Hero and Villain

    So, I was talking to my dad yesterday about villains in novels and such. I observed that villains usually have something related with the hero ( circumstances, family, etc.) And he said something that sent me thinking. He said, " Most villains are just heroes who were disappointed because things did not work the way they thought it should."
   Mhmm....and that sent me whirling about destiny, and God's purpose for us. Are we creating villains of our own destiny? God has a purpose for every one of us. We each have a purpose and a calling and together we build the body of Christ. But, how many times does something happen and we get offended at God? Something doesn't go the way we think it should and BAM! " God, but I thought..." I think, faith is so crucial to our fulfilling our calling. If the Lord has set a destiny for me, who am I to say how it should play out? He's the One who knows what it is, and what I need to do to get there.
   If I become so easily offended, then it's my loss. I'm the one getting hung up on every little step.I'm the one who needs to be humble enough to learn. God knows where I need to improve, and He puts us through trials to strengthen us, and test us. He knows what He's doing...not me. I gave my life to Him. The part that seems to hurt is dying to flesh. But, that's what needs to happen if I am to walk into the life He has called me.
     Don't let yourself become the villain of your destiny.

"Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” --Matthew 11:6


" Before a downfall, the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor." -- Proverbs 18:1


" This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:"Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”  So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." -- Jeremiah 18: 1-4

Rainy Day Prayer

    It begins as a drizzle...then pours like buckets... 

    Lord, let the physical mirror the spiritual. Open up the floodgates of Heaven and rain down. Pour out Your Spirit; I won't be satisfied 'til I have more. I just can't get enough. I want to be drenched in Your rain. Let Your love drip off of me as I stand in Your presence. No spiritual umbrellas-- I want to be soaked. Let me hear the lightning and feel the thunder of Heaven. Jesus, I want more. Refresh me, cleanse me, let Your love wash over me. 

    Let Your living water soak into my roots. Increase spiritual growth. I want to be like a tree planted by Your streams of living water. Let me be grounded in You. 

   How lovely is Your rain!

Raising the Bar

So, I was thinking the other day about the verse, 

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." -- Revelation 3: 15-16

So, no compromise. You know, it's easy to follow God when its beneficial to us. What about when it's not? So, I got to thinking, What if God asked me to, suddenly, do something I really did not want to do? Would I do it? Hmm....

God says in the Bible, " Be holy because I am holy." (Lev. 19:2) And that, by the way, is huge. How do I be holy? Well, first, the blood of Christ makes us holy. But how do I, then, keep a holy lifestyle? Obeying his commands and living life through His word... but NOT ONLY when it's benefits me, or when it's what I want to do. But wait....should I not want, what the Lord wants? Aha! And, if I follow the Lord, it does benefit me...just not the way I thought it should. God knows whats best for me. He knows what He's doing. What right have I  to say, " God, You need to do this so I can..." fill in the blank. I don't deserve anything, and the fact that He even accepts my love, by His mercy and Jesus' blood,  should be enough. 

   I really think God is raising a new standard of holiness for this generation. Guiding our steps more precisely and strictly. He's keeping a very close eye that we're staying on the path He has paved, not the one we want to walk on. 

"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.  No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there..." Isaiah 35: 7-9

"Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law." Proverbs 119: 29