Hungry

As the words to the Jesus Culture song go "we are hungry for more of you."  How hungry are you for God?  Do you feel you have enough of God in your life or do you cry out for more of Him?  Are you desperate for Him? Do you say as Moses did "unless you go with me God I will not go."

Psalm 42:1-2 states as the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you O God.  My soul thirsts for you God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?  I know there is one version of this verse that states my soul thirst for you O God as in a dry and barren land where there is no water. 

I want to be that desperate for God in my life.  I want to always be filled but never satsified.  Crying out to God to fill me up with more and more of Him.  As I type this I fill physical hunger that is crying out to be satified yet the cry is soft enough I am able to ignore it and wait until a later opportunity to meet this need.  I never ever want to feel this way about hungering after God.  May I say at the beginning of the hunger pains God now, now I need you.  Now I need you to come to me, meet with me.  Fill me up God!!!  I want my hunger pains to become satisfied at the beginning, not when they are so overwhelming I think I cannot go on until they are filled.

Today may God increase your hunger and desire for Him.  May you cry out at the begining of the hunger pains yet truly never be satsified so that you constantly long for more of Him.  In fact allow God to be a river that flows through you.  He pours down on you from above as you pour out into others.  As I envision this God is showing me a waterfall coming down from heaven that falls on us and then goes out of us.

I love each and everyone of you that takes the time to read my blog.  I pray continually for all of you that you would know God itimately and that you would walk in complete freedom with Him.  May He fill you with His presence today and may you long for more of Him.  May you never reach a place of satisfaction in Him always longing for more.  O taste and see that the Lord is good.  Test Him and have him prove Himeself to you.  His word states that if you draw close to Him, He will draw close to you.  But watch out because when you do draw close God moves toward you at a faster rate then you move toward Him.  Truly amazing and totally overwhelming.  :)

Know Me

Meditate on the fact that God chose you and He knows everything about you.  Ps 139 states that He knew us before we were even formed in our mother's womb, all our days were written in His book before one of them came to be.  We are no surprise to God!

If God chose us, loves us, and desires a close and intimate relationship with us why do we continue to believe the lies of satan. Why do we not walk in the power and authority that God gave us?  I know I want to totally shake off the past and the old mind sets and start walking in all the good things that God has for me.  I want to lay hands on the sick and see the sick made whole, I want to see people set free from the chains that bind them.  I want to step up in being a doer of the Word.

Today in church I heard something that is not new but got my attention.  We cannot change the past so we just need to stop trying.  We are new creatures in Christ and ALL things have become brand new.  My slate was wiped clean.  The past may have said I was worthless and could do nothing but God's word says I can do ALL things through Him.  People may have rejected me but God chose me.  I may feel small and insignificant at times but God has called me great and a mighty warrior.  I am ready to step into the authority as a daughter of the most high God and know that I AM an atmosphere changer.  Those I come in contact with daily may be serving other gods but my God is greater.

Stop believing all the negative things from your past and know that God knows you, He loves you, and He pursues you with an everlasting love.  When you gaze at His beautiful face all that junk fades away and becomes no more.  I read online that strongholds that have been built up in our lives are things we have focused on.  Stop focusing on the past, on past failures and past mistakes.  It is time to shift our focus to the God who knows us, who knew us before we were even formed.

I am going to shift my focus off of my problems, off of my frustrations and just focus on the one who knows and loves me.
Please take time to listen to this song:  You Know Me.  Do not fear that God knows every detail about you.  He loves you just as you are and wants every part of you.  Give yourself to Him and enjoy the journey.

Worth and Value (The Anthem)

I recently decided it would be good to get away for a weekend spend time with God, relax, etc.  The weekend turned out differently than expected.  Instead of spending quality time with God and drawing closer to Him I was plagued with one of my worst nightmares; cave crickets.  I do not like bugs at all but cave crickets are at the bottom of the list and top of the fear list.  These things jump and climb and just basically terrorize me. 
I ended up coming home early because I was tired of dealing with this fear.  Once I arrived home I decided that I would do some research on this bug.  I felt this way I could better understand how to deal with this situation in the future.  A good majority of the cave cricket population lives in caves, is totally blind, and has no worth or value at all.  The last part stood out to me.  How could something God created, gross as it is, have no value?  God does not just create something without having a plan and purpose for it, so I have to believe even this creepy crawlie has some purpose (and it is not to terrorize people).  Even if that purpose is  just food for the bats.
Thankfully we are not bugs and God has created us for a purpose, even if we do not feel like it at times. There are many of God's creatures that live most of their lives before fulfilling God's plan and purpose for them.  One example that I am aware of is a caterpillar in the Arctic.  This bug endures 14 years of harsh conditions even being frozen alive in the winter before it fulfills it's destiny to become a moth.  The caterpillar  remains persistent in becoming what God created it to be.  There is also a bird in the same region that attempts to fly for three weeks before it finally takes off and soars in the sky. It too remains persistent in order to realize it's potential.  Imagine if the caterpillar and the bird gave up.  The bird may say after a few days of trying to fly that it was not working, he would never be able to fly he should just throw in the towel and learn to do something else.  The moth may decide that he is tired of being frozen alive and tired of being cold so he too will give up on the plan to become a moth.  If both gave up and did not endure and remain persistent then neither would become with God had created them to be.  The bird would never fly and the caterpillar would never become a moth.

Let us not give up or grow weary in becoming all that God has created us to be.  Run the race with perseverance and endurance that you will become all that God has created you to be. Do not loose sight of the goal and plans that He has for you, even if you see nothing happening.  Hebrews 10:35-36 states the following:  So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.  You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God you will receive what he has promised.

I love the words to Jake Hamiliton's song The Anthem.  The chorus states I am royalty, I have destiny, I have been set free, I'm gonna shape history.  That is true of all of us.  We are royalty, we have destiny, we have been set free, and we are going to shape history.  Do not lose sight of God's plan for you, do not give up.  Press on!  Like Esther we are born for a such a time as this!  Hallelujah.

Just in case you were wondering what a cave cricket looked like!  I shiver just looking at the picture.  So thankful for exterminators!

Great Name

This week has been a long frustrating week.  I have allowed my focus to shift from the face of the one I love to my circumstances as a Peter did I started to sink.  My emotions became involved and I started to believe nothing would ever change.  I began to listen to the lies of the enemy regarding my life instead of standing on the Word of God.  Thankfully God helped me realize that I was not alone in the battle I had brothers and sisters in Christ who would stand with me and believe with me.  When we prayed together, not just for my issues but theirs as well there was a change in the atmosphere.  God said it is going to be all right. This morning He reminded me He is Johovah Shammah, the abiding presence.  He is abiding within me and He is greater than my circumstances.  Through Him I will gain the victory, in fact Ps 108:13 states that with God we will gain the victory and he will trample down our enemies.  I love how the Message bible relates this scripture the best:  Give us help for the hard tasks, human help is worthless.  In God we'll do our very best He'll flatten the opposition for good.  Does that not just encourage you? 

There is a song that used to be sung in the church ages ago and one of the lines in the song stated "let God arise and His enemies be scattered."  One day I heard this song sung a different way instead of the enemy being scattered, it was splattered.  Today do not give a place in your life to the enemy, do not believe His lies.  Stand on the promises of God's word because His word works even if you do not see it working at the time.  Allow God to come into your circumstances and totally annihilate the situation.

Today's song is Your Great Name.  There are so many wonderful lines through out this song reminding us that God's name is great.  Through His name the enemy must flee, the dead are raised and the sick made whole.  He is the great I Am - now I think I will share both songs as they are both great faith building songs.

Enjoy.

Learning to Run

Recently in my quiet time I realized that God did not feel as close as He has been.  As I prayed and asked God about this He gave me a vision of a parent and child where the baby is trying to learn how to walk and the parent is standing a ways off with arms outstretched waiting for the baby to walk towards them.  As the baby learns how to walk better the parent increases the distance to stretch and grow the child.  Same concept with God, He has moved farther back so I have to go a greater distance to reach Him.  In this way I will grow and strengthen in my walk with Him and like any good parent if He sees me start to fall He will be there to catch me.  I long for the day when I will be able to run to Him no matter how close or far and fling myself into His arms, wrap my arms around His neck and tell Him how much I love Him.  I pray you too will grow and strengthen daily in your walk with God.

I really wanted to share a song with you again, since it has been awhile.  There are so may wonderful songs I could have shared but I believe this is the one God would have me share today.  All I Need Is You!  May this be our hearts cry daily. 

Blessings and Joy in the Holy Spirit!  :)

Healing and Wholeness

All
I just finished listening to one of the most amazing messages.  I strongly encourage each of you to either go the Bethel Church's website or iTunes in the podcasts and listen to Kris Vallotton's message on Healing and Wholeness.  It will totally bless you!

Recap of what you will hear:  There are 27 healing miracles that Jesus performed, for most He spoke a word but when He did not He did so for a reason.  In the case of the blind man when he spit and put the mud on his eyes Jesus took what had cursed the man to heal him.  When Jesus heals He wants to heal you body, soul, and spirit or the whole man.

When Kris went on to talk about wholeness, the message took on a whole other dimension.  Our soul has needs and that is okay.  We need love, attention, relationships, etc.  We need to know that someone celebrates our life, or as he puts it will be at our funeral.  Jesus loves all of you, He does not just love your spirit He loves you body, soul, and spirit.  He loves your whole being!

I am praying each of you will have the time to listen to this message and that it will bless you as much as it did me.  Lastly celebrate someones life today, let them know how much they are loved and appreciated. 

I will start: I love and appreciate all of you! I thank you for the kind and encouraging words you have sent my way via email.  It was hard for me to start this blog but I am so thankful that this has been a blessing and encouragement to all of you.

Sorry no music today but never know when I'll get another song to share with you.  :)

Stephanie

Freedom (I Asked You For Life)

I am sure you are beginning to notice that God tends to get my attention via a song.  I have a great love of music and normally have music going more than the television. 

This morning as I was getting ready for work a song was playing on my iPod called I Asked You For Life.  In this song there is a phrase that goes "I asked you for freedom, you broke every chain and you gave me the key."  I have heard this song numerous times but today that phrase stuck out to me more than at other times.

I began to realize how true this was in my own life.  Some of you, that have heard portions of my story know that God has delivered me from the chains of failure and rejection.  Two of the biggest areas that were keeping me from truly knowing who I was in Christ and understanding how greatly loved I was as well.  When God first starting dealing with me on rejection, thankfully He just did one thing at a time,  He gave the following scripture:  You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.  John 8:32

It was a long and sometimes painful process for this truth to sink in.  Many times I would yell, well more like scream this scripture out of my mouth as tears ran down my face but eventually I began to see the truth and not the lies the enemy had been feeding me most of my life.  I realized as I listened to this song I now hold the keys in both of these areas and when the enemy comes at me I just dangle the keys in his face and tell him to get lost no matter what the situation may look like.  God holds every situation and circumstance in His hands.  He is in control of everything and I just need to turn my cares upon Him.

Farther down in John 8 in verse 36 it goes on to say "who the son has set free is free indeed" and what glorious freedom it is!

Now I would be a bit remiss if I did not share the song with you so enjoy.  :)
Blessings