Sshhh...Its a Secret!

Ok. I am going to suck it up and say that I have been working on art for the past year! I have been hoarding, I mean stocking my supplies. I do not have a real studio area yet; the garage worked til it got too cold. I have been practicing alot here and there, but I don't have enough confidence to post any pictures quite yet. I'm working on that too. :0)  Pray the Lord will help me!

It Can't Be Done

"The reason some of us are such poor specimens of Christianity is because we have no Almighty Christ. We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying – "Of course He cannot do any thing," and we struggle down to the deeps and try to get the water for ourselves. Beware of the satisfaction of sinking back and saying – "It can’t be done"; you know it can be done if you look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness is deep, but make the effort and look away to Him." -Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest 2/27


This really hit home for me today. You can fill in the blank with whatever you "it" is. 


This makes me think of two verses:
...Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Mark 9:24b


Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no varibleness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

Are You Ready for Battle? Then...Don't Slouch!

My children attend Bible camp in TN and one of their teachers is Mrs. Sheila Doom who's father was the great missionary James Stewart. Throughout the rest of the year Mrs. Sheila sends out emails to the campers encouraging them in the Lord. The following is one such email, the most recent one in fact. I read it this morning and feel led to post it here on my blog. I hope you are blessed.

Dear Troops,

Just wanted you to know that when I pray, I don't pray for a ballet troup or a bunch of sr. citizens who want to play shuffle board and checkers!  I am praying for an army of men --yes, and women too, who will commit to doing battle for the Lord.

I just read a marvelous billboard for the Marines.  It said, "We are not looking for applicants; just commitments!"  I like that.  The Lord requires that and much more. 

So, I know it is not time for camp yet, but it is time to stay watchful and wary of the Enemy.  It is right when you get your eyes off of the present and on to the future blessing of campmeeting or camp, that he will sneak up on you.  I encourage you to

   

I. STAND.

          A. Don't slouch!  be lazy or dull or sleepy.  Be wide awake. 

          B. Don't stagger, first to the one side of faithfulness and then to the other side of indifference.

          C. Don't slide--"moved about with every wind of doctrine."

          D. Don't surrender , giving ground to the Enemy and giving up, instead of reclaiming that ground!  

II. PUT ON --the Whole Armor of God

1. A. Girdle or Belt of Truth--know Truth; wear it morning, noon and night.  Never take it off.  Keep you loins 

   girt about with Truth, braced for action.  Ready to give an answer for the hope that is within thee. Ready

    to defend what you believe at a moment's notice.  Ready to contest with the Devil when he tries to put

    lies in your head and accuses God to you or you to God.

          B. Breastplate of Righteousness -- that which covers the vital organs such as our heart, our mind, and our

 thoughts and emotions, desires.  Satan's tactic is to make you go by your feelings instead of the facts

 of God's Word.  Feel saved, don't feel saved; feel a failure, full of fears, full of doubt.  Remember that

 our feelings are not a measure of our condition. The Word is! 

          C. Sandals -- feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  Give a firm stance to keep us from

 falling or sliding.  Causes us to be ready, firm, resolute, watchful and alert!  What does this?

                     Peace with God -- blessed assurance; Jesus is mine! 

                     Peace of God -- nothing between my soul and my Saviour!

           D. Shield of Faith

 

     Whoops! Off to another meeting and no time to finish.  Will send second installment next week.  Love you guys!  Mrs. Sheila

"Arise and Eat."

Can you tell I've had a bad month? How, because I haven't written a post for a whole month.  Well, we all have excuses for not doing things. They are usually pretty good excuses too, like falling down the stairs or getting sick.  But when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, we all do what we want to do.  In my case I didn't feel like writing something spiritual on my blog because I felt BLAH!  I think it goes in cycles with me: on a roll and doing well, become distracted with daily troubles, get discouraged by attack of the enemy, fall into the doldrums where everything can wait, then depressed where nothing is actually bad, but everything is seen that way. Go figure.

So, what is one of the first thing that slips when you are doing well?  Bible reading or devotions.  I love the children's song that says, "Neglect your Bible, forget to pray and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink, BUT read your Bible, pray everyday and you'll grow, grow, grow."  So simple.  Why is it so hard?  well, I know for one thing, the enemy wants to keep Christians from being effective.  Also, I think that many of our generation lack discipline and structure; I know I do.  However, how do we overcome?  How do we, as Christians, get past ourselves and get to the Lord?  I'll tell you my own experience.

I am going along, day by day, unmotivated and miserable, knowing that I am not right.  I pray that the Lord would help me to get over myself and to forgive me for my failures and sin.  He helps me when I pray.  Well, duh, I say to myself.  When I don't read the Word for myself, the Lord lovingly gives it to me in church.  You know that chastening thing He does.  I am so grateful that the Lord chastens us so softly and gently!  The message was about Elijah and when he was having a pity party under the juniper tree. Sometimes the big evergreen tree beside our house looks a lot like a juniper tree!  When we get our eyes off of the Lord God and onto ourselves it is always depressing!  After the Lord let Elijah rest, He sent a angel to him with some breakfast and said, "Arise and eat."  So, I left thanking the Lord for showing me that, yes, He has dealt with people like me before.  I was encouraged, but unbeknowst to me, I still didn't get it.  Until I woke up this morning at 3:30 am with an upset stomach.  As I was in the thinking room, I was thinking of writing on this blog and it hit me,

"Arise and Eat!"

Oh, right, now I get it!  Get up and read my Bible!  Arise and feast on the Bread of Heaven.  So simple.  Sometimes I make things harder than they really are.