A Hug or a Hit?

Proverbs 3:5-6New International Version (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.[a]

    Jonah ran far away from those that hit him hard...I still smile pretty big when I hear that Jonah was the worst missionary of all time, especially because I feel like that title belongs to me, Jennifer. What's more, is the fact that Jonah was actually not a representation of bad mission work, but rather one of the greatest lessons on forgiveness and trust that all of us desperately need to learn. Poor Jonah! Stop picking on the guy that faced an enemy head on and did so after a huge bath of seaweed and whale vomit. Sadly, the sweet savory scent he carried with him was even further soured by his reality that those who might be saved were the very souls he wanted to die! Have any of you read, The Shack? Well, for those of you who understand this mind boggling book, you can appreciate how inconceivable it is to forgive a murderer, a thief, or a liar. So many missionaries set out to save those in a foreign land that need to hear the good news...but how often are those the very people that hit your hometown?
We know that we are to put our trust in God no matter the cost, but when our hearts have been hit all trust is lost...Amen?

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and yes, the baby is coming to save so let me leave you with this thought on hits and hugs...

When we lean not on our own understanding, we accept a bunch of hits...but in leaning away from our thoughts, we get to lean on His arms....We might take a hit, but there is always a hug waiting on and leaning on the everlasting arms. In reality, Jesus comes to us all to save us from our sin that Hit Him...so that in Him we can save others that have hit us.

Principle: The road is long but the path is always lit, leading us all to be able to take each hit...
So long as we know it's His arms that Hold, we will be able to tell the greatest story ever told.

No flashlight and batteries not included!

Suddenly, the light goes out! There is excruciating pain as her body crashes down into a deep, dark pit promising nothing but danger and darkness. To make matters worse, heavy rocks begin to fall down into the narrow cave like corridor where she is lying helplessly in the darkness without a light in sight. Suddenly, the desire to live overwhelmingly ceases her being as she begins to scream, "help"! "Is somebody there?" Friends, being stuck in a dangerous situation beckons us to truly cry out for help. Yes, when you are stuck in a cave, an old mine shaft, or perhaps caught out to sea without a boat or life vest, you truly can appreciate that you are in a desperate situation. However, you are not without hope, right? Knowing that there are others that have the ability to save you, you cry out, waiting for your rescue from the most immanent fate that will occur if help does not come, right? Friends, this is how it is with our Lord when we wait upon Him and Him alone. Some mistakenly think that waiting on God is an act of patience, or the simple desire to have meaningless gifts bestowed upon our lives, but waiting on God in the biblical sense is far more dire than that,

Psalm 40[a]

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in him.

Today, my feet have slipped into a dark pit and there seems to be no light! As a Christian, the only flashlight I have is the light coming from within and there fore I have hope. Yes, because I know He who is able to save, I cry out to God and wait on Him to lift me out of the mud and the mire. Sadly, it's as though I forgot He was there at all until I slipped. To clarify, my awareness of God being there is not really what I forget on a daily basis. No, rather it is the fact that I'm lost without Him to save me is the reality that is forgotten. The truth is, we all need to learn to wait upon the Lord or we will never know the joy of the renewal of our strength in Him. However, we will never wait upon the Lord unless we are aware of the need for a savior. Experiencing a trial, or a desperate situation? Thank the Lord for it?  Truly,the situation that brings us to our knees with the realization that we are emotionally, spiritually or physically dead without God's help, is the only way we will call out for a savior. With or without a calamity, I hope we choose to live in the reality that we need God and that in response, we cry out to Him first and wait upon Him alone

Principle, when you are lost in the wilderness with no help and no phone

there is an opportunity to wait on the Lord, being saved by Him alone.

Truth, Hiding in God is cozier than any blanket and warmer than a million mornings of sunlight upon my face. 

It is Finished!!

I know, I know...you're thinking that the title, "It is Finished" has to do with Easter right? Hello....it's almost the holiday season after all, so why am I writing about Easter??  Well, first of all, Easter is a pagan day that has to do with the fertility Goddess, Ishatar! “Later, when this adulterous and idolatrous woman gave birth to an illegitimate son, she claimed that this son, Tammuz by name, was Nimrod reborn.”[4] Easter/Ishatar “claimed that her son was supernaturally conceived [no human father] and that he was the promised seed, the ‘savior’”—promised by God in Genesis 3:15. “However, not only was the child worshipped, but the woman, the MOTHER, was also worshipped as much (or more) than the son!”  (Kind of makes me like Babylon...) emphasis mine...hee hee...[5]Nimrod deified as the god of the sun and father of creation. Easter became the goddess of the moon, fertility, etc.

...I know some of you know this fact already...but did you know that Ishatar was Nimrod's queen?....What's more, did you know that together they represented massive perversion?? Last but definitely not least, did you know that in ancient Babylon, you know where the sinners just love to babble only to hear their own thoughts about everything, Nimrod organized major cities into perverse places, such as Babel, Asshur and Nineveh....!!!! Now, that fact is Biblical, just check out Genesis Chapter 10! 

So...there is the connection for all of you who doubt the relevance of Easter on a blog about Nineveh at Christmas time!! So, when you think you know something about religion and about Easter or religious holidays...think again.....!! In fact, any time that you think you know anything...think again, save your salvation with our Lord of course! I'm constantly surprised that we buy into just about everything false that the world throws our way!! Even about our own Christian holidays we let the world write the script, don't we? As if our story is not written yet by a master scribe, we look everywhere for others to tell us what's next. Sadly, we let the world tell us how life should be celebrated and how the story of our lives really ought to go. Moreover, we listen to the fact that we, not Christ should be in charge of our own lives...!! Friends, don't be like the prodigal child, always looking for the answer to your story somewhere outside of God's story; don't be deceived!! Be like the Bereans who searched with great intensity to find out what is true; the Bereans found it in Christ our Lord. Want to know another example of something else that is deceiving??? Simply put, there is a phrase, "It is Finished"! These words, "It is Finished", make up a phrase that for most Christians just means that Christ finished His mission on the cross and then it's time to eat the chocolate out of our Easter baskets!! Well, good job, Ishatar and the pagan gods of Babylon, because "it is finished" means sooo much more than that basket of pagan chocolate and fruity jelly bellys!! It is finished means that Jesus is Lord...that He writes the story, that He conquered the grave, the giant and the pagan goals of our lives that will turn out for bad rather than for good. He conquered the decisions we all make to run to Tarshish and avoid Nineveh!! When you are confused, seek His counsel, John 16 and when you are lost ask for His light to guide the way, John 1 and when you are lonely, ask for the comforter to come and remember, Emmanuel, God with us! When you are sick remember Jehovah Rafa, the great healer and when you are wondering how everything will turn out for you or whatever else you must do to be safe remember above all, the phrase and glorious truth, "It is Finished"  and then run home oh prodigal child...stop writing your own story and let Jesus read to you one chapter at a time of the greatest love story ever told, it starts with Love...it has love wrapped up like a baby in the middle and it ends with a blazing fire ball of love at the end...Lost today?
 Ask Jesus...Tell Jesus, Follow Jesus...Just let the finisher of your faith be the director of your steps and your job here will be done, and finished...capiche? 

Caught in a rut

Whenever you are caught in a moment of disappointment or you simply have the blues, remember....get caught up in the glorious King...he has ever increasing light, glory and grace!!
Ever had the birthday blues, the Christmas blues or the Thanksgiving blues?  LOL..the Thanksgiving remorse of eating too much??  Valentines? Aw, come on of course you have! The great anticipation of any big holiday just almost stresses you out so powerful is its affect on your mind. Quickly the holiday approaches and every morning has excitement as you make yourself ready for its arrival, right? Then, the day arrives and ...??? And, what? Just like any day, there is an end! The long awaited Birthday is over...whether or not it was your party and you cried if you wanted to cry...now you get to cry because it's gone!
The truth is that we love to have something to hope for don't we? We need to cast our energies on something that promises joy, happiness and excitement! However, we so easily cast our hopes on things that fade and on things that do not save! Friends, God is Faithfully present for you, standing ready to gift you with all his glorious riches. As we enter this holiday season, let's cast our hope on His arrival....on His faithfulness...He's already faithful and he's already here and His day is never going to be done! Walk daily in His holiness and your Holidays will be so much brighter.

Lamentations 3:20-24 says,

I well remember them,

    and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

Principle, when you get caught up in the hope of what cannot last

you will be down and out for all the fun and excitement will be left in the past

When you hope in Christ, your days are blessed,

for his rewards never run out and the expectations are always exceedingly met.