ENJOY, LOVE, GIVE

What's Your Destiny?

I've been learning lately what it means to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength". To love God with such a fierce love that my desire is to worship Him, to spend time in His presence, to be with Him only. I feel driven by this desire, it's my life line, my only hope, my DESTINY. To fall in love with Jesus, to turn to Him and say "I love you" to be an amazing lover of the Son of God. To be defined by my love for God, when others look at me they only see the glory of God in my very being. This may sound pretty radical, but I think God is calling us to be radical for Him. We need to not only understand who we are in Christ, how He sees us, but we need to move closer to God's own heart and fall deeply, madly in love with the most powerful man that ever walked on this planet.

If this is your hearts cry, come join us for a night of Praise & Worship every Thursday night at 7:30pm at Maranatha.

PRAYER

I had a talk with someone today about prayer. We were talking about how sometimes when we've prayed for someone about a certain situation for a long time we sometimes don't know what to pray after praying the same thing for so long. It some how feels stale in a way, I suppose. Then we discussed how praying a prayer of adoration over them seems to be so much easier. Some how when you just take time to thank God for who He is in someones life (or your own life) the words and thoughts just seem to come so much easier. It's easy if you know who God is and if you understand that ALL the promises in His word are for you. Prayer all of a sudden becomes this new and exciting thing that you want to do all the time, sometimes I do it without even really thinking about it. It just seems to become a part of you, God really is that good, He really wants all that is best for you. He is always there whether you feel Him or not. So, if your prayer life feels a little stale or you feel like your prayers are not even 'reaching the ceiling' I encourage you to just take some time out of your day to thank God for who He is in every situation in your life. And watch Him change how you see things.

What Does Your Testimony Look Like?

Sunday morning I was challenged on many levels, enlarging my heart, my mind, my understanding of who God really is...

One thing really stuck out for my though and that was the statement that "your testimony won't be about all the bad things that happened to you that God saved you from, but rather it might be about all the bad things that God protected you from." Or at least it went something like that. Many of us never did all the "bad" things (drugs, smoking, drinking, stealing...) that some do that God saves them from and they have this "great" testimony that a lot of us can't identify with, but are amazed at how God had continually restored them after they went through so many hard years.

Some of us came from good homes, actually made mostly good decisions and feel like we don't have a marvelous testimony to share. But what if we looked back on our lives and testified on all the things that God had protected us from through the years. All those times when we were about to make a bad decision and we didn't, we were going to speed, but chose to slow down, the times we were going to go home one way, but decided to take another route only to find out that there had been a terrible car accident on the route we were going to take right around the time we would have driven by. God is always with us and I think so many times we really don't realize how involved in our lives He is, I'm guilty of it, that I know.

It got me thinking about my life and when I think back I can testify to many, many times that God protected me. I didn't necessarily know it then, but looking back, I see it so very clearly and I thank God for ALWAYS being by my side weather I acknowledge Him or not.

"Yet I am always with you, you hold me by my right hand." Psalm 73:23

WOW, I AM is always with me! Thank you Jesus!

TRUST

...the dictionary tells me TRUST means: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person, a person on whom one relies, something entrusted to ones care for safekeeping.

I'm learning to TRUST God with not only my heart, my life, my marriage, my children, my friendships. I have to rely on someone's integrity, strength, ability and surety, I have to entrust someone to care for all of this for safekeeping. I know I can't take good enough care of these things, I would rather just trust God to do it. He has enough integrity, strength, ability and surety then I or anyone else could ever have.

If God can take care of such a fragile being as the Jelly Fish, then surely he can take even better care of me. He tells us not to worry because even the birds of the air don't have to worry about what they will wear or eat, they trust God to take good care of them. How much more won't our very own Heavenly Father take care of us...

Do you believe that God has enough integrity to see you through your tough times? Is He strong enough for you? Can you hang onto the fact that He is able to keep you from all harm? Do you understand that all He wants is to love you and keep you safe?

All we have to do is TRUST Him!

I Have This INCREDIBLE Friend...

Her name is Ruth and she has a heart so big I don't even have words to describe it. She has done many good things for many needy people. Last month she had a garage sale to make money for layettes for mothers that come into the Crisis Pregnancy Centre and don't have anything to support their beautiful new babies. The people there have helped many mothers through the years. She was able to put together 12 layettes and within the first few weeks six of them were passed out to needy families. So, because of her large heart, she has decided to put together some more layettes of love to pass on.

Here is a message she has of her recent blog:
PLEASE HELP US BLESS THESE LITTLE ONES. The voice of the next generation. The ones who have been born into difficult & heartbreaking circumstances.

If you have receiving blankets, panotene cream, baby bottles, baby shampoo, size 1 diapers, baby towels, baby wash cloths, wipes, sweater sets, size 0-3 onezies...and so much more, let me know. Also, I can forward you the complete list of items we are hoping to get for each layette...and for the wee ones they will provide for.

You can contact her at ruth.bergen@gmail .com if you are interested in helping out. You can also email me or leave a message here if you would like to help.

Thanks so much!

The Blessings of the Lord

God wants to bless us, He wants to bless us more than we can imagine, the question is...How much are we going to trust Him with?

There are some people going out on a mission trip next week from our church, they needed over $60,000 to cover all of their expenses for the trip and they only shared this with the congregation four months ago. My mind went crazy...$60,000 in four months! Impossible!

Except for Christ....

They are leaving in five days and ALL the money is in, I think they even have more than they needed. The question was asked... What are we going to ask for, a thimble full, a paint can full or a barrel full? God ALWAYS wants to fill the barrel, all we need to do is ask. You know, "ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open..."

Here's the thing, the barrell that we ask God to fill is only like a thimble to Him, He always has more then enough for us, more then we can ever imagine or hope for.

So, next time you are trusting God for something in your life try this... instead of telling Him what you need or asking for a certain amount, just tell Him that you love Him and you trust Him to do what is best and sit back baby because you will NOT believe what He will do!!

This I know, that God is for me. Psalm 56:9

This I know!! My God is for me, no matter where I am, no matter what I am doing, in good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, grumpy times....MY God is for me. I love it that He is always by my side, weather I acknowledge Him or not, weather I feel Him or not, the word says He is ALWAYS for me.

So, as we prepare for this long weekend, remember God is for you, He wants to spend it with you, (maybe you could dance with Him) invite Him along and enjoy the ride!

Have a wonderful weekend!

My Peace, My Rest

Psalm 37:4-5, 7
(We) delight (ourselves) in (You, O) Lord;
And (You) will give us the desires of (Your) heart.
(We) commit (our) way to (You, O) Lord,
(We) trust also in (You), and (You) will do it.
(We) rest in (You, O) Lord and wait patiently for (You).

You are our rest, O Lord. Those things that concern us are in Your hands, You will see to them. We will trust, enjoy Your pasture, commit our way to You., and wait patiently upon You. AMEN!

Robert Fraser ACTS Scriptures

I have set the LORD always before me: because [he is] at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8

This verse has penetrated my heart lately. "He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved!" What a powerful statement, even more powerful when you let it soak into your heart instead of your head. He, God, the maker of heaven and earth, the King of kings, God most high, is ALWAYS at my right hand. All I have to do is take it and "I shall not be moved!"
Then further down in that Psalm it says, "You will show me the path of life, in Your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (vs 11)
All God asks us to do is to love Him, the second part of that is that we should love our neighbors as ourselves, but here's the thing... if we love God, I mean, truly love God, spend time each day in adoration (telling God how much we love Him) then loving others flows out of our love for God himself. It becomes automatic, 'in His presence is FULLNESS of joy". Out of that fullness, we love those around us without even trying!
GOD IS GOOD!
So this next week, I encourage you to take some time to adore God, tell Him you love Him, thank Him for who He is and watch Him open up the floodgates of love to those around you!

I've Learned to Love Golf

For a long time now, I've watched golf on tv with my husband. Not because I liked it, but because he liked it and I wanted to spend time with him. Then, I actually went golfing with him one summer once, I think, maybe twice. The following summer the same, not to often, but once or twice. After that he wanted to go buy me some of my own golf clubs, but I kindly declined explaining to him, as much as I loved spending time with him out there, I just couldn't see myself golfing more than once or twice a summer and so I really didn't need my own clubs. Well, it's been almost 14 years now since he started golfing, last summer I got my own clubs and we go golfing together as often as we can. I've learned to love golfing, mostly I've learned that he loves golfing and it's really fun to be out there with him watching him do something he does really well. He would like to do better, and he will, I on the other hand, do horrible, but it's still fun because we do it together. He's very patient with me, he hits his ball once and then I hit my ball anywhere from 2 to 5 times to catch up to him and on we go. So, any ways, that's how I learnd to love golf.

Buliding Community

"Sometimes it is the person closests to us who must travel the furthest distance to be our friend." >Robert Brault

There's a lot of talk around here about building community, in other words, taking time out of our busy schedules to get to know those around us. So many of us feel like we don't have any close friends, I'm one of them, I often feel very seperated from everyone around me. When I look around and see others talking or spending time together, I wonder why it's never me that's there. I realized that I have to start by looking from the outside in, what I am I doing to build community. Sure I've had people over, but not nearly as often as I could or should. Why is it that those that are closest to me need to work so hard to be my friend? What am I doing or not doing that makes it hard for them to get close to me? Then I realize that if I'm not willing to "stop and smell the roses" or slow down and invite someone over even if my house is a mess or the laundry is not done I can't very well look at others and wonder why they don't want me over.

I'm really going to start making an effort to have people over more, I really think it's important. Gone are the days when someone just 'stopped by for a visit' without calling, I really do like it when people just pop in, but in our day and age that just does not happen any more. I'm just going to have to take the time to make the phone call, maybe even more than one, after all one might be busy and won't be able to make it so it might actually take some effort on my part. I've resolved to do it though, even if it means I have to try more than once. After all, building community is loving others and that is what God has called us to.

"If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been." Robert Brault

Prayers, we speak, think and hope so many of them. As a mom of two teenagers and one soon to be I'm finding this stage of life hard, hard on my heart. I love my kids with all my heart, like moms do. I guess in the process of raising kids you have your own ideas, hopes and dreams for them, then, low and behold, they come into their own. Some you have to push out of the nest, even if we don't want to, others seem to be trying to get out too soon and you do everything you can in your power to keep them until you know it's safe for them to go. In the end we just have to trust, first of all God, that He will go with them, that they will hear His Holy Spirit speak to them and they will listen and follow. Then I think we also have to trust that we did the best we could in raising them, that we loved enough, shared enough, and lived well enough that they make good decisions. We definitely have to trust them, that they will make mistakes, but that they are strong enough, wise enough, and confident enough to learn from those mistakes and to continue on.

So I'll keep on praying, I won't stop and in the process I'll pray for others in their generation as well.

Won't you pray with me?

It's been too long...

It's been a really long time since I've been here and I'm not to sure that I really want to start this again. Why? I'm not sure. There probably isn't even anyone out there still checking on me, I'm sure you've all given up and I don't blame you.

2010, wow! Where has the time gone? It's seems like just a while ago everyone was panicing about Y2K, computers crashing, stocking your basement with food and water, what was going to happen to us! Crazy how the media can get us to worry about the silliest things.

So, my wish for this year....Health, happiness, peace for me and my family and friends. God is so big, if we just trust in Him, give our lives, problems, 'things' over to Him, He can take much better care of them then we can, trust me, I know! I challenge you, if you're struggling with stuff, things in your life that just don't seem to get better, no matter what you do, give it over to God today...He will do better then you can even imagine! He will shock and amaze you, just give Him a chance!

Well, for now, that's it...this may get lost in cyber space, I've been gone so long, but maybe this will find just the right people at just the right time!

Blessings to all who read this! xoxo