Journal of Faith: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12

  Seriously Though Memorial Day was a great day of ministry for me.  I was in a parade with some awesome kids and teens from my church to represent Christ to the city.  We gave away candy, told people about Jesus, and stepped for the Lord. One thing that plagues some Christians is our ability to witness outside of the building.  The gospel is too important for those of us who have to good news to wait on those who don't know what they are missing to come to us.  We are the body of Christ and we need to make some moves.  Apostles are those that take the gospel to all the nations and all people.  I was both encouraged and a little confused when I woman got out of her car yesterday to hand me a track while I was walking to the church for the parade.  At first I thought "praise God for her bravery and her consideration to do the work of the Lord."  After my initial excitement for her evangelism, I remembered that I was wearing a shirt that ...

I was asking God the other morning how I can improve my service to him and other people, and I heard clearly that in order to effectively serve I have to know my value.  This is to know where my strengths and gifting lie and how they apply in differing situations.  None of us can give what we don't have, and some of us could be standing in the way of someone else's serve by trying to fit into a position that isn't our assignment.  I am one of those "jack of all trades" types of people, but there are very few if any situations that require all of my skills. In my enthusiasm I have burned myself out more than a few times so believe me when I say that misplaced skills are at best a waste of energy. Find where you can do the most good and station yourself there.  A skills test or personality assessment works great for this.  Check out this link to see how your skills are matching what you're doing. Click Here! I assure you that someone else will take up the ma...

  Today has been a difficult day for me.  I have to decide whether or not I can do ministry anymore.  My time and family are being strained, and I have several time sensitive situations that need an answer soon.  I have to decide if I am going back to school full time, working full time, working part-time, or staying my current course.  I've been struggling with feeling sorry for myself and angry that nothing seems to be working like I expected or wanted.  I have been edgy anyway because I haven't been getting my Word like I need it lately. I feel like a beached whale waiting to be gutted.  Thank God that I have hope in Jesus.  I was reading a Joyce Meyer book and she reminded me that in order to change my situation all I have to do is change my mind.  The Word puts it like this "and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect wil...

I had a wonderful moment this morning that made me cry.  The Lord created feelings in me that I didn't know I could understand.  The first was the feeling that I was covered and the second was the desire for me to get naked.  I will address the nakedness first. The second great story in the Bible is that of Adam and Eve, two perfectly matched beings who were naked and not ashamed.  I imagined myself in the garden with the Lord and realized the blessing in that.  They had nothing to hide.  When I speak of getting naked, I am talking about being honest.  It is not necessary to be honest with God because he already knows everything, but it is imperative that we get honest with ourselves. This honestly frees us from the facade of perfection and the chains of pride.  If we are to be who God intended us to be then we have to be honest about who we are right now. In this way we can have real communion with God about where he wants to take us....

Have you ever had someone break their promises to you or have you broken promises that you've made? It is a simple but not always easy thing to keep a promise.  In seeing so many promises broken, it became hard for me to depend on anyone's words including my own, and this is what has been challenged most recently in my life.  I have kids and adults ask sometimes how I know that God is real.  One of my  answers of late is simply that I have tried his promises and they stick! My pastor this month challenged me to the promise of John 15:7  which says,"If ye abide in my, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."  What a powerful promise!  These are the words of Jesus, and he is saying here that if we stick with him and his words stay with us then we can ask for what we desire and it will be done!   That is not much of an investment with a monumental return.  If it seems too good to be true then I chal...

I was always one of those children that was taught to try new things, and I am so grateful for that. It grows me to explore my world. Sometimes I look up at myself and realize that I am new.  It feels like a sudden happening, and there is a little bit of grief in that for me because I love that girl that's gone.  Once I have grieved the loss, I feel grateful because there are certain places in my journey that require me to change in order to move forward.  I have to become new. Thank God for new days, seasons, and mercies.   One great thing about newness is that it can include the old with it. I believe in building on what is good. Today is my father's birthday, and I bless God that he is still here. At one point I thought we had lost him, and in a way I was right. My dad was missing for almost a week, and when he came back he was a different person. I had to get to know this new daddy, and for the longest time I resented it. It took me two ...