Oops - I apologize!

My good friend Beth informed me that the link I used to send everyone to my new co-op blog "Daily Fast Fuel", was taking people to "Go Daddy" (which I do NOT contribute to, or in anyway endorse, LOL)

I apologize to anyone who clicked on it and found themselves at the other site. Please give this link another try.

DailyFastFuel.com
Thanks again.

Where to Get Your Fuel

I'm so excited! I have been waiting for this day so I could announce that I am a proud member of a new co-op blog called "Daily Fast Fuel"

I would be honored if you would visit the site and check out the five fabulous ladies who I am partnering with to write the blog. We'd love for you to join and visit as often as possible. It's designed to be short, daily devotionals that you can get on the go as you lead your busy life.

I thank you in advance for your support.
God bless

We All Make Mistakes

My son Josh was throwing baseball with his Dad in the yard on Monday before his game. I was upstairs when I heard the loud crash. I knew exactly what had happened. Never mind that I've told BOTH of them not to throw toward the house. No one listened to me!

I went running down the stairs and saw the storm door glass cracked from top to bottom and found the baseball down the entry hall underneath a table. I heard Josh crying "I'm so sorry" over and over again. Bobby was busy trying to keep the glass from shattering out of the door frame. I went to work cleaning up the glass the came in through the hole where the ball entered.




Neither Bobby or I said one scolding word to Josh, but he couldn't stop crying. He said "I'm so sorry, it was an accident". He was afraid we'd be angry, but he also was legitimitely contrite. We both said "it's okay, that's what is called an accident". After a little more coaxing, he began to settle down. Bobby explained that he had certainly broken his fair share of things as a boy.

A funny thing happened as soon as Josh figured out he wasn't in trouble. He started talking about how fast he threw the ball. He explained that he'd thrown a "fast picth" that was too much for his Dad to handle. He was also pretty proud of the fact that it went straight through a "storm door" with extra sturdy glass.

I thought to myself, how does someone go from crying his eyes out, scared of punishment, to bragging about the same incident?

It's very important for our children to know that they WILL make mistakes in life. Not only that, they should understand that we love them in spite of these mistakes. After all, our Heavenly Father loves us even when we fall sometimes. And just like Bobby & I came down to help clean up the broken glass, God helps us pick up the pieces. While I won't go so far as to say that we should "brag" about our failures, the Bible says:

2 Cor. 12:9 - "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

So even though I'm not proud of my faults, I am glad that God can turn the negative things into something positive.

Dare To Be Bold

I watched the show "It's Supernatural" with Sid Roth this morning. His guest was a man I'd never heard of before named Jim Hockaday.

Jim spoke about how he had learned to be bold when it comes to praying for healing. I was so moved by this because I have such a heart to pray for people. Yet it never fails, when I'm praying for healing, I battle with the voice in my head that says "what if it doesn't happen?"

How do we overcome this nagging voice of doubt?

First of all, recognize that it's obviously the voice of the enemy trying to discourage you from praying.

Secondly, I've come to realize something...I used to think it was just a matter of asking for more faith. But now I believe it is more about a deeper revelation of God's love for me. The opposite of faith is fear. Fear is what keeps us from being bold when we pray. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of looking stupid if what we pray doesn't happen. The Bible says that "perfect love casts out fear". Therefore, knowing God's perfect love for me, keeps me from being afraid of stepping out and taking Him at His Word.

A while back I asked the Lord why so many Christians, myself included, didn't see the radical tranformation like Peter had, after I was filled with the Spirit. I asked, what made the difference for the Disciples, and what am I lacking today?

I remember hearing, "They walked with the Word (Jesus) for 3 years, and then were filled with My Spirit. You have to marry the two together and stop treating them separately." Imagine my surprise this morning as I heard something very similar from Jim Hockaday. He talked about how there used to be a movement of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, and then it switched to an emphasis on the Word only. He went on to say how there needed to be a joining together of the two.

Jim pointed out that we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, but we also have the capicity to "reveal" God. He said as we begin to pray in the Spirit, and develop our prayer life, we will begin to focus on His presence being in us, and around us at all times. Then he made this statement that really stood out to me:

"The greater you recognize Him in your life, the easier it will be to see the supernatural take place".

The only way to do that is to spend time with God and pray in the Holy Spirit, as well as letting the Word of God become your foundation for the miracles (joining together of the Word & the Spirit).

Jim prayed in such a bold way that he told a lady with a cancerous tumor to take someone else with her to the restroom and rub water on it, and the tumor would disappear. Sid Roth was amazed by this and asked if he had heard the Spirit tell him to pray this, or if it was his own words. Jim answered it was his own words, but that he had learned to think like God (we are called to have the mind of Christ). He felt comfortable enough in his relationship with the Lord, as well as in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwelled within him, that he could make such claims. That, matched with the faith and obedience of the women who went to the restroom and did as he had said, resulted in the women being instantly healed of the tumor.

Whether or not you or I ever have this kind of experience, one thing I know for sure - we need a deeper revelation of God's love for us (Eph.1:17-20 AND Eph. 3:16-19) as well as the experiential knowledge that the Holy Spirit abides in us!

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Col. 1:27

My Bible (NKJ Spirit Filled Bible) has this statement following this verse: "Understand that all hope of real "glory" is in discovering Christ's very life in you."

Matthew 28:18-20 "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make diciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obseve all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

He established His authority and then gave them a job to do. Knowing they would probably be afraid of the "commision" that had just been handed down, He encouraged them with the promise that He would always be with them. This is the same encouragement that we should draw from when we go to pray for people - He has all authority and He is with us (in us)

So, let us pray for others, free from doubt & fear, and most importantly, dare to be bold!

Hair Sprayed Hairdos & Bling bling- Southern Women Unite!

I've always wanted to go to the Southern Women's Show but never had the opportunity...until TODAY!

My friend Anitra at "If Mama Aint", gave me and my other good friend, Dana, FREE tickets (thank you so much Anitra)

Now because my friend walks in noticeable favor, we by-passed the long lines waiting to get in (including the long line of ticket holders) and went straight to the booth that held our tickets. Not only did we NOT have to wait in line, we were the FIRST people allowed in one of the buildings.

We browsed the many booths, tasted some of the foods being offered, racked up on ALL the coupons, and several tote bags were added to my growing collection. Having seen all we could take in at the first building, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was another, bigger building with even more booths to explore.

For the most part, the Southern Women's show was what I expected. Food, jewelry, home gadgets, cookware, purses, clothes, give-aways, including a trip to a Spa in Pinehurst. When I confessed to Anitra I had never been to a spa OR had a massage, she was horrified. She has promised to take Dana and I to the spa for a massage when she no doubt wins the give-away contest! She will have to do it now that I've written it out here for all the blogging world to see.

However, there were a couple of surprises I did NOT expect to see at the Southern Women's Show...for example, I wasn't prepared for the man who was trying to show us a mannequin with a new & improved bra that promised heavy-duty support, without the uncomfortable under-wire.

Talk about uncomfortable!

The ladies & I were not about to listen to a MAN describe such things!

Anitra asked the guy "where is your wife?", to which he answered "She's in the restroom".

He quickly pointed out that his wife had made him try on a bra with a prosthetic to see how it would feel.

My response to that was "I don't think I would ever tell anyone that again if I were you".

The real kicker was when he pointed to the brochure with a women modeling the bra and informed us that was his wife (you know, the one who's supposed to be in the bathroom). Dana and I agreed that we doubted that women (the model) was this man's wife. At this point, we walked away before the situation became any more embarrassing.

Only right around the corner, we were faced with a sight I can not truly describe, but I will try. It was a dancer's pole with a very flexible young women hanging onto it and performing one impressive balancing act. Anitra went to take a picture. They mistakenly thought this signified her interest in taking classes, LOL! The lady at the booth informed us that they would start you off much slower than this particular women on the pole, because she is a "professional". Again, I would not have told anyone that...but to clarify, the women said she was a professional "aerialist".


Thank heavens that our next stop was to the YWCA booth, where we met a friend of Anitra's. I was very impressed with this organization and the work they are doing in the community. Please check out their website to find out more info: YWCA. They've launched a new campaign describing what it means to be a women. They had a board for everyone to write a message of a "life lesson" we'd like to pass on. It was very interesting to see all the different responses.

At the end of our time together, it was a great outing. We laughed, we talked & shared, and I came away being proud to be a women (southern or otherwise).

Know Your Enemy

I don't know about you, but I'm really tired of this "roller coaster" Christianity. You know what I mean, up one day and down the next...one step forward and two steps back - all based on your circumstances and how you FEEL. Thank goodness God is the same yesterday, today and forever, cause His people are all over the place...and unfortunately, I speak from experience.

We are called to be content in all our circumstances (Phil. 4:11), never be anxious about anything, pray about everything (Phil. 4:6), and trust God is working in all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).

How do we do that? How can we live in this world, full of evil, bad news at every turn, and not get depressed? How do we face life's challenges without being anxious?

The answers, as usual, are found in His Word. God prepared in advance, all that we needed to know to combat the devil. He knows his tactics, and they haven't changed in all these years. Perhaps we've just become too busy, and let our guard down.


Here is our wake up call: 1 Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

From the moment the devil first appeared on the scene in Genesis, he began his all out attack on God's creation. The tools he used were not complicated, just disquised. If we learn to recognize them ahead of time, we will not be deceived. Remember how Jesus too was tempted by the devil, but He withstood using the power of God's Word. This was done as an example of how we also are to stand up against his assault.

In the Garden of Eden, when the serpent spoke to Eve, he questioned what God had said in order to bring confusion (Gen. 3:1), which then led to insecurity. The serpent, probably seeing Eve was waivering, accused God of lying, while he twisted the truth to make God look bad. By believing the lie, Eve began to feel inferior (even though God is greater, His love kept her from feeling small) but as she looked at it through the eyes of deception, she saw God differently and felt inferior. Inferiority leads to feelings of depression, and ultimately opens the door to fear.

We know the story of Adam & Eve's fall, how they hid from the Lord once they knew they'd sinned. They were both afraid and ashamed. Shame is a direct result of sin and brings condemnation. The devil uses shame & condemnation to keep the sinner in that place of defeat. It was also interesting to see that when the Lord questioned Adam, he began to blame Eve. Eve pointed the finger at the serpent. So we see that sin brings division, which is another by product that the devil uses greatly against God's people.

So to sum it up, this is a list of the devils tools:

He's a liar/deceiver and accuser

If you believe his lies & accusations, here are some of the by-products. One plays on another & it grows and grows.

Confusion
Doubt
Insecurity
Inferiority
Fear
Shame
Condemnation
Division

All of these attacks are in the soul area, which is made up of our intellect, will and emotions. When we "feel" a certain way, it affects our thinking pattern, and ultimately causes us to make decisions (exercise our will) based on this thought process. This is what comes natural to us, but is in fact what the Bible calls "walking according to the flesh". We are called to walk according to the Spirit. (Read Romans 8:1-14)

Which brings me back to my comment about the "roller coaster". We know the Bible says we will have difficulties in this life. We will all face challenges, and go through trials. That is a part of life this side of Heaven. Just be aware that when we are facing tough circumstances, that's when we're most vulnerable. We must be alert to not allow the devil to use the above tools to attack our minds and emotions.

He no longer comes as a serpent we see with our eyes. In fact, he often comes in our thoughts disquised in the first person. We actually think that it's our OWN thoughts, instead of recognizing where they truly come from.

It looks like this "I'm not as talented as that person", "I don't read the Bible enough", "I don't have any friends", "I'm always going to struggle with this problem", "You're never going to succeed". "Good things always happen to other people"...on & on it goes

In these moments, you have to practice 2 Cor. 10:5 "...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Let me end by saying that just as the enemy has weapons against us, God has given us armor to protect us. Put on, everyday, the whole Armor of God found in Eph. 6:10-18. I especially love the "helmet of salvation" because it protects your head (which represents your mind) combined with "Sword of the Spirit" (which is the Word of God).


Then we can truly say:

"No weapon that is formed against (Me) will prosper; And every tongue that accuses (ME) in judgment (I) will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD." Isaiah 54:17

What Fuels You?

I'm asking all my blogging friends to answer this (somewhat vague)question:

What fuels you?

I'll have more on this topic, and MY answer...coming SOON!!!

Yes, I'm teasing you to build the excitement...something new and exciting will be here soon and I promise I'll fill you in on ALL the details.

Until then, send me your answers as a comment. I can't wait to hear from you.