OUT LOUD & PERSONAL! (It's not what you think...)

I have been going through some “stuff”.  Great stuff.  Challenging stuff. Personal and deep stuff. God is awesome and as the song says, “His love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me!”  

(One Thing, Jesus Culture – Click here and check it out!)

I am jumping back in to the blog today because I was encouraged by the following scripture and knew that you could be too.  I am also jumping back in because a “sister of the heart” was innocently and unknowingly used to bring conviction in my life regarding my writing.  So hear I am, back in the water, sharing the purposeful meanderings.

We just bought a new house and it is a huge blessing and answer to many prayers. Currently, I am surrounded by boxes, and white walls that could benefit greatly by COLOR! Lol!  I also have spaces to fill with new furniture, rugs, pictures, etc.  I have NO skills in the area of decorating and very few in the logical organization of things.  I’m O.K. with that. I also, currently & temporarily have no paint/decorating budget.  It will come though! And when it does, I have friends who have “the gift” of transforming spaces into magical-ness! 

I have also been experiencing ZERO motivation to unpack, which is ridulousness when I consider how I have longed for this moment of homeownership again!  It is part of my “stuff”.  I will tell that story sometime.

So I am a believer in praying scripture OUT LOUD and Personalized.  There is a huge fight from the stinkin’ devil to have us feel silly about this, not believe it helps, or just not do it.  Well, if you’ve read anything about him you know this: he is around to STEAL, KILL, DESTORY AND LIE to us.  He wants us to have NOTHING that Jesus died to give us.  If that ticks you off – then read the verse and put YOUR NAME in the places where I put my husband Sandy’s and mine.  Then do it again and put your loved one’s name in there.  I am telling you what – you will FEEL the power of this immediately.  Yes, you will! 

This is from Job 1:10  from the Amplified Bible.  Now, don’t get all freaked out when you read Job’s story, because everything turns out great and we all learned a lot from it!  Remember, I am personalizing this for me.  The Word of God is customized for each of us.  When you find something in the Bible that you desire to have or  experience or believe for you or someone else, make it yours and pray it!  Out loud.

“God, You have put a hedge about Sandy and I and our house and all that we have, on every side!  You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon us in the work of our hands, and our possessions have increased in the land.”

This is a prayer for current times.  God wants us, and our children, and our extended family, and our friends to give Him glory and acknowledgement.  He doesn’t need it for Himself, but He knows it is important for US to remember where every good thing comes from.  He wants to bless us and protect us.  He wants the people of God to have much so they can give much, and to be a testimony that He is a good Daddy who takes excellent care of His children. 

He loves you.  Yeah, He really, really does – no matter what.  Have a changed day.  I love you too. <3 angele="angele" nbsp="nbsp" o:p="o:p">

Lost Days & How To Get Them Back!

Yesterday I had what I call a “lost day.”  I hate lost days.  I know that is a strong word.  As matter of fact I tell my grandchildren the same thing when they say it.  When I hear it coming out of their mouth I usually respond gently with, “Wow.  Hate’s a pretty strong word.  Maybe you could say, I really don’t like that, or, that really frustrates me or makes me sad, etc.  Remember, there is power in your words.”  NOW I’m convicted to rephrase.  Hmmm…….let me see….

I strongly dislike lost days, BUT I choose to be joyful because I know I’m going to learn and grow from this experience.  You may be thinking that sounds like a trite Christian cliché, but don’t dismiss it.  It is true. It is a winning attitude.

James 1:2 tells us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials…” The study note in my Spirit Filled Life Bible states it perfectly: 

“The proper attitude in meeting adversity is to count it all joy, which is not an emotional reaction but a deliberate intelligent appraisal of the situation from God’s perspective, viewing trials as a means of moral and spiritual growth.  We do not rejoice in the trials themselves, but in their possible results.”  As you read on, you will see my story about how we often bring trials upon ourselves. No condemnation here folks, it just true! And there’s a way out!

Last night as I was lying in bed unable to sleep and feeling pitiful and gross, I began to talk to God and ask, what happened here?  You know I really wanted to go to Bible Study; I really wanted to have a great and productive day.  Ohhhhhh, when we ask – He does answer. 

He began to show me the chain of events from the last 24 hours.  EVERYTHING connects.

I am currently on a journey with my family to change our lifestyle in the areas of nutrition and exercise.  I am also in the midst of a slowly successful process of weaning from sleep medications I’ve taken for years. There are certain things I must be disciplined in to be able to sleep.  It all starts with getting up and going to bed at the same time – every day, even the weekends.  I need to be in my bed very early because I need a lot of sleep and currently it can take hours to fall asleep.  (That will not always be the case.) It is also important to be off of all electronics at least an hour before bed.  The right kind of exercise early in the day is crucial. (None of these things have been easy for me, but that is another blog for another day!)

As I was lying in bed the Lord showed me all of the things I didn’t do in this chain of events the day before.  He wasn’t mean, He wasn’t mad, He wasn’t even disappointed.  He was Abba. He was a loving and disciplining Daddy who was answering my question.  I really wanted to understand – and He really loves to help me.

The results of my actions the day before including not sticking to the disciplines, not eating the right foods, and being too lazy to go to the store and get something I needed caught up with me.  I got up on time yesterday, fixed my honey’s breakfast and lunch, and felt HORRIBLE.  I had to cancel my morning appointment and my day went downhill.  It was like a slow-motion train sliding down a muddy mountain and I felt unable to stop it. 

As God was showing me the chain of events I also see that I have said something to someone that wasn’t 100% true.  WHAT?  Yes, I did.  It was small, but wrong.  OH!  OH NO!  THAT was the problem?  That was the thing that put it over the top and sunk my day?  That tiny little thing?  Or is that BIG lie?  I mean, a lie is a lie is a lie – no matter how big or small.  An exaggeration is not a truth.  I realized in an instant that I had brought my lost day upon myself – and in that same instant I cried out to God for forgiveness.  I was so sorry.  Not because I was sick, but because in the light of His love and gentleness to me I was truly repentant.  I was once again reminded of my own sinful nature.  We must always have our guard up.  The simple disciplines of our lives have purpose.  They all fit together and have a ripple effect on everything and everyone in our lives.  That is not an exaggeration.  It is truth. We reap and sow in constant motion, for our own lives and those around us.  Good, bad, or indifferent, we are sowing something every moment.

As I lay on my bed praying, seeing, repenting, and soaking in love and forgiveness I knew the dawn would bring a new day.  I was reminded last week that His mercies are new every morning.  It is really true.  His love, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, grace, and patience – it is all available to us, every single day.  His ways are not our ways.  He is not a man that he should lie.  He is always, always, always there to HELP us, not to make us feel worse when we are down.  He is the kindest Person you will ever know.  Jesus lived on this earth and He knows every single temptation we face.  He understands how hard it is to live on planet earth – it is not heaven!  But He always shows us the way out.  OH how grateful I am for The Truth in my life!

So my friends, I celebrate my lost day.  I learned.  I got clean.  His mercy is new today for me, and for you.  If we just take the time to ASK HIM what is going on, and then LISTEN and RESPOND, everything changes.  It may be your circumstance, it may be your attitude, but it does change!  Be honest with God and yourself.  Don’t get defensive.  And don’t get stuck in beating yourself up (I call that belly-button gazing.)  Just ask, listen, and obey.  If you have to do that 100 times today, it is better than the alternative.  I had a lost day.  In the past I had lost years.  I never want to go back to that land, and I know that I will not.  I have victory – one decision at a time – His decisions.  So can you.  What do you need to talk to God about right now?

Extinguishing Sharp, Fiery Projectiles!

Thanks to many great influencers in my life I have a regular practice of putting on my spiritual armor each day.  (DON’T STOP READING – THIS GETS GOOD!)  Some people say they put it on once and it hasn’t come off.  I think they feel it is a bit religious to “put on the armor”.  I get that.  It sounds like a rule to them. I have learned that it is a powerful principle that makes a true difference in my life.  My experience has been that it is far from a religious practice or a meaningless routine.

There are many things I do in my daily time with God that are done out loud.  I sing out loud.  I pray out loud, sometimes in English, mostly in the Spirit. I take communion out loud. I read the Bible out loud, I put on my armor out loud.  Sometimes I whoop and holler and jump, sometimes I dance, sometimes I am silent and soaking, all the times I listen.  I never run out of things to do with God, the getting started part is where the fight can be – ahhhh, but that is for another time. 

The reason I took fingers to keyboard this morning is because of what just happened when I was doing my armor thing.  I usually ask that the shield of faith will EXTINGUISH the fiery darts of the enemy.  I’m visual.  I picture flaming weapons, sometimes dart-like and sometimes spear-like with which the devil tries to kill me or at the very least steal something from me. (Peace of mind, faith, love, my destiny, sanity – you get the idea!)  This morning I said, “I pick up the shield of faith that it would DISTINGUISH the fiery darts of the enemy.

WAIT.  Ohhhhhhhhh.  Ding ding ding!  Don’t you just love the Holy Spirit and how He reveals His treasures?  Ephesians 6:16 states, “ABOVE ALL, taking the shield of FAITH, with which YOU will be able to quench ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one.”  O.K. – a whole shoe closet of possibilities has just been opened!

Extinguishing sharp, fiery projectiles headed to kill me is a really good thing.  REALLY GOOD!  Thank you so much God that you have saved my life countless, innumerable times!  Today, He highlighted something else – DISTINGUISHING whether those darts/spears are really deadly weapons from the wicked one, OR, could they possibly be……….us?  You know, that fleshy, carnal, sinful, disobedient us that has to die moment by moment?  Could it be we are somehow attacking ourselves?  Have we set up some kind of crazy contraption to shoot fiery arrows and then run in front of it and press the remote to let them fly?  Are we playing some ridiculous, unknown game using ourselves for deadly target practice and then blaming it all on the devil?  No! NEVAH! (Please insert accent or that line doesn’t work.)

I say yes.  Yes we are.  Don’t kick and scream.  You know it’s true.  The stinkin’ devil gets too much credit.

So YES GOD!  Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, let us not lift our souls to another! (Thanks Pastor Judy Holland for singing this song in the early days of my walk with God, it is forever etched upon my spirit J )   Let us RECOGNIZE and DISTINGUISH where those weapons are coming from.  Ask God.  Who do I need to forgive?  Where do I need to repent?  Show me Lord, what is displeasing to you?  Sorry Lord for the sin of gossip, laziness, disobedience, lack of self-control, selfishness, unbelief, whatever it is.  The list can go on, but the MIRACULOUS news is, as soon as we say we are sorry – it is over!  Over in a good way, you know, forgiven – washed as white as snow – totally forgotten by God!  Wow, how does He do that forgetting stuff?  He’s God.

I leave you with a “revelation” that I must have forgotten. (Wonder who stole it?  Well, hahaha, I got it back and I’m keeping it!) Sorry, my childlikeness often MUST make an appearance.  Anyway, the re-revelation is in the scripture in Ephesians quoted earlier.    The Word of God said I, Me, Angele, You, Us, THE PEEPS will be the ones quenching the enemies fire!  “WHAT?!?!”, you say!  Yup.  It’s us.  Read it and rejoice.  Don’t be afraid!  We can do it because He says we can.

“Take the shield of faith with which YOU will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”  Man, we gotta’ pick up the shield!  It is the amazing and unmerited gift of FAITH that we use to extinguish AND distinguish those weapons!  Is your shield on the ground?  Is it rusty and muddy?  Worse yet, did it even come out into the battle or did you leave it in the barn, or hanging up on the family room wall like some trophy to be admired?  YIKES!!!  Let’s pick up our shields!  We are in a battle!  Even if you don’t think you are, it doesn’t matter, you still are.  Fight or die.  Wow Angele, that’s pretty harsh, do I want to end on that note?  Mmmm….yup, I think I do.