The journey of friendships

I want to be the kind of friend iam called to be. I have had many friends on my life and I think God has used them to teach many lessons about life and my self and this next month I want to take you on the journey of discovery. We will discover what God has for me to learn from some key friendships I have had and still have in life.

"Friendship is unnecessary like philosophy, like art...it has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." -CS Lewis

Please read:

Romans 12:10
Ruth 1:16-17
Job 2:11

Like a lily...

"Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the young women." Song of songs 2:2

This has been one of my favorite verses since I was a young girl. I clung on to it many times when I didn't fit in because of my faith. I have always wanted to be God's girl. A good daughter to him and loial in serving him. I have held true to my beliefs and at times it had caused me to sacrifice alot. But I wouldn't change anything.

Yesterday my husband and I were sitting outside at his parents ranch enjoying the day/weather. When he started to play fetch with the dogs. And when he raised his arm to toss the ball his tattoo showed. I have seen this tattoo many times in the almost 3 years of marriage, but yesterday it caught my eye in a new way. Because on the inside of his arm where he has the bottom of his tattoo there is a bright blue lily. This lily is beautiful and truly stands out in many ways it's color tho is what caught my eye and caused me to wonder about the lily. So I asked my husband what a lily represents. "Humility and devotion " is what he told me. A few things that make up true beauty and make a woman stand out among others. True beauty comes from the things that make you stand out, not blend in. Hold tight to the things God has given you that make you stand out. For they make you...you and you is beautiful. Be a lily among thorns!

He has the whole world in his hands...

I work with disabled adults in my community and my current client I take once week to sung to Sr citizens at a rest home. And we sang "He had the whole world in his hands" and I sang this song many times as a child growing up in church, but God spoke to me through this simple song. And what a nice reminder as well that our faith or the way he speaks to us can be calm and simple and still have a big impact!

But what the Lord showed me during the the verse "had you and me in his hands" is that he does hold us each day, we are in his thoughts and he has our life close. He has you and you positive moments as well as your sad, mad, disappointed ect... moments in his hands and like the carpenter he was on earth he works with his hands and he is doing a work in your life and he is sanding down the sharp corners and reinforcing your weak points to show off his strong points and that he makes all lives beautiful. A table might not always look beautiful when it's being made but it's with the carpenter's skills and caring for his craft he turns plain old wood into something beautiful to be enjoyed by all who see it. Just as God does with us. He holds you in his hand because he is taking your old life and self and making you something beautiful!

Colossians 4:2-6

Colossians 4:2-6
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ , for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." 

So much can be taken from these verses, when reading it this this morning I thought of the people in my life that know and don't know the Lord. The walk or lack of a walk with Christ and it has awakened so much in spirit that I can't form my emotions into words yet. Has a verse or vision from God ever done that to you. So much has been revealed that words can't be made to explain all that has happened to you in those moments? Iam excited to see what God is about to do in the lives around me and that I get to see and be apart of it.

God has already won that for you...

Battles come in life and if you are saved they come more frequently. The enemy is always trying to get our attention off God and on to the battle. And I know why, the battle seems too hard and full of too much pain. He tells us lies when we are sitting in the trenches begging for some peace to come. He never wants us to realize that the battle and war have already been won. Because if we realize that then he can bully us anymore. And that's what the devil is...a bully. A mad litter boy who didn't get what he wanted ao he is going kick, punch, and try to take down every person in his path to prove some kind of twisted point. He fails to see that with every lie and attack he only proves that God's love and mercy are real. So when you are sitting in the trenches or knee deep in mud on your battle field know that God has already gone a head of you and defeated what you are fighting. Keep your mind on him and his love for you. Because with him the battle can be a joyful one!

Single and obsessed...

When I was single I was obsessed with getting married. I knew God had called me to be a wife and with that I clung to the dream of marriage. But I took his promise and I turned into something a little scary and ugly. Getting married was all I thought about and prayed for. I was constantly on a emotional roller-coaster because of the obsession. One day I would be happy in knowing that one day God would fufill his promise and the next I would be depressed because the promise seemed too far away. I was never stable. Always up and down. Never trusting God even though I said otherwise. I also had a bad habit of making up God's mind up for him. A few times I thought God told me I was supposed to marry a man I was dating or wanted to date. "God showed me he was my husband in prayer" I said a few times. But I failed to really see what God was saying. And what he wanted me to learn from each relationship. Each relationship was meant as a building block to the woman I needing to be to be the woman and wife my now husband needed. I never married any of the entire God told me I going to marry. I feel like so many women in the church do this. We become overcome with the desire to be married that we forget that the men we want may have been called to another woman and the God we serve wants us to see the beauty of the season we are in right then. When we focus on what season we want to be in we don't learn the leasing of the season we are in and that keeps us from the season we are dreaming of. But know that what our worldly mind thinks and wants is nowhere near what God has for you! And you may every well marry a man you feel God has told you will marry,but if you are constantly thinking about it you don't have room in your mind for God.

When met my husband I had no clue he was my promise. And I thank God every day he is,but know that God will reveal his answer to his promise when he is ready and it's time. I spent many years looking one way for the answer and my mom often said to me "you would never know if your husband was right in front of you because you keep looking at the wrong things and your vision is blurry" and she was right when my husband and I compared our life time lines one evening I saw how many times we crossed paths. We were in the same room any times but I was too busy thinking another man was my promise so I missed seeing my real promise and live of my life. Please take this as a friend saying the same thing her mother told her. Trust God's vision for your life clear your eyes take off the blinders and stop looking g and just be. God has so much for you to be but obsessed with a man or something is not one of them. You will miss many beautiful sunsets if you are always looking around for a better view.

God and the Devils choice....

God made the devil,and the devil made a choice. His  choice lead to him falling away from God and out of heaven.
We all have a choice just as the devil did. Every day we wake up with a day full of choices to make. What to eat, what to wear, what to think, where to go and what you believe.

Why would God make the devil fully knowing what he would become? Was my question when I first thought about this blog,but then God doesn't force us to obey and worship him because that wouldn't be love. He just like the rest of us wants the ones he lives to chose to love him back not be forced to love him. That's not real love that's a slave and we are not his slaves. We are his children. Iam not a mother yet but I already love my unborn child and I'm not even pregnant yet. But with that being said I don't ever want to force my child to love me or make choices I want them to make. I want them to figure life out and love me by their own choice, Same goes for God. You may have someone in your life that is far from God and may have even denied God. But in that choice God still loves them.

To me the devil is another example of God's love. He made him because he loved him. Even though he knew what choice he would make and what he would become. Just like so many of us, he loves us enspit of us.

As I look at my thighs.

As I look at my thighs I see God's finger prints and wonder why he made them large and lumpy. But then I take a closer look and see as well as hear his love with every single thumb and finger print.
And it becomes clear to me that my thighs maybe large and lumpy by the world's view but in His eyes he sees a very different from of beauty. One that was made in heaven and refined by life here on earth. I have spent too many moments hating my tights instead of loving the God who made them. In life how many times do we hate or dislike what is going on in or around our lives instead of thanking the God who gave his life so you can have a more abundant one. Thoughts of my thighs and how imperfect they are have been on my mind more than I would like to admit. And those thoughts took the place of any moments with God. How far could you or I have gotten in our walks if we stopped thinking of things of this world like our looks and put that focus on the Lord and his plans.

I have come to realize...

I have come to realize that God has a better plan for me and my relationships.

I have come to realize that he put the people around me in my life for a reason.

I have come to realize that he knew I would be in drama at many points in life.

I have come to realize he is bigger than my world.

I have come to realize that he has called me to be a world changer.

I have come to realize that the hurt will lead to his Glory.

I have come to realize that seasons leaf to a life full of flavor.

I have some to realize that being a believer is a every day choice not a one time emotional event.

I have come to realize that the devil really does come to steal kill and distroy.

I have come to realize that my emotions can be best weapon or my worst enemy.

I have come to realize that God is for me, he loves me, and he is with me.

I have come to realize that I still have a lot to realize!

Depression....

Isaiah 61:1-3
" The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for the those who grieve in Zion-
To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of dispair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

Many times in life you will find a verse or a few verses that dicribe your life or heart. The above verses not only dicribe my heart and my call,but now represent a point and helpful reminder from God. A few days ago I realized I was in a battle with depression and fear. Something that I battled many times as a young girl. But devil has no new tricks, he tends to use the same things over and over on us. But this passage was apart of my moring study on monday and I read it with tears in my eyes and my heart was awakened and ready to fight a true fight again. I let life become hard instead of seeing that I was only being pruned by the master gardener. Sometimes when we are getting pruned we become more vulnerable to attacks,but if we see those attacks as an opportunity to grow and become stronger then they don't look so scary. We have victory in all of our trails and battles because we serve God and his is our victory! I forgot this. And lost my footing in the mud of the battle field. I slipped and ended up face first in depression. I felt unloved, unwanted,  and unuseful.
But God quickly showed me otherwise when I read Isaiah. I am call to preach. Iam called to comfort. Iam called to be his daughter! I know this will be a year of favor in my life. I'm getting more involved in ministry at church and even lead a group on monday nights. So I will be more attacked the more I'm blessed. We all will be. But never let the attack block the view of the blessing!!! God knew the attack was coming and gave you all the tools to have the victory!
Grab your sword (your bible) and fight back! Your have the victory over anything with God by your side.