And the trials…will be left behind us……

When I think about everything that the Lord has done in my life….it never fails that I get teary eyed. At the times in my life when I thought no one could hear me, He was always there. Even before I gave my heart back to Him. He has always been there watching over me, comforting me, loving me.

And yet for many years I was dead to His touch. But He never gave up hope.

He knew all along the trials and seasons that I would go through. He knew all along the pain that I would feel. He knew the hate that would build up inside of my heart. The tears that I would cry. The mistakes that I would make. He knew all of this and yet seen me for what I was made to be. Not the person that I was.

He loved me, despite of all of that! He waited with patient arms on me. He watched as I destroyed my life, waiting, and looking forward to the day that I would go running back to His arms. He knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of time. It’s all in the plan. So, patiently he sat and waited.

When I was in pain, He hurt too. When I would cry, His tears would shed. When I was lonely, He was there. And when I wanted to give up hope, He revealed Himself to me.

His perfect self. His loving arms held me. His comforting hands wiped away my tears. His words took away my fears.

He did all this for me and yet I can’t give it all to Him!!

Don’t look at me differently now. Please do not judge me. For the Lord has said that you too have kept some of your old life. You may not even know it. And yet, somewhere deep down inside of you is your old self. Fighting to come back to life. Fighting to take over the reins….one….last….time!

Do you feel like that sometimes? Like all you want in your life is to live for the Lord and His ways and yet you keep screwing up. You keep falling. That trial you are facing always seems to get the best of you.

Don’t give up hope!!! He is still there.

It is hard for our fleshly body to give it all to Him. Despite what we have learned or even know first hand.

I think sometimes we try to give our whole lives, our hearts to Him and we always keep just a little for ourselves. I don’t think we do it intentionally. It is natural for us to want to handle things. It is natural for some of us to keep our hearts out of situations. But this situation is the one in our life that we can put all of our self into!! Our whole hearts. Our whole life. Nothing less.

That is what He wants. It is what we need. Despite what our flesh tells us at times.

I know that you love the Lord. I love Him too. And realizing that you have kept some of that old self may make you think that you don’t love Him, but that is not what this is about. It is not about if you love Him or not. But, do you trust Him with your whole life?? Are you ready to stand by Him in every aspect of what is going to happen to you?

The Christian life is not the easy way out. You will be tested more. There will be more trials. More days of the whole ‘Domino Effect’ happening to you. All of this so that you may grow stronger in your faith and trust. So that you can be a stronger Christian.

The test and the trials are here to bring our old self out so that we may be rid of that former life, that former self…FOR GOOD!!!

It takes time…you can’t just wake up one morning and be a good Christian. At least I don’t think you can. I believe that it takes work on our part to become that person. It takes these test and these trials to learn what we really are about. To learn our weaknesses so that we may give them to Him. It is hard to give something to someone if you don’t know what you have.

Some of us believed at one time that giving our hearts to Him makes everything in our life perfect. But that is not the case.

Yes, we are able to deal with things better, because of Him.

Yes, we have more hope than a non-Christian, because of Him.

Yes, we have more faith in life, because of Him.

But we would not have any of that if it were not for the test and the trials that life has before us.

Go through these trials with an open mind, an open heart. Think about all that the Lord has done for you. Reflect on that. Why would this situation be any different?

Praise God for the trial. Obviously He is growing you to become a better person. A better Christian. That should be a honor.

Get ready to grow. Get ready to learn more about yourself. He is ready to reveal things to you. Are you ready for these things to be revealed??

Think about how worth it is in the end. We will be with our father. We will get to thank Him in person for all that He has done in our life. We will get to sit at His feet and worship all day. How great that day is going to be!!!

And the trials…will be left behind us……　

Love In Christ,

Carla

Shake your groove thing baby!!

So, I have come up with a new strategy on everyday life for myself. You know what I’m talking about…the cleaning, the cooking, the kids, and the list goes on and on and on…. You get the point. It seems like from the time you wake up until the time you finally get to lay down at night….LIFE IS RUSHED!!!

For the past few days the kids have been scattered everywhere…but here. So, I have had time to myself to get some things done. I decided to take my time and to not rush!! What I noticed was how much more peaceful I felt about doing all the things that I had to do.

Believe me…I have 3 kids, 5 dogs, and a husband. I have my work cut out for me. I also try and volunteer when I can. In the midst of all this squeezing in time for God and church.

That’s right I said it….”Squeezing In Time”.

It should be top priority on my list. The first thing that I do when I wake up…instead of stumbling to the coffee pot and checking my messages. It should be the last thing I do before falling asleep…instead of tiring myself out to the point of exhaustion and passing out on the couch. And it should fill my day. Every part of it.

And yet, it does not. I manage to procrastinate and put it off until the last possible moment. That moment when I feel rushed into spending time with Him.

I am not one to be rushed. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you the same. And yet my life seems to be nothing but a rush, rush race.

So, my strategy about the way that I have taken care of things around here has taught me one of the most important lessons in my life….or should I say God taught me something in the past few days.

Instead of being made to feel like “I have to get this done right now. I‘m running out of time”…why not take my time and get it done right. I am not talking about cleaning the house or cooking anymore…I am talking about my Christian walk.

We should want to spend time with God. Not feel rushed into it. Not feel like “we have to or else”. He gave us free will in our life….minds to make our own decisions. So, lets use it wisely.

Some people can set aside a specific time for God everyday. This is great! If it works for them. This “routine” normally does not work out for me. I try a schedule. Most of the time I end up squeezing Him in for a few minutes and then cutting the appointment short. I end up falling short and feeling like I’ve failed God and myself.

But for the past few days, I’ve tried a different outlook. I do in a sense “Squeeze Him In”, but in a whole different way. I am making it a point to have Him with me ALL day. Not just for a hour, but every minute. Not because I have to. But because I want to.

If I’m folding clothes, I talk to God. I’m cooking supper, I play worship music and praise Him. You get the drift.

This “Strategy” is working out so AWESOME!! I feel at peace. I don’t feel like I’ve got to squeeze Him in for 5 minutes or He will get mad at me. He has been with me all day. I’ve spoke to Him many times!! I can feel His presence in my life again. I am no longer neglecting Him!!!

Now please understand that I am not saying that you have to follow this strategy or anything like that in order to have God in your life. I’m not saying that at all!

I am saying to find your own strategy. Your own groove. Where neither you or God feel neglected!!

Shake your groove thing baby!!

Love You Guys!!

Carla

Is It Really You That Is Lonley??

Does it ever feel like no matter how hard you try…you get nowhere?!?!

You get on a good role, walking the Christian path…

You read your bible. You pray and talk to God. You speak of Him and His good works to any and everyone that will listen. And the next thing you know you are lost in the world…and you do not even remember how you got there.

So, you straighten back up. Start the walk again. Get more hardcore Christian….and then BOOM….back out in the world alone.

I have felt this way a lot. And I have an overwhelming feeling that I am not alone here.

So, let me let you in on a little secret….

We all mess up!! And we are not alone!!

The Lord has made a promise to us. He said that He would never leave us or forsake us.

So, why is it that we get that lonely feeling when we screw up?

Because we have left Him. We quit giving our all to Him. We stopped speaking to Him. The desire to learn about Him left. The passion gone.

Think about it for a moment though.

How would you feel if the person you spent 24/7 with suddenly stopped speaking to you? Did not call to check on you or check in. Did not drop by. This is the person that you love and care about. The person that you vowed to spend the rest of your life with. Now that person is nowhere to be found.

Hmm…..

Maybe it is not us that are lonely…Seems to me that we have abandoned Him leaving Him the lonely one.

We would not feel this loneliness, this pain had we not left Him.

Listen…do you hear Him calling out to you? He is crying because He has lost you. He wants to be your all and all. He wants to be your everything. Why can’t you commit your life to Him?

Yes, you are going to mess up. No one ever said that the Christian walk was an easy one. There are going to be many test and many, many trials. There are going to be days when you want to throw your hands up and just forget the whole thing. The key is to not GIVE UP!!

He will not give up on you. He will keep pushing. He will never stop loving you.

Learn from your mistakes and move on. Grow as a Christian as you learn what it really means to be one.

Having a bad day? Instead of doing the normal disappearing act, get into the Word of God and see what He says about your situation. I guarantee you it will feel so much better to stand up and brush yourself off, rather then to bandage up those skinned up knees. Especially with the help of our Father.

Guys let me tell yall this message is for me too. There are days when I feel like I have never been farther away from our Father. There are days when I think there is no way He would give me a second chance or a third, fourth, TENTH!! Days when I do not want to try. When it seems like it is all getting to hard.

The thing that keeps me going is His love for me. He cares so much that sometimes He may let us fall. He loves us to much to let us fall and Him not help us back up on our feet. There are many times that when things like this happen…He is teaching us something.

Think back to those similar situations where you fell….Did you learn something? Did you get back up with a BIGGER fire then you had before?

I am going to keep this one short and to the point.

When you are feeling lonely, like no one else is there. Think about how the Lord feels. Then go running back to Him as fast as possible. He is waiting with His arms wide open. I PROMISE!!!!

Love In Christ,

Carla