Are you aware?

Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! Isaiah 6:5


Isaiah 6:5 had me in tears, it puts all of Gods awesomeness into focus. Isaiah cries "Woe is me! For I am undone and ruined." At that moment I am sure everything was put into perspective. At that moment Isaiah revered God, at that moment Isaiah knew where he stood in HIS presence. He knew who called him, and who breathed life into him.
 
 We see  God in Isaiah as one who brings justice, one who brings peace, and one who is righting wrongs. We've seen Him declare countries desolate, cities burned, and fields being stripped by foreigners (Isaiah 1). He is a God who causes the sun to shine, the rain to fall, the oceans to roar, seas to be parted, and storms to be calmed. We sing songs and praise of how awesome, mighty and powerful Our God is, but do we really get it? Do we know it? Do we let the awesomeness, the mightiness, the powerfulness move us, change us? Breathe life into us?

  This is a God who has numbered every hair on our heads (Matthew 10:30), a God whose invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen (Romans 1:20). A God who said and it was. The LORD God who formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, (Genesis 2:7).
  
  One day the LORD in all His splendor and majesty will rise and shake the earth (Isaiah 2:21). He will restore, it will be well with the righteous, they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds (Isaiah 3:10). The LORD alone one day, that day will be exalted and all attention will turn to Him. All shouts to Him declaring how holy He is. Every knee bowing, every tongue confessing. Can you see it? Can you see He patiently waits for us, you, me - all of us to turn to Him.

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

   He is a God who loves us, loved us so much that He sent His Son, His only Son to the cross to make a way, a path for us to be in relationship. Are you crying out to Him? Are you in awe? Let this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob awe you. Awe you into following Him wholeheartedly. 

Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8.     

Devotional reading, all of Isaiah chapter 6. 

I will continue to write and post how God is growing me as I study this book in depth.

Did you forget we are at war?

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  - Ephesians 6:12


So I forgot. I forgot for about an hour that we are in a war. You see, the momma bear came out last night as I listened to my daughter through tears tell me about her struggle with her teacher. I listened to my son last week through tears tell me about his struggle with his friends from the predominate religion here in Utah. I remembered with him, I forgot with her. 
As I laid my head down on my pillow last night I prayed through tears, I cried out to God to give my daughter favor,  I even prayed that the teacher would see my daughter's beautiful heart, the way she loves others, not her quirks. As I prayed, I began to realize that I  wanted her to feel accepted, liked by her teacher. I didn't want her to "struggle".
 I woke up this morning, knowing I was sending her off to the classroom she did not want to be in. Something arose inside of me, it was like an awakening, a lot like the momma bear instinct, but stronger and before I knew it, I was hearing Ephesians 6:12 in my head;

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms.

We are not at war or struggling with her teacher, or with my son's friends, we are at war with this dark world! That made me want to "fight" differently. I was praying ( fighting differently) I was doing Ephesians 6:17,18! My friends were praying for my kids, we were fighting not in our flesh and might but God's! That is what Ephesians 6 is all about, its about how to fight while we are in this world that is ruled by powers of darkness. 
I realized that just yesterday morning I prayed that God would show me how to be a better parent, how to raise my children under his ways, for them to love Him and His Word. God reminded me through His Word, what I was up against and the solution. This was a moment of "practice what I preach", that is You have to be in the word daily to know Him and be fit for battle! He allowed me to recall His words and I had a weapon -Ephesians 6:17-21. Read it dear friends! It will rock your world, you will be suited up for the struggle, the war, the fight of your life and you have the victory- God's Word says so!  
So I went to my daughter before school and I told her I prayed for her and her teacher, I told her that she has nothing to worry or fear, that Jesus is on her side and people act in ways because they don't have Jesus. So today, I begin the most important job I have as a parent and that is showing the Word to my children, so they can grow to love it and know the great I AM and walk in a way that is worthy of their calling in Christ Jesus - Ephesians 4:1. We are at war until he comes for us, don't forget- this world and it powers of darkness haven't forgotten.

 Here are some additional verses that God was reminding me of:
John 15:18-25
John 17:6-26
 


 

Handwriting

So if you do Instagram, you have heard of these photo challenges. Basically, you take a photo a day based on a list that has a different subject/word that the photo should represent. So I am about 5 days behind and I decided to pick up on day 20, and day 20 is handwriting. I LOVE handwriting and I thought I would share mine and the reasons why I LOVE handwriting, (sounds a little dorky, I know just hang in there with me).

So I began to hunt for something that had my handwriting, post it notes (all over my house), grocery lists, to do lists and then my journal. Then I thought, " my journal?, that's a little personal ". And then I heard exactly! Personal. Handwriting is so personal. I have a box of letters that my husband wrote me while he was in boot camp 15 years ago, I have letters from my grandmother that just recently passed away, I have journals that I wrote from high school to now, cards from friends, etc. See, the thing is, is that our handwriting is unique, there is no other like it. Our handwriting changes as our moods change. Our handwriting says so much about us. Why do you think they have people that study that for a living?

I then opened my journal and began to read and I could tell just by glancing at my writing what kind of day I was having without actually reading the entry. I thought about how it takes time to hand write something, I thought about how free I feel when I can just pick up a pen and go for it in my journal at a moments notice. I don't have to log in on my computer and wait only to find out I forgot what I was going to write, ha! Handwriting is becoming a thing of the past with all of our technology. As I stopped to read an entry in my journal I was brought back to the moment I wrote it...

So write away my friends....

What we don't realize

Whoever loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

                                                                                                                  -John 12:25

What does this mean? It means EVERYTHING... There was a man in Mark 10:17, he asked Jesus "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus told him that he still lacked one thing, told him he needed to sell everything (EVERYTHING) that he had and divide it among the poor, and he will have treasure in heaven; then told him to come back and follow Jesus. The man was sad and went away grieved.

 What hit me about this, is what he did not realize is that when we give our all up to Him, The One, He will give back so much more, and His Word promises it! We close our fists so tightly sometimes, we need to let Him open it up and have it! Now watch what Jesus says to his disciples once the man went away. In Luke's account in chapter 18:

                        29 And He said to them, I say to you truly, there is no one who has left the house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 Who will not receive in return many times more in this world and, in the coming age, eternal life.

 Wow! He says in this world, and in the coming age of eternal life! Then why do we hold so tightly to these "things"? We often feel like God is trying to take from us, when in reality He is only trying to give to us. He is looking where our hearts are where our loyalty is, do we trust Him enough to know what is best for us? This is not just about wealth or material possessions. God sees the big picture, He sees what is good for us. God wanted his heart, his all... He is asking the same from us. It will look different to each of us, it may not be selling all we have to give to the poor. We know what He has asked from us.

               9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

                                                                                                                       -2 Chronicles 16:9a

I love that verse, this verse comes to life, just watch what all those awesome words translated in its original language mean:
                 9For the eyes of the LORD (Jehovah, "the existing One") run to and fro (eagerly, quickly) throughout the whole earth, to give strong support (hold up, encourage, sustain) to those whose heart (inner part, mind, will, thinking, understanding) is blameless (full, perfect, His)( peaceful of a covenant relation with him) toward him.

 So, that is saying when we decide to let Him open our fist and give the all of our mind, will, thinking, and understanding to Him, He will support, hold us up, encourage, and sustain us. Not because we are perfect, but because He is. Because our covenant relationship with Him is at peace, we are at perfect peace with Him.
 One more thought, in James 5:8 it states; Establish (make stable in the truth that is in you) your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

That means we don't have all the time in the world, we want to be ready, we don't want to walk away like the rich ruler in Mark and Luke full of grief, if only He could have realized what the Lord had waiting for Him. It means EVERYTHING....

Atta boy, atta girl !

I was reminded back in November of  how God reaches in our world to talk to us in a way that is personal, as I sat watching a home video of my 12 year old son, Bailey making his 2nd touchdown of the season. You see, he plays defense and a touchdown is a rarity in his position. Not only did he make one touchdown, he made two.

  My husband and I attend every game, my dad was there to see the first one and my mom was there to see the second one happen. Blessed, favored, yes I was overcome with emotion. God loves me and my family so much to give us an experience not once but twice. I was filled and bursting with pride watching my son on the field. I can only imagine if I am filled and bursting with pride at that, what God feels for me when I make a right choice, or choose to love when its hard. 

  Like a proud mom of her son screaming " Way to go!, atta boy!", 

I want my God to say " Way to go!, atta girl!, well done good and faithful servant."  Lord, forgive me of my slacking, of not putting enough effort into our relationship at times, just as my son seems not to put in his "all" in the beginning of his games. He seems not to "hear" his dad and I saying give a 100%, give your all, don't quit, do something. 

  I am reminded that God is telling me these same things. I pray for God to show himself to me, to send me encouragement and motivation. He does, sometimes through words from friends or a sweet note from my 9 year old daughter, and yes even touchdowns! You see God is cheering for us, He is on our team, He knows what He can do through us, and for us. When we are driven by the voice of God that is when the opportunity arises and when we grab it that is when the rarity happens, and we can hear the voice saying " atta boy!, atta girl!".    

Blogging for the first time...
So many things to say, to write, to share. Imagine that, if you are reading this and you know me you know that I talk a lot. I am one of those people who has a story for everything, what would take most people 10 minutes to say may take me 20. Details are important to me. This idea to blog has been on my heart for a long time. I journal, I write, I talk to God throughout the day and He talks back to me. This blog is my journey through the things I say to Him and He says to me, a devotional of sorts, but not limited to. So, here goes feel free to share with others and myself on the things I blog about, would love to hear from you.