Combat Bride

A bride in combat boots.


If the church is the bride of Christ, this is the kind of bride we should be -- Ready to take on the world, ready to tear everything and anyone down that would stand in the way of taking the dark kingdom out and taking the world by force of love. And you can't do that in little ballerina slippers.

Ready to break out your combat boots, church?

There are 2 major kinds of church bodies that are pictured here. Ones that focus on the fight - the gathering of souls, the taking of the world, breaking down the doors of hell, etc. And, the ones that focus on being prepared for the return of our Lord, getting doctrine right, getting their lives right, getting things pretty and primped and lovely.

Father wants both.

Disappointment

If you google disappointment and click images, these are what you will see along with countless other sad, terrible things - somethings that make you laugh because they are so ridiculous. Other things that make you want to cry.

Disappointment is something we all face. Today, I was disappointed in a situation that blew up in my face. I was disappointed in a change in my job that was supposed to be a really good thing and I felt I was doing my employer a favor and I guess they didn't feel the same. Without getting caught up in the story, I wanted to address the frusteration, the disappointment, the feelings... the way your soul screams at you saying "THIS ISN'T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!!!!!!"

I remember as a teenager hearing in church about a woman who had to give birth to a baby she knew would be still-born. She spoke those words as she pushed her poor broken child into the world who never got a chance. As an adult I have several friends who have lost babies in miscarriage. My pastor's wife talks about loosing her first child, who they had to try so hard to concieve. I've never lost a baby, but there is some disappointment wrapped up there. That's an extreem situation that speaks volumes of our hearts losses, the things we expected that went so wrong.

Loosing a baby, getting fired, your house burning down, or even just having a friend lie to you - all these things hurt. Some more than others. But what is the core that we struggle with as believers?

I thought you said I could trust you. I thought you said you'd take care of me. I thought you said you had plans for me. I thought you wanted me to be happy. Don't you care at all? Do you even see what's happening? Are you even there?

Look out. Be aware. Listen to your soul and tell it to be quiet. Bring it to submission - recognize that is your soul and not your spirit. Spirit knows that you are in the place you were meant to be right now. Spirit understands what is happening in the spiritual planes that your natural cannot understand. Tune in to your spirit. Tune up to His spirit. He will cry with you. He hurts with you.


You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalm 56:8)

..... and then take courage

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling (psalm 46)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
phillipians 4:6-7

Texting while you Drive

A whopping 81 percent of the United States population admits to resorting to texting while a driving a vehicle.
A study by Virginia Tech Driving Institute revealed that those who resort to texting while driving are 23 time more likely to meet with an accident.
Studies reveal that a person who is texting while driving at the speed of 35 mph will cover 25 ft before bringing the car to complete halt as compared to a distance of 4 ft which a drunk driver would cover at the same speed.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Texting while driving caused 5,870 people to die in car crashes in 2008 alone.
The same statistics revealed that 515,000 people were injured in various car crashes in the United States.

What is the point I am bringing this all up for?

People still do it. I do it from time to time, honestly. "Just at a stoplight" or whatever you want to say, you're still getting distracted from what you should be doing. And thats the nitty gritty. All the stats, all the deaths, all the injuries, this is all because we don't pay attention to where we're going.

Grasp a hold of that. Death. Injury. Pain. Hurt.
All because we don't watch where we're going.


Proverbs 3:5-6 (New King James Version)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.


Get focused. Pay attention! Watch where you are going.

The Force is With You

So the greatest battle of all time - the battle within yourself. Luke and Darth are a wonderfully deep picture of something that's hard for many of us to grasp. The force is deep in Luke. It's strong with this young one. So strong that Darth wants to convert him to the dark side, to be a ruler because he'd be an AWESOME ruler on either side and lets face it, Darth didn't really want to fight the guy becuase he was incredible.

Luke has to come to a place where he recognizes the calling deep with in him and he has to pair it with the correct desires. Desire of the soul? Power. Desire of his spirit? Destiny - good - light. The "second half" of the SW series (being the last 3 in the series but the first 3 released) deal heavily with this inner struggle in Luke... will he be good or bad? Will he fall to the powers of darkness or will he stay with the forces of good? This battle, this war... how will it end?

So here's the question. What will you do with it? The force is strong in you as well. And, be it Jedi or prophecy or gifting or preaching or serving or whatever, it can be used for the good or destruction of the world. But there is no doubt that the force is strong.

Dont believe me? Look back on your childhood. Before the pain and dissapointments and frusteration and rejection. What did you want to do? What did you want to be? Did you want to change the world? I bet you did... most kids do. If not change the world, then be famous which breaks down to have an influence and be something special.... When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an author. It was evident off the bat that I was really good at writing and putting thoughts onto paper and making ideas speak aloud as if you were having a conversation instead of reading it. It was so easy. Write books, be creative. But then somewhere along the way I lost confidence and decided no one wanted to hear my ideas. That I wasn't going to make it as an author. That I wouldn't be read, that I wouldn't sell any books, and I'd have a collection sitting in my garage that I couldn't sell so I gave away as Christmas presents every year. And then I decided to be a teacher.

But when I graduated high school, student teaching courses in hand and ready to take on the world of college, I realised I didn't know what I was doing and I certainly didn't feel called to being a teacher. So I got married instead and had kids and took time to heal and see myself for who I really am.

Does that mean I know I'm going to be a great author? Not yet. I still get hung up sometimes riding shotgun in the dreams other people have for my life. But there's something to those dreams you have as a child and the strengths that are given to you. Nither does it mean that is what God wants to do with my life. This is just an example.

The point I'm trying to make is that there is a force that you have that may have been twisted and hidden and belittled and thought lowly of (like Luke doesn't think the force exists back when he's drinking blue milk at his Uncle's house). But that doesn't mean that force is not strong in you, or that the enemy won't stop it nothing to divert and destroy you. The question you need to ask yourself that comes to hand here is what will you do with that force that is most assuredly so strong in you?

Running Weighted

In terms of getting stronger, or loosing weight, running with extra weights can be a good thing. But as I drove home today I envisioned a person getting ready for a race - a 5k run. Jumping up and down, ready, excited. He wore shorts and a tank top, a sweatband around his head and tennis shoes. He was amped and ready to go. There were many other runners as well, also amped and excited and ready to run the race. There was one major difference about this runner: He wore weights. Big heavy weights (like the ones you see above). He also had a ball and chain on each ankle, dumbells in his hands and leg weights. He thought he was ready.

When we approach our 5k run - the one we want to finish - our race, are we approaching with extra weight? Or have you really done everything to shed those un-needed pounds hanging on you? Anyone can see that this runner won't make it even part of the way - if he even gets started - with all this extra nonsense he's wrapped up in. And there's no way he's gonna do well - he probably won't even place when its said and done, if he even finishes.

What things still weigh you down? Failure? Guilt? Anger? Rejection? Fear? Anxiety? Frusteration? Dissapointment?

How will you run your race?

9-28-2010

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines prophecy as "understood in its strict sense, it means the foreknowledge of future events, though it may sometimes apply to past events of which there is no memory, and to present hidden things which cannot be known by the natural light of reason."

I don't know what this is about yet. I just know that I need an outlet for the prophetic strength of my spirit so I can grow it and strengthen it and learn how it works. So. That's what I'm going to do. And may God bless it because I can't do it on my own.