Day 55

Tonight the woman's group at church started a new Beth Moore study.  For the next nine weeks we will be working on an intense spiritual workout called Believing God.  I am so excited to see what the LORD will be doing in all of our lives.  Just the fact that I am comfortable in a group of women in big for me, but I know that HE has so much more planned.  Recently, I have just begin to understand the GOD has an inheritance for me, a spiritual promise land in this world. 

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.  {Ephesians 1: 17-19}

Notice the wording "hope of His calling."  Even though all who come to HIM are saved, not all of us will receive the inheritance on earth.  That is reserved for those who's theology has merged with their reality...those who don't just talk the talk, but also walk the walk.  According to this evenings study, God is asking "Child, can I trust you with what I want to do with you?"  HE never forces us into HIS will and our inheritance, but HE has it waiting for all who will look.

But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.  {Deuteronomy 4: 29}

God is waiting for my whole hearted faith.  The following five statements are part of the study and a set out, one for each finger to create a "shield of faith."  It is a personal reminder of what it really means to believe in God. 

Five-Statement Pledge of Faith

(part of the Beth Moore study Believing God)

1. God is who HE says HE is.
2. God can do what HE says HE can do.
3. I am who GOD says I am.
4. I can do all things through CHRIST.
5. GOD's Word is alive and active in me.

DAY 43

For those of you who have missed me, I am sending a huge thankyou and my appologies.  Currently, I am with out an internet connection, so my online time has been severly limited.  Hopefuly, that will be remedied soon.  I love you all and am so greatful for your love and prayers. 

Just because I cannot resist saying something thought worthy, I am going to add a little blurb.  Hope is more than a bland desire for something good to happen.  Hope is a sense of excitement and anticipation, a longing for adventure with our LORD.  Hope is waking up in the morning and saying, "Good morning, GOD.  What are we going to do today?!"  

DAY 40

This was supose to post the 20th, but did not go through.

Dear ones, I promised you a post about a certain topic GOD has been really lying on my heart lately.  Currently, I am living in a city that often time seems to be completely Godless. Here recreational drug use  is accepted as the norm,  so called “everyday girls” go shopping wearing less clothing than Julia Roberts wore streetwalking in Pretty Woman, and homosexuality is so rampant that there is an entire section of the beach dedicated to them and their lifestyle.  Trying to follow the straight and narrow in such an environment is extremely difficult.  Often, I feel as though I am exiled in Babylon, but unlike the Biblical heroes, I have not been completely successful at keeping myself undefiled in such an environment.

 Over the past year and a half, I have allowed everything I see around me to steep into my way of thinking.  Not having strong Christian friendships makes staying grounded all the harder.  I find myself justifying things that the scripture clearly states are sin.  Then I start to find conflict between myself and GOD.  I have wanted to believe that since the Bible was written so long ago, it cannot possibly apply to modern life in every application.   The past few weeks I have been strongly convicted on these grounds (when GOD sends you two sermons –from different preachers- and countless Bible studies on a topic, you had better be paying attention). 

It all started with a sermon at the church I’ve been attending.  There we are doing a verse-by-verse study of Ephesians.

I pray that the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. {Ephesians 1:17}

In this passage, after having just told the Ephesians how grateful he is for their faith and love, Paul tells them that he prays specifically for their perspective.  Faith and love are essential to our Christian walk, but without a proper view of the world-GOD’s view-we cannot effectively put them to use.  Our perspective shapes who we are and we should take great care to ensure that we are shaped by GOD, not our culture. 

Then this verse cropped up in my morning study. 

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.  {Romans 12:2}

Next was a sermon by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, entitled “What is God Doing in My Life.”  Although there were several strong revelations in this sermon based out of 1 Corinthians 2:6-14, the final teaching lent itself to the topic of perspective. 

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, in order to know what has been freely given to us by God.  We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.  {1 Corinthians 2:12-13}

I am going to paraphrase Pastor Floyds thoughts here…Today, the Spirit teaches and convicts through the word of God-our Bible.   The Bible is what GOD thinks all the time about everything.  It is our ultimate authority.  Reading it and studying it and knowing it is our only way to form a GODLY perspective (wisdom). 

For the past week I have been seeking and asking GOD what all of this looks like in my life.  I do not want to be so heavenly minded as to be no earthly good, but I do want to have a GODLY perspective of the world around me.   This morning a verse in my Romans study just popped out at me.

Love must be without hypocrisy.  Detest evil; cling to what is good.  {Romans 12:9}

Really, it is a simple as that.  I must allow GOD to love Miami through me, while keeping my focus on HIM and HIS definition of good.  It is somewhat of a tightrope walk, but GOD is the one doing the walking, I am simply along for the ride. 

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important commandment.  The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”  {Matthew 22:36-40}

DAY 34

Continualy, GOD is pointing me in the same direction this week...urging me to shape my world view around HIM.  The instances and scriptures HE has bombarded me with are too many to share in a quick post, but it is heavy on my heart and in my mind to sit down and write for you on this topic.  For now, I will share just a quick thought....God does not change for pop culture. 

DAY 31

Miami has the third largest Jewish population in the United States. Every day, I see member of this chosen race and can’t help but think of their significance in history and in my faith. The very first Christians were the Jewish disciples of Christ and it was they who wrote the gospels and letters that make up our New Testament. As much as this history fascinates me, it also makes me sad. This is a race, a faith, which is continuing to wait for a promise that has already been fulfilled. They work hard to keep the law and all the holy days so that they can gain acceptance in GOD’s eyes, not realizing that their Messiah is standing by waiting to cover them with HIS righteousness.


The eleventh chapter of Romans speaks about how we, the gentile believers, have been grafted into the family of GOD because of Israel’s disbelief. Of that I am grateful, but it still saddens me to see these people so wholly seeking GOD and missing the point. So often, I long to tell them how close they are, but in the realms of business I am never given the opportunity. So, I continue to pray for them. I know that GOD has not forgotten HIS people and will fulfill HIS promises to them.

Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of their forefathers, since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable. {Romans 11:28-29}

Before moving to Miami, the Chosen People were something I thought about only in Biblical realms. But here, they are very real. Currently, they are celebrating their new year and the streets are nearly empty without them. I am continually very much aware of what I have gained at their loss.

So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: a partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. {Romans 11: 25}

While posting this blog, I realised that today is September 11.  Nine years ago today the world as we knew it changed.  That day and in the years since, hundreds of thousands of Americans have died in this act of terrorism and the war against such atrocities.  Many more carry physical, mental, and emotional wounds. To me this is  more than a blanket generalisation.  My own family and friends have seen this suffering first hand.  My heart and prayers go out to all the Americans who have felt the effects of the war on terrorism. 

DAY 29

For years, I have been asking GOD why HE made me the way HE did. Let’s face it; I’m not “normal.” Even my family considers me an odd ball. I’m an artist: a little off beat, frequently misunderstood, essentially unable to blend in with the rest of society…There was a time I resented this and when my attempts to change me failed, I struggled my hardest to at least hide it. This quote from Amy Gerstler describes me very well: “Some of us grow up doing credible impressions of model citizens (though sooner or later hairline cracks appear in our facades). The rest are dubbed eccentrics, unnerved and undone by other peoples company, for which we nevertheless pine. Curses, outbursts, and distracting chants simmer all day in the Crock-Pots of our heads.”


The truth is, there is nothing wrong with me…or at least not with my personality. That is how GOD chose to create me and HE did it on purpose.

But who are you-anyone who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” {Romans 9:20}

Just like I create each my pieces as one-of-a-kind items with their own particular purpose and function, GOD has created me the same way. Yet, better than that…GOD’s design plan is flawless. Yes, as a human I am flawed and sinful, but who I am was created with an intended purpose in GOD’s kingdom. HE is going to use me in a way that only HE can see, my job is to submit and obey…and be myself. If I am busy trying to be somebody else or to stifle who I am, my eyes will not be where HE intends them to be.

Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. {Hebrews 12:1-2}

Our focus in life should be to simply run the race. I belong to Christ and as I run, HE will change the parts of me that HE needs changed. I must simply run and trust: desiring only to know HIM and HIS will, to be a tool in HIS all knowing hands.

My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. {Philippians 3: 10}

DAY 27

I don't know what is wrong with me!  I just cannot seem to memorise scripture.  I use to absorb a verse or short passage after just a few readings, but the two verses from Psalm I started weeks ago just don't want to stick.  Maybe there is just too much going on for my brain to accept more.  After all, in the past month I have moved once, am about to move again, got a new job, completely flipped my schedule, and started preparing to go back to school.