Endurance Training

I thought this was a great read. It reminds me how important what I do for Christ is. It's great when God works through a body of believers, but it only takes ONE weak link to slow or hinder God's work. Each of us as part of the body of Christ should yearn to be 100% sold out and commited to God. I don't want to follow God halfheartedly. I want to be real in my walk with Christ. I fall short many, many times. I am praying for strength to be what God wants ME to be.
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Endurance Training

Caleb is one of the unsung heroes of the Bible. He stands as a shining example of one who never lost his edge spiritually. He himself said at age 85, "I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and coming in" (Joshua 14:11 NKJV).

At that point in the history of God's people, the Israelites had finally made it to the long-awaited Promised Land, and Joshua was dispersing portions of it to the various tribes. Caleb suddenly spoke up and asked for the land he had surveyed.

In response, Joshua granted faithful Caleb what he asked. Yet the old man proved he had not yet exhausted his courage, for then he said:
Here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me . . . Now therefore, give me this mountain [the land of Hebron] of which the Lord spoke in that day. . . . (Joshua 14:10–12 NKJV)
The other guys must have thought old Caleb was senile. Hebron was not some beautiful green pasture; it was one of the most treacherous mountainous areas of the Promised Land.

Even worse, formidable adversaries—identified as the three sons of Anak—lived there. No one wanted to take them on except 85-year-old Caleb, holding up that muscular old arm, saying, "Give me this mountain."

I love his boldness. Caleb ran up the mountain. He slew his adversaries. He was victorious. He had been strong all those years, and he finished well.

Let me share some principles with you from Caleb's life that can give us this spiritual stamina we need to run and indeed finish in the race of life.

1. Follow the Lord 100 percent. Scripture says again and again that Caleb "wholly followed the Lord." It's in Joshua 14:8–9 and verse 14 too: Joshua blessed Caleb and gave the old man what he asked because "he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel."

This is clearly a key to Caleb's spiritual success. But what does it mean to "wholly follow the Lord"? It means that you must fully follow our Lord not halfheartedly, but completely. One hundred percent.

Are you wholly following the Lord your God? If you are not, you will eventually be picked off. It is only a matter of time until you become a casualty in the race of life.

2. Don't compromise—stand your ground. At the risk of being personally ostracized, Caleb took a stand for what was he knew was true. He knew he needed to be more concerned with God's approval than man's. And he was rewarded.

As you walk with the Lord, you will face many temptations to cave in to peer pressure, to do what everybody else does. But if you are going to fully follow the Lord, then, like Caleb, you must make this principle operative in your life. Stand firm—seek God's pleasure, no one else's.

3. Take God at His Word. Caleb didn't win immediate entrance to the Promised Land. First, he had to wander around with those ungrateful, complaining Israelites for 40 years. They said things like "We remember the good old days back in Egypt, where we had garlic, leeks, and onions."

Despite the Israelites' childish clinging to fictitious memories, Caleb hung on to the promises of God. He knew God would be faithful, regardless of the time frame. Caleb trusted God's word to him. We can do the same.

4. Long for fellowship with your God. Caleb asked for a place in the Promised Land called Hebron. There is something interesting thing about the name Hebron, which—in the original language—means "fellowship, love, and communion." Hebron is where Abraham met with God face-to-face and received the promise of the new land in the first place.

Caleb yearned for fellowship with God. While the other Israelites longed for Egypt, Caleb longed for Hebron. While the others looked back, Caleb looked forward. While others wanted to please themselves, Caleb wanted to please God.

This is an essential key to spiritual longevity. You must always move forward. You must always seek to grow spiritually and never look back. That's what will keep you going.

If you are living this Christian life for others' applause, you won't make it. You have to run empowered by your love for God.

-Greg Laurie

The Perfect Gift

"If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost." - Corrie ten Boom

Another good quote. So true. At this time of year, we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
We are busy buying and giving gifts to each other. We try to choose the perfect gift to give someone. There is no better gift at any time of the year to give or receive than Jeus. While we are remembering the baby Jesus in the manger, let's remember the Savior Jesus on the cross who died for our sins that we may be born again to live for Him, to have peace with him, to glorify Him, to praise Him and to tell others of this great and wonderful, perfect gift! Merry Christmas! Let's share the gift!

My Little Girl

Ok, so my little girl is 15 years old. She will always be my little girl though. She has been sick with a bug this week. I know this sounds gross, but I have never seen anyone throw up so much! Yuck. She is better and back at school today. I miss her already. Funny how kids want their moms, even older kids apparently, when they are sick. She has not wanted me to leave her side. If I moved, she wanted to know where I was going. Then last night, even though she felt better, she still wanted me to sleep in her bed with her. She rarely gets sick, and I'm very thankful for that. But while she was sick, I was worried and I prayed a lot. I don't like my children to hurt. I'm sure our Heavenly Father is the same way. He doesn't like for His children to hurt either, and when we do, He wants to be there for us. He wants us to just sit by His side if only for the comfort of it. We don't have to understand and we don't have to have an explanation, just sit with Him and let Him comfort us. I'm praising God today for my family and the many blessings He allows me to enjoy. God is so good!

Thanksgiving

No turkey and dressing today. We had breakfast with family. It was nice. We did have chicken and rice for supper...There are many, many things I'm thankful for today and every day. I know Jesus died for my sins which is absolutely amazing and beyond understanding. I have a wonderful loving family who I love to hang out with. I was blessed with parents who loved God and loved each other. I have friends who encourage my walk with Christ, for which I'm very blessed. They don't mind at all chewing me out every now and then when I need it and it's for my benefit and those kind of friends are few and far between. Everyone needs those kinds of friends. There are way too many blessings to list, but I have a thankful heart and I hope that whoever reads this will take the time to count their blessings.

Psalm 100 (New International Version)
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Veteran's Day

Lloyd and Mary, are amazing people and dear friends. Lloyd was my pastor when I was a teen. He baptized me, got onto us during sermons for talking oh, and the passing notes thing...(it was only one note, Lloyd, really) and threw his glasses across the room once during a very spirited sermon :) They camped with our family, ate with our family, their children spent time at our home and my parents loved them dearly, as I do. They have been church planters in several places. They have been to Guam to work with the churches there. But one thing about them that stands way above all else is that they love Jesus passionately and have such a burden for lost people. I have seen God work in their lives for years and have seen Jesus in them.

They lost their son Josh in Iraq. I can't begin to imagine the hurt, confusion or shock of losing a child. Josh was an amazing person. He graduated West Point and loved this country. He also loved Jesus and it showed. As I've said, I love quotes and one from Josh is this..."It matters not if the world has heard or approves or understands...The only applause I am meant to seek is that of nail-scarred hands." That's awesome! We should all have that mentality.

Mary is now a member of the Gold Star Moms http://www.goldstarmoms.com/. She is headed to Washington for a ceremony to be held on Veteran's Day at Arlington. She says it is such an honor to participate and be a part of that. I am thinking what an amazing woman she is to have the strength to do that. I'm sure she will be thinking of Josh. I'm sure he would be so proud of her.

I know Veteran's Day is not until Tuesday, but I had Josh on my mind today. I'm saying a prayer for Mary as she participates in this ceremony, and for all the families who have lost family members and friends in combat. I am reminding others to pray for our country. We are truly blessed to live in the USA. God is STILL in control.

Recognize the Sparkle

If we train ourselves, we can sense God's presence in every object or person we encounter during even a humdrum day; and recognizing the sparkle in the bubble is itself a way to worship the God who created bubbles and added sparkles for the fun of it.
--Leslie Williams

I think this is an awesome quote...wish I had said it. I think we so often overlook the sparkles in so many things and so many people. God has made such beauty around us. We should take the time to look at even the small things and just rejoice in all of God's creations. This time of year is my favorite. It's not hard for me to notice the sparkling going on. I love watching the trees turn bright red and orange! Awesome. Then there are some people who think they are insignificant, or think they don't shine, but if you take the time to get to know them...they just have all kind of sparkle about them! They may just need an encouraging word to know they are created by God to do nothing less than sparkle. Let's not be so busy or so humdrum that we miss the beauty in creation!

As I sit here in tears...

I just finished watching one of my favorite tv shows and one of my very favorite episodes.
It's the Andy Griffith Show and the episode was "Opie the Birdman". Oh my, tears everytime I watch it! Opie accidentally kills a mother bird with his slingshot. When Andy gets home from work he notices the mother bird in the yard. At supper that evening, he tells Aunt Bea that the neighbor's cat killed the mother. Opie runs up the stairs. Andy knows what has happened. As punishment, Andy opens the window so Opie can hear the baby birds crying for their mother. (this is where the tears start) Opie decides to raise the baby birds. He names them Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod. Of course Barney tells him how to speak to them, what they are saying to each other and how creatures of the wild are raised because Barney knows things like that. Opie feeds the baby birds and takes care of them. As they get bigger, Andy ponders how Opie will handle letting the birds go. Opie finally says they need to get a bigger cage and Andy tells him he knows what he has to do. Opie is afraid he hasn't done all the right things, that maybe the birds can't fly. Andy assures him the birds will be fine. Opie opens the cage and one by one he tells Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod that he hopes he has done all the right things and he releases them into the air where they fly off into the trees. Opie looks at the cage and says, "The cage sure looks awful empty, don't it Pa?" Andy replies, "Yeah, but don't the trees seem nice and full?" That's the point I totally lose it.

I wish we had tv shows like this today. The conversation between Andy and Opie before letting the baby birds go is so sweet and so true. We hope and pray we do all the right things for our children, we pray for them, we try to lead them. Then they get wings and no longer need us for the things they used to need us for. We pray as parents that our children remember their roots and the things we try to teach them and we just have to leave the rest to God. We have to trust Him to take care of the things that are no longer in our control. Ruth Bell Graham said, "As a mother, I must faithfully, patiently, lovingly, and happily do my part - then quietly wait for God to do His."

Letting go of our children all comes down to trusting God. Nothing really belongs to us. It all belongs to Him. We only borrow our chidren for a short while and within those few short years we must pray and trust God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Worship, Church and School

Yesterday we attended worship services at NewSpring in Anderson. The band was awesome. One song in particular really spoke to me. It's an old hymn, but some very powerful words!

Words: Charles Gabriel, 1905.Music: "My Savior's Love," Charles Gabriel, 1905.

I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me, A sinner, condemned, unclean.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me!

For me it was in the garden He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs, But sweat drops of blood for mine.

In pity angels beheld Him, And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows He bore for my soul that night.

He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary, And suffered and died alone.

When with the ransomed in gloryHis face I at last shall see,
'Twill be my joy through the ages To sing of His love for me.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me!
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This is a great song and, of course, the band at NewSpring rocked it! But it was so powerful. How often do we actually "stand amazed" of our Holy God? How often do we actually sit in His presence and just enjoy Him? I fall short of that so many times. Each of us needs to take the time to stand amazed, sit with Him in silence and realize what He did for us! The measure of love that caused a Holy God to send His Son to die for my sins, for your sins. He sent His Son to purchase us with His love, he was perfect, yet took on our sins and paid the price for us. WOW. Imagine Jesus in the garden as he prayed. He knew what he was facing, but did his Father's will. Why should I ever do anything less? God hasn't asked me to sacrifice my child. He just simply asks me to love Him, obey Him and accept His Son in my heart and live for Him. Yet, I fall short.

The message was ARE WE LIVING IN THE END TIMES? Clayton King spoke and his answer was simply, "Yes, but the time doesn't matter. What matters is how we are living today.

1. Are we preparing for that time when Jesus comes back to get his bride? We shouldn't be predicting times, just getting ready!"

2. Are we witnessing instead of worrying? We should be telling others while we have this chance.

3. Are we repenting instead of regretting? We should be getting our own lives in order and setting things right with God and with other people.

We shouldn't be concerned of when Jesus will come, we need to focus on NOW. Fight for lost souls! Go get the ones nobody else wants. Go get the ones who feel they have no place or feel they have nobody who loves them. Help us to become warriors for the Kingdom! When we give our heart and life to Jesus, we don't dread the end times, we look forward to no more death, no more sickness, no pain. And most of all to be with our Father!

and last....I know this is long....

school started and I miss my daughter today.