I was just meditating on what it means for a believer in Christ to "Fear the Lord." Personally, it is to revere, or hold in deep respect, who God is, and all that He asks. Obedience and submission is not done solely to avoid the wrath of God, but because I know that God's askance of what I do, or don't do is so that I don't have to deal with the consequences that are associated with an act. Every action has a built in consequence, be it a good consequence, or a bad consequence. For me, as a believer, to fear the Lord is for me to revere, or respect what God's written Word says. If God says, "This is something I do not want you to do, or it is an abomination" i.e. I deeply dislike ______fill in the blank, then, I can be a foolish woman and do it anyways, or I can fear the Lord, and be a wise woman knowing that there is a built in consequence to my disobedience, and revere or hold in deep respect what God says to do, or not do, as the case may be.
In other words, for me to willing know that God hates an act, and to know He desires for me to not engage or participate in doing something, and I do so anyways, means it's all on me, not God. I have no right to blame Him, because I must deal with the consequences of my actions. But, I as a believer in Christ, have EVERY right to run to God and ask for forgiveness, and repent of my stupidity! God is all about leaving His door wide open for our repentance. But understand, we will never get God to change His mind on what He considers sin. If that's your goal, get over it, it will never happen. If God says, "Stop it, don't do it," then cut it out of your life! Fear the Lord, and make it easier on yourself. God is telling you not to, or to do so for all good reasons.
Sometimes life gets crazy. And when it gets that way, as believers we have only one choice, and that is to pull out our Spiritual tool box! At this point in my walk I have been to the edge of so many ledges, its starting to not phase me like it used to. If you are a believer in Christ walking out you own journey of faith, I am sure that statement applies the same to you. Don't get me wrong...when life gets this way, it still frustrates me; except now I've collected a Spiritual box full of Godly tools to use at my disposal. When "it" hit, I prayed, found my scriptures, notified my prayer warriors, and put my circumstances on notice, Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those, who are called according to His purpose." There are things that God foreknew would happen in my life, that He has already made provision for in my Jeremiah 29:11 plan. Contingency plans have already been made for me, should I decide at the time they happen to trust in Him. Regardless of strong opposing winds, blinding lightening, and fallen limbs in my path, God has a plan to keep me in my blessed place. The key is that I must remain still, so that I can see and hear from God, as to which paths to walk. When my path seems blocked, I must ask, "Where am I to go now Lord, which direction?" I must ask this question at every obstacle. God is my faithful guide, that will hold my hand, and one that I need never worry about leaving me, or leading me astray. Through the redemption of Christ, there is a blessed place that can be seen past the veil, called my promise land.
We all have a promise land. Its that forever expanding plot of spiritual land full of blessings, that is watered, and tended by God. This is the blessed place we long to stay in always. However, unpleasant life events have a way of barging in. And when that happens, you realize that is just part of living, and life will do that. But even though that is so, the key to overcoming, is to walk hand in hand with the Creator God-the master Gardener.
So for those times when life gets crazy, pull out your spiritual tool box, use your tools at your disposal, and with the aid of Christ beside you, see your way past the obstacles that veil your existence in your promised land. Wherever you are, as long as you are in Christ, you are forever blessed. Your promised land is a spiritual sweet spot that God watches over.
Disagreeing with someone's behavior does not mean you hate that person. It just means you disagree with their behavior. If their behavior is contrary to What God says don't do, or what He clearly says He doesn't like, don't allow them to pull the hypocrite card on you, because you won't agree with them. Because, technically, you too could pull the hypocrite card on them based on God's Word. Own your sin, don't try to make it out to not be a sin. The condemnation card won't work either. Me saying I won't agree with your behavior, because God's Word speaks against it, does not mean I am condemning you. It is the Word of God that does that, and you are going to have to take it up with Him, because His Words are His. You can't un-sin what God calls a sin. If it is in His Word, thats His stand. Sin does not affect just one person, it affects us all. It has the potential to alter the mindset, the norm, and the direction of us all. That is why there should always be opposition to sin. Its not about hate or love, or free choice. Its about what does God say about "It." What is "It?" You name it.
What a great day! Its a Saturday morning. Miss Caity and I have already been out to take care of her, ahem, "Business" between rain drops. Then we decided to see if we could find a groomer to clip her nails, that she refuses to let me do for free. I can do the front ones, but she axes any attempt at the back ones. So we took a misty ride out in the country to search for a dog groomer that I just happened upon the other day. I know y'all won't believe this, but you know how I've been saying God is on Team Flowerchic's side when it comes to blessing? Well, I found out as I was pulling into the parking lot that she clips nails for free the first Saturday of every month. Woohoo! Today is the first Saturday of May! So Caity the dog got her nails clipped for FREE! I had her do a sanity strip for her lil rear end too. The only glitch is you have to visit the candle shop in the other room, where her mother has a business. Had to is probably a harsh word for me, because I love candles. She had a sale going on today, so my Mother's Day gift has already been bought. She is gift wrapping it for me now, and I'll pick my package up in a couple of hours after running errands. Score two for team Flowerchic!
Caity's new BF
Too Yummy @ The Candle Bakery
The Candle Bakery's Baker
Does anybody remember the Heinz tomato ketchup commercial where they tilt a bottle of ketchup over fries as they played that song called, Anticipation? I do, and it was a fact that you had to wait for the ketchup to exit the bottle. It didn't just pour out. The great thing about anticipation is every time you think about what is to take place, you get that "giddiness" inside, that reflects the joy to come. As long as you can stay in that present state, and not slip into despair, you can enjoy the wait till your blessing manifests, as it surely will. Here is a scripture a friend of mine reminded me of yesterday. "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, whose thoughts are fixed on You. Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock." Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT I like that scripture.
We must be on guard to not allow ourselves to slip into despair when we are praying, and waiting for our blessings to manifest. The Word is a reminder that it is possible to enjoy the wait in faith by keeping our thoughts fixed on the Lord. I know just recently, I became weary in waiting for a prayer request I made the beginning of last summer, but I held on to the fact that God would most definitely show up in the perfect time, and He did just that. The key is to stay in God's Word daily, not as a ritual, but for encouragement. We get bombarded in this walk with so many hardships, and negativity, that without renewing our minds we can almost feel like we are loosing our minds.
I was thinking about the process of waiting in faith, when the following thoughts entered my mind during my meditation time with the Lord. I had the presence of mind to write it all down.
"You can take the hardheaded route, or you can walk with God within His Principles. You can bang your head up against the wall, or you can walk thru the door supernaturally with God. You can have it your way, and receive little or no results, or you can do it God's way and live in abundance. Its really up to you. You can embrace God, or you can reject God. But you can't have it both ways, and receive from God. He can't be both your friend and your greatest foe, in your mind."
COME TO THE PURPLE DOOR WITH FLOWERCHIC and visit with me again sometime. Bring your cup of java and sit a spell. I enjoy talking about the Lord, and how good He is. I guess I'm a lot like my dad. He is always talking about who all he talked to about the Lord during his ripping and running and running and ripping around town. He grabs his "I love Jesus" hat every morning and heads out to his favorite eating place, to see who all he can find to discuss how good God is. Stay blessed!
I got up later than usual this Sunday morning in order to get my taxes done for free! The State of Illinois has a grant that provides free tax service on a first come, first serve basis every year on Super Bowl Sunday. I got in and out pretty quick once they got started. Thats another checkmark off my to do list. So, 2010 is officially over. Gooooood riddance!
Sista had to go to Wal-mart, so I tagged along for the ride. We got groceries, and we both got our hair cut while we were there. Very convenient that Wal-mart.
Ziggy and Caity are sprawled out in front on the heater as I type. They are staring at the heat coils, together. Who would have thunk, they would have become buds, when I first brought Caity home. Caity hates cats, she has grown to like Ziggy, but only because he lets her chase him. The other day, Ziggy turn the tables on Caity. He started chasing Caity though the house. For a split second, Caity turned around to make sure she was really being chased by the cat (to her surprise.) Then turned back around and ran for her life. As if to say, "This is new, whats gotten in to you? You'll never catch me!"
Sista does not have any pets. She is amazed that the pets and I know what each other are thinking. My friends with pets are amazed that she is amazed. They are like, "Duh, of course we do!" And, I am like, "I know! How can she not know this!" Yesterday was Girlfriend's Day Out. A group of church friends get together when we each can once a month for lunch. As we started getting our coats on, we were saying how we had to rush off to let the dog(s) out, or feed the pets, while Sista just shook her head. She things we are pet whipped. I guess we are since my friend Suzanne and I took doggie bags home to share with our animals, Red Lobster, no less.
I've been invited to a Super Bowl party for non-super bowl fanatics, where instead of watching the game we play cards and board games. But all I want to do is enjoy a Sunday nap and read some more of my book.
A good nap is what I've decided to do. So sleepy. COME TO THE PURPLE DOOR WITH FLOWERCHIC next time...and I have no idea what we'll talk about.
