Genesis 2:25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

They had no sin in their life yet. They had nothing to be ashamed of. When God takes away all of our layers, will we be able to say the same? If God takes away all of our shell that we tend to hide behind, would we be ashamed of what He finds on the inside. When the time comes for our complete exposure to the Lord, what will He find under it all. When I am revealed at the throne of God, my prayer is that I will not be ashamed. I don't want to be ashamed of what is inside my heart. My desire is to be pure and clean on the inside underneath the layers that we shelter ourselves with. Beyond the walls we build, should be nothing to be ashamed of. Our true colors, should be a reflection of God. When you stand alone and noone is watching, are you someone who is unashamed of who you are.

Their eyes were opened after choosing to sin. Now they became ashamed of who they were and immediately tried to cover themselves. They tried to build up those walls so God could not see them and their sin. When they tried to cover themselves, it shows what we do when we sin. We immediately try to hide it. Then we blame. Well if you hadn't of...then I would not have...So it is always someone else's fault because we allowed ourself to sin.

When we cover our sin, it is an ameteur job made of fig leaves. And eventually fig leaves once taken from their tree, become dry and brittle, and will fall apart. When we cover our sin, it does not last too long. Then everyone can see through our poor covering that we did. It is when we come to Jesus and admit our faults then He steps in. When he covers our sin, it is then that the covering will endure. He won't use something that will eventually die off and break away. He used coats of skin. Something that will endure. So when we sin, you have to come to the Lord and admit your fault. He already knows you did it, so why not admit it to him. My little girl colored on our wall one day. It was obvious that she had done these wonderful drawings. She had even written my name...MOM. When approached, she quickly denied she had done it, and blamed the dog. ( She knew better to not blame brother or sister, for they could talk, and tell me they did not do it, but the poor dog had no defense.) After talking with her for quite some time, I eventually got the truth out of her. I did not just let her blame someone or something else. I wanted her to learn to accept the fact she had been the one to do wrong. Then we cleaned it up together. So when talking to the Lord, just remember, He already knows your wrongdoing. So admit it, then ask what needs to be done to clean it up.

So when we stand before the King on that glorious day,will we be able to say...they were not ashamed.

In the midst...

When you are surrounded by troubles or circumstances, you tend to get so lost in them. You see what is around you. You look at how bad things are and they just seem to get worse. You ask God to take you out of this place your in. You wait on the Lord to hear your cry, though, it seems He is not inclined to remove you from your circumstance. As you survey your surroundings, you take note of how dreary it all seems. You examine for a way out and you just find brick walls all around you. Every now and then you catch a glimpse of light through the bars at the top of this jail cell you are in. But no sooner did you feel the warmth before it disappears once again. You are made to live off of hope and the belief of a better tomorrow. Your only food is the memories of the promises made to you so long ago. Your sustenance is your reference point that occurred so long ago. Your strength must come from somewhere other than on this world. What do you do? If you continue to examine your situation it just becomes more dreadful. The more you cry out, the more you want out of your situation. The longer you see the damp, dark walls, the less you can see why you may be in the place your in.

Joseph was in an actual prison, for something he did not do. He had no control over his circumstances. Imagine with me what would have become of him had he, curled up in a corner in self pity and pouted his days away. If he had sulked himself to sleep during the endless days and nights, would he have heard the baker and the cup bearers dreams? If he would have been so self absorbed, would he have been able to hear God giving him the translation to these dreams? Would Joseph have died in that prison, before he was able to fulfill what God had planned for his life? What would have happened to Joseph if he had been so distraught over his imprisonment that he was unable to help those around him? Who would God have used to save Egypt and the people from the 7 years of famine?!

Paul and Silos were also in a prison. Now, they had been beaten. I am sure they were in a lot of pain. Confused. They were doing the work of the Lord and now they were bleeding and in prison. What would have become of them had they cried out in despair, "poor me"?! They may have rotted and died in there. What would have become of these men? They were not distracted by their circumstances. They may have glanced around them, took note of how dreary things were, and then looked at each other and started to sing.

They realized along with Joseph that no matter what they did there was nothing they could do to change the situation they were in. They did all they could. As they praised God and waited on Him, things took place. If Joseph had been too distracted by how bad things were and kept his mind on that he may have missed his opportunity of escaping this trial. If Paul and Silos had not sent up their praise to the Lord but instead saw their pain and given up, they may have missed their way of escape. Another thing I gather from these two situations, they were not alone in the prison. I mean God was with them of course but in both situations they were accompanied by someone else with a need. So, not only were they in a situation that they had no control over but they were in there with another individual who had needs of their own. They had to look past the circumstances of their own trial to help the other person who was in the trial with them.

It is easy to look around you and see all the bad, but we must learn to look past that, and see the person or situation that we can help in the midst of our own battle. Our selfishness states to us how bad it is, our spirit reminds us that we all are fighting some sort of a battle, and we can help each other. The person in there with you may by your way of escaping your situation. Help them and they may help you without even knowing it themselves.

My mind is made up to serve the Lord!

Today is a beautiful day. The sun is out and shining bright. The wind is blowing through the air. The temperature is just right for most people, of course if you know me, I could use a little more heat. What a wonderful day. Preaching last night was about serving God by choice and not being forced into it. Isaac and Ishmael. Sarah and Hagar. The child of the contract and the child of being forced into the situation. When you choose to serve the Lord and give to Him all of you then you can have access to all of heaven's supply. You inherit from the Lord's kingdom. You truly are a child of God. It is a choice that God gave to us: human will. Doesn't it mean so much more to you when your child comes to you and does something on their own because they wanted to vs. being forced to do it. Constantly I nag on my kids: clean your room, be nice to your sibling etc. It is so much the better when I come home and my kids have cleaned their rooms because they wanted to please me. Or they did something nice for each other because they actually wanted to. I am sure God feels the same way about us. I think alot can be compared to the relationship with our children as God's relationship to His children: us.

God gave us kids so we could know what it felt like to love unconditionally, because that is how He loves us. We dont have to earn His love, we just have to accept it. Our children can be an excellent lesson for us. Think of your ideal relationship with your children or with your parents. What would you do more of to strengthen it. Communication?!Now try to develop that relationship with the Lord - who is your heavenly father. God is good all the time, no matter what our circumstances bring. God is good, never changing. Remember this and it will bring you through anything. We change, but God never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God knows all but he wants to hear it from us. When my daughter drew on the wall (this is an excellent lesson for many reasons) I knew she did it ( moms know all) but I wanted to hear her tell me she did it. I know my children love me but I want to hear them tell me. Your husband or wife know (or they should know) how much you love them but they still need to hear it. God knows are feelings and actions etc but we still need to open up that communication to Him and speak to Him on a daily basis at a minimum. He is a friend that is at your side day and night. He is always available to listen to you. But you can't listen to somebody when they never speak to you.

Fun in the sun

What a wonderful last few days I have had. Well to start my mom came over for a few days and the last day she was here, we went to the lake. We have a seadoo and decided it was hot enough to take it out for a spin (literally!) I can't believe it but I actually got my mom to get on it. I thought for sure we would tip it because she had never rode one before and it was very choppy water. She was great though. We even caught some air...I made her scream a couple times, LOL. Then we took her home and went golfing in Chico! Fun filled day. So, Sunday after church my husband gathers a group of people to come to the lake again. We took the seadoo out with a couple boys and they had a blast. Then the girls showed up! In church clothes! Wanting a ride! Ha Ha, so we took them. First off I took Kadee out, I was tempted to throw her in the water, atleast take her for a wild ride but I was kind. You see, when she drives, Oh My, she is very bodacious to say the least. She has me holding on for my life! I brought her back nice and somewhat dry. Then Sunshine wanted to go, so I took her out. She had never been on one before, so I tried to be kind, though we did hit some waves. Finally, I took Tala out. She enjoyed it too. It was a real blast! I got to relax by the waves too and just...rest, while the kids enjoyed the water. What a nice weekend. Hopefully we will do it again sometime. You know you don't have to spend alot of money to have an enjoyable time. It is the simple family and friend stuff that brings real joy to your life. We tend to think well if we had more money we could do... or this.. or that... But in reality, all you need to make is time. I recently read something that really impacted me. When you spend time with someone that is something you will never get back. If you spend your money on a gift, you just work harder and make that money back. But with time, once spent, there is no making it up. "When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life, you will never get back." It truly is an invaluable gift, if spent wisely! We need to spend more time, and spend less money!

Our enemy - his name is "I'm too busy"

We are just too busy all the time. How many times in a day do we use this phrase? How many joys of life do we pass up because we are too busy? How many times throughout the day does God try and talk to us but we are too busy to hear His still small voice? We have so much to do, so many places to go, so many people to talk to. When will we not be too busy anymore. Tomorrow, next week, next month, or maybe next year. That will be too late for the time right now. What are we missing out on because we are just too busy? Today, my little girl wants me to play with her and blow bubbles with her. Will she desire that tomorrow, or next week, or even next year. Today, my oldest wants me to braid her hair. Will she still ask tomorrow or next week. My boy really wants a water fight. When he is older will he still want this. This may be the last time I am ever asked to do these simple tasks, do I want my final words to be "sorry, I am too busy". Life was not meant to rule us like we let it. But you see it goes further than that. There is an acronym for busy: Bound Under Satans Yoke. See if he keeps us busy, when do we have time for family or church activities or God himself. If we are constantly running around trying to get all the tasks of life done, do we have time for completing the tasks God wants us to complete. What is the meaning of life...to work so you can pay bills...so you can have the gas to drive around ... to get the errands done... like shop for food... so you have to go back to work...to pay the bills...etc... It is a spiral effect that is heading in the opposite direction God wants us to go. God is to be our priority, Family comes next, Friends...these are the important things in life. I am having to search deeply to understand all this myself. When I find myself to busy, I must realize what it is I am doing that does not need to be done. Does it improve my relationship with my Creator? Is it helping me grow with my family? How am I being productive in my task right now? Am I bringing my God praise with my activities? Our lives are so full because we think we have to do things that really can either be put off until later or we are just trying to fit too much into our short lives.

Work is a must for all of us. We have to work in order to earn an income and provide the essentials for our family. Church activities are a priority. We must continually fellowship with others and reach out to our community and be a light in dark times. Family time is so important. I was rushing around the house today trying to get ready for work and suddenly here comes my little one. She jumps down from her chair, runs to me, grabs my leg and wraps her little arms around me. I pause, look down at her, and ask her what she needs. She gently speaks, " I just wanted to give you a hug, that's all." She reminded me to take some time out of my busyness to enjoy one of the simple pleasures of life...Love. I most of all have to learn to slow down and pay attention to those little moments, because you never know if they will repeat themselves again. Don't miss out on what is important in life, simply because you were to BUSY! I guarantee you will never look at being busy the same if you remember the acronym.

One of the best ways to experience love firsthand, is to be loved by a child. God's love and a child's love are so similar. OK that is another post...stay tuned.

Lighthearted Monday

I know I post some serious blogs. No, I am not that serious all the time, I promise. Actually, my weekend will prove it. Friday night, we had a marriage class out in Lincoln, with several other couples. About an hour or so into it, someone rings the doorbell. We are clueless as to who it could have been, everyone was already here. Well less than a minute later we are told we should all check our vehicles? Yes, the youth must have been bored and had nothing better to do with excess toilet paper then to decorated our vehicles. ha Ha great! Well you know if you are away from your home and they were willing to drive 20+ minutes away to TP your car that your house was done too.

On the way home, hubby and me decide it is a Friday night, and the kids dont have to go to bed early and we happen to have all this extra TP in our front yard as well. So we decide to share with our close friends the Sullivans. The main target however, was who we believed to be the get away driver, guess we were wrong, but owell! So, Tylers truck got it real good. Then this lovely white car happened to be there too belonging to Kandyce, so since it was so conveniently parked there it got some decoration too!

Then we got caught but we escaped. Ha Ha the fun continues. Saturday came, got up nice and early for a yard sale and car wash. Then, Jessica had her last basketball game for the season. My mother and sister in law came for a visit. Sunday came and water fights broke out, golfing event took place, and more water fights.

Yes, it was an exciting weekend. God is good, no matter what life brings, God is good all the time.

This week is going to be exciting as well because my mom is coming for 4 days. This will be a good time.

Scars

I was thinking some last night, dangerous as it is, about life in general. Dan and I were discussing scars. If you are hurt in someway, and it is bad enough, it leaves a scar on your body. Then if it is in a visible area, someone will ask you about it and it leads you to a story of some sort. Now if that scar is something very dreadful...and you still have pain associated with it, you may just brush it off as nothing. This is because it is too painful to even talk about. If it was something you learned from, then you are more than happy to share. You may see a scar as an ugly sight, so you choose plastic surgery to cover it up. You can also view it as a part of your childhood. A funny incident. Something you did that was heroic and you are proud of the scar you received from it.

Life leaves scars on us too but not just physically, they are on our soul. So it means we were hurt in someway. Everyone has scars from life, some are larger than others, and some are less in quantity than others. Do you hide those scars so no one knows you have been hurt? Do you try and make people think that your life has been so perfect that you have not received any scars? Do you have some soul plastic surgery done so your scars don't show? Do you ever ponder the reason of receiving that scar? Was it for someones benefit? If you tell them how you received that scar could it benefit their life? Or do you let pride come before compassion and decide to keep your scars concealed while they pour out their heart to you? If they show me the hurt they have had and I can sympathize with them by showing them my scar then it connects us like no other way.

Jesus put himself on Earth to experience human life. To see our hurts and worries. He received scars. Why did He do this? He did not experience all this toil and trouble to keep it hidden but to let His light shine through out the world. So, He could sympathize with us as we live our lives. He knows our hurts because He experienced them for Himself! We are not better than Jesus. We are not expected to go through this life and not receive any offenses or hurts, are we? But we are not meant to receive these scars and just hide them. They may be there so we can touch a life who may be experiencing something similar. So it is just as important for us to overcome the hurt of this scar and be able to talk about it and share with others. If you never overcome the initial hurt then you can't be expected to help anyone else in that circumstance.

One final point. A scar is what is left of a healed hurt. The key word is healed. A hurt cannot heal if it is constantly being picked at and reopened. It can become infected and cause body wide sickness: bitterness. So, it is very imperative that when you are hurt, it will happen, you allow the proper healing to come. God will help you heal that wound, and the scar can form. It becomes no longer painful for you and now you can help someone else that is in need. It seems to me one of many circles that God allows us to go through. Notice I use the word allow not make!

Yes, we all have been hurt. But ask yourself this: Did you allow God to heal you and form a scar over that hurt? or Did you pick at this hurt, and allow a body wide infection (bitterness) to occur ? Do you want to use your scars to witness to someone and remain humble? or Would you rather stay proud and pretend you have never had any blemish come to your life?

Remember, Jesus received scars, and He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega, omnipotent, powerful, almighty GOD! He received His scars for you and me.

In the arms of God

Sometimes I just wonder what heaven will be like. Will you constantly have those goosebumps, you feel when God's spirit enters a room? Will you feel His presence by your side no matter where you go in heaven? Will you always be able to see God from every part of heaven? Will you walk constantly with a smile? Will we walk or fly? Will there be real mansions for us or will we even need them? What questions would I like to ask of all the christians of old? Will I even care anymore then about what I would question them about now?

Well one day sometime ago, I feel I caught a glimpse to one of my questions above. During a very dark time in my life. When the storms were raging. In the late night hours, I sat alone. My family nicely tucked in their beds, peacefully sleeping. I sat, awake, wondering what my next move would be. I prayed to the Lord to give me some direction and comfort. I felt just so alone in my despair. Noone to call on for help...Noone to give me any guidance at this hour of need. Suddenly, I felt those goosebumps come over me. From somewhere above me I felt Him. His presence was warm and very comforting. It was like His arms just wrapped around me and held me. Suddenly I felt the comfort I so longed for. The wind died down in my mind, just for a few moments in my life. For a short time, everything stood still. Like His words..."Peace, be still." I was able to experience those words in my life, directly from my heavenly father. With only his presence, He comforted me. That was my glimpse of heaven. No, I did not have a vision, I did not hear any words spoken from above. What I experienced was much more than any of that. I felt Him.

Whenever life gets too rough, I just return back to that moment of time. God took time out to spend just a few but important moments with his child. To reassure her that everything would be okay. What an awesome God I serve! I felt I was truly in the arms of GOD.