.... Don't Wait Until It's Too Late ....

Death. Do you ever think about it? I was driving the other day and a car came too close to hitting me. I was thinking later about that and the thought of one second driving and then the next being in front of the Lord. Would God be happy with me? 
Would he like where my life was going?
Would he be proud of what I was doing that day; What I was thinking about at that moment?
Where my priorities were? ... 
It's crazy to think about, but one day we all know we will die. But do you REALLY think of how that moment will be? We'll take our last breath and then wake up in front of Christ. Will we be ashamed thinking we should have done more on earth or lived more like Him or will we know that we did all we could for the Lord?
Christ will know everything we've ever done and everything we were doing. He'll know if we were lying to someone close to us, or going out and partying all the time, or looking at filth on the internet, or going too far with that guy or girl. He'll know what our thought life is/was. He'll know if we were being 'fake' or not. He'll know EVERYTHING about us. He'll know the REAL us. The REAL you. The REAL me. Are you ready? 
Are you ready to stand before Him? Are you prepared for Him to say, 'Well done my good and faithful servant." Or will the look be one where He does not know you? He does not recognize you because the whole time you weren't really His. You were fake to everyone and you even fooled yourself maybe, but not Him. He was never fooled. He saw the REAL you the whole time. Don't wait! We don't know how much time we really have. Lives are taken in an instant. Stop being fake, start being REAL. Look at your heart, examine it, because He certainly is. We don't have a lot of time. Start living for Him. Let's give up those worldly temptations that only satisfy for a little while, but then really just bring us pain. Life is like a vapor (James 4:14).... Don't wait till it's too late to give up the thing/things you hold onto and to really live for Him .

Ideal Man and Ideal Woman

"When you speak I will be reminded of Solomon's Wisdom.

Your ability to lead will remind me of Moses.

Your faith will remind me of Abraham.

Your confidence in God's Words will remind me of Daniel.

Your inspiration will remind me of Paul.

Your heart for God will remind me of David.

Your attention to detail will remind me of Noah.

You integrity will remind me of Joseph.

Your ability to abandon your own will will remind me of the disciples,

*Your ability to love unselfishly and willingly will remind me of Christ.

BUT I won't need to identify you by any special Matthews or and special Marks

cause His word will be tatted all over your heart"

"And you will know me and you will find me 

where the BOLDNESS of Esther

meets the warm, closeness of Ruth,

with the hospitality of Lydia

is aligned with the submission of Mary,

which is engulfed in the tears of a praying Hannah

I will be drenched in Proverbs 31

Waiting for you"

*I love these examples of what we should be as men and women in Christ :)

Rose Colored Glasses

Sometimes Life is confusing. Things happen and we don't know why. I've written about this a lot in my blogs about 'not knowing' and 'worrying' but I think I cause a lot of my confusion also. Sometime the answers are right in front of us and we just don't want to face them. We don't want to believe the truth or what we know the facts really say. I do that too many times.... It's now time to face the truth. To stop making excuses for whatever the situation may be and doing stupid stuff and to see whatever the problem is as it is. Without putting in my interpretation, because it seems I'm usually wrong and end up looking like a fool for interpreting in such a wrong way. I'm done being foolish. I'm done making excuses for myself and others. I'm ready to see things more clearly and stop trying to find my own will in God's will. He is my leader and my guide and I know He is not the author of confusion. I am. I confuse things for myself. I try to make things look better than they appear cause I don't want to see the truth. Well I'm done with my rose colored glasses and I'm ready to look at the truth. I'm ready to face the music. I'm ready to be real and cut out all the fakeness that I allow myself to believe is the truth, even if it's not what I want.
The END!

This Woman is Awesome!

POWERFUL! You Go Girl!
My Friend put this video on her FB and I went to the Youtube channel.... There are SOOO many great videos on there! I encourage you all to watch them!:)

. . . I Don't Know What To Do . . .

It is a slow fade isn't it? People don't wake up one day and cheat on their spouses, or wake up one day and just go kill someone. They don't wake up and decide to be alcoholics. They don't wake up and decide their going to be druggies or steal or whatever else it may be that people may do that isn't ideal. 

My dad use to be everything to me. When I was little he was so loving and always around. He took care of me and was there for me. He was at every soccer game I ever had. He was my biggest cheerleader. But now....

Now he lives about 10 mins. away from me in a condo. He is addicted to pain medicine and alcohol. He only ever calls me to complain about how sick he is or ask for money for more than likely cigarettes or alcohol. He also has a terminally ill disease and is on oxygen, which makes everything worse. As of recently he lost all of his power and my guess is he will lose his home soon also. My dad doesn't have a relationship with my brother anymore, he only met his fiance once and didn't even come to their wedding. My sister avoids calling and talking to him at all expense.  I just don't know what to do anymore. My dad has slowly faded into someone I can't even recognize. He's not the daddy I loved so much and looked up to. I see glimpses of who he was sometimes, but even those are beginning to fade away.

My family tells me not to give him money or even really be around him. I've been trying to do that, but I recently have had nightmares of him dying and in the dream I have this overwhelming sense of guilt for not doing more for him. But where do the boundaries need to be with someone who is addicted to things and is not who they once were? Where do you make that line? The Bible talks about respecting your parents and helping the poor. My dad, when I won't help him, will say things like, "You say your a Christian so you should ..." or, " that's not very Christian of you."  .... It hurts. I'm hurting. I'm hurting for him and for not knowing what is the right thing to do. Today I had to bring two trash bags full of food to his home because he has no food and no money  to buy food. I know that soon he'll probably lose his home and then what do I do? Can I just let my dad go into a homeless shelter? I don't know I'm so confused and lost on what to do in this situation. I'm praying for guidance. I know prayer is really the only thing I'm sure of that can help right now. Please pray for me. Please pray for my dad. And please when those little temptations come into our lives, whatever they may be; alcohol, drugs, lust, thoughts of stealing or whatever it might be, lets STOP ourselves from giving into those thoughts. Because one decision can start that slow fade into becoming something/someone that God never intended for us to be and that people won't even recognize is us.

2 Chronicles 20:12 -
"...We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 

Matthew 26:41-
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 

Lonely/ Empty

Do you ever feel really alone? I know I do. Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone, even though I know I have all these people in my life that love me and are here for me, I do feel so alone at times.  And sometimes I just want to give into my stupid desires and what I want and want to ignore what God wants and what I know is right. I guess that's the devil's way of getting to me cause when I start to feel alone I only have bad and sad thoughts and go into a depression/pity party type mode. It's not like this happens often but part of yesterday and today I was feeling this way. I did all I could to try and avoid my feelings, to avoid that emptiness and loneliness. Last night I watched like 4 different movies just to ignore what I was thinking and feeling then I think my whole day started off bad today because I didn't go to church, always a bad decision. Then I slept most of the day. I woke up around 2:30pm only to come downstairs and lay on the couch and fall asleep again till 4:30pm. Then I decided I couldn't just let myself lay around, so I got up and went for a drive. I drove all around. I explored the cities around me and just listened to Christian Music and talked with God. Then I came home and got my Bible out and went on the deck and started reading. It's amazing how just picking up God's Word can change how I feel completely! All day I tried to avoid my lonely/empty feelings by sleeping it away, or yesterday just watching movies to ignore my feelings and then once I stopped and started talking to God and reading His Word I felt the loneliness go away and I felt filled up instead of empty. Why had I not done this from the beginning of those feelings? I don't know. I forget how BIG my God is sometimes and how He is the only thing that can complete me..... Sorry Lord.... Help me to remember You always and not let my feelings or other things take over my attitude or actions! Amen!

  

Psalm 55:22~

 ²² Cast your cares on the LORD
   and he will sustain you;
he will never let
   the righteous be shaken. 

Psalm 94:18-19~

¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
   your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.
¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me,
   your consolation brought me joy.

Legacy

"Anyone can be pretty. Before & after photos aren’t hard to achieve. However, I’m convinced that there are only a few truly beautiful women in the world. Beautiful girls know the love of God and it gives them the joy/security that shows. Sure, they care about their appearance, but they’re more concerned with living an amazing life for Christ. Pretty girls come and go; beautiful girls leave a legacy." 

~Leave A Legacy~

 

The Full Article (Below)

"I’m learning an interesting concept, though. In reality, anyone can be pretty. Before and after photos aren’t hard to achieve. On the other hand, I’m convinced that there are only a few truly beautiful women in the world. I want to be one of those. Sure they care about their appearance, but they’re more concerned with living an amazing life. They naturally make people feel at ease. They have the kind of personality that draws people in, that isn’t rude. They can be confident without being cocky. They’re cool with doing their own thing — whether it’s marching in the band, collecting rocks from cool places, going to concerts, working on their three- pointers or treating every customer on the other side of the counter like he or she is important. They know how to dress and that modesty and chic can indeed go hand in hand. They’re not obsessed with their jean size.

They’re all about denying themselves and serving other people, whether they’re playing with kids in a tribe along the Amazon River or going out of their way at church to talk to someone new. They dig into God’s Word. They don’t just tote their Bible around for fun; they use it. They memorize it. They go to it for answers.

Ultimately, beautiful girls know how loved they are by God and that gives them the kind of joy and security that shows. Beautiful girls rise above the fake, plastic kind of pretty our world is obsessed with, and they choose something far more wonderful and mysterious: a heart like Jesus’.

I’ve learned that if I spend so much time obsessing over what’s in the mirror, I miss out on the amazing adventure God has for me. If I get too obsessed with myself, I fail to see what He’s doing around me. I wonder how it breaks His heart when we stare in the mirror and call His creation worthless. On the other hand, when I’m spending time with Him every day, I’m thankful for the body He’s given me.. I’m actually proud of the scars I have because they remind me of a special journey He and I took together.

It should be enough to know that He dreamed us up in His mind; that He looks at us with total love and adoration; that He loves our laugh, the hump in our nose and the way we love on hurting people. He loved us so much He died in our place — an act too beautiful for words.

Forget the fake plastic smiles and obsession with your jean size. Let’s pursue something more. In the moments you feel alone, He’s holding you close. The face you look at and want to change is a face that fills Him with joy and pride. Pretty girls come and go; beautiful girls leave a legacy. God calls us beautiful. Let’s believe what He says."