"It is Faith that bring power, not merely praying and weeping and struggling, but believing, daring to believe the written Word with or without feeling." -Catherine Booth

This was the quote in my daily reading this morning. They tied it in with the verse of Jesus in the boat with the fishermen, sleeping, when the storm came about them. How many times do I resort to crying and pleading with the Lord before I show faith.

Standing in faith should come before I pray. Then my prayers will change into powerful stands instead of begging or crying in front of the Lord. I want to stand in faith with the Lord as he performs His miracles, not weeping before Him to somehow change His mind or something to that effect.

This will mean that I am ok with whatever the Lord does in my life. This will mean I have to be willing to walk through the valley and on top of the mountain recognizing neither was done by my accord but by the Lord's will.

This will mean I have to trust Him....

This will mean I have to trust Him.

This will mean I have to trust Him!

There is a song my old church used to sing and my mom's best friends loves to sing it all the time.

"God of grace and glory, in these days, increase our faith."

Thats what we need and increase in our levels of faith in whatever we do and say and "feel!"

Faith FIRST before any emotion.

have faith and be faithful and faith will see you through!

Love God and the rest will follow...

I had someone recently just gush about their state of mind considering the fact that they were saved. That God in His infinite MERCY and GRACE chose this individual. And i thought to myself, well you have a reason/purpose on this earth.

But in this case, thats not it... She had this smile on her face, she was in awe. the words of my pastor at CCO rang in my ears. "Don't ever forget the awe and wonder of our Lord!" I get so complacent with our Lord. I ask, He does His will, I pray, He does His will, my life goes on.

Sometimes, I miss the days when I was just in awe of the fact that His grace rescued me from the pit of hell...

I wonder if people around me ever wonder about that. Do you think that your life now will lead to anything in the eternal? Where are you ending up if you took your last breath right now? Will you find yourself in the presence of the Almighty? or in Hades?

My aunt passed away this week and while my celebrating hat has been retired for this year, I am reminded that this life we live now is but a mere dress rehearsal of what is to come. Where she ended up for eternity is between her and the Lord. I cant sway him either way. Only her life and her choices will deem her fate. The same is true for all of us. In the end, its between each one of us and our Maker.

The Lord has extended his arms out to you. He has sent his ONLY SON to this world. Jesus gave His life for your sins. NOW ITS ON YOU!

Tell yourself what you may, but living in sin will not just go away or stop. You must consciously decide to WALK THE OTHER WAY! REPENT!

Love God and the rest will follow...

p.s.

please continue to pray for my brother and his choices in life. Only God truly knows...

"I died in you..." -E.I.

I heard this line in a song this morning and it sent me for a spin! All these thoughts, memories and most of all the unresolved feelings and dreams came rushing back. I spent about 2 hours just thinking... pondering... contemplating... imagining life if i had not died inside that many years ago. To be healed, we have to walk through the pain, all these years, i think i just masked the pain behind life in general and today it all came apart. not a good time at all but all too necessary so that it is possible for me to walk away and leave it all in the past. will it happen over night? highly unlikely...

While I processed through the pain, i realized...

I LIVE IN CHRIST!

I...

LIVE!

The KING of KINGS and His Son gave me life eternal. I just wanna put it out there for anyone struggling with pain of any kind.

heartbreak?

someone close to you passing away unexpectedly??

dreams not coming true?

life coming apart at the seams?

Jesus can heal, restore and give purpose to our otherwise mundane and pain-filled life. He carries the pain and puts the burden on Himself and sets us FREE!

and that my friend is how

I!

LIVE!

IN!

CHRIST!

Love God and the rest will follow...