This morning started out like any other. I was getting ready for work, my husband was taking the kids to school. At 7:45 a.m., Lulu was outside, the house was all to myself and I saw an opportunity to change the bed sheets. Only I took one look at my bed and decided that I was so tired, I wanted to just go back to bed. So I did. I laid down and covered up and just had one of those random thoughts about nothing moments.
In a short amount of time and without a thought in my head, I began to sing a Spanish song, Estar Contigo. The chorus says, “to be with You is the best decision I could’ve ever made. Your blessings could stop if you remained by my side. I would be complete as long as I can be with You.” All I can explain was that it was just a random shout directly from my heart to the heart of God. Then the peace of God washed over me and I felt a connection. There were no words spoken between us. Just being together was overwhelming and right.
I got up and finished getting ready. My morning completely changed in the span of 15 minutes. That’s all it took. Prayer doesn’t always have to have words. Sometimes, being together is enough. My day went so beautifully after that. Get quiet and let your heart speak.
2 Corinthians 6:1. Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.
2. God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help.
3. Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing.
4. Our work as God’s servants gets validated – or not – in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times;
5. when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating;
6. with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love;
7. when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right;
8. when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted;
9. ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die;
10. immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.
11. Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life.
12. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way.
13. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
14. Don’t become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That’s not partnership; that’s war. Is light best friends with dark?
15. Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands?
16. Who would think of setting up pagan idols in God’s holy Temple? But that is exactly what we are, each of us a temple in whom God lives. God himself put it this way: “I’ll live in them, move into them; I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people.
17. So leave the corruption and compromise; leave it for good,” says God. “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself.
18. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”
Want to see your dreams go down the drain? Then just keep putting them off. Procrastination is a friend of failure. Putting those things off that need to be done today is a quick way to not have them happen. I believe in windows of opportunity. I also believe that when windows close then you’ve missed an opportunity and a critical moment in your life has passed.
I don’t want to get to heaven and see all the possibilities that I missed because I procrastinated. To procrastinate means to put things off needlessly, or through habitual laziness or carelessness. This means that my life has to be purposed and ordered if I want to make the most out of it. Simple things that could have been taken care of become seemingly insurmountable when they pile up. That laundry that you put off doing until next week only means that next week it will take you longer to finish, as you’ll have more loads to do. That report that is due in three weeks can be worked on without pressure doing a little each day or you can put yourself through stress trying to get the report done the night before it’s due. Recently our daughter had a report due and she didn’t get it completed until the night before it was due. Guess what? Our printer ran out of ink and all the stores were closed. Procrastination can hurt your end result.
Seize opportunities as they arise. Learn to pace yourself so that you no longer live in the tyranny of the urgent. Your anxiety and stress will begin to ease and you will live a more purposed life, as there will be nothing hanging over your head. Want to be a winner in life? Then lose that friend procrastination. It does nothing for you but hold you back from your destiny.
I was so busy during the Baby Food Giveaway that I didn’t get pictures with my camera so the pictures shown are of the volunteers posing. We had lots of volunteers and that made the giveaway go smoothly. It really was a privilege to be able to give food away to families who could really use it! I’m sure more pics are to come. We have video as well. Here’s a tiny glimpse at the crew.
Pastor Dave Morse is the most amazing Sunday School teacher on the planet. Last week our Kingdom Kidz began learning about Noah building the ark. This week they were they were learning about being secure in the flood.
Pastor Dave brought them a modern day Noah’s ark. A Land Yacht. They loaded up on the ark to be secure from the flood. Ana Valencia came along during the lesson and began to knock, “Please, please let me in!” “No”, was the answer as she had missed her opportunity. I believe this was a lesson our children will never forget.
The kingdom moves forward when teachers like Pastor Dave take such a love for the children and their spiritual foundation. When I spoke to the children they told stories about how Noah was safe and secure in the ark when the flood came because he listened to God! Praise God for Pastor Dave!
Special thanks to Toscano RV for the use of the Airstream Land Yacht! We appreciate you!
Today, March 13, 2010, over 19,000 pounds of baby food will be given away by our church. Thanks to the help of donors across the United States and abroad, Moms Against Hunger and Role Models Of America, organizations that we are proud to be involved with, we have received a truckload of baby and toddler food.
With the increasing unemployment and recession that has hit California’s Central Valley so hard, we want to be a little light that comes and eases the burden of families with infants. The response has been tremendous so far and we look forward to being a blessing! This is what ministry is. I’ll post some pictures of the results tomorrow! In the meantime, pray for us that we are able to touch the lives of many.
There is an addiction going on in the church. It’s not talked about much because up until now we were trying to keep it on the down low. We didn’t want people to know about this dirty little secret. Yet, Christians are being lured into it at alarming rates. It spreads quickly and before you know it, you’ve caught this insidious addiction. It’s called spiritual pornography or SP.
If you answer yes to two or more of these questions then you may have SP.
I attend church pretty much every Sunday.
The church is well staffed and so I don’t participate in any ministry per se.
I don’t belong to any of the small group studies.
I don’t attend special services.
I don’t know the names of at least 10 people at my church.
I believe volunteers at church are just trying to kiss up to the Pastor.
I don’t have any more time to offer other than attending Sunday service.
I attend to see what everyone is wearing.
The symptoms of SP mimic that of its worldly counterpart, Internet Pornography or more widely known as IP. Like IP just watching other people stimulates those with SP. Like IP people with SP have a problem with intimacy and it’s just easier to watch others participate rather than do the work to develop intimacy. SP makes you become apathetic to the body of Christ and you prefer to sit in the pew. People with SP never speak about their faith and are closet churchgoers. SP causes insomnia as the only place people with SP can sleep is at church while the Pastor is preaching.
Now researchers have developed a cure. It’s called Get Off Derriere. In proven studies GOD has been shown to stop all symptoms of SP making you once again experience the full life you were called to lead. In a recent clinical study, when taken daily, GOD was able to remove all symptoms of SP leaving people in a more peaceful state.
Side effects may vary; check with your Pastor if you should experience any of the following symptoms as a change in dosage may be required:
Butt is permanently glued to the pew
Your apathy causes you to forget to take your daily dose of God daily
Laziness makes movement impossible
Don’t suffer any longer with SP. There is a cure!
GOD
*Brought to you by the Trinity Lab Corporation. TLC – it’s not just for Sunday’s anymore.
Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
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From time to time, I hear the phrase “I was a mistake”. I just want to tell you today that you were not a mistake. You are God’s creation and he formed you, wrote your story, gave you your parents, knew the year you’d be born and gave you a mission to be fulfilled before the foundation of the earth. So before Genesis 1:1 you were created. The word says you were in God. Just as a thought is in our mind or a baby is in a mother’s womb, God has implanted in your DNA a memory of a future. God planned you. He breathed his plan into you as he was shaping you.
camille allen
Maybe your mom has always said she got pregnant accidentally or maybe your dad made hurtful statements about how he had to marry your mom but you were not for one moment a mistake. God knew your father would have sex with your mother, even if it were one time. That one time was your opportunity to make your entrance into the world. It’s true. There are no accidents and no coincidences in the your design and birth.
There is only one you. You were put here with a mission on your heart to fulfill. There is only one person in this whole world that has your fingerprints, your DNA, your personality, your talents, your attributes. No one else can fulfill your mission in this moment. You are the only one. If you don’t fulfill your mission then it goes unfinished in this time.
The reason why so many people cry out for Jesus’ return and the reason why he doesn’t answer that call is that the mission that we were sent to do has yet to come to pass. So it isn’t time yet. What has God given you to do? If you can’t remember you need only to sit down and ask him. Prayer, for those of you who don’t know how, is simply dialogue. So a simple, “God, I don’t know what my purpose is, can you begin to reveal it to me so that I can begin to walk it out?” Just with that prayer God will begin to let you know what you are called to do.
What happened to your dreams? Well remember when you were a child and you felt that there was nothing you couldn’t do? How many times did you tie a towel around your neck and pretend you were Wonder Woman, or maybe that was just me!
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How many times did you play school, house, store? How many times did you grab the hair brush and sing?
Well those dreams are still in your heart. They have however, been squashed by words spoken against you. “Quit being silly.” “Quit showing off.” “Wonder Woman is not real.” “Girls can’t be doctors.” “Would you please quit singing? You’re driving us nuts!” “You’re not pretty enough to be a model.” Those words spoken carelessly over your life were not from God and so they aren’t valid.
The fact is parents say some stupid things to their children. We all do and we all feel bad afterwards but the fact of the matter is we’re human and we all fall short of the goal sometimes. You though, you beautiful creation of God, you are masterpiece. You are more valuable than the most expensive thing on earth. God took his time with you. He made you perfectly, even though you look in the mirror and hate the shape of your ears, you have to just smile and think, ‘God made those’. You are not a mistake. You were fearfully and wonderfully made. So in this moment take a moment to hear those words that wounded you from your childhood and made you feel worthless for the last time. Hear them clearly and then ask God to make you forget them forever. They no longer define you. They no longer hold any meaning to you. You are supposed to be here. You are designed for this moment in time and there is none like you. There is an old song that we used to sing in church and we sing it to God. However, you are formed in his image so it also could apply to you. Today listen to God’s voice sing it to you. It goes,
There is none like you. No one else can touch my heart like you do. I could search for all eternity long and find there is none like you.
The tyranny of the urgent is something that holds us back from accomplishing those things that are really important. For years I’ve wanted to write a book but there was never time to sit down and just write. Too many things in my life were urgent and the importance of writing had to take a back seat to just trying to get through the week. That is, until I learned the secret that I am going to share with you. The secret of setting aside the guilt and tyranny of the things that I THINK are urgent and just spending some time each day doing what’s important. To me it was taking the time for writing a little at a time.
You see there are always urgent things to do. There is always going to be things that seem like they can’t be put off another day but there are important things that God is calling you to do that are actually more important and those things believe it or not supercede those urgent things.
What does tyranny mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines tyranny as this:
A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
1. The office, authority, or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler.
2. Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly: “I have sworn . . . eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man” (Thomas Jefferson).
3. Use of absolute power.
4. A tyrannical act.
5. Extreme harshness or severity; rigor.
Wow! So we see that tyranny is a government that is exercised unjustly or cruelly. Well, I know that I live in the Kingdom or government of Christ. That means that if I succumb to the tyranny of the urgent I am submitting myself to an authority that deals unjustly or cruelly with me. Therefore, the tyranny of the urgent is sent not by God but by Satan to upset the Kingdom in my life. To simplify it further the tyranny of the urgent takes the important things in my life away. The result is that I never reach my full potential because I am running around like a chicken without a head.
It all makes sense! Now it makes it clear why you can’t read your bible without distractions, why you can’t pray without distractions, why you can’t sit and listen to a friend. It shows that the tyranny of the urgent has stolen the important things and has divided your mind. The bible is clear in its statement that a divided mind is unstable in all of its ways (James 1:8). In other words, it doesn’t stand on solid ground. Instead it wobbles. No wonder we wander around in circles accomplishing nothing.
It’s not easy to focus on the important when the urgent is constantly coming to mind but you can do it! It means simply becoming aware of those things that are taking time away from what you have been called to do. You may want to run home to watch your favorite TV show but maybe God has placed a person who desperately needs to speak to you about a problem. The TV is urgent, the person is important. It means we must sometimes do those things God has called us to do over those things we’d rather do. Ultimately it’s about which Kingdom we are submitted to, the tyranny of the urgent or Kingdom of God and those things which are important?
Michael LeBoeuf, author of The Millionaire in You says “Winners focus; losers spray”. I love this because it’s so true. Winners focus on a goal. Which is why vision is so important. You’ve got to stay focused.
What does it mean when he says, losers spray? We all have the friend who dates many people but isn’t looking to settle down. I know someone who is so good at the serial dating that he buys them all the same gift at Christmas so as not to get him confused. Yes, one year they all got Coach purses, another year leather jackets. He has given them each a different date for his birthday so that each one could celebrate, to be honest I don’t know if the birthday I have is for real either. He is very careful to call them all the same pet name. He is not looking to be a winner in the relationship department. He is spraying many targets thinking when he is ready one may hit. This method would be a complete waste of time if his goal were to score a relationship.
It’s the same concept with our job, business ideas and personal goals and yet, so many times we get scattered. We lose focus and go off in a different direction, spraying our resources of time and talent and money in a variety of directions. The one thing I know about winners is they stay focused. Remember Michael Jordan the king of basketball? Then suddenly he decided to spray his talent and play baseball but he wasn’t good at baseball because his gift and focus for so long had been basketball. We all wanted him to be great at baseball but it wasn’t happening that way.
Most millionaires who didn’t inherit their wealth did so because they had focus. They had tenacity and a belief in their goals. If you are saving to buy a house then don’t spray and go out and buy a new car. Get a goal in mind, stick to it and don’t lose focus. Want to change your marriage? Then focus in on it and make a successful marriage your goal. Read the books that will help you, change yourself first instead of pointing a finger and don’t go listening to this friend and that family member and that other co-worker. Focus. Write this quote down somewhere, it’s important. Winners focus; losers spray.
Pastor Susan 