Love 4 AMAZED

A Prayer #GW4365

2016-11-05T09:52:00.000-04:00

GOOD Morning!

So I can honestly say that I have been reading the Bible every day since my last blog save one day.
Although I can also honestly admit that I have not been taking the time to really study and reflect on what I have been reading since my last blog.
I suppose for all intent and purposes this blog is my accountability partner.
I started a Bible plan on YouVersion that leads me to read the New Testament in 40 days. Today I am on day 3 and found myself in Matthew Chapter 13. In reading Jesus' parables about the farmer scattering seed and decided that it would be a good basis for a prayer. So based on Matthew 13:13-23 here is my prayer.

Lord God let the Holy Spirit open my eyes to see. I accept the Holy Spirit's guidance to hear and really listen and understand your word by His wisdom knowing He lives in me.
I ask that you soften my heart to understand, open my ears to hear and open my eyes to see your truth.
I turn to Jesus and let Him heal me.
Bless my eyes to see. Bless my ears to hear.
In Jesus name I rebuke the evil one from stealing the truth from my heart.
I pray that the word reaches my heart and sticks to it like honey to it so that I may remain focused on God.
I pray that the word reaches my heart and sticks to it like honey to it so that in the face of problems or persecution I will retain the gift of joy from the Holy Spirit.
I pray that God's word stick like honey in my spirit and heart allowing me to have faith in God's promises knowing I have nothing to worry about and no earthly treasure that will supplicate God's truth. God's truth and word will produce great fruit in my life.
God's truth found in the infallible word He has blessed us with in the Holy Bible will produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as has been planted in my heart.
I pray ask and receive all this in the name of Jesus Christ the Messiah, my Saviour who although was without sin bore the burden of my sin for me at the Cross at Calvary so that I may be reunited with God the father.
Amen

That is my prayer for myself and you today.

Matthew is such a great book. I find myself highlighting mostly all of the words found within it.

I will officially start my #GW4365 journey today. Saturday November 5th, 2016 and will conclude GW4365 November 4, 2017. I pray God gives me the grace I need to stay devoted and commited to this journey.

Crystal Banks

#GW4365

2016-10-28T14:38:00.000-04:00

GOOD AFTERNOON!

Wow! I forgot to check the date of my last blog entry but I can be sure it was years ago.

I've recently had a strong desire to start studying the word of God again.

I bought myself a beautiful gold journal and a new compact NIV Bible so that I would be even more excited to get back into the Bible.

Today was my first day. I have been reading intermittently on YouVersion but, I like to have a solid book in my hand and bible study notes that I can pick up easily and go read over what I studied.

I quit smoking today for the thousanth time. But today will be the final time.

I studied Galatians 5:13, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 2 Timothy 4:7!

Fruits of the Spirit which include self-control through the Holy Spirit that lives within me as a believer in Jesus Christ baptized in the Spirit. I am done smoking forever. :)

As I started studying to strengthen my commitment with the word of God I was reminded of GW4365. God's word for 365 days! I want to re commit myself to this venture and I intend on reading the Bible and writing about what I learn for an entire year.

A years journey! I will recommence writing more about the lessons God showed me as I used to but for today, this is a call to arms! Grab you Bible & join me :)

I'm so glad that the God of the universe opened His arms, welcomed me back home and once again calls me His child.

Truly blessed.

Ministries of Men

2012-01-17T00:19:00.000-05:00

2 Timothy 2:4 "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer."

That verse came to me when I saw a new ministry within a local church. Do not involve yourself in ministries of men. Stay with the ministries of God which please HIM. That is how I knew I shouldn't be involved in that ministry. It got me to thinking though.

I have quite a few things on the go. My first blog is this blog, Love4AMAZED. I meant for it to be a parenting and family oriented blog because I have a big passion for families, including my own :) If what we go through can encourage and help others I really want to be able to do that. I started blogging on MSN Live Spaces and carried the blog over when Spaces closed down. Love4AMAZED is likely the only thing I do that wasn't "Inspired".... directly anyhow.

I then started God's Word for 365 in the summer to blog about and read God's Word Daily and be held accountable via blog. I just started blogging that on my Love4AMAZED blog to keep things simple. But I found that intertwining the two was difficult because I had family and child revelations that I wanted to share that didn't really fit in with my GW4365 that day or what have you.

Most recently I have started Eating4God, a record of my journey in eating as a way for honouring and worshipping God, feeding our spirit instead of feeding our flesh. A vision started this blog as well... my first vision in a dream.

BUT. My FIRST BIG passion is ACTION.. :) I didn't know it at the time but ACTION. was my first vision. That explains why it all seemed to real... it's kind of funny to me know that I know what it is that I jumped so quickly on it. ACTION 2.5 years after the vision isn't even really on the table. But I still have a phone line, fax line and web domain for ACTION.! lol The vision was so real to me that I know it's going to come to pass, I'm just waiting for God's timing :)

That is alot of things on the go isn't it? Some people might think it's too much on the go if you add in our 6+1 children to the mix :) I would agree with those people likely... but since I am the one that have started all of them and now I sit wondering how to juggle all of them, I have to disagree :)

I have tried with all of these mini ministries to gain "friend" support or family support to no avail. I mean obviously I have a few family members that support me but when I have over 100 family members on facebook and the ones that have spend the most time with me don't support my mini ministries it's difficult. I have tried to get my church peeps support or church support to no avail. There is really nothing that I have tried to start that has gone any where... and yet here I sit continuing to "start" things. Some people would wonder why I bother since clearly nobody I know is intending on supporting me in my efforts. And THIS blog is the answer.

Every single thing that I have started, every facebook fan page, blog, flyer, handout, plan that I have started was given to me by way of a vision from God. Do you know what that means? It means that I didn't really start it at all.... it means that God did. Now the revelation to this is that since all of these things are NOT mine and I am simply doing what I have been asked to do with them, I am not as disheartened when people reject them. I see it for what it is, people rejecting God. Which makes me sad on some other levels and yes I have to fight the devil about not getting any personal support but at the end of the day, ACTION., GW4365, Eating4God is all God's.

In the spring of 2011 I had a vision for a children's ministry outline. Wow was I on fire for that. I thought maybe God gave it to me to write curriculum or maybe God's intention was to send me down that path! I was so excited for it! I was laying in my bed trying to sleep and these thoughts and word flooded my brain and I knew what it was right away! A vision for the kids ministry program! I was so thankful I couldn't stop thanking God for the gift! I can't remember the name that came to me for it now ... I still have the notes but I won't bother to go search them out now. I had SUCH a fire and an excitement and I was SO excited to share this vision with my church's kids ministry to implement! I knew that THIS was God's vision for this church. I shared my vision and my passion for this vision, I had a meeting and poured out all my ideas, inspirations, experience from Home & School volunteer time and at the end of the day I was politely told that after sharing this vision given to me and after the ministry was going to implement almost all of my ideas, that I was to longer have part in it. Obviously the story is bigger than that but that is the condensed version. Not that any of those details mattered then or now. God showed me so much through that situation and it took me a long time.. okay like almost a year to see this for what it was.

The kids ministry program and outlines and ideas were a vision that God GAVE to me. Most of it was implemented and I see the fruits of that vision today. I'm not involved in it but God's will is being done. At the end of the day that's all that matters. I am very very happy that I was able to be used by God to help bring about some change that He wanted to show us. It just took me awhile to appreciate the situation for what it was. God using me. WOW :) I like it :) None of it was of me, it was ALL of Christ. I was just the messenger being taught some lessons along the way.

ACTION. or GW4365 or Eating4God... are all visions that God GAVE ME. As long as I am faithful in doing what he has shown me and asked me to do, THAT is all that matters. I don't know how these visions will be used but I MUST be faithful in what God has asked me to do with them. And I know it's going to be awesome! Tomorrow I'm going to delve into some plans I have been inspired by for GW4365. The reason I love GW4365 so much is because it has honestly changed my life. Reading the Bible now for almost six months everyday has completely and utterly changed my life. I know why God lead me to this... it's His heart for US to be close to Him! Everything becomes clearer, I know who I am in Christ ten-fold what I did before I started on my GW4365 journey. Now I'm going to ramp it up! & hopefully I'm going to share that with you tomorrow!

Until then God Bless you! Be BOLD in the things that God has given you! Even if you do it alone, DO IT. If God is for you who can be against you?

2 Timothy 2:4 "No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer."

THAT is my main goal. & THAT is why I do what I do and why I create blogs and record different journeys.... and throw ideas out to who I am told to throw ideas out to... I want to please MY Commanding Officer :) The love of my life, Jesus Christ.

If you haven't had the pleasure of knowing Jesus Christ in an intimate relationship I urge you to Accept Jesus as your Saviour now, say that you believe He died on the cross for your sins and confess that you are a sinner in need of the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ :) & start your journey in being a disciple of Christ :)

As always if you would like me to pray for you just let me know. I don't need to know details. God is a BIG God and the Holy Spirit will guide me in prayer. :) Just say "Yes! Crystal please pray for me!" :) & I will :)

All My Love in Christ!
DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS! :)
Remain faithful :) He remains faithful to YOU!
Crystal

H-O-P-E

2011-12-24T21:35:00.002-05:00

Christmas Eve!
While my heart should be light and happy... I sit with a heavy heart, low in the zeal and enthusiasm that I should be bursting with in anticipation of the celebration of our Lord & Saviour Jesus the Christ tomorrow.

I've been wanting to write this blog for awhile. The inspiration came to me on November 15th judging by the date on my iPhone notes app in which I recorded the inspiration in.

I wrote the following;

You think your children will be devastated if they don't get the presents you want to buy them for Christmas?
They will not ONLY be devastated BUT DESTROYED by the LACK of money management that you are teaching them by becoming a SLAVE to money in order to buy MORE THINGS they don't need.

I think it's an awesome reminder for us. We need to remember that EVERYTHING we do will one day be emulated by our children. Do YOU want YOUR children to suffer financially and bear a burden so heavy? No parent wants that for their child!
This year my husband & I did not buy a single gift for our children for Christmas.
Not because we didn't want to. We don't often buy our children gifts and so Christmas is the one time of year that we can spoil them materially. Although this year we had decided on only a gift exchange between the kids and one big gift for the kids from us... this year we would be REALLY following my thoughts on Christmas not being about gifts! There are none! lol. Kobo E-Readers for the big kids... heck maybe even the middle kids... our littlest kids? Well I can't think of anything they could possibly want... some books, games or puzzles... maybe some movies... Anyhow I did really want to buy them one big thing that they wanted. Like the Bible says... If you who are evil can give good gifts to your children... :) There are NO parents who don't like to GIVE to their children.
The only problem is that financially we couldn't do it. We do not have the finances and we have no desire to finance things.. and so we won't and we don't.
Surprisingly enough our children took this news will much grace. We told them that we have a roof over our heads, good food in our belly's and all the bills are paid! What MORE could we ask for! Although they were slightly disappointed they are still excited :) We were gifted some money from family and family friends and we were thankfully able to use that for hydro, bills, food. I sold my birthday present, tickets to see Transiberean Orchestra, so that we could have money to pay bills... buy our kids some winter boots and the socks that most of them needed. I sold the last of my jewelery... but none of this matered to me. I think sometimes when we are aking God to provide for us that we do nothing and expect God to do everything... if I have the ability to trade in jewellery I never wear or even the abiblity to get moeny my family needs for concert tickets I think that is a blessing... many people do not have the abibility to sell some small material things to be able to provide for their family. I miss none of it and I have NOTHING but thankfullness in my heart for it! When we were gifted the money I cried... we were short on rent, some bills were not going to get paid in full, we had no spare money for food. THIS was God's answer to my prayer :) Praise God! Like lillies of the valley :)
So... I thought that was that. I made mental plans to do family activities, bake some cookies, put up the Christmas tree together, sing some Christmas Carols at church, play some board games, watch some Christmas movies... be a family.

My mental plans didn't work out the way I had wanted. The problem with being one person in a family... especially a BIG family, is that you are not the only one to make things flow the way you want them to flow. My husband decided that unpacking our home was the priority this Christmas Eve. There was no putting up of the Christmas tree, no movies, no hot chocolate. There were boxes half open and things askew everywhere, no room to play or walk around and really no safe place to let the babies be... there was no sign of Christmas. Even with the miracle of provision and thanfulness of my heart... in one afternoon it had all turned sour!

I was and still am fairly devastated. But as I sit here typing this blog... I am reminded that Christmas is not a thing. I love traditions and I do love gifts.. but Christmas is about Christ. It's always nice to have an excuse to spend time with family and ignore responsibilities... but maybe my heart should not be so set on these things...

My attitude today was poor as I lashed out at my husband for ruining my mental plans... my motivation to make amazing fruit salad so I could lovingly spoon into the bowls of my happy faced children Christmas morning with ease, my motivation to do anything with relation to celebrating Christmas was gone. God is reminding me now that it is indeed about Him... and I am foolishly making it all about me.

After all of our children went to bed my husband put up the Christmas tree alone. I came down and saw an ornament that I had purchased that reads...

"H-O-P-E".

He hung this on the wall.
Christmas may not go the way I want it too... last year I was too busy planning Christmas to experience it and this year I wanted too much to experience family and missed enjoying Christmas at all but, NOTHING should steal away the HOPE that has been GIFTED to me during this time of celebration!

Christmas is about HOPE. In HIM I HAVE HOPE! For that, I celebrate. My heart is right again! Praise God and THANK God for the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ.
I pray you have a very Merry and blessed Christmas in the mighty name of Jesus the Christ our Lord & Saviour! :)

All my Love,
Crystal

How to LOVE not getting what you want.

2011-11-19T22:34:00.001-05:00

Life is such a beautiful journey isn't it?
Reflecting on life I wouldn't even trade in my darkest hours. I thank God for the hardest time in my life because it was through that pain that He showed His Glory to me.
I was sitting here reflecting on my future... and it occurred to me that my future as I envision it now is nothing like what I had wanted my future to look like not that long ago.
My faith was not in God but in things of the world. Knowledge. Money. Self. My vision was to be in control and OWN all of those things so that I could be where I, in my mind at the time, wanted to be. Conquer the medical world! Pioneer whatever there was to pioneer and make it all happen. I've always wanted to sing and always thought I was just waiting for a time that I could concentrate on that as well. Finally learn to read music. Maybe produce and record, pioneer some awesome Christian music :)
I suppose in some ways I still have a desire to pioneer whatever there is to pioneer. I don't like leaving anything I become a part of the same when I leave it. I don't believe in excuses. I truly believe that if we see something that needs to change we should change it. There can always be an excuse but excuses just mean that you don't want to work hard enough and fight hard enough to change it and you don't think it's worth it. Change isn't easy but it isn't supposed to be.
The difference in the last year and a bit is that now my faith is where it belongs. It's in God. My life is entirely in God's hands and I am trusting God for everything. As I sit here and think of the passions I have now and visions of the desires in my heart for the future fly through my minds eye. Everything I see is nothing that I thought I wanted.
I have prayed so hard for God to change my heart. I have prayed in a fight, I have prayed in total brokenness I have prayed in total desperation. GOD! If THIS is NOT what you want for me change my heart. Everything from my marriage and my husband to education and everything in between. I prayed that God would remove my desire for my marriage if it wasn't His will. Remove my desire to be loved in a marriage relationship if that wasn't God's plan I just wanted God to remove the desire from me so that I could move on to what HE had planned for my life. I didn't want to waste my time and my heart anymore fighting for things if it wasn't Gods plan. Brokenness is a beautiful thing because when you realize that the control you thought you had was never yours to begin with you start to trust the One who HAS the control. I gave my marriage to God, my parenting to God, my friendships to God, my church life to God, my education to God... everything. I gave it to God. In tears, in anger in the complete nothingness of myself. I gave it to God.
Now, nothing looks the same. I don't want the same things I used to want, I don't hear things the same way, see things the same way, nothing is the same. Okay maybe there are seeds of things that I still want but I don't have the passion to fuel the want anymore. Music was like breathing to me... and now I still like music but I have no passion to fuel the want. God told me that wasn't the plan and initially it was hard for me to give up but now when I think about it I LOVE singing but I don't have the passion to pursue it as I once did. Although I still fight the want to go to medical school I was told to let that God. Anything I pursued in the medical field right down to psychology was outside God's will for my life. I tried to squeeze sociology & psychology in there for awhile. God said no. That was also hard for me. Now my passions lie in weird places that I don't want to really share yet, but they are weird. They have no glory and I've already learned that I probably won't get any recognition, but I will have to fight, and keep fighting until the job is done and I might walk away with nothing to show at all in this world except for knowing that I am following God's will. My reward may not be in this world but even if it was it would mean nothing. I would rather be in God's will than to have any amount of recognition or money this world has to give me. Because without God and the relationship I have with Him it means nothing.

All this to say, be careful when you sing to God, "Give me the desires of my heart."
Everything you ever thought you wanted will change. Although under any other circumstance you'd be terribly upset about not getting what you thought you wanted, in THIS circumstance, not getting what you wanted gets better and better with every day.

That is how I starting LOVING not getting what I wanted <3
I gave it all to God and prayed with every fibre in me that He would give me His desires and not my own. I will pray that this encourages you to pray that right now. In Jesus name pray that God give you HIS desires for your life, and that he take away your desires that don't fit in with His will for your life. And that God give you the grace, mercy and the strength to walk in it.

It's going to be awesome & YOU will LOVE not getting what you want. :)

Eating for God

2011-11-14T12:45:00.001-05:00

Wow! Hello! It seems like FOREVER since I've last written a blog!
I am so happy to be writting you again. :)
I have been keeping up with reading a little bit of scripture every day just as I promised in my GW4365. I have mostly been tweeting daily inspiration and replaced my bloggin with that. But I feel a tug at blogging again :) I love writting :)

I have decided to move my GW4365 posts to a separate blog called GW4365 :) And I'm going to start a new blog on my latest journey about my diet.... I don't yet know what I'm going to call it.... God will give me something.

****Update November 16 2011; I have a blog up and running for my Eating for God journey :) It is http://Eating4God.WordPress.com Please come & visit Eating4God to see how I'm doing ;)****
I just decided to come on here and write because there have been some thoughts about change that have been coming to me. As I prepare to change my entire diet on my newest journey, my first thoughts aren't exactly of change, they are of substitution.
I LOVE a good cup of coffee in the morning with two sugar and milk. After I had my seventh child coffee became a staple because I was simply exausted. It's now a crutch... I don't want to let it go. So instead of thinking that I'm going to get rid of my coffee... I'm trying to think of what I can substitute IN my coffee to make it a healthier option for me. Coffee is actually VERY high in Anti Oxidants and on it's own aside from the caffeine is healthy. I have already substituted cream with milk... and on occassion I use almond milk when we have it. This morning I cut out 1 teaspoon of sugar. The first thoughts I had this morning when I cut out one teaspoon of sugar was; I wonder how cane sugar would taste in coffee? ;) Trying to justify a way to subsitute so that I could avoid real change.

That translates to other areas of life doesn't it? I'm sure if you think about it long enough you will see our tendency to substitute instead of to change. We have to shift our entire focus. CHANGE OUR HEART about the change we wish to see.

I've already pre-determined that I am not giving up coffee on this new journey... and then I thought should I really be holding on to that mindset? I should pray about it and seek God's will instead of burying in my heels and holding on to something that God doesn't want me to hold on to.

I have been feeling God's push for me to change my diet... and even after a couple days ago deciding that I was GOING to change my diet I didn't actually make any REAL changes or even attempted substitutes... I still finished off the night with some chips & rootbeer like I lately often do. So Saturday night I watched some television, ate some chips, drank some pop and went to bed.

The dream I had is so real that it is now Monday and I can't shake the vision from my mind. The dream was me at the Dr's office and I wasn't there for any particular needed reason but on this visit for some reason I had an xray of my chest. I was not sick, I was sitting in the Dr's office waiting and chatting and happy. My Dr came around to me told me they had taken an xray of my chest (I don't remember this happening in my dream) and showed it to me. I could see a large black area on my left lung. My Dr told me I had lung cancer. And I thought What? How can this be? Lung cancer is fatal. I asked God, God how can this be? I thought if this were a curable cancer I could understand but this will end my life. And it became clear to me.... I had a choice to be in good health and I ingnored it. THAT is how this could be.

What a warning. I woke up wondering if I should make an appointment with my Dr. immeadiately.... even this morning the thought crossed my mind. But I cannot be controlled by fear. That was NOT the purpose of the vision. It was to warn me. I thank God for that warning. Sometimes I can be stubborn and I am thankful that I got a warning because there was no reason for God to give me one. I should have just obeyed his MANY promptings to me.

So now that I have a little fear of God in me I am a little more ready for change lol. And I am aware that change means real change and not substitution.

God showed me a verse that really made this journey crystal clear for me.

So whether you EAT or DRINK or whatever you do, DO IT ALL for the glory of God. http://bible.us/1Cor10.31.NIV

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I pray that God uses this new journey to bless you and encourage you in the path that God has set for you :)

I look forward to blogging about Eating for God with the help from a great friend Rochelle Hanson whom God has used to help encourage me in this journey. She has great health & wellness blogs and a great mini book that you can find at http://www.simplynaturalideas.com/. I also look forward to continuing in my reading God's Word for 365 and in Love4AMAZED for my parenting and family revelations.... in which I have one but will save it for another day ;)

Please be patient with me as I work on this blog transition and pray that God's Glory be shown and that he touch people through these blogs. In Jesus name!

Much love!

Crystal

Are you LIMITING God's POWER to MOVE in your life AND in the life of others? ~ GW4365

2011-10-22T23:40:00.001-04:00

I was reading yesterday and some verses REALLY stood out to me. I wanted to share them.

Acts 6:2-3 So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.

When you are trying to DO things for God that are not what God has called you to do within His body you are LIMITING God's POWER to MOVE in your life AND in the life of others. As soon as they RE-FOCUSED on what their calling was and used the people in God's body the result followed in Acts 6:7;

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem INCREASED RAPIDLY, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

In my notes I wrote 1 Corinthians 12.... although I have no idea what that means now. I'm reading through Corinthians and the verse that obviously came to mind... has checked out lol. Maybe if you read it it will speak to you;

1 Corinthians 12

¹ Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^[b] ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues^[d]? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

The second verse that really stood out was this;

Acts 7:6 God spoke to him in this way: Your descendants will be STRANGERS in a country NOT THEIR OWN, and they will be ENSLAVED and MISTREATED four hundred years.

And this reminded me of present day Christians. Strangers in a country not own own. Enslaved [by Money] and mistreated.

The enslaved part was a big part for me. We may not be enslaved per say, but we are enslaved in the monetary based society that we are living in. It comes together with Acts 6:2-3."...It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables...." .

We are neglecting the ministry that God has given us, WITHIN HIS BODY, to wait on tables...

We are doing things that HE did not call us to do because of slavery to the monetary based society that we live in. LIMITING God's POWER to MOVE in your life AND in the life of others. We need to LET SOME THINGS GO and RE-FOCUS on what God has called us to do so that His will[The Great Commission] is done through our part. When we do that, the Word of God will spread, disciples will INCREASE RAPIDLY, and many will become obedient to the faith.

What a beautiful reminder for me. The last part I didn't get until tonight. I love it. :)

Praying tonight for YOU.

God Bless you.

Crystal

Ceasars Matrix vs. God's Reality ~ GW4365

2011-10-21T00:58:00.001-04:00

Goodevening :) Even though it is past midnight this is officially still Thursday evening for me.

There has been a theme to my day today. After we picked the kids up from school we needed to get some groceries or food because we hadn't yet had the opportunity to go grocery shopping due to the craziness of our week this week. We were in Oakridge and then ended up in Masonville and one thing led to another and we were at Adelaide & Cheapside. As we parked so that I could pick up something at Shopper's Drug Mart I noticed several people standing outside of the store front waiting for taxis. It was a rainy day today. I noticed young mothers walking from stores with their children in strollers trying to stay dry.

This may seem normal to you... but in my neighbourhood this doesn't happen.

Generally I don't see people walking.

I don't really see anybody waiting for taxis or walking their children in strollers on a rainy day....

I see people driving.

What a weird difference right? I didn't even know that such a difference existed within the same city until we travelled a bit from our "new" area of town that we have only lived in for less than five months to a neighbourhood we had lived in a couple of years ago. A couple of years ago I wouldn't have thought people waiting for taxis in the rain or walking with their children in strollers to be abnormal.

A while ago I posted something about the Matrix... how sometimes I feel like we are living in a Matrix of sorts of our own creation no able to see things for what they really are. Today I saw through the Matrix again.

I saw detached people. Detached in their vehicles, not having to have human interaction but going from a cubicle to a vehicle to their house all alone. & this is what it means to be affluent. I don't think God designed for us to live in this way. I will do some study and hopefully post about my findings soon.

Does anybody else see how this is a problem?

Did God say live your live alone chasing after money so that you can live in a nice house and not have to have absolutely any human interactions with anybody save for the Starbucks Barista?

And then we wonder how we become apathetic? We wonder how we are so distanced... but actually we don't really wonder that because we're so immersed in a created reality that it doesn't even phase us that there is any other kind of life until that awkward World Vision program comes on. But THAT is in another country.. another world. That is how we become so apathetic and so distanced from reality. We live in our Matrix.

I mentioned this to my husband and we both reveled in the oddity of people walking around and actually seeing people interact instead of just buzzing from A - B in their solitary confinement of affluence. Romans 12:16 ~ "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited."

The reason we were driving around is because I was volunteering to help serve meals downtown... so after a couple months since my last reality wake up call downtown I showed up & I started helping. Boy was God working on my heart. I had to fight myself to keep my tears in my face. My only desire was to do whatever I could to make this people know that they mattered. I hope that God used me to do that.

I got home from helping to serve these people and TLC's Undercover Boss was on. The CEO's Dad said this;

"Don’t be too greedy. To stay humble is very important. Billionaires and common people all go to the supermarket. We all buy the same bread and the same fruit."

Success is not defined by money it’s defined by relationships. You can have all the money in the world and still have nothing but if you have all the relationships in the world you will never lack for anything and have everything.

Christians are not measured by the same standards that the world measures by.

The world measures “fruit” by financial prosperity. God’s church(The Body of Christ) does not. Not to say that financial prosperity isn’t allowed or isn’t a possibility, only that there are far greater measurements of fruit than financial prosperity. Just because a "Christian" you know has a big house & drives an SUV doesn't mean that they are blessed and that their Mercedes is their fruit. We need to TAKE BACK those words and let the BIBLE define what FRUIT & BLESSING is and NOT adopt the WORLDS definition of fruit & Blessing.

1 Corinthians 12:23-26 "...parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

So get out of your car and say Hello to your neighbour.

Step out of the Matrix you live in that is controlled by Caesar and step into the God's reality.

Instead of measuring fruit by the label on somebodies clothes, whether they have their hair just so or if they say all the right words that wow you... take some time and learn their heart.

Luke 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Proverbs 4:23; For out of it[Your Heart] spring the issues of life.

There is no power in pity so don't pity anybody.
Love them.
There is INFINITE power in Love.

What God Showed Me Through Harry Potter ~ GW4365

2011-10-19T15:27:00.001-04:00

Good Afternoon Friends!

Well my post today is starting off with this sentence.

I am not a perfect Christian(Christ Follower)

I know, surprising if you look back on all my blog posts ;)

But it's true lol. It's never fun admitting that kind of thing but I have been convicted and felt the need to share.

Not that long ago I decided that due to my limited time I couldn't always commit 2 hours a day or night reading, studying, editing, and researching scriptures every day for my blog post. I enjoy doing it but there are just other responsibilities that I have that don't get done because of this commitment. I felt released from this commitment as a daily thing and to post only when I had meaningful revelations that I wanted to share with God's people. Problem is... I haven't been.

It's the way things work right? This is THE reason I parent the way I do. Give a little they try to take a lot lol. I was given some freedom in my commitment and I took too much freedom and was not fulfilling my commitment as I was lead to :'( A couple nights ago I felt like I should post and didn't and during my prayer time I was really convicted about it. And so in the wee hours of the morning I committed to doing my God's Word for 365 post daily again... two days later... I still didn't do it. And I found that yesterday was a really spiritually dry day for me. :'( That was a wake up call enough! It goes to show just how fast it can be to slip away. The day before yesterday I had Bibles spread out all over the place, some in different rooms, researching things JUST the day prior... and the next day... spiritual blah. It's that easy to loose. I had to remind myself to stay focused, remain diligent and do what I committed to do :)

Anyhow with that done & dealt with I will share one of the revelations I had this/last week :) It's short so it works :)

What God showed me through Harry Potter.

When Harry Potter was a baby he was attacked by Voldemort. Voldemort is THE MOST powerful guy in the evil magical world.... and because Harry Potter SURVIVED Voldemort's attack, Harry Potter then became the ENTIRE focus of the MOST evil guy around... WHY?! ? Because of Harry Potter's testimony. Harry Potter was the one that got away... the one that even though Voldemort had tried to destroy, he had survived... and with each new movie and each new plot in the Harry Potter series Voldemorts plan became more precise and focused in on Harry Potter.

With each win or victory over Voldemort, Harry Potter’s testimony grew STRONGER and STRONGER....

Just like you.

You may feel like the Devil is getting the best of you but, he is just scared and trying to take you down because of the strong testimony you are going to have when you walk out of this situation sharing it with the world. Your scar will be a CONSTANT reminder to satan that he didn't defeat you so he'll try again. BUT GOD. It will also be a CONSTANT reminder to the world of God's Grace, Mercy and Power.

You are not his, you are the child of God. YOU ALWAYS WIN because God loves you. It's almost over. You don't need to ask for strength because you already have it. He lives in YOU. :)

God Bless you,

Crystal

God Gave You A Fighter's Spirit ~ GW4365

2011-10-13T11:16:00.001-04:00

GOODMorning/Afternoon! &

Well this post has been a long time coming. It's one of those posts that I should have shared right away. My new thing is, if I feel scared or worried about sharing something that I feel I should share, I share it immediately. I felt like this about this post... and it's been 4 days since I got the message lol.

Sometimes we don't learn... I'm fairly sure I have a blog post on here about listening to God and acting right away :P

Well there is no sense beating myself up about it! I just apologize to God & pray that the message will still be used for His Glory. So here goes.

Fighter's Spirit.

God put a fighters spirit in YOU.

Some may have all the technicalities worked out and have it all down to a science but they didn't count on the "God factor".
You CAN'T put God in a box. I don't care what works for the other guys or what science they have it all down to.

THE BIGGEST factor is what GOD has put in you. Because if it ain't from God it ain't nothing.

:)

Okay so I guess after writing it out it doesn't seem as scary as it first was... I think the scariest part of this message was that it is not a message for individuals although it definitely applies. It is a message for churches.

In a way I relate it to my blog. Initially when I started my blog I didn't get very much traffic... at all. But I determined myself that I didn't care if I only had ONE reader... I felt like God put this blog on my heart so I would keep blogging for that ONE reader. FOR GOD. MAYBE I am the ONLY person that can get whatever message it is across to that person. If I didn't obey God and follow through I would be denying somebody Christ. I don't know about you but that is a heavy and sad consequence for any Christian. Just like the church. Every church has it's purpose. They may not all be "Mega Churches" but not all people can be reached through a "Mega Church". That is why there is you. Your purpose is DIVINE and you may not fit into the sciences that are mapped out but God's Spirit is in you and that makes is not only something, but EVERYTHING.

God Bless(Intervene on your behalf) YOU today!
I #Pray that we stand STRONG with the fighter's spirit that God has put into us. The road is not easy for those that walk the narrow path but I can assure you, it is worth every step.
Love Always,
Crystal

Why We Stopped Celebrating Thanksgiving ~ GW4365

2011-10-10T21:32:00.000-04:00

GOODEvening! <3

It's thanksgiving in Canada :) My husband, children & I don't really celebrate it... but I did have the pleasure of eating lots of pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream :D

It's weird how sometimes you do or don't do certain things just because you are actually avoiding painful emotions. I wondered this weekend WHY we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. We used to! I used to get all GungHo, go to town and cook a feast!! I remember the first turkey I cooked at 22! I was SO proud lol. And then when I thought about why we don't celebrate Thanksgiving anymore, I realized it's because I am attempting to avoid the pain of the emotions I feel about my extended family during Thanksgiving!
All holidays for me as a child were always full of relatives! My Dad and his two sisters always gathered at my Grandparents house with all their children & spouses and the house was always abuzz :) With lots of PopShop, Pepsi, Board Games and yummy foods like ribbon candy, walnuts or clementines depending on the season ;) With my Mom it was the same thing... BIG family lots of gatherings & relatives and love. My husband and children don't have that here. :'(
Family dynamics are hard sometimes. My family is far away from me and the family that is closest to me I suppose I don't know well enough to be involved in holiday celebrations. We just aren't included in anything. The same with my hubby's family. Although the situation is a little different on his side... the end result is the same. We aren't apart of their festivities either. And so, it's always just us.

Which should be good... I mean we have seven children. EVERYDAY is Thanksgiving dinner ;) But it just isn't the same for me.... so I phased out Thanksgiving and I didn't even really notice... How sad is that?!
I had to PURPOSELY think about why we were doing what we were doing to figure out the motive/vision behind it! Imagine that! (wink, wink) (nudge, nudge) (Shameless plug to my Vision blog post) :D
But I've decided that phasing out Thanksgiving isn't what we should do. It's important to remain thankful. Ephesians 5:20 ~ "always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.". So I have thought of some things that are going to redefine, at least for me, how Thanksgiving is celebrated so that it works for our small family of 9 :) I want my children to have fond memories of special family time that time off from work and other responsibilities allows for us to share.

I am so THANKFUL :) I guess that's the opposite of Complaining right? If you are complaining you are being ungrateful... just remembered I had heard that someplace before when I was thinking on what I was supposed to be thankful for. That's why I try not to complain when I'm sick. lol but that is probably another story all together.... So before I get much more distracted ;), I Pray God's Joy REST in you and fill you to OVERFLOWING so that His light doesn't only shine, it RADIATES from you. A great scripture that prepares your heart to be thankful to God ... for everything :D

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for YOU are with me;
Your rod and staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me ALL the days of my life,
and I will Dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER.

Happy Thanksgiving & God Bless,
Love Crystal

P.S. I read scripture every day even though I haven't been blogging. I stayed up until 2am on Saturday OFF my computer and packing lol and Sunday evening we went to a movie & came home at 12:30am... also OFF the computer. Way too easy to get distracted infront of a computer monitor so I have been trying to be disciplined :) Hope you are finding time to read some of God's word daily as well. :)

Three Ways to Overcome Discouragement ~ GW4365

2011-10-07T00:04:00.002-04:00

#1. Don't listen to YOURSELF.YOU are the worst person to listen to when you are feeling discouraged... really ... do you have anything good to say? Nope. It's all defeated talk. Set your eyes on what is pure holy & good. :) That is the scripture that came to mind.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. ~ Phillipians 4:8
#2. Give YOURSELF Grace!
You take heed to #1 and do your BEST to set your eyes on what is pure, Holy, & good... but sometimes your mind is going to wander and your heart will sink a little. DON'T STAY STUCK THERE. Know that your mind IS GOING TO WANDER! That is Satan's plan... it's okay! Give yourself some Grace & then QUICKLY move to #3.

#3. Get YOURSELF into the WORD :)
The easiest way to reset your mind is to start reading God's Word and His promises. The easiest way to remind yourself what a good & loving God you have and just HOW MUCH He loves & protects you is to read the Word He gave for YOU :)

It's not easy.... and it's going to take alot of re-direction. But this storm IS NOT forever. No trials last forever.

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:18
Let me pray for us.
I pray Lord God that the Holy Spirit immediately reveal to us when our thoughts are self depricating and deafeating and that you remind us Lord and fill our thoughts with thoughts that are TRUTH. Casting out all lies that the enemy is trying to tear us down with. In Jesus name I pray. I pray protection over our minds Lord God and I thank you for the Grace that You give us daily to get through the storm we are in now. It seems like it's never ending Lord God but you can see the end and we are going to attend the lavish celebration you have waiting for us! Thank you Lord for all the blessings we do have and help us to maintain our attitude of gratitude! We Love you God. Amen.

Have a great night :)
Love Crystal

Do You want a Word from God? ~ GW4365

2011-10-05T23:45:00.000-04:00

Well I just finished listening to some phone preaching... what a different experience lol

But at the end of it, I was reminded that I SHOULD NOT be depending on OTHER people to get a word from God.

God communicates with His people all of the time. He does not do for one what he wouldn't not do for another.

As Joyce Meyer says run to the Throne not the phone.

I don't need to listen to a preacher just to see if I'm going to get a Word from God. To get a Word from God all I need to do is ASK God.

Not that the teaching wasn't good because it was.. but I need to rely on God.

I am facing alot of difficulties right now... if I thought about it too much I would probably not be as peaceful as God's Grace has allowed me to be lol So the devil sees that I have a weakness and he is trying to take full advantage of it. Having me look for answers to my problems in other places... like GOD isn't big enough to handle my situation.

I'm just going to shout it out.
GOD IS BIG ENOUGH TO HANDLE MY SITUATION!

Say it out loud.
God is BIG enough to handle my situation...

Say it again.
God is BIG enough to handle my situation...

Say it until you BELIEVE IT. Write it on a Post-It note as I often do to truths that I am trying to keep at the front of my mind.

Don't run to anybody but GOD for answers unless GOD directs you to seek answers from somebody. Sometimes I am lead by the Holy Spirit to turn on a program and I get a PHENOMENAL Words from it. BUT that is God the Holy Spirt speaking to us and not us grasping at anything that looks promising within our vision. Usually when I feel a tug to watch a program the lesson I get isn't the lesson I thought I need God to send a Word to me about! lol

We need to re align our vision and focus on God. When you focus on God everything else will disappear. :)

I pray this blesses you tonight and I am thankful to God for his revelation and reminder to me tonight that God IS Big enough. There is nobody greater nobody more worthy nobody as perfect as my Loving God.

Psalm 84:11(ESV)

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.

He won't withhold anything from YOU either.

Love Crystal

Butterfly ~ GW4365

2011-10-04T23:22:00.000-04:00

I had a vision of a caterpillar in a chrysalis turning into a butterfly....

You are struggling to get out BUT if somebody helps you,

you will be CRIPPLED just as a butterfly would not be able to fly if somebody helped it get out of its chrysalis.

You are growing into what you need to be and getting stronger in preparation to be where you belong.

When it’s all said and done you will be just as beautiful and strong as the butterfly.

Keep your faith & be encouraged.

Proverbs 16:3
commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. :)

Even if it's a struggle now that you don't really want to be going through just keep your focus on God and not on your situation and know that God is establishing your plans :) It's all going to work out! :)

I was really encouraged by that vision today and wanted to share :)

Goodnight!

Love Crystal

A Time to Weep & a Time to Laugh ~ GW4365

2011-10-03T22:34:00.000-04:00

Goodevening!
I have been so encouraged in my sharing my daily walk through GW4365 today!

So many beautiful people on Twitter sharing their faith, blogging about their faith and really just reaching out and letting their light shine. It's so encouraging to me. Sometimes I find it difficult because there aren't too many people I know personally that broadcast scriptures or whatever to the extent that I do in their social media. I feel weird occasionally but I do it because I think that if the Holy Spirit layed on my heart to share then it is to bless somebody. Not for my glory but for God's and that is the same thing I believe with this blog. Naturally it's stories of my life so I am obviously learning the lessons.... or being temporarily aware of them anyhow ;) But it's all to help people grow in their walk with God and live in a full & real relationship with Him &.

My FAVOURITE thing about Twitter is just having my TweetDeck open and seeing random tweets of God's Word by Christians I follow. Encouragements through scripture in living life for Christ. It's awesome to have that consistent reminder :)

I haven't been blogging much but it's mostly because I am at a cross roads of sorts in my own life. Although I have learned much about transparency over the summer I still find myself a little ... what's the word.....
.... maybe there are many words; worried, scared, unsure, embarrassed, .... to name a few as to what I should share. Or not share.

I tried to look up Transparency in the Concordance & didn't find it. But I did hear someplace that we are to be transparent at different levels with different people. I think it was through TheNines conference online. If I remember correctly it was Marc Driscoll. I really need to study it out if I'm going to be Biblical about it all.
Anyhow since I don't talk to too many people about my life in general I need to be careful about what I post on here as we all should. It can seem easy to throw words into the cyber abyss whatever the medium but I am constantly reminded by people that they are reading my blog lol so that means it isn't a personal journal! Not actually an abyss in the end, so words need to be somewhat chosen.

But I have been hurt and discouraged the past couple days. Not that I don't have peace and joy in God because I do. I have had UNBELIEVABLE peace and grace. Really. Even I am amazed by it. But I do have moments like tonight when I am a little sad. & sometimes that's okay. I think that our anti-sad society pushing-pills-on-everybody-holding-a-tissue makes us feel like we aren't allowed to feel sadness. But it's healthy to feel emotion we just need to handle that emotion properly. As long as you don't live in it but if I remember correctly it does say in the Bible that it's okay to mourn... there is a time to mourn and a time to move on.
I found it :)
Ecclesiastes 3:1-3
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

So if YOU are mourning or sad, it's okay. I will pray for us both. :) I pray that we always remember that God's GRACE is SUFFICIENT. We may not feel strong but we ARE strong IN HIM. I pray that the pure and true Joy of our Lord wash over us like a river. Stand rooted and grounded in Him knowing all the things that we ARE in Christ. We are loved, redeemed, and whole in Him :) I pray that every time a thought enter our mind that is against the word of God that the Holy Spirit immediately whispers and replaces it with a TRUTH from God's Word. I read a great prayer this morning on facebook... I'll copy it below. [Lol I totally just was entirely distracted on facebook... posted a petition link and browsed a couple sites... and then closed the windows to stare at my last line.... I'll copy it below. OOPS! Ha! BrB :)]

LifeChurch.tv NW Okc

Dear Lord, Thank You for giving me everything I need for a life of godliness and the truth (1 Peter 1:3). Help me to be keenly aware of Satan’s lies and recognize them for what they are. When I have a tempting thought, I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict me, help me replace the lie with truth, and give me the power to walk the other way. I want to be like David who said, “I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you,” (Psalm 119:11). In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Great prayer. I loved reading it because Psalm 119:11 is what I prayed for my church family on Sunday. I wasn't able to be there so I prayed instead. It's always amazing to me how things like that happen :)

Another verse that has been coming up often in my life although I'm unsure how to apply it yet is;

Matthew 5:11 God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you^[a] and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.

I just can't seem to apply it to anything so I'm still trying to understand it. I don't think any scripture verses, especially ones that are high frequency from different mediums should be ignored.

Anyhow that is all for now! Thank you for reading. I pray that this has helped encourage you in some way :)

Big Love to you!

Crystal

Good Advice ~ GW4365

2011-10-01T21:43:00.000-04:00

GOODEvening!
Gosh, I feel like I've neglected a good friend!!

Well It's been a couple days since I posted! Are you wondering where I've been?

The first night I missed I turned off my computer completely and I cleaned off my desk area. I can actually see most of my desk & printer now. AMAZING! It's funny because even in the middle of my work I found myself hitting the space bar to check out what was going on in computer land. But... I turned it off so nothing happened & I went back to working. :P

GW4365 is very important to me. It's a commitment and I am entirely comitted to reading God's Word DAILY for a year... and the rest of my life if we want to look at the big picture here. But I can't sit at my computer and let this blog interfere with my work. Unfortunately I end up doing a lot of work at night because that is when all my kids are sleeping and I CAN work :)

I'm still trying to figure out a way to do this in a way that is constructive. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start going to bed early so that I can read/blog in the wee hours of the morning. I'll pick a start date... later lol ;)

Until then please do not give up! Do not give in! Get into God's Word daily and like Joyce Meyer says; The people you are running to for answers don't even have the answers to their own problems. Run to the throne not the phone.

When you have a need or a problem take it up with God first. God is the GREATEST comforter. HE ALONE can bring you peace and comfort. Not that you can't talk to people if it's going to help you just that God should be the first one in line.

I've been reading alot of scripture trying to find the right verse to put here.... but I have no divine inspiration.... except this;

Philippians 4:8(ESV)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Good Advice.
Sweet Dreams.
Love me

Lady Wisdom on being BUSY ~ GW4365

2011-09-28T23:24:00.000-04:00

I received a private message today that said this;
What is your passion? What do you enjoy doing?
The sad answer to that is... I have no idea.

Some people might gasp at that. Like old binnies sitting at a tea party guffawing. "Imagine that!" They'd say. "The poor dear doesn't know herself. Could you imagine?".

But... I don't think it's all that abnormal. Do you know that there is pretty much not a single person that comes to my mind that I can honestly say didn't use the word "busy" when describing how they were? Or how their life was?
Everybody is busy... even people that I think shouldn't be busy tell me they are busy.

I could attribute my busy-ness to the seven kids I have, the hours I have to spend daily doing laundry & dishes. And the other hours I have to spend preparing food and cooking food... caring for babies.... and then the other hours I spend on Social Media! lol (Let's be honest here... 10 minutes here & there add up after a day is through) lol Doesn't leave much room in between for self discovery.

I now base my knowledge of what I think are my passions and enjoyments on things I enjoyed doing sometimes going back over 15 years..... :'( & then I think well... I USED to REALLY like doing that 15+ years ago... but do I still enjoy that? Am I still passionate about this or that?

The other thing is I spend a lot of my time on reading about Christianity, listening to messages, reading messages, watching messages... and that takes up alot of my time. But am I hiding behind these things? I don't think I am meant to live behind the messages God gives to others. That's kind of a boring life. God has better plans for me than that. So I can't hide behind using my time for those things and defining myself through them as passions or enjoyments. I think that all Christians enjoy learning about Christ and living in more God honouring ways... but eventually we have to step outside of those lessons and put them into practice. So stepping outside of that... what are my REAL passions. What do I REALLY enjoy. Because even AFTER I strip away the Christianity learning veil there is still things that have higher worldly value than others... so I don't want my passions and enjoyments to be shaped or coloured by what the world finds to be valuable. So in other words I don't want my passions to be driven by a motivation of gaining financial wealth which is a worldly value. Or social statues which is also a worldly value... my passions should be things that God designed me to be passionate for and the things I find enjoyable should be things that God designed me to enjoy :) Because out of those things there will naturally be Glory that is brought to God.

This I think all leads back to my Vision blog I posted yesterday....

So... now to find time to figure out my passions, enjoyments and my visions... so that I can properly take my footsteps..... anybody know how to find time? Lol ;)
Well I think I know the answer.
Discipline. :P

It's the same as my laundry. If I don't keep up with laundry EVERY DAY, I have a PILE of anywhere between 2-5 loads sitting on my couch at the end of the day :'(. I need to remain disciplined and work... if I get distracted or even if I am sick and fall behind I am obviously INHIBITED. In life if you have no VISION and don't have TIME to determine your God given passions and enjoyments they are all INHIBITED. In the end you will get as far as my laundry gets when I am not disciplined.... NOWHERE.

You probably don't like that answer much more than I do. Who wants to hear that focus & discipline are necessary? If we did there would be alot more of us qualifying for the Olympics or Scholarships... you know I'm right ;)

Proverbs 8:1
[ Lady Wisdom Calls Out ] Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling? Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice? She's taken her stand at First and Main, at the busiest intersection. Right in the city square where the traffic is thickest, she shouts, "You—I'm talking to all of you, everyone out here on the streets! Listen, you idiots—learn good sense! You blockheads—shape up! Don't miss a word of this—I'm telling you how to live well, I'm telling you how to live at your best. My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth— I can't stand the taste of evil! You'll only hear true and right words from my mouth; not one syllable will be twisted or skewed. You'll recognize this as true—you with open minds; truth-ready minds will see it at once. Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money, and God-knowledge over a lucrative career. For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.
Proverbs 8:1-3 (in Context) Proverbs 8 (Whole Chapter)
Proverbs 8:32
"So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don't squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day's work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God's good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you're flirting with death."
Proverbs 8:31-33 (in Context) Proverbs 8 (Whole Chapter)

Let's do this. :)
Love Crystal

Your vision sets the path for your footsteps. ~ GW4365

2011-09-27T15:32:00.002-04:00

What a revelation God gave me today. I almost can't believe I hadn't started here to begin with.

Vision.

We hear this word ALOT. I've taken business in college so of course we hear about vision with respect to business planning. We hear this word in churches with respect to the vision that God has planted in the heart of the pastor for a church.... but how often do we, or are we, directed to apply this word as a road map for our own lives?

I was watching TheNines leadership online conference today. I of course am not a pastor and so my thoughts about vision that many pastors were speaking of directed me to the things that I "do" for God. When the pastors speak of things in relation to their churches I often apply it to my family and my children, my position as a follower within my own church as well as learning and developing skills for the plans that God has for me in the future.
I thought to my own current activities and why I do what I do... what was MY vision for the things that I am doing in my life? I had never asked this question before. What IS my motivating force? This all seems so simple yet it's likely something that most of us aren't doing I would venture to say. I didn't do it before I started my blog. I just thought hey this is a good idea I'll do this
What is the motivating force behind my blog? Is it really for God? What is my vision through this blog? Is it for myself?
I reflected on things that I have been attempting to be involved in and get started do for God.... trying to find my "place" in our local church and really my "place" on the planet in God's grand scheme of things without ever assessing what my vision was for my life. I had developed a model for children's church without ever assessing what my vision was for that model. Of course there were some visions that I had incorporated into the model with respect to parent/church teacher involvement, what children would take away from things implemented in the model etc.. but what was my vision in sharing that vision as I did? Why do I do what I do and what do I hope to get accomplished by doing a, b, c, or d? Those should be the first questions we ask ourselves PRIOR to taking the action step.

First thing I thought of after reflecting on my year or two of activities was my blog.

Why do I blog? What is my vision and what do I hope to accomplish through blogging. So I thought about it and my vision for my blog is that I want to share my life experiences in hopes that it will help others to continue in or change their lives in a way that will allow themselves to live in a intimate, real relationship with Jesus Christ. I want Christians to have God as a close friend and confidant and not only live as surface Christians.

I've been thinking about my blog the last few days and wondering if it was something I had wanted to pursue. I have been blogging daily now for over two months. There was a day that I had an extreme influx in readers. With that influx came a pressure to perform in a sense. I don't have dazzling messages that are going to knock your socks off every day... but with an increased reader base there was a pressure to perform. There is also an increased sense of responsibility like I owed the readers something. I can't let them down. So in those moments I was kind of scared. I thought can I handle this? What if my blog actually gained momentum perpetually, could I handle that? God used the Nines leadership conference to show me that what it all comes down to is vision. Your vision will set your path.

The vision for my life in general is to live my life in the most God honouring way that I possibly can. Making myself available however God wants me to be available to accomplish whatever He wants me to accomplish. I know God has a plan and a vision for my life that includes leadership and I will grab hold of that plan and vision with both hands following Him. God has given me gifts and talents and I intend on developing them for His glory. Because when I get to heaven and God asks me what I did with the gifts, talent & treasures He gave me I am hoping that my answer will be that I used them to bring Glory to You.

This blog is using my life story to inspire others to trust God. To get to know God and to read his word every single day. Because God longs to know you. God yearns to know you and speak to you just as a mother or father to a child. Or a child to a mother or father.

Next time I want to get involved in something instead of just throwing up a prayer and saying God, do you want me to do ___________. Or should I do ________? I will look for the vision behind the action. If the vision doesn't line up with the Word of God and God isn't behind what I do.. even the small things that I involve myself in daily, it's time to do something different.
The vision sets the path for your footsteps and mine.

When this message hit me I Tweeted the following;
Hav U ever examined UR #vision? What is behind what U do DAILY? Does it line up w/the Word of #God? If not, do something different.

I think we need to set a vision for all things we do in life. I want to have a VISION for my family, a VISION for my marriage and a VISION as a parent to name a few. I'm going to start writing that vision down, making sure it lines up with the Word of God.. and doing something different :)

I hope this has helped you :)
Love Crystal

No complaining ~ GW4365

2011-09-26T23:25:00.001-04:00

GoodEvening Friends :)

Well I didn't come to my blog tonight with any pressing urgency or passion as I sometimes do.
I would write a list of complaints here... but I just watched a teaching from Joyce Meyer that said I shouldn't complain for a host of reasons lol... so I won't :)
I did SO much work around the house today! I love getting things done :)
All four of the kids lunches are made for tomorrow. Clothes are easily accessible to get dresssed in the morning. I should be able to take a sweet sip of my coffee by 8:00a.m. :) This might be overly optimistic but I'm good with that ;)
Looking down at my makeshift notes on my WorldVision envelope I have John 13, Jeremiah 2, Daniel Chapter 4, Philipians Chapter 2 and Mark 10:45 marked down. These are verses that struck me during the teachings I watched tonight... and there were 3 different ones so they may not exactly relate.

:) If you want to read them then click away! :) I have them linked to Biblegateway.

Ahh but I am reminded that I am going to start my fast... this may seem odd but I am going to fast from complaining. Which also leads me to remember aboud my church's 21 days of prayer & fasting that I keep forgeting about >.<. I'll have to look for the prayer handout... would be a great thing to start of with in the morning. I encourage you not only to embark in your own GW4365 BUT to refrain from complaining as well :) I'm going to study some verses that I can speak out loud to post around my house to remind me to NOT complain :) I find that really helps me. Visual reminders in high traffic areas help keep my mind focused :)

I'll need to determine how long I will NOT complain. This will be my Abstaining from Complaining Fast :) lol. Kinda catchy name :)

Sweet dreams! I'm going to enjoy some happy rest!
Until tomorrow's GW4365 (God's Word for 365)
Love Crystal

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ~ GW4365

2011-09-25T20:17:00.000-04:00

What a great day today! I loved being at church praising, worshipping & praying to God. It was wonderful :)

During some of the church news announcements I gave my 13 year old son my iPhone and let him check out you version on my iPhone. He was browsing around and then handed me my phone & said;

"Mom. These are the words Jesus said before he died on the cross."

And this is what I read through YouVersion on my iPhone;

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
“Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born.

Do not stay so far from me,
for trouble is near,
and no one else can help me.
My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;
fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
Like lions they open their jaws against me,
roaring and tearing into their prey.
My life is poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
melting within me.
My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
I can count all my bones.
My enemies stare at me and gloat.
They divide my garments among themselves
and throw dicefor my clothing.

Tears streamed down my face from the first sentence and the tears only came more quickly with each word of Psalm 22 that I read.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

It brought some things into perspective for me. I think I have a rough time?

There is NOTHING that can compare to the sufferings and the loneliness and isolation that Jesus Christ felt hanging on the cross.

Nothing.

This is one of the many times that God has used my children to teach me and to talk to me and I am so thankful for that.

Let's remain thankful with praise in our hearts & our lips. God loves you. Hear the pain in the words of Jesus & yet we know that God never left him. Just as God will NEVER leave YOU.

Don't ever forget it.

I pray that you have a blessed week. And that God continue to use small moments in my life and small moments in yours to speak to us, and to show us just how much he loves us.

Love Crystal

We Cannot Fight the Devil Unless We Learn His Tricks ~ GW4365

2011-09-24T07:26:00.000-04:00

GOODMorning! :)
I pray you have a WONDERFUL day today! When you say "GOOD Morning" remember that it is a proclamation! It WILL be a GOOD day for you so keep spreading the news to everybody you see ;) GOOD MORNING!

Anyhow, I woke up at around 6:00a.m. because Tiernan was hungry so I fed him & put him back to sleep. Now that I'm awake and all my children are still sleeping I figured it was a great time to continue my reading in Mathew. I more or less just ended up re-reading the same part I read on Thursday! But it's good because there are some things I had wanted to share as I said in my blog a couple days ago but never did. So here goes :)

The first verse that stood out to me was Mathew 3:9 ~ "Don't just say to each other,'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones."

Now the reason that this verse stood out to me is because as you may, or may not know, God made Abraham a promise when he & his wife were old & past their child bearing years that they would finally have the child that they had longed for. This verse spoke to that.
If God said it's going to be done,

It is going to be done.

If God had to create children of Abraham from those very stones, He would, AND He could.
This verse was directed at the Pharisees and Sadducees. What it spoke to me of was; if YOU don't decide to follow God, do His will, and follow His purpose for your life, He CAN AND WILL create children of Abraham(Children of Faith) from stones.
The choice is yours.
If you don't do it, it will still happen through his children of faith.
Even though you think that might be you... if you aren't following God it doesn't mean a thing. He'll rise up Children of Faith to complete his purposes.

Next verse is Mathew 3:14 ~ But John tried to talk him out of it. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you," he said "so why are you coming to me?"
Now this verse stood out to me because John the Baptist is trying to give Jesus(God) advice. A revered man who LOVES God and is doing God's work is attempting to STOP Jesus from doings GOD's will. NOT out of malice or any want for any bad thing to come... but just from John the Baptists own lack of understanding. Much like the disciples of Jesus when they had not wanted Jesus to be crucified. They were willing to do anything so that Jesus would NOT get crucified.
Just because God tells YOU to do something it doesn't mean that everybody, even God loving people are going to understand it or make sense of it. They MAY even try to talk you out of it. Just as Jesus set the example; we MUST as He says in Mathew 4:4 ~ But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."
We need to know HIS voice and listen to it. Period.

Mathew 4:3 ~ During that time the devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread."

Now this verse stood out to me and I know that everybody can relate. We find ourselves in situations that we are in and one of the first things we always seem to think is. "I am a child of God, God can just wave His hand and make all of this disappear."
Satan used this to tempt Jesus 2000 years ago and Satan uses the SAME thing to tempt us NOW.
We go through something and think I shouldn't be going through this. God can just fix this and it will be dealt with. I'm not saying that God doesn't and can't perform miracles, I think we just need to be carefull that when we are looking for deliverance from something that we are not falling into a trap set by Satan. Jesus answered with this verse; Mathew 4:4 ~ But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." And to me this showed me that yes God can deliver you from ANY situation that you are in. But that is not the important part. It's not the part that counts. ABOVE that God needs you to hear and obey His voice. If he is leading you through the desert and you have no bread, just listen to every Word that comes from the mouth of God. Because if you don't it doesn't matter what you satisfy yourself with temporarily in your belly.. you will not live.

In this verse Satan is again speaking to Jesus. Mathew 4:6 ~ and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, 'He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your food on a stone.'
This verse stood out to me because again it's a trap of Satan. When you are attempting to decide something... just as we had to decide to move into this home or to stay where we were. Don't just make decisions saying I am a Child of God. Even if it's not the right choice and I don't hear God's voice on this I'm going to do it anyways and let the pieces fall where they may. I'll be okay. God will protect me.
Now I think this is a BIG one. Because Satan is deceiving you and us into making decisions that are not God's will. We can't just assume that we will be protected because we are the children of God. There are natural consequences to real life situations. We can't go jumping off cliffs and taking HUGE risks UNLESS it is OF God. Now this isn't to instill fear into you and to have you doubt every move you make. But we cannot fight the devil unless we learn his tricks. And if this is a trick he is using we need to be diligent and mindful of it and use caution and spiritual judgement in making decisions ENSURING that our decisions line up with Biblical principles IN THE BIBLE. Because if they don't then we're jumping off cliffs with no parachute. God can protect us but if we are walking outside of His will there is only so much that can be done. There are consequences to actions.

Mathew 4:10-11 was the best. It reads; "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.' Then the devil went away and angels came and took care of Jesus.
This is a VICTORIOUS verse. This was a truth spoken to me in my cleansing streams group by the leader this week.
WE have the authority over the devil.
If we tell him(satan) to GO in Jesus name then he MUST flee!
This verse also answers what happens when we tell the devil to flee in Jesus name.
The devil WILL FLEE and angels will come and take care of us :) What an awesome encouraging truth. We sometimes forget that we are not alone in this fight. :)
Now... every single one of my children are awake... lol so I have to go. I hope what these verses spoke to me is of help to you in your walk with God :)

Have a BLESSED day!
Love Crystal

The Bait of Satan ~ GW4365

2011-09-24T00:13:00.001-04:00

Goodevening :)

Well I didn't get to read as much as I had wanted to today.
My head/sinus' are really doing a number on me.
But I made it a point to sit down & watch the Bait of Satan DVD since I am supposed to be reading the book for cleansing streams.
What a great message. I really am looking forward to reading the book. The DVD was just a short teaching based on the book... so I'm sure the truth to be learned in reading the book is phenomenal.

There was a vision that John Bevere had talked about that really has hit me.

John Bevere said that somebody was talking to him about a vision they had. The vision was that in the last days satan's demons were going to rise up against Christians like a wave and the demons would be riding on horses... but that as the end days drew nearer, the demons weren't riding on horses anymore they were riding on the backs of Christians.
I don't know about you but that really hurts. My church... God's people... those are the people we're talking about here. Christians. Ouch. I don't want to be that Christian. I am going to avoid that at absolutely all costs.

Luke 17:1-2; He said to his disciples, "Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!

Lol funny I should choose this passage because THIS is the passage that God used to lead me to meet with somebody over a situation that had transpired. I didn't realize it was even the same verse until I just looked it up on www.biblegateway.com. But in the Bait of Satan John Bevere uses this verse to describe God's love which is why I chose it. How at first in a relationship or in love the person can do no wrong and they have ALL of your love, but then in the relationship they hurt you so you remove your love & they have NONE of your love. BUT, REAL love, GOD's love is the next thing that happens if people allow for it to. You know the persons faults with whom you are in relationship with and transgretions against you and/or others, but you love them anyways....the Love of God covers a multitude of sins.

Well I must say I wasn't very excited to read this book until now but I now am fired up! :)
Goodnight for now :)

Love Crystal

Goodnight :) ~ GW4365

2011-09-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

I read some great things this morning in Mathew :)

Tomorrow is a PD Day... so all of my kids will be home. I am hoping to share some thoughts in the morning when my brain isn't so tired.

I pray you have a peaceful and rejuvenating sleep :) In Jesus name!

Love Crystal

Fork in the road. ~ GW4365

2011-09-22T00:45:00.000-04:00

Goodevening or Goodmorning depending on how you choose to look at things here lol.

Well I have been packing lunches, laying out clothes, doing laundry, signing & reading school planners & papers... gosh. I can't belive it's taken me until past midnight to do all these things! How do my children manage to leave the house every morning on time? lol

Anyhow, I had some great moments today that I want to share. I have job testing to go to tomorrow morning :)
And I think that this opportunity is a blessing from God. The weird thing about it is that I feel that it opposes what I thought God put in my heart before. It actually doesn't... this is a resource that God is offereing me to complete that task.. but it does oppose the whole stay at home Mom thing with my kids that I know that God told me to do.

So then why did the plan change? I thought did I have it wrong? I thought about it a bit... and no. Absolutely not. There is nobody that can replace the role that I have spirtually, emotionally and physically in my children's lives. So then why would I think that getting a job at this point would be an opportunity from God?

Well awhile back we as a family had some decisions to make. Unfortunately for us... we didn't make the right ones. Looking back now I can see that but in the moment it just all seemed so appealing... and of course we always feel like we deserve bigger & better in this consumerist North American lifestyle :'(
Anyhow because we didn't follow God's principles according to His Word and how He instructed us to live the plans changed. I can't say that I know that I know that me being a stay at home Mom with only my last three children was God's BEST plan but I do know that was the best plan that I know of. I didn't really know God before my last three kids so I can't really say for sure. BUT I do know that God's best plan for me and my children & our family was for me to stay home with my children. But because we disobeyed God and veered of His "Best Plan" option we have a chance to fix it and get back on track. Realizing what we did wrong and what we need to do to fix it God has an opportunity for an altered NEW "Best Plan" in which we can "get back on track". We may not accomplish all that God had originally given us the opportunity to accomplish but this is the new next best thing :)
I think this probably happens more than we realize... or recognize. But I am glad that God revealed this truth to me tonight.

There are a couple verses today taht stood out to me.
Mathew 3:11 "...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." I loved this verse because I never really noticed that fire was attached to the Holy Spirit. & the image that came to me with that word was that of a Pheonix. One of those birds that burts into fire, turns to ash and yet RISES and becomes COMPLETELY new. What a beautiful image right? Which is why this verse stood out to me in reading this morning.

The second verse was a verse that somebody tweeted to me on twitter. It was a random tweet and God really used it to remind me of what the goal truly is. Him. :)

Psalm 115; 14-16
Oh, let God enlarge your families—
giving growth to you, growth to your children.
May you be blessed by God,
... by God, who made heaven and earth.
The heaven of heavens is for God,

but he put us in charge of the earth.

WE ARE HERE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR GOD. We(Christians) are "in charge" of the earth for HIS glory. It's awesome :) & I was glad for that reminder.

Now I lay me down to sleep ;)
I pray that we all walk in God's will for our lives and if we are not I pray that God as gently as He always does, lead us down the right path :) In Jesus name I pray.

Love Crystal

Simply. ~ GW4365

2011-09-20T23:43:00.001-04:00

Goodness.... I don't even know where to start.

My mind is going in a thousand different directions.

I was at a Cleansing Stream course tonight and it was fabulous. Looking forward to what God has planned for us as a group and also looking to press through some things that God has for me to press through.

The disucussions were great... and faith was re-inforced it was just fabulous. The leader of our group reminded us that we have Authority over the enemy THROUGH CHRIST. That when we were facing adversity that was Satan and his angels coming against us that we had only MENTION the name of Jesus Christ and he and those angels had no choice but to flee.

How encouraged I was by these words. How empowered I was upon hearing this... I even prayed about it at the end of the session.

So why then is it that I found myself coming home an hour after the Cleansing Stream group meeting in which I was so empowered and encouraged ACTING in the same as I always have?

Not like I didn't know and don't already "know" that I am a child of God. I listen to it in songs....

"I'm a King's kid I'm blessed not cursed I cannot be defeated. Impossible has never ever been a word in my diction. Possible is the Word in the Holy Ghost Fiction. I aint' scared of Satan cause I know who I be. Last time I checked He lived in ME!" ~ God's Urban Disciples in King's Kid (below)

So...why do I seem to automatically fall into the same unGodly thinking if I can talk, pray & sing of this??

My thoughts were re-routed almost immediately as God used somebody to REMIND me of who I was IN HIM and what that meant. "God is good my friend! You can rest easy knowing that God is in control of every 'little' detail! :) "

Gosh & so then of course I kicked myself in the butt for not having that faith to begin with.
This is a reminder to me of how we need to stay focused. I got some news and my feathers get a little out of sorts and all of a sudden my soul is ruling the roost instead of my spirit.
& this wasn't a big deal issue in the grand scheme of things and the news wasn't even bad!!! It was good news...but the situation reminds me that I ALWAYS need to remain diligent in the cause to which I have dedicated myself to and that is Jesus Christ because Satan is always waiting like a theif to steal the Word from me. But I say "Get behind me Satan!" :) [I've always wanted to use that line ;) ] In JESUS NAME I say you have no authority or power here. Be gone! :)

I need to KEEP my focus on God because it is far too easy to get DISTRACTED. Another thing that we discussed in our Cleansing Streams group... distraction. Oh how easy it is to be distracted!
Wait.. what?!
Ha! Just kidding ;) lol BUT we have the POWER in and through JESUS CHRIST to overcome this. Praise & thank God for that. How weak we are without the POWER of the Holy Spirit. I continue to pray that we remaine rooted in Him and that the Holy Spirit actively remind us to refocus when we need it.

Final verse of the night.

Luke 14:33 (The Message) Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple.

I pray that I put my own will aside so that I can live in HIS PERFECT plan and will for my life IN HIM. In Jesus name I pray & ask!

Amen! & Goodnight ;)
Crystal

Love 4 AMAZED

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Are you LIMITING God's POWER to MOVE in your life AND in the life of others? ~ GW4365

1 Corinthians 12

Ceasars Matrix vs. God's Reality ~ GW4365

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Why We Stopped Celebrating Thanksgiving ~ GW4365

Three Ways to Overcome Discouragement ~ GW4365

Do You want a Word from God? ~ GW4365

Psalm 84:11(ESV)

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Butterfly ~ GW4365

A Time to Weep & a Time to Laugh ~ GW4365

Good Advice ~ GW4365

Philippians 4:8(ESV)

Lady Wisdom on being BUSY ~ GW4365

Your vision sets the path for your footsteps. ~ GW4365

No complaining ~ GW4365

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ~ GW4365

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all! Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying, “Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him! If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him!”

Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast. I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born.

We Cannot Fight the Devil Unless We Learn His Tricks ~ GW4365

The Bait of Satan ~ GW4365

Luke 17:1-2; He said to his disciples, "Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!

Goodnight :) ~ GW4365

Fork in the road. ~ GW4365

Simply. ~ GW4365

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
“Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born.