Look what I found!

The Climb

God is trying to build something in my life. I am climbing a mountain. My career, my life, my soul….all on a climb. Two songs come to mind.

Click on the photos below:

ANNNDDD!!! I leaned a new skill (i.e. how to insert a link behind a screen shot) today. Yay for new skills!

How??? Help!!

One of my Favorite Things

One of my favorite things is 'loving something' (like an item, not a person, which is different in every way).

I loved a skirt I saw at Good Will. I bought it for six dollars even though the hem at the waist is not well-done, and despite the fact that it is a Size 14. I had every intention of paying for alterations so I could wear the beautiful (!!) skirt.

Then the most exciting part comes in.....I was looking at pinterest a few nights ago and lo and behold, look what I found! You couldn't possibly know this, but the skirt is very very similar to the gorgeous dress in this photo, except it is knee length. It was just confirmation of how great my six dollar skirt is and how fabulous is will look with my black heels and black tank top.

"You Write Like A Crazy Person"

This makes me laugh because my precious journals are written in such a way that NO ONE could decode them. I scribble and inscribe all over, top to bottom and front to back to front to upside down and wrapped around, and filling in the blanks. It is rather wild, but I never want to go back and read them, so why would I write legibly? Also, I have lost a journal before--a journey FILLED to the brim with unsent love letters-- in a Harris Teeter grocery store near my house....so embarrassing! I can't let something like that happen again! One day my old coworker saw my notepad and exclaimed, "you write like a crazy person." It is true. This is the equivalent of my journals:

I have been Crucified with Christ

"If we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Romans 6:5

"The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of his life. I can have the resurrection of life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.

"The idea all through the apostle Paul’s writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God- his complete and effective divinity—to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house—he invades all of it. and once I decide that my “old man” that is, my heredity of sin, should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me. Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to reckon that I am actually dead indeed to sin, because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness, the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of his Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order."

- My Utmost for His Highest

Psalm and Isaiah 6

Psalm 6: Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, Lord for I am faint; heal me Lord for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes from weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayers. All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

Isaiah 6: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “For how long, Lord?” And he answered: “until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.

Utmost for Today:

The Lord Jesus has sent me that you may receive your sight. Acts 9:17

When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ, “ for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus.

We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ.

The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22)

Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.

Proverbs 2

My son if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is  blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.  

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Don't know why but this interests me

Probably because certain people would "get" it the moment they see it. Not so with others.
It's very particular.

"Isn't There Some Misunderstanding?"

’Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to Him, ’. . . are You going there again?’ —John 11:7-8

Just because I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew 14:29). But faithfulness to my own ideas means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead.

Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? “Whatever He says to you, do it ” (John 2:5).

-- Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest

Friendship With God

I was just about to write a short blog post expressing my gratefulness for the friends in my life. I feel profoundly, profoundly blessed! Sometimes I don't have all the things I really want, but at the end of the day, I do have amazing friends who are wonderful, and whom I really admire. Then I read the following from today's My Utmost for His Highest entry, about our friendship with God. "I am a friend of God...He calls me friend."

Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing . . . ? —Genesis 18:17

The Delights of His Friendship. Genesis 18 brings out the delight of true friendship with God, as compared with simply feeling His presence occasionally in prayer. This friendship means being so intimately in touch with God that you never even need to ask Him to show you His will. It is evidence of a level of intimacy which confirms that you are nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you have a right-standing relationship with God, you have a life of freedom, liberty, and delight; you are God’s will. And all of your commonsense decisions are actually His will for you, unless you sense a feeling of restraint brought on by a check in your spirit. You are free to make decisions in the light of a perfect and delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will lovingly produce that sense of restraint. Once he does, you must stop immediately.

The Difficulties of His Friendship. Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He stopped because he still was lacking the level of intimacy in his relationship with God, which would enable him boldly to continue on with the Lord in prayer until his desire was granted. Whenever we stop short of our true desire in prayer and say, “Well, I don’t know, maybe this is not God’s will,” then we still have another level to go. It shows that we are not as intimately acquainted with God as Jesus was, and as Jesus would have us to be— “. . . that they may be one just as We are one . . .” (John 17:22). Think of the last thing you prayed about-were you devoted to your desire or to God? Was your determination to get some gift of the Spirit for yourself or to get to God? “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). The reason for asking is so you may get to know God better. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). We should keep praying to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.

"He went out, not knowing where he was going..." Hebrews 11:8

"In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26.

"Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason—a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world.

"The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day—in and day—out consistency; a life of walking without fainting (see Isaiah 40:31). It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith—a faith, tested and true, built on the true God. “Abraham believed God. . .” (Romans 4:3)."

 --Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Little Taste of Proverbs 19

Desire without knowledge is not good- how much more will hasty feet miss the way.

A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.

Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.

Many curry favor with a ruler and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.

The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

Houses and wealth are inherited from parents; but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.

Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death.

A hot tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them and you will have to do it again.

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart , but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.

The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rest content, untouched by trouble.

A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth.

Flog a mocker and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.

Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Does God Really Do That?

Below are several verses where Scripture explicitly says that whatever we ask for we will receive. Granted we must ask “abiding in Christ, and asking in His name,” but what do these verses really mean for us? It is very confounding to me on a practical, personal, experiential level.

God, I am asking for wisdom and understanding as to what this means. Please show me how to approach prayer and praying for my needs (and wants) as you want us to do.

Maybe it has something to do with how I asked my dad for running shoes this week, and he bought them for me, and I was so grateful for them even though I asked with the expectation of the outcome. So when I ask God, “give me this day my daily bread” I expect provision, and I am grateful when it comes.

John 15:7

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will

be done for you.

John 14:12-14

…Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in

the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 15:16

…your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 16:23-24

Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be

opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and

to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 18:18-20

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and

whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two

of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my

Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I

among them.

Matthew 21:18-22

…Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, „Be taken up and thrown into the sea,‟ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Life is Good!

The last weeks have been some of the best, most fulfilling, blessed times I have had in a long while! Why, you ask?

• I found out a very good friend is pregnant and I get to visit her soon!
• I am excited for the wedding of another friend next month
• My dad got a new job, which will be a wonderful opportunity for both of my parents in Washington State
• I am content saying in Washington DC and on Capitol Hill for the foreseeable future
• I see the turn of the spring, sun, and warm temperatures
• I got new running shoes to protect my feet and legs
• I like my spring and summer clothes and can put away the bulky jackets
• I don’t have to stay inside because it is no longer dark and cold!
• I have been nesting away with God during Lent. He has spoken to me and I am so glad for him.
• I gave up dating and I really like the way that feels! Not sure when I will reverse this decision…something or someone really compelling would have to come along.
• I have watched a lot of inspiring, lovely movies about courageous, godly people.
• I have spent time with people I really enjoy, and bowed out of large social events that cause me more distress than enjoyment.
• I have been able to spend a lot of time praying at the Planned Parenthood Clinic for mothers and fathers making very tough decisions.
• I have been able to focus on my devotional life in Christ, and completed a lot of books and meditations on this topic.
• I clarified things with my pastors at my old Church, and it was kind and compassionate but also very definitive and I am moving on. While it is sad, it is a relief to commit fully to one church.
• Very good friends are moving from DC (sad) but I am so happy for them to start a new, wonderful life in a beautiful place!
• I live very near many good friends.
• I love my house, and cannot wait to get some serious spring cleaning done in my room!