Hubby is praying in the bedroom and I hear his gentle voice as it becomes muffled through the bedroom wall and enters into the living room where i sit and type this. He will occasionally sing a few lines from an old hymn and return to his prayer. If i open the bedroom door i can also hear the turning of the thin pages of his Bible. The praise and worship eases my mind and puts a smile on my face as God fills this home with His peace.
As a pastor's wife....rather, as THIS pastor's wife I will do my utmost to encourage and support him. I will pray for my husband and his ministry, a ministry given to him by God. He is a mere vessel and my prayer is that God continues to be glorified in the sermons and in Hubby's task and responsibility as a pastor to His church.
I never thought in a million years that I would marry someone who would become a pastor but here I am honored that God allowed me this privileged. My goal is to be a good servant,wife, mother and pastor's wife and I ask that God lead me in every way. To reveal to me the way sin which I can be helpful to my hubby , in this way, he can find a second sanctuary at home and with me and the family, the first sanctuary being, of course in God.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Brand New day
About two years ago I became too ill to work and had to leave teaching after eleven years. As anyone who has ever been a teacher knows, that during the school year, you spend more time at work than with your own family.
I worked at a very prestigious school in New York. I totally believe that God has blessed me in that job placement for the amount of time that I was there.
I taught the children of actors, directors, writers, CEO's ,Doctors, Lawyers etc. You get the picture.
The quality of my work (and the other faculty) was under constant scrutiny and observation, and understandably so. If I were paying the tuition for the school, these parents were paying...I would expect nothing but the best.
Working there was a joy. The children were awesome. The faculty became friends and the administration was very supportive. I even became friends with some of the parents.
There were lots of extracurricular activities planned for those working at the school as well, workshops, conventions and other things. There were book readings, book signings, parties and more, MOST were not obligatory to attend, but there was an unwritten rule that we should attend as many as we could.
Diversity was big. The tolerance for any race, religion, lifestyle was to be practiced. If not you were looked down upon.
I am all for diversity.
As a Christian living according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, I was and still am very accepting of many things, But there are some things, for the very same reason, I am not accepting of, BUT I love all, because Jesus loves us all, and I can not say I love God if I have no love for my neighbor.
warning- Possible overuse of the word exposure ahead
Having said that, working at the school also exposed me to things, situations and people I never thought I would be exposed to and I tried to be a light during the time I was exposed to them, primarily the times when lifestyle was being brought into the curriculum and workshops and my Christianity was tolerated less and less.
This did not stop me from sharing, I was not shy about what I believe and what I didn't believe in, at the same time not waning from my love to those who practiced such lifestyles.
I made friends first, and learned more about them later. I had gay freinds, transgender friends and even made a friend who I learned later on in our friendship was a Wicken.
Why were these diverse groups of people being exposed to me?
I knew right off the bat, that there was a purpose and I prayed for the Lord to allow me NOT to stray from my beliefs, but to continue to be a light, not to conform, but to be a vessel in the possible transformation of these lives, because I truly grew to love them just as Christ loves me.
I loved my friends and tried, for many years, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
I loved teaching, but God was putting a burden in my heart that I needed to leave my job and look for another one. Things would be getting progressively worse, and my time there was over.
I scattered many seeds and now I had to trust God and move on.
I started looking for other jobs but nothing happened. I started to doubt that maybe God doesn't want me to leave, and it was tugging at my hearts strings to leave, the children, my friends and my job behind.
I stopped searching and chalked it all up to misunderstanding what I thought God was trying to tell me, and so I continued to work and things got worse.
The school was becoming more and more liberal in a negative way and less tolerant of Christianity. The burden to leave was becoming stronger but, again, I ignored it and continued in disobedience.
Of course, all the way, I justified my disobedience with the fact that I was a Christian and I needed to be there. But God wasn't having it, and I needed to understand.
It became more obvious to me that I HAD to leave. I became fearful for my spiritual life and so I started sharpening my resumes, when suddenly I became sick.
I was born with the illness I have and by Gods grace, I was always able to live with it. I suffered but God gave me strength. Suddenly out of nowhere without any warning, a sickness I lived with throughout my life took a sharp turn, and worsened dramatically and overnight. I got so sick I could not function.
I was forgetting things. I could not process what was being directed to me. I forgot the names of children. I would lose their work and misplace progress reports. It was horrible, to the point where I spoke to my director and told him I needed help. The administration was very helpful and made arrangements and provided classroom help for me. Until it got so bad my doctor said I could not work again.
When my doctor said those words, it finally became clear to me what God needed to do in order for me to finally accept that I was not supposed to be where I was.
And so, finally, and unfortunately being forced to, having no other options, in obedience I left my teaching and the school.
I had not been working for two years but kept in contact with many faculty members who became friends, and who visited and kept in contact with me, and still do during my illness.
One of these friends invited me to a function to raise money for women of the Congo who were being raped, abused and mutilated, as a Christian I jumped right on the bandwagon.
The female faculty was giving a performance at my old school, called "The V*gina Monologues" I had heard a little about about this performance. I never saw it, but I knew that it had to do with empowerment and although the title of the performance was disapproving TO ME. I accepted the invite to attend, for the women of the Congo.
I attended and immediately regretted it. The cause was great, but the performance was, in my opinion, crude and obscene. I was embarassed to be there mostly, because all the while God was telling me in his sweet patient voice, "I removed you from here for a reason. Why did you come back? You are not listening to me."
I was ashamed, but this time I finally got that I am not supposed to be there. Slow huh?
The next day I was at service, and the service was awesome. The presence of God was strong and the blessings were pouring down from the heavens and all the while, while worship was going on, while the sermon was being preached, and during the calling, all I could do was cry and say, "I'm sorry God."
I was sorry for returning to a place where God had rescued me from. I was sorry I disobeyed God, I was sorry I led other people into thinking that I would be accepting to exposure of crudeness.
I was sorry in every way.
To some this might seem minuscule, but to me it was something very big and something very wrong.
Gods mercy endures forever, and He forgives us of our many sins and I know He forgave me yesterday when I cried out to him to forgive me, but he also said this to me and it continually echoes in my brain and in my soul. "It's a Brand New Day."
Sometimes we argue with God because, for some dumb reason, we think we know better than Him. We would never say aloud that we disagree with Him, but our actions say it, each and every time we choose to ignore His voice and continue to la-di-da through life, covering our ears so that we muffle His voice.
How hurtful is that?
How disrespectful is that?
How irreverent is that?
It is very hurtful, disrespectful and irreverent, but today is a brand new day, behold all things are new.
I am so immensley grateful that my God gives me so many chances. He is a patient God and a loving God.
I will not be returning to a place where He does not want me. The shame of what I did was too grand. To some it may be a big stink over nothing, but to me it was much more about the disobedience than about anything else and then about the exposure of indecency, it was horrid.
BUT...
Today is a Brand New Day
I worked at a very prestigious school in New York. I totally believe that God has blessed me in that job placement for the amount of time that I was there.
I taught the children of actors, directors, writers, CEO's ,Doctors, Lawyers etc. You get the picture.
The quality of my work (and the other faculty) was under constant scrutiny and observation, and understandably so. If I were paying the tuition for the school, these parents were paying...I would expect nothing but the best.
Working there was a joy. The children were awesome. The faculty became friends and the administration was very supportive. I even became friends with some of the parents.
There were lots of extracurricular activities planned for those working at the school as well, workshops, conventions and other things. There were book readings, book signings, parties and more, MOST were not obligatory to attend, but there was an unwritten rule that we should attend as many as we could.
Diversity was big. The tolerance for any race, religion, lifestyle was to be practiced. If not you were looked down upon.
I am all for diversity.
As a Christian living according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, I was and still am very accepting of many things, But there are some things, for the very same reason, I am not accepting of, BUT I love all, because Jesus loves us all, and I can not say I love God if I have no love for my neighbor.
warning- Possible overuse of the word exposure ahead
Having said that, working at the school also exposed me to things, situations and people I never thought I would be exposed to and I tried to be a light during the time I was exposed to them, primarily the times when lifestyle was being brought into the curriculum and workshops and my Christianity was tolerated less and less.
This did not stop me from sharing, I was not shy about what I believe and what I didn't believe in, at the same time not waning from my love to those who practiced such lifestyles.
I made friends first, and learned more about them later. I had gay freinds, transgender friends and even made a friend who I learned later on in our friendship was a Wicken.
Why were these diverse groups of people being exposed to me?
I knew right off the bat, that there was a purpose and I prayed for the Lord to allow me NOT to stray from my beliefs, but to continue to be a light, not to conform, but to be a vessel in the possible transformation of these lives, because I truly grew to love them just as Christ loves me.
I loved my friends and tried, for many years, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
I loved teaching, but God was putting a burden in my heart that I needed to leave my job and look for another one. Things would be getting progressively worse, and my time there was over.
I scattered many seeds and now I had to trust God and move on.
I started looking for other jobs but nothing happened. I started to doubt that maybe God doesn't want me to leave, and it was tugging at my hearts strings to leave, the children, my friends and my job behind.
I stopped searching and chalked it all up to misunderstanding what I thought God was trying to tell me, and so I continued to work and things got worse.
The school was becoming more and more liberal in a negative way and less tolerant of Christianity. The burden to leave was becoming stronger but, again, I ignored it and continued in disobedience.
Of course, all the way, I justified my disobedience with the fact that I was a Christian and I needed to be there. But God wasn't having it, and I needed to understand.
It became more obvious to me that I HAD to leave. I became fearful for my spiritual life and so I started sharpening my resumes, when suddenly I became sick.
I was born with the illness I have and by Gods grace, I was always able to live with it. I suffered but God gave me strength. Suddenly out of nowhere without any warning, a sickness I lived with throughout my life took a sharp turn, and worsened dramatically and overnight. I got so sick I could not function.
I was forgetting things. I could not process what was being directed to me. I forgot the names of children. I would lose their work and misplace progress reports. It was horrible, to the point where I spoke to my director and told him I needed help. The administration was very helpful and made arrangements and provided classroom help for me. Until it got so bad my doctor said I could not work again.
When my doctor said those words, it finally became clear to me what God needed to do in order for me to finally accept that I was not supposed to be where I was.
And so, finally, and unfortunately being forced to, having no other options, in obedience I left my teaching and the school.
I had not been working for two years but kept in contact with many faculty members who became friends, and who visited and kept in contact with me, and still do during my illness.
One of these friends invited me to a function to raise money for women of the Congo who were being raped, abused and mutilated, as a Christian I jumped right on the bandwagon.
The female faculty was giving a performance at my old school, called "The V*gina Monologues" I had heard a little about about this performance. I never saw it, but I knew that it had to do with empowerment and although the title of the performance was disapproving TO ME. I accepted the invite to attend, for the women of the Congo.
I attended and immediately regretted it. The cause was great, but the performance was, in my opinion, crude and obscene. I was embarassed to be there mostly, because all the while God was telling me in his sweet patient voice, "I removed you from here for a reason. Why did you come back? You are not listening to me."
I was ashamed, but this time I finally got that I am not supposed to be there. Slow huh?
The next day I was at service, and the service was awesome. The presence of God was strong and the blessings were pouring down from the heavens and all the while, while worship was going on, while the sermon was being preached, and during the calling, all I could do was cry and say, "I'm sorry God."
I was sorry for returning to a place where God had rescued me from. I was sorry I disobeyed God, I was sorry I led other people into thinking that I would be accepting to exposure of crudeness.
I was sorry in every way.
To some this might seem minuscule, but to me it was something very big and something very wrong.
Gods mercy endures forever, and He forgives us of our many sins and I know He forgave me yesterday when I cried out to him to forgive me, but he also said this to me and it continually echoes in my brain and in my soul. "It's a Brand New Day."
Sometimes we argue with God because, for some dumb reason, we think we know better than Him. We would never say aloud that we disagree with Him, but our actions say it, each and every time we choose to ignore His voice and continue to la-di-da through life, covering our ears so that we muffle His voice.
How hurtful is that?
How disrespectful is that?
How irreverent is that?
It is very hurtful, disrespectful and irreverent, but today is a brand new day, behold all things are new.
I am so immensley grateful that my God gives me so many chances. He is a patient God and a loving God.
I will not be returning to a place where He does not want me. The shame of what I did was too grand. To some it may be a big stink over nothing, but to me it was much more about the disobedience than about anything else and then about the exposure of indecency, it was horrid.
BUT...
Today is a Brand New Day
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Good Morning!
I woke up this morning determined once again to live the life that God wills me to live. I realize that I cannot live it, if I do not know His will and so I begin my day with prayer. In this way, I can be led by The Spirit in which direction to walk and in which choices to make in the small things and in the big things.
I have come to know that ALL decisions no matter how minuscule we think they are should be made under the security and the trust that God knows what is best for us. It is all about believing that God has our best interest at heart.
Last night I made a schedule of things to do. This is not my first To Do list but the first item on my list is and always should be prayer and reading of scripture. I cannot possibly begin my day without this, even morning coffee takes second place.
How can I even live without talking, communicating with God at the start of my day and throughout the day? How will I know what to do when a crisis arises or when an important decision has to be made? How will I heed warnings throughout the day if I am not in tune with God? How can I live without Him?
I used to wake up and pray as I made my bed and brushed my teeth but not anymore. I rise and then get on my knees and bow before Him , first thing in the morning.
Charles Stanley was once asked by a member of his congregation if prayer always had to be said on their knees and he answered, "No, but remember who you are talking to ." So I try to pray on my knees as much as I can ALONG with talking to Him throughout the day, as I wash the dishes or crochet or brush my teeth or cook.
I woke up today determined to live my life fully for Christ. I am looking forward to the day when I wake up not determining to do it, not pushing my way to do it but that living for Christ becoming something natural as natural as breathing. I don't have to be determined to breathe, I just breathe.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
It's that time again when I look at my spiritual life and examine, self-evaluate it.
I was listening to a study and it was tremendously edifying.
This is what I got out of it; I need to have a determined purpose. I have often wanted to bury myself in all things spiritual, reading the Word, worship, studying, meditating as much as I can to get to that place where I have a spiritual relationship with Christ that is bringing me closer to Him and an understanding of what it is, to truly be Christ-like. I want clarity in the Lord. I want to know Christ just like I know everything about my best friend I want to know everything I can about Him.
I believe that the Holy Spirit will reveal God to me and He will disclose Himself to me (at least what He feels I should know.) I don't know enough about God , I need more, and I have a yearning to want to know more.
The Apostle Paul expresses this perfectly when he says in the new testament book of Phillipians, chapter 3:10 "...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."
The little that I know is worth the loss of everything else I identify myself with in my life and the more that He chooses to reveal to me, the better. My friends and family may not understand but I think I need to grow up already (spiritually)"... put away childish things." 1Cor. 13:12. There are people who leave everything they have behind and seek refuge in God.
Being alone with Him and learning from Him would be so great.
My determined purpose is to know Him and to pull any fragments of knowledge of who I think Christ is and see if I am right or if my perception of Him is all wrong.I don't want to get emotional I want to know GOD!
I was listening to a study and it was tremendously edifying.
This is what I got out of it; I need to have a determined purpose. I have often wanted to bury myself in all things spiritual, reading the Word, worship, studying, meditating as much as I can to get to that place where I have a spiritual relationship with Christ that is bringing me closer to Him and an understanding of what it is, to truly be Christ-like. I want clarity in the Lord. I want to know Christ just like I know everything about my best friend I want to know everything I can about Him.
I believe that the Holy Spirit will reveal God to me and He will disclose Himself to me (at least what He feels I should know.) I don't know enough about God , I need more, and I have a yearning to want to know more.
The Apostle Paul expresses this perfectly when he says in the new testament book of Phillipians, chapter 3:10 "...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."
The little that I know is worth the loss of everything else I identify myself with in my life and the more that He chooses to reveal to me, the better. My friends and family may not understand but I think I need to grow up already (spiritually)"... put away childish things." 1Cor. 13:12. There are people who leave everything they have behind and seek refuge in God.
Being alone with Him and learning from Him would be so great.
My determined purpose is to know Him and to pull any fragments of knowledge of who I think Christ is and see if I am right or if my perception of Him is all wrong.I don't want to get emotional I want to know GOD!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Swimming In Gods River
I am going to try to recap our Sunday Sermons so this will be the first recap. The sermon was given by Pastor Angel Roman. I have a copy of his outline and will translate it from Spanish to English . In green are the Pastors words.
The sermon started with a reading of Ezekiel 47:3-5
3 When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters , waters that were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
It is my prayer that this message is of great blessing and edification in your lives and that God through His Holy Spirit give you the bravery and confidence to follow in His glorious path.
The sermon started with a reading of Ezekiel 47:3-5
3 When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters , waters that were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
It is my prayer that this message is of great blessing and edification in your lives and that God through His Holy Spirit give you the bravery and confidence to follow in His glorious path.
I would like to remind you of the story of two men who had to confront the rivers in their lives and were triumphant and powerful in God as a result. These men experimented the power of God in their lives in an extraordinary way.
Joshua
Joshua became the successor to Moses and brought Israel to the promised land but not without crossing a river. Joshua could have remained looking at Jericho from a distance and not cross the river to conquer it BUT he was obedient to the voice of God and crossed the river.
Don't remain on the riverside, watching the blessing flow by, it is necessary to cross the water and conquer the promise.
In the Book of Joshua , The High Priest had to wet their feet and the water stopped.
The Lord helped Joshua lead the Hebrew people into the Promised Land. When they entered this land, the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River. At God’s command, Joshua told the priests to take the Ark of the Covenant into the river.
No sooner had they wet their feet in the water than the river parted. The water that flowed from the upper reaches of the river came to a stop like a wall, and the lower part of the river flowed down to the sea and all the people crossed over the dry river bed.
No sooner had they wet their feet in the water than the river parted. The water that flowed from the upper reaches of the river came to a stop like a wall, and the lower part of the river flowed down to the sea and all the people crossed over the dry river bed.
You have to wet your feet in order to receive the blessing from God.
In 2 Kings Chapter 2 :13-14, we see the prophet Elisha standing at the edge of the river to strike the river with Elijah's cape and in this way receive a double portion of The Spirit. We cannot just watch the water of the river flow by us. We can pray and those prayers can strike the rivers in our lives and open a path.
There are three levels we must pass through to finally be completely submerged in The Spirit, ankle length, knee length, loin length and finally, completely submerged.
There are three categories of people in life, today. Those who;
1- Make things happen
2- Watch things happen
3- Don't know what's happening
Ezekiel saw a great revival and a healing in the waters. To be able to experiment it we must at least begin with getting as deep as our ankles. If we want to begin to experience a life full of miracles, blessings, and a life fuller in The Spirit, we should allow The Holy Spirit to reach our ankles . We should be at least ankle-deep in the river, but we can't stay there.
Ezekiel says that The Measurer in the story measured another 1,000 cubits (which by the way, according to http://www.csgnetwork.com/cubitscnv.html is equivalent to 20.5 inches or 1.7 feet for those who want a clearer picture). The Measurer made the man go into the water until it reached his knees. We note that this time he brought him in a little deeper. He is now knee-length.
God wants us to shed our fears and have deeper experiences.
We should not conform to simply touching the blessings of God, ankle length, but we should allow ourselves to get knee-deep.
Ezekiel goes on to say that The Measurer measured another 1,000 cubits and made the man get waist deep. We realize that every time The Measurer measures, God submerges the man deeper. It was not enough to be ankle deep or knee-deep but now the man had to be waist-deep.
As time goes on God wants us to experience more and more of Him and submerge ourselves deeper in Him.
The Measurer finally measures the last 1,000 cubits and the man arrived at a point in the river where he could not pass unless he submerged himself completely and swam.
God does not only want to bring us to deeper places, but he wants us to learn how to swim in them, that we may experience a great revival and not remain on the riverside watching it go by. He wants us to experience His power and majesty.
What distances you from experiencing a great revival in your life?
A complete surrender.
You must surrender completely to Christ to experience the revival in your life.
God Bless You
Measuring Your Committment
God wants to use us in an extraordinary way. It all depends on how much of an instrument we want to be for God. In the verses above the man could contemplate/reflect on the river, watch the river flow by or get in it and move with the current. As he gets into the river, he gets deeper and deeper.
The Measurer guided and instructed the man to go with the current in the river and onto new ground.
We can choose to stand by the river and look across it and wish we were there or we can get in and let it lead us to newer ground. We should not be afraid of the current in the river it will take us to a better place.
The river here is symbolic of The Spirit of God and the current is symbolic of how we should allow ourselves to be fully submerged in His Spirit and let the current of the Spirit lead us to new ground and follow the path that God has set before us.
In the verses above we see that the man is led to the water and the water reaches his ankles, then farther on down reaches his knees, then the water reaches his loins and eventually the water is so high that the only means to navigate would be to swim.
Sink or Swim.
You can be an ankle length Christian and just dab your toes in the water. A Christian who does not want to delve too much into The Spirit or you can be a Christian who is submerged in The Spirit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)