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

There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that you are in your flow.  These are the times when we are doing what we were born to do and making it look miraculous, which it is.  This is you living in purpose, where all of your eccentricities, giftedness, and passion feel at home.  You may or may not know the power of  this moment, but you are moving fast.  This doesn't happen by accident.  All of us were made to fit a certain section of the puzzle of history, and scripture tells us this in Ephesians chapters one and two. In Ephesians 2:10  it says that we are God's creations designed to do specific tasks that he has given us the authority for.  This tells us that we are not only made on purpose but for a purpose.  God had goals in mind when he created each of us and those purposes are going to show up throughout our lives.  We are like trees that have been planted, watered, and fed.  We are not going to be able to stay in the ground...

I thank God that I am at a place in my life when I can feel God on me.  In moments when I am praying or reading my Bible or in worship, I get an actual feeling on my skin like a wind is blowing on me from inside.  I know that it's God because it doesn't happen at any other time then when God is trying to get my attention.  No one will ever be able to tell me that God isn't real.  It's not something that I made up in my head or created out of my own desire to have an experience with the divine. All I can tell you is that it happens every time I call out to the Lord no matter where or when or how I reach out.  This relationship that Christians say they have with God through Jesus is REAL.  That being said my relationship with the Lord has had some struggles throughout my life and continue to have them as I realize the parts of me that are in opposition of him. My biggest struggle lately has been with asking God questions that he has already answered.  ...

I recently had an uncomfortable feeling like I was going to have to move to another city.  I felt the overwhelming urging of my spirit that this is going to happen, and I also felt the indignation of not wanting to go.  It drove me to even screeching out loud "I'm not going!"  In that moment my mother looked at me and said "don't be like Jonah."  I stopped in my tracks because I did feel like I was running from a word that God gave me.  I was indeed pulling a Jonah.  People give the characters in the Bible such a hard time for making bad decisions, but if we are honest, we are more like the Adam, Jonah, Moses, David, and the others of the Bible than we think. We make self righteous decisions; we try to fix problems our way instead of God's way; we say no to God's will for our lives.  Thank God that their stories are in the Bible to warn us when we are heading into some the their same mistakes. I was getting ready to run from the word of God over my...

I was just thinking about God's love for me.  There is no love like the love of the Lord.  He knows every filthy bit of who I am and he not only looks beyond it, but he cleans me up and holds me close. I need that as a single woman.  I need to be held tightly.  I cling to the theme of God's love for me, and I pray that God allows me to feel him tucking me in to his being.  IF there is nothing too hard for God then asking him to allow me to feel him holding me isn't out of reason.  I thank God that I am in a time where there is no one else to even consider as my safe place. Thank God because I must need this time.  I want to get as close to the Lord as possible.  I want to rest in his presence. My mind is fixed on knowing God's love with new revelation.  I want to know what it's like to be in a strong and passionate relationship with the Lord.  I pray that the Lord would allow me to hear his voice, see his face,...

I mess up all the time, and some days it seems like I go from failure to failure at warp speed.  I was lamenting again over having blown it a few days ago and the Lord showed me something amazing.  He showed me my life line from beginning to end.  He reminded me that this is how he sees my life.  He sees it all from beginning to end.  Then he showed me the point of salvation.  It seemed like a salve was being put on my life line and when the ointment touched my life line the entire line turned red and bright. He showed me this as a representation of what happens to us when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior and Lord.  God knows everything that we have ever done and will do.  When we receive Jesus it is all under the blood; it's all covered.  While we still suffer the stings of our failures as we travel down our life line, God has already grieved and remedied the situation through Jesus.  Can you imagine being God and knowing all of the...

  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...