~LOVE~

There is nothing better to compare my life to than God's word. There are people in my life who have been awesome examples and have helped me get to where I am today, but the one I am striving to be more like is Jesus and the only way to get there is to hide HIS word in my heart.

~

Luke 10:27
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

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Matthew 25:34-46

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

~

John 15:12-17

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
These things I command you, that ye love one another.

~

Lord, I want to be more like you. I want to be a vessel you work thru, Lord, I want to be more like you.

~The Blood Is Still There~

I woke up singing the chours of this song this morning:

One Dark Night In Egypt
A Fearful Time Had Come
For One Little Hebrew Boy
Who Was His Father's First Born Son
Now With The Angel Of Death Passing Low
It Was Hard To Fall Asleep
But One Little Lamb Stood In His Mind
As He Laid There Counting Sheep
He Wondered Why The Lamb Had To Die
Why His Blood Was On The Door
Through The Wind And Rain
It Had Still Remained
But He Wanted To Be Sure
So He Called Out To His Earthly Father
With A Trembling Voice So Scared
Crying Father Will You Please Look And See
If The Blood Is Still There

~
He Said Son Now Don't You Worry
For The Blood Is There To Stay
The Wind May Blow And The Rain May Fall
But It Won't Just Wash Away
The Blood Will Stand The Raging Storm
It's Been Applied With Loving Care
Safe Secured You Can Rest Assured
That The Blood Is Still There

~
Looking Over The Damage
Satan's Storm Had Left Behind
The Flood Of Endless Questions
Now Had Filled My Life
The Fear That Gripped My Troubled Soul
Brought Me Back To My Knees In Prayer
Crying Father Will You Please Look And See
If The Blood Is Still There
~

He Said Son Now Don't You Worry
For The Blood Is There To Stay
The Wind May Blow And The Rain May Fall
But It Won't Just Wash Away
The Blood Will Stand The Raging Storm
It's Been Applied With Loving Care
Safe Secured You Can Rest Assured
That The Blood Is Still

~I have a question for you Mommy~

This is the conversation between my oldest son and I at bed time the other night. I thought it was so cute and I wanted to share. He keeps me on my toes! :)

Thomas: What are angels?

Mommy: God made them to help watch over us and keep us safe.

Thomas: Where are they?

Mommy: In heaven and all around us, but we can't see them.

Thomas: Why?

Mommy: That's how God made them.

Thomas: Where are they now?

Mommy: They are here now.

Thomas: No they not ... they come when I sleeping.

Mommy: Oh, so they watch over you when your sleeping?

Thomas: Um Hmm.

Thomas: Where is heaven? Up there? (he is pointing up)

Mommy: Up there

Thomas: How we going to get there?

Mommy: Jesus is going to take us there.

Thomas: No he not! He not here .... we going to drive there!

Mommy: Yes Jesus is here. He is every where.

Thomas: No he not, he in my heart.

~

Mark 10:13-16
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

~My Heart~

I just want to worship him. I want to fall in love with Him over and over and over again. With 3 boys ages 3 and under, I have to be honest, sometimes I wonder why I got dressed and went to church because I have spent the whole service either saying No, No, shhhh, be still, changing diapers and taking the oldest to the bathroom, running out as fast as I can when the get too loud because I don't want to interrupt the entire service or that last and great thing of trying to get ME out of the way. And all my soul wants is a little time to really worship my Savior. So, why do I go? Because I know that even though I may feel like I have missed the entire service, I haven't. There is something in every service that will stick with me, even if I am unaware of it getting in there. And my babies need to be there. My middle son reminded me just this past Sunday night that even though I think he has no idea what is going on... things are sticking with him too! In the middle of one of my Shhhhs, dad said Amen to his prayer and my son looked up and said Amen! :)

You see, the thing I have to remember is that I haven't always even had that desire to worship Jesus. Especially that longing from inside that seems to already be worshipping when I feel like I just need that worship time. And while I want to worship from the outside too, (I do get to at times), God sees my heart. My heart of worship. I am thankful that he is my heart's desire and that I have that longing to worship and to be in the house of the Lord.

~

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after you

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship you

You alone are my strength, my shield

To you alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship you

~

Psalm 27:4-5

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

~

I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.

There is peace, sweet peace

There is peace in the house of the Lord.

I was glad when they said unto me, let us to to the house of the Lord.

There is love, true love

There is love in the house of the Lord.

I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.

There is hope, our only hope

There is hope in the house of the Lord.

~Pslam 139:12-18~

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

~Claim It~

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

~Who are you listening to?~

1 Kings 12:1-24
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.
And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people?
And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:
And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter?
And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.
And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;
And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.
Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying,
Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.

~

I read 1 Kings chapter 12 the other morning and the portion above stood out to me. The congregation of Israel came to Rehoboam looking for an answer and Rehoboam was torn about what he should do so he took counsel from 2 groups, the elders and the youngsters. Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders, the same ones that were there when his father, Solomon, was king. He listened to the ones that he had grown up with or the ones that were still "wet behind the ears." Rehoboam's lack of listening caused him to flee from where he once ruled, the place where he once felt safe.

We all face circumstances in our lives and we just aren't sure what we should do. So, we look for a person or people to confide in or seek counsel from ... someone to lead us in the right direction. I think this chapter shows us how important it is to get instructions from the right source. If our instruction isn't coming from God what good does it do? We will end up 'fleeing' our place of safety. Don't leave any room in your life for the devil to work. We may not always get the answer we want to hear, but God always takes care of his people and if God is for us, who can be against us!

~Proverbs 20:11~

Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

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This is a day by day walk and day by day I pray that my heart be pure and my actions be right. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.

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Psalm 12:6

The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.