The Need for Rest in the Refuge of the Lord

This is a busy world. I used to think bees and ants were always busy but sometimes I think we’re so busy that we fail to take time away from this fast paced world. There is this activity and that activity to do and this schedule and that schedule to follow.

It seems like everyone is running from this activity to another. Quality seems to be pushed aside for sake of time and convenience until frankly there is no energy left. Everything from our relationships - to the food we consume- to the things we buy seem to be monopolized by activities and schedules.

Sure convenience is great and keeping busy is great but if that is all there is- where is the “quality” in all the “busy” time – if we are just a society and people that run, run, run – we are not only going to see the meaning of meaningless but our relationships with the people we love dearly are going to suffer.

You might be in the same car often but you might as well be strangers with phone calls, inside thoughts running circles inside your head, the music or talk radio on, and maybe even the DVD player or game system playing in the backseat.

You can say a kind word but if your actions don’t relate to that kind word then it is pointless. You can take your child to their favorite fast food restaurant but if there is no quality time to go along with that food – then it just feels the stomach “temporarily” but doesn’t fill or encourage the soul of your child of your love for them.

The Lord wants us to rest in him. He wants us to take quality time with him so he can fill and encourage our soul as well and remind us how much he loves us.

Psalm 91:1-2
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare of the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting in Him.”

The Lord is greater then the greatest shade tree on a hot day. He is greater then a warm house and a place next to a burning fireplace on a cold day. The Lord is greater then your best friend here on earth. He is the greatest parent ever known.

The Lord made us and understands us better then anyone else but in order for us to understand and understand how much he loves us, we have to take time to be with him.

Time to read and think on his word. Time to see what he has done and is continuing to do for us. Time to tell him how much you appreciate his presence in your life. Time to listen to what he has to say to you.

We cannot understand how deep God’s grace, mercy, peace and love is if we don’t take time to take refuge in him. I believe taking refuge in the Lord will also make us a better person not to just those around us but ourselves as well.

Lessons from Mixing Mortar

This weekend I was helping some friends rebuild a rock wall. When we went to get the pre-mixed mortar, the hardware store only had mortar and sand left. So we ended up buying both and mixed them on site.

It turned out that I actually liked working with the unmixed mortar and sand more then the premix mortar. Later, I started to read and think about scriptures in the bible and how we mixed the ingredients for mortar.

When mixing mortar you use one part mortar and three parts sand but even though there is more sand then mortar – the mortar had no problem covering and mixing throughout the entire batch of mortar mixture.

This is the scripture that came to mind:
In Mathew 13:33 Jesus used this illustration: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough."

That is precisely what happened in the mortar mixture.

Then when we added water to the sand and mortar mixture, the batch got smaller so we were able to add more sand and mortar into the mixing tub.

Luke 6:38 “If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving-large or small- it will be used to measure what is given back to you.”

Again the same principle happened as the scripture.

When mixing mortar you need, of course, three elements. You need mortar and sand and water. When I think about mortar and sand I think about love and knowledge. When I think of water – I think of the Holy Spirit.

Col 3:14 And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.

We can have the love and knowledge that God is continually mixing within us but we need the Holy Spirit to bind it all together so we can build off that love and knowledge that God has given us- “properly”.

1Th 1:5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message.

The Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. It bonded the actions of love and knowledge together where they could be built on to and they stuck in people’s mind and heart.

Gal 5:22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.

Phl 1:9 I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding.

God had given us all an awesome opportunity to make us His vessels. He is the one who poured HIS love and knowledge into us -when we gave our lives to Christ and when we received Christ we also received the Holy Spirit which is continuing to add living water – living and working concepts and ideas and power to the love and knowledge we continually gain from God as we have fellowship with Him and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Isa 64:8 And yet, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand.

Eph 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Our work, we do or intend to do for God is only useful when the love, knowledge and guidance of the Holy Spirit are bonded together in it.

In time the rock wall work we did is going to be put through the test of time and weather conditions. And like that wall, our efforts here on earth will be tested. If we have listened to the wrong spirit and used only human understanding and human understanding and methods of love that wall is going to have enormous problems.

1Cr 3:13 But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value.

Luke 6:48 It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who listens and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins.

If the rock wall we have rebuilt this last weekend isn’t firmly standing on a foundation, it will fall over and break in time and be destroyed just like our lives if we are not standing on the foundation of Jesus Christ because through and on Christ Jesus every life can be rebuild and build upon.

John 14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. “

Through the Father who gives us the Holy Spirit- Who gives us new life in our time here on earth and eternal life in Heaven.

All would not be possible without the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins on the cross and his resurrection.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all work as one and are one and they do not want to see anyone perish. John 3:16-20

Remember live in the love and knowledge you have been given by God and listen to the Holy Spirit’s guiding in every life you touch.

Scriptures came from the New Living Translation Bible

Let Us Not Become Spiritual Tourist

It is great to hear testimonies and see miracles happen in other people’s lives and I have heard of people being satisfied with just that.

The thing is we are greatly encouraged and confirmed in the things of our faith when the spiritual blessings from God manifest themselves in our lives as well.

I was telling a friend about the revival this weekend at our church and how the Holy Spirit made Himself apparent that He had REALLY joined us during worship.

People spoke and sang in tongues (other languages) and there was interpretation. I for the first time got blessed by being intoxicated by the Holy Spirit. That was something I had never experienced before but heard could happen.

The words Holy, Holy, Holy again and again came singing from my lips for this. I then felt compelled to slip off my flip-flops and get on my knees and as I did I could feel this undulating current – beating so gently against my body. I really don’t know how long I was kneeling there in the current.

I have felt the wind of the Holy Spirit before but this was something I had not experienced before and when it was time to stand up and sit back down in my seat to hear what the visiting evangelist had to share- I felt so immersed and out of it that I just sat there dazed for sometime in my seat.

Even Michael Livengood, the visiting speaker and brother in Christ, who was sitting in front of me and ended up on the floor, said he could had stayed on the floor longer. I don't know how many felt the same thing I did but it was WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL …and the best part there was no hang over afterward (bad joke).

It confirmed to me that being intoxicated or drunk in the Spirit can actually happen and there was a unseen Godly river flowing through the church.

Now 10 or 11 years ago I would consider all this to be crazy and nuts and people just plan OUT of their minds but now that I have experienced these experiences and have seen these spiritual things for myself, I know they are very REAL.... not unreal. They have greatly encouraged me and confirmed things that I have read in the bible and seen happening.

God cannot be put in a box (I have tried) and if we try to put Him in a box (in our minds), we will not only miss out but fool ourselves by not being open to the fact that God loves to manifest himself in our lives in AWESOME and POWERFUL ways.

Some would say this is ludicrous and I might have agreed with them a time ago but God showed me wrong. The best way to prove something about God is ask Him to prove it – but make sure you want Him to prove before you ask.

Faith facts:

We have been living in the last days ever since Jesus ascended into heaven- after his resurrection. Jesus said he would give us the Holy Spirit - when we gave our lives to him and he said that in order for us to enter Heaven we would have to be born of both water and Spirit. John 3. Hence we are born of Spirit when Jesus and the Father sends the Holy Spirit into our lives.

If God doesn’t change then why do we seem to think He does?

Reference Scriptures

"And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability....They stood there amazed and perplexed "What can this mean?" they asked each other. But others in the crowd were mocking. "They are drunk that's all!" they said.... Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven apostles and shouted to the crowd, "Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about his. Some of you are saying these people are drunk. It isn't true! It's much too early for that. People don't get drunk by nine o'clock in the morning. No, what you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God said, I will pour out my spirit upon all people." Acts 2

"If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him, But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you." John 14:15-17

"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me. All that the Father has is mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever he receives from me." John 16:13-15

Don't Starve Yourself Of the Lasting Good Things in Life

Don't Starve Yourself Of the Lasting Good Things in Life

Early-er this week I had a quote that said, "What you feed grows and what you don't feed -starves."

If all we feed is negativity then we are going to become a pro at being negative but if we continue to seek and strive for the positive things in life then we are going be optimistic about life - even when things look bad.

If all we see is how bad everything is in the world we are going to miss all the goodness and inspiration and new awareness that comes out of life and even in the bad situations.

As I shared with you before about the people who live in the cardboard villages Mexico- if they only focused on the negative situations they live in, day in and day out, the situation would be devastating to their health and well-being. Instead they have gained a greater faith in God through their circumstances in life and God has blessed them. In the last four years those same families have started to build concrete block houses and they are still able to provide food for their family. They put their trust not in money. They put their trust in God.

Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

If all our focus is on money and our problems then how are we going to put our focus and trust in God - who can solve and provide.

Jesus continues with "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life- whether you have enough food, drink and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautiful as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:24:-34

"Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!" Matthew 6:22.

Same as "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be" Matthew 6:21. If we treasure to look at the down side of life instead of the positive side of life we are setting ourselves up for failure, doom, frustration, depression and whatever negative habits we have picked up along the way and accepted and welcomed them with open arms instead of saying "NO Thanks!- I am not going there.".

We "treasure" what? We set our sights on what? What are we going to feed and what are we going to starve? What is most important to you in this life?

For me it is having a relationship with God....family... and friends.... and the rest is just stuff. Stuff that can be replaced.

Don’t take what you have been given for granted.

My youngest came into bedroom with a piece of French bread and I told her she had to eat it in the kitchen but she kept coming into the bedroom to eat it after I warned her three times to take it into the kitchen to eat.

I then said, “Do I need to take this bread away from so you can’t have anymore?”
Of course being almost 3 years old, she continued to resist and disobey and I had to take the bread away from her.

I was again reminded of us and God and what Jesus says in Matthew 13:11

"Then he explained to them, “You have been permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others have not. To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them."

We must be constantly listening and reading God’s word. We must be diligent yet quiet enough to listen what He has to say about matters in life –and we also must ask God to help us love in all HIS ways of love.

Through the Holy Spirit we are connected to God and not detached from God and through the Holy Spirit can be fruitful in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22 & 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 & Colossians 3:12-17). A part from God we can do nothing worthy and sustainable and are even in danger of being thrown into the fires of hell when we continue to be the lone ranger of our lives.

How can one be blessed if they think they are too important to help someone in need? How can one grow if all is received and none is given? How can anyone see if all they see is what inside their "natural" selves? How can anyone endure with just their "natural" outlook on life? How can one develop strength of character if they only depend on themselves? How can anyone have hope and be confident on the expectations of God if they have no real relationship with God?

Don’t be fooled –hang on to ALL that spiritual food God gives you. It will sustain you but if (you and I) let it sit and become dusty – it will be taken away.

Instead let us build upon it through God’s guiding and directing because after all God is the contractor of LIFE.

Puzzle Pieces of Life

Does the question of “Who am I - in God’s plan?" ever come to mind? I think that is one of the greatest questions we can ever ask ourselves.

My youngest and I were putting together a puzzle and when we came to the last piece of puzzle we realized we were missing a piece. The puzzle was incomplete even though we had the majority of pieces put together. The full picture of the puzzle was incomplete and we quickly saw that our efforts had been useless and a waste of time because we didn’t have that last piece of the puzzle.

That can be our life to... without Jesus. If we do not have Christ we can never complete or make sense of this life… which with the natural eye is just a jumble of pieces. We need Christ to complete our life and to make sense of all those pieces.

We may have created a lot of those pieces through our actions or someone else may have created some of those pieces (positive or negative) but it Christ that makes all those pieces come together. It is Jesus who heals the life. It is Jesus who builds up a life. It is Jesus who guides and directs the paths of those who are graciously given his righteousness. It is Jesus who transforms forms the jumble pieces into a complete picture. It is Jesus who transforms those pieces into something fulfilling and useful.

"So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God's holy people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins." Colossians 1:9-14

But without Christ our lives are just a bunch of puzzle pieces… a puzzle never completed.

We searched all over that bedroom for that missing puzzle piece because we wanted to finish the puzzle but we could not find it.

You know what happened to those puzzles pieces that we couldn’t complete?

Yep... the same thing that happened to our Spider-man, Superman, HE-MAN puzzles (or for the gals - Wonder Woman, Barbie, Cabbage Patch, Holly Hobbie, and Strawberry Shortcake puzzles) that I lost their pieces. We had to throw them into the trash. The pieces were deemed no longer useful.

You and I, however can find that puzzle piece that makes everything come together and make sense -if we choose to.

Jer 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me.

1Ch 28:9 "And Solomon, my son, get to know the God of your ancestors. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and with a willing mind. For the LORD sees every heart and understands and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

Pro 3:6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.

Hsa 10:12 I said, `Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.'

Hbr 11:6 So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Rev 3:19-22 Jesus says “I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. I will invite everyone who is victorious to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

A Message to Savor

A brother in Christ, sent me a music video this morning and I could not help but savor the message within it.

The message was about Christ taking our cross, our nails, our crown of thorns, our shame, our guilt, our tears, our fears and the list could go on and on but it was the Good News in a nut shell.

And if we really understood the message that Christ took our punishment for our sins we would understand not only God's love but the power of God's saving grace. Not only would we understand the power of God's saving grace but who intercedes for us and who gave us new life and eternal life through the Holy Spirit.

To understand what Christ has done for us in not a guilt ridden thing but should be a weight lifted off our shoulders. To understand what Christ has done is exactly what Christ says it should be, "For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give is light." Matthew 11:30

To understand what Christ has done is power to be set free and to do the will of the Father and Son.

The amazing part and even the sad thing is even though many of us know the message of the "Good News" we take it so much for granted like it's just a story in the bible but the bible nor should the "Good News" only be set on black, white and red print in our minds but be keys to freedom and further understanding.

Look at what Jesus says, " You have been permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others have not. To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them. That is why I tell these stories, because people see what I do, but they don't really see. They hear what I say, but they don't really hear, and they don't understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: 'You will hear my words but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I assure you, many prophets and godly people have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but they could not." Matthew 13:11-17

Sometimes I just want to yell to all my lost friends and family, and people who think they know they got all together -like Mel Gibson's character in Braveheart. I want to wave a banner from a powerful horse and say as I ride in this brief life, "The Keys to FREEDOM are in CHRIST!!! The EVERLASTING message of life and eternal life are in the message of the cross and the Resurrection of Christ.

But it hard seeing them all lined up not sure what they are doing here, seeing them not sure where to stand or face or what to know to save their souls and live a fulfilling and purposeful life.
Some so hard hearted that they don't even want to hear about God because they have made up their mind about Him already.

They are like Kings and Queens of Rohan who can only see death and no victory. I urge them to ride on hoping they will see and will be convinced by all the mercy, grace and blessings God has given them before it is too late.



I have hope for them because I once was like them. I have hope for them because God is greater and more persistent then they or those who try to keep them there.