Food for thought

Well, I am almost done with Beth Moore's James study. It is bittersweet because I really do enjoy doing them, but I do like the success of the achievement of the finish line.

A couple things that hit me recently from the study:

In chapter 5 James says that the prayers of a righteous man have great effectiveness. Is James saying that God listens better to so called "righteous people"? I don't think so. I know that God hears all of us, but maybe when righteous people pray their motives are coming from a pure place. We all know when we want/ask for something under a different premise covering up our actual motives. The ends justifies the means, right? Well, in my opinion, I don't think we should necessarily live that way.

Remember when you were little (or maybe not so little) and you did something bad? It ate away at you all day until you finally had to tell someone. Or maybe you squashed it down and it didn't bother you, but when you were confronted about it, all the guilt came bubbling up and overwhelmed you. I can think of a couple examples in my own life. One involving me telling my mom that I had already brushed my teeth before bed, when I hadn't. I couldn't go sleep and had to get up and brush my teeth and tell my mom. Yes, I know. I was such a wicked child :) Ahh, but the feeling of relief when it is done and over. Confess it, it's forgiven, and your soul is clean. Can we think of ways to apply that in our "grown-up" lives?

Do you sometimes feel that when you are sick it is a punishment from God? I know I contemplate that sometimes. But God loves us, he doesn't want to hurt us. It doesn't add up in my head. Even Job, from the Bible. God didn't curse him, God allowed Satan to afflict him. But why? Well, God did know that Job was going to come out on the other end better than before. I still can't wrap my head around that. So, maybe when we are sick or ill or whatever, God is allowing it to happen for a reason. Maybe we just physically need some time to rest or else something worse would happen. Maybe if you hadn't called off work that day you would have been in a car accident. Thoughts, anyone?

P.S. I would love some prayers from all of you as I figure out what the next step is I want to take in my job world. Thanks!

Are we friends?

Good afternoon, folks! I realized I picked up using the word folks at Disney. Anytime I am attempting to get through a crowd of people in a work related capacity I call them "folks." It worked better at Magic Kingdom than it did for a lobby full of high school choir kids :)

Maybe it's just me, but do you ever stop listening to what others are saying because you are planning what you are going to say in response. I do it pretty much all the time. There is nothing wrong with thinking before you speak, but why do you have to stop listening to do it? I am going to try completely listening first and then planning! On the same hand, I sometimes feel that people will greatly benefit from my "superior knowledge" and if it has to be harsh, so be it. Why? Shouldn't wisdom have some gentleness to it? If you are truly wise in a matter you probably have gone through the same thing and will have some empathy.

Here's a simple thought: Ask God for what you want. He is a generous Father. He wants to bless us, but if we can't ask him for something, guess what? He isn't in it.

Bible study also had some interesting points on friendship. She brought up that friends have knowledge of your "master plan", a closeness of presence, and insider knowledge. The study was talking about how God can be your friend and that the Holy Spirit gives us insider knowledge while studying the Bible, but it was fun for me to think of my relationships and see how those themes played out.

Tough questions

I have some interesting questions for you guys today. Of course, these questions are straight from my Beth Moore study.

What good is your faith? Think about that for a second. What good is your faith? Do those we encounter benefit from it? Does the world benefit from it? It's kind of like the old hymn And they know we are Christians by our love. Or you can think of it this way. If we lived in a time (or region currently) where being Christian was grounds for great persecution, would we stand up? Or would we crumble? I don't want to elaborate much today because I want you to elaborate for yourself.

This came from the book of James. At this point he is talking about the link between faith and works. He puts is bluntly when he says:

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19)

Kind of scary isn't it? I asked it to myself this way, what makes me different than a demon? Sounds silly, as well, but it hits the nail on the head.

If these questions are hitting you hard (like they did to me), don't despair. God loves you and can create any change He wants to in you. Ask Him for a fruitful faith! God won't stop at one second chance... I believe that He will keep giving them to you.

Daily living

I feel like this James bible study is very hard hitting. James writes about life issues in very black and white terms. There doesn't seem to be a lot of gray issues with him. It's been difficult for me to look at my faith and choices under James' microscope and evaluate myself. But who am I to judge, even myself? I can say that doing this has prompted me to take action. I am trying *key word trying* to live out my faith like James describes. Although, I feel like I mess up everytime. But, Jesus still loves me!

Some of the points from the study over the last few weeks:

Ya know how when you have a scab and it's healing, but you have to go and pick at it until you break it open again? Isn't temptation like that? We all have temptations and we keep returning to them and ripping them open a little more, and when we do, we are screwing it up by ripping it open. I do believe that temptation is a process. Maybe you think about it once, then return to it again, then imagine, then act, act again, pretty soon it's a habit. It's a slippery slope no matter if your temptation is food, a person, drugs, you name it.

But, a silver lining in my pessimistic rant today, ALL GOOD THINGS ARE FROM GOD! Think of all the good things that have happened in your life. Maybe just all the good things from today. You woke up. You have your health. You have a home and a family and friends. I petted my dog. All good things. And God gave them to me. I can tell you that I definitely haven't earned them! What good things can you think of? On the same hand, don't we feel that sometimes God is holding out on us? We feel that we aren't living up to our full potential or that we need something and we will just take what we want? I have A, B, and C, but I want D and I want it now. Trying to force a situation that isn't in God's timing can have heart wrenching consequences. Waiting on God's timing can seem like the hardest thing in the world, but won't it be worth it when our D does happen?

I had a moment 2 Sundays ago where I really felt angry at Satan. Our laypastor went in for a major surgery for her colon cancer on Thursday and they announced it on Sunday. I thought, this is an attack from the enemy! Can't anyone be cancer free anymore? I feel like pretty soon everyone will have it. But you know what. He cannot break us. No matter what he does, we are God's children. He cannot take us from God's hand. In our earthly terms what is the worst case scenario? Death. Well guess what, where are we then? HEAVEN. Forever. An eternity with God. Satan cannot win.

It is easy for me to say these words when I am not close to the situation. I would hope that my words would remain the same if it was my situation. ( And I pray that it won't be.) But what simple thing can we do when we feel hopeless and angry at God? We can ASK for an increase of faith. That has never really occurred to me. I thought of faith as something you have that is given to you at a certain level, but no, we can change it. God wants to give us all these great things, and all we have to do is ask!

God, increase our faith.

Full

Well, hello all! It's been awhile. I just started a new bible study (another Beth Moore) about James. So hopefully you'll be hearing a whole lot more from me now!

A visiting pastor did a sermon at our church on Sunday entitled "Dumping the Mind Trash." It really made me think about how much junk is really floating around in our heads. For example, I sleep with my cell phone on and iPod right beside it. When I wake up the first thing I do is check my phone and then my favorite apps on my iPod. Why do I really need to be reading the top news from IMDB every morning?? Think about all the negativity that comes from your own head. It is true that you are your own worst critic. Then all the things that you pick up from society and our culture. Whispers telling you what to think and feel and how to react. Let's DUMP all that. What would happen if we could forget all the voices but the one who matters. His voice. God telling us that He loves us and that we are His beautiful children.

Random thought: So, I like sleeping. I really enjoying just being all wrapped up in my bed and waking up and drowsily rolling over and going back to sleep. As we all know, you are kind of outside time when you sleep. You don't know that 8 hours are passing; it happens in the blink of an eye. (Or maybe 5 or 6 hours!!) Ok, so God is outside of time too. Because He made it. So, I wonder if heaven will kind of be like sleeping. :)

More randomness. Sorry, this blog isn't very coherent or cohesive! In Monday's video session at bible study Beth talked about bringing our joy back. James starts out his letter saying, "Consider it pure joy my brothers..." When was the last time you felt joyful? James is even speaking about joy when thinking about your trials... we can't even be joyful when we are happy. Let's try and be joyful at least once this week. I wonder what will happen.

We talk about faith a lot as Christians. About how we are saved by faith and not by works. And James is in agreement with that fact, but he speaks a lot about doing works as well. The concept that if we don't have fruit from our faith, that it is meaningless. He brings up a good point. How are we acting in our lives? We can talk the talk but are we walking the walk? When was the last time that you (or me) stepped out of our comfort zone and did some good works? I really do want to do something, so those of you in this area, let me know if you have any ideas! On the same note, my "homework" from the study talking about giving to the poor. Now we don't have to think of it in monetary terms but it is a simple comparison. Remember that the "poor" are out there and we should be giving. Whether we are giving encouragement, money, time, or knowledge.

P.S. My new favorite website is pinterest.com-- Check it out. Warning: it is going to be a girly website :)

Forgiveness is divine

Can you imagine if we could forgive like God does? When God forgives I believe He forgets as well. Like the incident never happened. You are white as snow again.

I know I have trouble doing this. We like to say, forget about it, but I don't think we really do. Oh, here, Sally, here's $100 bucks, don't worry about it. BUT the next time you and Sally do something, you think, oh well lets do this because I forgot that last time I loaned her a 100 bucks and maybe if we do A, B, or C she will remember, or pay for me or something.

We are all humans. We make mistakes. We forgive but we usually don't forget. Is that a bad thing? Sometimes yes, but we also learn from our mistakes. I forgive you for cheating on me this time, but I know to be wary in the future. We don't want to be a carpet that gets walked all over either.

So, let's try something. Let's actually try to forgive and forget the next time someone wrongs you. Think, What would Jesus do?

Hello, stranger!

Sorry, it's been awhile! Disclaimer to any male readers: This is aimed more for my readers of the girl persuasion! (But I'm sure you can appreciate it too)

Recently, this verse from Proverbs 31:30 has been bouncing around in my head.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Now, let's think about this. Charm. If you are trying to "charm" someone aren't you putting on an act? Aren't you pretending to be something you aren't? So, I can see how charm is deceptive.

Beauty. Some have it, some don't. We all want to increase it and hold on to it, but we can't. Our actual physical beauty will fade. Not to be crude, but I don't think any of us look at a 90 year old woman and think she is physically beautiful. Although, I'm sure she is beautiful in other ways :)

Well, where does that leave us? We are ugly and not charming. I guess we are useless now.

Unless we have different priorities in life than beauty and grace! Now I am definitely not saying that I have never spent any of my time trying to be beautiful :) And, honestly, I'm not going to stop. But, I am going to try to see past all these worldly notions and focus on what I should be all along: My walk with God. I believe that if I am concentrating on the right things I can feel beautiful and charming even by being myself! Not that my life will become a cake walk, but because my focus will be on the one who will help me through anything.

Maybe in the next couple days I will receive some more insight on this verse, but I wanted to share it since I haven't been able to get it out of my head.

Time Out

Let's all take a second, shall we? I have a mission for you. I want you to take a moment and stop to breathe. I don't care what you believe about Christmas or the holiday season. I want you (and me) to pause for a moment and contemplate what Christmas really means to you this year. It might mean faith, presents, family, or love. Whatever it means to you, let's take a second and remember that this year.

Comfortable

The guest speaker at church today had a really great point I'd like to share with all of you. Staying in a place where you are comfortable isn't going to invite change. He pointed out that doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result is defined as insanity! So rather than being insane, let's pull some focus. Being comfortable isn't a bad thing. But staying in your comfort zone isn't going to allow you to grow. He was speaking spiritually, but this could be applied in your relationships or professional life. Taking that jump and doing something different can reward you in so many ways. I encourage you (and myself) to apply this! I know that I am creature of habit (and like it that way!), but if I can bring myself to change my routine, God could have the surprise of my life waiting just around the corner! (or "just around the river bend" if you prefer!)

Am I _________?

This question dawned on me last night. Who are you asking your question too? It can be any question, but I was thinking in the terms of questions about yourself. How many of you ask yourself these types of questions?

Am I good enough? Am I pretty? Am I going to be OK? Am I going to get thorough this? Am I physically fit?

I ask myself these questions. And, I think, sometimes we take these questions to men. (not males, but people in general- well in my case, males might be appropriate sometimes) Why are we looking for verification from the world. Whatever answer you get you aren't going to be satisfied with it. Because deep down you know that no matter how many times the answer stays the same, or even is an answer you like, your question isn't truly answered. The only person you need to take your "me" questions to is God. The world can tell you that you are OK, but only God can really start to truly make you believe His answers.

Have we no shame?

I was driving home the other night from a fantabulous dinner with some awesome people and I was listening to Brad Paisley. (P.S. that new Montana Chop House in Hermitage is great! Pricey, but yummy) I've decided I really like Brad Paisley's music. He sings about a lot of stuff from sad songs, to sappy songs, to fun songs. I briefly questioned my judgement when I heard a song about cigars. Literally. Just cigars. Anyway, this is all beside the point. One of my earliest favorites of his is the song called "Little Moments." It talks about all those times his girl did something that was so small, but significant in his eyes.

It starts out with "Well,  I'll never forget the first time that I heard, that pretty mouth say that dirty word. And I can't even remember now what she backed my truck into, but she covered her mouth and her face got red and she just looked so darn cute..." So this got me thinking, when would this ever happen? I honestly don't think people get embarrassed anymore. If you don't like it, don't look type of mentality. We aren't ashamed. We don't get embarrassed when we swear. That is considered a minor occurrence. We are considered odd if we don't swear often. Have we lost our ability to feel shame in any situation? Maybe not, but we don't like the feeling. The fact that we are vulnerable and can screw up. We try to use excuses but guess what? We are human. We aren't perfect. So revel in the fact that we can be ashamed. Use it to learn from our mistakes and to open up and be vulnerable, not push them off and try to power through it. I know I can try to do this more often.

Long Time Coming

Sorry, everybody, I know it's been awhile. Some of you have been asking me about the lag time. Well, I'm lazy. (See previous blogs, haha). So hopefully, I forget about why I wrote down these ideas!

Ever feel like you need to get out of your own way. I feel like that's how God feels about us sometimes. He's just like, OK, Krystle, just let it happen. Stop trying. Just go. When we relax and let everything happen, it won't slip through our fingers.

So, I'm pretty sure that we've all heard the verse, "Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship" Well, I've always heard of that in respect to sexual purity. Recently, I've been thinking about it in a whole new manner. If my body is God's temple because the Holy Spirit is living in me, shouldn't I be taking care of it in a very strict manner? I mean this is a TEMPLE. The ancient Pharaoh's, who considered themselves gods, had droves of slaves to keep their bodies pretty looking. I want to apply this concept. Shouldn't I be eating healthy and exercising? I want to keep my "temple" 100% fit for what God needs. I've also been looking at the self control aspect of it. I don't have a problem with self control in some aspects, but in others... I definitely do. I've decided to consciously try and work on anger. I get pretty frustrated at work with some of the guests, and I'm trying to change that. I haven't had a good track record yet of denying that extra cookie though :)

Along with the anger issue, how about that "we are supposed to turn the cheek" idea. I have SUCH an issue with that. If you are going to hate on me, I really don't want to be nice to you. For example, the people who scream at you at work. Well sorry, buddy, if I was gonna bend the rules for you, I am DEFINITELY NOT going to now. I know work is kind of a bad example because of the various rules, but you see my point. As Americans, all in control, and masters of our own destiny, we have problems taking things lying down. I suppose actively accepting a circumstance and not fighting back actually shows a better self discipline, than anger.

Now, speaking of discipline, let's picture something for a minute. You are a toddler. You did something wrong. Mom or Dad comes and disciplines you. Now, did they explain your circumstances in a detailed manner? No. They disciplined you to your measure. I think that God kind of does the same thing. He disciplines you to what you can handle. Same thing with temptation. He only allows you to be tempted to what you can handle. How awesome would it be to be on a full disclosure discipline level with God? Pretty cool, but I"m not there yet.

A couple last parting shots. Let's try to look for our blessings here on earth. We are trying to store up treasure in heaven, but let's look for our treasures here on earth. They may be "hiding" in plain sight; we might not even recognize them!

Last but not least: Don't ever sexually objectify anyone. Let's just leave it at that.

Jolly Holiday

So, I was listening to Jolly Holiday from the Mary Poppins soundtrack today. (Judge me if you will, but Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke are amazing) I was singing along (of course) and Julie and I got to this part (Mary singing to Bert): "....You'd never think of pressing your advantage, for bearance is the hallmark of your creed. A lady needn't fear when you are near, your sweet gentility is crystal clear!..."

How opposite is that in today's society. Men are not respected by other men and women alike if they aren't "manly", aggressive, or overly suggestive. Now, of course, this isn't everyone, but speaking broadly it applies. If a guy doesn't "press his advantage" the gal is left thinking that he isn't interested. Possibly not in women at all.

As far as bearance, everyone doesn't think too much of that when they are out drunk at the club. All actions can be crazy and blamed on alcohol. As far as "ladies fearing" that would be going a little far. Unless, of course, they are breaking into your house. But, some guys are VERY pushy. I've been in situations, both personal and professional, when people just keep pushing and pressing. Just let it go. She's not interested and is waiting for you to leave. Of course, initiating situations isn't a bad thing. We're talking about extreme situations.

I fear that gentlemen are a dying breed. Being sensitive isn't a bad thing. To all the gentlemen out there, I salute you for maintaining your bearing. Trust me, the ladies, do love you.

Independent

Do we realize how lazy we are? I do sometimes. Yes, I think I am a hard worker, but I am also very lazy. I was sitting at work doing the crossword puzzle the other day (very badly, might I add) and one of the clues was a fill in the blank bible verse that I wasn't familiar with. Did I stand up and walk the 2 feet to the computer to look it up? Did I reach out my arm to my bag to grab my iPod to connect to the wifi to look it up? No. I was too lazy. I was going to post about this yesterday at work, but I was too lazy. Granted, this isn't an extreme circumstance, but it makes me think about the people in third world countries who literally break their backs working to put enough food on their table to sustain them.
Speaking of our "daily bread" the sermon on Sunday went along with my thoughts. You know the Lord's Prayer right? "... Give us this day our daily bread..." Do we pray for that? Do we pray every day to to receive that? I don't. In our society we feel we don't have to rely on anyone for our daily bread. We are independent. (Hear us roar!) I think sometimes, we don't think that we have to rely on God. We are so self-sustaining, so selfish, that we forget who gave us all our blessings. Who gave you the skills for your $100, 000/yr job? Maybe your winning personality? Well, who gave you that personality?

We have been given SO much, yet we fail to be thankful at all. We expect it. Maybe this post should hit a little closer to Thanksgiving, haha. We are so blessed. Let's praise God for that. I read something once that said, " If you can afford to go to the store, buy a book, and have the education to read it, you are one of the wealthiest people."

So, what are we complaining about? What little things do we say each day? My favorite boots are missing. Mom, why can't you stop asking me questions. My windshield wipers are bad, I'll have to buy new ones. Well, congratulations. You have shoes. You have a family. You have a car. And most of all. We have God. We are blessed beyond belief.

Selfish

I had to go to the AM session of Bible Study today and boy, am I glad I did. Her main point was selfishness vs. sacrifice. It really hit home for me. I took a look at my life, my job, my daily interactions, and was I surprised. What do I do to take up my cross daily and follow God? How do I offer myself as a living sacrifice? Sure, I do tithe, but honestly, that's not hurting me right now. What costs me to give? And am I giving it to God? Like Beth read, if it doesn't cost us, we don't think of it as expensive. And we value things that cost us and guard them. I want my life to be like that. I want to jealously guard my relationship with God against that world. We are not going to live unselfishly with out meaning too. From the minute we wake up til bed we think me, me, me, me. Maybe I'm worse since I'm an only child and don't have any kids of my own to think of and take care of. I live with my parents, essentially, they are still taking care of me.

And we all know that thru giving we receive *Christmas message anyone?* But I don't want to give in order to receive. That shouldn't be the motivator. I want to try seeing what God wants, not what I want.

I'm sure some people would think it's crazy to want to have something cost you, but it makes sense to me. Give it up to Jesus. Because when we do, we find what our true life. And that's something selfish me wants.

I really hope that I can take my own advice on this.

Am I the problem?

Am I part of the problem, or part of the solution? I think we all have to ask ourselves that. In relation to anything: work, school, relationships. If we truly take a look at our conflicts in life, I think we may find ourselves more problematic than we think.

If we all try to think as a team and not a selfish individual we might have less conflict.

Short and sweet :)

Did you know?

Did you know that 27% of the Bible is prophecy? AND 20% of the books of the Bible are prophetic! Wow. I guess that means we should be paying attention to prophecy. I don't know about you, but when I think of prophecy I think of some hokey thing from a Harry Potter book :) Like I said before, I didn't know I was going to like studying Daniel's prophecies but I do.

I think in our culture today we forget how destructive pride can be. We don't think about what it does. I'm not even though thinking about it :) I think to myself, what is wrong with a dad being proud of his little girl who learns how to kick a ball for the first time. Maybe nothing, IF we don't let pride inflate us. But think about all the things pride can lead to. Fights at high school football games. Broken friendships. Thoughts anyone?

More random plot twists- Have you ever asked yourself, Can God trust me? Does God look at you and say, "Oh, yes, that's Sally, she can handle this situation." Or is it, "Well... maybe I won't let her be a part of this one." I know I need to ask myself that question. I don't think I would be in the affirmative category right now. I know I need to pretty much be on my knees praying that I can get to that level of trust with God.

Speaking of praying, isn't it awesome that we have Jesus Christ interceding on our behalf to the Father? I mean. Jesus. yeah. Him praying for us. How powerful!

Sorry this is random tonight. Lots of little tidbits. In my bible study, Beth said something to the effect of isn't it great that we don't just hope that Jesus is the son of God- we know. Now, sometimes I have to take a look at my faith and relationship and say ok, girl, this is where I am. Look at what is right in front of you. Faith is one of those things for me. But, I'm dealing with. I guess I'm just putting it here to see if maybe it can be encouraging for you. You aren't the only one who struggles.

Last random note, Since I've been reading a lot about prophecy the possibility of theopany (appearance of Christ after he ascended into heaven but before he comes back- or something like that. Google it!) How crazy awesome is this stuff. I mean Daniel was sitting there praying and wham!!! there was (what some scholars to be) Jesus. Daniel freaked out. So would I. What would be your reaction if Jesus Christ literarily appeared before you. Yeah. Man. Imagine that. I guess we don’t' have to b/c some day it will be a reality in eternity. But if during my life he did appear and I wasn't dead, what would I do. I don't know. What would you do?

Love-> Marriage, Marriage->Love....

So here’s some food for thought. I was watching Aladdin on TV last night (great movie!) And it occurred to me that after their magic carpet ride and kiss everyone is all happy happy and the sultan and Jasmine jump right into the marriage card. “You’ll be married at once!” Even though no one really proposes or asks. Not that I’m criticizing one of my favorite Disney movies of all time, just thinking.

In the real world, at least the real world in our culture, we’ve become accustom to huge and sweeping romantic epic. We expect huge proposals, elaborate weddings and a storyline that most woman would cry if they read it. But when exactly did this shift take place? Didn’t it used to be marriages were strategic alliances for families, countries, and royalty? Again, not that I’m complaining. I’d like to pick my own husband, thank you very much. Was our culture “Disney-fied” at some point? If you ask anyone, including me (not that I’m getting married currently, haha), why are you marrying this person you will get a common answer in some way or another. Love. I love him/her. I can’t imagine life without her/him, etc.

Even in the Bible a lot of the marriages you read about are political. I mean Adam and Eve were married, but they were kinda the only option. Yes, there are love stories in the Bible. (Ever read Song of Solomon?) But I want to know where our American romantic expectations meet real life. Marriages are hard work. (Or so I’ve heard!) Where does God’s plan fit into all this? Yes, I think God loves us so much He wants us to be happy and loved by our spouse, but it’s not like I can think of scripture at the moment that says, “Marry your spouse because you love them” So I guess my basic question is when/what prompted the move of marriage from an alliance where love could grow, to love that makes you want to form an alliance.

I guess I do expect that someday I will “be in love” and will get married according to God’s plan for my life. But is this sweeping epic love we think of today part of the love God wants us to experience.

I think I’m rambling now. I hope you understood some of that!

*Cue the song “A Whole New World”

~~~which by the way, I do plan on playing at least once at my wedding J

Does God hear our prayers?

Answer: Absolutely. He hears us and answers! Even if the answer isn't what we want. But He cares about us. Even little things. Real time example:

I'm at work. Due to unforseen circumstances we were overbooked a room. Enter in prayer. When I checked my status next I wasn't oversold any more!!!! We had someone cancel! Praise, Jesus. It's such a small thing, but God is listening to you!

Moving mountains

So I saw a verse today in Psalms that was pretty awesome. It talked about how God is just storing up good things for us. Isn’t that cool? He is like a Dad who is just buying up everything for his little one’s birthday and just so excited for them to unwrap it on that special day. Everyday can be our “birthdays” from God. Pray that you can receive and use all the amazing things God is waiting to give you because we are precious to Him. He loves us and wants us to do great things.

You know how you read the bible and see all these miraculous signs and wonders and think to yourself, man that would be cool if that happened these days! It can! (I sound like a tv salesman!) We have something better than an angelic visitor or vision! We have the Holy Spirit with us at all times! A part of the Trinity inside us. Wow. I mean think about it. It’s the whole mustard seed thing. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can move mountains.