random-late.

Outside my window... Ebbet is barking.
I am thinking... about the glory of GodI am thankful for... everything.
I am creating... I dont know.

I am going... to bed

I am reading...nothing right now.

I am hearing... Ebbet
Around the house... It's peaceful
One of my favorite things... picture on my desk from Ecuador
A few plans for the rest of the week: Getting caught up on homework, chores, finish the book Im reading, make dinner tomorrow night.

Pride.

So, something that I have struggled with is pride. It was such a temptation that I was determined to conquer it. Conquer pride. The first thing that I did was find what the Father has said about pride.
Here are some "quick facts" of what I found:

The word "pride" is mentioned 53 times in the Bible.
God hates pride.
Lucifer fell because of pride.
Pride is deceiving.
Pride is always overthrown.
Pride goes before destruction.
Pride is brothers with Disgrace.
When you become proud...you forget God.

Those were just a few...but the first one, God hates pride, is enough for me to want nothing to do with it.
God hates it.

OK- So I asked the Holy Spirit to enlighten me and give me wisdom because all I could find in the Word was the result of pride. The destruction it brought...I couldn't find how to conquer it. How to smite it out.
Then He said, "What is the opposite of pride?"
I laughed and said, "...You know this. Humility."
Then it hit me! How to you conquer pride?! By practicing humility!
Duh! I couldn't believe that I didn't think about that. If you want to change something...you usually do the opposite.

Conclusion: Okay-humility is relying on HIM. Realizing that we cannot do anything on our own. The only difference between God and us (from creation Gen 1-3) was that He made us dependent on Him.
So-to overcome pride we need to practice trusting and relying on Him in every area of our lives.
Practice His presence.

⁵ Thus says the LORD:


      “ Cursed is the man who trusts in man
      And makes flesh his strength,
      Whose heart departs from the LORD.
       ⁶ For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
      And shall not see when good comes,
      But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
      In a salt land which is not inhabited.
       ⁷ “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
      And whose hope is the LORD.
       ⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
      Which spreads out its roots by the river,
      And will not fear^[a] when heat comes;
      But its leaf will be green,
      And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
      Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
      

Verses on Pride:
Ps 36:11,73:6, 12:3, 31:23, 101:5, 138:6
Prov. 8:13, 13:10, 16:18, 29:23, 15:25, 16:5, 28:25
Ezek 16:18
Dan 4:37-5
Amos 8:7
Job 38:11
Hab. 2:5
1 Peter 5:5
Luke 1:51
2 Samuel 22:28
Romans 11:20
1 Timothy 6:17

Im with You

O Lord,
You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thoughts afar off.
How precious also are Your thoughs to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them they would be more in number
than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
Psalm 134:1-2, 17-18

Grace gift's

These are just some of the simple things in life that I praise God for. Things that I recognize Him in.

1. A smile.
2. Hearing the rain fall.
3. Cheesecake.
4. The Piano.
5. Artwork by little hands.
6. Hearing, "I love you."
7. Having a spiritually clean house to come home to.
8. Healings manifest.
9. Seeing people set free.
10. Quiet mornings with sunshine tickling your skin through the window.
11. Thinking of a random memory that makes you smile and laugh out loud.
12. Hand-decorated wrapping paper made out of a paper bag.
13. Surprise parties.
14. The excitement that comes when you give a gift.
15. Watching fat snowflakes drift lazily to the ground.
16. Hearing a verse in church and thinking, "I just read that."
17. Small, mini teacups.
18. Small mini anything.
19. Hearing "Im proud of you"
20. Quiet.
21. Seeing old couples holding hands.
22. Handwritten notes.
23. The first snowfall of the year.
24. Big, blue skies that swallow you up.
25. Walking in a creek with jeans rolled up and barefoot.
26. Running barefoot, the pavement hitting my soles, the summer day saying, "it's all right."
27. Coming downstairs in the morning and seeing "momma bear" and "papa bear" both engulfed in the Word (their favorite ever.)
28. Worshipping Him outside in the sunshine.
29. Quiet mornings to myself.
30. Sunrises and sunsets.
31. Dancing
32. Fields of wildflowers
33. A cup of coffee with the people I love
34. Listening to my Pastors talk about their live experiences and miracles they have seen
35. cut-off jeans and tanktops.
36. The way my Ukulele sounds.
37. Keds shoes with no socks.
38. freckles.
39. the ocean.
40. window boxes
41. open antique birdcages.
42. seeing people illuminate when they come up out of the water after being baptized.
43. Sarah's (pumfkin) voice.
44. Blackberrys on a hot summer day...fresh.
and the list goes on...

To: You

I URGE you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Be COMPLETELY HUMBLE and GENTLE;
BE PATIENT, bearing with one another in LOVE.
Make EVERY EFFORT to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bong of peace. [Eph. 4:3]
~and the result will be~
 ^"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." [Romans 8:28]

From: Paul

Thought to ponder...

If you are under pressure to stay silent...that is where the enemy is waging war and (if you stay silent) winning ground.

Quote of the Hour (2)

"The more focused you are on Him, the more glory you will see, regardless of where you are." -Rick Joyner

Quote of the Hour (1)

"You have desired the best part, to worship and sit in His presence forever, and it will never be taken from you. But you must take it from here to where it is needed most." -Rick Joyner

In the Secret...

Today in worship we sang a very familiar worship song, "I Want To Know You"
Some of the words are:
"In the secret
In the quiet place
In the stillness You are there
In the secret
In the quiet hour I wait only for You
'Cause I want to know You more"

Most people have someone or a couple that plays a large role in their lives.(I'm going somewhere with this I promise!) It could be a parent, pastor, teacher, best friend, older mentor, sibling, etc. It doesn't matter who it is...we really like that person. In our eyes they have it all together and can almost do no wrong. (the thing is...they are human---and putting humans on pedestals causes them to fall off. You should never hold anyone higher than God) We text them all the time, talk to them a lot, copy things that they do, and spend time with them every chance we get! We are almost obsessed...(some of us just need good influence) We want to be like that person!

Now, these people can fail us miserably. They can miss the mark at anytime. They can have a bad day and lash out at us and break our spirits...not on purpose. It just happens.

Point: God has it all together. He is the great I AM. He knows all things. So...why aren't we spending more time with Him?

I have a lot of amazing people in my life right now. They have their lives on track and are walking and living in all the fullness that God has for them. I am very blessed just to have them in my life. But- if I had to choose between 3 hours with them...or 3 hours with just me and God...I'd choose God.

Ok, OK...Don't get me wrong. It's very important to have people in our lives who can guide us and direct us (be bumpers so-to-speak) while we journey through this side of eternity. We can glean from them. It's scriptural. We just need to remember...they aren't God. They aren't our way to God.

It's important to be spending regular time in the Word, in personal worship(with angels around the throne room), and in prayer (muttering the Word of God, listening quietly for Him to speak, and most importantly in our prayer language). These things need to be done without distractions. It's like...wanting to get to know someone...and only texting them. If you are only texting them...you will never really know them. You will know some general things about them but you wont know what they look like. You wont know their voice...so then you cant recognize them when they call. You wont know their appearance so you wont know when you see them.
It's the same with the Most High. If you don't have conversations with Him (face to face) you won't ever recognize Him. You wont give Him credit when He shows up mightily in your life...because you didn't know it was Him (lame). When He is trying to tell you something...you probably wont get the message because you don't recognize Him.
You need to spend regular time in the Word. This is important for many reasons. One-the devil is a liar. Sometimes he likes to put thoughts (lies) into your mind our out of others mouths...that contradict the Word of God...and if you don't know the Word...how can you know truth? Also, it's God's Word. It is also a conversation with the Father.
And worship. Worship is so powerful. Without it...the authority of the throne would be quenched. Only God is worthy of our worship. It is so important to be worshipping Him in our cars, bedrooms, homes, porches, parks, work places, etc. If you can't worship your Maker alone, as yourself...you can't truly enter in to corporate worship. It's a come as you are basis. :)

Make a change. Who do you want to be like? Get into the secret place. 
ttyl
me.

Willing?

There will always be more than one will. Jesus in the garden has to pray and persevere past his flesh/human will. He had to bring himself to the place of complete submission to the Father's will. Let's look at the story...

^36-38Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, "Stay here while I go over there and pray." Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, "This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me."
 ³⁹Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?"
 ^40-41When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, "Can't you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don't wander into temptation without even knowing you're in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."
 ⁴²He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I'm ready. Do it your way."
 ^43-44When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.
 ^45-46When he came back the next time, he said, "Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let's get going! My betrayer is here."  (paraphrased MSG)

hmm...
Even Jesus had to enter into a place that he was in submission to the Father's will.
In Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that appears to be right,
   but in the end it leads to death."
Then in Proverbs 16:25...again...it repeats, "There is a way that appears to be right,
   but in the end it leads to death."
We are so human, that we do not see things clearly. That's why we are encouraged to fast by the Word of God. It presses down our flesh and when that flesh is weak...the spirit, our spirit man is so strong. (Matthew 26:41, John 6:63, Romans 13:14, Romans 7:5, Galatians 5-6, Ephesians 2:1-3, 2 Corinthians 12:10)

We see the natural and tangible ... God sees all, visible and invisible to a natural eye.

We have a limited knowledge of the past and the future ... God has a perfect view of all history and eternity..."foreknowledge".

We can be affected by prejudice, selfishness, ulterior motives, offense ... God is perfectly impartial and just in all His judgments.

We can be blinded by passion and self-will ... we are also tempted ... He overcame the world.

Back to the history lesson...
One translation says that He sweat drops of blood. You see, that hour was intense pressure. Jesus knew his authority and could have called down legions of angels to protect Him. He had to submit to the cross...to the will of Father. I don't know about you, but I am so so So thankful for that submission.

You know, most people go through this life saying..."I want [to do, this, that, things, money], If I just[could do, could have], I will[do this, that and the other]...but so few of us crucify our flesh (through fasting, prayer, time in the secret place, Word, renewing our minds) and ask, "Lord, what will Thou have me do?"
It's not about us. This life here is only temporary. The things that need to be important right now in our lives are Kingdom matters. You probably work with someone who doesn't know about the grace of God, or eternity...or that they even matter to God...but you "are too uncomfortable" to talk to them about it. You probably have seen or know people struggling to pay their bills...or feed their family...but you ignore it. I've got news for you. They won't go away. They may die of starvation...or have to move to a homeless shelter or in with some other people...but you won't forget them.
We are charged to be His hands and feet. Hands and feet don't just go off and do whatever they want to do. They do what the brain (control center) tells them to do. Funny thing...the brain only tells them how to function properly as body parts. It never asks an eye to grab things or an ear to walk. Are you actually connected to your head? To your brain? To the Father? What is He saying to you?

I am going to take the following directly from my personal journal...and if you are ready for God to rock your world and see Him move mightily on the behalf of others and yourself...feel free to personalize and confess this:
I want to do Your will. Completely. I know that I will still need to press down and crucify my flesh more often that I do currently. I am learning that it is never enough. I can always improve on some area of godliness or holiness. I know you have called me. I know in the past I have failed. Forgive me. I ask for Your grace and presence to fall on me right now as a healing and enlightening rain that will ignite into a Holy Spirit fire that will never be quenched. I will [insert what you are called to do or is on your heart] make disciples and to go to the 10/40 window. It is dangerous, but only if I am not under Your wings. So I shall abide in Psalm 91. I thank you that I am Your child. I thank You that I hear Your voice and I do not follow any other. I will be a servant, forerunner, voice [insert your own here too! ;)] I love You. What will Thou have me do?

Now, just sit in His presence and "Selah" (think on) these things.

Bendiciones! (Blessings)
Me
*(all scripture in these are for further study)