Fire Reignited

I was moved last night. I walked into a room and the presence of God was so strong that tears started streaming from my eyes.  Fifteen people were inside that room singing worship songs and praying.  I felt a mixture of things as I sat down to join them.  I felt the remnants of anxiety that I had brought with me there and which has been my companion for a while.  The kind of nagging anxiety that keeps you from feeling at peace because you have things to do and it slowly eats away at you.  I closed my eyes and started to pray. I felt peace trickling into me along with love, comfort, forgiveness, and the presence of holiness.  With tears silently running down my face, I prayed and I listened.  The presence of the Holy Spirit felt even stronger, I could literally feel someone touching my arm in an embrace.  I needed this. I was thanking God for putting it in my heart to come to that house and worship Him.

Over the course of the hour that I prayed and worshiped, I was moved by the prayers that others boldly spoke out for all of us to hear. I was moved by their passion and the fire in their hearts for the Lord.  I was moved by the music and the comfort that it brought me.  I was moved by God’s word when I opened my bible and read Acts 17:27-28, “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him – though he is not far from any one of us.  For in him we live and move and exist.”

I felt renewed, refreshed, restored, purified, and rekindled.  I had been missing that passion for him.  The passion that comes from keeping in the forefront of your mind and overflowing from your heart that in him you live, in him you move, and in him you exist.  God is not distant; once you give your heart to Him, he resides there. When you talk to Him, he is listening and he is carrying out your requests.

He is always waiting with open arms and unfailing love for us to give our hearts to Him. Whether for the first time or after a time that we have turned away from Him.  He is there. He is waiting. With arms open and compassion in his heart.

“But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
  I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.”   Hosea 2:14-15

Thank you Lord for reigniting the fire in my heart for you.  For healing me last night. Thank you for being my constant rock and salvation. Thank you for showing me your love and letting me feel your presence.  Thank you for speaking to me. Thank you for being my hope, my love, and my everything.

Amen

Check Yourself

This morning’s scripture is one that makes you evaluate what you have been doing, or more accurately, saying lately.  How are you doing with this?

Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”

Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”

“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” Matthew 15:10-20

I felt convicted by this. My prayer for today is that from my mouth will come words of faith, words of love, words of blessing. I pray that the words that come out of my mouth reflect a heart that loves the Lord.  I pray the same for all of you.  Let us be a reflection of our love for Jesus Christ.

Amen!

I love answered prayers!

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

Yesterday I felt super exhausted in the afternoon.  I was sitting in class and literally pinched my cheeks a couple of times to try to keep myself from totally zoning out.  As I was driving home later, I remembered two scriptures that I had read yesterday:

From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety. Psalm 61:2

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

I realized that I just needed to pray and ask Jesus for rest. To tell him that I was placing my life in his hands and letting go of control.  It was amazing, I felt so much lighter and relieved immediately.

When it was time for bed, I once again included the request for rest in my prayers. I set my alarm and then went to sleep.

This morning I woke to my phone ringing. I saw that it was my car pool and immediately answered, “My alarm didn’t go off. I’m sorry.” I said this because it was 7:45, the time when we leave!  But, I didn’t feel upset about it. I just said I would be ready in 20 minutes and got up feeling really well rested!  As I got ready I was thinking about my prayer and my request for rest.  The great thing is that I got the rest I needed and was only 15 minutes late to work (which is not a big deal at all where I work)!

Thank God to answered prayers 🙂

Here is a great song that I was listening to on the drive in to work:

Chris August, “Starry Night”

 

Prayer

Sometimes what I need most, what we need most, is to pray for a situation in our life, but somehow other things keep getting in the way. Jesus illustrated this point when he prayed in Gethsemane:

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Matthew 26:36-41

We have to pray for God’s strength to overcome the weakness of our earthly bodies.  To give us the strength of his Holy Spirit to overcome any obstacles that are placed in our path.

For “people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

Peace and Quiet

Last week I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. The long Thanksgiving weekend couldn’t have come at a better time! I was able to relax with my husband and spend some time doing nothing, which was exactly what I needed. Time to not do homework, not do any work, just let my mind rest.  What was even better was how after my last blog post, where I shared how overwhelmed I was, several people prayed for me and I really felt God’s peace come over me. The next day, I was able to pray for someone else who was in need of prayer and I felt so grateful for God using us to help each other!

This morning, my friend shared a message with me from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-18 and I am going to share it with you.

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-18

My last post: Lord Pick Me Up

Lord pick me up

I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown today if it wasn’t for having God in my life.  I had this feeling like I was losing it. Like I was going to lose it. So annoyed for no reason. So overwhelmed. I had to pray so many times today for God’s strength to fill me. For Him to pick me up.

Sometimes everything just seems to get under my skin. The pressure to keep up the pace can end up feeling like an anchor pulling my head under water.

I ended the day in tears. For no real reason other than pure exhaustion and annoyance at things that shouldn’t annoy me.  I found myself calling on the Lord as I felt darkness trying to creep into my mind and heart.

Thankfully, tomorrow is a new day.

“Savior, please take my hand

I work so hard

I live so fast…

I try to be so tough,

but I’m just not strong enough.

I can’t do this alone,

God I need you to hold onto me.” Josh Wilson, ‘Savior, Please’

 

Hold Fast

Sometimes people feel that there is no hope left for them on this earth.  They feel that they cannot continue on.  A darkness falls on their eyes and they don’t know how or have lost the strength to overcome their troubles and pain.  My friend’s son attempted suicide yesterday.  I don’t know what was going on in his life.  All I know is that he needs prayer.  He needs God’s strength to cover and fill him, to heal his wounds.  I pray for the Lord to put these words in his heart and his mind, “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

I pray that the darkness that has settled in his heart be washed clean.

I believe in the power of prayer and in the hope that Jesus can offer us.  Please pray for Brice in Arizona.

Jessica

One Day

Found another song that says something I’ve been wanting to say better than I could say it.  Have a listen.

Ayiesha Woods, “One Day.”

This song is for all of those prayers that I say everyday and I will keep saying everyday until they come to pass.

Jessica