What are you afraid of?

     Whenever I was a kid my fears consisted of thunderstorms, the dark (all because my awesome brothers would turn out the lights and play "bloody Mary" and make me watch awful movies such as Chuckie, Freddie Krueger, the late night show of "Tales from the Crypt," oh and who could forget "IT"~love you bros but honestly...your sick...lol), and frogs (because my awesome brothers would throw frogs at me). I am sure that my parents could think of a few other things I was afraid of but these are the BIGGEST ones that stand out to me till this day. Now, as I have become an adult my fears have increased drastically. I think it has something to do with becoming a parent~plus anxiety of course. When you have your first child, you suddenly start to see everything awful in the world. Germs...bad, sickness...bad, and any kind of unknown...bad. I hate to say it but I have become not a "glass is half empty or full person" but a glass is shattered type of person. 
     The Lord has been dealing greatly with me on the subject of fear and I want to share with you some things I have learned. The first thing we need to do is to try to answer the question: What is the scariest part of having fear? I had to think about this questions a lot before I could come up with an answer for me personally; you may feel the same way or different but here is the answer I came up with. The scariest part about dealing with fear is not being in control of the situation. No, matter what the situation is that I have to face, the idea of being out of control freaks me out. In "Bible Study Fellowship" we have been studying the life of Moses and through this study the Lord has taught me that in the midst of fear, He is still in control. Don't believe me...let's dig into scripture together to find out questions that fear makes us ask. 
     Question # 1. After God tells Moses that he is to "GO" to Egypt to free His people this is Moses response: Exodus 3: 11, "Who am I that I should go..." 
     Question #2. After God tells Moses, "I will be with you" Moses argues with Him asking who he should tell the people God is. So, you could say that he is asking, "Who are you?" Exodus 3: 13.
     Question #3. God gives Moses a clear description of who He is...see Exodus 3:14. Then Moses replies with "WHAT IF?": Exodus 4: 1, "What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, 'The Lord did not appear to you?"
     After the questions from fear come up we start to make excuses for not facing our fears. Exodus 4: 10, "But Moses replied to the Lord, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent--either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to Your servant--because I am slow and hesitant in speech." 
     Finally, we give into our fears and are paralyzed by them. Exodus 4: 13, "Moses said, "Please Lord send someone else." If there is one thing I have learned about facing my fears lately is this very important detail...Fear makes us look at ourselves and WHAT WE CAN DO instead of turning our eyes on the ONE who is in CONTROL in the first place. I LOVE GOD's response to every argument that Moses gave. If you take the time to read Exodus chapters three and four you can see exactly what I am talking about. (Now, I am just giving a summary so don't get mad at me). Moses says, "Who am I?" God says, "I am with you." Moses says, "Who are you?" God says, "I AM WHO I AM" and then gives Moses a specific way of how things are going to go down. Moses says, " WHAT IF?" God says, "WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND." See, God was trying to point Moses to all that was right in front of him that He was going to use. Moses starts to give into his fear saying, "I am nothing, I am not good at speaking." God essentially says, hello that is the point. Exodus 4:11-12, "The Lord said to him, "Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is not I, the Lord? Now go!I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say." Then, as we said earlier...Moses actually tries to convince the Lord to send someone else and I just LOVE his response to Moses. He says in Exodus 4: 14, "Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses, and He said, "Isn't Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, And also, he is on his way now to meet you. When he sees you, his heart will rejoice." 
     I absolutely, love THIS response from the Lord because really He is saying to Moses...Your not getting the point. I know you are nothing but I want to use you. I know you are scared and have fears that you are going to have to face but don't worry I will be with you. I don't care if you do not want to go, you are going any way. BUT I will send your brother to help you. Now, people that is just a glimpse of God' grace. He could have struck Moses dead right there and He didn't need Moses to free the people, He could have don't it Himself. But GOD wanted to use Moses to free his people and make Moses face some stuff in order for his faith to grow in God. 
     As Moses, walked with God, facing his fears became easier each time. For example, right before they were about to walk through the Red Sea, they were straight up FREAKING OUT. Just like Moses did in the beginning when God told him all that he was to do. Look at Exodus 14: 10-14, "As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians coming after them. Then the Israelites were terrified and cried out to the LORD for help. They said to Moses: Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Isn't this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians that to die in the wilderness." 
     Moses straight tells the people, "CHILL OUT!" Exodus 14: 13-14, "But Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation he will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you must be quiet." I liken it to...SHUT UP! The man who said he couldn't speak well in the beginning, faced his fears a little at a time, and is now saying to 2 million plus people to shut up. LOVE IT! Now, the question is: Did the Israelites get out of Egypt? Well, if you know the story...of course they did. Did Moses part the Red Sea? No, God did BUT God chose to use Moses in a mighty way to free the Israelites. So, I say ALL of that (I know it was a bit much) to say this...

WHAT IF YOUR BIGGEST FEARS WERE USED TO FREE MORE PEOPLE??? Better yet, WHAT IF FACING YOUR BIGGEST FEARS MEANS FREEING MORE PEOPLE? 

     If you are gripped with fear you have to start looking to the ONE who is in control no matter the circumstance. Yes, this is easier said then done especially since fear makes us ask the, WHAT IF's all the time. In stead of asking the big WHAT IF. Start to ask yourself...WHAT IS, EVEN IF, and more importantly, WHO IS! 

Three simple truths that I learned from "Young Believers Broadcasting" (you can subscribe to this station on You Tube) that have really helped me in facing my fears are as followed:

1. GOD IS FOR ME! Romans 8:31, "What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"

2. GOD IS WITH ME! Hebrews 13:5, "Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you." 

3. GOD IS IN ME! Colossians 1:27, "God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 

     Every time I face a fear, these three truths are always there. Is it always easy to face my fears? Absolutely, not! But when I recite these things to myself it makes me focus on the ONE instead of me and my circumstance. I am also reminded of 1 John 4: 18, "...perfect love cast out fear." If I can rest in His perfect love the fears slowly leaves. Have all of my fears disappeared, NO. Like I said in my previous post...I am a working progress. But I know that over time God will give me the strength to face my fears and eventually my fears will not phase me. The day may not be until heaven comes but for now...I AM RESTING IN HIS UNFAILING LOVE!!!

~TIFFANY

Under Construction

For those that know me, this post will be of no surprise to you at all. However, for the one's that have only seen a glimpse of who I am as a person let me enlighten you. I am the type of person who lives 100mph (If I could I would drive this fast all the time too, with out interruptions I might add). I am constantly on the go because that is how I like to be. I enjoy working out, playing with the family, cooking muffins, doing laundry, washing the dishes, picking up the house, making sure the family eats all of the meals a healthy person should in a day, reading my bible if I don't hit snooze in the morning too many times, and even more than that...but I think you get the point...all in one day. I do not know why I developed this type of lifestyle. I guess something deep inside me made me think that if I didn't live that way that something would slip through the cracks, like I wasn't living each moment to the fullest. I mean we only get one life to live right? I thought wearing a large "S" on my chest was the way to go. I wanted to be there for family, friends, neighbors, church, and be all that God created me to be...I really, as Aerosmith says, "I don't want to miss a thing." So, I did my best not too. 

One day when I was driving with the boys into town I noticed something in all of my rushing around town. Number one...I HATE CONSTRUCTION. Our town has construction on ever road I feel like. I didn't realize how much road rage I had until all of the construction started to happen. All of the stop and go can drive a person absolutely crazy! Those of you that live where I do are probably singing a part of the "hallelujah" chorus right now aren't you? Well, in all of my ranting and raving, telling the kids we had to "hurry, hurry, hurry," because were going to be late meeting a friend at "Monkey Joes," Yes, I was really stressed about this...lol! I can laugh now, but I couldn't laugh then. I was a raving lunatic towards my kids. I finally decided that I would tell everyone to just be quiet, "for 5 minutes," for the fifth time. Sound familiar? In the midst of all of the chaos the Spirit said to me, "You, have got to slow down." At first I didn't understand why because, "slow down...I was just going 9 over the speed limit." Now, more than ever I understand loud and clear all that He was trying to say to me...But before I move forward, lets take a step back. 

Our summer was a pretty great summer overall until July hit. We had to say goodbye to our first foreign exchange student who lived with us for a year. We greatly enjoyed having her with us and she was a great addition to the family. The boys loved her too! Well, we put her on a plane back to Germany...tear, tear, and right before that we let our boys go off to the grandparents for what was, "the longest two weeks of my life." 

Long story short in the "two weeks of terror" I realized that I have probably dealt with anxiety my whole life. But when everyone left the house, my life flipped upside down and I crashed and burned. I am sure that everyone super close to me saw it coming but I certainly did not...I was blind sighted. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was literally going through every single ounce of the house organizing it like a crazy person. I was so stressed that I couldn't eat a banana sitting down. In the moment that I should have had complete peace, drank some tea, watch girlie movies (I live in a house full of guys so girl movies are a very rare occasion), and take some time to relax...I was having a meltdown. Now, granted there were a lot of things leading up to this but that would take forever to write about and I am ready for bed...lol. But none the less,you get the point...I just couldn't let myself relax. 

Everyone was gone, I was alone most of the time, and I was very restless. The dust had finally settled. There were no diapers to change, no lego building to build, no foreign exchange student to take to a friends house, no lunch to make, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and I was just LOST. Then it happened....PANIC. No, really a major PANIC ATTACK. Can I just be the first to say this...which I know I am not...but those things SUCK! They are scary, awful, and no matter what anyone tells you...you really do feel like you are going to die. Imagine you just sat down with the best meal of your life, just turned the TV on watching your favorite show, your in a house all alone, and BAM it hits you and you feel like you are choking, your heart is pounding out of your chest, and you aren't sure you will make it to the phone on time before you pass out, and hit the ground. After this happened, I developed or started to have increase in my irrational fears. Let us just say, "Girl gone crazy." 

I finally know what the Lord was trying to tell me when He said, "Slow down." He knew that a crash and burn was in session for this girl. I fell and I fell hard. It's almost like my first race when I ran track in high school. My coach put me on hurdles for my first year running track...a puny little 9th grader...to fill a spot. I was in first place on my first race...until my foot caught the hurdle and I plummeted to the ground. One of the most embarrassing moments of my life. I still crossed the finished line but let me just say...it hurt. The fall I had this past July may not have been a physical fall but honestly, everything about me hurt. I was broken, ashamed, embarrassed, and not sure how I was going to even get up and start to run again. Anxiety really stinks and it is hard to face something that is so intangible. Ok sure, I have anxiety...that is excessive worry, big flipping deal. But it was more than that. My fast pace life had caused me to spin out of control and leave me flat on my face...scared to move forward because of failure, and scared to stay where I was because of a potential deep depression. All I can say is thank God for His amazing grace, friends, family, church, and a counselor that have walked through with me on this crazy, scary, thrilling journey. 

Do you want to know the end of the story? Ha...lets be real, I have only been working on this stuff for three months. I know all of this will take time to heal from, for this fall has been coming for quit some time. Currently, I have been working on facing my fears one day at a time in hopes to heal from this anxiety...completely healed would be nice but right now I will settle for continual forward motion. In the beginning I was mad at God wondering how He could let something like this happen. But as time has gone on He has revealed Himself in amazing ways. I have learned that even though construction in our lives takes place...whether that be road or personal...is necessary; having roads torn up, bright orange cones everywhere, and lane closers are a good thing. Not only do they make people slow down to actually be able to see what is going on but they are there to "eventually" make the road better for years to come. I know now...and let me tell you that it has been a process...that there is a purpose in my pain. There is a reason why God is making me walk through some of the toughest times mentally, spiritually, and physically in my life and that is to #1. Make me stop and work on things that I have been avoiding fixing for a long time...like a nasty zit on your face that you just don't wan't to pop because it is going to get messy but is totally necessary so that A. It will feel better and B. You or the people around you do not have to look at it any more. #2. Become a healthier person for His Kingdom purposes, my family, and myself. #3. To be able to more forward and let go the things in my past. For as long as I can remember I have pretended to be just "Ok" with everything. Like I am Miss Perfect and nothing bothers me because I am "Super Christian." But painfully I've had to admit that even though I accepted Christ and that He lives in me...I still have gapping wounds that hadn't yet turned to scars. I've learned that there are parts of me broken that I had no idea were even there. Thankfully, I am starting to heal one womb at a time. 

So, what can I say...Miss Perfect crashed, burned, and is now "with God and family and friends" picking up the pieces. Some of them I am throwing in the trash to burn, others I am making a collage for my remembrance, and others I am pasting on my forehead for others to see so that I can show "this is where God has brought me from." Pain, isn't always easy especially when everyone close to you is watching you go through it too because they feel the ripple affects. But I have learned the painful lesson that avoiding pain isn't any better. I found that living the pace I was living in, added to the the things I was avoiding, was causing me and my family more pain than ever. I was a grumpy wife, mother, and very selfish friend. Now, can I still be those things...absolutely...who isn't at times. However, I am learning that slowing down and letting construction take place is vital. 

I am here to admit that I am not perfect, I am definitely a working process, and even though this walk is painful sometimes, I am the most fulfilled that I have ever been. The construction on my life has made me answer major questions like Who am I? (I know right I sound like a 17 year old girl) Who is God to me? What do I believe? What do I enjoy? What am I good at? Where do I fit in this life? Through, these hard questions and many more, I am finding myself again. This person, this girl who I have lost some time ago in the midst of spinning round and round in circles until I fell straight on my back watching the clouds spin by, I am finding her again. I can thankfully say that through this process I am not as grumpy as a wife, mom, or friend. I am taking the time to get to know my husband better, playing with my kids, and even more importantly discovering our God in a more intimate way. Does God have a purpose for our pain? I use to think, "NO." But the more and more I experience pain in whatever form or fashion that may be to that I can say, "Absolutely!" I do not know how this will pan out for me but I do know..."I don't want to miss a thing." 

2 Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

The gift instead of the GIVER!!!

            In this generation of Christians there is something very scary occurring and most of us do not even realize it! The only reason I have noticed it because it is something within myself that I have been dealing with for the past 12 years; a journey that has caused a lump in my throat and caused me to be knocked down further than I want to admit. The journey that I have been on has been like a towel being rung out with filth to which I thought were all good things, but it turns out it was just filth. The things that I thought overflowed from my heart have turned out to be selfish ambition, greed, and hate instead of self-abandonment, giving, and love. My journey started when I was just 16. I know that is a long time ago so please stick with me I will make this a quick version…

            I was a 16 year old girl who had a major heart for God. I was willing to do anything to serve His people which included cleaning a Christian Radio Station for just $60 a week for gas money just to make it there to minister! I didn’t care how little or how much I had I just wanted to reach people for Christ because my love for Him was so deep! I would have visions and dreams of reaching LARGE amounts for Him. Not too long after that I began to not only clean the station but I also was able to go on the air…ME…a 16 year old kid. I went from being on Saturday afternoons, to Monday-Friday’s in the evening, to drive time from 3-6 every afternoon; a 16 year old ministering to the masses. I was thrilled to be used by God in this way!

            Over the years I was able to be a part of this ministry in more ways than one. Unfortunately, I had to leave because of being married into the military. I loved my husband very much and loved where we were but God had different plans for us. We had to pack up our house and move to Charleston, SC. Slowly, the heart I had for God grew cold because I was angry at Him. I didn’t admit this until about a week ago when my husband and I were having a deep conversation about where we were now and the entire plan that we think God has in store for us. I realized in our conversation that…I HAVE BEEN ANGRY AT GOD. I was having such a hard time admitting this fact! Once I admitted this I was so shameful that for the past 6 years, from the time that we left the station, I have lived in a way. Through, our moments of finding a church, praying, and having children my life has been lived in vain. OUCH!

…I had been seeking the gift instead of the GIVER!

            I wanted ministry! I wanted to set the captives free, heal the sick, raise the dead, and bring people to their knees for Jesus. Instead I went from ministering to the masses to cleaning dirty diapers and being home ALL THE TIME! I longed so much to be in a place that I could minister again. Through these feelings I turned into an out of control mom. I became the easily frustrated, emotionally unstable, and ready to burst mom instead of the patient, loving, and kind mom that every child needs and desires. I BECAME COLD!

            In our deep conversation last week on our date after seeing, “God’s Not Dead,” the tears started to pour down my face resembling a waterfall. My husband wasn’t sure what to say. He just stared at me and said, “You say that you are ok with where you are but you continue to ask God why aren’t you using me like you showed me You would? You have to learn to be truly happy with where you are first. Don’t you think that preparation comes before He reveals the good works that He wants us to do.” Well, thanks YODA…lol! But in all seriousness he was right! I just sat there for a second and said, “I AM SO MAD AT GOD!” I shocked myself as I admitted this fact. Over the years I just said, “I am ok with where I am, I love You God no matter what, and where I am God use me!” I would say these things so empty. My words were such a lie.  In the moment of my truth telling, I felt SO MUCH BETTER! I finally let it out and let it go to the most important person to me on this earth. Then I realized a deeper issue in all Christians today…

            We get to a point that instead of seeing the GIVER, we seek the gift! Ministry is a gift because He chooses to let us be a part of His amazing plan and lets us see it firsthand. However, ministry should not be our primary concern. You may be thinking, “Tiffany, what do you mean because without ministry we cannot reach people for Jesus and that is what He calls us to do.” YES, you are so right my friend. BUT we cannot do ministry without the GIVER! We cannot reach people for HIM without the source…HIM! We need all of Him and He needs ALL of us! We need to seek HIM and HIS LOVE instead of what He and HIS love can offer!

1 Corinthians 13:1-3,

            “If I speak the languages of men and of angels but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

            “But Tiffany this doesn’t apply to GOD! This scripture I have read this pertaining to loving people, and heard it read at weddings. How does this apply to God?” My friend I am so glad that you asked that question!

1 John 4: 8, “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is LOVE.”

            GOD IS LOVE! If God is love and we do not spend time with HIM, stir our affections for HIM, then what is the point of ministry!? We have been so consumed with bigger churches, ministering to the masses, coming up with crafty speeches to be the best message ever, and coming up with the next best drama that we have forgotten the most important part of all….FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE! Now, I can say this with all confidence because shamefully, I have been the person to do all of these! I have wanted more of HIS ministry, HIS GIFT of ministry that my heart grew cold towards JUST LOVING HIM!

            NONE of it makes sense without HIM. Church we have to come to a place that we just LOVE HIM with everything and let HIM DO THE REST! When we die all of this will pass away! ALL OF IT BUT HIS LOVE! His love for us and His love for others! The whole point of HIS story is to change HIS-TORY with HIS LOVE! He will not give up until HE has all of us…every single piece of us and all of that starts with our HEARTS! If we will just LOVE HIM others will fall at HIS feet, and everything will fall into place!

John 15: 4-11, “⁴ Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.

Christlike Love

⁹ “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.

¹¹ “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

GREATEST COMMANDMENT:

LUKE 10:27, “He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

LOVE HIM CHURCH with EVERYTHING! Let us continue to give HIM our hearts and not our deeds first! Quit striving to be the BEST but LOVE HIM THE MOST!

AS for me where I am today, I am a working progress…but I have started to completely surrender EVERYTHING; laying down my heart for HIM, LOVING HIM and our house is doing the same!

Joshua 24: 15, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

DO the same CHURCH…HOLDING NOTHING FROM HIM! 

He won’t relent until HE HAS IT ALL ANY WAY...WHY MAKE HIM FIGHT FOR IT?!!!

http://youtu.be/gEJnePjJZaM

Life isn't always so EXCELLENT!

            We have all heard the saying, “When it rains it pours!” Whoever, came up with that saying sometimes I just want to punch them in the face…lets be real! Because of them when it rains in my life circumstances, I am automatically waiting for the pouring waters to begin OR to think of that stupid saying when everything starts to happen at once! THANKS JERK! I woke up this morning like I always do, my husband shaking me to wake up so that I can get out of bed before the kids do to read my bible. Side note: Thanks babe for always doing this for your “not so morning person in the house.” I get downstairs to my already made coffee: Thanks again BABE! Then before my AWESOME husband leaves the house he says, “Oh, did you read the email from our renters, they are leaving the house in June.” BOOM! In the face like a snowball coming at me unexpectedly painfully waking me up with its coldness! I automatically think… “When it rains it pours.” Now, let me remind you, before that moment I didn’t think about the two sons that have been battling allergies and pink eye, my husband who has been working 5/12’s and now 6/12’s for the past two months, my pulled groin that keeps me from working out this week when fitness is my passion and not to mention my job. BUT there was something about that “ONE MORE THING” that sent me over the edge and made me think of that stupid quote; which then, made me remember everything bad that is going on at the same time! I shed maybe two or three tears, grabbed my coffee, and sat down with the LORD.

            I began to read out of our Philippians study and it so happens that I personally was on chapter 4. I was quickly reminded how awesome God’s timing really is and through my “few tears” of “Jesus why is this happening and MOURNING” they quickly turned into “Tears of Joy coupled with THANKSGIVING.” Read for yourself and you will see what I mean…

Philippians 4:6-8, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything through prayer, and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral EXCELLENCE and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.”

If you think that isn’t enough I went on to read…

Philippians 4: 12-13, “I know both how to have little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content—whether well-fed or hungry, weather in abundance or need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Then He gently reminds me of…

Colossians 1:16, “For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

AND last but not least…

Isaiah 55:8-9, ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Matthew 6:28-30, “25 “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height[a] by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters[b] eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

            In that moment the Lord quickly reminded me that EVERYTHING that I “THINK” I have really isn’t mine in the first place! I may have a home that renters are in and be a manager of that home, but it isn’t MINE. I may have major blessings in children and “MY KIDS” are sick but they are not MINE. I may have a body that fails me on a daily basis and have passions but this body isn’t MINE nor should it be my HIGHEST passion or concern to take care of. You see, EVERYTHING IS HIS! When we realize that EVERYTHING is His and not ours we start to STOP worrying so much when the rain comes! We stop thinking, “Oh great, here comes the rain, and when it does we all know, “WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS.”’ Instead we start to think and realize, “The rain may come, and it may pour, but I know the ONE who controls the rain!” When we can rest in this TRUTH, when we can be in such rhythm with God and HIS heartbeat, THEN we will have PEACE even when the pouring rain comes. THEN we will continue to not let our faith be SHAKEN…even if it is a little bit stirred sometimes…BUT NEVER SHAKEN!

Hebrews 12:28, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us hold on to grace. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,”

            Spend time with and trust in the ONE that everything belongs too! For nothing is ours, EVERYTHING is HIS and HE’S got everything under control...THE EXCELLENT AND THE NOT SO EXCELLENT!!! THIS LIFE IS NOT OUR OWN! NOTHING BELONGS TO US! OUR HOPE IS THE ONE WHO IS ETERNAL!!! In this is my hope…for this is the only thing in that is TRULY EXCELLENT! 

***Just a Carcass***

     I know it is weird to have a heading titled “Just a carcass” but trust me this makes sense! A couple of days ago I was driving and I saw a dead animal approaching and I couldn't stop myself from looking at the animal…looking away…looking at the animal…looking away. There was something about it that made me want to see how bad the hit really was….SICK I KNOW! But I felt bad for the animal and couldn't help but stare at the pain….I have to say it was pretty gross. Then as I approached the animal, got one more glance, and turned away…the Holy Spirit spoke to me! He said to me to “be careful that we do not treat people this way.” The first thought of these words in my mind it didn't really make sense but over the past couple of days it has really sunk in A LOT!

     You see when people are hurting, lost, need support, or whatever the case may be,  a lot of times as Christians we look at these people…look away…look at these people…look away. We think to ourselves…man that looks bad…”I will pray for you” and then keep on driving. We don’t think for a second to stop for these people to actually make sure they are “still breathing” and try to fulfill the need that may be at hand. Instead we just use the “I will pray for you bit.” Now, I am not saying that prayer is a bad thing…it is the most powerful thing that we can do as Christians. BUT this is not where Jesus wants us to stop! He uses us to encourage those around us, fulfill their needs, and to the point that no one is in need! He states this clearly in so many different ways throughout the scriptures. However, the one that sticks out to me the most to me at this moment and sums it up clearly is found in 1 John 3: 16-20.

1 John 3: 16-20, “¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷ If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him?

¹⁸ Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. ¹⁹ This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence, ²⁰ even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things.”

     Talk about some harsh words! As Christians we have to do a better job at seeking to help those around us! WE can’t look at people as carcasses on the side of the road and say…”OOOhhhh, that looks bad, someone should take care of that!” WE need to start taking responsibilities for ourselves and others! People and their problems are not just here for our entertainment. Let us be the tools that God uses to change the world one person at a time by not being hypocritical but truly being the “Children of Light” He calls us to be!