling you all this time, trust me?" "Lean on me, trust not in your own understanding." Wow what powerful words! Then I remember how wonderful it is to trust in Jesus, what a burden is lifted when I just let go and let Him do His work. He loves me, that is all that matters. He promised me in His word that He would take care of me. He does. It's true when "I've been down to nothing, God has been up to something."
God bless you and yours
Tawana B
pray for the peace of Israel.

God don't move that Mountain

We all have different devices we use to escape reality. For some its a shopping spree, for others its a good book and for still others its sleep. But eventually reality steps back in, we can't avoid it forever. Though at times when life is really rocky we would like to. I was talking to one of my daughters on the phone tonight and we were talking about "if it weren't for bad luck we'd have no luck at all" and suddenly it occurred to me that these trials are just that, trials. Maybe God is strengthening us for things yet to come. Now that thought doesn't really give me warm fuzzies thinking that God might be toughening us up for something worse, cuz at times it seems about as bad as it can get right now but deep down I know that isn't true. I know the cliche, "look around there is always someone worse off than yourself" but it's NOT just a cliche. That thought brought one of my favorite songs (I have many lol) to mind. The name of the song is "God Don't Move That Mountain". Basically what the song says is don't take away my troubles, just give me the strength to face them. The words, "Lord don't move that mountain, just give me the strength to climb, for if you should move each mountain I might grow weaker every time" is so true for me possibly for most of us. The easier we have it the weaker we are the next time we face a trial. The song goes on to say that if God moves that mountain "I" might forget to pray and that really hits home! I couldn't tell you how many times I've found myself going through a day, I got up, started my day running, without a prayer and then before I know it, my head drops on the pillow and I'm asleep again without praying. Then the next day goes by and the next day and then something goes wrong and all of a sudden God is the first person that comes to mind. My prayer is to start my day with prayer, pray through the day and in the evening. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. That doesn't just mean when we are facing a mountain, that means all the time. There is another song that I dearly love (told you I had a bunch), called The God on the Mountain. That song says "the God on the mountain is still God in the valley". "The God of the day is still God in the night". "The God in the good times is still God in the bad times". Though I haven't written the words in the exact order, what that means is He is there for us always. When you face a mountain in your life, just remember, don't ask God to move it, just ask Him for more strength to climb it. He is there always for all of us. The devil would have us think we are unworthy and he is right but we were unworthy when Jesus died for us and still He gave His life. He still loved us, He stood in our place to make sure we had a home in Heaven.
Next time you are facing a battle run to the One that can carry you. He is faithful, He loves us all. There is no greater Love.