What does your Valentine say? AND YOU DO have a Valentine

Sunday is February 14^th. It's a holiday made-up by society to celebrate love. Its icons include Cupid, roses, chocolates and other gifts to show one's level of admiration, affection and love.
 But it was brought to my attention that maybe instead of looking to another human being for the love and affection we so desperately want and crave, we need to look to our Father. So, if you were to make a Valentine for the Lover of your soul what would it look like? What would it say?

Think about this…Before you were created He knew you. Before you took your first breath, He had already ordained your footsteps and numbered your days. Before you were born, He knew you would make choices that would break His heart, and yet, He still created you; He still loves you; and He so desperately wants to be in a relationship with you. He thinks you are worth it. He thinks you are worth all the heartbreak. He knows you are worth dying for, and so He did it for you. "There is no greater love than this."

 When everyone around you and every situation and circumstance seems to hurt you, He wants to love on you and protect and guide you. Is that some crazy love or what?
He wants you to feel Him present. He wants you to feel His hands around your heart protecting it. He wants you to feel His arms around you holding you tight when things seem too hard to bear. God wants you just as you are. You are precious to Him. He finds you beautiful and worth loving. He loves you the way you need to be loved.

He wants to be there to prepare you for each day. He's there during the day waiting for a word from you, so He can share a Word with you. And at the end of the day, even though He's been with you the complete time, He still looks forward to your telling Him about your day and what your concerns are. He wants to listen to you. He is the lover of your soul. What more can you want?But what do we as women do? We still find ourselves looking to another human being to make us happy, to love us, and we've bought into the lie that we need another person to "complete" us. The only person we need to complete us, to fill our void, to heal our hearts is Jesus Christ, and He's waiting on YOU! What are you waiting on? What are you afraid of? If you're in a marriage or not, if you're in a relationship or not, why don't you give Him an opportunity to love you? Some of us who have been Christians for many years need a fresh touch from God. We need to cuddle up with the Word of God, spend some time quietly in His presence, and feel Him around us. And in those quiet moments when it is just you and the one who loves your imperfect self, may you feel the liberty in that love that you feel nowhere else. The liberty to expose you heart and your hurt and to entrust it to Him…the One who can heal, rescue, and repair.

So, what does your Valentine to the lover of your soul look like? What does it say?

A Fresh Word

I believe with everything in me that God's word is ALIVE!  I love it when He breathes new life into a scripture that I've read nearly a thousand times.  I pray that the following words will encourage you as much as they did me.

God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.



Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Get into His word, Ladies!  You won't regret it.

I love you all so much.

Your Little Sister,
Sunni

Why Fast?

Can I just say, "This sista is HUNGRY!" On my way back from Little Rock on Wednesday, I had to stop by Whataburger! (Now before you run to tell Pastor Rick, you need to read the whole thing.) I had turned off I-30 in Arkansas, and there really isn't any place after that where I would stop to use the little girl's room. SO, I held it for a VERY long time, and as I was running to the restroom in Whataburger, the aroma wafted in my direction, and my knees went weak. This is my normal stop for a burger and fries on the way home or on the way to Little Rock. I had carried nuts and a trail mix with me, so I would have snack food, but that burger surely did smell inviting. I took care of my business, and I ran out of Whataburger. Flee from temptation!

Tonight at my parents' house, my kids had cheese pizza. The smell of the crust made my mouth water, but I refrained. This Daniel fast is harder than I imagined.

My co-workers went out to eat, and I ordered the vegetable soup and salad. The restaurant was chosen because I told them I needed to eat a salad, and the discussion started about the fast. "Why are you all fasting?" I explained that it's a time of purification and a time for us to regain our focus. I told them how the kids were fasting--TV, movies, sugar, or whatever was on the calendar and that we were fasting fast food – my weakness, I now realize.

Why am I fasting? Just because Pastor Rick leads us to do a thing doesn't mean I have to do it. Why are you fasting? Don't want others to talk about how you aren't fasting? While we are being led corporately to fast, fasting is a very personal choice as well as the reason we fast. For me, it's about seeking God. I need some direction in my life. "Should I start seminary or shouldn't I?" "What is the next step for women's ministry at Calvary?" And then, I have personal things that I'm seeking God's face and grace regarding. You know, God is so good. He rewarded my daughter with an answer to her prayers the first day, and it was a big one.

For me so far, the fasting has resulted in rest. I know that sounds odd, but when I was in Little Rock I couldn't keep my eyes open past 7:15 PM. I had been studying for my Sunday school class and preparing for a series we are going to start in February when He allowed me to sleep. At 6 AM I was awakened by a text from a friend who is also fasting. Her e-mail that followed is what I needed to read. God's conviction on my heart to confess my disobedience to another friend lay heavy on my heart, and I was able to be obedient Wednesday night. Friday night I'm expecting more from God in another personal matter.

So, why am I fasting? I'm fasting because I want to be clean before the Lord my God. I want to be anointed by holy, omnipotent Father. I fast because I'm expecting God to do awesome things in the life of my family, my church, my ministry, and in my life. I WANT REVIVAL! Could I do those things without fasting? Possibly, but the effectiveness of fasting makes my expectations reach for higher limits. Relying on God without putting human constraints on Him, looking to God for my most basic of needs, expecting God to move mightily and answer my prayers – these are the reasons I fast.

Why are you fasting?

From Funk to Revival --- And Everything in Between

You probably have never had this problem, but in most of December, I had a serious case of a funk that had crawled all over me. No matter what I did, it clung to me, sometimes in the heaviest of natures. It was so evident one Sunday that Mrs. Lavahn pulled me into my office and called me on it. Can I just say that I love that woman! She sits in my office every Sunday during the Sunday school hour waiting for women to come who need to be loved on, prayed for, and encouraged, and apparently, I needed what she was dosing out. Ladies, Christmas is usually my most favorite time of the year. I love to decorate, but my house is being remodeled, so decorating was limited. I love to entertain, but we didn't because of the condition of the house. I love having family over, but most of them didn't travel into town this year. And of all years for me to just survive December, this was the year my husband vowed to be more like Santa Claus than the Grinch!

Sunday, I had stayed in my class a little to listen to a sweet lady and arrived in the worship service during the middle of praise time. I could feel that funk all over me again. It was a heaviness in my spirit--in my core being. I hate that feeling! But I could sense God's presence, and tears began to flow as we all worshipped corporately and individually. Then Pastor Terry preached on revival, and I realized that was what my soul was craving--revival.

How long has it been since you've personally had a revival? Some ladies I spoke with said they were eager for it. The thing about a true revival is that it cannot and should not be contained within the walls of the church. We need an awakening. We need the Spirit to come and stir and move in and around us. We need anointing.

I am eager to hear about the fast in which Pastor Rick and the other pastors will lead us in the upcoming days. There are so many ways to fast, ladies. What do you spend the majority of your free time doing (as if we have a lot of it)? What do you spend most of your mad money on? What are you plugged in to more than God? For me, I'm not a fan of TV. I can live without the additional racket and chaos it brings, so that wouldn't really be giving up something of value. For each person, it's different. What are you willing to give up in order to focus on God, in order to be drawn closer to Him, in order to have a personal revival--music, computer, chocolate, shopping, TV, fast food? We also need to include our children in this process. This is an opportunity to teach the next generation what a revival looks like and how it comes about. Revival and fasting mean an opportunity to lay all distractions aside and focus on God and God alone. Revival means using our resources (whether it's finances or time or energy) to find out how God wants us to spend that time that was once consumed with TV, shopping, music, etc. Clearing away the distractions, spending more time with God, repenting of those things of which He convicts us, repairing relationships – these things will and must happen.

Job 9:12-13 in The Message: " We'll never comprehend all the great things He does; His miracle-surprises can't be counted. Somehow, though He moves right in front of me, I don't see Him; quietly but surely He's active, and I miss it." Ladies, I'd hate for a revival to happen and you miss Him. Get ready. Revival's coming!

Preparing to Fast...

During Christmas we focus our attention on the story of Christ’s birth, but as we prepare for January and the fast our pastor will be leading us into, I think we need to look at John the Baptist. Why? John’s destiny in life was to prepare people to meet their Savior. John’s message was that of Elijah’s – Repent. In order for people to get ready to have a personal revival, we need to be prepared to meet Jesus and expect him to bring on a revival.


REPENT! John the Baptist’s whole message was on repentance. He was preparing those in his time to meet Jesus. People were dying of thirst and hunger – thirst for the Living Water and hungry for the Bread of Life. People were so desperate for the Living Water and Bread of Life they were willing to go to the desert to hear a man preach the Truth and to call a spade, a spade – or in this case, a brood of vipers.

In a world that is so hung up on “political correctness” instead of the spiritual condition of a person’s soul, don’t you think it’s time for a voice in the desert crying out “REPENT” ?

So, I began digging into “forgiveness” and “repentance.” We ask for forgiveness when we’ve done wrong, and God grants us forgiveness. Psalms 103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” In Isaiah 43:25 it says, God “remembers our sins no more.” That is forgiveness. Satan is the one who would like to keep us ensnared in our sin bringing up our past mistakes over and over again. Satan enjoys throwing the dirt of our past failures in our face -- this is not of God.

REPENTANCE is a lifestyle. It’s not saying, “I’m lower than scum,” or “I am dirt.” Repentance is a daily dying to self – dying to our selfish wants and putting Christ first and above all else. It is making a conscious decision to put down your idea that you are owed something, you are due something, that you have rights. As Americans we have come to believe we are “entitled” to things, but that is contrary to the Word of God. The only reason we are blessed with good things in this life is because it is from God (James 1:17). Repentance is the daily choosing to focus on what Christ wants you to achieve during the day, how God wants you to live a victorious life. Do you want a revival? Do you REALLY want a revival? Because if you do, God will bring it, but if he brings it, you must also.

I confessed to the ladies this past Sunday that when I pray and I ask God to forgive my sins that sometimes it’s rather vague. In Luke it says people were going to the desert to confess their sins to John the Baptist. I believe if we were to pray and name our sins, ask God to show us our sins, and truly repent – turn from them, die to ourselves and focus on how we are to live our lives – then personal revival would happen. We need to be praying Psalm 19:12 – 14, “Who can discern his lapses and errors? Clear me from hidden (and unconscious) faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my (firm, impenetrable) Rock and my Redeemer.” (Amplified Bible)

While studying Mary and Martha this November and December, I discovered the woman with the alabaster jar was most likely Mary. This woman was described as being known around town as sinful, but in the stories of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, it says that Jesus loved them. More than once, Mary was found at the feet of Jesus – once she was listening and learning and the other time she was sobbing, pouring out her heart, repenting and washing the feet of Jesus with her tears, drying them with her feet, kissing them with her lips and pouring the most extravagant thing she had on his feet. Don’t you know she felt sweet release after pouring herself out like that? When was the last time you cried about the sin in your life? (You have to take the plank out of your own life before you take the splinter out of someone else’s. Mt 7:3-5). When we have poured ourselves out then He can fill us up. When was the last time you listed your sin before God, truly confess and lived a repentant lifestyle? If you want personal revival, this is where we have to start. Are you willing? Repent.

The Original Birth Father

Imagine yourself standing on the curb holding your precious child. Look down and see the round cheeks of your baby, the bow-tie lips, and wisps of hair. Do you remember those days? Do you remember how your baby smelled? Now you see a school bus has arrived. It doesn't have any identifiers on it. The windows are tinted, and you don't see the bus driver. You don't even know where the bus is going. All you know is that in order for this precious baby you love so much to have any chance of a decent life you have to put your baby on that bus. You don't know if you will ever see that baby again. What is it that you feel? Is it overwhelming sadness or grief? With tears streaming down your face, you study your cherub's face and features, hoping that maybe one day, just maybe, you'll recognize the sweet face again. Many of you moms are saying or thinking right now, "There's no way I'd put my baby on that bus." But what if you had no way of feeding and clothing your baby? What if you didn't have a roof over your own head? Times are tough right now, ladies. What if you didn't have a job or health coverage for a baby who needed it? The bus offered that security for your baby. Could you then? How destitute would you have to be before you placed your baby with someone else for them to adopt and rear as their own? How destitute would you have to be?
 It's a gut-wrenching decision. You say or you think this doesn't happen; this isn't real life. But for many women who choose to place their babies for adoption, that is exactly what it feels like. Women who chose open adoption have a little more security and knowledge about where their baby is and who is loving their baby. Some even get to see their baby grow up. The act of a birth parent to place their baby for adoption is the most self-sacrificing and self-less kind of love. It is second to laying down your life, and there is only one who has done both. You see, our heavenly Father is the original Birth Father. He chose who would be the earthly parents for Jesus. I can tell you from personal experience, it is an extremely humbling moment when another woman asks you to raise her unborn child. Mary was already a humble servant of the Lord. I cannot begin to imagine all the emotions she must have felt and gone through, knowing she had been chosen and at such a young, vulnerable age. There is also great joy as well as uncertainty that comes with being a chosen parent. You not only want to be a great parent because you love your baby with all your heart but because you want to show this birth parent that they made a good choice. And how rewarding it is to hear that birth parent tell you, you are doing a good job. To hear them say, "I made a good decision in choosing you," is just an unexplainable reward. I wonder if God gave her some reassurances from time-to-time.


The thing about God being the original Birth Father is that He did it knowing that His only Son would have to die a tortuous death. I'm sorry, but I couldn't put either one of my children on the bus I described if I knew that kind of end would come to my baby. Do you see the face of your baby? God chose to come to earth in the form of a baby. Thirty-three years must have flown by. It must have felt as if Jesus was born one day, and the next day was Calvary. How did He not live in dread? I'll tell you how. Somehow His love for you, His love for me is so great that He was willing to sacrifice One for the good of many. He realized the pain He would endure was temporary and that there was good that would come from it. No, not good. Great things would come from His birth, death, and resurrection. Great things for us, His adopted children.
If God's first act of choosing adoptive parents wasn't a big enough act of love for you, then the cross definitely is. And if you put the two together, you have to agree that it is an overwhelming, all-consuming kind of love. My question for you is this: What are you doing with His
love? Were His sacrifices for nothing? This kind of love is to be shared. It is to be on purpose. Take time this holiday season to love on the unlovely, to love on the unsuspecting. Take time this holiday to make contact with that checker at the store, the person who takes out your groceries, the one who waits on your table. Let's show them why we love this season and why we choose to say, "Merry Christmas." We have much to be thankful for, and I am thankful for each of you.

 His Daughter,



Kristy

The Time of the Year

This is my all-time, most favorite time of the year. I love everything about it – the cool weather, football, the changing of the leaves, Thanksgiving followed by Christmas which means good food, family and friends. I do have to admit I have to do an attitude check from time-to-time because my focus gets off what is important which usually means I've put the focus on myself. My feelings get hurt. I get tired, snappy, short or make caddy remarks that have no business being said much less being thought. Anybody with me? Sometimes we get caught up in keeping score: "Well, I brought this last time," or "This is my responsibility: I do it every year." When I hear those kind of words come out of someone it makes me wonder about their heart and their focus.

It isn't for us to keep score. That's not your job or mine. Proverbs 20:27 says, "God is in charge of human life, watching and examining us inside and out." (The Message translation) When we allow God to keep score and deal with things, then we are able to maintain our focus on what is important like loving on others and serving others, we find our attitude changes, our burdens lifted. And wouldn't that make for a much more pleasant holiday season for everyone?

Each of us is a precious daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let's be gracious daughters of the King as well exercising mercy, extending love and a willing hand with a gentle spirit, emulating His generosity, and executing Christ-like behavior not only in actions but in speech as well. Look for opportunities to practice your precious, princess-self remembering you represent your Father.

Love to you all.

His Daughter,

 

Kristy