"Do you not say, "There are still four months and then comes the harvest"? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! John 4:35
Now that we have just celebrated Christmas a few months ago and with Easter approaching us I thought this was appropriate to post for the time we are in. As you read this I hope that you think about what Jesus means to you and I pray that He reveals His love for you. He does love you, He died for you. He took all our sins upon himself so we can have life.
A few years ago I was inspired to write this poem about my Lord and Savior and what He means to me...............
Your Life as Lord Began on Christmas Day No where to be born But in a manger far away
The time has come To worship and sing To you O Lord My Saviour and King
Your life on earth was to set the example for man I want to be Christ like With your help I know I can
You are the potter I am the clay Mold me and shape me As I kneel and pray
Your life was full of Persecution, pain and suffering But through it all New life this would bring
I love you Lord with all my heart You are worthy of all my praise Please light my path and Go before me Now and always
Your life ended here on earth So you could pay the price On the cross you bore my sins The ultimate sacrifice
As I walk through life I stumble and fall upon my face You pick me up and guide me With gentleness and grace
Your Life on earth Will never be in vain Because of You I am set free From all my guilt and pain
You are compassionate and faithful With your never ending love You will reign forever In heaven up above
My favorite season of the year is here..........Spring. The reason I love Spring is because it represents so many things to me. Growth, refreshment, beauty, warmth, life. I look around and Gods creation is all around me, I am in awe of His beauty. I believe that God wants that for us as well. Just as the flowers come each spring, they are not like they were the year before. There are more, they have multiplied, they have grown. God wants us to grow like the flowers and that our growth as Christians will multiply year after year. In order for us to grow we need to come to God so we can be refreshed by His Spirit. When we are refreshed and fillled we experience the beauty, warmth and life He has to give us. Another reason I love Spring is because just like my husband and I like to do our "Spring cleaning" in the house and out in the yard. For me especially I like to take the time to examine my walk with God and askHim to do a "Spring cleaning" within me. Our back yard is always the worst, all the patio furniture is dusty & dirty from the fall & winter. We need to sweep and wipe everything down. I am just so thankful that God does that with me everyday......picking me up and dusting me off, picking me up and dusting me off...........thank You my Lord!!!
Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin
Job 8:19 "Behold, this is the joy of His way, And out of the earth others will grow.
Psalm 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psalm 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.
To hear video please click on pause button on my playlist to the right
The other day I was watching this great video on God Tube (now Tangle) and I thought it went perfectly with what I read in "Our Daily Bread" (see below)
Legend has it that Michelangelo painted with a brush in one hand and a candle in the other to prevent his shadow from covering his masterpiece in progress.
That’s the kind of attitude we should adopt if we are serious about wanting to display the masterpiece of God’s glory on the canvas of our lives. Unfortunately, we tend to live in a way that draws attention to ourselves—our cars, our clothes, our careers, our position, our cleverness, our success. And when life is all about us, it’s hard for people to see Jesus in us. Jesus saved us to be reflections of His glory (Rom. 8:29), but when we live for ourselves, our shadow gets cast on the canvas of His presence in us.
When the believers in Corinth were feeling too full of themselves, Paul warned them “that no flesh should glory [boast] in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:29), and reminded them of what Jeremiah said, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (v.31; Jer. 9:24).
Think of your life as a canvas on which a picture is being painted. What would you rather have people see: the masterpiece of the presence of Jesus or the shadow of your own profile? Don’t get in the way of a great painting in progress. Live to let others see Jesus in you. — Joe Stowell
My life is a painting created by God, And as such I’ve nothing to boast; Reflecting the image of Christ to the world Is what I desire the most. —Sper
A Christian’s life is the canvas on which others can see Jesus.
This is such a great question to ask myself daily, "How can my life reflect the image of Christ today" I want to be like a beautiful painting and that when people see me they see Jesus. Father God, please help me everyday not to get in the way of Your awesome masterpiece and I pray that I don't get caught up by things in this world but that I only live a life that glorifies You!
I just love this song being played in this video by Steven Curtis Chapman..............
God is God and I am not
I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting
God is God and I am man
So I’ll never understand it all For only God is God
The song you are hearing right now from my playlist " I Need You" is very sentimental to me. Almost nine years ago after giving birth to Thomas & Katelyn 6 weeks early we had to leave the hospital without them because they had to stay in the NICU for two weeks. That was so hard for me to leave them, they were just in my tummy and I carried them around with me for a little over 7 months, they are part of me, they are like water and breath to me. How could I leave my babies, but I had to go prepare our home for them. This song was the very first song I heard on the radio as we drove away from the hospital.
I don't need a lot of things I can get by with nothing Of all the blessings life can bring I've always needed something But I've got all I want When it comes to loving you You're my only reason You're my only truth
I need you like water Like breath, like rain I need you like mercy From heaven's gate There's a freedom in your arms That carries me through I need you
You're the hope that moves me To courage again You're the love that rescues me When the cold winds, rage And it's so amazing 'Cause that's just how you are And I can't turn back now 'Cause you've brought me too far
I need you like water Like breath, like rain I need you like mercy From heaven's gate There's a freedom in your arms That carries me through I need you Oh yes I do I need you like water Like breath, like rain I need you like mercy From heaven's gate There's a freedom in your arms That carries me through I need you Oh yes I do I need you I need you
Now that nine years have past and I still listen to this song from time to time, I realize that this song means so much more to me. This song represents my need for Christ. I need Him like I need water and breath, He is mercy from heaven's gate. I can only find freedom in His arms because it is Him who carries me and delivers me. Oh yes, I do need you Jesus, you are the One who rescues me and gives me hope. You are my reason, you are my truth.
Thank you Jesus, I love you....................
On a side note I think about the day I left the hospital I was leaving so I could prepare our home for Thomas and Katelyn. This is exactly what Jesus is doing for us.
John 14:1-6
Jhn 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. Jhn 14:2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Jhn 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Jhn 14:4 And where I go you know, and the way you know." Jhn 14:5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jhn 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Today in my moms devotional book the scripture was Ephesians 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."
The question for today was "What can I do to show my mother how much I appreciate her?"
This really got me thinking, "what can I do?" My mom has done so much for me in my life that I can't even begin to figure out what I can do to show her how much I really do appreciate her. She is the one who raised me, the one who rubbed my back when I was sick, held my hand when I was scared, comforted me when I was sad, encouraged me to be my best and loved me no matter what.
My mom is the most loving, compassionate, patient, understanding, giving and selfless woman I know. I am not just saying this because she is my mom, this who she is! I remember when I was pregnant with Thomas & Katelyn it was her birthday and mothers day within a week from each other and I felt so bad because I couldn't go out and find her a nice gift due to the fact I was on complete bed rest. So I decided to make her a memory jar, I sent Robert out to get some pretty note paper and a jar that I could decorate with ribbon. I just remember sitting in bed for days writing wonderful memories of my mom on these little pieces of paper that were in an assortment of rainbow colors. Back then I thought this was a great way to show her how much I appreciate her, but is this enough???
I asked God to show me and I feel in my heart that He is leading me to show her exactly what she has given me my whole life which is love, compassion, patience, understanding, giving and being selfless. To answer the question "what can I do....." the best thing I can do is by lovingly serving my Lord, my God. By serving Him and putting Him first in my life is when I will be able to bare the fruit of the Spirit. My hope is that my mom will be able to see that and feel that in her heart and that when she looks at me that she will be able to get a glimpse of Jesus and how much He loves her. Wanting my mom to have salvation is the best way I can show her that I appreciate her.
My favorite photo of my mom and I
Today's devotion is extra special to me because it was just a few weeks ago when we had a scare that turned out to be nothing but it really made me realize that I am so blessed. I called my mom early one morning since I know my mom wakes up early. I had a feeling of concern for my grandma. When I called my mom she didn't answer so she must have still been sleeping. Like I said I called her early so where else would she be but still asleep. About an hour later I called again and still no answer so I left a message thinking maybe she woke up hopped in the shower and she'll check the message and call me back. My mom is very predictable, my sister and I know her patterns very well. Also my mom works from home so she doesn't have to leave for work and if she went away somewhere she would have told us and again when I called it was too early for her to go run errands or go shopping. Well another hour has gone by and I don't hear a thing. Finally I call my sister and she said she just talked to her the night before and my mom didn't mention going anywhere. My sister said she would stop by her house on the way to work and call me. Upon arriving to her house my sister started to worry because all of the blinds were closed and again being that my mom is so predictable, she always opens the blinds first thing when waking up. My sister called me and told me to call our grandma thinking maybe she had to leave quickly due to my grandma. My grandma was fine and she didn't know where my mom could be. Last resort my sister called the hospital to make sure she didn't go to the ER. She has done this before since she does get tachycardia attacks sometimes, but that was not the case. At this point my sister and I are freaking out thinking did something happen to her and is she in the house. My sister decided to call 911 and when the police showed up as they were about to break down the door my grandma called me ( 3 hours later) saying that she forgot to mention to me when I called that my mom had a meeting that she had to attend for work and she left the house at 5:30 in the morning. Again this is not like my mom to go somewhere this early. We were so relieved that she was safe and just at a meeting. Hopefully she will give my sister a key to her house so next time she can just easily check up on her. Just that feeling that I got that day was devastating, thinking to myself what would I do without my mom, my best friend, the one who I take after.
I just love my mom so much ever since I could remember I never wanted be be away from my mama. When I was in preschool the teachers would have to pry me away from my mom, in high school I still loved hanging out with my mom. We did everything together, we loved going shopping and every week we would make it a point to have dinner and a movie night. We also have so much in common we always say we are like 2 peas in a pod. Even as I am now a mom myself I still feel like I am a little girl who still needs her mama. We are on the phone quite a bit with one another and I still can't believe I live 8 hours away from her. I won't quit talking her into moving up here to Oregon, but I know she can't because she has to be there to help my loving and precious grandma. I now see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because my grandma is so special to me and I know where my mom gets all her qualities from. I just hope Katelyn will see a glimpse of my grandma and my mom in me one day.
My loving mom, my precious grandma, me & my sweet Katie girl
I love you so much mom and I pray that God will continue to reveal Himself to you and that He will bless you for all that you have done in my life.
The love of my grandmothers love for my mom, my moms love for me and my love for my daughter is just a glimpse of God's deep love for us all.
I thank you Father for showing us how deep your love is and for giving me such a special mom. Please help me be the kind of mom my mom was to me to my children.............please bless my mom. I love you Lord!!! In Jesus name...Amen
As I am sitting here reading other blogs I am also eating some yummy mixed berries. As I am eating them I am coming across some hard, sour & bitter blueberries...yuck. Then I thought to myself "hey that's just like me when I am hard" I am bitter, angry and yucky! When I open my heart to God and let Him in, He makes me soft & sweet. It is then that I get to have the good fruit, the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Galatians 5:22-23
Father God please forgive me for the times my heart is hardened and I am bitter and angry. I pray that my heart is always open and willing to let You in to do a mighty work in my life, what ever that may be. Please remove any yuck in my heart and replace it with Your Spirit. Please soften my heart and make it sweet just like the sweet, juicy, yummy blueberries. I thank you Father that I can have the fruits of the Spirit, only through You....only through You. I love you..........In Jesus precious name, Amen
Your Life as Lord
The time has come
Your life on earth was
You are the potter
Your life was full of
I love you Lord with all my heart
Your life ended here on earth
As I walk through life
Your Life on earth
You are compassionate and faithful
My favorite photo of my mom and I