WHAT ARE YOU PURSUING?

When you think about it, we are pursuing something almost all day long.  What I have to do to plan supper, get those things out and decide what time we eat etc.  You need to call someone.  You have housework, or a client to call back.  Some like to think I know where every bathroom is between here and Florida.  We are looking for employment, a new friends telephone number, getting a grandchild something for their birthday.  Should I volunteer for church greeter, the kids department, parking attendant, sound technician, part time job. . .you get my drift.

We can probably say we make a lot of those decisions on our own.  What would happen if I didn't put anything in front of Jesus on any given day.  What if I said. . ."Lord Jesus, I am considering doing such and such, is this what you want me to do?"  "Would it bring honor, glory, and truth to You and me to do this?"

I propose that if you seek a pursuit let Him shed the light on it if He wants it.  If He does not, He'll change your heart's desire.

Psalm 37 4: 7.  But in particular 4:  Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

I also like 5 because it talks about how do we do this. . .Commit your way to the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

Keeping in mind here, that if you have a pursuit and it seems really real to you, then process it with the Lord.  That is what He wants every day fro us anyway.  I have experienced Him changing my mind and desire about that pursuit.  I am also convicted to tell you that I have gone on and done what I wanted to do.  No big surprise to some of you.  It turned out badly.  Not doing that anymore.

In these very cautious and precarious days, it is time for us to Pursuit only Him, and anything in between.

PROCESS IT ALWAYS WITH YOUR ONE AND ONLY COUNSELOR!  JESUS CHRIST!

HERE IS TO US ALL!

II CORINTHIANS 5: 17

Therefore if any person is (in-grafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether);  the previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away.  Behold, the fresh and new has come.

Behold, the fresh and new is coming!  Believing and Receiving is but a milometer apart!

Take it all in, and enjoy!

THE BIGGEST WORD WE KNOW!

Is BELIEVE!  Do you believe when you sit down in that chair it will be there when you sit?
Do you believe the sun comes up every day?  At least here or somewhere it does?   Do you believe you are loved by the Lord God Jehovah?  And, most of all Do You Believe that He works ALL things together for good to them that are called according to His purpose?   Romans 8: 28

I will hear the most famous line that goes with that, a million times.  "Well, I sure hope He does!"

Wow!  So what would you want a personally signed letter that He will promise to bring that situation together for good that you have prayed for - for ten years, maybe 30 years?

We are all guilty on that one.  I am saying nothing new here.  We are all impatient and want to tell God What, When, and Where!

I mentioned this on my business Facebook awhile back. . .When my good friend Anna said to me "God's Got It!", that was the cement, the glue, the "stuff" I needed to be reminded that BELIEVE is a permanent marker on my life.  In Jesus Calling the devotional book, not too many days ago, it said make friends with your problems and see me fit them all together for good.  After thinking on that awhile I could see that we do tend to get rattled and distracted by problems.  I have met some people that actually freeze up emotionally when things get over the top.  We BELIEVE we have to do something, or we BELIEVE God won't do what is needed quick enough. 

Our real commitment here is to really embrace our problems, turn them over to Jesus and BELIEVE He will fit them, fix them and work them all together for good.  RELAX!  Uhhh!  I hear that sigh you just made.  No, really.  I have had two months of coming to terms with this very concept.  I have been a Christian for a long time.  Yes, I have read the Bible many times.  Yes, I have even applied His Word to my life.  But, this time I smile, because this one I finally get, experienced it, and had no choice but to SEE IT!  Be careful.  God brings things around as many times as is need be until we get it.  He got me through this last month when i thought I would burst at the seams.  Medical crisis after medical crisis with friends, ourselves, two funerals and the death of our beloved Dakota.  Three snow storms and clean up just to get to all these things.  I turned it into a daily mantra.  God's Got It! He has the light on my path, all I have to do is take His hand and walk it.  BELIEVE, and don't make Him bring that circumstance around for the 18th time.

God's Got It!  Spring is officially on it's way.  Whew!

JESUS CALLING!

It has certainly been a very rocky road this past week.  With still so many mixed emotional sadness's, I would like to share something from my devotional. . .Jesus Calling!

A single mother wrote this devotional book.  Her mother read her journal and told her she should put these thoughts from her mind (she felt Jesus was saying to her) into a book. 

From February 26th -

I AM LEADING YOU, STEP BY STEP, through your life.  Hold my hand in trusting dependence, letting Me guide you through this day.  Your future looks uncertain and feels flimsy - even precarious.  That is how it should be.  Secret Things belong to the Lord, and future things are secret things.  When you try to figure out the future, you are grasping at things that are Mine.  This, like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion:  doubting My promises to care for you.

Whenever you find yourself worrying about the future, repent to Me.  I will show you the next step forward, and the one after that, and the one after that.  Relax and enjoy the journey in My Presence, trusting Me to open up the way before you as you go.

Deuteronomy 29: 29 and Psalm 32: 8

Psalm 32: 8

I (the Lord) will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

I also work hard at remembering Deut. 31: 8   Where I read about how He goes before me, and He walks with me in whatever my life is leading.  So, that tells me He's Got It! And, even though it seems really precarious, He's Got it!  Good stuff.  Take it all in.  You can trust it, you can trust Him.

A NEW CHAPTER!

To My Very Best Friend, Dakota Marie Souder:

There are so many beautiful pictures of you, I could hardly pick one.  However, I chose this one, because it was at a very good time in your life.  You were vibrant, visual, could hear, chase squirrels and charm the pants off me.

Your birthday was probably sometime in May of 2000.

At that time I was praying for you.  I wanted a dog from God.  And, I got you.  I saw the ad in the Peddlers Post paper.   There were two or three shih tzu’s and I asked God to put the area code of the right one through my mind.  He did, and the rest is history.

It was a Tuesday night the June 27^th, 2000, just before July 4^th and we first went to the lake area up north to find a swim platform.  We decided to get it and were on the way home and I said “let’s get off at the Kendallville exit!” And, we drove to where you lived near Kendallville.  Those people were not so great, but they brought out one puppy and it was not right.  So I asked to see the other one.  You were totally brown with black ears and you had a black beard.  I knew you were the one.  You weren’t white like John thought I would choose, but you were the one!

Page 2

It was love at first site.  We have had quite a journey together.  You have warmed my heart with your beauty and how you began turning to cream colors and what a brilliant surprise that was.  You were so gorgeous.  You loved life and everything in it.  Especially squirrels.  What fun that was to go to Eckhart Park and be there all by ourselves.  I would let you out of the car and all I had to say was “Squirrel!”  It was a riot!  You got us in trouble a lot

of times next door at Lakewood Park Church and School. One day, they were all playing ball out in the soccer fields and we were a long way away;  I opened the car door and you heard them way over there.  And, off you went.  How embarrassing that was that I had to run over there and get you.  You would run in circles so I couldn’t catch you.  It was over the top horrible.  Some of the kids would run you until you passed out.  I began to see some future problems right then.  Your breathing issues would be your end. 

There were lots of people in my life who loved you and you loved them.  John, Chris Schnelker, Brenda Bishop, Dotty Miller, Coni Cook, Cindy Heffley, Connie Riser, Lori DeWitt, Kelly and Aly Noble, Maggie Carpenter all my small group ladies;  lots of people will miss you.

It was the summer of 2008 when things began to go south.  John had cancer and I remember it was July 4^th and your daddy went to see Ellen and the kids.  I had a urinary infection and you couldn’t breath.  We both were never quite the same after that with all the stress of that year, even though daddy became cancer free. You were on all kinds of allergy medicine, shots, and then heart medicine. A year later you would start to lose your eye sight. We tried to keep that from happening, but by 2013 it became permanent.  Things changed from 2010 on because then I had to stop taking you to the Pet

Page 3

Lodge and find a house/pet sitter.  It took some time, but we did find Maggie Carpenter.   We finally

got out to Burbank – to see Jay Leno etc. and to Chicago at Thanksgiving. 

It has been really fascinating to see how well you did with loosing your site, we went on walks all the time in the woods – I knew you were a cowgirl and I so respected you for that.  So in 2012 I said to you a promise.  Please don’t lose your hearing too, but if you do, I promise to not keep you here out of selfishness.

And, so here we are, saying goodbye or at least waving goodbye until we meet at Rainbow Bridge.

Your beloved groomer gave that to me when Missie Doodle died in June of 2000.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.  When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.  There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.  There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who have been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

Page 4

The animals are happy and content except for one small thing - - they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.  They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance.  His (hers) bright eyes are intent, his(her) eager body begins to quiver suddenly he (she) begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his (her) legs carrying them faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.  The happy kisses rain upon your face, your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.  Then, together, you and your special pet cross the Rainbow Bridge.

TRIBUTE:  I have never had an animal like you.  I even wrote down over 300 words and phrases I knew you understood.  Any other dog will never surpass the respect I held for you.  Your paw prints are forever on my heart.

Page 5

DAKOTA MARIE SOUDER

May 22, 2000 -  February 22, 2014

"It came to me that everytime I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them,

and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart.

If I live long enough all the components of my heart will be dog, and

I will become as generous and loving as they are."  Anonymous

I see other pictures didn't load!

SPEAK IT! PART TWO!

Last week I talked about several components of Speak it!  How the tongue is a very important tool and resource for spreading the word.  It can also be a dangerous tool of spreading the word. 

We read in God's Word so many wonderful promises, and three things I want to be sure we embrace. . .

God is truth. . .

God is Positive. . .

God is bold. . .

And, there is one thing He is NOT!  Negative.  He is also never a liar, nor does He fail at anything.
He tells us clearly in Deut. 31: 8, he will never fail, abandon, or forsake us.  Lassoing our thoughts, taking captive all negative thoughts is a big job for the human being.  So part two concludes with your making a choice.  That choice is to be more like Jesus every day of your life.  In order to do that, you must speak to the enemy and be clear with that liar that he is done messing in your thoughts, and life.  When Jesus shed His blood on Calvary it was for everything we have ever done or could think of doing.  For every thought, for every negative and bad behavior the world has ever thought to use.

Speak it!  I plead the protection of the blood of Jesus Christ over my mind, my subconscious, and my body.  Over my entire life, personality, finances everything.  Jesus, I gladly turn my life over to you today.  Use me to bless someone with who you are even if I only act it out, but most of all when I speak it out.  If God's Got It, and you Believe it, then speak it out.  Do not give the enemy a foothold.

Thank you God for Jeremiah 29: 11 where He talks about how He has plans for our life - a life that prospers and has hope for a future in it.  Prosper (according to Pastor Stuart this morning) means balance in every component of our life.  Well being, balance, prudence.  It doesn't always mean you will have wealth.  But wealth is in peace, wealth as in living out a day with God's Got It, so speak it, believe it, receive it, live it!

SPEAK IT!

"DEATH AND LIFE ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE, AND THEY WHO INDULGE IN IT SHALL EAT THE FRUIT OF IT (FOR DEATH OR LIFE)!"

Proverbs 18: 21 AMP Version

God's Word in James talks a lot about the tongue and how we can get into trouble or can light up a person's life.  I could write forever about how to use this very important step in exploring the powerful relationship we have with Jesus Christ.  

A).  There is that whole thinking before you open your mouth to Speak It!  Do you? 

Proverbs is full of Godly wisdom about how we talk to others.  We can be a fool and utter critical, damaging things that tear them down.  Or, we can judge them and call them out on it.  We learn in Bible Studies, Church, and in Psychological books, that what we are really doing here is making ourselves look better.  I call it ONEUPSMANSHIP!  As we see in our scripture it is very simple.
We can cause death or life by NOT thinking or praying before we speak it!  I talked with a client yesterday and how desperately he wants to learn to manage that part of his personality.  It isn't easy, and that is why we go to our Lord, we must seek Him and yell Help!  In my clients case he needed a certain medication to calm down that side of the brain and focus.  It is working.  And, now He wants help to learn after 3 decades how to stop that immediate access to his thoughts.

STOPPING OR SLOWING DOWN THAT IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO YOUR THOUGHTS!

You must first want to and our Lord points out many times in his Word, that we must.  And, that He will help!!!

James 3: 2/12

B).  Calling things not as though they were!

Romans 4: 17  " . . . -the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."

Not much is said about this verse in the general church congregations.  People who discuss this realm of SPEAK IT! are afraid to say. . ."Thank God for the healing of cancer that is in my body, I praise your Name for bringing your healing and life to me!"   Many of us were brought up to believe that to ask such a thing of God was blasphemous and boastful.  Arrogant and Egotistical.  Erik Weimer of Upward Christian Living Book Store SPEAKS IT!  I wrote about this earlier.  He had a very bad bladder situation and no insurance and no money to fix it.  He could die.  He boldly spoke to God this way. . ."You know I don't have insurance or money for the operation, so either you are going to heal me, and in that case I thank and praise you Father God for your touch, or you are going to take me home with you."  God touched him and he hasn't had a kidney or bladder malfunction since.  There are evangelists who would claim they pray, by speaking it, believing it and receiving it.  Therefore they have no colds, sickness or disease.  I have problems with that since God indicates we will have trouble in our lives, the rain comes on the just and unjust.  But I also agree with Erik and how he went about his prayer of knowing that God would do one or the other.  He also commented that God could have provided the money for the operation.  He chose to honor how he spoke it!.

Sometime ago when I saw how negative I could think about things, and even speak negativity, I began the task of changing my thinking and my speaking.  Lassoing your thoughts can be quite the job.  II Cor. 10: 5 shows us that God wants us to take captive our thoughts that trouble and bring on ill actions.  God blesses obedience to all His commands.  I probably should look for a lasso on line and run a picture of it for you.  Visualizing that helps me so much when I start to get a thought that isn't welcomed or good for me.  Thoughts turn into ideas, ideas turn into attitudes, attitudes turn into actions.

THOUGHTS TURN INTO IDEAS!    IDEAS TURN INTO ATTITUDES!  ATTITUDES TURN INTO ACTIONS!

        L   A   S   S   O, TAKE CAPTIVE YOUR THOUGHTS TO BRING OBEDIENCE UNTO GOD.
        
        Watch this week and take into consideration how you might think positive, speak positive, and act with positivity.  (And with this weather, that will take DISCIPLINE!   Discipline is a DISCIPLINE!   I am not done with SPEAK IT!  Yet!