The BIG Picture…Secret sins…Your Own Prison

Someone please explain to me what the difference is in a sin you can see and one you can hide that no one can see ?

Like having a bad habit that is not good for you .one people can see , that you cannot hide.

Or one you can hide and no one see’s .

What if your life was put on a big screen, like in the movies 24 hrs a day for the world to see….everything you did, even your ever thought ?????

What would it look like ?

Prisons are not only made of bars and steel but of secret sins in our lives things we do not want anyone to know about..Those are the greatest prison….Yet my Lord gave all for those people.

A friend of mine asked me about mine because,  well you can see mine… it sticks out like a sore thumb but you see his sins he can hide or his bad habits….yet because you can see mine I’m found unworthy at times.

I do not follow that logic at all , of course I never have.

Good thing God found me worthy enough to die for

And the way I see it as soon as I’m over and done with the battle and free of this thing in my life someone will find something else to call me on ..( we do not like your red shoes or your poke dot Dress ) ..and that is cool as long as they are also walking the perfect walk …because God has called me on things way before people ever have…get a clue I think to myself.

I was in church just the other day when the Pastor was yelling hell and fire to folks about sin in there life and drugs abuse or smoking…or work or something …and as I raised my head and look the man had to be well over 400 pounds and I ask myself now what is wrong with this picture as the guy who was a drunk got up and walked out I felt sad inside.

kymberlyrenee

Doors

Job 23:10
But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

I was recently sitting with the leader of a marketplace organization as he described a question he poses to businesspeople. “What if there were two doors to choose from; behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and behind the other door was how life could be according to your own preference.

Which door would you choose?”

 The struggle for most lies in the desire to follow God completely and the fear of what might be behind the door of full surrender. Most of us desire to follow God, but few of us will do it at any cost. We do not really believe that God loves us to the degree that we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us.If we desire to fully walk with Christ, there is a cost. We may give intellectual assent and go along with His principles and do fine; however, if we are fully given over to Him and His will for our life, it will be a life that will have adversity. The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve greatness without having their sinful will broken. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change.

 The Bible calls it circumcision. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal.

If God has plans to greatly use you in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater than those of others. Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, your calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust it to you without ensuring your complete faithfulness to the call. He has much invested in you on behalf of others. He may want to speak through your life
to a greater degree than through another. The events of your life would become the frame for the message He wants to speak through you.Do not fear the path that God may lead you on. Embrace it. For God may bring you down a path in your life to ensure the reward of your inheritance.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that
far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:17).

This Man

This is my Favorite song…Just beautiful

We could just never out give GOD

Change

 

Well I have not even felt like posting today….I feel like I’m having one of those days where God is again removing everyone and everything from my life….

I’m really not happy at all right now…and I know this to shall pass but the night seems so long.

I know what I need to do I just need to do it , I guess tomorrow is a new day and maybe I will get a breakthrough.

Thank you God for being patient with me , sometimes it takes me a long time to make changes in my life.

I dare you to be your best

I dare you to be different from the rest

I dare you not to imitate anyone else

I dare you to be yourself

 

I dare you to separate from the crowd

I dare you to speak out loud

I dare you to explore

I dare you to be so much more

 

I dare you to get rid of all the friends that mean you no good

I dare you to do all the things you know you

should

I dare you to stand up for what’s right

I dare you to fight your best fight

 

I dare you to resist

temptation

I dare you to use set back as motivation

I dare you to stand up for a cause

I dare you to press on without a pause

 

I dare you to start early and work late

I dare you to commit to your soul mate

I dare you to find out why you’re here

I dare you to live without fear

 

I dare you to do what’s right

I dare you to give it all your might

I dare you to put others first

I dare you to have a unquenchable thirst

 

I dare you to really help someone

Most of all- I dare you to go out and have some fun

“Shmily”

SHMILY

My grandparents were married for over half a century and played
their own special game from the time they had met each other.

The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a
surprise place for the other to find.  They took turns leaving
“shmily” around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered
it, it was their turn to hide it once more.

They dragged “shmily” with their fingers through the sugar and
flour containers to await whomever was preparing the next meal.

They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio
where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue
food coloring.
 
“Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot
shower, where it would reappear bath after bath.

At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of
toilet paper to leave “shmily” on the very last sheet.
 
There was no end to the places “shmily” would pop up.

Little notes with “shmily” scribbled hurriedly were found on   
dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels.

The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows.

“Shmily” was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in
the ashes of the fireplace.

This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents’
house as the furniture.
 
It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my
grandparents’ game.  Skepticism has kept me from believing in
true love – one that is pure and enduring.

However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. 
They had love down pat.

It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of
life.  Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate
affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience.
 
Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could.
They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny
kitchen.  They finished each other’s sentences and shared the
daily crossword puzzle and word jumble.  My grandma whispered to
me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had
grown to be.

She claimed that she really knew “how to pick ‘em.” 
Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks,
marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune,
and each other.
 
But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents’ lives: my
grandmother had breast cancer.  The disease had first appeared
ten years earlier.  As always, Grandpa was with her every step
of the way.

He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that
she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was
too sick to go outside.

Now the cancer was again attacking her body.  With the help of a
cane and my grandfather’s steady hand, they went to church every
morning.
 
But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she
could not leave the house anymore.  For a while, Grandpa would
go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. 

Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened.
Grandma was gone.
 
“Shmily.”  It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons
of my Grandmother’s funeral bouquet.  As the crowd thinned and
the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and
other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma
one last time.
 
Grandpa stepped up to my Grandmother’s casket, and taking a
shaky breath, he began to sing to her. 

Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty
lullaby.  Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that
moment.

For I knew that although I couldn’t begin to fathom the depth
of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched
beauty.
 
           S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.

Love

http://www.attractinggenuinelove.com/movie1.html

God Is At The Window

16-18″This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.  John 3

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’spet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile;only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, “Sally,let’s wash the dishes” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the  kitchen.” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally just smiled and said, “Well that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help” She whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to helpAfter several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s; he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said,
“Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.

”Thought for the day and every day thereafter?

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done… and the devil keeps
throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating,debt, fear, bad habits, hatred
anger, bitterness, etc.)…whatever it is…You need to know that God was
standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.He’s just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God’s grace and mercy that we are saved.

 Always remember: God is at the window!

Stronghold

1 Samuel 22:5
….”Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah”…
David and his fighting men had been hiding in the cave of Adullam. He was fleeing Saul. Many of life’s down-and-out had come and joined David’s army.
David was content to stay in the stronghold of safety. Then, God’s prophet came to David and told him that he must leave the stronghold and go into the land of Judah. When life beats down on us and we get to the place where we want to hide in a cave, God often places people around us who prod us into moving in the right direction. He does not want us to remain in the place of discouragement. He wants us to move into the land of “praise.” Judah means “praise.”
I recall when I went through a very difficult time. It seemed to drag on and on with no change until finally I wanted to retreat to a cave and forget pressing on. It was a great time of discouragement. A godly man came to me and said, “You must keep moving! There are too many who are depending on you in the Kingdom.” I didn’t totally understand what he meant at the time. Now I know he was saying that God is preparing each of us to be the vessel He wants to use in the life of another person, but we will never be that vessel if we give up and hide in our cave of discouragement. Not only must we keep
moving, we must move into a new realm. Our attitude must move from discouragement to praise. It is when we move past discouragement to praise that we begin living above our problems. Make a decision today to go into the land of Judah.

He created woman For The Man

 

God made everything on purpose. He makes nothing by accident. Nothing is happy until it finds the purpose for which God has made it. Seems like all we hear these days are “I want my rights”. Everyone is talking this way….but what about my purpose. my place. That is what I want to address here. You have only one right in life. And that is to find God’s will and purpose for your life. Then sit securely and work actively right in the center of God’s purpose and place for you. It is really the only way to find contentment. To be in the will of God is the highest honor given us. God has a specific purpose for each of His creatures. So, God then has a purpose for women. First let me say that God didn’t create man for you. Yep! you heard me right. God created you to be a help mate for man. You see ladies, I believe God saved the best for last….woman….created after everything else..Because man was incomplete…He had it all there in the garden. Every perfect thing and direct fellowship with God. But God saw that something was missing…He wanted Adam to have the best of everything, every desire met. So, to top off a perfect world He created woman FOR THE MAN. Man needed someone to see how much he could lift and to say “My you are strong”. But there was no one, Maybe he took a lap around the garden and there was no one to say..”Wow, you are the fastest runner I know!” God made woman to sit on the sidelines and cheer when a man succeeds. God made a woman to sit in the audience while her husband preaches and say. “That’s the best preacher in the world”. That is why God made woman. He made her to be man’s help mate. God made woman for man! The word “help mate” means “completer.” Like finishing a circle…a completion. No, God didn’t see a child needing care and say “I’m going to send somebody down to take care of that child”. He didn’t say “that baby needs a diaper change, I’ll create someone to take care of that”. Nor did He say “there’s a dirty house, I’ll send someone to clean”. And as much as we would like to believe this He didn’t say, “I’m going to send her down for man to love and protect”. God didn’t send you down to be helped; God sent you down to help

For those of you who have been blessed with the joy of a child, I’m sure there was a time where you thought, “this is flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone and blood of my blood,” and from experience I know what a sweet time that is. What a blessing! But that is not why God made you. You did not fulfil the purpose of being a woman that day. God did bless us with the ability to have children, but that is not the main reason for your existence. You can be a good mother and be a failure. You can be the best mother who ever lived and still be a failure. God looked down and saw that man was not a complete package. He saw that he could not make it by himself and God said, “I’m going to make someone to complete him. Like a noun with no verb. Like a three sided square. There was something missing in man so He made you to complete him. That is your purpose. So, that being the case, God made you to be the aggressor. Yes, woman is to be the weaker vessel

1Pe 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel,

But man has more need than woman does. Let’s put it this way, woman comes to an incomplete man, completes him, and then reaps the benefits. That’s her job-to be the aggressor, to complete man so he can lead her, but he needs woman to start him! How do we do this? Take interest in his job…not just the paycheck..learn ask questions…let him know how important you feel whatever he does is. Does he like sports? Whatever he enjoys act interested. Be supportive. If he catches a 6-inch fish, say “wow that is a whale. he he. Of course there isn’t a “women’s libber alive that sees any truth in what I’m trying to say here. Do you know what these women’s libbers are? They are a group of confused women trying to find happiness and failing because they are searching outside of God’s Word and God’s plan. They say, “I have my rights too”. No they don’t-not yet! A woman does not have any right in this world until she’s done this. Check it in the Bible; Always in the Bible she is to be the follower;

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Then in verse 25;

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Who’s supposed to start it? The wives! In Ephesians 6:1 we find,

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. and then in verse 4, Eph 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

What does that mean? God gives the command first to the follower. He says, “I want the wife to do her job first”. That means He wants the child to obey the first. That means He wants the child to obey even if the dad is never the right kind of dad. To obey regardless! Now lets look at another example from the Word of God,

Eph 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

and then in verse 9 the masters are exhorted to be good masters. God always puts on the follower the burden of having the initiative and the being aggressive. Wives, you do it first. Children, you do it first. Servants you do it first. He wasn’t made to help you in the home, but if he does that is an added blessing, but it is not part of God’s plan. You were made for him not the other way around. Man’s main business is outside the home, woman’’’’s in. It’’’’s our domain, our castle. So he doesn’t clean, give you the attention that you crave, well the Bible doesn’t say he’s supposed to do that. You be what you ought to be so you can make your man to be what he ought to be to you.

At this point right here I would love to address how we should raise our daughters…but that is for another page (smiles). Let me just say here that we should be setting an example that says to our girls…I am in the will of God…show them how to spoil their dad, so one day it will come natural to be the help mate that God intends them to be.

Now I suppose that there are some young ladies out there that are wondering how all this should concern them now. Well girls, there is a father in your home, a boss at work, a preacher who needs your prayers, your obedience, start now where God has you and then when your TIME comes, the natural thing will be to do that which God has ordained. Are you praying for the right man? For someone who will love the Lord more than he loves you? That is what makes it all work. Pray ask God to open and shut the doors of your heart when need be. It is not all looks, believe me the Bible is so right when it says…

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer. 17:9

©©©©ccheedie 2000

Please STOP

 Please Stop Before You Murder Your Friend

Be careful for what you say, there lies extreme power in the way you use your words.
Whether used for good or for evil, in your home or relationships, words have power. Those who would idly say whatever they want without awareness of consequences are sadly naive. Many of us have been the victim of hateful, thoughtless words, and we have been bruised by them. Most of us are with the consequences of out our own speech, whether it was “yes” given too hastily or an opinion shared too quickly.We enter into relationships with our mouths open, even if our eyes are closed. Many of us have said things that bruised your companions and changed the tenor of your relationships that you are in. Then theoretically it stands to reason that your mouth can get you out. The injury can be healed, but saying “I am sorry” is not always enough. Those magic words are not nearly as healing as the statement that led to them are damaging. But with careful rebuilding of credibility through controlled speech, you can regain what you lost through abuse of the tongue.A person needs to understand the effect their words have on another’s performance; your words can motivate or disintegrate someone’s self esteem. On the other hand the words of encouragement can renew someone’s desire to service.The power of the tongue holds life and death. You can speak comfortably and carefully to a person and encourage a greater strength and courage than one who is consistently confrontational. Your words can exalt someone or demolish someone. You can say things that make them want to retreat to the rooftop rather than to be close.

Every major revolution in history was accomplished by someone who knew what to say. Anyone, male or female, who recklessly spurts out words is speaking death to their relationship. A person flees from contention but draws strength from the person who encourages and affirms them. Any of us will draw closer to a warm voice of affirmation more quickly then we would to a shrill voice of constant criticism. Calm spirits create trust and tranquility. This is the key to a long lasting relationship. It is an environment that positive change and development can best be accomplished. Even if there are areas that in disparity needs to be changed, hostility will not bring about change; it will result in resentment and hiding of hearts on the roof. You can keep your lover off the roof and in the bed with tenderness. A person who knows what to say is a mighty powerful force. They can influence someone. Not only can they strengthen them and give them courage but they can motivate them. People react to praise. Any person who is praised will begin to grow. Words motivate a person to perform. Understand the power of the tongue. Understand that if it is not bridled it can be dangerous to any relationship.

It is amazing to think that something so small can destroy relationships, ruin opportunities, damage children, cripple women and emasculate men. Yet I tell you the truth. More people are hurt by a tongue out of control that by any gun. It is small, it is quick, and it is deadly. The worst part of it is that we tend to use it most effectively against those who are vulnerable by your words because they will never dignify your words with their attentions. It is the people who love you and want to be with you who are most likely to become assaulted by your words. One day you will look into there eyes and notice that you have doused the fire that once burned inside them. It was your tongue that did it. Please STOP it before you murder your friend, your career, your child, or your companion!

All of us who are quick -witted have to harness our tongue. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone said everything that they thought? Just because you know what to say to a lame person does not mean that you have a right to say it. Before you speak, weigh the effects of your words, you may not be able to retract them. So be sure that you mean them before you hurl them at someone tonight whom you may want to love you tomorrow.

Sadly, though most people who have never learned to bridle there tongues end up alone, for everyone who would have been there has been lashed away by a tongue that could not be controlled. The children leave, the husband escapes, and the employers don’t give promotions. And the worse things get, the more brutal the tongue becomes. The more brutal the tongue gets, the greater the alienation becomes. Your mouth is design to speak blessings. You have been given a swift tongue, so you can speak peace to the storms and life to the dead things that arise against you. I want you to make a commitment to change your speech into something wholesome. If you do, when you are old you will be surrounded by people who want to hear you speak. If you are going to enjoy wholesome relationships, there must be communication between you and others. But there is a difference between discussing and resolving a conflict through communicating and unleashing hellfire on someone with a lethal tongue. Resolve conflict, but do not abuse each other with words. They are easily spoken, but they are difficult to erase. Use your words to share your dreams and needs and ask your friends what they want. We see things from different perspectives. If you give someone only what you like, it will cause great frustration partially because your intentions were so sincere and yet your effort did not elicit the proper response. Secondly, it frustrates them because giving is only effective when we humble ourselves enough to allow the other person’s needs or desires to take precedence over our own biases and preferences.

Make someone feel loved and appreciated. Without communication your relationships will surely die.  And with it comes the promise of love and comfort for all of your days on earth.

Please STOP it before you murder your friend

His Needs

  It seems crazy that a big strong man needs to feel secure, but he does.He needs it in the worse way. He can be terribly afraid and confused by feminine behavior. We always resent what we do not understand, and there are many things between the genders that we often do not understand, Trust is a major area of concern for both parties. But there seems to be a real death of material that helps the woman understand the masculine need to trust in a woman and feel safe. What complicates the issue further is the fact that most men do not discuss their feelings easily. Much of a mans uneasiness may be due to his experience in past relationships, either that opening oneself up emotionally creates vulnerability. He may have experienced the pain himself when he shared his feelings only to have them thrown back in his face in a moment of rage. He will not always readily supply the reason for his silence, even when he is repeatedly admonished to discuss himself.Sometimes he is silent cause he does not know the cause. Or he just might not realize the effect his wary attitude and sullen habits have on you.

Developing trust is difficult for a man. And when he finally does trust, and that trust is betrayed, he may lock himself in a vault of silence and never come out. Trust is hard enough to win in the first place, but if you give a man a cause to feel that you have violated his trust, he may be impossible to win back. Many men feel women manipulate them with words, so in their own defense, men remain silent. But realize his silence does not indicate he is absent. It just indicates he has lapsed further from you than he was before. The unique thing about men is that most of them have the ability to be sexually intimate and still remain emotionally distant. Do not think that his amorous aggression in bed is always a barometer that correctly indicates his wholeness within himself or his relationship.

For a man to trust, is feeling assured that no matter what changes she incurs as she evolves through life, his position in her life will not be threatened. It is knowing that she will not deceive him. It is being sure that she will be his friend forever. Trust is the issue that haunts man’s heart. Often, the insecurity that causes men to be terrified of commitment is associated with trust. It’s not that they want to remain single so much as they would rather be alone.

When a man loves, he is vulnerable in a way that is threatening to himself. That literally means that love spends its resources in caring. We enrich the one we love, but we do it by spending ourselves on them. Most men are intimidated by the expense of an emotional commitment. Oh yes, he wants the benefits, but he may be afraid of the bill!

Men tend to feel uncertain of there own feelings. Men have had little practice at relationships. Men never grew up playing house. While girls played with wedding gowns and dressed Barbie and Ken for marriage, guys played with army tanks and games that did not prepare them for relationships. While little girls played with dolls that needed blankets and changing and feeling, little boys played with trains that did not require much emotion. In short, men are “thing” oriented. Men are better at handling things than they are at handling people. Especially when the people have needs that are so different from our own.

It is far easier for him to give his money, his body, his advice, but when he gives his heart, then he is terrified. What will you do to me if I need you? If I allow myself to open up, what will come out of my heart? he wonders. Suddenly even the most robust man trembles when he knows that he has gone beyond wanting her to needing her. Wanting is safe but needing is vulnerable. He feels as though his heart is held in her hand, but he fears that the hand will become an iron fist to crush him and leave him hurting. When thoughts of her cause moisture to gather in his eyes and thunder to beat wildly in his heart, a man begins to worry. He feels vulnerable, exposed, He feels naked in the tempestuous storm of love. What he does not realize is that a woman’s love is the shelter, protection from the wind. Open your arms and heart to him, show him he is safe, let him come out of the cold.

TDJ

The Resume of Jesus Christ

 

Address: Ephesians 1:20
Phone: Romans 10:13
Website: The Bible. Keywords: Christ, Lord, Savior and Jesus
 
 
 
Hello. My name is Jesus -The Christ. Many call me Lord! I’ve sent you
my resume because I’m seeking the top management position in your
heart. Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume.
 
Qualifications
 
I founded the earth and established the heavens, (See Proverbs 3:19 )
I formed man from the dust of the ground, (See Genesis 2:7)
I breathed into man the breath of life, (See Genesis 2:7)
I redeemed man from the curse of the law, (See Galatians 3:13 )
The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes upon your life through
me, (See Galatians 3:14 )
 
 
Occupational Background
 
I’ve only had one employer, (See Luke 2:49 ).
I’ve never been tardy, absent, disobedient, slothful or
disrespectful.
My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me, (See Matthew 3:15 -
17)
 
 
Skills Work Experiences
 
Some of my skills and work experiences include: empowering the poor

Commitment Before Love

Love isn’t something discovered and sealed in an instant; rather, it’s something that develops, deepens, and strengthens through a couple’s shared experiences. The more time you spend together, the more openness you share; the more conversations you have and events you experience as a couple, the deeper in love you’ll fall. In addition to becoming one flesh through lovemaking and one spirit through shared spiritual goals, you must also become one mind through shared memories and one heart through shared joys and pain. Hence, a long life of shared experience is the very fabric of love, weaving its intertwined threads into a single brilliant pattern. Love may have a qualitative aspect, but it also has a quantitative dimension. Look at your time together as an investment: The more you deposit, the greater the returns. See it as an occasion for nurturing love from genesis to fruition and beyond. Shared experience fosters the love. Adam and Eve didn’t date for forty years before they fell in love and married. They didn’t even date for forty days and forty nights. No, their commitment came first; their love followed. When first they met, they saw that all the fundamental components were there. And because of that they committed to each other, then fell in love. This is counterintuitive, especially these days, but it’s crucial. It is commitment that makes us fall in love: commitment to daily and mundane shared experiences, domestic chores, the breakfast drill, casually holding hands in the park, advising each other about problems at work, coming to depend on each other, building a life together, raising kids together, and jointly navigating the vicissitudes of life. Like the hooks and eyes of a woman’s dress, it’s the tiny, seemingly insignificant details of everyday life that serve to fasten a man and a woman together until they begin to feel inseparable.
This is what all the lonely singles today, who date and date searching for perfection, ultimately don’t understand. Love can’t precede commitment. Sure, you can be strongly attracted before commitment. You can be “in like.” But you aren’t yet in love. Think of it: If one of your friends told you, “I just love my job; I start next week,” wouldn’t you think it absurd? Rather, you fall in love with your job over time. As you and the job grow together and define your experience, you come to love what it has become. The same is true of sharing a life. You choose a person who seems worthy and likely, and then the two of you grow together, ever more deeply in love. If you, as a single person, are merely biding your time, waiting to fall in love before you feel ready to commit, I’d counsel you that love won’t happen until you commit. We’re so cautious today, unprepared to take a leap of faith until we have certainty. Yet as we’ve seen, certainty–monotony, predictability, sameness–can often be a recipe for disaster. It’s a husband’s certainty that his wife would never leave him, that she’s a mountain he’s already conquered, that leads him to believe he can have an affair and get away with it. “Well, my wife is totally won over,” he thinks. “My work is done here. But that stranger over there, gee, I wonder if I could get her.” That constant gap of difference, that little bit of uncertainty, is what keeps us from taking each other for granted. It may seem like a paradox, but it’s true: In the most successful relationships, uncertainty actually contributes to the security of the partners’ commitment, by pushing each to strengthen the partnership. The great secret of falling in love, I believe, is that it can be summoned. You can actually decide to fall in love with someone, and your heart will follow.
We must learn to be active in governing our passions, rather than being governed by them. Husbands come to me all the time, complaining, “I fell out of love with my wife. I’m no longer interested in my wife. She doesn’t turn me on. That’s why I’m having an affair.” I tell them, “With all due respect, sir, you’re being lazy. You can fall back in love with your wife if you want to, if you direct your heart to do so. Bur you don’t want to. What if an employee told you, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m no longer interested in working today’? What would you tell your children if they came home from school, propped themselves up in front of the TV for six hours, and said, ‘Homework just isn’t turning me on tonight. I don’t feel like it’? I presume you’d tell them, ‘Well, make yourself feel like it. Have some respect for yourself, and make yourself put a little effort into it. Nothing good comes easily.’”

We have it in our own power to nurture love in our hearts, if only we set our minds to it. Those who fail to see this, I believe, have lost faith in their own basic ability to grow as human beings, to change and improve. They take the easy way out, looking only for signs that their new lover echoes the old things they already know about themselves. But when the two find they’re not interested in growing together, and the magic wears off, they end up parting and wondering why love always seems to fail them. The answer? Because they failed to build it together. This is why I always say I don’t believe in love at first sight. Would you believe in the young person who, when presented with a flesh wound, decides to “become a doctor at first sight”?

In the Talmud, it is observed that an olive releases its oil only when pressed. In the same manner, lovers release their richest love after they’ve been pressed, once life’s challenging times have put them through the wringer.

Adam and Eve, it’s safe to say, had rather a life-changing experience together. When they fell from the Garden, it was as if their company were downsized, their house foreclosed, their furniture repossessed, their SUV stolen, all in the same fateful week. And yet they survived and thrived. The adversity strengthened them. Adam and Eve lived to the ripe old age of 930. I would speculate that it was after being expelled from Eden that they truly fell in love.

Love is an amazing blessing, but it takes work. As M. Scott Peck wrote in The Road Less Traveled, “If an act is not one of work or courage, then it is not an act of love. There are no exceptions. The principal form that the work of love takes is attention. When we love another we give him or her our attention; we attend to that person’s growth.”

The Seed

The woman is a fertile field. Her tender heart is soft soil that awaits the seed. She carries the potential of massive reproduction. Her mind is the incubator of dreams and the womb of greatness. She is irrigated when in love and dehydrated when hurt. She is enriched by those who love her and striped by those who abuse her. Those whom she touches will dine on her harvest. She will be the end of someone’s famine. She is the garden. She is the place where hunger is sated. She is the place where hunger is quenched. She is the place where rich soil will produce fertile food and lives are richer because of her. She is a garden, a focal point of those who love her and the absolute envy of those who don’t. Yes, the woman is a garden of potential.

A childhood nursery rhyme ask this question? “Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does your garden grow?” The question is a strong one that all Mary’s must answer. How does your garden grow? Where have the things come from that I have grown in my personal garden with my personality, the integrity of my own intent? Have you ever looked at yourself and thought, “How in the world did I get in this situation?”

Have you ever seen a part of your personality get choked by the weeds of a bad experience? Mary, Mary, are you quite contrary? What made you feel that way?

Many times contrary feelings are born out of the seeds that are sown by adverse situations. They are often sown by people and influences that do not even stay around for the harvest. You find yourself harvesting things that you did not even plant. Every affair, relationship, and involvement that you have experienced as a woman leaves something behind. There are seeds planted by each event that are not easily uprooted. You are a Garden, but only time will tell what your harvest will yield. If you have not liked what you are growing so far, look at what was sown. You want to change what is being harvested in your garden? Then all you have to do is change what is being sown or at least change who is sowing it.

Guard it with all your heart. Many women are suffering from misplaced, thoughtless words. It is dangerous to allow people to pour their pain into your field. It will grow there long after they’re gone. The seeds you see growing in the field of your life have been planted either by circumstance or by persons who have spoken things into your life. Be careful of whom you allow to speak into your life. Seeds last a long time and bring forth fruit for years.

TDJ
 

Gods Men

 

I have been pondering a question that came up last night in a discussion about What are the qualities you seek in a man”.

I listened as all the women chimed in with “THINGS” none of them described what I felt made a godly man a man whom I could surrender to and be submissive and obedient to like I do right now with the Lord .I new to be bale to give my all to one man that he would have to posses some pretty huge qualities .I mean we are talking service and submission as he will be the head.

I thought of all the men in the bible” I want a Man after Gods own heart” A man with a heart like David, what could possibly be better than that sort of man.

David devoted his life to God, he also spent a great deal of time alone with God learning how to hear and listening , his time in the field being a shepherd I feel prepared him to hear that still small voice.That takes obedience.

David said God was his rock and fortress , he totally relied on God.

Psalm 18 wow

LOL and when David sinned he sinned BIG …….but he also paid for those sins and took responsibility for his actions.The psalms are David’s at least 73 of them I think.The man new how to praise and pray and talk to the Lord.He had fellowship deep fellowship with his God.He preserved through hardship and was full of courage.

So my answer is I want a Man after Gods own heart.

Where are the Godly men in the church today?

I pray that the men of God rise up from sleeping and step into the place that God has called them.We need Manly Men of God. Mighty Warriors, Leaders and Servants.Men with a heart on Fire.

kymberlyrenee