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Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts

Sunday, November 20, 2011

He Makes Beautiful Things

Everyday is made up of a multitude of things... Everyday we have choices to be a blessing or inflict our ability to be down right ugly to those around us. When we are Christ filled we can't help but be vessels of what God is doing in us and sharing that light with others.

Everyday we are filled with several feelings - pride, hate, love, anger, sadness, pity, happiness, etc . . . We are walking images of Christ and as children of a Glorious Father we should employ ourselves to be a blessing every chance we get. A Blessing to our spouse, children, teachers, friends, co-workers, strangers... at some point each of us have accepted Christ into our hearts and when we did we had that desire to be better - to be new.


Have you ever heard a song that just lifts you up and stays with you???

It’s a beautifully written song with an incredible message of hope, encouragemt, reassurance and faith.






The hope is that you’ll take what God is doing in your life or gifting you with and run with it, run with a passion that sets your life on fire burning with desire to serve and glorify HIM -a fire so magnificent it becomes contagious.

The encouragement is that God sheds his mercys on us daily, we wake up and we are renewed and refreshed and have another day to live for His beautiful works share that encouragement with those who
surround you and pray for good works that create a domino effect.

The reassurance is that regardless of where you and I have come from, what color our skin is, what your level of faith or unbelief is, how financially sound you may or not be, how intelligent or funny you are or aren’t ~ God can use you.  He makes everyone and everything beautiful.

The faith is simple or complex as one chooses to make it - faith is to know in your heart before you see with your eyes. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2Cor 5.7)


The words to this song had me looking up scripture using different key words…reborn, beautiful, blessings, and ultimately, new.

. . .

“Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others.  God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.  Are we commending ourselves to you again?  No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart.  If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God.  And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.  Either way, Christ’s love controls us.  Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.  He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves.  Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.  At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view.  How differently we know Him now!  This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ.  And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.  And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us.  We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:11-21

It's a long verse... but it needs to be read in its entirety to grasp ~ Paul deliveres a message that is powerful... we are Christians and we are to be ambassadors for God. Be a blessing.  3 tiny words that carry a such massive responsibility. Our family, our friends, complete strangers, all may be waiting for us to be the ambassador that leads them to a relationship with our Father.  The thing is,  when we accept Christ into our hearts…truly and completely…we should be bursting at the seams with His light so that we have no choice but to share His good news!

So how is this message of hope incorporated into our relationships?  Simple.  When you’re made into something new through Christ, something beautiful, you live to be a blessing to those around you.  And when you do that, it becomes second nature to be a blessing to your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, children, colleagues, etc.  I’m not suggesting that it’s an easy thing.  And I’m also not trying to say that we don’t have our moments of relapse into ones self.  This much I do know, it's much easier to recover the more you live for Him.

 No matter who you are and what your circumstance is, God wants to have a relationship with you and HE can use you to make beautiful things, and (2) Be a blessing!


so thankful that Christ doesn't leave us the way we are when we come to Him...He makes all things new!




Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Getting it all Together

For over 20 years, I knew @ some point I would want to adopt or be a foster parent... I knew I always wanted a large family - but extended not from just my womb, but a mom to other children ~ a family to those who don't have... Joseph & I have discussed this over the years for the right timing... we always thought our youngest two daughters preteen years or teen years would be best... Over the last two years I have touched on it a bit more, and he just felt he was not foster dad material.  This crushed my heart but certainly a huge decision I would respect.

One evening I went outside... this was sometime around 2010 Christmas... and I mentioned it again to Joseph and he just was not wanting to discuss it he feels that he failed our oldest daughter and felt if he could fail his own child how could he help someone else's? I heard him and understood his heart... but still heartbroken I went inside sat at my desk FRUSTRATED, I put my head in my hands, and just started to pray... God I have been going to the wrong man with my heart, YOU should have been my first stop. Lord you know my heart, I want so much to care for other children, your children, broken, scared, unloved, uncared for children... I want us to be your extended hands and heart on earth. Father, if I am being selfish and this is not your will Lord, please remove it from my heart - and Lord if Joseph and I can be a blessing to other children, if we are able to give these children who need homes and love and most of all - YOU, Lord - please place it on my husbands heart to consider this as a need for him not just a want of mine. . . in your precious sons name Jesus, Amen.

I kid you not in less than a couple of weeks, he came to me and said he was ready... he had talked to a couple of our pastors at church and a few other people he knew that adopted or fostered and said now is our time (THANK YOU GOD!)- January was here and we did our training in Austin for Fostering and Adoption - WOW I wish I would have blogged about this from the very beginning so much to take in... and so much to do, we have listed our references, background checks, FBI finger prints, different forms galore.
What we have left - our vet records, fire and health code inspection - (our county doesn't do it so the agency will) square footage of each room of house, fire escape plan - lock box for medicines and first aid... our home study! ~

I am so thrilled, for now I will stop as I am listening to one of the families being interviewed on the radio about their experiences! - if you are in the Austin or surrounding areas - and are interested in foster parenting or adoption -  please check out Family Link