God’s Calling…

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Are you tired?

Worn out?

Burned out on religion?

Come to me.

Get away with me

And you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me,

And work with me,

Watch how I do it.

~Matthew 11 The Message Bible

So let God work His will in you.

Yell a loud No to the devil

And watch him scamper.

Say a quiet Yes to God

And He’ll be there in no time.

Quit dabbling in sin.

Purify your inner life.

Quit playing the field.

Hit bottom

And cry your eyes out.

The fun and games are over.

Get serious,

Really serious.

Get down on your knees before the Master,

It’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

~James 4 The Message Bible

Casting all your cares,

All your anxieties,

All your worries,

And all your concerns,

All on Him.

For He cares about you

With deepest affection.

And watches over you very carefully.

~1 Peter 5 The Message Bible

Trust God from the bottom of your heart,

Don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do,

Everywhere you go.

He’s the One who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

~Proverbs 3 Amplified Bible

 God told them,

“I’ve never quit loving you

And never will.

Expect love,

Love,

And more love!

And so now,

I’ll start over with you,

And build you up again…

 You’ll resume your singing,

Grabbing tambourines

And joining the dance.

~Jeremiah 31:3 The Message Bible

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God-Of-Angel-Armies

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God has many names.

Many  names.

He is Jehovah Nissi,

My Victory.

Jehovah Rapha,

My Healer.

Jehovah Shalom,

My Peace.

Jesus called Him Father.

But lately,

We have needed

The God-of-Angel-Armies.

So that is the Name I cry out to.

We’ve needed a

Warrior God,

A Rush-To-Our-Defense-God,

 An I-Will-FIGHT-For-You-God.

And that is the name I call upon.

Whenever I cry out,

‘Oh God-Of-Angel-Armies come to our rescue!’

He Does.

I INSTANTLY feel His Presence.

Instantly.

We’ve felt such a need for a Redeemer,

For an All-Conquering,

All-Powerful,

Fearsome Warrior,

So I cry out and He is near…

I feel Him by my side…

Yes, the Holy Spirit dwells within me

and comforts me,

But He is also the one that quickens me

with the Name of God that we need for the moment.

And recently He has told me

God-Of-Angel-Armies…

Think of that name.

Lord-of-Hosts,

God-Of-Angel-Armies….

Angel ARMIES…

Mighty to Save…

All-Powerful!

CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!!!

Who is like Him?

NO ONE!!! 

Not one single person or thing.

He is Great,

And Greatly To Be Praised.

That is the God I’ve been talking with lately.

That is the God I’ve been walking with lately.

That is the God Who has been showing me

situations, people and things around me

to pray about and to pray for.

He is the same God my mother used to pray to

and her mother used to pray to

and her mother’s mother,

and on and on.

With that legacy behind me

how can I not call out to

The Name Above All Names,

Who comes to our rescue?

God-Of-Angel Armies

is right by my side.

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Beautifully Crushed…

I have a choice.

Because I have a voice I have a choice.

I can choose the easy way with little to no pain

and more comfort,

or I can choose a harder way which produces more pain,

but Character Growth.

~If I had the opportunity to choose what kind of life

I would be given before I was born,

I would’ve chosen a life

where the road was smooth.

Where the path was easy…

I would never have chosen heartache and grief.

No,

I would have planned my life

very carefully and purposefully

with little to no suffering involved…

~Good thing I wasn’t in charge...

The heartache I encountered

actually made my heart softer...

The suffering I shivered thru

gave me empathy…

The abandonment I experienced

made me look towards the lonely…

If you think about it,

the sweetest part of a peach

is actually the part that is bruised.

The bruise produced the sugar…

The crushing of the olive

produces the oil,

and the oil heals…

The oil heals.

How would I know what True Love feels like

without knowing rejection?

How would I know what Peace feels like

if I had never touched war?

I am Grateful for my scars.

I am Grateful for the times

my heart quivered inside me from doubt.

How would I know the Deliverer

if I’d never needed delivering?

  ~Am I through being crushed?

I hope not. 

I pray not.

Is it fun?

Absolutely not. 

But the fragrance that comes from a rose

when it’s petals are smashed

is Beautiful.

And one day,

when I am old and gray,

I want to be the most fragrant crushed flower

that produces healing…

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Alone…

Roll, roll me away,
won’t you roll me away tonight
I too am lost, I feel double-crossed
and I’m sick of what’s wrong and what’s right

‘Roll Me Away’ ~Bob Seger

What do you do when even the church betrays you?

When you are hurt by the ones that are supposed to have the medicine?

What do you do when

The ones that are meant to be safe

Are unsafe?

What do you do then...

If you’re anything like me, you hide.

You build a wall around yourself so that nothing and no one else can hurt you.

Yeah, thats what I do…

Thats what I’ve done.

The problem with that is it doesn’t work.

Building a wall from ever getting hurt again only leads to loneliness…

And being alone sucks.

As I am sitting here writing this the only living thing around me are plants.

Plants and the ticking of a clock somewhere off in another room…

(But the clocks not actually alive…it’s just making a sound)

~When you are physically hurt you go to a dr. to diagnose the pain and apply medicine,

When your soul is hurt you are supposed to go to God and God’s people

To help heal your souls pain.

But what do you do when the soul wounds are inflicted by the ‘soul healers’…

Whatcha-gonna-do?

Once-upon-a-time I lived in a city that was full of Christian churches.

Name your flavor.

It was there.

I was raised in the church so I knew how to act and how to fit in.

But alas, when I lived in that city I grew weary of acting,

And I decided to let my limp show.

Guess what?

My limp exposed all the other Christian’s limps,

But they didn’t know it.

My taking off my mask of ‘Perfection’,

Brought about tongue lashings and rejection of the cruelest kind.

The kind that’s done in the name of God.

This happened over 13 years ago,

And to this day I am still scared to come out of hiding.

I still shiver when I walk as a visitor into a church.

My smile still quivers when I greet people,

Because deep inside my heart,

The tape player plays back the old voices…

Voices of condemnation,

Voices of shame.

So I hide.

~And while I’ve been told,

to have a friend

You have to be a friend.

You have to smile and show yourself friendly,

And ask about others,

About their story…

But if I do that,

They might turn around

And ask about me about mine…

And I would have to reveal that I have a limp,

And face their scorn.

No,

It’s easier to hide.

While I may not be able to fit into the mask I once wore of ‘Perfection’

I at least do not have to place myself in a seat of inspection from others.

I’ve done that too.

I’ve thought, ‘well I might as well just tell them up front what my limp is

And they can reject me right away..’

But that didn’t work either.

(Sigh…)

What do I do with my limp?

What do I do with my poor, ragged, muddied soul?

I give it to God…

I give it to Him.

He alone holds the balm.

He alone mends my limp.

He alone holds my head to His chest.

He alone.

Alone.

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Man’s Standards…

The thing that intrigues me the most about Jesus’ birth,

Was that God chose the down and out to announce His birth to.

These guys, these shepherds,  were NOT ‘temple worthy’…

These guys lived with and among animals daily..

No showers in the outhouses for them,

In fact no outhouses for them either.

Mankind had slapped a standard on anyone

That would try to enter the temple…

But GOD simply ripped open the sky,

And said…

“Hello….”

He didn’t care how they smelled,

He didn’t care what they wore,

He didn’t care that they were ‘unclean’

Both physically and spiritually.

In fact,

That was the point.

He split the chasm between Heaven and Earth,

For the ‘little guy’.

And that is one of the many reasons

I shake my head and ponder this

Miraculous Story….

It’s because,

I am allowed In.

Me. Even me.

Thank You Papa…

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