Potential

How many times have you heard the phrase..."But they have so much Potential".... We all have potential, but some of us choose to carry it in a little napsack and others choose to actually use it!
Abraham was considered the Father of Faith. God came to Abraham and told him he would make a covenant with him. (Genesis 17) Abraham was 99 years old when the Lord told him he would bring him Isaac...

Genesis 17:
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
21But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

I believe in verse 18, Abraham said...Lord look we already have Ishmael, can't you just use him. Can't we just take all the "potential" that he has and make HIM the promised one of you. It seems so logical...I mean here is a man and woman that are 100 years old...But God says in verse 21, No, I have ONE that I have chosen and with HIM I will deliver you your promise.
I think just like Abraham we try to work things out for God. We get weary in our travels. The Lord has given each of us promises in our lives. Sometimes in our "waiting" we, like Abraham, try to fulfill the promises for God.

I personally, have been believing the Lord to send me a God fearing mate. The one the Lord has picked out for me. During this 8 years of waiting, I have tried to give God a hand. Just like Abraham..."Look Lord here he stands and he carries so much Potential....can't we just use him to fulfill your promise...The Lord just reminds me..."HE may carry the potential BUT he is not the ONE I have chosen for you...he is NOT the promise I have given you"

So, in your waiting keep your FAITH...because it is FAITH that is counted towards Righteousness...

Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Splinter

Sometimes, no most of the time, we fight our flesh to keep God's will in our lives. I am pleased to say, I just nailed the last nail in the coffin, so to speak, in a 6-month fight with my flesh! Although this last nail was a hurtful one, I know with out a shadow of doubt the Lord was trying to move certain things from my heart.

The lord gave me the following metaphor for me to see what he was doing with me.

Sometimes our flesh can get into our hearts like a splinter. A splinter often times is ½ in the flesh and ½ out. My mother used to tell me, let me get that out of you now, if not your skin will grow over it and it will have to surface out on its own. So, spiritually speaking what I did was allowing this splinter to stay in my heart. I allowed the flesh to grow over it. The Lord had to show me that in order for him to remove this from me, He would have to work this splinter out of my heart. He also showed me that since I allowed my FLESH to grow over it and remain, he would have to cut my flesh…and this would hurt. But My God loves me enough to circumcise the flesh in my heart so that he can move me onward in HIS plans for my life. So, that I might be a useable vessel for His Will, not mine.

So, when you find yourselves in places where you have allowed a splinter to enter your heart, I encourage you to resist your flesh and pluck it, BEFORE the flesh takes over…

Galatians 5:16-17
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Refined

Recently, I have felt like anything that could pierce my heart, has. Anything that could make me uncomfortable in my personal life, in my financial life as well has my professional life, has. Then today...the pennacle of that hurt, I READ this email. Funny thing about this email, it sat in my in box since December 14, 2006...That was 5 days ago. The Lord's timing is perfect. I was settleing down to write a blog on a broken vessel, which I still endeavor to do, but I felt this word was better fitting. I hope it touches some of you the way it did me.


Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

PUSH

PUSH an acrynom used for Pray Until Something Happens...
For me, it is Praise Until Something Happens.

Sometimes in our walk of faith we encounter trials that leave us broken...broken hearted, broken spirited and with broken dreams.

I recently went through a trial like this. I was left holding pieces of my heart & dreams in my hand. I would enter my prayer closet and let the Lord know just how hurt I was...then I would pick up my hurt and go on. How can the Lord mend your brokenness if you don't leave it for him?

About a month later after many many attempts to put the pieces back together myself, i determined I would go into my prayer closet and I would Praise the Lord. I would praise Him until I was restored...and I did. When I left that room, I left my brokenness at the Altar of Exchange so that he could restore my heart, dreams and my spirit.

David says in Psalms..
Ps 34:1
I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth...
He doesn't say...I will bless the LORD when things are good...BUT it says at all times!
Even when it is not easy to Praise...We must praise through our circumstances....The Bible says he takes the foolish things of this world...

So, I encourage you to ~PUSH~

Measurements

We compare everything in terms of measurements. We measure how much time we have in a day. We measure our successes and failures. We even measure our self worth. But what scale are we using to measure this. How many of us measure our SELF WORTH and who we are to Cosmo...or other magazines on the newstand?
Are we getting true results?
Our self worth should be measured through the eyes of God, our savior. His Word says he knows our hearts. That means that he looks on our hearts and not our physical. He is not concerned with our physical measurements..ha ha..or what style jeans we wear or if we 'measure' up to the women in Hollywood.
His concern is how do we measure up to the woman God talks about in Proverbs?
31:10
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
31:11
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
31:12
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
31:13
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
31:14
She is like the merchants ' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
31:15
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
31:16
She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
31:17
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
31:18
She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
31:19
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
31:20
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
31:21
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
31:22
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
31:23
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
31:24
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
31:25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
31:26
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
31:27
She looketh well to the ways * of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
31:28
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
31:29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
It took me a long time to understand this concept: My self worth is not measured by what men of this world think of me. My self worth is measured through the eyes of God. He has made ME in His image. I am perfectly and wonderfully made.
I encourage us all to reexamine the scales in which we weigh ourselves on!!
How do we look through the eyes of God?

Strongholds

After a short whirlwind of a relationship, I found myself pondering on strongholds. There are many people in this world that are bound to something.
What is a stronghold?
Webster's describes it this way:
Main Entry: strong·hold Pronunciation: 'stro[ng]-"hOldFunction: noun1 : a fortified place2 a : a place of security or survival b : a place dominated by a particular group or marked by a particular characteristic

I found the second description to be quite interesting. A place of security. Isn't that what it is exactly. If we have a stronghold in our lives such as drugs, alcohol, money, people or even food...we find security in these places. A place of refuge.
I was discussing this with a friend of mine and she said that we must take these strongholds of the physical world and turn them into strongholds of righteousness....
What a concept? I saw in my mind's eye a sort of a dock, pier perhaps...and tied from this pier were different ropes each attached to different things of this world that I cling to...find security in. I saw me releasing these into the waters of the unknown. I began to wonder who was going to take care of these things that I so carefully clung to for so long. That is when I heard the Lord tell me to let these things go, that he will take care of them. So, my focus then turned to these ropes now flapping in the wind. I began to tie those up towards heaven. Turning my strongholds of this world to the strongholds of Righteouness...finding my security and my safe place in the shadows of the Almighty.
We do not have to walk in this life with "things" binding us to this world. We can set them off into the blue........