Category: Love

He Wrote His Loving Words Down For Me So That I’ll Never Forget How He Feels About Me

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By now, you’ve figured out that when a daughter of the King, that’s you beloved, is asked, “Who’s Your Daddy?” there is no man on earth who fits those shoes. Only God is the one who is perfect. By now, you’ve figured out that the only one who can meet your needs completely is not a human. The only one who has your back is The King himself. Throughout these last several months of discussion of what you need to be looking for in a man, you have a much clearer understanding of what is acceptable and what is not.

God did write his loving, living and breathing words down for you. You are his daughter and he wanted you to know how much he loves you and cares for you and just in case you doubt that love ever, you need only go back to the bible and check it out.

Love notes are great. We all enjoy them but some people are not writers. Some men will get up at 2 a.m. out of dead sleep to get their pregnant wife a milk shake but will never write poetry. Which shows more love? They both do, they are just different in their approach. Don’t measure your man by what he doesn’t do, measure him by what he does do. Measure him not by what your girlfriend’s boyfriend does but by what your man does. My husband writes music but he’s never written a song for me. He does other thoughtful things like show up at the office and take me to lunch or call me during the day to see how my day is going or better still, sit through a chick flick without complaint and hold my hand.

God wrote his loving words down for you so that you could always go back to read them and know that feeling of security and love and trust in him with all that you have. The man you choose will not have that ability because your ultimate source of love and security can never be of this earth. What does your man do to make you feel secure and loved? If your answer is nothing then you may be in the wrong place. I say “may” be because you might be overlooking the very thing you think you don’t have. It’s time to get honest with yourself and assess what it is you want in a man, what kind of woman you plan to be and what your plan of action is to get there. My prayer is that through these discussions you’ve figured out what is acceptable and what is not.

The Book Of Eli

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Go see it! It’s a powerful movie! Wow is all I can say. If we have ever wondered what it was like for Abraham, Issac and Jacob, for Peter and Paul and James, this will give you a glimpse. If we have nothing else but a word from the Lord what grace we’d live in! Praise you Lord for this movie! It was an inspiration! Oh to walk by that kind of faith!

Lessons on Life

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This email was sent to me by my friend Cynthia. It is so true I thought I’d share it! I don’t know where it originated but it’s worthy of distribution!

These are pictures of the same place at different seasons.

Lessons on Life

There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the Winter, the second in the Spring, the third in Summer, and the youngest son in the Fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said “no” it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful. It was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you can not judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s Winter, you will miss the promise of your Spring, the beauty of your Summer, the fulfillment of your Fall.

Moral:

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don’t judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come.

Live Simply.

Love Generously.

Care Deeply.

Speak Kindly.

Leave the Rest to God.

Happiness keeps You Sweet,

Trials keep You Strong,

Sorrows keep You Human,

Failures keep You Humble,

Success keeps You Glowing,

But God keeps You Going!

He Covers Me And Doesn’t Expose Me

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God is such a gentleman he takes care of me so beautifully. In him I feel totally safe. It means I can go to him and tell him everything knowing that in him I will find the security, advice, love and above all, he will work with me to find a solution. His love for me makes his care for me his priority. He loves me as an individual and doesn’t exploit me.

When you meet the man who is a keeper there are things that he does that prove to you that he is a gentleman who is going to cover you. Some are easy to see and others, take time to see. First off, he knows his manners as a man and he walks on the outside, in front of you down the stairs, behind you up the stairs, he opens the door for you, pulls out the chair for you while dining. You get the picture; he knows what a man is supposed to do. In him you will find security and love because his main priority is God and his family.

He’s not into what I call over-the-top PDA (public displays of affection). There are men who grab their woman’s butt in public. You know what that says? It’s actually a type of marking you publicly as his property. He is showing other men that yes you are his. Some women think that he loves them so much he can’t keep his hands off of them and they are flattered but let’s get real, it’s inappropriate. This type of behavior is really about his pride and insecurity and marking his territory and not about his woman at all. Holding hands and a kiss is not to be confused with a make out session, the former being normal. Your naked pictures are not on the Internet because it’s sexy but because you are a commodity. Don’t get these things confused with each other as it’s not an indication of love.

The man whom you choose, covers you in prayer, guards his heart and takes his role seriously so that you stay safe and secure in your place.

The woman who grabs the attention of a man of this stature is a woman who is respectful of herself. She isn’t obnoxious or rude with him. She doesn’t discuss him excessively picking him apart with her friends. She isn’t exploiting him or wasting his time. She is mature and sees the man for who he is and not what his potential could make him one day. She certainly would not waste his time with games and presuppositions. The woman who grabs the attention of this man, is self-assured and ready for a lasting relationship.

Yell A Loud NO

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James 4:1. Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves.
2. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
3. And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
4. You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way.
5. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.”
6. And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”
7. So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper.
8. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field.
9. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious.
10. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
11. Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it.
12. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?
13. And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today – at the latest, tomorrow – we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.”
14. You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.
15. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”
16. As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil.
17. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil. -“The Message”

Do You Hear What I Hear?

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Oh Lord, that I may be a good listener!

Proverbs 8:33. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life.
34. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.
35. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.
36. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.”-“The Message”

2010 Resolution # 6

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My final resolution is Commitment to Jesus Completely. Pastor Rob Koke taught on three forms of commitment and I have to say that I want when God searches my heart for Him to find that my commitments to him are core and not private.

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son. God gave it all. The very least I can do is give Jesus everything. Everything means all of it. It means I have to make a commitment that reaches beyond my selfish ambition.

There are three forms of commitment according to Pastor Rob Koke.

There is the belief in God that is public commitment. Public commitment means that you say it because it sounds good. Politicians say at the end of their speeches, “God bless you and God bless America.” They say it because everyone says it and it sounds good and it’s good for business. Public commitment is what we say because it sounds good. There is no other fruit to bear witness to that belief. Only words. Merely words. Some of us come to church on Sunday because it pleases our spouse or our parents or in our mind it’s what we are supposed to do but in no other way do we show any sort of commitment to Jesus. It’s not displayed in our lives.

Then there is Private Commitment. Private commitment is what we think we believe, and we really do think we believe it until something happens to prove our commitment and we find out we didn’t really believe it after all. This is like Peter when he at the last supper with Jesus, after saying you are the Messiah, after following him for three years he says to Jesus, I’m going to the mat for you. Jesus says, “Peter, before it’s all over tonight you’ll deny me three times.” Peter is like NO WAY, NOT GONNA HAPPEN. But it happens.

Private commitment, as I understand it, is I believe my house is going to serve the Lord until another idol rises against it. A woman, raised her children in church, her husband and she were elders in the church, she grew up in the church and she goes still today. Only her children have grown up and moved away and her husband has died. She has found love again but to do things right and get married, she must give up her husband’s pension. So she says in her heart that God will understand her fornication and she and her friend move in together. After all, it’s not her fault the government is the way it is. Suddenly her testimony is tainted and everyone is shocked. Private commitment, we believe it to be right until it might cost us something. Private commitment shows a distrust of God. We need to trust him that he will work it out. Private commitment is, I don’t believe there should be pictures of half-naked bodies on the Internet, until I look at my kid’s MySpace and then I think that it’s her own private site and none of my business. It isn’t that I don’t love God. I believe Peter loved God, the woman who is shacking up loves God and the parents struggling with the kid’s MySpace page love God but it’s a love that is willing to be put aside for what we want.

Finally there is core commitment. Core commitments can be that we believe if we stand on a rooftop and jump we will get hurt because no matter how much we will it to be different, gravity takes over and we fall rather than soar. Core commitment are those things that we believe that can’t be shaken no matter how much we try. Job had core commitment. He said, I don’t know what is going on but I know God is God. Abraham had core commitment. He was going to sacrifice his son but He knew God will not forsake him. Peter had core commitment after he wept bitterly, met up with his frailty and overcame it.

Lord, help me to trust you. To be so entwined in your life so that our hearts look like one. That would bless me beyond imagination!

2010 Resolution #5

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My fifth resolution is to study the bible and not form my own idea of what it means. The Lord asked me an important question a few months ago. He said, “Where can deity dwell? Many lift their hands in worship and sing Hallelujah but their homes are legacies of chaos.” I repented that day and went home to earnestly seek out if I was the one he was speaking about because I really want to live a holy life. Not a religious life, there is a HUGE difference.

I’d like to live a life that honors God. One that looks different than my neighbors. I want to live a life that glorifies the Father and doesn’t stain the name of Jesus. That means I have to live out what the bible says and not what my excuse is. It means that maybe I have turn some shows off that are just not healthy for my family to watch. It means that just because every other kid on the block is getting drunk at parties doesn’t mean mine have to be. It means that I am not going to bring my children to wrath by standing in church and saying one thing and going home and doing another. It doesn’t mean I am going to be perfect, or that God expects me to be, but there is a long way from excuses and perfection.

I was praying for my TLC women because I saw something that struck my heart. I have a nice big group when we do self-focused bible studies. In other words, when I bring a study that is helping the women overcome some of their life struggles then they LOVE it! When I do a bible study to study the word of God for it’s own merit, they don’t love the study or me as much. They don’t do their homework. They drop out in record numbers. I was praying that their private commitment of ‘what’s in for me’, becomes a core commitment of ‘my testimony is not the only way to help people’. Knowing the word of God, for the word’s sake, and not my own, is what’s important. As their leader the buck stops with me, what am I not communicating to them? I have to accept that responsibility.

We all know what the Lord hates. Yet we call ourselves believers and then continue to sin. We can’t keep talking out of the both sides of our mouth and continue to have any sort of testimony in our communities. Pastor Mark Crow preached a message in which he quoted statistics on church attendance. He said the builder generation the generation of WWII was 65% churched, the Baby Boomers were 32% churched, the Gen Xers were 16% and this new generation is 4% churched. See, we said we loved the Lord but we didn’t teach it to the next generation and if we did it did not match our walk.

If we are going to rationalize the word and make excuses as to why we are addicted to porn or alcohol or shacking up with our significant other or have a society where we take pride in being called a baby mama or baby daddy then we really can’t say we are believers. The words and the actions don’t match up and actions speak louder than words. And our kids are watching what we do not what we say. Lord let us become the women you’ve called us to be and not women who say one thing when our lives clearly show another.

2010 Resolution #4

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My fourth resolution is my tithe before wants. Everyone of you know how I feel about tithing. I believe in it and I give my tithe not out of a feeling of I must but out of a feeling of I want to. I am a cheerful giver. When I was first a believer I was taught to tithe and the reason for it and I got it! How could I not give him everything when he gave me everything?

Only I have confession to make. I have absolutely no problem tithing my money. I give tithes and then some, I give offerings and plenty of them but I don’t always give the tithes of all of my life. Remember tithe is not just money. That would be easy for me to give I’m not a control freak about the tithe. I am a control freak about the 80% I live on I’ll admit that. What I don’t always give is my time and talent. Sometimes, I tithe my time to the Internet, sometimes to a good book, sometimes I tithe my time to sleep, sometimes I tithe my time to a good friend who I want to share a tea and gossip with and many times I tithe my time to chores and work.

I’ve become really good at fooling myself. I say, “My whole life is a tithe, I work for the church.” Not true, the time I work for the church is service to others and not about my personal relationship with the Lord. Sometimes I feel like Jesus is speaking to me when he said to the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, “Could you not have kept watch with me an hour?” I am so so sorry at the time and I try to do better but just like the disciples I go back to the slumber of my life. I don’t neglect my prayer life, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t take the challenges that come my way necessarily as first fruits but rather I take them for granted and sometimes give what is leftover.

This year, I’m striving to stay awake. Take an assessment of your life. Do you tithe? Money? Time? Talent? Or do you give the leftovers? It will determine your life’s blessings. Wisdom comes from the Lord. God knows I need more wisdom, yet the word tells us she cries in the street. I want to still her cries this year and I want to sit at her feet. That demands my attention and the best of me, not what is left over.

2010 Resolution #3

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My third resolution for the year is to put my husband before my job, my children and my parents. We are doing The Love Dare in our couple’s bible study. I’m so ready to open that book and begin our study. I often neglect my husband. Not on purpose. We both know the importance of time together but many times, we kiss goodbye in the morning and our day begins and we don’t touch bases again until 9-9:30 at night. AND WE WORK TOGETHER!

So there are times when I actually schedule time and call my husband and say, “Let’s go eat and stare at each other for an hour.” Or I will call him on a Friday afternoon about 2 ish and tell him to meet for a secret date at the movies. I’ll say, “I want to sit with you in the dark and hold your hand and share popcorn.” Can I just tell you that it’s not often I do that? Can I be honest and say our weekly date nights have become routine and it’s mostly my fault? I am the planner and so I have a bigger responsibility. God has called me as a wife to make my husband a priority and sometimes I don’t. Not on purpose, I’m not mad at him or anything. I simply put work before him. So I am going to make each day count. I want to spend the rest of my life being his girlfriend so I need to put in more effort.

Oasis if your marriage is struggling right now and you are thinking about divorce, let me just say, you’d be better off working on this marriage. Your next one will be better, make no mistake about it, not because the spouse is better but because you will have learned some lessons to make it better. Why not just take the lessons you’ve learned and fix this one?