99!

We're down to double digits until Christmas! Yep yep!!! Don't steal it... take joy in it... and in the Him that its about ;D

Falling into God

Psalm 59:11
"Don't kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield."

--> I feel like this is how I came to God. That this is how I still come to God. I forget lessons sometimes. I try to move without Him. I screw up. I fail. I fall. I repent. Then, He absolutely overwhelms me. Simply. Complexly. Completely. Every time I think, pray, read the Word, or even take a moment just to be with Him, He's there. He builds me up - pulls on me. He's perfectly ordered. He's perfectly true. He's perfectly good. He's perfectly love. And He's ours. That drops me quicker than anything else. That we could know Him and live for Him. When we're on our knees, like in this verse, He is our everything... He is our shield...He is our answer. What a time to have in Him... with Him... such that we can carry our belief and our prayers into the rest of our days. Every moment... what a life to give to Him.

I love that this verse is David's wish for his enemies... that they would fall captive to God. What a thing to wish upon our troubles - whether in terms of people or situations. He rules... literally. What problem is so ours that He can't handle it? Chaos becomes order in Him. Paths straighten. Darkness gives way to His Light. People are saved. Miracles happen. Isn't seeing His works awe-inspiring? See them today (well... see 'em tomorrow) in everyone around you. We are all His works. Everyone is given the opportunity to know that, and everyone who refuses will still bow down to Jesus on the last days; but we've been given today... live it out!

Just this one thing...

I often ask God to take care of something that I feel I can't, but that's doing exactly what this verse (that's been pounding on me) warns against:

Isaiah 7:9
"... Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm."

By myself I will fail. Every single time I will fail. I ask Him to step in so that I don't have to step up. That's not a faith that will stand, or a faith that will grow, it's simply a faith that will fail. We all need to continually grow in Him... I'll position myself for change in Him, not against Him. Today and everyday. How quickly I let myself forget what I'm to remember, that to be for Him is to love, live, dwell, and work in Him. All for Him. Break over... groceries incoming...

Super Schoolies!

First day of school for almost all of my nieces and nephews (I'm glad Frannie's still a little one!). Here are 4 of the 6 pics - I've got to get the other 2 from Tate:

The pain and growth found in wise words.

     I've always loved words and now I find even more meaning in them through reading The Bible. I've often spoke about how God sometimes nudges me and how sometimes my listening skills force Him to employ the 'whack-a-lisa' method. There are so many different ways that God tries to get our attention, you can even find His voice when you notice a cloud that is a work of His - we just need to pay attention.

     Many times a person carries a word for us, as we carry some for others. Many times we recognize God in the actions of those around us - and in recognizing that we're also given opportunities to share His love with others. It may seem like a leap, and really it is, but God is there, He is with us. I was reading Luke 5 today and thinking about the different messages I've heard, about how the net that Jesus had the first disciples lower into the waters caught many; How much more would it have been so if they had listened to Him without question. They learned so much that day from their mistakes, they repented, they matured, and though they were afraid, they decided to follow Jesus when He called them to become fishers of men. There are so many nets available to us - we just have to actively choose Him and recognize what's available to us. You know that saying 'they're not playing with a full deck' - you know how it implies that the person is crazy? How much more so are we for not equipping ourselves fully in the things of God?

     I've been getting lots of words lately, ones that I needed to hear. Ones from every which way... ones that unite only under Him... ones that stand. I'm so thankful for them, and for the people He trusts with them. For the opportunity to take those words and grow in them. It's such a sweet pain to grow in Christ - to strengthen. Growing up is never easy, just ask a kid, but knowing what you are working towards is so helpful - so hopeful really - and walking in God provides all. The verse I picked out of my dailies is about those wise words:

Ecclesiastes 12:11
"The words of the wise are like cattle prods - painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a Shepherd drives the sheep."

--> It sounds so harsh at first, but there is such a joy in changing. I'm thankful to be led by God, to be changed and shaped. To be loved enough to have Him desire change in us - it's not for His sake that we are challenged - it's not for His sake that we are saved - it's for His love - His love of us all. All. Know Him.

     Fall's coming and I'm impatient, as you've probably already noticed, but the reason I love it so much is because it's a growth season for me; I know, I know, it's about dead leaves falling to the ground - but I see such life in it! It's just time for a faster pace and a more inclined ear... it's easy to notice everything when the frenzy of Summer passes. Plus, the Jewish New Year starts September 28th and goes until the 30th! New season is coming!

Umm...

Fall weather... where have you been - I'm waiting on you! I saw a glimpse in Quebec - why not here? It's been humid! I was spoiled by the lake while cottaging - it kept me nice and cool all day long. Tomorrow's the first day of school - shouldn't there be an accompanying breeze! I know it's not official until later, but come on - sometimes unofficial is cool too. My sister always used to brag on Kingston for it's early fall - then I move here and twice nothing! Next year it's happening! In the meantime... bring on the fall - I have many sweaters awaiting your perfect temperaturedness... you like it!

111 days until Christmas... I had to...

What you say? (random... the title is random... move on...)

So today was my first day back at Church from being away cottaging. I always struggle coming back into anything - it's why I'm a routine person. If I'm away from a place, or even from people, for too long I just get all uncomfortable again. I have to restart everything. I hate that about myself. Seriously, it sucks. I wanted to go back, but then I'd just feel sick about it. The worst part is that that starts right away - it started even before I'd left. It was a definite need to go back thing though, and through my worries I knew that - knew that I'd go - but still the struggle. It was cool though, it took me awhile, but then I was actually glad about it (though apparently that didn't show on my face... invisible/shadow person struggles, I guess). I didn't watch any of the services while I was gone, so I got that 'I'm a little worried I'll be out of sync' feeling. But for God. The message today was what I'd been struggling with in my 'Stars in a Box & Action Words' post from a few days ago. I like that. I like that God was preparing me for these words we received today. I like that His lessons are never finished, that they are always furthered by our understanding in them, by our willingness to live them out. I like that they are drummed into me from all sides. I like that no matter where I am, or what I do, they're in a corner of my head, waiting to be heeded to. There's such a safety in that, in knowing that the Holy Spirit is an active participant in my walk. That I am not alone. Anyways, the service was great - it was such a leap from where I was to where I'm going. It was about the enemy defining your boundaries. It was about being restricted, when we're called to live in freedom. I really like the verses that were tied to this understanding.

Acts 17:26-28
"and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children'"

--> I LOVE THIS! We are forced to grope around because we put ourselves, or let ourselves be put, in the boxes and restrictions and darkness of the enemy! God is light!!! We rip off the boundaries not of Him and then we live in Him Himself! If I put Him in control of my boundaries, my time, my life - then what will He do? All. I want that. I can't live on my own, haven't been able to since that first day I was saved; I went through seasons of trying, but they were in reality just seasons of foolishness. Walking towards Him is the only decision of worth and value that we can make. Everything else falls in line - into His epic order. Everything rests on the daily decision to live for such a God.

Pastor spoke of how God wants us to grow. He does. It's everywhere in the Bible. We're called to mature in our faith. We're called to press in, to understand, to push, and to build. We're supposed to be in the action of moving forward in God - furthering the case of Christ - not just staying in the planning stages of a strategy that is so obviously already in play:

Isaiah 54:2-3
"Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords And strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities."

--> 'Spare not' were the words Pastors really stayed on - our responsibility in living in God is to actually live in Him - to both move and be still in obedience (His timing); To do that, we always have to put everything else down - like in the verses of this 'Year of Transition': Philippians 3:12-16 - and then be all for God!

Okay - I've got to go! Watch the morning service (night one too ;P) because this is a piece of the whole - of what I needed to pull on - but there is a lot a lot more: Third Day Worship Centre - Livestream