Looking Forward to 2011...

I have never really been one who makes New Year's Resolutions...I guess I just don't like setting myself up for failure. lol   I do, however, try to set some spiritual goals for myself at the beginning of each new year; i.e. Scripture memorization, journaling, Bible reading plans, books I want to read, etc.

I LOVE the idea of having a "fresh slate" every January 1rst.  For the previous year's goals that I failed to reach, I have a brand new opportunity to start over and do better in the new year. For the goals that I WAS able to attain in the previous year, it is a time to reevaluate and "set the bar a little higher" in the new year.

I can hardly believe how fast the year 2010 has gone by. It has been a difficult year, but it has also been one in which I have learned so much and seen God's hand on my life in so many ways.  I would not trade the difficulties of the year for all the life lessons that I have learned through the process.

As I was riding home on Tuesday, I was listening to the radio and thinking about the new year that is right around the corner and some of the things that I hope to accomplish next year.  A lyric to a Casting Crown song that I have heard many times suddenly jumped out at me and I have not been able to get it off my mind.  The lyric was,

"I want to sign Your name to the end of this day, knowing that my heart was true...".  

I couldn't help but wonder how many days in 2010 that I would actually have been able to sign His name to?  


How many days did the words I said and the things I did bring a smile to Him? 


How many days was I His hands and feet to reach a dying world?

Oh, how I want to be able to sign His name to the end of each day, knowing that my heart was true. If I could do that, then 2011 would surely be a year with no regrets and would definitely be my BEST year yet! If I could do that, I would be one step closer to that day when I will hear those words that I so long to hear from Him, "Well done, Thou good and faithful servant".

So for the year 2011, Lord....

May the words I say and the things I do bring a smile to You, God.


May my life be a living sacrifice so that I will be Your hands and feet to a dying world that is very much in need of You.


Give me Your eyes to see the things that I keep missing.


Remove all the distractions that are constantly competing for my attention and keep me focused only on You.


Quieten all the "voices" that are "screaming" at me to listen to them and give me only ears to hear Your still small voice. 


Give me Your love for humanity. 


And this time next year as 2011 comes to a close...
                     I pray that I would be able to sign Your name to it, 
                                                                                  knowing that my heart was true.

My Blogging Hiatus

To say I have been experiencing a writer's block in recent days and weeks would be an understatement. Every time that I have sat down to post on my blog in recent weeks, God has had other plans for me. I literally have had my fingers on the keyboard, but nothing came!

Prior to the last time that I posted on my blog, God had begun continued convicting me about the amount of time that I had been spending on blogging, emailing, FaceBook, television, etc. Even as I sat down to comment on all of your precious blogs, the words would not come. So, that being said, I have taken some much needed time off from blogging to listen to what God had to say to me. 

It turns out that God has been trying to teach me more about listening to His voice. Being able to discern His voice amid all the "noise" that this world has. This seems to be a recurring theme that God has had with me, because apparently I am a very slow learner.

I wanted to share just a little of what the Lord has been doing in my life in my blogging absence: 

• He has reminded me that I am to come apart from all the noise and confusion of this world and spend time with Him.
  

• He has reminded me that I am to come to Him with anticipation - eager and expecting to hear His still small voice. 
  

• He has reminded me that I need to stretch my spiritual earlobes so that I can hear Him better. He speaks loudly enough and clearly enough for wide open ears to hear!
  

• He has reminded me that even when I do not see Him or I do not hear His voice, He is still working. He is ALWAYS working - even when He is silent!
  

• He has reminded me that I am to sit quietly and wait for Him to speak.
  

• He has reminded me that His ways are higher than my ways and that if I could explain all the "whys", that He wouldn't be God! 
  

• He has reminded me that what I really believe is reflected in my personal conduct.
  

• He has reminded me that his grace empowers me to say "No" to worldly desires and ungodliness.
  

• He has reminded me that my prayers need to be more about Him and less about me.
  

• He has reminded me that He is much more interested in my holiness than my happiness.
  

I want each of you that read my blog and comment on it on a regular basis to know how very much I have missed you.  I have met some wonderful, godly women through my almost one year of blogging and you have become an important part of my life.  

I also want those of you that have blogs that I read and comment on regularly to know that even in my absence I have continued to follow many of your blogs.

Please pray for me that I would be obedient to what the Lord would have me to do in my life.

"But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." 

James 1: 25

The Captain of My Ship

Isn't it amazing how you can read a passage that you have read many times before and suddenly you "see" something that you failed to see every other time that you read that passage.

That happened to me recently as I read this:

"And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."  

Genesis 7:1 KJV

Did you see that? God didn't tell Noah to "get into the ark". He told him to "come into the ark".  There's a big difference! "Come into the ark" implies that God was already onboard waiting!

Noah didn't even shut the door on the ark!  Genesis 7:16 KJV says:

 "And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in."

Noah did not have onboard navigation.  He had no way to steer the boat. It was totally up to God to protect the ark and guide it to the proper resting place. We always call it Noah's ark, but God was the Captain of the ark.

What a great reminder to me at times when I feel like I have completely lost my ability to "navigate my life", to remember Who's onboard! Who's the Captain! Who is protecting me and guiding me.

Lord, Thank you for this reminder that you are always present with me; that no matter what I am facing, you are already "onboard". When the rains come, and the waves pound upon my "ship" as the storm rages, thank you that you promise that you will never leave me or forsake me. Help me, Lord, to trust You to "steer my ship" and to set me down on "dry ground" just as You did for Noah and his family!

"MR. GODWRENCH"

All of us are concerned these days about the rising cost of gasoline. My husband and I have been looking for ways to improve our car's fuel efficiency.  Some of the best strategies to improve our gas mileage have to do with making sure that our vehicle is in good running condition.

There are some basic maintenance needs that have to be done to keep our vehicle running at peak efficiency.

One of those things to help our fuel efficiency is to keep our engine tuned up. If we have a car that is out of tune or has failed an emissions test, it may decrease our mileage.  We also need to keep our air filters clean.  When the filters are clogged with dirt, bugs and dust, the engine has to work much harder and that causes our car to be less fuel-efficient. Another recommendation is to get the "junk out of the trunk".  A weighed down car uses more fuel.  We should carry only the basic emergency necessities and items we really need.

Another often forgotten thing that we can do to improve our gas mileage is to make sure that our tires are properly inflated.  One report that I read said that your gas mileage can decrease by as much as 15% by driving on under-inflated tires.  Driving on them under-inflated can also reduce the life of the tires by 15% or more.   

We can still drive our car when it is not properly tuned up; just not as efficiently. 

We can still drive our car with a clogged and dirty air filter; just not as efficiently. 

We can still drive our car with under-inflated tires; just not as efficiently. 

We can also drive our car with the trunk loaded down; just not as efficiently.

Isn't our spiritual life a lot like that?  When I forget to perform my daily "spiritual maintenance", I can still perform my normal daily tasks; just not as efficiently. And, because it may happen so slowly, I may not even notice that over time I have become spiritually ineffective --- until one day, I "break down somewhere on the side of the road".  Stranded!  All because I failed to perform basic daily spiritual maintenance.

I have experienced this in my own life, so I know what I'm talking about here!  Things seem to be "running" okay until one day you break down with no help in sight because you have not done the basic maintenance that you knew to be doing all along. The maintenance that you knew was necessary for you to operate efficiently!

What basic spiritual maintenance do I need to be performing on a daily basis to make sure that I continue to run efficiently?  

Bible study - "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."   

2 Timothy 2:15

Prayer -  "Pray without ceasing"  

I Thessalonians 5:17

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." 

Phil 4:6

Praise - "Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips that give thanks to His name."

Hebrews 13:15

Worship  -  "For you shall not worship any other God"

Exodus 34:14

Thanksgiving  - "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

I Thessalonians 5:18

"Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father"

Ephesians 5:20 

Obedience - "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the Holy One that called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior;"

Service -    "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall my servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

John 12:26

Renewing of my mind - "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Romans 12:2

• Have you checked recently to see if you are running on all of your "spiritual cylinders"?

• What kind of "emissions" are you producing? 

• Have you checked your spiritual air pressure lately? 

• What about your spiritual air filter?  What are you breathing in? Can God permeate your filter or is it clogged up with the "dirt" of this world?

• Are you weighed down with a lot of excess "baggage" that is not necessary? Are you carrying around a lot of "junk in your trunk" that God wants you to cast on Him?
  

It's time for us to get out our "Owners Manual"and see what "Our Maker" recommends to keep us in top shape so that we can operate efficiently!

Remember.....failing to do your daily spiritual maintenance may leave you stranded somewhere and it will definitely cause you to operate at less than optimum efficiency!

Father, I thank You for reminding me that there are certain things that You have recommended for me that will cause my life to operate much more smoothly and efficiently.  I ask that You would forgive me for the times in my life that I have operated without consulting my Owners Manual, thinking that I was still operating efficiently. Thank you for always being there to rescue me when I completely break down on the side of the road somewhere and you have to completely rebuild me!  I pray that in the future You will help me to never try to operate outside of Your recommendations, but to realize that in order to operate at peak efficiency I have to perform basic daily spiritual maintenance .  Amen.