What a beautiful place to be!!! In His Presence, as I cry out to Him, "Father, change me!" With my heart surrendered I come to Him and humble myself. With a repentance and desire; with a willingness and knowing, that I want and need to change, and that He wants and needs to change me! How precious; how merciful, sweet, and gentle He is, when I stand before Him in my sin and cry out to Him for help! How it blesses Him to see a heart that truly wants to change; a heart that finally sees that HE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN "DO IT".
After being defeated, and despairing in trying to make changes within myself, I realize that the assurance that I have in myself is a great deception, and that the only assurance that I have for victory in this life is in, and through, Jesus Christ! I know this. We all profess to know this, right? As born again, spirit filled Christians, we proclaim it from the roof tops and witness this message to others at any given opportunity. And we should! But... are we living it? Where is Jesus in my life? What areas am I allowing Him to come into, and what areas am I keeping Him out of? How often do I ask," Lord, change me in this area," and then invite Him in to do the work that needs to be done? Or how often does the Holy Spirit bring conviction upon me, only for me to tell Him," Oh, no, I don't need any help in that area of my life. I have it all under control".
I have done that sooooo many times in my walk with the Lord, that sometimes I have even questioned my salvation! How could I possibly be saved and be living for Jesus if I am ignoring the very One who has given His life for mine; the One who I love so very much, and the One whom I have devoted my entire life too?? Doesn't make much sense, does it? Well, it does to Jesus. He knows that we have this flesh to deal with, and He knows that we also all have a free will, to make choices and decisions, on our own, and apart from Him!
Since my husband Paul and I got married almost 3 years ago, I can say in great truthfulness and humility that I cannot find one area in my life that DOESN'T need the help of Jesus... to make some great changes IN ME!! Marriage tends to bring out the worst in us at times, yet if we will allow God to make those needed changes in us, we will see the best of Him!!!
I have experienced the changing power of God in my marriage! He has shown me, and I have asked and allowed Him, to make those adjustments, those changes in my heart, that I could never have made on my own! Changes that I didn't even know were necessary! ( His ways are Perfect, and He knows exactly how, what, when, and where to touch your life...especially when you don't! ) And oh, to His Glory, I see that the adjustments; the changes that He makes in me, are all for the purpose of bringing me closer to Him; of knowing Him more intimately and surrendering to Him in His awesome Perfect Love that He has for me, and for my marriage! So I go now before His throne of Grace crying out, "Abba, Father, I know this will be painful, but CHANGE ME!! I want more of YOU, and less of me! I want to see You in all of Your Glory; in my life, in my marriage, in my children, and in my grandchildren! Do Your Perfect work in me, Father! Convict me, and bring me to my knees in full surrender to you!" This is my prayer for us all.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Kiss of Life
Not to many months ago I took a class to learn CPR. This stands for "cardiopulmonary resuscitation," which is defined as "...an emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration for a person who has collapsed and has no pulse and has stopped breathing; attempts to restore circulation of the blood and prevent death or brain damage due to lack of oxygen."
God gave man this amazing medical knowledge! How incredible to know that we can have that knowledge, just by taking a class and being taught the procedure involved; to physically stimulate another human beings heart, to restore the blood flow throughout thier entire bodies, and to prevent bodily damage and death! That persons life is literally in your hands as you use your hands to massage thier heart, and as you place your mouth over that of anothers to resusitate, you are giving them your breath.
I am right now thinking JESUS. Isn't He the CPR that God gave us? Didn't He know that we were in need of a major emergency procedure that would bring us back to Him? Bring us back to Life? He knew we were spiritually collapsed; He knew that we no longer had a pulse for Him; that it was non-existant, and that we had stopped breathing. He knew that we needed the Blood to flow out, and then into, our lives. And He knew also that without it, we would be, and remain, dead!
With every breath God gives me, I stand in awe of just how much He loves me! How He loved me first, and how He loved me enough to give me Jesus; to give me CPR, so that I might live! He gave His life, and then brought me back to life! Now I have a heart for Him, and my every breath is because of Him. I don't have to walk around brain dead any longer, and I don't rely on external hands to massage my heart. Jesus holds me in His Hands now, and is continually, ever so gently, massaging my heart, and breathing His precious Life into mine.
The CPR definition above says that it is an "attempt to restore circulation of the blood and prevent death..." but Jesus's definition states;
"IT IS FINISHED!"
There are alot of "walking dead" among us. People who are experiencing cardiac arrest, and need the Hands of Jesus to touch them, and to perform His CPR on them. Yet, do they know and have they heard? Are we telling people about the Greatest Teacher Alive, and that they, too, can become a student of His, to learn of Him and sit with Him, for eternity? Do they know that they can take His class, and live and NOT die!?! I myself have determined to be bolder, and to start giving 'mouth to mouth resuscitation' to those walking dead every chance I get! I am going to give them the "Kiss of Life" ! I'm going to massage thier hearts with the Word of God, and watch HIM BREATHE on them!
God gave man this amazing medical knowledge! How incredible to know that we can have that knowledge, just by taking a class and being taught the procedure involved; to physically stimulate another human beings heart, to restore the blood flow throughout thier entire bodies, and to prevent bodily damage and death! That persons life is literally in your hands as you use your hands to massage thier heart, and as you place your mouth over that of anothers to resusitate, you are giving them your breath.
I am right now thinking JESUS. Isn't He the CPR that God gave us? Didn't He know that we were in need of a major emergency procedure that would bring us back to Him? Bring us back to Life? He knew we were spiritually collapsed; He knew that we no longer had a pulse for Him; that it was non-existant, and that we had stopped breathing. He knew that we needed the Blood to flow out, and then into, our lives. And He knew also that without it, we would be, and remain, dead!
With every breath God gives me, I stand in awe of just how much He loves me! How He loved me first, and how He loved me enough to give me Jesus; to give me CPR, so that I might live! He gave His life, and then brought me back to life! Now I have a heart for Him, and my every breath is because of Him. I don't have to walk around brain dead any longer, and I don't rely on external hands to massage my heart. Jesus holds me in His Hands now, and is continually, ever so gently, massaging my heart, and breathing His precious Life into mine.
The CPR definition above says that it is an "attempt to restore circulation of the blood and prevent death..." but Jesus's definition states;
"IT IS FINISHED!"
There are alot of "walking dead" among us. People who are experiencing cardiac arrest, and need the Hands of Jesus to touch them, and to perform His CPR on them. Yet, do they know and have they heard? Are we telling people about the Greatest Teacher Alive, and that they, too, can become a student of His, to learn of Him and sit with Him, for eternity? Do they know that they can take His class, and live and NOT die!?! I myself have determined to be bolder, and to start giving 'mouth to mouth resuscitation' to those walking dead every chance I get! I am going to give them the "Kiss of Life" ! I'm going to massage thier hearts with the Word of God, and watch HIM BREATHE on them!
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