WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND?

What is in your hand? God asks this question of Moses but before we begin consider ----

"If there is no Moses, then there is no Exodus, if there is no Exodus from Egypt there is no nation of Israel, no Israel then there are no first 5 books of the Bible ,then there are no 10 Commandments, no nation of Israel--- then there is no Messiah - no Jesus, no Savior, then there's no church, then if you are a Christian - you are not here." - Rick Warren

Bible Reference for this post: Exodus 4

 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”“A staff,” he replied.The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.  “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

God asked Moses, "what is in your hand?" God is not asking Moses this question because God does not know the answer. Just like when God asked Adam and Eve where they were after The Fall , it was not because God did not know. God asks us questions for us to realize something -- like we need to know where we are or what is in our hand. He needs us to see or understand something important when He asks us a question.

Moses was a shepherd. Shepherding was his career. His staff (rod) represents 3 things:

1. Moses' identity - who he is - his career
2. His income - $$$ (his animals represented his wealth)
3. His influence - he influenced his sheep with the staff/rod --- moved the flock forward or in a different direction.

God asks the question, "what is in your hand" for him to take a personal assessment of what was in his hand.

What is your identity? What is your income? What is your influence? Moses, if you lay those things down (lay down your staff/rod) - I will make it come alive. If you will surrender it to Me, I will make it come ALIVE.  If you will give it ALL to me, I will make your dead career/job come alive BUT if you pick it up apart from ME and say to yourself "this is Jessica's income, this is Jessica's career, this is Jessica's influence - it will become dead.

The rod became alive when Moses laid it down; it became dead wood when Moses alone picked it up. Same goes for us.

This is the only time this staff is recorded as such. From the point after Moses surrenders all he is to God, it is then called the ROD of God.

Every miracle of the Exodus is done by the ROD of God.

I share this post with you from a conference, Rick Warren spoke at in 2012.  These are my notes and I am willing to say that if you and I would lay our rod/staff - our career/our identity/our influence down and let God have it ALL  - He will make all we do in His Name --- come alive with meaning and purpose.

Lay it down. ALL OF IT down. God showed us in Christ -- that laying it all down  -- is when He resurrects your life by His Spirit. 

Maybe what you are going through is feeling death like -- maybe it's because God is asking you "what is it that you are holding on to and unwilling to let go of"? Maybe your rod is directed by you and you feel no life in it --- God is LIFE -- only He can make something dead LIVE.

He says to us:

Lay it down. So I can bring it to life. You will see Me when you lay it ALL down.

Blessings,

Jess

Who Are We - Cain or Abel? What's Your Blood Type?

It's Friday, I look around and observe the patients in the waiting room and wonder who in this room is here because of heart disease. Heart disease is the number 1 killer in the nation I live in. You see, my day job is speaking with medical professionals about heart disease and treatment. But what concerns me more than physical heart disease, is the true condition of a person's heart. The heart that determines a person's attitude.

This week, I have been considering the thought that we have really just 2 blood types. Cain or Abel's.

Consider what is written in Genesis 4: 3-10:

"Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.  In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.  And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,  but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground."

Mary Fairchild shares these words in her article, Cain - First Human Child to be Born

"When Cain faced disappointment, rather than turning to God for encouragement, he responded with anger and jealousy. When given a clear choice to correct his mistake, Cain chose to disobey and further entangle himself in sin's trap. He let sin become his master and committed murder."

In  Hebrews 11:4 we read, "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did." When Abel came for worship, it was by faith that he brought his offering" 

 The Lord accepted Abel's offering and looked favorably on his offering/worship because it was done in faith.Faith in what? Abel took God at His word and did what God said to do, even if he did not understand why God said do it God's way.

And then there is Cain. Cain did his own thing. His offering/worship was of his own mind, he devised his own plan to do it his own way-- not what God told him to do. And the Lord did not look with favor on Cain's offering/worship. Cain, wasn't interested in following God's Word. Cain did not come by faith. 

Cain’s offering, while acceptable in his own eyes, was not acceptable to the Lord.

Cain became angry. So much so that he killed his brother.

So I pose a question. Are you angry? Are you angry that you've done what you thought was right according to your own mind, your own way and you don't feel God has looked on your life in favor? Let me ask you (as I ask myself the same question) "have I looked into God's Word to see what it is that Christ teaches us to do? What to do with our time, resources, our offering of our life to God?

Do I feel I am getting the short end of the stick after all the hard work I have done? Work like Cain did is not what God asked of Cain. Cain's works may have been productive or creative but it was not what God told him to do. 

The blood sacrifice that God told Abel and Cain to do, most likely was "not fun or easy". It may have been even heart breaking. But God was teaching them about another innocent life dying for the guilty.This points to a picture of a blood sacrifice being necessary for our redemption. Because it is not "our works" that redeem us. This would be the first foreshadowing of Christ's blood being shed for the redemption of fallen mankind.

 Cain's anger also shows us a picture of what can happen if we let anger rule our hearts. Maybe you resent a brother, a friend, a neighbor who has decided to look in God's word and ask God to teach him what it is that God wants him to do. Maybe you don't quite believe the Bible is a living book of instruction for today and when you see God bless that friend/brother --- anger rises up ---do you feel after all you've done and been through should be enough for God to show you favor?  Do you criticize or have resentment for the brother who in faith goes to God's Word and is trying to seek God and follow His way?

Do you put your brother down or dismiss His faith in God's Word, because you don't think it has to be done this way? Isn't that a killing of sort?  When you try to bury what God tells us to do in His Word isn't that an attempt to put it to death?

Cain wanted to do it his way. Abel trusted God's Word and in faith did what God said.

Anger was the skin Cain lived in. Trust and peace was the skin Abel lived in.  

We all have various struggles, pain, heartaches, loss -- the question is will we seek God's Word  and in faith do what He says or will we  just pull up our boots, do some things that we think sound good and bring it to God and say -- "here's what I did, here's my ideas on why you should favor me." And then we get angry when God does not do what we think He should do for us. 

 The works/offering Cain produced with his labor probably looked awesome maybe even helpful but WAS IT WHAT GOD TOLD HIM TO DO?

 Are we doing WHAT GOD  TELLS US TO DO?

He says "the just shall live by faith". We need to bank our hope on God no matter what. We need to trust God's word and actively seek Him to help us do what He says in His Word, this is living faith.

Faith is confident expectation in God's Word...His Way of doing things.

Faith can be described in this way: trusting that God's answers are always wiser than my requests.

Abel 's blood type must have resembled Christ's because even though He may not have found it easy to do God's will/His way - He trusted God completely which showed that he had faith that God knew best.

 Cain's blood type was his own doings/his own way --- Cain did not have faith in God's Word/Way and thought he knew best without consulting the mind of God.

Blood type? Which brother's blood is coursing through your heart? Think about it.

Jessica

Celebrities Who Have Given Their Lives to Christ -

Fame, fortune, popularity, fans screaming --- seems like a dream come true to most people. But like so many celebrities find out.... their soul is still hungry.  The emptiness after the concert, the movie, the video, the Hall of Fame --- what next?

Was it all you thought it would be?

Most will tell you "no". Many turn to drugs and whatever they can find for the next high. Why?  Because they have had it all, done it all and something is missing. What they are missing is the one thing, the ONE PERSON, their soul was created to be in relationship with.....their Father....God...their Creator.

And nothing will EVER meet that hunger but HIM.

I chose this  topic today because most of us will most likely not see the money, the fame, the fortune of these people but listen to them---you can have all of it and STILL be unsatisfied and just as empty as if you didn't have a dime.

Mark 8:36 " For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"

I hope you take a few minutes to watch these short videos and see what these celebrities say about the money, the success, the fame. I wanted you to know that some celebs do turn to Christ and I think we should rejoice in that. We see so many deny Christ or run from the Truth and I thought this would be a time of refreshing to see these three celebs share with you what they now know...that Jesus is THE WAY... and that NOTHING satisfies like trusting Him and giving it all to Him.

Like Stephen Baldwin shares here--"it's a privilege to know the Truth, it's a privilege to know the Word of God, to have the Spirit of God living inside of me and to share that with other people --it's a gift."

Enjoy!

Jessica

David Robinson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Nynx6LbZvA          Basketball

Brian Welch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs7i_ckEHVA            previously -Korn Rock Band

Stephen Baldwin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGpFqmi_28U        Actor

Being Saved? What does it mean?

Have you noticed that there seems to be quite a difference in opinion on what people believe or understand about salvation? This discrepancy caused me to dig into the words recorded by those who walked with Christ  ( the apostles and His true disciples). I'm not really interested in opinions, what I am interested in is the truth. Afterall, there is no book of opinions in the Bible : )

I'd like to share what I've  found from the historical recordings (New Testament) of those who walked with Christ shortly before and after His resurrection. Maybe, someone you come in contact with will have questions and hopefully today's post will bring some clarification as you discuss this with others.

What is being "saved"? What is salvation ? I hear people say that and what exactly does it mean?

The longer you live on this planet and you see the imperfect condition the world is in and the imperfect people that reside here, it comes to your attention that something has gone wrong here . What went wrong and is there a way to fix it?

I'll cover my upbringing and life experiences that led me to seek the truth and question various belief systems in another post but for now - just know that enough happened in my life to cause me to ask "what is going on, this ain't Walt Disney World, mustard stains, people get sick, food molds, wars are fought, children are orphaned, what is going on?" Why do people I am suppose to be able to trust lie? Why do weeds grow and cause ugliness and work in a beautiful flower garden? Why can't people just be kind and think about how others might feel? Why did my little dog die so sudden? Why did my Sister Teresa say dogs don't go to heaven? Why do people of faith still sin?  What is going on here?

I guess I started asking myself these questions around 9 years of age (to  the best of my memory). And now, 36 years later here is the result of my search for these answers: we live in a fallen world, due to the introduction of sin into the world (as recorded in Genesis). Humanity chose to eat of the one tree that God restricted man from eating of --the tree of the knowledge of good and evil --by eating of this restricted tree, humanity chose to define good and evil instead of allowing God to define good and evil (only God has the right to define good and evil - and only God's perspective is accurate --- God being the source of all that is GOOD). 

As you study Scripture, you begin to see the foreshadowing and telling of a Savior that God is going to send to earth to save mankind from his sinful fallen ways/mindset. Throughout the Old Testament, if you choose to see it or study it -- Abraham/Isaac on the Mt of trusting God- being sent a sacrifice ( an innocent lamb) for man's sin that God Himself provided, the Jewish temple, the Passover and the prophets and much more pointed to the Christ - the Son of God - who would be the provision for the redemption of mankind - our salvation.

So much more could be said or discussed, but for this post, let's just move forward to the New Testament and share what Paul teaches regarding salvation.

Explaining Salvation


Penalty of Sin

1. If you ask me if I am saved, my answer will be "yes".  I am saved by my faith in Christ; I have accepted  his payment on the cross for the penalty of my sin. My sins are forgiven because of my faith in what Christ has done on my behalf. Christ paid the penalty of sin  = my eternal salvation. It is finished! What Christ did for me is completed! A done deal!

Reference: Ephesians 2:8-9 " For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

On-going Power of Sin

2. If you ask me if I still sin, my answer will be "yes". How can this be you ask, aren't you saved? Yes, my eternal salvation is secure but I still live in this fallen world and daily I am in a war between my flesh and the Spirit of God in me guiding me into righteousness (His right way).  Why is there a battle? Because of the ongoing power of sin in the world. Therefore, in the present, I am being saved - or you may hear people say I am being sanctified (the sanctification process). Sanctification means " to be set apart for sacred use, to make holy or pure".

In layman's terms: I am a work in progress. I am clay in the Potter's hands. Daily, if I humble myself and place myself in God's hands, His Holy Spirit will guide me and shape me and set me apart for His use, His glory.

Reference verses:

Romans 7: 24-25 " Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." 

This is where we see Paul stating the on-going power of sin while still living in this world.

 I am so very thankful for the sanctification process and God's patience in teaching me His right way and willingness to mold me daily into a vessel that progressively is reflecting more of the light of Christ.

Presence of Sin

3. There is still the presence of sin now -which equates to me being partially healed. Until I go home where my Father lives, where my Savior has prepared a place for me I am not fully healed. I will be made whole upon my being in the fullness of His presence when I am received home. I will wake up into my heavenly home and there will be no more tears, weaknesses gone, I will be healed and whole.

When I am in the presence of God in heaven, it is there that I will be able to see 100% from His perspective. It is there I will be completely whole.

Being made whole involves resolving all past hurts, forgiving all those who have hurt us, being rid of all negative emotions. When I see with His eyes -- then I will be know complete wholeness.

Revelations 21:4-5 " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.”

Philipians 3:20 " But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body,by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."

No more pain, no more tears.  No more blindness. Saved from a fallen mindset, loved and changed by His Holy Spirit, given the gift of redemption by Christ.  



Thankful, thankful,thankful!!!

Share your thoughts by commenting. I would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Jessica

Suffering? Is there hope, even though we suffer?

Written with intent to help a hurting world ~

 I, by no means, stand by in judgment or with unsympathetic heart as I share these words. My motivation is to help us all understand that in the midst of suffering, God has us. There is hope. Please walk through the words with me here and see.

Some of the body of this post stems from things learned in Cries from the heart -Ravi Zacharias and words spoken in Rick Warren's Easter sermon 2010.

Have you ever felt like this?

"Human life is a struggle, isn’t it?    It’s a life sentence to hard labor.    Like field hands longing for quitting time and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,I’m given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—    months of aimlessness, nights of misery!I go to bed and think, ‘How long till I can get up?’    I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I’m fed up!" (Job 7:1-6)

Maybe those words, don't seem to reflect it, but Job was a man who loved God. Scripture says, "Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion." ( Job 1:1-3 The Message Version of the Bible) 

Above, in Job 7, we see Job's frustration and cries to God. Just because he verbalized his hurt, does not mean that He did not love and respect God. He just wanted answers.

Job lost his family, his possessions, his health and if that wasn't hard enough the three friends who came to explain his suffering only added insult to injury.  If you read through the book of Job what you begin to see is in his questions to God, Job's theology (beliefs about God) were not accurate. Job, as much as he loved God and wanted to do right, had assumed that if he was good he would be blessed and if he was bad, he would be cursed. Why? Why is he suffering like this, when he has been so good?  Job's theology is rickety, but his belief in God is solid.

I remember as a young person, having a similar theology as Job's. I thought if I did my very best to do all I knew to be good, be respectful to parents, work hard in school, do my chores, be honest, be helpful to others, be kind -- that God would look down and bless me for doing the right things. I did not understand, that I did not see myself as God sees me. I did not know that God would use the suffering and evil in this world, to have me call out to Him and see things as He defined them. He has changed my theology. Theology that is pure and undefiled is what we truly need.

It becomes clear  in Job's conversations with God, the questions he asked God became laser focused.

As Ravi Zaharias points out in his book, Cries of the Heart, "this may be one of Job's greatest discoveries -- how important it is to ask the right questions."

Job questioned the reason for his suffering, more so than he did on how to endure it. We see near the end of Job's questioning, God challenges Job to admit his limitations and to allow God to be God. God insists that those limitations do and must exist.

But God takes Job beyond just making him think it was all too vast for him. What God wanted him to realize was that this same God who brought such pattern and beauty into a world He had fashioned out of nothing could also being a pattern and beauty out of Job's brokenness. The universe is both complex and intelligible, and Job was reminded of that. There is intelligence behind the design, as there is also intelligence in helping us cope with suffering."

God reminds Job that there is a mind and power infinitely greater than his listening to him. He was not just speaking into a void. 

Before Job's intense suffering, Job admits that "my ears had heard of you, God." But after his suffering, upon crying out to God, having a personal relationship with God, Job says" but now my eyes have seen You."

There is a place for knowing, hearing, and reading. But there has to come a moment of personal surrender. The real point of contact comes when that third-person knowledge -- the knowledge about God--becomes a first-person trust in God and commitment to His will. Only then does the personal understanding bring a reformed attitude.

I am reminded of a time, when a group of people who had seen the very miracles of God, were so fearful of being in a close personal relationship with God that they begged Moses to go up to the mountain to God for them. I believe they already felt they had lost enough (their familiar homes in Egypt, life they way they knew even though they were in bondage).

I don't want to live my whole life on this planet in fear --so fearful, that I cling to what is familiar -- missing seeing God and missing walking in His purposes for me. I don't want to wonder in the desert for 40 years like the children of Israel did. I want to come away from being with God like Moses did--- with my face glowing. I want to experience my heavenly Father personally. And I truly believe that it is the only way that I will be able to truly help others know Him.

If I don't risk everything to understand Him/His ways and go through the suffering He allows in order for my theology to be clarified (by God Himself) how could I do an adequate job of teaching my children and those God puts in front of me who He really is?

I don't want to leave you feeling fearful at all. I want you to know what Job knows; that God is real, He has never left you or forsaken you and that in all things He can bring about life. (even though at the time you may not feel it)

Can I have hope, even though my suffering is immense?

From Rick Warren:

Hope is not optimism. Optimism is psychological; hope is theological. Optimism is personal trust in yourself; hope is personal trust in God. Optimism is what you think you can do; hope is what you think God can do. Optimism is often a denial of reality; it's positive thinking not permanent trust. Optimism is often a Pollyanna attitude that says “the sun will come out tomorrow, it's not that bad, it's okay it's not as bad as we think it is.” It denies that fact that life may be bad at a particular moment in your life. Hope never does that. Hope is always reality. Hope says “yep, it's really, really bad but I believe God can bring us through this; I believe God is in control.” Where do you get hope? You get it from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His resurrection is the central event of ALL history. It's 2013, because 2013 years He rose from the dead. All life is dated by His resurrection.

Because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead your faith and hope can be confidently placed in God. 1 Peter 1:21

I share these words with you so that you might know, that no matter the suffering -- if you will put it all back in God's hands -- He can bring resurrection power to anything you suffer through.

So, can I have hope even though I suffer? Yes, because I know that Christ suffered on the cross and the end result was resurrected life.

Truth:  I know that in my suffering, God can bring about life even though I don't know how He will do it. Here lies my hope - knowing that Christ suffered THEN Christ rose to new life, (over 500 people in history witnessed it) and so I have this hope (confident expectation).

The Bible defines hope as "confident expectation." 

Some things to ponder before we close:

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, death will never have any dominion over him again.

Romans 6:9: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”

Acts 13:34: “He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption.”

Could it be, that when we suffer and it seems evil has conquered us, that by placing ourselves in God's hands (as Jesus did), that, we, too, will say "death no longer has dominion over us". That no matter what we face in this life, no suffering, no evil, no death will dominate us because we know and have experienced God in such a way that we know He brings life -- resurrection -- out of what appears to be death.  What is there to fear when we know God raised Christ from the dead? What have we to fear when we know that God - the author of life--breathes life into any situation placed in His hands?

Consider this:  Job interceded on behalf of his three  friends with their warped theologies. God heard Job.

Keep in mind that Scripture tells us because of the resurrection, Jesus intercedes for us in heaven before God.

Romans 8:34: “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Could it be that when we go through our suffering and allow God to reshape our heart and mind as He did in Job, that it tenders God's heart in such a way as to hear us when we intercede for our friends?  

I don't know what you have been through or what you are going through. I have been through various suffering that God allowed in my life. I am human and I can not say in my flesh that I would sign up for the suffering I endured again, but I will say that had I not gone through suffering, I would not have called out to God in desperation for answers and allowed Him to reshape my theology in the way it needed to be changed.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is God and I am not. And I know I do not want to be god of my own life. I know only He has the wisdom and understanding that I need. I do not fear what others think of me, I do not heed friends' advice who have warped theologies. I only trust what God teaches me through His Word and as we walk together -- I know He has me.

 Let Him change your theology(beliefs about Him), so you can walk hand in hand with Him, fearing nothing.

He has you.

Much love in our resurrected Lord,

Jessica

Evil and suffering in so many places - How do I know there is a God?

You may have noticed I changed the title of my blog to| Let's Be Reasonable.  I changed it because I
've spent a great deal of my life trying to find the reasons things are the way they are. I want answers, I want truth.  As a child I remember asking adults the "why" questions and  "how come" questions. I wanted to know how God could be without having a mom and dad.   I wanted to know why there were so many denominations, when Christianity was about following Christ - our one Savior.

In a way I am still that child with the questions and need for answers.....answers based on reasonable facts. To me it is important to learn how very reasonable God is and share that knowledge with others. So today I want to share something a great many of us have thought about but maybe not considered  why it is true. The following excerpt is from the book Cries of The Heart  by Ravi Zacharias.

 "While speaking at the University of Nottingham, England, a young man posed a question to me. " There can not be a God , " he said, " with all the evil and suffering that exists in the world! How can you say there is a God?"

My response to him : " when you say  there is such a thing as evil, are you not assuming  that there is such a thing as good?

"Of course, " he retorted.

"But when you assume there is such a thing as good, are you not also assuming that there is such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to distinguish between good and evil?"

"I suppose so," came the hesitant and much softer reply.

"If , then, there is a moral law, you must posit a moral lawgiver. If there is no moral lawgiver, there is no moral law.  If there is no moral law, there is no good. If there is no good, there is no evil. I am not sure what your question is!"

For if God is not the author of life ' neither good or bad is a meaningful term."

So I pose a question to my reader, " what would you say to a skeptic or atheist about the existence of God?" I shared this with you today because it  just makes sense; it is reasonable. And there may be opportunity in your future to share these thoughts with others and have them begin to search for the truth themselves.

Hang in here with me. I plan to expand on this subject another day and also discuss the reason in suffering.

"Come let us reason together, "says the Lord in Isaiah 1:18.  I love that!  He wants us to know the truth , He wants us to ask questions, He wants us to find the reasons, He wants us to know Him. That I can know Him and know He is who He says He is and have my faith built up by sound reasoning - well, it makes me happy, happy, happy!

In the mean time, my hope is that you will go outside today and look up and take note of the enormity of the heavens and  know that God is mighty, He our magnificent Creator and He has purpose in all
things.

Strengthen Your Faith?

Ever wanted to strengthen your faith?  There is a key to it. Obedience. Yep, obedience.

Think of all the people recorded in the Bible that did NOT want to do what God told them to do.

Moses,  Jonah, Ezekiel, Hosea,  did NOT WANT to obey God. When they did obey God  - they saw the hand of God in amazing ways.

Consider Moses:

Moses wanted proof that God had called him to really go forward and take His people out of Egypt. What did God say to that? 

Exodus 3" 12-13 " But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

Can you imagine witnessing these things:

Moses saw his walking pole/rod turn into a snake and then back to a walking rod. He witnessed the mighty plagues God sent on Egypt. His skin went from normal to leprous and then back to normal. He was obedient and saw the Red Sea part for His people to cross over safely and escape the Egyptians.

You know what is interesting to me? The more Moses was obedient and saw God working in His life, the more of God He wanted. In Exodus 33:18, after all the miracles Moses witnessed and was a part of,  Moses asked God to "show him His glory."

I believe once you really begin to see God for who He truly is, you crave His presence and His truth all the more!

As I sit here and think on these things, I wonder about the times when I did my own thing according to Jessica's will. What did I miss out on by refusing to submit to what I knew God asked me to do thru the teaching of His Word?

Well, I won't dwell on missed opportunities, but I do hope I have learned enough from my wrong turns in life that I  seek His wisdom, His truth and follow Him in obedience. I don't want to miss out on His best for me!!!

I'll end with a quote from Elisabeth Elliot:

It is Christ who is to be exalted, not our feelings. We will know Him by obedience, not by emotions. Our love will be shown by obedience, not by how good we feel about God at a given moment. "And love means following the commands of God." "Do you love Me?" Jesus asked Peter. "Feed My lambs." He was not asking, "How do you feel about Me?" for love is not a feeling. He was asking for action. 

My prayer is that we will choose obedience, move forward into His will and see Him in is awesomeness!

Blessings,

Jessica

It's Not Over - by Jessica Tate

In the world we live in it's not hard to find evil running rampant on a daily basis. After all, we do live in a fallen world. I witnessed some evil behavior a few months back and I sat down to write what I saw.

Sometimes, it is as if God (via His Holy Spirit) takes my hand and pen and writes; I sit back and read what's written and think "wow, where did that come from?" And like this poem below, when I feel urged to write something like this, it just flows out of my hand at lightening speed (like less than 10 minutes). This was one of those times. I believe the words below are from the Lord. Here is the poem I wrote down  after seeing the evil that attempts to grab your heart and discourage you.

I want to say one main thing in this post: IT"S NOT OVER!  Satan does not win in the end! No matter what--- if you give all the good, the bad, and the ugly to the Lord, He will be faithful to teach you and you will grow and experience a relationship with God you did not realize possible.

God is the miracle maker. If He can take dirt and form a man and breath life into his nostrils --He can take any dead, decaying matter (like dirt/dust/your decaying/filthy situation) and bring life to it, if He so chooses. Never forget that! (You can read about man being formed from the dust of the ground in Genesis)

Stone Cold Heart What Are You to Me?

Jessica Tate

Today I saw the stone cold place where Satan dwells
in rocks and cracks and no God fare.
The only food fed are cancer spores  - self and pride 
with head thrown back, he walks the floor.

No touch, no love, no kindness there
just hate and self and gloom's despair.

No, my heart does not understand a stoney
mass – where no tear is shed, no feeling felt.

No, my heart chooses life,  chooses love
where THE WORD is Truth and perfect love cast out fear.

Oh, Satan it may appear you have won for now
but My God has taken up His plow. He's planted
His Seed, THE LIVING WORD,
 and no eye has seen no ear has heard
– what will comes up at harvest time –
nothing compares to what's Divine.

So take your lies, your stone cold heart and
flee from me you who dwell in dark.

For my Savior reigns in hearts of flesh.
I feel, I breath and I attest...
 to love and life and living things
and I will flourish with the King.

Though some may not see the kingdom that I see
His reign is not built with man's hands or golden things
it is built in love, by His hand.

Within my spirit He is remolding me into Christ's image not of religious bling,
 the carpenter hewns with tools of  love – His highest interest - eternal things. 

So stone cold heart what are you to me?............

Nothing but forgotten, for I've seen the King.


Amazing,

Jessica

Wanna be happy in 30 seconds?  Quick tip for focusing on the positive!

Wanna know one of my secrets to staying focused on the positive things in life?

It's a site called: www.godvine.com

I am addicted to this site! I especially love the animal videos shared by people all over the world -- because they remind me of the incredible variety of God's creation!

I absolutely cannot keep from smiling while I am watching how many animals respond positively to human interaction. It reminds me of how God placed Adam in the garden and gave him dominion over the animals. It just seems to me that when you take care of God's creation, creation responds in love.

Here are a few of my latest favorites:

http://www.godvine.com/Baby-Sea-Lion-Suddenly-Boards-Boat-and-Snuggles-with-Humans-3463.html

http://www.godvine.com/Lion-Cubs-Hug-Trainer-on-his-Last-Day-Adorable-1923.html

http://www.godvine.com/Sea-Otter-Dog-Play-the-Cutest-Game-of-Hide-and-Seek-Ever-3639.html

Let me know what you think!!! I'd love to hear back from you if you watch these or any other videos on godvine.com.

Tell me your favorites and why!!!

Please post  or respond if you have found any other uplifting positive sites that will encourage and lift a person's spirit. : )

I love celebrating the evidence of  our amazing Creator! This site constantly reminds me of the many miracles we sometimes forget to notice.

ENJOY GOD TODAY! Check out godvine.com!!!

Yay God  - You are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Jessica

Welcome to my blog - Jessica Tate

One of my favorite things to do is write. I love to share what I've learned, what I've read, and what works and what doesn't. I love to learn more about God and His awesome creation. So I hope, if you, too, love to learn, love to look for the positive and want to challenge your mind - you will join me on my writing journey!

Stop and think: 

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG

 So what about Genesis? Do you remember what happened? God placed Adam in the beautiful garden and told him to enjoy everything in the garden except one thing. That one exception was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why would He tell them not to eat of this tree?

A few weeks ago while I was reading Ravi Zacharias, I came across an amazing finding. Consider what Ravi shares, " when Adam and Eve violated the restriction and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the second injunction took effect: they were not to eat  the fruit from the tree of life. When you look carefully at those two boundaries, one following the other, you understand what is going on.  Eating  the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil basically gave humanity the power to REDEFINE everything. God had given language, identification, and reality to humankind. He imparted to humans the power to name the animals. But essential to the created order was a moral framework that the creation was NOT to name or define. This was the prerogative of the Creator, NOT of the creation. Does mankind have a right to define what is good and what is evil?"

This made me really stop and chew on these words. So, mankind chose to eat from this tree, they chose for themselves to eat of this tree thus deciding for themselves what was good and what was evil instead of  trusting God to define good and evil. Don't we still do that? Don't we still have our own list of what we think is good and acceptable and what is evil?

 Isn't that truly why every people group (country/nation/man/woman/boy/girl) have trouble fully getting along. All of us have our own definitions of what is good and what is evil. I may think being faithful, honest, hard working, being financially responsible is being good.  You may think the same thing but you define hard working as working enough hours to get by maybe 30 hours a week and getting to household work is not a priority. I may define hard working as 40+ hours a week and keeping a house spotless. You may think being financially responsible is saving $200 a month for emergencies; I may think being financially responsible is putting $500 a month in a 401K I can't get to until 65. I may think evil includes abortion, you may think it evil to force a raped woman to give birth to a child she did not have a say in. Who's right? I'm not right  and you are not right. Who is? God. Only God sees things perfectly. Only God sees from the highest perspective and has complete understanding of all things. That is why He tells us to go to His Word and learn of Him. That is why He tells us that Jesus is THE WAY. Jesus was sent to save us. Save us from what? Our fallen mindset. Jesus taught His Father's mindset, His perspective. Why did people reject Jesus? They did not want to change; they wanted to continue to define good and evil for themselves. They did not want to hear the Truth; they did not want to allow God to define things. They (we) want to define things and be our own god, when we reject the Word of God. 

How good is God? Even when mankind refused to allow Jesus to teach us how to define things, rejected Jesus, hung Him on the cross -  even in humanity's horrible act of hatred for God's Word (Jesus), God allowed His death to be our very redemption. What does He ask? Genuinely, for us to believe on Jesus as the Word of God. And if we truly do, our hearts/mindsets will be changed and there will be evidence of our changed life. 

Truly, if you chose to see it --- you will see that God's Word does not die. It will always define things as they truly are. God's Word (Jesus) may have been placed in a tomb but death did not keep Him in the grave, He rose to life -- God's Word will always be alive - no man can keep His Word in the ground. My prayer is that we wake up from our fallen mindset and see Who He really is and that we never truly see until we let Him define things.

You can't define anything without words. And He is the WORD.
 John 1:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it."

Blessing,

Jessica T