Sitting Down With God

Dt 1:6 “ The Lord God said to us at Horeb,” You have stayed long enough at this mountain . (7) break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites…. (8) See I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers. – to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and to their descendants after them. Dt 11:24 Every place you set your feet will be yours ( If you obey God and follow his commands ) What an amazing God we serve!   A God who is more than enough, all-knowing, all-powerful and who knows us so intimately inside and out.   A God who loves every broken piece of our story.   A story he has weaved from the beginning of time.   Today I felt a message on my heart in a big way.   It has been tickling the back of my mind all day like the softness of a feather. Just barely whispering across my skin but leaving an imprint in my mind so profound.   I was looking up a bible study on creation for ...

I was scrolling through Face Book today and read something that has stuck with me all day long. " You cannot force someone to comprehend a message that they are not ready to receive. Still, you must never underestimate the power of planting a seed." This statement brought up so many memories for me in my personal relationship with Jesus. I was taken back to a little room in children's church at the Grace Place in Stuart, FL. I was about 8 or 9 year old. I remember hearing if anyone wants to come to the altar and accept Jesus into their heart they could make their way down to the front. I could feel how my heart beat quickened and my palms got sweaty. I remember shy little Kristine standing up and taking that walk. I remember the urgency I felt like I couldn't get there fast enough. I tripped over my own two feet most of the time, but today my foot steps were sure and they knew just where I needed and wanted to be. Fast forward to a pool at one of ...

                It has been almost a year since I have written on here. I apologize for the lengthy silence. However, in that silence I have learned and grown so much. God has been working in me and through me on so many levels. I have had the opportunity to have a real heart check and to come against seemingly impossible situations. I have come to the conclusion that My God is a God of more than enough and that he is steadfastly holding me to Him, even when I am on the verge of letting myself go.                 It is amazing to see how high you can lift yourself up. I lifted myself to pretty high heights and the devil had no problem knocking me down a peg or two.  I thought I was so strong in my faith. I found myself thinking more highly of myself than I should have. God doesn’t like ugly and he had a few lessons for me to learn. He also had a very big bles...

                    Life doesn’t always go the way you plan.   More often than not, it will go the complete opposite.   I have come to the realization that in those first few minutes of disappointment, I have opportunity for change.             I think back on all the times I would get angry and upset because I didn’t get my way.   The temper tantrums and the attitudes of entitlement I have had.   How do I know why things have changed?   That last minute change in direction for your day could save your life.           God’s plan for us will always outweigh any plans we could ever imagine for ourselves. I encourage you in those moments when life’s little disappointments are getting you down, for you to look up and be patient.   Change is coming! and it starts with...

God loves you.  Those three words can change a life. The past few weeks have been busy.  I found myself putting God last in a lot of ways and it came to a point that He really got my attention.  I made the decision to take a break from some things to be able to really rest in God.  I wanted to be able to come to all of you and share what He has been speaking to me.             Over and over again, it is “I love you.”  It is: I love you even though you mess up.  I love you even though you are imperfect.  I love you even when you think that you are unworthy of any love, from anywhere.  I LOVE YOU! 

      "What do you have your sight's on?"  I feel God has been convicting me of this.  He speaks to me in themes, and everything I read points to this.  What on this earth have I put before my time with God?  Back in Bible times, the Israelites continued to try to worship other gods and idols. [golden calf] What are the idols of our world now?

       I was asleep and my Spirit woke me up.  I heard in my mind, "Love is the ultimate deposit."  What do I mean by that?  Love is the best gift you can give anyone.  When you deposit true, Christ-like love into someone's life, you are sowing a seed that will be very fruitful.  Not only will you receive back blessings in your life, but you have now opened up someone else's life for them to sow love and be blessed.

    Open the eyes of my heart Lord! Open the eyes of my heart.  In Hebrew, "your eyes will be opened," is a metaphor for knowledge.  Knowledge is power.  Especially, when God is imparting knowledge to you.  The changes that occur in your life due to God's knowledge in your heart is unspeakable.  You can't imagine the power that comes into your life with that knowledge.

T herefore, receiving, as we now do, a kingdom which cannot be shaken,  let us cherish thankfulness so that we may ever offer to God an acceptable service, with godly reverence and awe.  Hebrews 12:28 (Root in WEY NIV) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  Psalms 100:4 (KJV WBS) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  In every circumstance of life be thankful;  for this is God's will in Christ Jesus respecting you.  1 Thessalonians 5:18(WEY) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.   2 Corinthians 4:15(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God....

    Okay sports fans, a house divided means some people in your house go for a certain team and you go for another.  Today, I want to talk about trying to live for God and still living part of your life in the world.  I am going to be blunt today.  It does not work.  It will not ever work.  No matter how gifted you feel you are at straddling the fence, you can not serve two masters.  You either want to live a life in the light, or you want to continue to keep darkness in your life.

Dear Readers,                 I have had an enlightening experience.  Yesterday, I was in my car driving and our Christian radio station was interviewing a man named, Kyle Idleman.  Now, Kyle is a pastor of a church and an author of a new book.  The book is called Not a Fan.  He posed a question yesterday, which rocked me to my core.                 He was asking me, and everyone listening, Are you a fan of Jesus or are you a follower?  A fan comes to church.  They love Jesus.  But, when Jesus starts interfering in their lives they back off.  A follower of Jesus Christ will lay down everything they have and are, to do what he calls them to do.  I had to ask myself, Am I a fan or a follower?

Dear Readers,         God is so good!  He is an amazing, everlasting God.  I have just finished my first week in school and I am amazed at the love that my fellow classmates and instructor have for our Lord.  It is great to see such passion for God.  I am enjoying each of my discussions and I feel encouraged by a body that knows that our God is more than enough.         The last time I wrote, I wrote on dealing with members of your family and household.  I had some questions for myself, and I put those questions before the Lord.  You shouldn't write anyone off.  It might happen that your relationships are not what they used to be, but love them.  Show them how wonderful it is to serve our God.  A God that makes the impossible, possible.

I am about to start a Bible Study at my home, and it is my turn to pick the subject.  So in the next few weeks, we will be talking about fear;  the spirit of fear, Fear of God, and just plain being afraid in our day to day life.  I thought that maybe ya'll would be interested in my notes for your own personal study.  So here is the first sessions notes.  I hope that you find them comforting and encouraging.  God Bless!

                               In the past week, I have had two friends from church come to me and broach the subject of suicide.   One of them was sharing her testimony of a time that she had thoughts of committing suicide the other had a suicidal thought just that morning.   Suicide is a very emotional topic for me.   In my personal life, I have dealt with my father’s suicide and an attempt at my own life when I was fifteen.                   It has taken me years to realize how precious life really is.   I find myself at the oddest moments, laughing when I should be angry and smiling when I should be sad.   The joy of the LORD is a balm to any soul.   But, here I am, with two women I care about and one of them is admitting that she is c...

Drawing: “Falling Down the Stairs to Save Time” by Sam Brown   www.explodingdog.com                   What is a friendship?   If you define friendship, it is the state of being friends; friendly relation, or attachment to a person or between persons; affection arising from mutual esteem and good will; amnity; Kindly aid, help, assistance , unity, conformity, harmony , etc.   I bolded the last three words because when you are around someone for long periods of time you become close with one another.   You don’t find many people just spending time with people that they have nothing in common with.   Don’t get me wrong, all of us have friends that are complete opposites of us, but there is some common ground that unites us.           The reason I am bringing this up is because of two things on my heart.   The first, being the popul...

                Alright ya’ll, humor me.  Today has just been an “ugh” kind of day.  A day filled with frustration and aggravation, and it is only 9 o’clock in the morning.  I keep trying to remind myself that there is peace and love in the presence of God, but let me tell you today it is hard to hold onto.  Everything seems to be going wrong and my temper is trying hard to fight through.  As of right now, I am searching desperately for my internal muzzle.  I hope it makes it to my mouth before my flesh starts crying out.                 Anger is such an ugly thing.  I happened to walk past a mirror that I have hanging, for decorative purposes, in my living room. Let me tell you it shined a light on me real quick.  I realized for the first time how ugly my temper really is.  I stopped knee dee...

Brother Don shared a powerful message with us at church yesterday morning. It really made me think.  He talked about how so many Christians go around telling people how to be Christians.  That we put such a "religiousness" to it that people shy away from wanting any part of church or God.  I had to look back at my blog and see if I was doing this too. I think he caught me before I did anything to crazy.  His main point was that God is LOVE!!!!!!  We should love God, love Christ, but even more we should love each other.  God wants us to live a righteous life but if you love everyone as Jesus loves you then you are making a very big step.

  I took a deep breath and I walked in.  To my amazement, everyone smiled at me.  People I had never met before were shaking my hand and hugging me.  I walked as fast as I could to find a seat and look inconspicuous.  I was just blown away at the response of these strangers.  Wow, I mean they don't even know me and they are so welcoming.  With this I sat back and watched as service began.  I am a people watcher.  I am looking at everyone and everything.  When I tell you that you could feel the presence of God in this place, I mean goose-bumps on your arms and tears falling out of your eyes and you don't even remember starting to cry.     I felt like I had come home.  Now, I moved from South Florida when I was a junior in high school.  Before, I moved I was involved sporadically in youth group down there.  When I moved up here to the Florida Panhandle, I knew absolutely no one.  I went to several diffe...

1 www.FathersLoveLetter.com Father's Love Letter used by permission Father Heart Communications Copyright 1999-2010 The words you are about to read are true. They will change your life if you let them, for they come from the very heart of God. He loves you, and He is the Father you have been looking for all your life. This is His love letter to you. My Child, You may not know me, but I know everything about you. [Psalm 139:1] I know when you sit down and when you rise up. [Psalm 139:2] I am familiar with all your ways. [ Psalm 139:3] Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. [ Matthew 10:29-31] For you were made in my image. [ Genesis 1:27] In me you live and move and have your being. [ Acts 17:28] For you are my offspring. [ Acts 17:28] I knew you even before you were conceived. [ Jeremiah 1:4-5] I chose you when I planned creation. [ Ephesians 1:11-12] You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. [ Psalm 139:15-16] I determined the exact time of you...

I sit here tonight wondering.  I wonder why it has taken me so long to see the truth.  The bible says that the truth will set you free.  So, I am going to take that step and receive that freedom.            In recent posts, I have shared what God has revealed to me in my personal bible study.  That is all well and good, but God has spoken something to me and no matter how hard I fight Him.  He has won.  He has told me that to be truly free, I have to face my past and let it go.  I always feel shame when I think about who I was.  I say who I was because when I accepted Christ as my personal savior He made me new in Him.  I am now a new creation, spirit-filled, and loved by an almighty, powerful God.  All of my sins are forgiven.  They are forgiven as far as the east is from the west.  If you can calculate how far that is, you are good.  To say the least, it is a very great d...