True Success

Lately, I have felt so close to the Lord. I have been so happy! I don't think I have been as happy in my whole life, as I have been in recent weeks. Having morning prayer time with a sister in Christ, then another time later to pray and read a devotional, with prayer throughout my day as the need arises (which is often, I have 4 children!), has kept me connected to my Father. When Paul said, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing.", I can totally understand why!

We live in such a crazy and messed up world. Our adversary, the Devil, is trying to attack us anyway he can. If we do not keep close to the Lord, we will stumble and fall. The Devil will get the better of us. He will not win, of course, because the Lord has already won. But, there is that chance that we will fall and not allow the Lord to help us back up. And that, my friends, would be awful! We would be separated from God. We would be dead in our sins because only the Lord can grant forgiveness, and if we are no longer walking with Him, allowing Him to work through us, then we are separated and no longer counted worthy. I can't bare for that to happen! So, I keep in prayer, ALWAYS.

As I am preparing meals for my family, wiping a child's nose, cleaning up a mess for the up-teenth time, chasing a toddler through the store, whatever I am doing, I am constantly asking the Lord for help because I can not do it on my own. I know this because I have tried. Oh have I tried. Each time I tried, I failed miserably! I have thought I was doing okay. I was getting by just fine. I made it through each day. Success, right? Nope! Unless, of course, you count just making it through the day as a success. In my heart, I knew that wasn't the kind of success I wanted. My heart yearned for the kind of success that only comes from our Creator. The One who knit us together in our mother's womb, who counts the hairs on our heads, who loves us so much He sent His son to this sinful world, to save us from our sins. True success in life only comes through our Father in heaven.

Many people in this world measure success by earning a college degree, how much money they make, what kind of car they drive, or how big their home is. And, I admit, many years ago, I too thought that was true success. I praise the Lord that I never had any of those things. The Lord knew that if I had achieved those 'successes', I would most likely not have searched for Him with all my heart. I am thankful for just making it through each week. Having just enough money to feed our growing family. Having all of our needs met but not necessarily our wants. It's when I was down, and broken that I truly found what success is.

A total dependence upon the Lord.

When I finally stopped seeking for the world's acceptance, and started earnestly, humbly seeking for God's acceptance. I found success. I didn't find it in a church building, nor a church denomination. True success can ONLY be found in the Lord. The Great I Am. In His Holy Word. John 1:1 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

To anyone who may read this post, I want to say this.... Search the Scriptures diligently, with all your heart. Don't read the words of the Bible just to read them. Have faith. Pray. The Words contained in the Holy Bible, are God's Words. He IS the Word. If you are truly seeking Him, you WILL find Him. We will still have trials in our lives, tests to take, but if we let Him carry us we will come through these trials, pass these tests. Jesus told us His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30) He will help us. He will sustain us. In ALL things.

Are there times that I cease to pray? Yes. When I notice that my day is not joyful, as it has been so much lately, I realize that I haven't stopped to pray. I do aim to pray without ceasing, but I am human. Sadly, there are times that I forget to pray. I would like this to not be so! When I forget to pray, or find myself "too busy" to pray, I STOP and PRAY. The Lord calls it to my attention. I stop whatever I think is so important, and turn my focus on what is truly important. And that, is God. Because without Him I can do nothing! So, yes, I fail, and am by no means perfect. But, with God, I can strive to perfection. It is possible, to be perfect. Jesus proved this. He prayed with all He had, with "crying and tears". (Hebrews 5:7) Let us all follow His perfect example, and strive to the same perfection of character, that only comes from our Heavenly Father. That is true success.

In Case You Were Wondering....

I am still here! I have been keeping busy lately. Sometimes, I think maybe too busy but the Lord has been blessing me so much, that i think the busyness is all in my head. Ha! So long as I do all things to the glory of God, it's all good. Right?!

The past few weeks the Lord has really been stirring in my heart. If you follow my other blog, my *crafty* one, you know that He has been pressing it on my heart to donate a portion of my shop sales to a needy cause. And for the month of January, 25% of my sales will go to the Sheffield family adoption. It has been such a blessing to me to serve Him in this way. All glory to my Father in heaven, only He knows the heart.

I've also been super blessed to have a dear sister in Christ to pray with almost daily. We give each other a call in the morning to pray together and do a mini reading. We pray for each others day, home-school, spiritual matters, being mothers, and so on. If we miss for some reason, like we did today, it seems so strange, like something is lacking. I look forward to resuming in the morning. My days have been so much easier, knowing that my sister is praying for me throughout the day as I am for her. It is totally edifying!

There are numerous other things to say but I still have lots to do tonight. I do want to leave you all with a reading that we read at Bible study tonight. It is truly beautiful, and such a blessing.

Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17

The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face toward Him as the Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations. He is watching over you, trembling child of God. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. The Lord “telleth the number of the stars”; and yet “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”

Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be open for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon your Burden Bearer.

Circumstances may separate friends; the restless waters of the wide sea may roll between us and them. But no circumstances, no distance, can separate us from the Saviour. Wherever we may be, He is at our right hand, to support, maintain, uphold, and cheer. Greater than the love of a mother for her child is Christ’s love for His redeemed. It is our privilege to rest in His love; to say, “I will trust Him; for He gave His life for me.”

Human love may change, but Christ’s love knows no change. When we cry to Him for help, His hand is stretched out to save.

He desires us to realize that He has returned to heaven as our Elder Brother and that the measureless power given Him has been placed at our disposal.

God Shall Supply My Need

This morning, as I was sitting having some semi-quiet time (baby girl woke up earlier than usual), I was at awe just thinking about how much God loves us. Truly at awe! Even when we are going through rough times, when it just seems like things are getting worse, and can't get better, He is right there caring for us. We often feel so discouraged, and that it just what the enemy of souls wants. He wants us to feel that there is no hope. And, sadly, sometimes we give in, and let ourselves feel that way. But this should not be so! Jesus came and walked in our shoes. Whatever we may be going through right now, He has already gone through it. And, the best part yet, He has overcome it for us! He is right by our sides, ready to carry us through the darkest of hours. We need to be willing to keep praying, to keep our eyes on our Maker. Because He is the One who CAN, and WILL, supply all of our needs!

After I thought these thoughts, I read this devotional, and was again in awe at my Father in Heaven.

Faith in My Life

My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

 

It is difficult to exercise living faith when we are in darkness and discouragement. But this of all others is the very time when we should exercise faith. “But,” says one, “I do not feel at such times like praying in faith.” Well, then, will you allow Satan to gain the victory, simply because you do not feel like resisting him? When he sees that you have the greatest need of divine aid, he will try the hardest to beat you back from God. If he can keep you away from the Source of strength, he knows that you will walk in darkness and sin. There is no sin greater than unbelief. And when there is unbelief in the heart, there is danger that it will be expressed. The lips should be kept in as with bit and bridle, lest by giving expression to this unbelief you not only exert an injurious influence over others, but place yourselves upon the enemy’s ground.

If we believe in God, we are armed with the righteousness of Christ; we have taken hold of His strength.... We want to talk with our Saviour as though He were right by our side....

It is our privilege to carry with us the credentials of our faith,—love, joy, and peace. When we do this, we shall be able to present the mighty arguments of the cross of Christ. When we learn to walk by faith and not by feeling, we shall have help from God just when we need it, and His peace will come into our hearts. It was this simple life of obedience and trust that Enoch lived. If we learn this lesson of simple trust, ours may be the testimony that he received, that he pleased God.

If we commit the keeping of our souls to God in the exercise of living faith, His promises will not fail us; for they have no limit but our faith.

Scripture Pictures

Well, it seems I have lots to say, but no time to say it! And, that is just the season of life I am in right now. I am totally okay with it. Most of the time. Ha!

Recently I have been really wanting to immerse myself with Scripture, to surround myself with it. I have begun to print pictures with verses on them. I had the chance last month, in Kansas, to drive around the farm roads and stop to take a few pictures of areas that caught my eye. When I came home I uploaded to Picnik (this is what I use for my photo editing), fixed up the pics a bit, and slapped a verse on them. I do not have a fancy camera. Just a Nikon Coolpix point and shoot. And, it doesn't fully work as it should because of an incident at the beach last summer, BUT it still takes decent pics, and that's all I need. So, here are 2 pictures I have edited to my liking that I am willing to share. Feel free to save and print them if they inspire you! =]

Wait... What?

I think it is high time for a real post. I've been kind of avoiding it really. So much has been on my mind recently. It's been hard for me to gather all my thoughts and put them down on [virtual] paper. Honestly, it's hard to find the time to think, much less jot it all down.

In the past few months I have been growing. Growing in my walk with the Lord, in my role as a mother, a wife, a sister in Christ. The Lord has been revealing things to me. Some, I wish He hadn't but I know there is a great reason for it. I just can't see it. I know from experience though, that when I do see the reasons, they are always mighty. My Father knows what He is doing. So, why do I delay when He asks me to do certain things? I am ashamed to even think about it.

I don't have a real point to this post. I just needed to post something. That may not make sense. I'm pretty sure it does not, but it is what is. I've started a few 'new' things this year. Not really new but they are now a main focus. Of course, they should have always been a main focus but sadly I let them fall to the side. Not anymore though!

I think one of the reasons I will succeed this time is because I am being held accountable by a sister in Christ now. I've never had that before. I've never had a sister in Christ that I could talk to about anything. Whatever is on my mind, no matter how silly I think it is, she listens to me, and she prays for me. No matter what. And that my friends, is AMAZING! I am so very thankful that the Lord has place this special sister in my life. You have no idea.

So what is this *thing* I speak of? Morning prayer. Not very profound, huh? I must admit it though, I have not been good about praying in the morning. Praying for the day that the Lord has given to me, and my children. Praying for the strength to make it through another day of home-schooling these sweet blessings that the Lord has entrusted to my care. And as I type this, those blessings are trying my patience. Can't they just get along? Can't they just love each other? Wait. Did I just over react to a trivial situation? Sadly, I think i did.

And that is what I am saying. Are you keeping up with me here? Do you see how sporadic I am? Am I making any sense here? Here's what i am going to do. I am going to leave you with a little list. A list of things I will be focusing on this year. My *goals* I guess you could call them. Randomly, of course. As my mind is here, there, everywhere right now.

• Prayer time. Morning, noon, and night. Daniel as my example.
• Morning prayer with my dear sister in Christ. (What a blessing this has been, and we've only done it twice so far!)
• Making my family my main priority. Less time on the computer, less time blogging, less time sewing. More time focusing on the hearts of each one of my sweet children. Training them up in the Lord in all things.
• Consistently baking my own bread. I have a bread machine, and it really doesn't take that long.
• Juicing. My husband and I plan to buy a juicer. I hope to go on a 10 day juice fast to detox my body. Juicing isn't cheap, so after that I plan to juice at least one meal a day. 
• Lesson plan. Yup, I am not very good at making lesson plans. I usually use curriculum that is pre-done for me but I find that I am not very happy with it. I plan to focus more on a Charlotte Mason approach. Reading is the key to learning.

I know I'm leaving something out. But, that's just how it is today.