Sunflower Faith

Last week was one of those weeks where it seemed the world was turned upside down. Ever had one of those days?

It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and the hardest part was just not being able to turn to anyone.

It’s time like those moments, that it’s easy to feel like we’re isolated and no one seemed to really care, to really understand or really was there and its those times that our Father wants us to come closer to Him and let us know that He does understand and in and through Him we can find hope and relief.

During that time, last week, I felt vulnerable. I felt raw. I felt like there was no one I could turn to, but there is. Our Father.

Funny how we can sometimes dance around the subject and the thing is that when we are at our most rawest and our most hurt, that is when He yearns and wants to give us relief and comfort from our stress.

Truth is. Fellow people fail whether they may mean it or not. People get busy and forget.

Truth is that in our time of distress, as much as we may hurt, sometimes its hard for others to be able to understand and be there, but the truth is too, our Father, knows it all. He knows our fears, our hurts, our pains and our vulnerabilities whether we admit it or not.

Come join us at  Penny’ @  pennyraine.com/blog for this week’s Word Filled Wednesday

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This was first shared for Word Filled Wednesday on March 26, 2008, just about two years ago (wow, has it been that long).

I don’t believe there are such a thing as accidents. Coincidences…mmmm…maybe, kinda…but no accidents.

When God created us…He already knew us. He knew who we were going to be and who we are and what our life would be.

We were each created as individuals, with special purposes that made us unique. He could have made us exact copies but instead, He went..no. Each one of us. Notice, each one of us, are unique and special.

I look at my children and marvel how similiar yet unique they are with their own strengths and weaknesses yet they teach me each day, a little bit about myself, about what I think and feel and gives me a teeny tiny peek into who they are, who they might be and what God may or maynot have planned for them; I look in the mirror and marvel at how unique and different God makes you, me, everyone and I praise God for having the foresight to give EACH and everyone a special place in His world. Not our world, but HIS world.

Father’s Love Letter Devotional Series #8

When Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to Israel, God declared that even before he was conceived, he was known by God and set apart for His divine purposes.

The road that Jeremiah would walk in his ministry life would not be an easy one, for he suffered much abuse at the hands of his fellow Israelites.

I wonder if he ever reflected on these words when he was going through his darkest times? When he was alone in that cold, damp prison cell, did he ever go back to the beginning of his ministry and meditate on God?s words to him?

I believe the revelation that he was known by God, and set apart for His purposes, gave Jeremiah the strength to continue to walk out his destiny, even in the darkest of times.

Knowing that it was God who knew us, and formed us, and called us into life, is the bedrock of our existence.

When everything else around us is not making sense, this truth can give us the grounding that we desperately need to go on. We are all looking for a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.

Many people have not received this affirmation from their parents, but it was not their parents who knew them before they were conceived, but God.

It was God who formed each one of us in our mother?s womb and called us to life. It was God who set us apart for His divine purposes and plans.

Before an architect constructs a building, he meticulously puts every detail on paper, every component needed to make his dream into a reality.

The idea is first conceived in his mind, then is transferred on paper, and then when everything is just perfect, he starts the process of building his creation. In my own limited understanding of God?s creation process, this is how I imagine it to be.

He first conceived us in His mind, and with great thoughts of love, He began to chart every detail of our DNA in preparation for the time when he would form us in our mother?s womb.

What a wonderful thought, to know that the God of the universe knew us intimately and set us apart for His purposes even before we were conceived!

If you would like to join us for “Word Filled Wednesday” drop by Christy @ Critty Joy  or drop by “The 160 Acre Woods” to find out more about how to participate in “Word Filled Wednesday”

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I’m writing this in the midst of a cold due to this excessive global warming we are having right now, so hoping my “Word Filled Wednesday” doesn’t sound any more strange then me trying to sing “Twinkle Little Star” while wondering if I suddenly went from having high notes to low notes all of a sudden.

There is a feeling of peace when we just give it all to Him; I mean really  lay it at the cross and leave it there and not take it with us. It’s like checking out of the hospital but then making home in the lobby, and not really leaving despite accepting that we are healed and forgiven in and through our Heavenly Father.

All the while, He is offering us hope and redemption and we are insisting that we love what He has to offer, but we are going to just stay sick at the same time.

It’s all or nothing with our Father.

Our dogs freely go in and out to the backyard like it’s nothing and run and leap, but you let the gate open and they are gone in a “New York second” and I can personally tell you that chasing a dachshund is not as easy as it may sound. They.Can.Run.

The same came be said about opening the doors and letting the floodgates wide open to having that open and full relationship with our Heavenly Father, but trouble is that sometimes, we open the door just wide enough that He can barely get in and not letting go so the door can swing wide open.

Yes, we have a relationship, but not as fully as He would like for us to have and a lot of those often comes from our own reluctance versus His desire.

I would be the first to say fully that it’s not easy just letting that relationship with our Heavenly Father happen, but it does get to the point when we have to be honest with ourselves and with Him and that includes knowing He already knows it all-We believe He is all knowing and all seeing right? So why treat Him like we can hide from Him?

Remember, what’s their name? Oh yeah! Adam and Eve. Hiding in the bushes didn’t go that well.

Shame is a powerful weapon by the enemy and often, we let the enemy keep us from having that full relationship with our Heavenly Father. Eventually we’ve just got to get over that hurdle so we can give Him all of us and not what we try to selectively choose to give to Him.

I have to be honest, I’m with my dogs. Why be that happy with a backyard, when they could run free without fences. Unfortunately we have things like Animal Control and I really don’t like giving them baths if they discovered any half-filled areas with muddy water, but if I was them, and there was an open field, I would be off running with them, no holds bar and that’s what our Heavenly Father desires to give to us.

Trouble is, we set the boundaries that He wants to lift so we could just open up our wings and grow in and through Him.

So kick off those shoes….open up your bible TODAY, and discovered what our Heavenly Father wants to offer!

This week’s “Word Filled Wednesday” is being hosted by Lori  @  allyouhavetogive.com; If you haven’t join us for “Word Filled Wednesday” before, we would love to have you!

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Image by sveres; Modify by Sunflower Faith

I have to admit that isn’t a pretty picture.

 I enjoy drinking coffee, but what I don’t enjoy either is cleaning out the coffee filter by noon, after the grounds have had a chance to really be soaked and packed into the smallest parts of the coffee filter.

However as the hot water slowly filters through the grinded up coffee beans and release the flavor of the coffee, notice that it leaves behind the “garbage”-the grinds that if it goes into our coffee and into our bodies, can ruin the test and quite possibly make us sick in the process.

Just imagine what our “spiritual bodies” must look like when we don’t use His word to provide us with discernment of what we read, think, say or do.

I have that very scripture hanging in the most obvious and busiest place in the house-our kitchen-to remind us each day, that what we put into our minds, into our hearts, should be of the nature that would glorify and lift our Father’s name up in praise.

The scripture is a deep reminder that we, you, I, by free will choice, make that decision everyday in what we choose to read, to watch, to listen to and it’s by those choices that make a difference, good or bad in our spiritual maturity.

When I gave my life to Christ, the first thing I did was go through my purse, my home, my life and cut off, threw away, stopped anything that did not edify or lift up our Heavenly Father’s name up.

My love for Him and what He did for me was so great, that I knew that I could not serve Him, follow Him, lift His name up in Glory, if I still allow the very things that would instead of allow me to see Him, block Him from me again.

That’s what a coffee filter does.

It is a barrier between the cup and the coffee beans.

As the hot water (our lives) pour through the coffee beans (the world), the filter (the Bible), filters out all the yucky stuff and keeps the grinded up beans (t.v., books, music, culture, magazines, everyday life) from mixing up with the now coffee that was pouring into the cup (us).

Without the filter, can you imagine what the coffee might taste like?

Yes, a waste of coffee.

I shudder to think that as a coffee lover.

So when I gave my life to Christ, I threw away books, music, movies, stop visiting sites, stop watching shows and movies, anything that I knew would not make it through the filter (Bible) and was not edifying (the water), of our Heavenly Father (the best coffee in the world).

I knew to live for Him, to follow Him, I had to show more discernment in my life and what I listen and read and watch and I admit, I’m not perfect, and I fall and sometimes there are pieces of coffee grounds in my coffee that leaves me just smacking my lips and making an ugly face and wondering what was I thinking when I tried to make the coffee that way.

Other times, I get pure coffee (His word), cleaned of the coffee grounds and, wow, does it taste good.

The truth I knew was that, I couldn’t have Him and the world. I had to choose and the thing is that our Father did a LOT in my life that I knew I would only let Him down and not get the full experience if I didn’t use that coffee filter in my life.

Even now, anything I do, say, read, watch or listen to, I filter it through His word first and you’ll be surprised and not so happy with a lot of what it catches, but it also reminds us of the old phrase of “Garbage In, Garbage out” that has been used to death.

 I love reading His word each day for no other reason but to constantly be like the Bereans and searching His Word  the hymnals and the worship music, the fellowship, doing the bible studies, reading the spiritual encouragement and just pushing myself, and challenging myself and sometimes (which is a lot), getting that much needed humbling and conviction from the great Barista (person who makes coffee), our Heavenly Father himself.

We live in a challenging and complex world, but it shouldn’t be a world where we compromise our Heavenly Father and His Word to live in an earthly world that is only temporary.

The best coffee-is the coffee that has been filter correctly. Shouldn’t our lives be covered with His Word as our filter?

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What I found intriguing about the Bereans is that they just didn’t accept everything they heard, but they searched God’s word thoroughly each day, made it a constant part of their lives and really seek to understand and discern if what they heard daily in their lives, was align with what God’s word had to say.

As you probrably figure by now, reading the Bible is a HUGE thing in my life and not only something that I’m a strong advocate about but something that, toward the end of 2009, I really committed myself to be like the Bereans to make a permanent part of everyday of my life.

It’s exciting to have my husband joining me and a few others in our group in reading through the bible and this in itself is a blessing and part of the conviction our Father laid in our hearts and through a powerful set of sermons that our pastor has been giving since, well really October and all the more stronger with the new year that our lives is about choices.

God does what He is doing, not out of obligation or have it His way, but love.

He LOVES us so much that He wants us to be guided to the right way and not the wrong way, but we can’t assume what that right way is, so it leaves to the importance of really reading His word to understand what He wants for each of us.

The bible study group we are hosting, is taking a new direction as we find ourselves as individuals and as a group, wanting to really be more in His word and in addition to thinking of just challenging ourselves to read through the bible, the majority of us, have been not only committing but have made it a daily habit of working in our Life Journals (you can found out more what that is about at lifejournal.cc) and using what is called the “S.O.A.P.” method.

To print the above image, just click on the image and then either "right click" and "save as" or just print straight to your printer.

To help my fellow brothers and sisters and to share with you as well, I created a very simple bookmark for them and for you to print out and laminate to keep in your bible to help you remember, for yourself, a really great way to read His word and bring it just a deeper level and not just skimming the surface.

From the MHC:

The noble conduct of the Bereans.

The Jews in Berea applied seriously to the study of the word preached unto them.

 They not only heard Paul preach on the sabbath, but daily searched the Scriptures, and compared what they read with the facts related to them. The doctrine of Christ does not fear inquiry; advocates for his cause desire no more than that people will fully and fairly examine whether things are so or not. Those are truly noble, and likely to be more and more so, who make the Scriptures their rule, and consult them accordingly.

Notice what the MHC had to say?

They not only heard Paul preach on the sabbath, but daily searched the Scriptures, and compared what they read with the facts related to them. The doctrine of Christ does not fear inquiry; advocates for his cause desire no more than that people will fully and fairly examine whether things are so or not.

They didn’t just follow what someone else was doing or relied,JUST, on someone else word, but they searched for themselves, God’s word and sought His word daily, on their own and then, compared.

This is why reading the Bible is so important to me.

It’s not just about what someone else has to say, or their opinion, but comparing it always with the firm foundation and truth of our Heavenly Father’s word first and foremost too.

Not just because someone else said, this is the better way-I check to see if they are talking their way, or God’s way.

Not just because someone said this is the only way, because I make sure they are talking that they mean it’s only by God’s way…not theirs.

Reading the bible has become so important and so vital these days that I can’t see or feel anything else can go above that and reading the bible isn’t about a personal marker or achievement, because the truth is that we can never get enough of His word and there is no measurement that works with His measurement.

Though I plan on reading through the bible this year, this is a never-ending desire, not a quest to complete by set time, but  the truth is that I may not complete it in 90 days day, or in one year, because this is not about personal achievement and shouldn’t be, it’s about being like the Bereans and gaining better understanding, no matter what I do, to fully understand and be enriched in and through His word.

As I read Acts 17:10-12 (NKJV), it’s a constant reminder that their first reaction wasn’t of “oh okay, whatever you said”, but immediately turning to His word and going, “Lord, what do YOU have to say?”.

Prayers that we be like the Bereans who seek His word each day and not strive to fast pace all areas of our life including our spiritual growth.

Be it via one reading plan or another, or just picking up the bible, there is no reason not to spend time everyday with His word and use it as first counsel no matter what the circumstances because it is relevant about everything in our life and popular culture and thought will come and go, but never, God’s Word.

I seek Him still through my Life Journal daily bible readings with my church and going over Sunday’s sermons and letting deeper reflection of what our Father has to say, but I want to be like the Bereans where it’s not enough and  keep seeking His word, every single day and my bible gets a little bit more battered looking and more marked up, because as the saying goes, “A worn up bible is a sign of a well fed soul”.

A pastor for Moody Bible Church by the name of Alan Redpah actually is said to advised believers to “wreck” their bible every 10 years.

 I look at mine and it’s barely 2 years old and it’s well worn, pages highlighted, notes written in a majority of the bible and already falling apart. Prayers that is a good thing there! 

I tell those who asked me what happen and I tell them, “I take my bible everywhere and I mean everywhere”. It’s carried in my purse (which is why I look for a compact size that fits in a purse), when we vacation, that’s the first thing I pack, I carry it to church, I’ve spent staying up some nights reading from it, studying from it, with bible studies and even with bible studies that actually don’t call for the bible, I still use it and bring it with me.

That is my first and will be my only reference and source before everything.

So let’s strive to be like the Bereans and keep this quote from J.L. Packer in mind,”If I were the devil, one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible.“.

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