What I Needed

Monday night, 5/18.
Revival at my church, the sermon came from Psalm 123.
The message was not titled, but definitely something I needed.
My “sermon notes” are below:

In Psalm 123, David saw his need of lifting up his eyes unto the Lord.
It is important to maintain the victory of God in our soul.
Our personal victory is dependent on how well we have our attention / our mind focused on God. So many distractions will try to divert our attention from God. And it is easy to get so focused on problems here, that we forget about God on the throne. That while God is high up there on his throne, He is interested in not only the big things in our life, but also the small things. God wants us to seek him about all things – even the seemingly unimportant, little things.

God is concerned about everyone – He understands.
He sees what you are facing.
When it seems no one understands or cares – God does.
God is concerned about YOU! (in this case – ME!)
When it seems like you are stuck in one place and cannot get over something, you need to lift up your head. You have to keep pressing on, keep looking to the Lord. Do not have your eyes on somebody, something, or circumstances around you. The devil will place these distractions in your life – because he wants you to lose the victory and the joy of the Lord in your life. David realized that the only way he could keep a song was to lift up his head to the Lord.

In Psalm 72 – David’s foot almost slipped.
He looked into the world and saw distractions.
What are you looking at?
If you look at other things too long, you will lose victory.

GET REFOCUSED ON GOD!

When David realized what he was looking at (Psalm 73:21), his heart was pricked. A hindrance will develop in your life from looking at something.
It doesn’t matter what others do around you, it is just you and God.

God wants to lift you up. You will not have an excuse when you meet God – you cannot stay in a pity party. The devil is going to put things in your life, but get your eyes off of everything else and look to God. When something hurts and you cannot seem to get past it – it is time to get up from that place, and look up. Get your focus back on God.

When you come to church, go to get something from God. Come to church with one desire – worship God. Pray through and get the victory for yourself. We can keep the victory – and not wait for revival or Campmeeting. God has what we need, seek for it, all the time.

Psalms 25 – have your eyes ever toward the Lord. He is a deliverer.
If you can keep your eyes on Jesus, the floods or fire will not overthrow you.
Don’t focus on the problems, but on your blessings.
Share how God is moving – the good things.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

The devil wants you to lose confidence in one another.
Look at faults and failures.
But, do not let the devil sap your victory.
Stake your ground.

Remember Naboth and his vineyard.
It was his inheritance and it was not for sale.
It cost him his life, but he was determined not to sell out.
He took a stand.
2 key things to remember: 1) Submit to the Lord and then 2) Resist the devil.

Do not look at everyone else.
Throw away the binoculars… and take out a mirror.
Keep your focus on what you are doing – make sure you are right.
It is time to go back to the altar and get in touch with God.

Remember Job and his miserable comforters.
But after a while, the Lord started talking to Job.
And Job made it through those dark days.
Dark days will come and the devil will try to take your focus off of God.
But, do not forget where to look.
If it seems your prayers are not going anywhere, keep looking up.
We have got a hope.
God is still God.
He sees where you are.
You can still have victory and joy.
You just need to look up.

I need to remember this.
It is hard for me to get over things that hurt.
But, with God’s help, I am going to look up.
Keep my focus.
Live with victory and Joy.
Smile.

Love more.

My Heart's Cry

I Want us to be Together in Heaven

Verse 1
You may have a fancy car,
A brand new house that shines by far
You may live to be a hundred years old.
But if you have not been saved,
It will end with the grave.
But I want us to be together in Heaven.

Verse 2
You may be a millionaire
Wearing clothes beyond compare
You may have the best that money can buy
But if the blood is not applied
Then in hell you’ll lift your eyes
But I want us to be together in Heaven

Chorus
I want us to be together in Heaven
I want to walk down the streets of pure gold
I want to run through the fields of green clover.
See the mansions, smell the flowers
Hear them singing, it’s all ours
See the rivers gently flowing
Feel the gentle breezes blowingI want us to be together in Heaven

(c) - to whoever wrote this song???

P.S. Revival at my church starting Sunday night (5/17) through Wed (5/20)

Melancholy. May. Moments.

May is a hard month for me.

May is the time I see the “In Loving Memory” of both of my paternal grandparents.
5.28.03 – my “granny”
5.31.05 – my “papa”
Within 2 short years, my family changed – majorly.

Even though the grief recedes with time, sometimes the pain is fresh again. Especially considering their deaths were close to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. And remembering that the happiness of my high school graduation was overshadowed by the last few days with my grandmother.

You see, I saw my grandmother die.
Thinking about those last few breaths of life.
I want my “end" to be like hers.
While it was sad, it was also a victory.
The sting of death was not there for her.
She was ready, prepared, and even waiting.
She knew it was her time to go.
And she wanted to go.
Life does go on, but sometimes the parting seems to be forever.
It is hard for my human mind to grasp the reality of eternity at times.
And as life goes on, it is sad to see the family traditions fade.
The family connections weaken.

I have regrets about some things.
And I want to do better in 2009 and years to come.
Because in May, I also think of a death too soon.
Just a framed picture sitting on a table. Instead of a beautiful girl standing there.
Honoring a bright young lady. But who was not there to receive her diploma.
A girl that I miss, that I wish I would have spent more time with.
A tragic death before graduation is never expected.
Who would have known that time together would end like it did?
That I would always think – I should have “done more.”

And while I do not want to dwell on sad, depressing thoughts.
It helps to write about them - to process my emotions, to cope with the pain.
I do not want to brush off the inescapable certainty of death.
I want to make sure I have it all right.
I’m trying. And while it may not be my best at times, I want to work on that.
To try harder. To live better. To love deeper.

For today, I’m just dealing with some moments.

And feeling melancholy.

The REAL to-Do List

To-Do lists are a major part of my life.
And I make long ones - that seem to grow and never shrink.
I found a canvas wrap at Hallmark with the following list titled as:

"The REAL to-Do List"

Sing. Hope.
Smile at strangers.
Keep learning.
Notice kindness.
Eat ice cream.
Count Your Blessings.
Laugh. Love.
Love Some More.

I just had to buy this. And it is on my dresser in my bedroom.
I want to try to accomplish these items. If so, my life will have sweetness.
Just not too much of the ice cream - or I will get fat.
That would NOT be sweet. :)

Foundation of Christian Living

Going back to 2 Peter 1

http://bibledatabase.net/html/kjv/2_peter_1.html

{1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge}

Before adding the 7 steps to become a fruitful Christian, one must first take the beginning step with God. Faith is fundamental, the foundation of a Christian life.

As shown in verse 5, the phrase "and giving all diligence" points out that effort is required on our part in serving God AND in becoming a fruitful Christian. When referring to bearing fruit - it means that the right attributes are blossoming in a Christian's life - new life and growth are evident.
I looked up the definition of diligence (my google search returned wikipedia's definition as the first result.) Diligence is a zealous and careful nature in one's actions and work. Decisive work ethic. Budgeting one's time; monitoring one's own activities to guard against laziness. Putting forth full concentration in one's work.

Giving all diligence is quite a task. I definitely need more diligence - I want to monitor my actions and concentrate on the more important aspects of life. To grow and add godly characteristics will not come automatically - diligence is required, which reminds me of manual, hard work. And you can't earn these characteristics within yourself, but it is through the grace of God. So by mixing some diligence and grace, and following the 7 steps of Christian living, growth will occur.

Adding to faith with the 7 steps can definitely create difficult moments. The more effort exerted to draw closer to God, the more the devil will bother you - at least that is how I see it. However, there is a promise to claim from James 4:8 -Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. It is not just God doing something, but you are doing something to in order to grow.

Thankfully, He will reach back when I reach out to Him!

Although the route to heaven is not an "easy street", everything we need to be overcomers is provided. I want to climb "higher on the ladder" by adding to faith.

My prayer today: Increase my Faith. Establish a firm foundation in my life. Help me give all diligence and draw nigh to God.

A Few Firsts

Today is the first day of May.


I read the first chapter of Proverbs. (not for the first time of course.)


The first time my mama called my cell from the house phone in the morning - while we were in the same house at least. Bad news - we found out a young neighbor died. He would be 30 next week. Very unexpected - possibly an aneurysm.


The first part of my "adding to" series - a study from several Wednesday night services at my church.


GV (pastor) outlined the study as 7 Steps in Christian Living. (not sure of the exact title?)


Here are the steps in list form...


1. add to your faith VIRTUE

2. and to virture KNOWLEDGE

3. and to knowledge TEMPERANCE

4. and to temperance PATIENCE

5. and to patience GODLINESS

6. and to godliness BROTHERLY KINDNESS

7. and to brotherly kindness CHARITY


It's really late as I get ready to publish this blog.
Amazing youth service at my church tonight.
Sermon notes will come later from the service - it was great!