The Tyranny of the Urgent

I started reading the book "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world", a book that I believe EVERY women that wants to serve God to the fullest, but does not seem to find the time, or if you need a book of encouragement to get out there and do what God wants you to do.

There is a part in chapter one that has caught my attention. The book role place what probably takes place in every one of our lives....."Part of me is Mary. I want to worship extravagantly. I want to sit at his feet. But part of me is Martha--and there's just so much to do! So many legitimate needs surround me, compelling me to work. I hear God's tender call to come away, I respond, Yes Lord, I will come. But then the phone rings, I'm reminded of the check I was supposed to deposit--yesterday! Suddenly all of my good intentions about worship disappear, swallowed up by what Charles Hummel calls "the tyranny of the urgent"."

I know that there are many mornings that I have gotten out of bed and looked at my prayer closet, and said "I will be right there" then the next thing I know it is lunch time and my "to do" list has gotten a whole lot longer. I believe that we all should have a "Threshing floor", a place that we fall before God to receive from Him what only He can give.

Threshing Floor:Wikipedia Definition
A threshing floor is a specially flattened surface made either of rock or beaten earth where a farmer would thresh the grain harvest. The threshing floor was either owned by the entire village or by a single family. It was usually located outside the village in a place exposed to the wind. Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain (or other crop) from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain.

In the spiritual since a threshing floor is a place where God can harvest us. Take away the bad and useless, to bring forth our harvest.

We need to make a threshing floor in our lives. I have made my closet a prayer room in my home. It has helped in so many ways. I can, at any point of the day, just walk in and shut the door, then its just me and God.

I know its hard, but we need God in our lives. We need to some times just come and sit at His feet. God wants to help us, and He has things that He wants to tell us....but until we can slow down, calm down, and sit down so that God can speak, we will not here His voice

Women , We can do it!

The Lord has placed many people in my life to help me along the way. He has shown me favor by allowing me to know the following women.....

Thank you to my mom....for all the random day-trips and playing hookie from school/work just to hang out....Thank you for all the late night talks.....thanks for being you!....Thank you for not giving up on me.....for being a father and a mother at the same time.....for showing me how to work hard, and take care of yourself.....Your are an amazing women.

Thank you to my mother-in-law....the best I could have asked for, someone I can talk to.....thank you for all your help.....and for allowing me into your life.

Thank you to my home Pastors wife Sis Paula Watts.....for your amazing advise, example of how a women should act, a prayer warrior and amazing worship leader.

Thank you to my mentor....Cylinda Nickel....you have no idea how I relive a lot of our conversations just to make it through the day...thank you for showing me how to run a crazy house (not that yours is....OK maybe a little sometimes), host a dinner, be a life giver and still have time to be an amazing person.

I think about the difference that these women made/make in my life everyday....and it makes me want to be the best that I can be. Just because we are women, wives, mothers, housewives, or career moms....We can still make a difference....We need to be there for one another. Encourage one another. Don't let time pass by without you lifting up your sisters in prayer. We are each others support system.

My prayer today is that I become a women that changes lives. I want to be someone that people can talk to and I want to be a prayer warrior....I want to intercede on my sisters behalf.

We cannot allow gossip to come into our hearts, we may all be different, but we are all in this together.

I love you all!

Do people know who or what your? Can they tell that you are a Child of God? Has anyone asked you latley if you are a Christian/Pentecostal?

People need to be able to see something different in us. They should want to know where we go to church, or how did we become so happy. This morning while working in the shop, A gentlemen asked me if I was pentecostal....I answered yes and procceded to tell me that he was non-denominational and had just moved near-by.

Immediatley I got happy...."Thank you Lord that I am different....We shouldn't have to go around telling people who we are, what we believe, or where we go to church. They should ask us....They should see something in us that they don't see in everyone else.

I want to stand out, I want be see a difference in me!

A little homesick today

So today has been a little rough on me. I miss my mom, my family, the big city of Charlotte, NC....but the main thing that I miss is my home church! Everyone there, my Pastor Rev Watts and First Lady Sis Watts, and Ashley! They are such amazing examples of who we all should live our lives. Everyday I try to remember all the things that they taught me....things I will never forget.

God has placed men and women of God in our lives for a reason. People are ok with the Pastor telling them to live a certain way as long as it doesn't require change. But I want change! I know it is hard to not become upset with your Pastor or Pastors wife when they correct you, but they do it protect you. They do it because they know what is right for you.

I sit here and think of the times that I sat in a church pew or my Pastors office, and left thinking that I didn't have to obey those rules.....I look back now and wish I would have listened. We have to allow people to speak things into our lives.

God used Noah, Moses, and Paul....they were all "MEN"....If it was good enough for them, then its good enough for me.

Thank you Lord for the men of God that you have placed in my life.

Weeds are taking over!!

So obviously I am new to this whole house wife thing, because I have let the weeds in my flower beds run wild. My sister-in-law came home yesterday from Texas, so cleaning was in the air. We all wanted everything to look like "home" for her. So I had the bright idea of weed eating my flower beds and planting new flowers my self. I began to pull and tug at this weeds that seemed tougher then they looked. After 2 broken nails, I thought, why not just go and buy soil and mulch to cover the entire area and you won't even be able to see them.....

Then I could hear God say, you have to get the root. "Wow" Amen! So I pulled and tugged for hours in this Mississippi heat...(If you have ever been in this area in the summer, you know my pain)....I worked so hard to get down to the root of these weeds. They had been growing so long that they had wrapped themselves in my bushes. But I was the women for the job to get them out!

As I was digging, pulling, and tugging......I thought, "This was crazy to ever let it get this bad! I need to take time everyday and search this flower bed for weeds before they kill my new flowers."

I was quickened in my spirit that this was another one of Gods daily lessons. Here we are, flowers in a flower bed and if we are not careful things will come in and try to kill us. We cannot allow little things of this world to try to creep into our lives. They may start out as something so small, and it looks harmless, but its roots will start to grow longer, stronger, and thicker then we can control. A lot of times we try to cover things up on the outside, by making our lives look perfect, but in reality you have to start from within. I pray that God helps me everyday to stay holy before him, and rid myself of things of this world.

I am so thankful that God still speaks in the garden!

Are You Ready?

Seems like simple question right? Wrong! Its not! You may think it is,but only to realize that after you said yes, you truly are not ready.

I feel like I have said yes to this question. Actually I have shouted it out, YES I AM READY!!! But what now, what comes after you say that you are ready?

The Devil, test, adversity, and the Lord wanting to make sure that you are truly ready. Sunday night I was lying in my bed and it was as though the Lord asked me again, "Are you ready?"

Now, obviously we could never be 100% ready. I believe that there are 2 parts to being ready. I believe that you have to have these in order to say "Yes, I am ready!'

Part 1 Is your heart willing?

Exodus the 35th chapter tells a story of the people having a willing heart. The Lord asked for them to bring forth a willing offering. He didnt beg, pled, or command, but he asked for a willing heart.Willingly they brought everything they had to offer. Verse 22 points out that they were "willing hearted". It has to be in your heart, not just on you lips. At the end of the chapter a workmen is chosen for the tabernacle and it says that He hath filled him with wisdom of heart to work all manner of work. The Lord knows what he is doing. He will give you what you need to work in his kingdom, but are you willing? Is your heart willing?

Part 2 Are you spiritually willing?

After you having the willing heart and you announce to God that you are ready and willing to be used, you will begin your fight. The Lord is going to test you. He is preparing you for what is to come, because if it wasnt a bed of roses for Him on earth, then its not going to be for you. The Devil will fight you. He is going to try everything to discourage you and put a doubt in your heart and mind for what God has called you to do. In Acts 27:23 "For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve." We need to realize who we are, who He is, who we belong to and who we serve. God will takeyou through some storms but we have to be ready to have faith and trust and Him.

Psalms 107:33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground.

God will make a way, and He will work it all out in the end, but are you ready? Are willing to do what it takes?

God Whispers

A little over a month ago I was in a service at my home church, that impacted my life. We had a visiting pastor from New York who preached. Believe it or not I could not tell you for the life of me what the title of his sermon was or what was his scripture text. All I remember was going to church and looking for answers from God. Have you ever done that? Been in a service and be so overwhelmed by a problem that you can't concentrate? Well this night all that kept going over in my mind was "Lord I need you to speak to me".

He called for an altar service and I most definitely was ready. I needed something from God and I needed it right then. If you know me, you know I have a passion for serving God, and I am ready to do whatever He may ask of me. I know that the Lord has a great calling on my life, but like most saints, we doubt what our calling really is. I pressed through to the point where I felt as though it was just me and Jesus in the sanctuary. I began to pour out my soul, not caring what other people thought of me. While I was praying, The visiting pastor came and whispered in me ear, "God has a great ministry for you, but he whispers"......WHAT!!!! Lord I don't need you to whisper, just tell me! I was blown away. The first part I was excited about, the second part, not so much. Do you know what this meant? I had to listen extra hard, I had to be sensitive to Him and I had to be ready.

And it happened just as he said. God whispered to me. In a crazy moment in my life He confirmed that I was doing what I needed to be, and in the center of His will. Happiness and joy flooded my soul. You couldn't make me mad or sad if you wanted to! But, in the midst of all my happiness, the Lord threw a curve ball. Situations took a turn. What I thought would be the last thing to happen in my life became the first. But I remember the way I felt even after it happened....I was mad!!!! Of course I was, and why was I? I knew that this was not suppose to happen. I knew what the Lord told me. I got home, and went straight to my room. As I was sitting there, this calming spirit came over me. I began to remember what the Lord had told me. I needed to turn it over to the Lord. The devil tried to make me doubt the Lord. "Oh you definitely heard that wrong, now didn't you!" But no, the Lord does not lie, and I know what I heard and what I felt.

The only thing for me to do was to turn it over to the Lord, and I did just that. For once, I completely handed it over to Jesus and did not interfere whatsoever.

A lot of times, we feel like we need to help the Lord put things in motion. He does not need our help. If we would just trust Him and His word, then life would flow a little smoother.

The Lord changed the whole situation and during it all, gave me peace about it all. God may not always do the things the way that we would, but hey, that's why He is God!

Always be sensitive to God and be ready! Things will not always go the way you expect.