Walls

Joshua 6:2-5 - 2.Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."

In my quiet time recently, I was lead to the story of Joshua and the city of Jericho. I have read and heard this story many times, but this particular time it was used to help me see where I have been for quite a while.

As I was reading this the other day it made me think of a long time friend of mine who always told me that I built "walls" up around my heart. He could see that when I was hurt, my defense was to put that wall right up to protect myself from being hurt again. I always thought he was crazy saying that, until I was in church a couple of Sundays ago (of course, it was the Sunday after Joshua was my quiet time). I was sitting in church and during worship I realized that for the last year I have had a wall built around my heart. The wall was not towards people, but it was towards God. I know that seems odd to say, but my prayer for the last year has been for God to use me, but to protect me from being hurt again. What I was doing was putting a stipulation on God to say "okay God, here I am. You can use me, but only if I don't get hurt. If I will get hurt, then I'm out". My wall was causing a rift in my relationship to God. Yes, I was reading my Bible daily and praying, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't hear God and I couldn't figure out why until I realized that I had a wall around my heart just like Jericho.

This was a big "AhHa" moment for me. I have to work on surrendering everything everday to Him and not to allow the wall to go back up. If there is a wall that you are holding up, let it go. Surrender it all to God and He will be your refuge.

Taking time

In your life do you ever find yourself doing something without thinking about it? Every morning I get up at usually the same time, depending on how many times I hit the snooze button. Then I go through my routine. Shower, quiet time, makeup, hair, dressed and out the door for work. The other day, I got it in my head that I was going to get up early and go to the gym because I wasn't going to be able to go to after work. I got up at 4:30...yes, I said it, 4:30 a.m. My routine was not normal that day. I actaully think that my body went into shock because I got up that early and on top of that I worked out for an hour!

It made me think that many times we just go through the motions of life. Often I just go through the motions of my day, doing what needs to be done. I get so busy that I don't stop and take time to really spend quality time with others. I am pulled in so many directions that I dont' take the time for what is important. God commanded us to love. Love others as He loves us. Would God ever get so busy that he didn't take the time to listen? That He wouldn't take the time to stop what he is doing to show His love? My life lately has been consumed with work and I have not been taking time to stop and show God's love to others. What is the point to life if we are not doing God's work? I hope when you read this you will stop focusing so much on what isn't getting done and focus more on those that are around you. Work will always be there tomorrow...people may not be.

Praise Him

1 Peter 4:16 - However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

There is a song by Casting Crowns called Praise You In This Storm. It is a very popular song with a powerful meaning. It a hard to do, but when you stop focusing on your problem, and put the focus on God, you will see it, and be able to bear it, in a whole new way.

When I was home for Christmas we had a death in the family. Jim was my mothers cousin(Connie) husband. He was 59 years old and lost his battle with cancer on Christmas day. I did not know the family very well, because I have been away for so long, but what I remember of Jim, he was always smiling and laughing. He adored his wife and loved the Lord. What made me think of this song and verse was my mom telling me something Connie did the Sunday night before Christmas. My mom was at their house and their entire family was there. They knew it was any time that Jim would be going home to see the Lord and mom said that Connie cried out to the Lord to comfort and shelter her. In the face of her husbands death, she cried out to the Lord.

Whenever we face something that we think we will never get through, praise God. Praise Him for everything, no matter what it is. When you are going through something that is tough, if you see God's hand in it, you will learn more about yourself. Trials will make you stronger and will help you learn more about yourself. Praise God for the trial and for what He is going to teach you through it. It will be hard, and you may feel like you won't make it through, but God will comfort you and guide you.

Supply

Phillippians 4:19 - And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus

This morning it was freezing! I didn't sleep at all last night and was really tired, so on my way this morning I wanted Starbucks desperately! As I was trying to make the split decision, I decided that I didn't need it. I have been really praying about my finances and I didn't need to spend $4.00 on a tall chocolate mocha with organic milk. I wanted it, but didn't need to spend the money on something that I didn't need.

There is a difference between what we want and what we need. We live in a world that is bombarded with materialism. Make more money, have the bigger house, better car, more clothes, have more shoes than your neighbor (Not possible living next to Brittany). We see it all the time, and especially with Christmas coming up, it is more prevalent. I won't go off on that subject right now...back to Starbucks...

So, I didn't get Starbucks. I knew that was not where I needed to be spending money. So, this morning at work I got a phone call from one of my Reps. She was at Starbucks and wanted to know if I wanted her to bring me something back. Wooo Hooo! To me that was a little thing that God did just for me.

God will supply you with what you need and bring you blessings when you are obedient to him. I was studying the verse above and I found 4 other times where "glorious riches" was listed in the Bible. The Glorious Riches is God living within you. When you have God in your heart, leading your life, following Him always, He will always supply you with exactly what you need. God knows exactly what you need and will always take care of His children.

Thanksgiving

I am home for Thanksgiving and always love this time of year. The drive up was great because I got to see the changing of the leaves and all the color that it displays up through the State of Kentucky. The weather is great and it is a typical fall day here. The sun is out and there is a cool breeze blowing. Mom is cooking in the kitchen and probably wondering why I am not helping her. My nephews and neice are here and there is a lot of conversation going on. Tomorrow is the big day where we are going to eat a lot of food and have multilple conversations going on at one time. My favorite part of my family is the conversation. To some people it would be annoying, but being sisters we can have 4 conversations going on at once and we can pick up in the middle of another conversation and then back to the other conversation without missing a beat. We share a connection that no one would understand unless they had their own.

I am very thankful for my family. My three sisters are my best friends and I love them dearly. They each married 3 men who love them for who they are. My parents are so funny and listening to them cracks me up. Family is something to appreciate and love and not to take for granted. They stand by you and support you no matter what. Living far away I try to not take them for granted. You never know when the last time you are going to see someone will be. Take the time to spend special time with your family this holiday and be thankful for them. Tell them you love them, and thank them for what they mean to you.

worried

Have you ever had the Lord lay a particular verse on your heart? It happens to me often, but this morning I have no doubt that God was preparing me for my day. I was going to my kitchen to get coffee and begin my quiet time, and I was talking to the Lord when the verse in Phillipians came to mind: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. I was sort of dreading going in today because I was gone Monday and Tuesday traveling and knew that it was going to be extremely busy for me today. When I went to do my bible study for today, guess what...the verse from Phillipians was a part of my quiet time. I knew that God was telling me something.


My quiet time was about worry. How often are we consumed with worry? I know it is often. I used to worry all the time about everything when I was younger. Now, I really make effort to not worry so much and give God complete control. It is so hard to do when you do not know the outcome of something. What will all the worry accomplish? Honestly, it will accomplish nothing. All it will do is make things worse for you. What in your life do you need to give completely to God. Take your worries and requests to God. He will never fail you.

Sixty

A couple weekends ago I went to Ohio for my dad's 60th birthday party. It was so great because of everyone that came to celebrate with him. My immediate family, my mom's brother, sister and spouses, and all of my dads siblings and their spouses, were there. What was so cute about my dad was that he really seemed moved for a birthday that "he didn't want us to make a big fuss about". It was so fun to watch him get to enjoy just being with everyone and spending time with them. All of his sisters and brother went around and told something they remembered about my dad when he was growing up. That was one of the sweetest moments I remember about the night because those are stories that we don't get to hear as his kids. We have memories of him as our dad, but to hear other people talk about the fun stuff he did growing up was very meaningful to me. It occurred to me that he was more than just my dad. He was a brother, son, friend and husband. He is so many things to so many people.

My dad works very hard, and way too much. I used to get mad about this (and sometimes still do) because I think his life has become his job a little too much. What I do admire about my dad doing this is that he is extremely responsible for what he has to do. He takes pride in doing a good job and does it well. He was raised to work and take care of his family and that is what he does. My dad is an amazing man and I can only hope to have a husband like him one day. I don't remember my dad talking too much, and that is probably because he had a house of full of five women. It is hard to get a word in when you have that many females together. But the older I get the more I respect my dad and what he has to say. We don't talk too often, but when we do we have great conversations and I cherish them. I love talking to him about life and of course, when was the last time I checked my oil.

There are two times I remember that I wish I would have listened to my dad. Both times were regarding someone I was dating. One was in High School when I was absolutely dating the wrong person, and dad told me he didn't like me dating him (boy, I wish I would have listened) and the second was someone I was dating a couple years ago. He was the only one who said he thought he wasn't the right person for me. Looking back, I know why he said it but at the time I thought no way...he was so wrong about it. So much hurt would have been avoided if I would have listened to him. Dad says these things because he loves me. He wants to protect me and lead me in the right direction. God is our heavenly father and my dad is my earthly father, but how powerful is the resemblence between the two.

I was thinking about this as I drove back from Ohio and wondered how often do we do that to God? How many times have you or I had that gentle nudging from the Holy Spirit and ignored it because we wanted to do what we wanted to do? God wants us to listen to Him and seek His wisdom everyday. We are all God's children and He loves us unconditionally. He will lead us if we rely on Him completely no matter what we are going through. Go to God with your request and trust in Him. Psalm 62:8 - Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.