Some scripture to think on... Monday, April 20, 2009

Hey there!

I've gotten a new bible recently -- parallel bible with NJKV, contemporary, message and reference/study notes. I LOVE IT! Anywho, I've been reading Isaiah and came upon this...Isaiah 1 in the NJKV verses 10-20...

¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
¹¹ “ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.

“ I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
¹² “ When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
¹³ Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
¹⁴ Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
¹⁶ “ Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
¹⁷ Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;^]">[a]
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
¹⁸ “ Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,

“ Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
²⁰ But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

So we've all read theses scriptures. They are beautiful and powerful. We've seen them over and over. Sung them in song after song. But what I thought very interesting was the Message translation of the same scriptures. Read this from the Message....

¹⁰"Listen to my Message,
you Sodom-schooled leaders.
Receive God's revelation,
you Gomorrah-schooled people.

^11-12"Why this frenzy of sacrifices?"
God's asking.
"Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices,
rams and plump grain-fed calves?
Don't you think I've had my fill
of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats?
When you come before me,
whoever gave you the idea of acting like this,
Running here and there, doing this and that—
all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?

^13-17"Quit your worship charades.
I can't stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You've worn me out!
I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I'll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I'll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you've been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don't have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.

Let's Argue This Out

^18-20"Come. Sit down. Let's argue this out."
This is God's Message:
"If your sins are blood-red,
they'll be snow-white.
If they're red like crimson,
they'll be like wool.
If you'll willingly obey,
you'll feast like kings.
But if you're willful and stubborn,
you'll die like dogs."
That's right. God says so.

MY! MY ! MY! What an eye opener! I have been feeling like this for years -- especially verses 13-17. Why can't we just let go and let GOD? Why do we have to do it the same old rote way? Why? Over, over and over, and things never change. Hearts and lives remain the same. There's no real repentance. No real accountability. No real change.

Only God knows hearts, only God knows the depths that will allow Him to move and change us. Time, as they say, will tell if there was true change. Are we to judge others? No. Do we continue to allow the sin? No. How do we not judge others, but still not tolerate the sin? See Matthew 18 and I'll add to that by removing ourselves from the place where the sin is allowed to continue.

Format, schedules and the such have become such a burden to me. It grieves the heart of the Lord when we don't just allow Him to move. Is it sinful when we follow OUR will and not His? Yes. Is it sin when we have an agenda and try to fit Him in it? Yes. If our will is outside of God's will -- we have to lay our self down to allow Him to have His way. If we don't, and we continue to move in what we think should be the agenda -- it's sin. It's God way -- or it's not. It's black or it's white. No fence sitters. It's repentance and change or it's sin. Plain and simple.

We are going to be worshiping the Lord forever -- shouldn't we just step back from our desires, designs and thoughts of how things should be done and just practice worshiping Him the way He wants to be worshiped?

There was a point a few months back before finding this scripture that I was saying, God why is it that programs and formats bother me so? I began to feel guilty judging my own motive. Was I being not submissive? Was I seeking my own agenda? Was I putting my opinion above others? It was after much prayer I decided no -- it's not any of those.

It's as if a feeling of grief that has been put upon me. It's a matter for prayer. It's because the Heart of the Father is grieved that we cannot just step out of the way and lay our ideas down. He is grieved when He is ready to come and manifest Himself mightily and we decide to take the offering and listen to the announcements. He is grieved when we shut Him down just to do meet and greet time.

He is holding miracles in His hand, yet we don't allow Him give Him the time he created for us. What was the first thing God sanctified? Time. Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. How important is time? Did He create it? Is all of it His already? Who are we to even attempt to stop the moving the Spirit?

God is looking for true and life changing repentance. He is looking for an honest, holy, repentant people who are ready to lay down their own will that His may be done to His glory.

Hugggz,

Kristy~!

I love cream of wheat! Sunday, April 19, 2009

Morning!

I love cream of wheat! Why, you ask? 'Cause it's homey, comforting and reminds me of simple peaceful things. It has nothing really to do with the cereal -- it has everything to do with the emotion surrounding it.

It's been a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnngggg week. God is good and faithful. I'm glad He's an able God because I have "zero" left to give. And that's okay -- today I'll rest and rejuvenate -- tomorrow back to work.

Last week was Easter of course, busy busy. Thursday went on the first grade field trip to the circus. It was okay. Loved the acrobats, motorcycles and etc. I was not to happy with 2 of the animal acts. It wasn't that they were cruel or anything -- it was more like the poor things were tired and didn't want to be bothered. One little pig (okay, so she was about 200 pounds), just looked like she needed to be left the heck alone -- but she did her little thing and got her treat. I am none too happy with that. Would I ever take a class to that trip again? No. Did the kids love it? Yes. Was it worth it? I don't think so.

Friday -- yes the very next day -- went on the fourth grade field trip. This one was the an all day trip. The kids went to Med evil times in New Jersey then the Liberty Science Center. Left 7:15 a.m. -- home 9:30 p.m. I must say I loved this trip. I thought med evil times would freak me out, but I really enjoyed it. I thought they used a lot of historically information and really made it informative. Then we hit the science center. LOVED IT! We took the time to look at the brochure and decide where the kids I were chaperoning wanted to go -- which totally worked. We started backwards from the top floor and worked our way down.

We couldn't find the elevator, so we took the stairs. (How can you not find an elevator?) Of course after 3 flights of stairs the kids were saying "oh why did we take these stairs" and blah blah blah. We hit the last flight of stairs. Ascending up and right there in front of us -- the Statue of Liberty. The kids were beyond excited. It coudn't have been better. Just like God saying....yeah you have to work a little harder, but hey there's a reward at the end. But I'm veering of course here LOL.......

Once they got their pictures, I turned them to the left and right there, Wall Street, lower Manhattan and the gap where the twin towers were. I have to say, this really was awesome for them. Then I got to thinking -- how is it that we live just 2 hours away and our children have never been here?

What a marvelous long day that was. By the time I home and in bed -- it was late. And on to Saturday morning. Got up to finish making baby shower favors for a friend of mine. Then we were off to do dance pictures. Five sets of pictures, five costume changes, five hairdo's. All before 12:10! We started at 9:40 and it never stopped for over 2 hours. Exhausting. So mind you I've been to 2 field trips, then a thousand pictures and now, since the pictures were running 40 minutes late -- I'm running late and then..........I'm off to a baby shower for a very good friend of mine from 1-3.

Got to the baby shower. Which really was lovely. I felt like I could finally take a breath. I love my friend. After 2 kids and 10 years of trying for another, she's been blessed with this miracle. She is having a boy and I am overjoyed at this miracle. Anyway...it was over at 3, but I stayed until after 4 to help clean up. Then..........was 1/2 hour late to take Karrie to a sleep over. I must say in all this craziness and busyness, my hubby was amazing. He had the whole house cleaned and everything.

Soooooooooooooooo having said all of that, by 5 o'clock yesterday, I had zero left. Nothing. Tank running on empty. I called my mom (our worship leader) and told her I just couldn't go to church the next day and play keyboard. Time to reel it in and go okay God fill me back up! Time to REST and restore in HIS peace. Time to refocus on the family. Time to say okay God here I am, I just can't run out the door again, more clothes, more changes, more hairdo's, more rushing -- nope can't do it.

I think God respects honesty -- and in all honesty -- I've been beyond blessed this morning just worshipping and reading my bible in peace here at home. It's okay to say "no" to things, it's okay to choose to not feel guilt because I had to say "nope couldn't go." So now, I'm going just throw on some sweats and pick up my daughter from her sleepover, ask hubby to make pasta sauce and relax and rejoice in the Lord.

Hugggz,

Kristy~!

Yummmmmmmmmm......the smell of pasta sauce cooking.....

Me and mine 4/12/09 Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter everyone! The tomb is empty -- He is risen!

We had a great family day today. Got up early -- 6:20 -- with my little girls running down the steps whispering, but pounding on the steps none the less, "The Easter Bunny was here....." Then running back up the stairs. They held off in their room until 7ish when they went to wake up their older sister.

We had breakfast, got dressed and made it to church just a smidge late for sound check. Although, they did know I was coming 15 minutes late. We would have been earlier except Karrie caught her dress in the door and it ripped so I had to make a last minute alteration on it. Which was interesting as I had just painted my nails red and was trying to safety pin her white and blue dress without getting polish on them LOL!!!

I hope I sleep tonight. My nerves are shot. Can you be 38 and have your nerve's be shot? Apparently. My nerves are on high alert even woke up in the middle of the night with all the tension in my neck just tingling. I've had piles and piles of stuff on my mind. And I think it's catching up with me, and not in a good way. I need to release some of it and lay it on the Lord.

A lot of times I Iet people see the smile and not see the emotions behind it. I don't know why. It just happens. I'm supposed to be put together you know. I'm supposed to agree with everyone in authority. I'm supposed to this and that. I'm supposed to just nod and smile and go with it. And you know what? I decided that I am 38 and I'm done with that now. And I have to remind myself everyday -- spiritually I know who I am in God and now I need to walk in it. No fear. No worrying about the opinions of mankind. It's okay to say, "no" in the most polite and humble of ways.

I need to have the courage to know what I believe, why I believe that way and not agree with everyone. I need to remind myself it's okay for me to not agree with the powers that be. I need to remind myself that I do have a valid voice. I have value. God chose me as His child, yet I don't have to continue to feel put down, overlooked or overshadowed. I am His child, yet I am strong and grown up in Him. Why does it seem like those I know are strong in the Lord seem to have been put to the wayside?

And while I'm rambling....might as well take a dive into the deep end of the pool. HAHA! I I need to be honest with myself. I'm tired of feeling like I have to walk on egg shells around people. I'm tired of trying to make everyone happy. I'm tired of making things convenient for others. I'm tired of compromising what I know is best for me, my life and my family's life just because it's easier to flow along like nothings wrong or a problem is there.

I think the church as a whole needs to wake up and see the giftings and talents that are laying waste in the sanctuary seats. I think it's time to bring to the forefront the developed, wisdom bound, prayer laden, scripture filled Christians who've been pushed aside and forgotten. I think it's time for the church to say, yes, we need to move out -- move on -- utilize the talents and giftings right in their midst.

Why be jealous? Why be controlling? Why try to stifle what GOD himself has poured out? Who are we -- who are you to stifle what God has chosen to provide? I dare say we should remember the Word of the Lord. "The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God's reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree. Ps 19:7-9 MSG" God decided it -- God granted others giftings and talents -- trying to hold them back is like slamming a door in the face of God and saying, yes, that's a great gift they have, perhaps some year we'll let them use it.

Trying to hold them back is also likened to trying to hold back a raging river with a cotton ball. Oh it'll work for 1/100th of a second -- but inevitably GOD will be GOD and He will have His way. And like flood, He'll come rushing through and move right over us. (Isaish 59:19) Why not, acquiesce, move ourselves out of the way, out of our comfort zone of control and let God WORK? Has control and jealousy so burdened the church that we cannot even forget the program and just flow with what God has ordained for that given time?

Let's take a step back from OUR ideas, and OUR goals and OUR formats and let's lift it up -- and say God you are God, yet ever I will praise you -- I give this over to you. Use who you need to use to allow your glory to shine! The Glory be Yours LORD!!!! Work through us so that your glory might show forth like a raging fire. Work through your people so that we may glorify YOUR name.

Forgive us for getting in the way of your work. Forgive us God for putting jealousy and the pettiness of man ahead of the righteous Work of Almighty God. God forgive our us for trying to wrap you up in a nice neat holy box. God sweep over us. God sweep over us!!!!! SWEEP through us anew! Refresh and renew. Hallelujah! Fresh and new!

Oh I feel so much better. Mental note: this is long, better make the font smaller.

Hugggz,

Kristy~!

Isaiah 59:19 (The Message)

^15-19God looked and saw evil looming on the horizon—
so much evil and no sign of Justice.
He couldn't believe what he saw:
not a soul around to correct this awful situation.
So he did it himself, took on the work of Salvation,
fueled by his own Righteousness.
He dressed in Righteousness, put it on like a suit of armor,
with Salvation on his head like a helmet,
Put on Judgment like an overcoat,
and threw a cloak of Passion across his shoulders.
He'll make everyone pay for what they've done:
fury for his foes, just deserts for his enemies.
Even the far-off islands will get paid off in full.
In the west they'll fear the name of God,
in the east they'll fear the glory of God,
For he'll arrive like a river in flood stage,
whipped to a torrent by the wind of God.

And away we go..... Friday, April 3, 2009

Hello!

I've been trying to get some site updates done for about 4 weeks now and just haven't had the time. I thought using this blog might be easier for all the groups instead of some of you getting 4 and 5 emails.

All is well here in PA. Spring has sprung, allergies have begun! HAHA! Everything is going well here for my family. It's April -- softball has begun, dance has one more month to go. Yeah!

All the kids are doing great -- we've had the basic flu/virus thing that's been going around, but other than that all is well. My girls are getting so big. Katie is 10, Karrie 7 and Kelsey 5. I'll add a picture below so you can see how much they've grown.

I think all of our sites are doing well. Everything plowing right along LOL! I would like to see a little more sharing on the frugal site -- especially since most of us are trying to cut back in this economy.

I've had a scripture on my heart this after noon and I think I'm going to post it. I've had a lot of other things on my heart, and I'll post them soon too. Please bookmark this page and visit often or subscribe to get the updates when they are posted.

How have you all been? Please post a comment -- I'd love to hear from you.

Kristy~!

Opening Post

Hello everyone!

This is my blog where I will be sharing my thoughts on everything from recipes to thoughts on having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is designed to be an outlet where I can freely share opinions. It is a place where you'll get updates from me on my life, my sites and etc.

Grab a cup of tea, come on in and join me. Feel free to post some comments.

Hugggz,

Kristy~!