Thursday~Yellow

I was stuck in traffic while on my way to the airport today. Here is a yellow spot I had to stare at.

This Spring basket with yellow flowers on my yellow house....has become a home for a nest...right on the handle. This was not there two days ago!

Wednesday~Pink

These were bags girls had in my seventh hour class today.


I took this book to school today. I wanted to read it on my free time. I showed it to some of my colleagues. They reminded me how lucky I am to have a mom who would actually fill(and I mean fill) in every page of the book. I have decided that her answers deserve to be put on a blog! So, little by little I will add her pages to a blog I have made for this book!

MOM

Tuesday~Green

I was determined that I would not do plants for my green!This is one of my favorite afghans. I think I have only made one other one with this pattern. The green painting is one that Sandy did. The bookshelf with a green top...designed and made by my Gary! I use this bookshelf for only children's books.
Green in the gift I was supposed to take to a wedding shower last Sunday. We went to a birthday party first and stayed longer than we intended to.
Green shutters on my house! But look at the white trim over the window. Gary cut out each of those little houses!

And I hope I am not promoting a bad movie here in that I cannot get the trailer to work! It just seems like this should go for green day!

http://www.myspace.com/everythingsgonegreen_film

Monday~Turquoise

Since I got my tooth pulled today I am not going to go out and look for my turquoise. I will use stuff from my house! This fun container was given to me by Tricia!
I hope Jeremy is not reading this post because I don't want him to remember he has this book here at my house. He got this from his grandparents for Christmas 1987. The lessons in it are wonderful! It is not in print anymore. I used some of the lessons in this book when I was teaching the college age class!

Now That Is Love!

The Following is From the Forerunner Meditations

Before the beginning of time, before the foundations of the world were laid, the eternal Godhead deeply enjoyed the communion and fellowship that existed within Themselves. Within their intimate fellowship with each other, each part of the Godhead felt and experienced the eternal longings of the others. It became the purpose of each member of the Godhead to , in love, serve and fulfill the desires of each other's heart. Thus the eternal purpose of God was born. Whatever the cost, love would pay any price to fulfill these eternal longings.

As the Son and the Holy Spirit communed with the Father, one primary longing was felt and experienced; the Father's heart burned with desire for a large family of sons and daughters upon whom He could lavish His love. He longed to forever share His heart, throne and home with these sons and daughters, surrounding them with His glory and beauty. To express this desire for sons and daughters, He issued forth an eternal call in hope, saying, "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor.6:18)."

Because of their immeasurable love for the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were willing to empower the human race from within to respond to that call; the Father's desire for sons and daughters would be fulfilled. God the Son would take upon human flesh revealing the Father's heart and love to mankind, and destroying that which would hinder the Father's love. The Holy Spirit would dwell within human flesh, awakening a cry within the human heart to know God intimately as Father. Their love would see to it that millions of men and women would love and honor the Father the way They Themselves loved and adored Him. Now mankind would be empowered to walk in an identity beyond that which they could ask, or think, or even imagine.
Man would now be given the ultimate right and privilege to be called the sons and daughters of the living God.

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

April 8

Today

THAT IS WHAT COFFEE WILL DO TO YOUR HAIR!

color,color,color!

Thanks to Hannah I have had a fun week looking forward to her new color each day! I decided I would do the same thing on my blog this week! I challenge some of the rest of you to join me on this endeavor! I am trying my best not to plan ahead of time what picture I will take and post for the color. I will be on the look out each day and maybe get to take lots of pictures of the color!
Monday~turqoise
Tuesday~green
Wednesday~pink
Thursday~yellow
Friday~red

Bags and Bows

Gary's mom has been in the mode of creating bags recently! I got two of them from her last week-end. This is my favorite one!

Does Everybody Lie?

I do not recall exactly what brought this up in class on Monday but I was accused of lieing by one of the students. I told him, "You know better! I don't lie!" A girl in the class piped up, "Oh, come on! Everybody lies!" I told her, "I used to, but I don't anymore!" Her response was, "Then you are a very unusual lady!"
Later on in the hour I pulled out my trusty palm pilot that has five different versions of the Bible loaded by Gary! I found this verse to share from The Message.

God can't stomach liars: He loves the company of those who keep their word.Proverbs 12:22

I showed it to her. I don't know if it meant anything to her or not but it left me bursting! I so wanted to burst out in the song that plays on my MySpace profile.
"I'M IN LOVE WITH GOD, GOD'S IN LOVE WITH ME!"

Just realizing that I don't lie because I do so want Him to delight in me as I delight in Him.

Sometimes I feel so stiffled! :?) Too bad I can't burst out in any song I want to when I am sitting in a Learning Lab (study hall like atmosphere) in a public school!

Prodigy

Well, that is what Jeremy calls this picture~ Zion is in front of a painting Jeremy recently sold at Leopolds Gallery.

http://leopoldgallery.com/collins_j.htm

Grandma at Easter Time!

Glad I Got these before Last Night's hard freeze!

They sure did look droopy this morning!

My God, My God, Why Have You Abandoned Me?

My God, My God, why have you rejected me?


Lord?
Yes.
I may be stepping out of line by saying this, but I need to tell you something that's been on my mind.
Go ahead.
I don't like this verse: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" It doesn't sound like you; it doesn't sound like something you would say. Usually I love it when you speak. I listen when you speak. I imagine the power of your voice, the thunder of your commands, the dynamism in your dictates.
That's what I like to hear.
Remember the creation song you sang into the soundless eternity? Ah, now that's you. That was the act of a God!
And when you ordained the waves to splash and they roared, when you declared that the stars be flung and they flew, when you proclaimed that life be alive and it all began?....or the whisper of breath into the clay-caked Adam? That was you at your best. That's the way I like to hear you. That's the voice I love to hear.
That's why I don't like this verse....
Look at the sentence. There is a "why" at the beginning and a question mark at the end. You don't ask questions...
And as long as I'm shooting straight with you-I don't like to see the word abandon, either. The source of life...abandoned? The giver of love...alone? The father of it all...isolated?
Come on. Surely you don't mean it. Could deity feel abandoned?
Could we change the sentence a bit? Not much. Just the verb.
What would you suggest?
How about challenge? "My God, my God, why did you challenge me?" Isn't that better? Now we can applaud. Now we can lift banners for your dedication. Now we can explain it to our children. It makes sense now. You see, that makes you a hero. A hero. History is full of heroes.
And who is a hero but someone who survives a challenge.
Or, if that's not acceptable, I have another one. Why not afflict? "My God, my God, why did you afflict me?: Yes, that's it . Now you are a martyr, taking a stand for truth. A patriot, pierced by evil. A noble soldier who took the sword all the way to the hilt; bloody and beaten, but victorious.
Afflicted is much better than abandoned. You are a martyr. Right up there with Patrick Henry and Abraham Lincoln.
You are God, Jesus! You couldn't be abandoned. You couldn't be left alone. You couldn't be deserted in your most painful moment.
Abandonment. That is the punishment for a criminal. Abandonment. That is the suffering borne by the most evil. Abandonment. That's for the vile-not for you. Not you, the King of kings. Not you, the Beginning and the End. Not you, the One Unborn. After all, didn't John call you the Lamb of God?...
"Who has come to take away the sins of the world." Wait a minute. "To take away the sins..." I'd never thought about those words.
I'd read them but never thought about them. I thought you just, I don't know, sent sin away. Banished it. I thought you'd just stood in front of the mountains of our sins and told them to begone. Just like you did to the demons. Just like you did to the hypocrites in the temple.
I just thought you commanded the evil out. I never noticed that you took it out. It never occurred to me that you actually touched it-or worse still, that it touched you.
That must have been a horrible moment. I know what it's like to be touched by sin. I know what it's like to smell the stench of that stuff. Remember what I used to be like? Before I knew you, I wallowed in that mire. I didn't just touch sin, I loved it. I drank it. I danced with it. I was in the middle of it.
But why am I telling you? You remember. You were the one who saw me. You were the one who found me. I was lonely. I was afraid. Remember? "Why? Why me? Why has all this hurt happened?"
I know it wasn't much of a question. It wasn't the right question. But it was all I knew to ask. You see, God, I felt so confused. So desolate. Sin will do that to you. Sin leaves you shipwrecked, orphaned, adrift. Sin leaves you aban...
Oh! Oh my!
My, goodness, God. Is that what happened? You mean sin did the same to you that it did to me?
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't understand. You really were alone, weren't you?
Your question was real, wasn't it, Jesus? You really were afraid. You really were alone. Just like I was. Only, I deserved it. You didn't
Forgive me. I spoke out of turn.
(From And the Angels Were Silent by Max Lucado)

Jeremy in the Kansas City Star

This was in the Kansas City Star today!That's my Jeremy!

Since I am drawing attention to Jeremy I might as well send you to this site that shows the art he had at a gallery opening this past Friday.

http://leopoldgallery.com/collins_j.htm

Happy Birthday Jonathan

I find it hard to believe that my baby...you know...what you always call the youngest...is a quarter of a century old today!!!!!

Gardening Is A Workout!

It is that time of year and I am chomping at the bits! This was my favorite garden picture from last year! Here are some statements I read yesterday in a magazine.

"More and more, scientists are confirming what avid gardeners have known all along" Wrestling with stubborn weeds, trimming hedges, and spreading mulch are all good ways to work up a very respectable, healthy sweat. Doing work around the garden also tends to be more mentally and emotionally rewarding than trudging away on the treadmill at the gym. Gardening is a great way to maintain flexibility and tone muscle. Bending to pick flowers or reaching to prune a vine, for examples, can help you stay limber. Digging, hoeing, and lifting build core body strength, which protects against back problems and helps prevent falls. The more you exert yourself, the greater the benefits. Household and yard activities increase metabolic rate threefold to fivefold. That's enough to reduce blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels when a gardener works for at least thirty minutes five days a week. Tasks that are strenuous enough to leave a gardener feeling slightly winded-pushing a hand mower or raking, for example-will improve cardiovascular fitness. Gardening, like more traditional forms of exercise, has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and help ward off type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes.

Calorically speaking, an afternoon of raking, trimming, and weeding rates as high as more serious workouts. On average, gardening burns about 265 calories an hour, more than expended by brisk walking.

Less strenuous forms of yard work have pluses, too. They are appropriate for people with arthritis and can actually ease their pain.

The benefits of being active in the garden go beyond physical health. Studies show that almost any kind of moderate exercise reduces stress. But gardening may have an added advantage. Instead of blowing your top at your boss, you can attack those weeds to release your aggressions - and have a beautiful garden to enjoy when you're done

Simply enjoying a patch of green, even from afar, can be therapeutic. When Texas A&M University researcher Roger Ulrich compared hospital records of patients recovering from gallbladder surgery, he discovered that the ones whose rooms had a view of nature recovered more quickly than those who look out at a brick wall.

Ultimately, what may be best about flexing a green thumb is that it's such a pleasure it hardly feels like exercise!"

Affabel

Join the majestic King Jalyn, the dark lord Dagon, Charity, Independent and others as you explore the wondrous lands of The Kingdom of Affabel, The Community of Endel and the terrible outer limits of Lone! You'll be challenged in the Great Hall - perhaps even shocked - as each character reveals much of YOUR very own heart! Search your deepest feelings as you hear the drama play out!This audio drama, taken from John Bevere's newest book Driven by Eternity (Warner Faith) will capture your heart and soul as you experience life on "the other side" where eternity is brought into the present and all must stand before the Great King and Judge. Be prepared for a roller coaster ride of joy and sorrow, astonishment and revelation as life-long rewards are bestowed on some and others are bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness by the Royal Guard!4CD SET, digitally recorded with a Hollywood cast, this riveting audio drama brings characters to life with action, emotion and custom music to complete the exciting production. This story takes you beyond yourself and into a world of other-reality. A place where things are not always as they seem, but truth prevails and your heart will emerge forever changed! Awaken Your Soul

That is a copy and pasted advertisement of the audio theatre I finished listening to yesterday. If this author has really caught the truth in the Word about Judgement...and I can't help but think he's got it right, help!
All I can say folks, is we had best dig deep in the Word and KNOW what and who God is calling us to be on this earth! As believers we had better be drawing each other into a deeper walk...not a washed up, meaningless walk. And those of our friends who don't know Jesus...we will be held accountable for not telling and influencing them for Christ!!!!

So have you read my helpful hints yet? I would guess none of you will ever throw away a candle container in comfort after you read todays helpful hint! :?)

We Take Captive Every Thought...

...to make it obedient to Christ!

II Corinthians 10:5

When I go to bed I don't have much time to think in that I pretty much fall asleep almost instantly. However as I put my head on my pillow last night this portion of scripture went through my mind. I do not know what triggered the thought...but it triggered me to start worshipping God and thanking Him for His great Love.

I also started thinking about the great power of these words. I know that when we go to bed is a time when this scripture should be remembered! When all else is quiet is when we can start letting "stuff" come to our mind that eventually leads to sin. Folks, whatever we let our mind dwell on...and we think it is safely tucked away there...well, it becomes so comfortable that we act on it! Resentments, bad attitudes, lusts...etc. All those can get their start in those quiet moments when your head hits the pillow. But beloved ones.....take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ!

Don't worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ....Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:6-9

Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.

Colossians 3:2-4

If this is something new you will incorporate in your bed time...tell us about it!!!!

Soon I will post a scripture with which to wake up with!!!!

Who Is A Fanatic?

I am still reading the book After God's Own Heart in that I am also reading other books at the same time. Here is something interesting I read yesterday.
"The definition of a fanatic is someone who loves Jesus more than you do. Fiery lifestyles disrupt religious people. Religious systems and people resist abandonment because it threatens their stability and power. There are few radical believers in the Western church today, and yet people who drink from the well of Western values are greatly offended by these passionate, sold out believers. It unnerves them. They feel judged by the lifestyle. They don't like the "in-your-face" prophetic statement that an abandoned lifestyle makes. Like David's family, they want to write you off so they can soothe their consciences and settle down into business as usual without disruptions.
Fearless, wholehearted believers will be in the majority before the Lord returns. But on the way there, in the years that lie ahead, there will be great unsettledness in the body of Christ as radical fasting-and praying believers upset the status quo. These people are no better than anyone else; they don't form a new spiritual elite. (They will be hungrier, but not better!) But they will cause all kinds of turbulence for a few decades as they go after their goal with great zeal even in their weakness. Others will feel judged. People will transfer their anger and bitterness toward God to these believers.
So be warned: contending for the power of God with intimacy is disruptive. You will be confronted and criticized for your lifestyle. Beloved, the people of God in our culture and in this time of history will not all applaud your consuming zeal for Jesus. A fiery life provokes fire in return-even friendly fire from family and acquaintances. They will come up with theological, emotional, and relational arguments to write you off. You will feel the stigma placed on you, and you will bear the reproach that David and John the Baptist bore."


Wow! I think I want to be "guilty" of that!

Great Conference!

I absolutely enjoyed the Passion For Jesus Conference I went to this past weekend. There were well over 2000 people there! The place was full even on Thursday afternoon. On Friday night the young people were asked to sit on the floor up in front to give room for all the people coming in.
Some highlights from the conference are:

• We seek to be a "people of the Spirit" both in our inner life as well as in our ministry to others. We must deeply value our relationship with the Spirit. A vibrant walk with the Spirit is essential in our quest to experience more of God. It is futile to seek deep experiences with God while neglecting the Spirit's presence and leadership. We cannot go deep in God with a dull spirit. ( That is a spiritual ICU unit)
• Spiritual burn out is a disconnect with the Holy Spirit.
• We will not walk in the Spirit more than we talk to the Spirit. We will not obey Him more than we talk to Him. He will talk us out of sinning and quitting.
• The more we talk to the Spirit the less we talk to people in a away that quenches the Holy Spirit, our spirit, and their spirit. Words release (activated) as well as hinder the Spirit's work in us.

Those are from Mike Bickle's sermons

• Something that stayed with me from Allen Hood as he emphasized the importance of our understanding the story of Jesus from Genesis through Revelation. He talked about the fulfillment of God's promise with Christ's death on the cross. He came at it with an angle I had not heard before. All that God did was for our protection against Satan because of what Satan did to His little girl in the Garden of Eden. It definitely left me with a picture of a very loving, protective Father we have!

Following are statements from John Bevere

• For believers it is not where you spend eternity but how you will spend eternity.
• Believers will not be judged by what you did but in the light of what you are called to do.

John had some new concepts to me about eternity. I am reading his book "Driven By Eternity". It will take me awhile to get through the study so it may be awhile before I post about what he has to say.

Notes on some of the sermons can be printed from ihop.org. The dates of the conference were the 8-10. You will see notes for those dates.

I Have a New Blog

It seems like I am fascinated with learning unconventional ways of dealing with things in life. This means I just might have some suggestion for something if you happen to mention what is going on in your life! I have started a new blog that will have posts triggered by something that came my way and I passed on my "suggestion" I will be cutting and pasting so both blogspot and myspace will have the same information(except for comments from my viewers :?)
Even if you are a blogspot blogger visit my MySpace site at least once! I have put a basically waterfall slide show on that site. Gary can tell you that I have always been partial to waterfalls. However, even the pictures of them are more meaningful to me after my recent readings. You will find the statement in an earlier posting...The turbulent rivers of affection in God's personality flow strong...that is the tremendous, fierce, fiery desire in God's heart towards me...towards you!!!!!
www.joyceshelpfulhints.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/joyceshelpfulhints

Describe Me In One Word

Describe ME in ONE WORD...just one word!

Copy and paste this to your blog and see how many strange things people say about you!

This could be fun!

(Or Dangerous..he,he! :?)

!

After God's Own Heart

I am currently reading this book. Here are some statements I just have to pass on!

• The turbulent rivers of affection in God's personality flow strong, and yet we respond with the drip-drip of ritual or passionless worship. When Jesus said, in John 4:23, that God was seeking for worshipers, He was referring to the tremendous, fierce, fiery desire in His Father's heart. That love seeks out lovers to requite His passion, to understand His love, and to worship Him drenched in the desire He has for us. That's what it means to be a true worshiper.
• David prayed that he would be able to drink from the river of the pleasures of God's heart (PS.36:8). God's heart was depicted as a river, even a raging, crashing river of rushing desire for human beings. David understood that God's heart is like whitewater rapids, tossing and tumbling with fierce emotions so strong and determined that they even drove Him to the extreme of being incarnated and hung on a cross. In His love for us, He would simply not be denied relationship with us, and so He pursued us to the very end. That is the God we serve!
• You must intentionally pursue the revelation of God's heart and emotions to get the benefits. There is nothing passive about it. It's an aggressive hunt that requires as much energy and mental focus as any Olympic event.(Jonathan, you probably like that one! :?)
• God likes us and wants to enjoy with us the pleasure of spiritual encounter with Him. There is nothing more exhilarating for us than plunging into that river of pleasure...He has invited us to drink from the awesome spiritual pleasures of having a divine romance with Him. I don't know about you, but the best moments in my life are when God says to me, "I really enjoy you(Insert your name)."
• It is never a sacrifice to hang out in His presence, though many are bored during times of prayer and worship. ...When we look into His heart, He reveals to us what He looks like emotionally and what we look like to Him. The result turns our brains and hearts inside out. You can't get over it! It's like falling in love for the first time. He absolutely burns with love for you!
• Beloved, we don't have to wait to experience the deep pleasures! God has ordained for the human heart to experience them even in this life. I'll go further and state that it's not optional for us to go on as generations have, without a transforming revelation of God's heart. In light of the mounting pressures at the end of the age, we can't afford to not drink of the pleasures of His heart. Our lives must overflow with constant delighted cries of, "O God, this is too good to be true. It's too magnificent to really be happening! But it is true! Beyond what I could hope for!" We want these testimonies of worship and adoration to flow from our spirits now and not just in eternity. We desperately need hearts anchored and sustained by an outrageous love that comes from another world.
• Experiencing God is like riding a roller coaster that never ends but gets better with each curve. He smiles with delight and enjoyment when He gazes on each one of us. This strikes many people as strange. They are accustomed to relating to a God who is mostly mad or mostly sad when they come before Him. They imagine that He is either mad because they have rebelled, or sad and grieved all the time because His people are not dedicated enough.

Mike Bickle

OK, so there is more....guess you will just have to buy the book! :?)

Original Pic of Gary

Liz, This picture is for you! This is the first one I took of Gary and the sunset!
Yep, he has to be reminded to smile! :?)

Pacific Coast Hwy

Gary's job now has him in Los AngelesWe came up at sunset time
Gary and I both went crazy with our cameras
I am sure the people around thought we had never seen a sunset before! This is what it did when I zoomed in after it went behind the clouds!

Enjoying the Getaway

We went for a walk along some cliffs over the ocean yesterdayOf course Jonathan did his usual to try and scare Mom!
Sure have enjoyed our time with these two!
One of my favorite places to go to in San Diego is Balboa Park. We had coffee and dessert outside in the evening! That morning I was shoveling snow off the driveway at home!

As we were walking around we kept smelling perfumed air. Quite a ways away we discovered this angel trumpet tree! It smells wonderful!
Jonathan continues working hard at his task!

What Do You Think?

This is in response to Jonathan's question to an earlier post I had. There were several statements made in that meditation that I felt were the opposite way of how most of us approach prayer or life.

• If depression and oppression visit me, I am to blame; God is not, nor is anyone else. It is so easy to place the blame on anything but "me"
• Dejection springs from one of two sources-I have either satisfied a lust or I have not. Lust means I must have it at once. Ouch!
• Spiritual lust makes me demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Who gives the answer Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer. I have been guilty of wanting answers!!!!
• We look for visions from heaven, for earthquakes and thunders of God's power, and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us. This one might not be so hard for me. I do see Him in my daily encounters...but I had/have to work at it.
• If we will do the duty that lies nearest, we shall see Him.
• So, what do you think? :?)

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day means putting away the Christmas angels, the snowmen, and the red poinsetta decorations.
But with all this snow, it seems like they should stay out longer!

At least my Christmas Cactus that only had one bloom at Christmas time is giving me some color now!

And my papaya tree is actually growing papayas

And my new banana plant and avocado tree are growing.

And the Australian Fern is getting bigger in spite of my breaking a limb. And the yellow and blue poinsettas are looking good.

It does give me hope that Spring is coming!!!!

Having Fun

See my fun slideshow

What do you think?

http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php For February 7th

Painful Compromise

Song of Songs 2:16-17

My lover is mine and I am His; He browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.

Now sincere love is expressed. The Bride declares that she belongs only to Jesus. She is proclaiming with confidence that she has not lost her place in the heart of God. She knows that Jesus is still hers, and that she belongs to Him. She is not just loved and cherished by Christ, but she belongs solely to Him and no other.

This is the reality that she is truly starting to accept. She is allowing herself to take her place as the Bride of Christ and profess that she is His. She is a lover of God, and God loves her even in her weaknesses. She is committed and sincere even if she is not yet fully victorious or mature.

However, despite her beginning to understand this truth, she still chooses not to follow Him over the mountains. She bids Him to go on without her. She is refusing to obey Him, not because she is rebellious or because she is a hopeless hypocrite, but because she is spiritually immature.

It is dark until the day breaks and brings new light. The time when day breaks is the time when light or maturity becomes present. She is telling Him that she wants His help to conquer these areas in her heart so she can go on to the mountains with Him. She doesn't want to go to the mountains until the light of day comes and shadows, or the gray areas, are gone.

She is telling Him that she still has unbelief in her heart, but she wants His light to come and take it away. She says, "God, unless there is more light and I am more mature, you are going to have to turn and go on without me. I cannot rise until the shadows have fled."

This happens to many Christians during their spiritual journey. They decline when Christ asks them to partner with Him, and because of this, they feel as if they are hopeless hypocrites. They doubt their sincerity towards Christ, and they wonder if they even love Him the way that they thought they did. Then they begin to run away from the things of God instead of toward the things of God.

This is what Satan wants the beloved to do. He wants her mistakes to conquer her instead of causing her to run to God for help. Mistakes do not disqualify your from being with Christ; they qualify you to run to Christ. This does not mean you should try to sin and make mistakes, but it does mean that even if you slip and fall in a time of weakness, you should get right back up and run back to the love of Christ.

Ask Christ to shine the light of His countenance down upon your life so the shadows of fear and doubt would flee and the gray areas of immaturity would become as light. Ask Him to give you grace that allows you to run to Him in times of struggle.

Prayer:

Sweet Jesus, I thank You that I belong wholly to You. Even in my times of difficulty, You accept me as I am. Come and shine the light of Your beauty down upon my life that all my sins would flee away. Give me the grace I need to follow You in times of struggle, for You are mine and I am Yours.

(from Forerunner Meditations Volume 1)

A follow up and a song can be found @ The Bridegroom's Manifest Presence is Withdrawn

New Pictures of Zion

Zion has a whole bunch of new pictures on his blog