Posts Tagged ‘God’

Posted on February 24, 2010 - by Mary

Proof Jesus IS God

Some of you may not know this interesting fact about me, so I thought I’d share it with you because the issue has arisen again recently. And that interesting fact is…I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness. Yes, that’s right, my parents became JW’s when I was in the 3rd grade and I hung onto their beliefs and was even baptized later in my adult years. I got saved in 1997, when I was 32. A co-worker, who is now my best friend, had been trying to witness to me and I was “witnessing” to her. After much discussion and going back and forth, neither of us getting anywhere really, we decided to pray together and have God reveal the truth to whichever of us needed it. Of course, you know the outcome now, so needless to say, after praying that prayer, I began to see all the contradictions the JW’s teach, right in their own bible. Of course, most JW’s are too brainwashed to see anything different, and most would never pray the way I did with a non JW.

I had to give you that little background because yesterday in church I had a gentleman, someone I’ve never met before, asking me some questions about it. He was saved, I don’t know how long ago, but a while back I’d guess, then he fell away, and then he was searching again and, I think he started going back to church, but he’s also been going to the Kingdom Hall (JW’s meeting place-they don’t call it a church). The main question he had was, “How do you know Jesus is God? How do you prove it to them?” Of course that’s been my biggest struggle, because it is a mystery and it is difficult to wrap my head around sometimes.

Tonight our church began the Experiencing God bible study. Each week we are to do the studies ahead of time, then we go over the main points during the bible study together as a group. I just love how God knows exactly what we need when we need it…don’t you? Anyway, each week, there is also a DVD that goes right along with that week’s lesson and in the video I got the answer to that question. One of the things Henry Blackaby, the author of Experiencing God, said that really stood out to me was: “Jesus gave up his right to know what God was doing when he came to the earth”. So, when we got back into discussion, I asked the leader of our group where in the bible could I find proof of that statement. He pointed me to Phillippians 2:5-8:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

So, that clears up some huge questions for me personally! Whenever I read verses about Jesus praying to God, I always wondered why he didn’t already know the answer since he is God, but this verse shows that he gave up that right and humbled himself. Of course Almighty God has that ability because nothing is impossible for God. (Luke 1:37)

I invited the gentleman to Experiencing God, but he didn’t show up. I hope he didn’t have second thoughts about going back to the Kingdom Hall. I was able to give him some other good scripture references, so hopefully he will be able to use them if he did go back. I will be praying for him; will you join me in that prayer?

Posted on December 30, 2009 - by Mary

Romans 12:1

Last night as I drifting off to sleep, God brought to my mind Romans 12:1-”Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.” And as I laid there meditating on this scripture, God revealed why he laid it on my heart.

One of the things He showed me is that He created our bodies. This is obvious to most, I know, but let me clarify. As I continued to meditate on that thought, I realized not only do I not offer my body as a living sacrifice – holy and pleasing to Him – I also abuse my body. I have not taken care of the earthy vessel God gave me to worship and please Him with. I have all but destroyed it with the partying I did when I was younger, the promiscuous lifestyle I lived, over eating, not exercising, not eating enough of the good foods God created, and hating my body all of my life.

As I laid in my bed, I prayed and asked God to forgive me for not taking care of my body, the gift He gave me. And He has. So, now what am I going to do with this awesome gift I’ve had my entire life and never appreciated? I’m going to start exercising (actually I already began (again) the Fat Loss Quickie workout system the day before-hmmm, you think God knew when to speak to me about this???) and eating right, which means more fruits and veggies, cutting down portion sizes (who needs to eat that much anyway???) and drinking lots and lots of water.

I want to honor God with my body, with my whole being, not just in words and deeds, but with every aspect of my life, the life God has given me.

I was so blessed by this “revelation” and I wanted to blog about it right then and there, but I was already off my new schedule I just set for myself and frankly was dog tired. So, I prayed and asked God, that if He wanted me to blog about it, to share what He revealed with me to others, to bring these thoughts back to me this morning because I often get ideas for blog posts when I go to bed, but forget them in the morning (note to self: get a notebook and pen and place it on my nightstand). And guess what? He did, obviously because I’m typing this post. But, what’s interesting, to me anyways, is how He did it.

In my new schedule I set for myself, I start out the day with an hour devoted to God, reading a devotional, the bible and praying. My husband, son, his girlfriend and I recently started attending Celebrate Recovery at our church. I started attending in support of my son who is an addict, but of course God knew what He was doing and the program has been helping me to see and deal with a lot of issues I buried. I have dealt with most of my issues since my Salvation back in 1997, but there are a couple I haven’t thought about nor dealt with. But, I digress…back to the point. As I was going through my CR booklet, guess what today’s scripture is? Yep, Romans 12:1. I absolutely love it when God does that. I believe He was preparing me last night to receive that scripture just as I needed to today. Thank you Lord for loving me the way you do and knowing exactly what I need, when I need it and how I need it, in Jesus Mighty Name.

If you’re struggling with hearing from God and knowing His plan for your life, I want to encourage you to set a regular schedule for yourself. I am not one to live by a schedule normally…I’m more of a live by the seat of your pants kind of girl…and look where it’s gotten me…fat and in debt. Get on a schedule for yourself and start out your day with God. Share with him what’s on your heart, no matter how bad you think it is, or how big you think it is. God is BIGGER than your worst problems and He wants to help you through them. All you gotta do is ask and be open to receive and trust that He will never lead you astray or fail you. And though prayers may not appear to be being answered, trust me, trust God, they are. He is working it all out in His timing and in the way that is BEST for you.

What are some ways God has spoken to you in the past or recently?

Posted on October 14, 2009 - by Mary

Wordless Wednesday: Enjoying God’s Paintings

Come back tomorrow for an explanation!

Posted on October 4, 2009 - by Mary

When You’re feeling the Squeeze, God has room to Move

Today as I was listening to the message at church, I “heard” God say something along these lines: “When things are tight, tough and even very difficult, it just means it’s an opportunity for Me to move in your life.” I got really excited when God laid that on my heart! It made me stop and look at life’s struggles in a whole new light.

When life gets tough, and believe me, life gets tough, instead of looking at it in a negative way, like “poor me” or “why does this happen to me all the time” or “why can’t I ever make ends meet”, God laid it on my heart to look at each struggle in life as an opportunity for Him to move in my life.  That’s right, an opportunity for Him to move in my life. That means there’s an opportunity for a miracle in my life! I got so excited when I thought about that!!! Think about it! How many of you would like to see an actual miracle in your life? I know I would!!! And I’m not saying I’ve never experienced God’s miraculous healing power or his miraculous provision in my life, because I have, many many times. But there are also those times when times were tough or I was struggling with something, and instead of thinking of it as an opportunity for God to move, I got down about it, frustrated or even mad and upset.

Right now, things are pretty tight, really tight for Jeff and I financially, really tight! To the point where we don’t know where we’re going to get the money for gas for him to get back and forth to work and for Karlie to get to school and back. But, as I was writing out my tithe check this morning, and believing in faith that God will provide all our needs, God began to speak to my heart. The bible says we are to “be a cheerful giver”…that scripture has a whole new meaning to me now. Sure, we could have chosen not to tithe this morning or even worse, given reluctantly, but this morning I got excited to give our tithe…I just gave God room to move in our lives and our finances! In the past as I wrote out our tithe check, I would say a quick prayer, kind of along the lines of “okay I’m being obedient, so now You’re going to have to provide God”, because I knew that while we’re supposed to tithe, we sure could use that money to pay some bills with or even just buy gas and groceries with. And I need to add that God did provide and continues to, although I wasn’t exactly being a “cheerful giver”. But, now I get it! When we faithfully tithe, especially when things seem impossible, God has room to move! We just opened the door for Him to be able to provide our needs. If we didn’t tithe, sure we’d have that extra money for gas and groceries, but we would also have closed that door to God’s loving provision.

Please don’t think I’m trying to brag or be boastful about tithing. I’m excited about God being able to move in our lives and that I finally realize why God wants us to give 10% of our increase to Him first! He wants us to make room in our hearts for Him and have faith that He will do as He has promised in His word.

Sometimes, often times, when we are going through struggles or tight financial times, our flesh gets the best of us and we forget that God wants us to depend on Him. God wants us to depend on Him.  And when we get our flesh out of the way, God can move in our lives, and does.

If you’re going through tough times, no matter how difficult, pray to God and ask Him to help you not see your circumstances through your fleshly eyes. Pray to be able to see the wide open opportunity that God now has to move in your life. And then let Him.

What are you going through right now where God has room to move in your life? What struggles are you dealing with that God wants to carry you through or release you from? Health, finances, relationships? I pray that God will remove the blinders from your eyes, get your flesh out of the way, and the see the awesome miracles God is going to do in your life. If you’d like prayer for a situation you’re going through, please leave a comment and I’ll be glad to pray for you. And I encourage other readers to pray for one another as well. Be blessed my friends!

photo credit: Michell Zappa

Posted on September 18, 2009 - by Mary

The Real Me

My good friend, Tishia, recently posted a blog entitled “Who Am I” and in it she talks about not knowing who she really is. Sure, she’s a mom, she’s a Christian, she’s a work at home mom, but those don’t really describe who she is. I think many of us struggle with knowing who we really are. The reason I named my blog “Being Who God Created Me to Be” is for the very same reason…every day I’m growing and searching and learning to be the woman God created me to be. I’m no where near being that person yet and won’t be until heaven, but while I’m here on Earth, I want to be as close to it as possible. I do believe God created me, and you, for a specific purpose here on Earth, and I think that’s what most of us are trying to figure out…just what is our purpose, why are we here at this very moment in time? Of all the other times we could have been born, why now, why here, and for what?

Lately, God has been laying on my heart that my first mission is my family…actually God has laid it on my heart for a while, but He has to remind me of it every so often. I wrote a post not too long ago entitled “Learning to be Content Where you are” and I wrote about being content in singleness and where you are financially. Not too long after I posted that (a day or two) God laid it on my heart that I’ve not been content where I am living. You see, we currently live in a small village which we moved to the first year after we got married…which was 3 years ago to be exact. We moved here because this is where my kids have grown up and have gone to school and we did not want to uproot them and make them switch schools. Plus it was easier for them to go back and forth between our house and their dad’s. Well, now since my baby is a Senior in high school this year, she will be graduating at the end of the year, and I really want to move back to the town where we go to church, all our friends live and where my husband works. It’s only about 23 miles away, but still, I feel so disconnected from everyone over there. Our church friends rarely come to visit because it seems so far and out of the way, plus we would be able to interact more with the youth (we are youth leaders in our church) if we lived in town. So, I’ve been praying and praying for God to provide the means in order for us to move as soon as my baby graduates. I’ve even got my eye on a house, right in town, just a mile or so from the church…it would be perfect…or so I think. Then God basically told me to relax…be content here where I’m at…He will work it all out…in His best timing. I so know that’s true, and He’s never let me down before…yeah, I may not be able to actually see God working it out, but He always does.

So, I’ve quit pining for that house, and quit allowing my spirit…or maybe it ’s my flesh…to be unsettled where we are. Now it’s my prayer for God’s PERFECT will to be done in my life, in our lives…not just His permissible will.

The real me…the real me is being who God created me to be…always growing and learning and following His direction…not my own.

Do you know who the Real You is? Are you tired of living someone else’s life? Do you desire to be the Real You, the person God created you to be? Click here to discover the real you today!

Posted on September 10, 2009 - by Mary

Learning to be Content Where You Are

Learning to be content where you are. This is something that God has been laying on my heart for a while now; not necessarily for me maybe, but perhaps for others. Being content where God has me is something that God has taught me and something that I continue to learn. Actually lessons like patience, attitude and being content are learned on a continual basis anyway…hopefully we never stop growing in those areas.

Anyway, being content where God has us is important because there’s usually something to be learned where we are, and until we are content there and learn it, God won’t move us. A good example is in our finances. When we are struggling financially, there is usually one main reason: we are living beyond our means. Now, we may have suddenly lost a job or have suddenly incurred some unexpected medical expenses, but the bottom line is we didn’t plan for such a financial emergency. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck without saving any money for financial emergencies and we depend on credit cards to purchase the extra things we want. Then when things happen like the economical downfall, a medical emergency or our car dies, we pray to God to increase our finances or to pull us out of this situation. Well, my friends, perhaps God wants us to learn to live within our means first, which includes saving for such things. I know it’s a struggle, believe me, I know…I won’t even get into our financial struggles right now…which is why God has been laying this on my heart for the last few days.

Last night I prayed asking God to show me what I need to do, to learn that will help us in our finances. And today I’ve had this revelation so to speak. He wants us to live within our means, which means budgeting and budgeting will lead to paying off our debt and saving for financial emergencies, and then also giving more to further God’s kingdom. And it’s not like I don’t “know” this. I do have the knowledge in my head. I have to learn to be content where we are financially right now, which means buckling down, sticking to the budget, and really putting forth effort to pay off our debt and start saving money. It’s not going to be easy…it will be a struggle…but whoever said anything worth doing or having is easy? It’s not, but it is worth it and it is what I want for our lives.

photo credit: Doggettx

Another area I had to learn to be content in was when I was single. I was married for all of my adult life and after 17 years of marriage I was single. I tell you what I hated being single!!! I wanted a man so badly that I fell for any man that was interested in me. First one that came along after my divorce I fell for. We got married and were divorced in less than a year. Single again, I dated this guy who was also newly divorced. Thought I loved him, but the feeling was not mutual; he went back to his ex-wife. Devastated all I could do is turn to God. I struggled with being single for about 2 years. This guy (the one who went back to his ex-wife) was in and out of my life during those two years though we never dated again (although I was always hoping we would). Then somewhere along the way, I knew I had to be content in my singleness. I knew I needed to stop wishing and hoping and praying and dreaming that God would bring me a husband. I knew that I needed to let God be my husband. Then, of course, along comes this other guy that I had a crush on and thought he liked me too. We hung out all the time and would have each other over for dinner and all that kind of stuff. He ended up liking someone else, and they eventually got married. So, once again I had to let go of the idea of being in wedded bliss and be content in my singleness. So, I started seeking out God’s will for my life through prayer and bible study. I knew that I was supposed to be in youth ministry, so I started volunteering on Wednesday nights again (I’ve been involved in the youth ministry ever since I got saved) and was truly content being single, having fun just hanging out with my single friends, other women in church, and helping with the youth. I was also (still am) active in the Emmaus community. I love working the walks and to make a very long story short, it was while working an Emmaus walk, that I met my husband, Jeff. We have been very happily wed 4 years this month.

If I hadn’t learned to be content in my singleness (not pining, longing, hoping, wishing or dreaming for a man in my life) I would probably still be single today. No man can fulfill our needs. Yes, we are created to be married, I truly believe we are. It is also God’s will that we are prosperous and successful, yet if we aren’t obedient with what God has given us, He’s not just going to perform some miracle to make us rich. (Yes, I believe God does perform miracles every day and He does absolutely provide all our needs.) I just know that action, obedience and faithfulness is required on our part.

I’m sorry if I’m sounding preachy. I don’t mean to. This is just something that’s on my heart and I’m trying to share it the best I can.

Wherever God has you right now, ask Him to help show you what you need to learn in this situation, from this experience, so you can move on, so He can move you. Search Him, seek Him out…He is faithful…He will answer.

The Bible says in Matt. 11:29 that we can rest in God. When we are “resting” in God we are content, relaxed, laying back and letting Him speak into our hearts and souls. Rest in God.

As I’m typing this I’ve been listening to some Hillsong music. Song number 12 on the cd Look to You is called “Rest in You”. I recommend you get it and listen to it too. Here are the lyrics and when set to music…amazing and awesome.

Your faithfullness endures always
Where mountains fall and reason fails
And You calm the raging seas
And You calm the storms in me, again

All I know is I find rest in You
All I know is I find rest in You

My heart will praise throughout the night
Where singing seems a sacrifice
Your grace is all I need
Your grace is all I need

Posted on September 3, 2009 - by Mary

God Answers Prayers

If you’ve been following my blog at all, you know I’ve been struggling a bit in my walk. Mostly due to the fact that I’ve not been spending time in the Word and in prayer like I should, need and want.

Well, as of late, I have been spending time in the Word each day and have been seeking God through prayer and let me tell you, what a difference I feel already. I must say, “I’ve missed God”. I’ve missed feeling His presence in my life and I’ve missed just walking with Him.

There were times I felt like not even going to church because I thought it was pointless and I questioned whether I should continue in the youth ministry because of where I was at in my faith. However, I did not stop going to church because I knew God was there and I knew the issue was with me, not church and definitely not God.

I’m glad I persevered through this attack from the enemy I was under, and now I’m getting back on track with my personal prayer and bible reading. Yes, I read the bible online and I even receive my daily devotions in my email. But, there are still times when I do get alone with God and pull away from the distractions of the Internet.

My prayers have been those of seeking God and His presence, as well as for our finances. And He has answered both! (Oh God you are so faithful.) I am feeling His awesome presence in my life again, like a block has been removed, or a wall has been lifted. It’s amazing the difference I feel in my spirit.
photo credit: constantly_Jair

As for our finances, I’ve been praying for more clients and more work for my business and God has answered those as well. In the last 24 hours, I’ve been contacted by 3 new clients who want to use my VA services! Plus, my current clients are continually giving me more work.

God is amazing, faithful and awesome. If you’re not feeling His presence in your life, seek Him out. He is there, just waiting for you. He loves you!

If you have questions, or want more information about God, the bible, Jesus, faith, or whatever, feel free to leave a comment. Also, check out the prayer page right here.

God loves you and wants relationship with you, but it’s your choice. He’s given us freewill and will never force himself upon you. Seek Him and you will find Him. (Matt. 7:7-12)