HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I LOVE my birthday! June the 4th every year is probably my favorite day of the year - it is a toss up to Christmas - my kids swear I love my birthday most. I told my mom that June the 4th 1958 was a wonderful day - she agreed. What was so neat about it was that the God of Heaven allowed me to be apart of something amazing. He allowed me to be apart of His plan.

You see "In the begining God created..." He knew that I would be born on this day when He first formed the earth. WOW - and I get to be apart - everyday - of bringing Him glory. I wish I could say that everyday I have brought Him glory, put I honestly can say that this year my passion in life has been to daily reflect who the Christ in me is. It has been a passonate quest - and not an easy one. I have definitely discovered that the Lord does indeed care more about our character than our comfort.

This past year I have learned to love the Lord not only deeper but in a new way. He has called me to a desperation for Him that is new. How about you? What has the Lord called and required of you for this year of your life? John 13:32 says "God's glory will be on display. In glorifying Him, he Himself is glorified - glory all around. I believe the Lord longs for us to come to a place in our lives that nothing is more important than our lives glorify Him.

John 12:20-29 says, There were some Greeks in town who had come up to worship at the Feast. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee: "Sir, we want to see Jesus. Can you help us?" Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip together told Jesus. Jesus answered, "Times up. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. "If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice." The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. "Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say 'Father, put your glory on display.'" A voice came out of the sky: "I have glorified it, and I'll glorify it again." The listening crowd said, "Thunder!"

THUNDER oh Lord!!! Bring it on. May you be glorified through me.

Happy Birthday to Me - and May you Jesus, be glorified.

Trust In The Lord

I don't know how your mind works; especially when fear is involved. Mine - well, sometimes it just takes me on a journey that is about as much fun as a trip to a pig farm (before someone gets their feelings hurt - I love little piggies - it's just not a trip I want to take often - most would have said "trip to the dentist", but I love going to the dentist). Anyway.......

This past week I began thinking about something in my life that is extremely painful and I literally worked myself into a stew. It affected my tempermant, my feelings, my reactions to people, and my sleep. Since I don't like anything affecting my sleep I knew this had to be resolved. As I lay in bed last night the Lord gave me a talkin' to. He just unveiled my heart and I didn't like what I saw. I realized that I was oozing, (as my husband would say), just a little bit. But more importantly, it has affected my communication with the Lord. He just gave me a talking to about where my trust was. Was it in me? In my abilities? Or was it in Him? Oooch!!!

So, I asked the Lord about what I was afraid of and we had a wonderful conversation. But He didn't just come out and answer the question of my fears. We talked about it and He ended it with...Wait! Don't you love it? He still is wanting me to depend on Him. He could have so beautifully answered the fear of my heart, but instead He said "Wait". It really wasn't too bad. He was tender in how He handled my feelings but he was more concerned about my dependency on Him than in my fear. You see, He already knew my fears. What He was looking for in me was TRUST. Trust in Him! Total trust, not 98.9%, but total 100% trust that He has a plan and a purpose just for me. As I surrendered my fear to Him an incredible peace came over me. I slept like I had not slept in weeks. I rested in Him.

So, when I read Beth Moore's blog this morning she recommended Psalm 112:7. It was perfect for me, perfect for today. Is that not just like our Lord? He is so tender in His love for us.

Trust.......in Him.

Read for yourself and see if it speaks to you as it did to me.

Ps. 112:7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (NIV)