Search me O God
Search me and find
Any way in me that does not reflect Your purity
Refine me O God
In the fire of Your gaze
That I might be holy in all of my ways
Take me deeper Lord
Draw me closer Lord…

Give me a heart after Your own heart
Give me a mind that is pure and pleasing to You
Fill me with love
With Your power and Your joy
That this world might see You in me

"...that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life..." Philipians 2:14-16

i have been asking God this week to give me the heart of a bondservant. someone who willingly chooses to stay in her Master's court and serve. i asked the Father to use me in the ministry and outreach. He has been bringing opportunities to share His gospel with people lately. which means i need to be in His Word and prayer...learning in order to teach...

"if i were still trying to please men, i would not be a bondservant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Is redemption and salvation in vain if we continue to commit the very same acts we were forgiven for? The Word says that we are to crucify the flesh. "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."(galatians 5:24-25) Because we are now under grace, do we have the freedom to live without the law of God? I believe Jesus is looking to find His bride pure. A bride who has kept herself pure, saving herself only for her husband. I believe God is looking for holiness among this generation.

We live in a time of desperation among this generation. as the people of God, we need to be seeking God. Running after Him in passionate pursuit. God has put the call on peoples life, and we can either answer that call or rebel. Because, why are we here? What is life on earth? Its so easy to get caught up in the excitement of what the world exposes to us. we are sheep among wolves. but, we are to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.(Matthew 10:16)

i cant say i'm without sin. i fail Him, but my heart knows Him and is deeply in love with His heart. He is my constant. He is divine life. He is all love i have ever known. Nothing I have He has not given to me. i truly am nothing without Him. my desire is for people to experience God and be changed by the renewing of the mind(do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.) Romans 12:2

my prayer and desire is for people to have a revelation of who Jesus is, to be empowered by His Spirit and be conformed to the image of Christ. We are a redeemed people. God is calling all men to repent and submit to the call of Christ. There is no greater freedom and peace than walking and knowing Christ. "...so that you may discover the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philipians 9-10

Lord, lead me into the wilderness to hear Your voice and be renewed by Your Spirit...Lord, I ask that You capture people. Please send out Your light and Your truth to pierce peoples hearts. You are Sovereign and Your Kingdom come and Your will be done...

if i ever get to walk down the aisle one day, i think i found the song...

Ancient Words


(Michael W. Smith)


Holy words long preserved
for our walk in this world,
They resound with God's own heart.
Oh let the ancient words impart


Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e'er we roam
Ancient words will guide us Home.

CHORUS:
Ancient words ever true
Changing me and changing you,
We have come with open hearts
Oh let the ancient words impart

Holy words of our Faith
Handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
Oh heed the faithful words of Christ.

Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world.
They resound with God's own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart.

wash us

Peter said to Him, "Never shall You wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, " If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." john 13:8

Jesus, help us to be Your hands and feet. that we would love people and see them as You see them. that we would break the comfortable mold we're in and dive into the water to save those who are drowning. You came to seek and save the lost and You are raising up Your sheep to do the same. i want to be holy. i want to treasure and desire You above all else. o God let us be a generation who seeks Your face and lays aside all the entanglements of sin and fall on our knees before You. Father, let Your kingdom come upon this land. set hearts on fire, consume all that is not of You and make Your home in our hearts. come and wash us Lord Jesus, that we would reflect You in how we live...

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:24-25

Believing God

"walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called" (eph 4:1)
Since the beginning of the word, Christianity has been referred to as a walk. a journey and a race to run. Walking requires us to put one foot in front of the other and progress forward. But with some Christian's, we have trouble putting that foot forward. i think that more times than not, this happens when our focus is on our self and our circumstances rather than the condition of our heart. an undivided heart is essential to a steady walk with God.

i was reading romans 10 the other night before bed, and i had to read it three times in order to begin to understand the message that was being addressed. "The Word of Faith Brings Salvation" is the title that my bible gives this chapter. if faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (hebrews 11:1), then Christianity is believing in God. believing that even though you can't see Him, you experience His presence. we use the scripture "Faith without works is dead" (james 2:20) a lot. This is truth. But when you really think about it, faith is everything. faith is so much of Christianity; believing and loving someone you can't see with your physical eyes. i may not be able to see him with the human eye, but my heart does. my heart knows Him well. i see Jesus in others, i see God is creation, in miracles, in babies. when i see people who choose to do the right thing, i see that God has His hand in life. i think faith is more difficult to have than anything else. the flesh is strong, it can keep us from overcoming obstacles in our path, it can pull our desires away from what we should be fixed on. "...but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."(1 Corinthians 10:13). God wants us to win. He wants us to be happy and fulfilled and joyful. He wants every good thing for us. And He knows what will make us happy and fulfilled and joyful. He has promised to not hold any good thing from us as long as we make Him first in our life.(psalm 84:11)

So, i think God is beginning to renew my thinking a little bit. Believing that God is. period.

i will not be weighed down by the world. i will choose to be the hands and feet of Christ. I believe God has a plan and that plan is Jesus. that plan is redemption. that plan is perfect peace in Him. We need to seek that plan, grope for it, hunger after it. even be willing to die for it...

i want to see people come to believe in a perfect God with a perfect heart who has a perfect love to give them. because without Him, we really are empty and dead.

fixing my eyes

"...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace..."

a recent ending of a relationship has opened my eyes to see Jesus as the Lamp to my feet and a Light to my path. Finding peace in being in His will is far more precious than any treasure earth has...

It's so easy to make plans for your own life. To day dream about what the future holds. speaking for myself, i can get caught up in what waits for me tomorrow instead of giving today my full attention.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth."~ps 121:1-2

why do i get restless? why am i not satisfied with my current circumstances? i don't want to have an untamed heart. i want the heart of a servant. a person who is surrendered to the will of her Maker. it is not i who live but Christ who lives in me, right? i am in constant molding. i need Jesus every single day. i fail without Him...

contentment

godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment~1Timothy 6:6.

One of the great temptations the enemy can use against us is discontentment. As Christians called to live humbly, picking up our cross daily, we all struggle with wanting and not having. We're not perfect, we're kidding ourselves if we live in a state of outward perfection. And because we live in a fallen place, we are dependent upon God to redeem us. The Word of God says that "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."Acts 4:12. Its in the name of Jesus that we're saved. We come to Him, surrender our life, lay down our rights and pick up our cross and follow Him. And the life that we once lived in sin and death dies and we pick up His life; freedom, love, rest etc...And He begins to change us and mold us into the person He's destined us to be.

Contentment can never dwell with anger. Is anger in itself an evil thing? No, it's anger occurring in people who are sinners, which easily and quickly becomes evil. The Bible says, "Be angry, and yet do not sin" (Eph. 4:26).

So, Lord Jesus, teach me to be content with where You have me and what You've given me. What do I have that You have not allowed me to? You give and You take away. Help me to surrender my desires to You and in Your perfect time and will, You'll add to my life as You will it. You are Perfect Sovereign. My Papa, I am safe within Your courts, amongst Your people. Let my heart be in obedience to You. As Mary replied to the Angel, "I am the Lord's servant, be it done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

Learning contentment:

Number 1: It cannot dwell with anger.
Number 2: It cannot dwell with self-pity.

Anger and self-pity are from the devil. So if you want to learn contentment you are going to have to quit getting angry and quit feeling sorry for yourself.