As you can tell, I am doing some "remodeling" of my blog. Actually, there is more to come. I am chin deep in reading and watching tutorials on how to customize blogs/design websites, etc. Truthfully, I feel like I am drowning most of the time. However, I shall continue on and if need be, will call out the top guns to help me if I can't get it figured out before too long.
Some of the changes in addition to the cosmetic outlook of my blog will be that I will be sharing my blog with my husband. He teaches one of the adult Sunday School classes at our church and is a very gifted teacher. He is also an excellent writer and he has been feeling the call to start writing recently and so I am going to be publishing his writings on what will become "our" blog. At some point in the future, we may move into an actual website, but for now this blog will be more than adequate.
I am very excited about these changes and we will have a variety of categories that we will be posting in so hopefully there will be something of interest for everyone who stops by to read.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Tuesday's Thoughts
Well, the Lord has certainly been good to me over the past few weeks. I am continuing on the path to personal revival and changes that are occurring inside my heart are starting to show up in my actions. Not that I am trying to toot my own horn there or anything, but too many times in my life I have gone through a time when I would get all excited about something, only to find that it was fleeting and didn't produce any lasting results. I just feel so different about all that the Lord is teaching me right now. I almost feel like a sponge in that everywhere I turn, there is another "something" to absorb. It is a great feeling and I know it is just preparation for what is to come.
Of course, all this has not come without a price. Satan is never happy when a lukewarm christian decides to get "hot", and will do whatever he can to intercept that. But strangely enough, I have met each derailment effort with a quiet calm and determination and an absence of fear. That has to be the best thing to come of this so far - the lack of fear. I have heard sermons by the boat load on fear, but I am finding out that for me at least, the deeper my relationship is with Christ, the less fear I encounter.
Lastly, a small update on the farm life here: We butchered a few meat chickens a couple of weeks ago, but they were a little smaller than what I wanted, so we are in the process of fattening them up some more before nabbing a few more. We have discovered though that there is a varmint of some sort under the chicken house (most probably a skunk) and it has killed one of our chickens so far. We are trying to figure out just how to fix that problem right now.
The garden is growing well. My dad brought over a large load of sawdust we are putting between the rows to help cut down on the weeds and add some nutrients into the ground. I am really getting excited about canning season...:)
We have several home projects we are going to be working on this summer. Instead of taking a small vacation we are going to put the money in the house. Though we do plan to do some camping and we will use our season passes to Silver Dollar City several times throughout the summer. One of the projects was finished today - a small one - a new shelf for my scrapbooking things. I am looking forward to getting more of my things organized and my table cleared off so I can actually have work space to craft again.
I guess that is all for now. Happy summer to all my blogging friends!
Of course, all this has not come without a price. Satan is never happy when a lukewarm christian decides to get "hot", and will do whatever he can to intercept that. But strangely enough, I have met each derailment effort with a quiet calm and determination and an absence of fear. That has to be the best thing to come of this so far - the lack of fear. I have heard sermons by the boat load on fear, but I am finding out that for me at least, the deeper my relationship is with Christ, the less fear I encounter.
Lastly, a small update on the farm life here: We butchered a few meat chickens a couple of weeks ago, but they were a little smaller than what I wanted, so we are in the process of fattening them up some more before nabbing a few more. We have discovered though that there is a varmint of some sort under the chicken house (most probably a skunk) and it has killed one of our chickens so far. We are trying to figure out just how to fix that problem right now.
The garden is growing well. My dad brought over a large load of sawdust we are putting between the rows to help cut down on the weeds and add some nutrients into the ground. I am really getting excited about canning season...:)
We have several home projects we are going to be working on this summer. Instead of taking a small vacation we are going to put the money in the house. Though we do plan to do some camping and we will use our season passes to Silver Dollar City several times throughout the summer. One of the projects was finished today - a small one - a new shelf for my scrapbooking things. I am looking forward to getting more of my things organized and my table cleared off so I can actually have work space to craft again.
I guess that is all for now. Happy summer to all my blogging friends!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday Ponderings
Over the last couple of weeks I have just been more and more challenged, broken, etc., by my loving Heavenly Father. I hope to at some point be able to break down all that God has been doing in my heart and mind and share it with others in hopes of encouraging them in their walk with the Lord. I grew up in church, and have done a lot of "right" things, but never realized just how inconsistent my walk with Him was until these past few weeks as God has stirred my heart and mind.
As all this has been going on, I came across a snippet that got my attention and caused me to look for a more complete version and I found it on You Tube. I hope as you listen to it, that it will amaze and awe you and remind you of how special you are to our Heavenly Father as it did me. Just click on the arrow to play and be blessed!
As all this has been going on, I came across a snippet that got my attention and caused me to look for a more complete version and I found it on You Tube. I hope as you listen to it, that it will amaze and awe you and remind you of how special you are to our Heavenly Father as it did me. Just click on the arrow to play and be blessed!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Light Overcomes Darkness
I read a statistic a while back that said 80% of Americans are Christian. Really? I would think that if that were true, then our country would be very different, don't you? In Sunday School class this past Sunday, Tom spoke about how we (Christians) are to be the salt of the earth and if the salt loses it flavor, what good is it?
Not only are we to be the salt of the earth, we are also supposed to be the light of the world. I am reading a book called Fresh Encounter by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King and in their book they talk about the darkness we live in and the light we are to be. Here is what they say:
How bright is my light shining? How bright is yours?
I need to do some cleaning of my vessel so my light can be seen. Do you?
I think if the above statistic is even halfway close to being right, most of us have some cleaning to do so our light can be seen.
Not only are we to be the salt of the earth, we are also supposed to be the light of the world. I am reading a book called Fresh Encounter by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King and in their book they talk about the darkness we live in and the light we are to be. Here is what they say:
Christians should not be surprised by the spiritual darkness around us. That is all it can be. Darkness is dark. The greater problem is not with the darkness. The problem is with the light. When light shines, it dispels darkness. We face a growing spiritual darkness in our land because the light is not shining brightly.Did you get that??? The problem is with "the light" - the problem is us, because we are what Jesus called "the light".
Jesus said that His disciples are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14-16). When the light of Christ in us is dimmed by the sins and cares of the world, darkness increases. When God's people are clean vessels, the light displayed causes darkness to flee. Darkness itself cannot overcome light. Light overcomes darkness!
How bright is my light shining? How bright is yours?
I need to do some cleaning of my vessel so my light can be seen. Do you?
I think if the above statistic is even halfway close to being right, most of us have some cleaning to do so our light can be seen.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Repentance - Do I Really Know What That Is?
As I continue on this path to personal revival, I have learned that true revival only comes about after true repentance. Now most of us think we know repentance, but as I have studied on it this past week, I discovered that there is much more to repentance than what I first thought.
I am concerned that too many of us confuse repentance with remorse. Remorse is a worldly grief, a feeling bad about our sin. Repentance is a Godly grief, and there will be outward evidence of it.
Real repentance influences behavior. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of behavior.
C.H. Spurgeon said: "There must be a divorce between you and your sins. Not a mere separation for a season, but a clear divorce." What a picture that is! Can I truly say that I have so effectively removed sin from my life as compared to a divorce?
I want to bring glory to God and I want to be used by Him - that's what repentance will enable me to do!
I am concerned that too many of us confuse repentance with remorse. Remorse is a worldly grief, a feeling bad about our sin. Repentance is a Godly grief, and there will be outward evidence of it.
Real repentance influences behavior. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of behavior.
C.H. Spurgeon said: "There must be a divorce between you and your sins. Not a mere separation for a season, but a clear divorce." What a picture that is! Can I truly say that I have so effectively removed sin from my life as compared to a divorce?
I want to bring glory to God and I want to be used by Him - that's what repentance will enable me to do!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Revival - How Bad Do I Want It?
In the past few weeks, God has been stirring my heart to a deeper walk with Him, a personal revival if you will, and then the ladies group at our church decided to do a book study on Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom. It has been an amazing study so far, though painful in many ways as God reveals sin in my life and asks me to get rid of it.
You really wouldn't think sin would be so hard to get rid of would you? I mean, just the word "sin" makes me think of something dirty or nasty, but of course, if we truly saw sin as dirty or nasty, we probably wouldn't be enticed by it, would we? Usually sin comes to us in these great little packages that look great, sound great, taste great, feel great, therefore, we are more easily snared by it.
One morning as I was thinking about all this, God reminded me of a story He told where a rich young man came to Him and asked Him what he had to do to be saved and Jesus told him that he needed to go sell all his stuff and then come back. Scripture records that the young man went away very sorrowful. Why did he go away sorrowful? He wanted a relationship with Christ, but he was sad when he realized he would have to give up his "stuff" in order to enter into that relationship with Christ. Ouch! Could this be me? Could this be many of us sitting in pews every Sunday morning?
Scripture doesn't say whether or not this young man ever returned to Christ, but it sure has got me to thinking. I want a deeper walk with God, I want to experience a personal revival, but to get there, Christ may, and almost certainly will, ask me to give up some of my "stuff". The question is will I be willing to do that or will I walk away sorrowful?
You really wouldn't think sin would be so hard to get rid of would you? I mean, just the word "sin" makes me think of something dirty or nasty, but of course, if we truly saw sin as dirty or nasty, we probably wouldn't be enticed by it, would we? Usually sin comes to us in these great little packages that look great, sound great, taste great, feel great, therefore, we are more easily snared by it.
One morning as I was thinking about all this, God reminded me of a story He told where a rich young man came to Him and asked Him what he had to do to be saved and Jesus told him that he needed to go sell all his stuff and then come back. Scripture records that the young man went away very sorrowful. Why did he go away sorrowful? He wanted a relationship with Christ, but he was sad when he realized he would have to give up his "stuff" in order to enter into that relationship with Christ. Ouch! Could this be me? Could this be many of us sitting in pews every Sunday morning?
Scripture doesn't say whether or not this young man ever returned to Christ, but it sure has got me to thinking. I want a deeper walk with God, I want to experience a personal revival, but to get there, Christ may, and almost certainly will, ask me to give up some of my "stuff". The question is will I be willing to do that or will I walk away sorrowful?
Thursday, May 1, 2008
An Update
Greetings to my blogging friends!
Sorry I have been missing in action for so long. There have been many things I have longed to blog about, but every time I sat down to write, I couldn't seem to get it out. Sigh...
Anyway, here we are at the end of a month and at the dawn of a new one. I have many personal goals for the month of May and blogging a LOT more than what I have been is one of them.
I hope to be able to share with you some things God has been teaching me in hopes that they will encourage you in your walk with the Lord. God is so faithful to take us to that next level if we only let Him.
Until the next post, may God bless and keep you!
Sorry I have been missing in action for so long. There have been many things I have longed to blog about, but every time I sat down to write, I couldn't seem to get it out. Sigh...
Anyway, here we are at the end of a month and at the dawn of a new one. I have many personal goals for the month of May and blogging a LOT more than what I have been is one of them.
I hope to be able to share with you some things God has been teaching me in hopes that they will encourage you in your walk with the Lord. God is so faithful to take us to that next level if we only let Him.
Until the next post, may God bless and keep you!
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