Control

Psalm 146

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

 

Greetings My Beloved!

I hope you are having a blessed day! I have really been blessed by the scripture above. In the past, I have spoken so strongly about allowing God to be our source. It is such an important lesson, and I think that each day we learn something new from it. It strengthens your faith so much, and it is a constant reminder of comfort. It is comforting knowing that the God that created the Universe is in control.

 

This past weekend for Father's day, we went and saw the new Superman movie "Man of Steel." In all of the fighting sequences, I kept realizing as the army was fighting the aliens, they were completely defenseless. Of course, this is just a fictitious movie, but it got me thinking. As a child, we always trusted that the Police were the ones to call when we were in danger, the military would protect us when our country was in danger, and there was nothing more comforting than being in the arms of your parents. But now, as our world becomes more and more chaotic, it makes me wonder, what would we do in a time when our parent, police, or military cannot protect us?

 

It is about time we learn how to trust in God. The future is unknown, and when the darkness closes in fear starts showing its taunting face. How often have you laid awake in bed wondering exactly how things are going to pan out? I know I have done this many a night. Especially, when you are about to embark in a new season, and not all of the questions have been answered yet. We are preparing to move to a new city. I have never moved to a new city before, and as daunting as that can be, we are moving almost completely blind. Sometimes trusting in God, stepping out in faith, can be the scariest thing. The scariest thing to me about this move is we do not have a job or an income prepared for us for when we get there. Normally, when you move an income is the first thing you want make sure you have before you move, but when God calls, sometimes you don't have these answers until the last possible second. Why? Well, if you knew all of the answers, how can you trust God?

 

This has been an issue God and I have had almost my entire life. I have always been a bit of a control freak, and if I can't have control over the situation, then I run away from it. I keep everything close around me, for if they fall too far off course, how can I have control? God has graciously knocked me off of my controlled path, just so I can learn how to trust in Him. Why is it that 3rd world countries can see the miraculous hand of God working? They see it, because they have had to learn to trust solely in God. It is kind of hard to trust God for the next meal you are about to eat, when you can run to the grocery store to buy food, or go to the local restaurant to eat. It is hard to trust that God will provide a roof over your head, when you have your nice cozy home and bed. It is hard to trust that God will provide clothing for you to wear, when you go to your closet full of clothes, or the local clothing store. We have stores for everything. And the days when you are worried if you can stretch the last of your paycheck to the end of the month, you think you have such great faith. Now, this isn't to downplay our complicated lives, but it is a reality check. When we have everything provided for us, it is really difficult to understand how much faith we actually have. So, when adversity strikes, we feel unprepared. However, we need to recognize that when adversity strikes, our faith grows:

 

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

 

So, why do we fear when trials come our way? Should we not rejoice, because in the end we will have a deeper knowledge of our faith in God? However, we can only gain this, if we put our hope in Him when we face the trials in life.

 

I pray that God will be so prevalent in our lives that we can't help but relinquish all of the control to Him. Let us seek deep within to discover the areas in our life that we need to give to God. Perhaps it's our family, our jobs, or the trials that we face, whatever it may be allow God to take control. It may be scary at first, but in the end you will find great comfort.

 

 

 

Blessings!

Christina

 

 

Purifying Yourself Before Worship

Nehemiah 12:27:30

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.

Greetings, My Beloved!

I hope you are having a fabulous week. A couple of weeks ago, we went to visit our friend in Nacogdoches, Texas. We visited her church that Sunday, where they were studying Nehemiah 12. I'll be honest; I had not spent much time in Nehemiah 12. Usually, when I'm studying Nehemiah it is at the beginning of the book - the building of the wall. I was particularly blessed by verse 30 where it spoke about the priests and Levites purifying themselves. It is so important that we purify ourselves before we bring our offering of worship before the Lord. After these verses the chapter goes on to describe two choirs that surround the wall: 

Nehemiah 12:31
I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.

Nehemiah 12:38

The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,

I can only imagine how beautiful it sounded to have 2 choirs. In fact, the chapter goes on to describe just how loud, how magnificent these praises were.

Nehemiah 12:43
And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

This is my prayer, that when we go to church on Sunday, we aren't going just to go through the motions. Singing the same old songs, all while going through our grocery lists in our head. Okay, maybe you aren't thinking about the grocery list, but are  you setting your mind on higher things? God deserves the best of ourselves, but are we only giving Him a portion? God doesn't ask for much, just our whole selves. So, let us prepare ourselves for pure, authentic, beautiful worship to our King. Worship is beyond the songs that we sing at church on Sunday. God asks us to do everything wholeheartedly as unto Him, for we aren't truly doing things for others, but rather we are doing it for Him, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! 

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving

I pray that you find it in your heart to take your worship to God to a whole new Level. Let's go Deeper with God. Worship with me, if you will:

Blessings!

Christina



Attaining His Perfect Peace

Isaiah 26:2-4

Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Greetings my beloved!

I hope you are having a fabulous week. The Lord has definitely been with me this week. I love His faithfulness. This week, I have been pondering on the verses above. It seems that when chaos abounds, God is right there, being our rock, our perfect peace. Right now, as I am listening to the storms outside and fear tries to well up as my mind goes to the images of the Oklahoma tornadoes, I can't help but think about God's peace in the midst of the storm. Remember when the disciples were on the boat and grew fearful of the storm? All Jesus did was command for peace to be still.

Mark 4:35-41

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

If Jesus can calm the physical storms, how much more can He calm our spiritual storms? What do you do when fear wells up within? Do you give into the fears and "What ifs?" Or do you run to Jesus? He is our Rock, our deliverer, and our peace. Why should we worry? Why do we lay awake at night worrying about every little thing? My mom use to tell me, "there is no use in worrying."

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
 
I think that is the key to living a worry free life, seeking first His Kingdom and His Righteousness. Let us enter into His presence, shedding all of our worries, our fears, and accept His perfect peace!

 

 

 

Blessings!

Christina



Forsaking Your First Love...

Revelation 2:1-7

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Greetings, My Beloved!

I hope you had a great Memorial Day holiday, and in turn a fabulous week! Last Sunday night in our connect group bible study; my husband brought a word on profane fire. He talked about the offering that Aaron's sons brought, which in turn brought the death of them. It makes you wonder, what is my heart like when I bring forth my dutiful worship? Worship is so much more than a song that we sing on Sunday morning. This morning, during my prayer time, the Lord showed me how I have crowded Him out of my day because I stay so focused on getting everything around me done. I think it can be done inadvertently. I don't think any of us really want to leave God out of our day, but as we say the token prayer as we are rushing to our next task, are we really realizing our heart in the matter? Here is a run-down of what my day can look like - Wake up, "Good Morning," hop in the shower, rush to get ready, grab a bite to eat as you rush from the door, sit in traffic, rush in the door to work, rush from one task to the next until it's time to call it quits (fit lunch in there somewhere), sit in traffic on the way home, rush to eat dinner, and then veg out on the couch exhausted from all of the rushing around, go to sleep - wake up, and repeat. I'm sure you all can somehow relate. It may not look exactly like mine, but you can see how quickly we can forget about God in any given day. You can even be doing things for God, volunteering at the church, or really doing a plethora of good works, but is God truly in it?

I think the church of Ephesus, really was trying to do the right thing. I don't think they intentionally forgot about their first love, God. It is so easy to get caught up in doing things that you just simply forget the intent of it all…especially, when trials come your way. How much more difficult is it to continue your rushed routine when you get a wrench thrown in the middle of it all. Perhaps you or a loved one becomes sick, then how are you going to get everything done? What if you lose your job, and you wonder where the next meal is coming from, the worry takes the place of the busyness, and you wonder, “Where is God in all of this?” The Bible says that the Ephesians persevered and endured through the hardships. They did great deeds and worked hard. You hear throughout this scripture how they persevered, and past the tests, yet through it all they forgot their first love. Have you forgotten your first love?

Come back to the heart of worship. Fall back in love with God. When I first met my husband, I couldn't wait to talk to him again. I would think about him all the time, about the next time we would get to see each other. It was exciting - I wanted to know more and more about him. Isn't that how we should feel about God. That we can't wait until our next encounter. Let's encounter God in a new way today. Last week I spoke about remaining in God's presence. Let us show God how much we love Him while we are in His presence. After all, He showed us how much He loved us by sending His only son to die for us that we may gain eternal life, and spend an eternity with God.

 

Worship with me!

 

 

 

Blessings!

Christina



 

Walking in God's Presence

Psalm 89:14-18

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord. They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn. Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Greetings, my Beloved!

I hope you are having a fabulous week! I know that I am. Summer is just around the corner, and I am enjoying the warmer weather, the bright blue skies, and the beautiful colors of the season. It makes me appreciate the beautiful world that our God has given to us. This morning during our devotion time, we spoke about God's presence. How cool would it have been to walk with God in the Garden of Eden! But we don't have to wait until we get to heaven to experience walking with God. We are surrounded by the light of His presence, and we can walk with Him now! Let us recognize God's presence around us and walk with Him today. Let us praise Him for the wonderful things that He has done in our lives. Recently, my husband had an injury at work with his back. The doctor at his work said that he has a slipping rib syndrome, where the rib slips out of its socket, and creates excruciating pain. There is no cure for this syndrome - it is very rare. But I know a God who can heal, so we prayed for him. He no longer feels the pain - Praise God! I know that God is right there just waiting to meet our every need. We just need to cry out to Him! Enter into His presence, and just wait and watch for God to move powerfully in your life. But seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness:

  

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

  

Are the wants and desires that you have in your life within the will of the Father? Search your heart to see how your wants and desires will benefit the Kingdom. It's something to think about. Perhaps we need to change our perspective from the here and now, and gain an eternal perspective. You may wonder, why God hasn’t answered my prayer; perhaps you haven't gained the eternal perspective. Is it a timing thing? Perhaps God is waiting for the right time to grant you your desires. Or perhaps, He has answered, and it is just not the answer you wanted. Just recognize, God knows best - he knows what will work in your life, and your future. Just trust in Him, and He will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

I just know that God wants to do amazing things in your life. Just enjoy His presence, trust in Him, and everything will be just fine.

  

Worship with me, as we enter into His Presence!

 Blessings!

Christina

Ocean's Choir

As summer approaches, I can't help but get excited. Summer is my favorite season of year. I love the hot weather, high humidity, and the beach! I suppose it's because I was born in the summertime. This past weekend, we took our first trip to the beach, and I wrote a poem in honor of the summer season! Enjoy!

 

 

Ocean’s Choir

The Sun is like a ball of fire

An audience to the Ocean’s Choir

Amber waves crashes on the sand

Onyx Crystals surround our hands

 

 

 

Summer’s calling through ocean waves

Children laughing as they play

Fortresses built out of sand

To protect the creatures of the land

 

Don’t forget about Season’s past

Dancing memories, twirling fast

Fading visions soon take flight

Waltzing into our dreams tonight

 

 

Blessings!

Christina

 

Examine My Heart, Lord!

Psalm 26:1-3
Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered. Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

Greetings my Beloved!
I hope you are having an amazing week! Isn't God good. That even in times of trial, God is right there ready to lift you up, and set your feet on solid ground! I can tell you, that even in the darkest of hours, God is so good. Last night at church, I was with the little kids, and we learned about Job. Here is a man that lost everything - his house, his family, his livelihood, and his health. His friends mocked him, and yet he clung to God. When I read this verse, I think of Job. A righteous man, who lived a blameless life, yet all of these bad things happened to him. Jesus tells us that we will have troubles: 

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

James tells is to consider it joy when we go through trials. I know what you're thinking, because believe me the thought has crossed my mind more than once, "Do you really expect me to be joyful when troubles come my way?" But James reveals the mystery behind this odd way of thinking:

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

It is amazing how much you grow by the time you reach the other side of the trial. God has taken me down a path of repentance, showing me every hard spot on my heart - every resentment, every ounce of bitterness, and every place of unforgiveness. If God is able to reveal such things in your life, you think, okay good - I repent and that's it. However, the repentance was the hard part. It is so hard sometimes to forgive the very person that has wronged you. Especially, when you know that you were in the right. However, remember that vengeance is God's. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. So, David is asking for God to vindicate him. He is not to blame, and yet it is so hard to look past the guilt. Allow God to vindicate you, that you may continue to live the blameless life! Trust in the Lord, and allow Him to examine your  heart and mind, that you may remain blameless to the day of the coming of the Lord. Let us examine our hearts this week, allow God to test and try you, that you can experience His unfailing love, and that your faith may increase.

Regardless of what you are going through, whether it is good or bad - press into God, drawing nearer to Him! Worship with me!



Blessings!

Christina