Friday, January 20, 2012

He Delights in You

This new year has been a very difficult one for me. I thought the holidays the grief-monster would try to swallow me under but never expected it to come after new years...But its here,life feels harder than ever but Im allowing these waves to shape me and change me, and Im allowing God to shake this mess and turn it into something beautiful.....He wants us to be real with him.....not to put up a fake smile but for us to give him our ashes so he can turn it into beauty....I love the line of the song we sing in the prayer room
"even on my best day, its all rags anyway, im giving you my ashes come make me beauty"

He desires a realness from us, not to pretend were all good....cuz me and you both know we got some issues...But Dear Friend He specializes in beautiful restoration!

We show up to church with the everythings fine grin or put on facebook the  biggest smile,but if we were really to put whats going on we'd put the picture of us laying prostate on our beds, vibrating because were weeping so hard...God wants to turn our ashes into his beauty but we have to admit we have ashes...

Yes we have issues but its no news to God. We isolate ourselves when were hit with pain,back away from the ones we love and we start believeing the lies the enemy is whispering in our ear...Loser,defeated one,Unfit, Gods Forgotten one...Satan is loving it...b/c Were not helping others who are in that same pit by expressing it, and were in a stand still in our own pit...

We need to re-mark our hearts with how the Lord feels about us. He loves us so much. and we need to speak Gods word over us as a refreshing shower when we feel those lies creeping up.

I love psalm 139 especially verses 17-19

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!


How great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

When I awake, I am still with You.

I love knowing God delights in me ,thinks about me
-------------------------------------
"Because he delights in me, he saved me." (Ps. 18:19)
-------------------------------------
"As a man rejoices over his new wife, so your God will rejoice over you." (Isaiah. 62:5)





I truly believe God delights in RELATIONSHIP...
He gaves us relationship with him and with others so we can lift each other up and bear one anothers burdens..
(Ecc.4:10)
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.

We all have times in our life when the road hit hard and we got that phone call, letter in the mail that lifted our spirit and gave us a new outlook....He wants us to share our hurt and bear one anothers burdens so we can continue to live in his fullness...

Pain hurts, its discouraging,depressing,and can often shake our entire world...But I love knowing that God draws us close to him and embraces us through it all, he will never leave us for a second. He is always with us... I love Bob Sorge's paragraph in his book "Secrets of the Secret Place"

"When the lights of understanding go out and your plunged into emotional darkness, you are actually being issued an invitation into Gods secret place.

The sanctuary of his embrace is where God reveals purpose, which in turn empowers us to endure hardship with Joy. For we know He is working it all together for good.

The longer the distress, the more valuable the pearl!"

We wouldnt see how much we need him if we had it all.....But if your stripped of everything you once had..and you need him  for your next breath, your next meal.....Let him take the reins, rest in him,believe him at his word and you will be overwhelmed with the way he loves you, delights in you, and wants to be with you...


If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart. And the Christmas gift he sent you in Bethlehem? Face it, friend. He's crazy about you.
(Max Lucado)









Tuesday, January 3, 2012

May You Have a blessed 2012...

Some pics from the conference and more to come!
May this year God encounter you deeper than he ever has before!!!










Im not big on new years resoltions but i am big on visions short and long term...
And as i was reading proverbs 2 the other day I have found my vision specifically for this upcoming year...

Proverbs 2:1-6
1 My son, if you receive my words,


And treasure my commands within you,

2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,

And apply your heart to understanding;

3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,

And lift up your voice for understanding,

4 If you seek her as silver,

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,

And find the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I want to grow in my knowledge of God and devote myself to be fully his in every area of my life...
Its going to be an exciting year because those who wait upon the Lord will NEVER be put to shame!!!
 
Have a Blessed 2012!!!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

Human Trafficking has really grabbed at my heart since ive heard Ihop is starting up a ministry to rip girls out of that ministry into safe homes....that provide them with detoxing/counseling/love....but I really didnt know much about whats going on in the world of sex slavery.

At one thing they showed a documentary called Nefarious where the founder of the human trafficking ministry at Ihop-KC went to 19 different countries to gather content for the movie from dingy kareoke bars, to massage parlors to where they publicly sell girls in windows like retail shops...in north asia,europe,north and central america to the middle east...

My Heart broke watching the whole documentary...painful to watch but nessecary...I want Gods heart and i must awaken myself to the pain thats really going on if Im going to pursue whats on his heart...

I posted the Trailer here and pray God would let me take a season of my life and let me serve somehow in the ministry in Atlanta...

Keep me in prayer as i pursue this desire I feel the Lord has given me to grab hold of his heart and to be a part of something that can change women and childrens lives...






Sex Slavery Facts
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Every 30 seconds a child is Trafficked

-When you sell drugs you can only sell it once, you can sell a child over and over again

-27 million ppl are enslaved around the world

-Human Trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world

-Nearly 2 million children are involved in the international commercial sex trade

-In Cambodia they call you blessed and say you have it made if you give birth to a baby girl, because 90% are sold into sex slavery so the families can have more money and give themselves a better life.
The Children have no say/no choice

-161 countries out of 192 are involved in this trade.

-80% of all trafficking victims are women and children who are forced into the sex trade. The average age is 13-14

-Human Trafficking is a 32 billion dollar per year industry,bringing in more than the NFL,NBA,NHL,MLB combined.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each and every girls story is valuable and real lives are ruined and often tajen by the lust and greed of evil men.

What amazed me was alot of women are captured and kidnapped from houses,jobs,walking on the street and forced into prostitution.

All we see is the gaudy clothes,the Girls that just want money so selling themselves thnking its there fault, but there snatched and forced into this and there every move is monitored by the pimp(evil, luistful men) and they are beaten and often killed if they dont obey. They beat down their worth so they dont feel they can live otherwise and have no means for a choice or to escape....

Pray God would raise up more deliverers to work in these ministries, God would restore the victims, and God would set these captives free....

Every time you see a red light,pray for Justice and the raising up of deliverers!!!