Have you ever felt like you were in a desert season? I'm sure at one time or another we've all been there. I'm not entirley sure if that is where I'm at, or if it's the transition I'm in, or both. One thing for sure is that God's doing something.
How do we know if we are in a desert time or just a God working on us time? This is the quest I am on, not because it really matters if I put a label on it, but just because I think that if you know than you can withstand the storm, relativley speaking.
I mean, geez, my prayers are like water falling out of my mouth and spilling onto the floor! My ears to hear Him feel like they are plugged with cotton and my mind can't seem to be still enough to sit on one thought for more than a second. Frustration!
But, I know I need to stand firm in Gods truth, be steadfast in my prayers and much will be revealed to me at the end of this journey. Tom Flaherty said, God reveals things to us like a puzzle, God has the full picture on the box in front of Him, and we get to piece it together, piece by piece. Well, I have one of those pieces that is blank, but a very nessessary part to putting this puzzle together.
All I know for sure, is that I want to walk this out well, learn what the Lord wants me to learn and at the end of it all have a better idea of who my Father is.
Are you in a desert time or a transition time? What is the Lord saying, is He telling you to take ground or stand firm?
Just a thought...
Monday, May 28, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Women need other women...right?
As a woman and I think I speak for many of us, being friends with other women is hard! I have been in many womens groups or even just with a group of women and we all have our "war stories" of hurtful friendships. The wounds are deep. Thus we retreat behind our infinite wall we have built, brick by brick, wound by wound.
Well, I say no more! We all know in the depths of our soul, that we NEED each other. Otherwise, why would we continue to put our hearts out consistantly, knowing it could be wounded. I mean, if you burnt your hand on the stove, you wouldn't go a month later go and try it again, right?
God has designed women and also knows the power we have in each others lives. On the other hand, the enemy knows this as well and has done a great job keeping us separated. I've always said, "hurt or wounded people, hurt and wound people." If we can grasp the heart of our Father, and deal with the wounds of our past, we can then be in relationship with other women. We could look at their actions with compassion and pray for them and pray for ourselves to act how Jesus would. Usually what we do is repay evil with evil. I know, most of you are saying, "oh, I haven't done that". Maybe we don't do it outwardly, but we gossip and hold resentment and unforgivness in our heart, and we are lucky if that's all we do. Most of our issues have very little to do with anyone else and more to do with ourselves. It's usually our insecurities, lack of confidence and self hatred that cause us to react to someones' less than perfect actions. The closer we get to our Father the less of these issues we will have. Easier said than done, but it is possible.
Wouldn't it be great if we could give every woman we meet in our lives the same oppotunity for friendship we gave the people that wounded us. How about dealing with the bitterness and wounds of the past relationships, so we could walk in freedom.
So heres the challange: Spend the next month sitting at the feet of your Father, and ask Him to reveal Himself in a way you have never experienced. I guarentee the wounds will be less and our freedom will become more.
What do we have to lose? We have everything to gain.
Just a thought....
Well, I say no more! We all know in the depths of our soul, that we NEED each other. Otherwise, why would we continue to put our hearts out consistantly, knowing it could be wounded. I mean, if you burnt your hand on the stove, you wouldn't go a month later go and try it again, right?
God has designed women and also knows the power we have in each others lives. On the other hand, the enemy knows this as well and has done a great job keeping us separated. I've always said, "hurt or wounded people, hurt and wound people." If we can grasp the heart of our Father, and deal with the wounds of our past, we can then be in relationship with other women. We could look at their actions with compassion and pray for them and pray for ourselves to act how Jesus would. Usually what we do is repay evil with evil. I know, most of you are saying, "oh, I haven't done that". Maybe we don't do it outwardly, but we gossip and hold resentment and unforgivness in our heart, and we are lucky if that's all we do. Most of our issues have very little to do with anyone else and more to do with ourselves. It's usually our insecurities, lack of confidence and self hatred that cause us to react to someones' less than perfect actions. The closer we get to our Father the less of these issues we will have. Easier said than done, but it is possible.
Wouldn't it be great if we could give every woman we meet in our lives the same oppotunity for friendship we gave the people that wounded us. How about dealing with the bitterness and wounds of the past relationships, so we could walk in freedom.
So heres the challange: Spend the next month sitting at the feet of your Father, and ask Him to reveal Himself in a way you have never experienced. I guarentee the wounds will be less and our freedom will become more.
What do we have to lose? We have everything to gain.
Just a thought....
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Is the Lord leading us to home churches?
I've been hearing the buzz around....home churches. At first I thought, "wow, this could really go bad", and then a flashback of Waco came to my mind. So I thought, well since I have heard this idea a few times, I thought I should take this to the big man upstairs and see if this was on His radar.
After fighting my own opinions in my mind and getting down to praying, a peace came over me. A peace like you get from grandma's house on a fall night, with the smell of a roaring fire and hot apple pie. Ok, that isn't anything I have actually experienced first hand but I've seen it on TV and it does seem peaceful.
I believe the Lord longs for people to become more intimate with one another, to spur on a more intimate relationship with Himself. What a better way to make disciples, than to have a setting like a home. I mean seriously, that's how they did it in Jesus' time. One could argue, "well, that was back in those times." But there is something to that approach.
I have heard people say, " America is blessed". While that is true, it is a double edge sword. While we are blessed monetarily, material, freedom of expression etc, because we are so blessed it leaves little room for us to NEED or rely on God.
This warrants the question: Is God leading us to the home church, to bring about intimacy with others, that would lead us to a need and reliance on our Lord, which would allow us to view our abundance through His eyes, thus using it as He intended?
Just a thought....
After fighting my own opinions in my mind and getting down to praying, a peace came over me. A peace like you get from grandma's house on a fall night, with the smell of a roaring fire and hot apple pie. Ok, that isn't anything I have actually experienced first hand but I've seen it on TV and it does seem peaceful.
I believe the Lord longs for people to become more intimate with one another, to spur on a more intimate relationship with Himself. What a better way to make disciples, than to have a setting like a home. I mean seriously, that's how they did it in Jesus' time. One could argue, "well, that was back in those times." But there is something to that approach.
I have heard people say, " America is blessed". While that is true, it is a double edge sword. While we are blessed monetarily, material, freedom of expression etc, because we are so blessed it leaves little room for us to NEED or rely on God.
This warrants the question: Is God leading us to the home church, to bring about intimacy with others, that would lead us to a need and reliance on our Lord, which would allow us to view our abundance through His eyes, thus using it as He intended?
Just a thought....
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Transition
Have you ever been in a place where you know God is "transitioning" you but you feel absolutely clueless? Well.... that's where I am! I decided to look up what that meant and thought it was interesting what Webster's said : a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another. As exciting as it always is to be molded by our Heavenly Father, it is always a painful process.
I've been saying for the past few months, that this is a "triple coupon year" with the Lord. Meaning, what we put into our relationship with the Lord, He will give back abundantly. He is inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him and if we will have faith and trust in Him, breakthrough's are bound to happen. Strongholds, generational junk and opposition that we have struggled with will be broken.
Someone said to me, "we can be in constant communion with the Lord, as Jesus was and still be effective", and quote unquote "normal". I do believe there is something to that , and is something that we as believers should really strive for. I mean think of it. Having your eyes and mind so set on our Heavenly Father. We couldn't help but be effective and truly have our paths straight.
So I don't know about you all, but my goal is to set my sights to my Father and see what happens. There is a Christian teaching that says that we can be to Heavenly minded to be any earthly good..... I don't believe that is possible.
Just a thought....
I've been saying for the past few months, that this is a "triple coupon year" with the Lord. Meaning, what we put into our relationship with the Lord, He will give back abundantly. He is inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him and if we will have faith and trust in Him, breakthrough's are bound to happen. Strongholds, generational junk and opposition that we have struggled with will be broken.
Someone said to me, "we can be in constant communion with the Lord, as Jesus was and still be effective", and quote unquote "normal". I do believe there is something to that , and is something that we as believers should really strive for. I mean think of it. Having your eyes and mind so set on our Heavenly Father. We couldn't help but be effective and truly have our paths straight.
So I don't know about you all, but my goal is to set my sights to my Father and see what happens. There is a Christian teaching that says that we can be to Heavenly minded to be any earthly good..... I don't believe that is possible.
Just a thought....
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Mega church versus small group?
It seems the big buzz around the church is this: Is it Gods will that we have mega churches or small groups? I have done quite a bit of study, biblical and otherwise and I have come to this conclusion. We need both. One cannot survive without the other. I mean, without the Mega church there would be no small group. I can say with all honesty that I would've never went to someones home for a "church" meeting. That would've been far too scary and quite frankly it would've freaked me out. Thus the need for the mega church. It allows for people to come anonymously and God's big enough to do the rest.
Now, the small group plays a primary role for furthering our relationships with others and with our Heavenly Father. I believe that without the small group, we are can find ourselves vering off course and not even knowing it. Finding ourselves in compromise and walking away from that which we swore the day we got saved, that we would never turn our back on God. We all know though, just by reading about Peter that even those who were face to face, with our Lord Jesus Christ, turning our backs is a real possiblilty. Also, teaching that happens in a small group, unless those are in accountability with other people, could lead to a cult or at the very least a completely unsafe situtation.
I've said this before, Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount for teaching purposes, thus the Sunday service. The real relationship was done with 12 disciples, thus the small group. Just like our intimacy with the Lord is done in our one on one time with Him, not with a huge group of people.
So, in my opinion we need to embrace both concepts, because they are both truely important to our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Just a thought...
Georgianna Halverson
Now, the small group plays a primary role for furthering our relationships with others and with our Heavenly Father. I believe that without the small group, we are can find ourselves vering off course and not even knowing it. Finding ourselves in compromise and walking away from that which we swore the day we got saved, that we would never turn our back on God. We all know though, just by reading about Peter that even those who were face to face, with our Lord Jesus Christ, turning our backs is a real possiblilty. Also, teaching that happens in a small group, unless those are in accountability with other people, could lead to a cult or at the very least a completely unsafe situtation.
I've said this before, Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount for teaching purposes, thus the Sunday service. The real relationship was done with 12 disciples, thus the small group. Just like our intimacy with the Lord is done in our one on one time with Him, not with a huge group of people.
So, in my opinion we need to embrace both concepts, because they are both truely important to our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Just a thought...
Georgianna Halverson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)