I Sit Here in Awe of Our God....

I sit here, feeling, praying, in total awe and wonder of all that God does

Just the feeling of complete peace that He has brought to my life...through all the trials and tribulations...both past and present...NOTHING is too big for God!  There is NOTHING he can't handle!

Isaiah 40:31

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

So often I feel so tired...tired of dealing with the world...tired of feeling ill...tired of just being tired!  I fight against it...fight to do what I feel is wanted/needed of me...and I've found that it is not even my fight!  He has already fought all of this for me, for us!

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

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 weakness, so that Christ's power may rest in me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Lately I've really been feeling the Glory of God stronger and stronger, and feeling that I'm finally seeing more of what God has in store for me...for my family...for what He wants of us and how he wants us to live.  The peace of this is unbelievable!  He is guiding me, guiding us, and bringing so many things into our lives for this, His Purpose!

I can't do this in my own strength!  More and more I'm seeing that all I need to do is sit back and watch His wonders working in my life and enjoy the ride!

From being a Victim of Domestic Violence, to being a healed Overcomer of Domestic Violence is nothing short of a Miracle brought about by our Lord!  There is no way to be fully healed without Him in your life!  He is the Redeemer!  He is the Healer!  He is the one that will deliver us from all of our trials and tribulations!

You are NOT what you have been through!!!  You are NOT a label!  YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD!!!  There is NOTHING that comes BEFORE or AFTER this!!!  HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END, not only of the earth, but of us as well!  For He is in every one of us!!!!  We ARE HIS!!!  And He holds us within His hands....God's Got This!!!

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

This is not something that I even understood fully a year ago...a few months ago...it is something that I learn and grow with Him every day!

My prayer for everyone out there is that they feel the Healing Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that they receive the Peace in their lives and the healing touch that only He can provide...

~Angel Hugz~
Tracy

God Centered Actions

A thought I’d like to share with all of you from my Bible reading this morning.  I’m still working through the Life Application Study Bible ® Devotion on YouVersion.  This was today’s reading:

Matthew 6:3-4  ³ But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:⁴ That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

It's easier to do what's right when we gain recognition and praise. To be sure our motives are not selfish, we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, with no thought of reward. Jesus says we should check our motives in three areas: generosity (Matt 6:4), prayer (Matt 6:6), and fasting (Matt 6:18). Those acts should not be self-centered, but God-centered, done not to make us look good but to make God look good. The reward God promises is not material, and it is never given to those who seek it. Doing something only for ourselves is not a loving sacrifice. With your next good deed, ask, "Would I still do this if no one would ever know I did it?"

That is a good question to end on, something to think about and take into prayer for the day.

The Eagle’s Flight

I really needed to read this today…  Isn’t it amazing that there’s times when we really need to hear something, and there it is, supplied for us?  I’ve fallen behind on my daily readings, been sick and tired of being sick and tired, and just have been downright lagging behind on everything.  Reading this builds me up, shows me that it’s ok, that He’s there to give me the strength that I need that I don’t have within myself.  How often have we lagged behind?  How often have we been through circumstances that we just don’t have the strength to get through by ourselves?  Reach out, know that He is willing and able to give you that strength when you are in need!

From YouVersion Reading Plan: Lifetime Daily Devotions

28 Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.29 He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.30 For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.31 But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

Isaiah 40:28-31

The Eagle's Flight

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?

Haven't you learned this yet? I have tried so many ways to teach you the simple truth of resting in My strength. You are too strong to need Me. As long as your strength endures, you will clutch it to your breast. No. You do not know yet.

Have you not heard?

It cannot be that you have never heard this. Perhaps you've never been ready to receive it, but surely you have heard?

The Everlasting God, The Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Does not become weary or tired.

The Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who created everything in the heavens and the earth, isn't like you or me. He doesn't get tired. He doesn't know what it is to be weary! Too often we make God out to be like us. Temperamental. Impatient. Difficult. Pressured.

No. We mustn't make God like us. We are like God--and are becoming more and more like Him as He works within us.

His understanding is inscrutable.

We can't begin to comprehend--even slightly-- how deep His understanding is of each of us and everything that concerns us. I need that: understanding. Understanding that doesn't scold or condemn. Understanding that doesn't preach to me. Understanding that listens and tries to see things from my point of view. Understanding that speaks softly.

He gives strength to the weary,

He watches carefully, and when He sees us getting weary, He supplies more strength. It's kind of like watering your plants. You watch them carefully, and at the slightest droop you give them a drink. He sees our slightest droop.

And to him who lacks might He increases power.

He is always ready to empower us. He waits to be asked, but His power is always available to us.

Though youths grow weary and tired,

You know how kids seem to have an unlimited source of energy? Well, even if one of them should falter, He is there with His boundless, infinite power.

And vigorous young men stumble badly,

Even if a trained athlete or a very strong young man should stumble or trip badly, He's right there, ready to lift him up and infuse new energy into him. I'm not young and I'm not an athlete, but there's a wide variety of folks in between those two . . . where I fit.

Yet . . .

I love God's conjunctions. He always gives us a way out or some unexpected hope.

Those who wait for the Lord

There's the word: wait. How hard that is to do! We know deep within that He will sustain us. We know that His wisdom is far beyond ours. We know that His love for us is the motivator and the restrainer in our lives. But even knowing all of that, "waiting" for Him is something that most of us can't--or refuse to--actually do.

Will gain new strength,
Will mount up with wings like eagles,
Will run and not get tired,
Will walk and not get weary.

* * *

Lord,

Not only do I want all of these things, I need all of these things. An endless supply of strength, and not just shoring up the old strength that wears thin. New strength! And like an eagle. . . .

Did you know that eagles don't fly in flocks, like other birds do? They fly alone. And they can fly 6000 feet above the surface of the earth. Imagine! An eagle soaring in the upper air doesn't have to worry about tunneling through mountains, or fording swollen rivers, or losing his sense of direction and getting lost in the dense forests.

Me? Like an eagle? How wonderful! Soaring in the upper air all by myself, looking down on the scary things but not fretting about them. That could be me. . . . And Lord, to keep on--day after day after day--and not give out, whether it's a hectic "running" day or a "walking" busy day. You sustain me.

As usual, Lord, I realize that the choice is mine.

Would You teach me, please?

Teach me to wait?

Spiritual Growth

I’m going through a course called “Soul Care” from Christian Courses and today I came to a lesson where the discussion afterwards was about “An ongoing controversy in Christian circles centers on whether a look at the realities below the waterline is really necessary for true spiritual growth.”  Thankfully I was within the group that was to argue the point that you do indeed have to look below the waterline.  I feel compelled to share this here…

While working on this I had to get a turkey in for dinner, and God shared with me an analogy that I am still sitting and laughing about, thanking Him for the insight and comic relief...

You wouldn't bake a turkey without knowing what's in it first would you?  When you get a turkey from the store, they place the bags of the "extras" within the cavity of the turkey, both front and back you may say.  These need to be dealt with and taken out of the turkey before cooking it or quite frankly, the turkey just won't taste so good now would it?  You wouldn't want to present this turkey at a Thanksgiving feast after having cooked it with these "extras" still included would you?  You take the extras out; they are not wanted when cooking a turkey!  Not only that, but what if that turkey is still frozen, doesn't it take longer to cook?  Don't you have to put the heat on lower to give that turkey time to thaw out so that you can then put the spices and dressings on and crank the heat up so that it can finally get cooking?

It's the same with us!  We all have "extras" stuffed in hidden places within us.  We all have undesirables that need to be known at least of ourselves and dealt with before we can proclaim ourselves presentable and ready to be baked.  We all have things to work on within ourselves, the realities that we all face below the waterline that we have to deal with while we thaw out and get ready to get baking and grow spiritually.  Just as we wouldn't want to present that turkey at Thanksgiving after cooking it with the "extras" still in, we wouldn't want to present ourselves with our "extras" still in when we come to our time of judgment.  We have to look at the realities below the waterline so that we may know what they are and work on clearing them out!

We are all vessels of the Holy Spirit.  We are all striving to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that it can work through us.  If we are stuffed with "extras" how is that leaving room to be filled by the good things?  It takes up room that we need to be filled by the Holy Spirit and inhibits us from Spiritual Growth!  When you are filled with these "extras", when you are filled up by undesirables, what comes out when you get bumped?  What comes out when you go through a rough time or hit a bump in the road?  These "extras" do indeed affect us, and instead of the Holy Spirit coming out of us when someone cuts us off at the intersection, those "extras" have a tendency to flow out instead.  Instead of feeling at peace that God is with you and that even if you are facing a difficult situation God will indeed see you through, if you are filled with doubt and worry instead of peace of mind, how can you grow spiritually?  What are you filled with?  What comes out of you when you get bumped?  What thoughts go through your mind when you are going through troubling times?

If you are having issues yourself with past abuse, rape, anorexia, cheating, whatever the case may be, this indeed hinders your spiritual growth and becoming more Christ like if they aren't dealt with affectively.  If you are having feelings of inadequacy, if you are going through a tough time in life and just aren't dealing with it very well, if you are questioning your belief in God and how He is working in your life, how can you grow spiritually?  These are all realities that are stuffed within us, hiding from plain site, that do indeed need to be dealt with before we can grow spiritually!

If we look inside ourselves and find ourselves questioning our Christianity, small questions that we hide because we want to look "Christian" to the outside world, how are we to grow spiritually?  Questions such as "Where was God while I was going through the abuse?"  "How come God didn't help me not have to go through my job loss?"  "Why did God let me get cancer?"  Small questions that are indeed big, things within ourselves that stops us from growing spiritually.  If we go to church on Sunday because we're supposed too, if we wear the mask of Christianity because that's what we feel others expect to see; if we say our prayers, do our devotionals, and go to church because we feel that's what good Christians do, how are we growing spiritually?

As looking below the waterline pertains to Soul Care, and actually helping someone and supporting them through their issues to grow spiritually, they first have to have an understanding of what realities they are dealing with and how they pertain to themselves and their feelings towards God.  Too often people blame God for their troubles.  Too often people turn away from God because of what they are going through instead of turning towards Him and giving Him their troubles so that they can affectively live through Him.  These realities that are going through deep inside hinder their spiritual growth!

James 1:23-25 "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."

In order to follow this, we have to look inside ourselves at the reality of what we are doing and if we are indeed following Christ so that we may grow spiritually.  If we don't look in that mirror, if we don't look what's going on deep inside us and at the realities of who we are and what we are doing and going through, how are we to then grow spiritually?

Galatians 5:16-18, 24-26 " So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law...Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

Galatians 5:19-23 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these.  I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

The message is clear, if we are filled with things within us that go against what is needed to achieve Spiritual Growth, we've got to look deep inside ourselves so that we can insure that we are not doing those things that area against the Spiritual Growth that we are striving to achieve.  Some things listed are plainly evident and easy to see, right out there on the surface; but others such as envy are sometimes buried deeper and need a closer inspection.  Without us consciously understanding and seeing the realities under the waterline within our own lives, we would be fooling ourselves into thinking that we are indeed ready to grow spiritually and will struggle with being able to do so.  Would you want to show up at the time of our judgment with those "extras" still stuffed inside you?