Tag Archive for Christian Living

23 May 2010
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"O Me of Little Faith" Book Review

 ”O Me of Little Faith”  was a wonderful read, and touched a cord, that many followers can relate of having doubt at some point of their lives. 

Light-hearted, filled with relevant scripture and encouraging,  ”O Me of Little Faith”  reminds us all of the human side of following our Heavenly Father. 

What I enjoyed most, other than the cute cover, was the reminder, of how, many of us, at some point and time of our lives, have those moments of doubt and how it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but often the moment, we often need, to motivate us toward re-examining and having a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

 ”O Me of Little Faith”  is worth taking the time to visit the author’s website and discovering more about the writer behind, “O Me of Little Faith“ . 

When asked about what influenced him to write, “O Me of Little Faith“, Jason shared the following in an interview that was shared: 

Where did you get the idea for the book?
I was tasked with giving a sermon at my church a few years ago (occasionally I fill in for our pastor), and the best place to start when preparing a sermon is the question: What is God teaching me right now? And I discovered that I didn’t have an answer to that question. God wasn’t really teaching me anything. In fact, God seemed pretty absent from my life altogether. So for that sermon, I ended up speaking very transparently about doubt, and how there were times I struggled to believe in God. Based on the comments afterward, I found that a lot of people struggled with the same thing — only none of us ever felt like doubt was something we could safely address in church. We all hid our doubts behind a mask of faith and pretended we had it all together. So I thought it would be worthwhile to open up about my doubts and explain how I’m learning to deal with them — if only to let other doubters know they’re not alone. I wanted it to be an encouraging book, because the valley of doubt is a lonely place to be.
What intrigued me was what Jason had to say when asked, “What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

His reply was: 

That it’s not the end of the world to experience doubt as a Christian — even the really scary “does God even exist?” kind of doubt. That your faith can not only withstand doubt, but can even be strengthened by it. And that, as a doubter, you are not alone.
 

 ”O Me of Little Faith” does just that and reminds us, the follower, that we’re not alone. Even Thomas doubted. Moses hesitated, but what matters is we don’t move back, but keep moving forward, toward our Heavenly Father.

 
I invite you to read the thoughts of other bloggers about “O Me of Little Faith”
A room without books is empty
Amy Storms
Be Your Best Mom
Bell Whistle Moon
Blog Tour Spot
Book Hooked
Book Nook Club
Captain’s Blog
Catholic View
Deus E Fiel
Dinner with Jennifer
Drive Home Productions
God Restores
Hurdling Hurdles
i don’t believe in grammar
J’s Spot
Joyful Scribe
Life on the Wild Side
Marci Seither
Musings
Musings by Lynn
My Alabaster Box
Ponderings by Andrea
Ragamuffin Scrap Craft
Sprightly Amy Anne
Sunflower Faith
Tasra Mar
Tattered Couch
The Friendly Book Nook
The Scroll
Walking Daily

Sunflower Faith | 2 comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
01 Nov 2009
"Christian Life" • Bible • Daily Life Journal Reading

My Life Journal Readings

My Daily Life Journal Reading

My Daily Life Journal Reading

If you use the Life Journal and participate in the daily readings, I would like to hear from you and your perspective on each day’s reading. Please feel free to join in the linky that I post below, so others too, who uses the Life Journal/or SOAP method to read the bible can participate.

Don’t feel obligate to have to blog about each passage to be read, but if anything, feel free to share those passages that have the most impact on you that day.

There maybe some days that you may read your daily reading and find nothing to jot down in your journal or on your blog and that’s okay, but there maybe other days, that you will find yourself inspire.

This is about you being encouraged to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father, and spending each day with Him, You and Him.

I also have a November bookmark with this month’s readings, that you are more than welcome to download and print for your own use, to keep up with the daily readings.

It is my prayer and hope that this will be an encouragement to establish a personal daily reading as well.

To find out more about using the S.O.A.P. method, here’s a link to an ehow article and here’s the link to the Life Journal to find out more what it is, and how you can use it for your own daily bible readings. If you don’t want to order the journal or if it’s not available through your local church, another method is simply, buy a journal or notebook or even blog about your life journal readings.

Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with the church that the link goes to, but merely share it as a resource of what the Life Journal is, how to order it.
Today’s Life Journal Reading is from: Psalms 121 and Mark 9 and Mark 10 using the NKJV bible.

Scripture: Psalms 121

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Observation:

The closest that I can describe it, is that I’ve been going through what I felt was a spiritual famine: God was near but I felt from Him. This was a reminder to be though, that no matter what the circumstances, He is always faithful and a strong foundation and though others may abandon, He is the only true source of help and strength.

People are human and they will fail or have their own lives to work with, but our Father is beyond all that, we, each and everyone of us, no matter what time or season or lives are, are a top priority to Him. We may try to define Him on imperfect, human terms, but the truth is that, He is not bound by what we are bound.

Because He is above all, we truly can and should rely on Him to see us through anything and everything that our lives are going through.

Application:

I need to be strong and perservere; What I’m going is nothing new or unique and He has already seen the outcome in the end and I need to show trust and faith on my part in our Father in Heaven. I’m never truly alone, because our Father in Heaven is there and He loves us for us, imperfections and all.

Prayer:

Father, I pray in Your Name, to give me strength and much needed comfort; These days, I feel alone and spiritual starve for Your word and I ask and give You, in faith, all that weighs heavy in my heart. Help give me strength and insight, where I am so weak and unable to see what You already know and just have faith on my part that I don’t need all the answers, but just need to trust that all is in Your glory and in Your glory alone and it’s for NO ONE to take personal credit or glory for.

In Your Son’s name I pray, amen.

Scripture: Mark 9

 

Mark 9
Jesus Transfigured on the Mount
1 And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”
2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— 6 because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.
7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” 8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.
9 Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.
11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
A Boy Is Healed

14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”
19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,[a] all things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”[b]
Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. 31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” 32 But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
Who Is the Greatest?

33 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”
Jesus Forbids Sectarianism

38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our[c] side. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
Jesus Warns of Offenses

42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 where

‘ Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’[d]

45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where

‘ Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’[e]

47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— 48 where

‘ Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’[f]

Tasteless Salt Is Worthless

49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire,[g] and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

Oservation

This is a strong reminder of how as Christians, we must act not only with each other, but with the world, particularly. We live in a skeptical and cynical world where, it’s becoming more and more issue of not only sharing our faith, but living our faith.

We live in a hurting and broken world and as we not only just listen or watch the news, but from the people around us, we do have to ask ourselves sometimes, when people look at us, do they see our Father in Heaven in and through us and something different, or when they look at us, will they go, “What’s the difference, what they say they are is no different than if I weren’t a Christian?”

Do our lives and actions, leave people wanting to know Christ better, or feeling, they don’t need to be a Christian so what’s the reason? If we live our lives that leaves room for doubt, it’s like salt that rather than enhances and encourages others to want a taste, is so bland and no different from the rest of the world, that it leaves people feeling, why bother seeing what having “salt” in their lives will make.

Being a witness isn’t someone else’s job; Some people don’t even bother going to church or say why bother, for many, we, who walk the streets and live our lives day to day, are walking churches for those who don’t know or don’t want to know Christ.

We maybe the closest to church, some may even care or will or get to have in their lives.

Application

Be more aware of the impact not my words, but my actions too, have on the lives of the people and the community around me. I am a walking billboard for Him and yes, we are all imperfect and make mistakes, but we are also accountable for hiding behind our imperfection and mistakes to not reach out to others who feel they are just too imperfect or beyond the reach of God.

We live, work and deal with Rehabs, Magdalenes and Sauls in our lives, who feel that they are beyond hope. You, me, we, maybe God’s way of showing them, there is hope and salvation.

Prayer

Lord, I pray and hope that we remove every reason, excuse and comfort, to be Your voice and instrument and reach out to others, like others may have, when we were imperfect, loss or wrong, and touch their lives as others have touched ours.

Lord, Help us remember, that there was someone who didn’t use an excuse or reason or “didn’t want to get out of the comfort zone” to reach us and lead us to You and so we are Your tools, not our own tools to be.

Help us remember when we cook in our kitchens, what a difference, using that seasoning makes to convince others to eat our cooking, or why we enjoy one food after another, and use that as living reminders that like that favorite food we can’t resist, so should our walk with You be, so others can know of hope and salvation and faith in You.

Chefs share their favorite recipes to entice and to expose people to new tastes in food, and so….so should we with our Christian walk; Being a Christian is not something to horde but to be shared with everyone; Chefs don’t cook for themselves, they cook for the world and as Christians, I pray and hope we remember that too, Lord!

In Your Name I pray,
Amen.

Sunflower Faith | No comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
06 Apr 2009
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Half Empty or Half Full

He must have something in mind to have me remember-Upon finishing/posting my post “Unexpected Blessings”,I checked my email before “closing up” and found the following devotional that I just felt moved to share with you.

Half Full or Half Empty?

There are two kinds of people.  Those who complain and those who give thanks.

For one group the glass is half empty.  They grumble, distrust others, see the fault in everything, expect the worst.  For the other group the glass is half full.  They see the good in life, expect the best in people, and are always seeing reasons to be thankful.

I know a family who have suffered more loss than anyone should.  Yet they remain positive and thankful.  I know other people with every advantage are still negative and complaining.

We all want to be happy.  We spend a lot of money and effort getting there.  Have you realized that it is impossible to be thankful and unhappy at the same time?

A lot more than happiness is involved.   Just as a normal temperature means physical health, thankfulness indicates spiritual health and Christian maturity.   It is connected with trust, humility, love, the Holy Spirit, spiritual eyesight, submission and an encouraging effect on others.  A complaining spirit reveals unbelief, pride, selfishness, the old fallen nature, blindness, rebellion.  And it tears others down.

Thankfulness (and happiness) is a decision.   Search yourself for lack of the Spirit and the new birth.  Look for pride, unbelief, stored-up bitterness and a habit of negativity.  Nothing on earth is perfect–no husband, wife,  parent, child, job, government or church.  But when we focus on the faults, we forget how much we have to be thankful for in all of these.

Ephesians 5:15-20;  Romans 1:21-23;  Luke 17:12-19;  Philippians 4:6,7;  1 Corinthians 13:5-7;  1 Peter 4:8;  Luke 1:67,68;  10:21;  2 Corinthians 4:4;  Numbers 21:4;  13:26-14:12;  Romans 8:18,28-39;  2 Corinthians 3:17,18

Sunflower Faith | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , ,
06 Apr 2009
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Unexpected Blessings

“Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans” – John Lennon (Beautiful Boy)

We were watching “Marley and Me” and toward the end of the movie, I stopped watching the movie and watch the people around me.

The kids were curled up in their blankets, one between me and my husband,the other on the floor, the dogs were curled up with each other snoring, and we all (except for me right then and the dogs), were staring with intent at the movie.

Time froze.

This was my high point.

I was happy to get a good bargain on food and if I could get the clothes that we needed, the bills paid, and just stretch that chicken for one more day till payday, I was thankful.

Friends we have connected with and made at our church had left after an impromptu dinner; What started out was a visit to pick up something they had left at the house from having dinner the other night, had extended to four hours of a potluck dinner we all threw together, the kids play, we gather at the kitchen counter,to laugh,to cry, to just swap stories over ice cream.

Now….this moment….me and my family, including the dogs,were all snuggled together…on the coach,to watch a movie and I took a step back inward, to see what in that simple moment, God had blessed us with.

I am not and will not be the greatest writer in the world.

I may never get the chance to go out of country to visit a land I would love to see one day.

My hair will never be the condition I would love it to be.

I’m lucky that my daily life isn’t hectic that I’m able to blog or catch  up with friends.

Yet,in this single moment, my youngest between me and my husband, the dogs asleep and we all, were together…..this…this was worth all the unexpected blessings that I never asked for and God gave to me.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world-I’m grateful to God that my life isn’t easy which makes all He has done and gave all the more worth it.

I am thankful for the kind people that when I had that silent need that only God knew and heard, sent my way to  help meet it without me even saying a prayer.

I am thankful that I am not  perfect, I will never be perfect but HE,HE has blessed me and my family and that is enough.

The word “gratitude” shares the same root word as “grace.”  Yes, grace – the free and boundless mercy of God.  The same grace that filled a Father’s heart and led Him to send to earth the greatest treasure in His life – His only begotten Son, Jesus.  But there’s even more to this little word study.  The word “thanksgiving” is from the same root word as “think.”  Now, let’s put this phenomenal insight into one thought.  When I am filled with a spirit of gratitude, I’m filled with God’s Spirit of grace.  In describing grace, Charles L. Allen noted, “In the Bible there are three distinctive meanings of grace: it means the mercy and active love of God; it means the winsome attractiveness of God; it means the strength of God to overcome.”  I want to add a fourth meaning to this fabulous list.  Grace also means I’m permeated, every fiber of my being, and filled with gratitude to my God. Every time I think, I thank.-From Transformational Garden

God has sent unexpected blessings in my life and what made me grateful for each and everyone of them…are the trials and tribulations that comes with it.

The house is quiet.

Everyone is asleep….the youngest finally-completely falling asleep in my arms-As I lay my youngest to bed, I give her a kiss and whisper in  her ear-”I love you” and think how much God loves you,me…all of us and whispers that in our ears but for many of us…we are so caught up in everything else…we don’t let ourselves hear Him.

Life is…life.

All we do…all we go through…just mere passing of sands in time.

From Marley and Me,

“”A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see.”
— John Grogan”

I did it…I have found all the  success that I need in my life.

It’s not going to pay me money or bring me fame and glory, but I’m saved and loved by no other than the grace of Almighty Father,Himself, through Jesus Christ, I am saved and though imperfect-forgiven and THAT is everything…That is success. That is something I hold close to my heart.

I wake up each day and go to bed each day with people I love and care for.

Each day, the laundry is barely done, there are bills to be paid, I have to figure out how to make hamburger meat last another day, and Praise God, I love and am grateful for each and every moment, because it is a moment close to a living relationship with Jesus Christ and a moment of love and memories with my family.

Divine love is perfect peace and joy, it is a freedom from all disquiet,
it is all content and happiness; and makes everything to rejoice in
itself. Love is the Christ of God; wherever it comes, it comes as the
blessing and happiness of every natural life, a redeemer from all evil,
a fulfiller of all righteousness, and a peace of God, which passeth all
understanding. Through all the universe of things, nothing is uneasy,
unsatisfied, or restless, but because it is not governed by love, or
because its nature has not reached or attained the full birth of the
spirit of love. For when that is done, every hunger is satisfied, and
all complaining, murmuring, accusing, resenting,revenging, and striving,
are as totally suppressed and overcome, as the coldness, thickness, and
horror of darkness are suppressed and overcome by the breaking forth of
the light.

William Law

I use to be so hard on myself because I thought I needed this to be happy, I needed to accomplish that to be happy, or I needed that to be happy but I don’t know how to describe it or what it is…but I’m happy and just for some reason…took that step in my heart to go…I couldn’t ask for anything more.

I’m so happy and I’m satisfied and I can’t think of nothing more I want in life.

Everything I could ask for in life is around me…It’s in the relationship with our Heavenly Father, the laughter of my kids, the kiss and hug from my husband, and the company of good friends; It’s in the storms of lives that come my way, it’s the blossoming fruit of the tomatoes; It’s the fear of tomorrow and the comfort of eternity….

It’s that moment in time, when I stop and look at all that I think I don’t have, only to see, I have all that I want around me and nothing more I could ask for.

The tragedy is that many of us are living...desperate Christian life.
Sunday comes and we get some strength, and then we lose some on Monday;
a good deal is gone by Tuesday and we wonder whether we have anything
left. On Wednesday it has all gone and then we exist. Or perhaps
refreshment comes in some other way, some meeting we attend, some
friends we meet...Now that is the old order of things, that is not the
new. So our Lord goes on to put it like this: 'Whosoever drinketh of
this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that
I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life'
(verses 13-14). He puts a well within us. We are not always drawing from
somewhere outside. The well, the spring, goes on springing up from
within into everlasting life.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

If Jesus Christ was to return today, I would tell Him, thank you for everything, I am happy with my life that HE has decided and bless me with.

Don’t get me wrong…life hasn’t change.

Bills are still due.

There’s a load of laundry that I have to get to and I have homeschooling, pick up some more plants (Praise God for sending them our way, it is a big help with grocery bills to have more vegetables to grow).

My mother in law’s foot is hurting.

Friends I love and pray for are hurting.

The economy is still bad.

My dog chewed my strawberry plant before I could move it to a hanging basket.

Still have to figure something good but economical to make for dinner.

Did I mention that I wish I had movie star hair?

The kids rooms have to be picked up big time.

I still haven’t looked over the next few weeks lesson plans.

Don’t get me started about the hole to China that the dogs,then the kids, then the dogs dug.

But………………………………………………..I am grateful to God for all that.

Really.

I couldn’t ask for a better moment in my life…except well…when I was saved, that was worth it all there.

I love how crazy and busy life gets because that tells me…something is working; God is cooking up something for my life and I can’t wait to open the oven and see what HE has planned for me.

Not me planned for me…but HE has planned for me.’

That’s the life I want.

I couldn’t ask for anything else.

I’m tired, I worry, I pray, I cry, and I thank God for each and every moment.

We struggle, we relax, we play, we are tired; Days seem so frustrating but yet so wonderful and through it all…I just thank God for the unexpected blessings,He sends our way that I  thank God I don’t ask for, because they wouldn’t probrably have mean twice as much if I had…Instead…He challenges me, He convicts me, He grows us, He stops us, and I love and sing praises,EACH and every moment He does that because HE reminds me that we are LIVING and EXPERINCING faith and just not proclaim it.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”-Galatians 6:9

It’s that feeling of security and love as only my youngest could describe it best,climbing up the stairs to reach the top of the slide, and rather than hanging on and trying to scoot down…just letting go…placing faith in God and letting Him have free reign of your life, and rather hitting bottom with a thud, falling into the safe embrace of His perfect peace.

Sometimes…living life, is just having that leap of faith and saying,”I’m not in control and won’t be in control and completely trusting God with all your life; Take that leap of faith and let Him do what He will and accept where He leads….You’ll be surprised at the unexpected blessings will be the very things you were seeking,but not as how YOU see it or want it, but as HE wills it and wants it.

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things , and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” ~ Matthew 6:28-33

Sunflower Faith | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
13 Feb 2009
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10 Blogging Commandments

I was sent a copy of this via email and as I read this, I really like how it was laid out and felt, personally, to commit my blog to these commandments.

If you would like to learn more about the blogging commandments and watch a youtube video about this, please go here.

In the meantime, here are the 10 Blogging Commandments that I pray, with the Lord’s help, to commit this blog to.

From: Ten Blogging Commandments

eauk.org/articles/blogging-ten.cfm

Based loosely on the real Ten Commandments from the Old Testament, the revamped version for guidance in online communication emerged from an event reflecting on the ethics of today’s most popular form of public comment.

The commandments are intended to cause bloggers to consider the social impact of their blogging.-From their website

1. You shall not put your blog before your integrity.

2. You shall not make an idol of your blog.

3. You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin.

4. Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog.

5. Honour your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes.

6. You shall not murder someone else’s honour, reputation or feelings.

7. You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind.

8. You shall not steal another person’s content.

9. You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-blogger.

10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s blog ranking. Be content with your own content.

Blogging Relationship Commitment

from: Ten Blogging Commandments

We encourage Christians earnestly to strive for biblical truth in their blogs, since we will only be drawn closer to Christ and each other when we are open to learn from others and commit to obey the truth more fully.

We call on each other, when blogging on issues of faith or practice that divide us, to acknowledge our own failings and the possibility that we ourselves may be mistaken, avoiding personal hostility and abuse, and speaking the truth in love and gentleness.

We owe it to each other, in writing blog posts on the alleged statements of our fellow Christians, first to get directly in touch with them and to establish what they actually meant. Then to commend what we can, to weigh the proportional significance of what we think is wrong, and to be gracious about what is doubtful, expressing our thoughts with courtesy and humility.

We rejoice in the spread of the Gospel across the world and urge all Christians to commit themselves to this task, avoiding unnecessary competition and co-operating, wherever possible, in the completion of Christ’s kingdom of peace, justice and holiness, to the glory of the one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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09 Feb 2009
Book Review • Christian Femineity • General Musings

When Wallflowers Dance-A Book Review

I started and stop on writing this book review because I just couldn’t figure out how to express what I felt while reading this book.

When Wallflowers Dance by Angela Thomas
When Wallflowers Dance   by   Angela Thomas

Bored wasn’t one of them.

Lost wasn’t one of them.

Convicted. Yes.

Floored. Yes

Read this paragraph from the book and tell me how it strikes you,

“What kind of a woman is thirty-eight years old and doesn’t know what she wants for dessert? Why don’t I care about little things?” Where did I go? Why don’t I feel anything anymore? Why don’t I enjoy anything? Why did I stop becoming? from, “When Wallflowers Dance”“

Luke 6:40,”…the student who is fully trained will be like the teacher”

199 pages and written by Angela Thomas, “When Wallflowers Dance” is for the weak hearted, the shy, the wall flower, the misunderstood or maybe forgotten or ignored, the low-spirit and just the Christian woman who has become so much like Martha, she has worked herself out of existing.

What “When Wallflowers Dance” is not is a self help book.

What “When Wallflowers Dance” IS, is a “Let GOD help you”.

The book is like that super happy, very hyper, so alive, you reach out wanting to strange but end up hugging her, girlfriend who tells you, life is not about just existing but about a praise and worship of our Heavenly Father.

It’s not about okay, if I do this and this and this for me, then everything in my life will fall back, but an honest, be ready for this, YOU NEED TO LET GOD IN YOUR LIFE and DO WHAT HE HAS TO DO, book, that lays it out in the line how we, as women, fool ourselves into believing we can find happiness in a prescription, a book (ha ha, actually ironic), t.v., movie, work, career, anything that takes our focus away from our Heavenly Father (actually there is a post I wrote about idolization that will be posted tomorrow), and on ourselves and everything else in a pursuit of thinking,

“If I make so and so happy, than I will be happy”.

News flash. Doesn’t happen or work that way.

“I always chose what I thought would make someone else happy. About fifteen years of doing that and there was no me left. pg 2 of “When Wallflowers Dance“

Reading this book was an eye opener of how easy it is to shortchange oneself’s relationship with our Heavenly Father, by caring more about what other people think or working harder to keep one’s friendships over keeping one’s friendship with our Heavenly Father that actually requires less work.

You can never really make anybody happy. They decide in their own little hearts if they will pursue a lifetime of peace and cultivate a joyful spirit.-From “When Wallflowers Dance” emphasis added by me.

Sound familiar?

Try, Matthew 6:24 (KJV),No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

If you are feeling like you are living in a life of idolatry, people pleasing, basically a sinking ship of faults, “When Wallflowers Dance” is an eye opener, to wake us up that we have to remove all the distractions in our lives that are making us sink, and go back to the true source, Our Heavenly Father.

It’s one of those few books that basically does tell you, what you really need isn’t a book, tv. movie, or latest diet craze, it’s to be honest with oneself and stop running from God.

Add up the years and the events. My ridiculous need to please. The people and the pain. The weariness of an overwhelming ife. Take away the community that comes from honesty. Take away the spiritual nourishment that come from being known and understood. Ad d the pride of a woman who refuses to own her flaws or admit to her wounds . Stir in fear. Worry. Doubt. Insecurity. The lies we come to believe. Subtract vulnerabilty. Heap on pretending. There you have the woman I was becoming. pg 6 of “When Wallflowers Dance” (*Note from me: how many of us are like that…we let our pride become our idol, blinding us from God and ourselves)

See any of you in this?

I bet plenty of us can and probrably have instantly said with pride, that’s not me, or I’m in control of myself.

There is a wallflower in all of us who rather be honest with ourselves, find ourselves living half to none of a relationship with Jesus Christ and in the process, unhappy with ourselves, our marriages or our lives.

(Isaiah 55:1 NCV)
Come, all you who are thirsty,come to the waters;and you who have no money,come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

This is a very rare book that invites you to come to really know God with an honest and richer relationship.

Written from a wallflower whose been there and still goes through there, Angela Thomas really strips away the lies that we tell ourselves, be it due to pride, pain or whatever the reason, and takes us step by step to learn how to really dance with our Heavenly Father.

I found myself nodding in agreement that there are simple ways we can find freedom by taking very simple steps in our lives, like really living a life that is a joy to our Heavenly Father, making real choices that count for God and not for ourselves, watching who we have fellowship with and really finding a bible believing church and not just making excuses why we can’t go to church.

One example she brings up is being careful of who we call friends.

Deuteronomy 29:18
Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

In Chapter Three, titled “Becoming Intentional”, Angela writes:

“The best reminders I have of my decision to choose an abundant-full life in Christ are my friends. I have some very cool friends who are aat least ten giant steps ahead of me with God. They live wrapped up in the banner of His love. They consistently, tenderly, and firmly stand for God in all circumstances and through all manner of trials. because they live intentionally, I am reminded. page 50 of “When Wallflowers Dance“

She then offers some “checklists” or “guide” of finding that “someone to talk to” that includes things such as:

  • Make sure your friend’s life screams integrity, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and redemption. You do not need just a rule-keeper or a guilt-giver. We’ll talk more about this later, but a man or a woman of grace has come to that truth because it has been given in his or her brokenness. I would probrably be afraid of the perfect person with the perfect life who’s never been through anything messy.
  • Has this person sustained your respect over time? Do they model a consistent, growing pursuit of God? You need someone who can provide consistant strength and vision. Do you remember the old adage,”Whoever you spend time with is who you become? There is so much truth packed into those words. The strong spiritual people in your life must be farther along than you and passionate in their pusuit of God. You are not the teacher here. You want to learn from their example.

I could go on, but this is a very life altering, hard truth that you need to hear, book to read.

This is a book for people who geninuely want to live a rich, passionaite life with God and fully learn how to dance with Him instead of hugging the wall and caring more about what other people have to say or think about them.

If you truly want to learn how to dance with God, even if it means being thrown in the center of the room with all eyes on you, I highly recommend “When Wallflowers Dance” by Angela Thomas.

The book will convince you to check your life for idols, unhealthy relationships or friendship, for fear that is holding you back and just really not living a full life that God wants you to live in and through Him so that YOU can bear good testimony to the salvation and grace of Jesus Christ.

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21 Oct 2008
Book Review • General Musings

Book Review-Cast of Characters

Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God

ISBN: 979-0-8499-2124-7
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Type: Hardcover
Release Date: 2008
Pages:222

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.[1. "Amazing Grace" lyrics by John Newton]

Ever felt like you weren’t measuring up? Maybe for a split second, you had a “Why me” moment?  What if you found out that there were others who thought they were the last people on Earth, that God would want, only to find themselves being used by God in major ways?

As I read “Cast of Characters”, the book reminded me of the song, “Amazing Grace” that no one is every beyond God’s mercy and grace. The tears begin to flow as I read about imperfect people, whom through them and their lives bear testament of a perfect Father.

“Cast of Characters” by Max Lucado is a touching and revealing look that God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He loves us for us, scars, tattoos, imperfections, and maybe we don’t have a perfect past, but neither did the many people God used to bear testament to His mercy and Love.

The book is an encouragement to all of us who feel we may have fallen short in this world or in God’s eyes, and a much needed reminder that He does loves us, for us, and He does and can use us no matter what we may look like, or have in our past.

Max Lucado’s, “Cast of Characters”, is a great read particularly if you find yourself wondering, why would God want to get to know you or maybe you’ve put off taking time with God because you think that He can’t or won’t use you. Guess again, He can and He does.

No one is too little or too big for our Heavenly Father.

No matter what or where or who you are in life, “Cast of Characters” is a reminder of what a loving, Heavenly Father we have who is forever seeking us.

I John 4:17-18:In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.


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