Phil Laeger's song with video

someone put his song with this video. The words ,"thank you for showing me the emptiness of all held unto" never were more vivid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0uxDQYYsC0

Going to the unfamiliar places

I have absolutely no sense of direction! It takes me a while to walk the same path in order to know it well. Oh, I guess there goes my dream of being a tour guide :). And if that wasn't enough, I also hate surprises- they make me nervious, insecure and just annoy me, really. I can't enjoy them.Boy, am I in trouble or am I trouble!?!?!?! God loves both- unfamiliar places AND surprises!
With my Bible Study group here we're studying Joshua. Our last time we read Joshua 3. I challenge you to read it- lots of good stuff there. Having a phobia of unknown things- couple moments in that Scripture stood up to me more than before.

Joshua 3:2-4 "After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before..."
How can we follow GOD to the place we've never been before? That unknown place was their Promise Land- a place they've dreamed about for 400 years or so....and now it's so close!
As you read Joshua 3, you'll pick up few keys Joshua gave :
in vv. 9-17 you'll see them:

1. Come to God.

2. Listen to His Word. (I like the fact that he didn't say, "drag your Jordan to me and make it listen to Me"...but He began with us- YOU come and listen...let me consecrate you through and through...bathe in My Presence and My Words. And about the Jordan- that's My problem).

3. Consecrate yourself. (make it right with God...spend more time with Him, make sure your heart is in the right place).

4. Now believe God for great things , even those that seemed impossible! ( God promised to get rid of all their enemies- all the "ites" nations. Someone told me that "ites" means snakes. But I wonder if if they had to face more enemies than just "ites"; enemy like "fear " was something more real at the moment).

5. Get your feet wet. They didn't see the miracle until the very first toes actually got in the water.


So, what is your unknow land God is leading you to? What is your Jordan- the obstacle too impossible to get over? How wet are your feet? God is bigger than our phobia, He is way bigger than Jordan and all the "ites" together. Our Promise Land in our journey with Christ is waiting- will you cross the Jordan with me or will you stay on the shore and miss the blessing.

2007 is a place none of us has been before. Let's get busy and get ready for a trip!

A Christmas Wish/ Hint

A College Student writes a letter home:

"Dear Father,
School i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can't think of anything I need for Christma$, $o, if you would like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.
Love, your $on."

After receiving his son's letter, the father immedeiately replied :

Dear Son,
I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmy and oceaNOgraphy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task and you can never study eNOugh.
Love,
Dad"

:):):):):):):):) I love you all friends...hope all of you got what you wished for Christmas.
My Christmas was great! I spend sometime home opening presents with my husband. I really think I'll be worse than our kids, because when it comes to Christmas I am a joke of the week- I get up early, make my coffee and bugg my husband to hurry up to start opening presents. He takes his stinking time, just because he enjoys watching a nerveracking Russian sitting by the tree in expectation. LOL
I was blessed this year, he always does more than I expect. My friends blessed me with their love, support and warmth- what more can I wish.
Thank you Jesus! It's Your Birthday, but I get all the presents- you truly love me, don't You? ;) :):):):):):):):):):)

You know You're Living in 2007 when....

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with the real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone ## to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that you don't have their e-mails.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on TV has a website at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have just few years ago, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
9. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
10. You start tilting your head sideways to smile :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! By the way! I still don't do #9- PRAISE GOD!!!!

Fath-stretching promise

I have shared this story with the few of my friends. If you go to Montaclair Corps, you probably heard it from your officer :)

Anyways...about a month and a half ago our pastor challenged us to give a faith promise- extra money on top of the tithes and offerings, and that faith promise would go to our missioneries that we support.
Before the service began I have already decided in my heart how much "my faith can afford" :)...So, here comes time to pray and our pastor says this , "If it doesn't scare you, it's probably not a faith promise". I tried to dismiss that one, because I already decided how much "faith" I'll give today (not to be cheap or anything ) LOL...

So , I close my eyes and here is the conversation that took place between God and me:

Me: ok, LORD, how much do you want me to give? You do remember that I don't have that much this time, so please, have mercy on me.

GOD: $100.

Me: ????

God: $100

Me:$50 it is, Lord!

God: $100- trust me on that one.

Me: I can trust you for $50 too, it's a stretch for me, you know.

God: But does it scare you?

Me: well....define "scare"...$50 I can handle, that I am sure I can find in case of emergency.....so what do you think?

God: you know what I think...

Me: Let me pray about it first...

God: LOL (I can almost picture Him going through His holy hair and laughing).

Me:....is our pastor EVER going to stop praying....

God: so, child, would you believe Me for $100 extra each month?

Me: I guess...let's do it....

Finally, I have heard an "amen" coming from my pastor....Never before have I desired an "amen" as much!..I thought I was done, but the real test just begun!
My husband looks at me and asks me ," so how much did God tell you?"....I look down and whisper under my breath , "$50?".....
"NOOO"- Zach replys and continues ," God told me how much and He told me what He told you too...so how much?"....sigh...."does He tell you EVERYTHING?....$100, that's what He told me"....
Zach said ,"that's what we're going to pledge, honey"..... OK....
I came home and had a conversation with GOD, telling Him , "I know we both heard from You $100....and frankly it does scare me a lot, but this I know- You will not fail me....so, LORD, I am willing to go on that adventure with YOU, increase my faith, help my unbelief. You have created seas and trees, You can do anything, so why am I fussing over it, that's just silly....let's do it! Actually, YOU DO it and I'll just stand and watch the glory of the LORD"......I felt Him smile over me.....

Since that few things happened :
-within 2 days I got blessed with $145- just because. People were giving me money, because they felt to.
-I got blessed with the tickets to visit my best friend Carole
-my TV broke and the very next day a friend of mine had an extra one and she wanted to give it to us.
-I got a computer for free
-the tires on my car were still under warantee (sp?), so I got it done for free
-my electricity bill was unusually small
-I did pay my very first faith promise in full!!!!
-I started Christmas shopping and I actually have some money left!

.....Just think about it....some stupid $100 fuss was actually a key to unlock a bigger blessing.....

What is GOD asking you today? What do you have to loose? (other than an OK stuff exchanged for BETTER!)..

Let's believe GOD even when He makes no sense!

My husband has blogger!!!!

Hey everybody!
My husband has opened his blogger. Check it out! He is pretty good.
http://worship-warrior.blogspot.com/

Back Home

I am back from my WONDERFUL trip to Carole! It was the best time ever! I don't know if I have ever prayed that much with any other group of people in one than I prayed with Carole, Mhairi and Cindy! It was great! God taught me new things- how refreshing!
My trip there and back was good. My luggage however got lost on the way back, but it safely arrived by Friday morning. (not a biggie ).
My flight from NY was late for about 40 minutes, so I was praying on the way to Chicago to make on my next flight. I only had 20 miniutes to make it there! I prayed, I read my Bible and then I realized that I will be at least 45 minutes late for my next plane! Boy, did I panic. Then I heard God telling me , "Look out the window". I did. He continued , "I can hold all these clouds in one place, I can hold sun in it's spot. Do you believe me I can do a mirracle of getting you on the next plane?". Just before I was reading Joshua (that happened to be our next Bible Study book). So I told him , "I believe you, LORD". Then He gently spoke to my heart , "do what Joshua did". My face probably looked funny for other people, because I was starring at the window with confused look and lips tight. "Do like Joshua did"- I heard again. I knew where He was going and I didn't think I can do it. "Do like Joshua did"....OK....I looked outside the window, looked at the sun and said ,"Sun, stand still in Jesus name"....waiting for God to make a mirracle. He did. When I landed to Chicago it was 1 hour behind from NY, I totally forgot about the time difference! Well, actually , I think He made me to forget it for a minute just to see if I will have guts to thrill Him with my brave request. You see, I totally believe He gets tickled when we do such thing. I think He goes, "finally, someone asked me to do something BIG".
What about you? Do you believe GOD for BIG things? Do you dream BIG? Do you pray for BIG things to take place? Do so, friend, excite your BIG GOD with the real task, He LOVES it.
Thank you, LORD, for being bigger than we think. Thank you for doing bigger things that we could ever imagine. Thank you, for being a BIG GOD.

I am not home

Hey there, friends,
I am in N.J with my friend Carole.
On the way here I prayed hard that God put me on the same plane with Beth Moore (silly, I know, but it was silly as well, when I asked for prayer to visit my friend Carole and He answered, huh?)..so far I haven't seen Beth Moore, however, I sat on the plane from Omaha to Chicago with the guy who looked just like Max Lucado...I thought to myslef , "hey, I'll take Lucado as well...my God can do more than I ever expect :)
anyways...I am having fun here..tired though, but very excited to meet new people :)

Bible vs Cell phone

(this is not mine, but very thought provoking!)


I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we used it to receive messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?
This is something to make you go...hmmm...where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cellphones, we don't ever have to worry about our bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

Shape Up or Ship Out

Ok now...I know only women can write this and only women can get excited reading this :):):):) but this morning I could fit some of my old pants that I couldn't fit 1 month ago! YAY! (I fit in them whithout laydown on the bed trying to zip it up! important note:))

Anyways, I gotta make it spiritual somehow :)
So as I was working out this morning, I thought of that: If we are the Body of Christ, we all were meant to function well. The reason we don't function well sometimes could be that we are getting out of shape. The more we're getting out of shape, less we can do to be effective.
I had an interesting conversation the other day with someone. This person called my home and was telling me how worn out and discouraging this past month was and how there is no desire or energy left to do anything for Christ. I asked one simple question , "how is your prayer life, study and quiet time with God?"...the answer amazed me ,"well, it's lacking lately, BUT IT'S NORMAL, everyone goes through it".
It is not normal! And the moment we make it normal- we're in trouble. We're running the race TO WIN and "normal" things may not be our best friends to do it. This is the common lie of the enemy ,"it's normal, tomorrow will be different". I had friends in Russia who's being in denial for 3 years already telling me it's a "normal" thing that all go through. I am not saying we'll loose your salvation over it, but we WILL loose our daily victories and blessing.
So that inspired me to stay in my shape spiritually and be alert and praying so that when temptation comes I won't give in.
I encourage you the same!!!
We don't serve "normal" God, we serve extraordinary God Almigthy who wants to give victory!

excellent tool

If you're like me love the deep study of the WORD and knowing the origional meaning of the phrases makes you excited (like me!)...then you might find this site VERY helpful for your studies.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/ there you can find Strong's concordance, commentaries, even songs for Scriptures- pretty impressive!

coming before the throne

Hebrews 4:14-16

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. "

This Scripture was one of many that we looked at during our last Bible Study. I pray that few insights that I found by doing a word-study will bless you just as much as it blessed me!

The word "sympathize" in Greek i very similiar to Englsih- "sumpatheo":
sum=with someone, patheo=feel. Therefore, it means to feel with someone.

Christ is not just feeling sorry for us in our time of trouble, but He feels it WITH US, hurting just as bad as we do, EVEN when He knows it'll be alright. He feels our pain.
One of the Commentaries suggested this thought: the reason He can sympathize with our weaknesses is because He's not only been there, but He was STILL be able to say "NO". The intensity of the temptation knows not the one who gave in, but the one who remained sinless. That's powerful! So we can come to Him with anything on our heart and trust that He will understand every single thing without us trying to express with better words.

Now...are you ready for this??? "Let us approach then the throne of grace with confidence"......I hope you're sitting as you're reading it!

The word confidence in origional Greek is "parhesia" (Strong #3954) and it means:
1) freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech
a) openly, frankly, i.e without concealment
b) without ambiguity or circumlocution
c) without the use of figures and comparisons
2) free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance
3) the deportment by which one becomes conspicuous or secures publicity

THAT'S A WORD FOR SOMEONE TODAY!!!!

Who would have thought of freedom of speech before the throne of God? MY GOD!


Do you think Jesus was an American? :):):):):):):):):):):)

Turnning things upside down

John 2:14-16

"In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

I wonder what would Jesus do if He walked in our churches today? What would He overturn and be deeply offended by? Would He overturn the tables in our church Headquorters, church offices, Bible Studies (ouch!), church dinners??? What would He have to overturn in my life, my marriage, my heart???? It's gotta be something that has appearance of "serving Him"or "being in His presence" but in reality it's nothing but a fog. Scary thought, really. I remember hearing someone tell me (when I was serving overseas) , "Well, I work in the church office, that's for God, I don't need to do anything extra on Sunday".....I wonder if Jesus would overturn all of our activities upside down saying ,"Get these out of here! How dare you turn our relationship into a performance, show and paper work".......that's a reality check for me.

Recently I felt that God is preparing me for a turn in my ministry that would most likely bring some painful changes. I told God that that would be the last thing I want to see, BUT if turning some tables upside down would bring us closer to Him and open our eyes in the areas where we were blind- by all means LORD, do it, just cover us with Your grace. Our heart and our desire is to have our heart beat with the same beat as God's. So, let's ask God to shove the obstacles out of our way in whatever areas of our life or our church.

Father, forgive us for bringing "tables" where we should bring our hearts and remind us of Your holiness, give us the fear of the LORD ; bring us closer to You Father!

In a mighty, saving, freedom giving name of Jesus,

AMEN!

Who Am I

2 Sam. 7:18 "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" was in my heart last night.
I've been praying for a miracle for a while now. You see, I've been wanting to go visit my friend in NJ , but it just couldn't happen according to my check book. Last night at the Bible Study I told my ladies, "I really want to go the very first week of November, and it's only 2 weeks away and I haven't seen my check book expand in any way. But this I know: It took God only 3 days to raise Jesus from the dead, so I guess my 2 weeks is plenty of time for Him to show up in a mighty way"...All of them "amened" me.
Little did I know that the answer for my prayer was 3 minutes away!
After our prayer time my girls said they wanted to show their appriciation to me and handed me an envelope with a card- HOW SWEET. Inside the card was my ticket to go NJ (round trip) to visit my dear friend and get this- the first week of November!!! SWEEEEEET!
Isn't God good?!?!?!? The ticket was an awesome answer to prayer, but their warmth and love and care broke my heart into pieces.I told my friend after we left , "I know I didn't cry there because I'm still in shock, but I know I'll be sobing tonight". As I laid in bed last night, King David's prayer from 2 Sam. 7:18 never felt more real!
Thanks you Jesus for a wonderful family you gave me here. Thanks, girls! You have blessed me! (better stop now, before mascara runeth over :). The 11-th commandment : Thou shalt not cry with mascara on. :)

Lesson on Holiness

Have you seen a recent report on CNN about the "Ice Man". The guy who was in a mob for years and his family had no clue. He was one of the most severe murderers who not just killed people, but did a lot of ugly things with them and truly enjoyed it?..That was sickening. The thing that stuck with me about him was that he was a regular "church goer" AND he had a ministry, he was an usher in his church. Nobody had any idea. That is so sad, he heard the living WORD of GOD weekly at least and kept on living his life in a habitual sin- SCARY.
I thought of him when I prepared for my lesson for tonight's Bible Study. A hard lesson on holiness is described in Lev.10
"Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.Moses then said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: " 'Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.' " Aaron remained silent.
Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary." So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
Then the LORD said to Aaron,"You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses."

WOW! The "Ice Man" is lucky he wasn't living back then, or he could have burned alive in his suite right then and there. Thank God for the grace of Calvary, we don't die in church when we approach God in "unauthorized "way. The one and only way to approach God, to worship Him and pray is through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. It seems we loose respect for holiness sometimes, we think we can "play" church and believe we can get away with it. May be today we won't die physically in the church, but we sure will expirience death of our connection with God. That was a sobering reminder for me today of His Holiness. "Be holy, for I AM HOLY" He said, and there was a reason for that.
Another thing that caught my eye in this portion of Scripture is "You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean". Notice, that common may not always be bad for you, but it will be useless. We don't serve the GOD of common, we serve Holy GOD, so why not choose holy instead of common? Distinguish- that involves discerment, prayer and knowing the heart of your God.
Let us be challenged today to distinguish between holy and common and CHOOSE HOLINESS (through Christ) AS A LIFESTYLE.

Lord,as we approach You, show Yourself Holy and remind us to respect that.

Praise Report

God is so good!
Our church was in need of a new sound system. The worship team has been praying about that for a long time. So, our pastor made a call to the congregation challenging them to give GOD extravagantly. We needed $6000. I am happy to report you that the LORD answered our prayers beyond our wildest dreams (just like my GOD :)), we've got the offering for $10.000 that Sunday!
You should hear all of the testimonies Sunday after that one when people stood up and shared how GOD rewarded their faithfulness!
Once again I am reminded and Malac.3 "Test me by giving and you will see showers of blessings"

Word for me this morning

I am alive and well! I know I haven't been here for while- life is too buzy lately. God is being buzy too trying to keep me in line :)
Anyways...So many great things happened, I can't describe His Faithfulness with the words.

This morning He spoke to me a fresh Word and I claimed it and received it. Let me share it with you:

"My children, be silent before Me that I may speak to you. I will lift up My voice as the sound of the trumpet- I will speak clearly to you, for the hour is at hand.
Be obidient, and raise your standards of discipline and dedication to a higher level. For My face is set towards My imminent return to earth. I wait only the release from the Father's hand. I long to come and be united with My chosen ones ; but the Father holds the times in His power.
And I say to you, though I am ready and longing to come to you, yes, I would have rejoiced to have come much sooner, I say to you, you are not yet ready. I have wooed you and warned you. I have spurned My entreaties, and you fought against the restraints of the Spirit.
Break through the religious curtain, and behold Me in My glory! Keep your vision filled with ME. Keep your life in tune and your worship in mutual harmony. For I will come singing over you, and what will you be if you are in discord?"
("Come away my beloved" , p.251)

Share with me your thoughts, what really stood up to you in this word?

As for me, these two things peirced my heart:
#1)be obidient and raise your standards of discipline and dedication

#2)Break through religious curtain, and behold Me in My glory. (more and more I find proof that religion and Christianity are 2 different things. Religion is nothing more but the letter that bounds me, Christianity is of the Spirit and sets me free).

Now it's your turn...share with me...I want to know your thoughts :)

new and BETTER things...

How refreshing is that!
You know how they teach that the book of Philppians is the book of "joy" since the word "joy "or "rejoice" is mentioned there more than 10 times. Well, after my little study I come to conclusion that the book of Hebrews is the book of "Better things"! Just look at the amount of BETTER things we get through Christ Jesus mentioned in Hebrews. I pray it will be your word for today and your anchor that reminds you that you are in possesion of BETTER things- that's is God's promise to you.

Hebr. 6:9 "Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation."

Hebr. 7:19 "(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God."

Hebr.7:22 "Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant."

Hebr.8:6 "But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises."

Hebr.9:23 "It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."

Hebr.10:34 "You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions."

Hebr.11:16 "Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Hebr. 11:35 "Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection."

Hebr. 11:40 "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

Hebr.12:24"to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."

LOOK AT THAT! These are some awesome promises that God gave us! Let us stand on them firmly and believe Him. God can do what He said He can do and He IS who He said He is.

Glorious Garments

One again God's tenderness touched my heart today. I was reading Exod.28 and vv.2 and 40 showed me a new aspects of God's care for me.

V.2 "Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor".
v.40 "Make tunics, sashes and caps for Aaron's sons to give them dignity and honor. "

God's covering for us has a unique purpose! God is in the restoration business. He wants to restore what the enemy has stolen from us. Our dignity and honor is what satan is after; enemy wants us to feel naked, violated, robbed, shamefull, unworthy. By stealing our dignity and honor enemy robbs us off many blessing, because when we're ashamed and feel unworthy we don't believe we deserve anything from God. ( although, His blessing and mercy has nothing to do with that)...
So God had a plan and He revealed it as a foreshadow in the Old Testament,"make them garments to give them dignity and honor" (back, as I would add).
God is our best Fashion Designer! Check this out!
Genesis 3:21 "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
Isa.52:1 "Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength.Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. "
Isa 61:10 "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
Ezek.16:10 "I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments."
Zech.3:4 "The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
Ps.132:9 "May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy."
Rom. 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Gal.3:27 "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
Rev.16:15 ""Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

There is a brand new wardrobe available for us, but sometime we wake up in the morning and habbitually put on the old rags and filthy clothes that enemy made us wear for years and we think that is "as good as it gets" and God is telling us over and over Genesis through Revelation that He has prepared a new garments for us to give us back our stolen dignity and honor- the garments of praise instead of despair, forgiveness instead of shame, future instead of old past. Open your closet and see what is yours. It's time for us to be fully dressed and take back what the enemy had stolen.

A Gift Giving GOD

We're still studying the Tabernacle with my home girls here. So I am all in that study.I ask God to show me new things and surprise me every time. I delight in the fresh new manna every day and refuse to be sustained by the old revelations only. So, here it is- He is Faithful as always, showed me something I never saw before!

Numbers 18: 5-7. " So the LORD said to Aaron", "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death."

Check this out!!! How thoughtful of God to put it this way and plan it ahead just for such a time as this! God had carefully planned the purpose for Aaron and all the priests and He handpicked all the helpers for him and presented them AS A GIFT! AWWW....To know that I am GOD's gift to my pastor- what a delight! To know that GOD spend time picking the right Russian girl for such a time as this , for such a place as this just to be a gift to someone. Not just a poor favor out of compassion like crumbs of the leftover dinner for the beggar, but A GIFT- carefully and thoughtfully picked.
And look at the way GOD presented ministry- HIS GIFT to Aaron. I wonder if it's a sobering thought for someone today to be reminded that what you do for the LORD is not just your job or work or burden, but it is a GIFT from GOD that helps you to be more and more shaped into the person you were meant to be!
Actually all of us are like Levites and I want to encourage you and tell you- you are GOD's gift to that person, whether he treats you as such or not. They will answer to GOD how they maintained their gifts. But GOD sees you as a gift to your pastor or anyone in authority over you, so treat yourself a such- bless your leader with your attitude, prayer, help, ministry- you are a GIFT.
And all of us are like Aaron as well- we have a ministry that the LORD intrusted to us, no matter what is it that you do in the church: preach from the pulpit, teach Sunday School,clean the bathroom or water the plants.....whatever you do is the gift that GOD carefully picked that fits only you, so never give up! And as I love to say, "When GOD gives vision, He gives proVISION",so if God blessed you with the gift of ministry, He will be faithful to bless you with the gift of helping hands. Let your "Levites" know how much you appriciate them :)
GOD IS SO CREATIVE!

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

thought of the day

FEAR IS THE DARK ROOM WHERE THE NEGATIVES ARE DEVELOPED.

Fresh look at Psalm 23

God just blessed me again with the fresh breath of His WORD that came straight from His mouth. I have read Ps.23 many times, yet it never occured to me that God is not only portraited as a Shepherd there, you can see a whole lot more of God than just a Shepherd. It really blessed me.

The LORD is my shepherd, (Jehovah Ro’i: “The Lord my Shepherd.”)

I shall not be in want. (Jehovah Jireh - "The LORD Provider")

He makes me lie down in green pastures, (Rest Giver- Matt. 11:28)

he leads me beside quiet waters, (Jehovah Shalom: “The Lord is Peace.”)
he restores my soul. (Repairer and Restorer- Isa.58:12)

He guides me in paths of righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu- the Lord is our righteousness)

for his name's sake. (El-Elyon -- The Lord Most High, His name is above all names)
Even though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; (Jehovah Shammah: “The Lord is there.”)

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me. (His is our Comforter)
You prepare a table before me (Provider)

in the presence of my enemies. (Jehovah Nissi: “The Lord is my Banner", my victory;Jehovah-Sabaoth -- The Lord of Hosts, the Warrior )

You anoint my head with oil; (Jehovah Maccaddeshcem: “The Lord your Sanctifier.”)

my cup overflows. (El Shaddai- all sufficient One, more than enough)
Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I don't need hundreds of other gods to help me with hundreds of my need- I just need the ONE and ONLY who can do it all by Himself!

He is so good!

praise report update!!!!!

Some of you have read my blog "Thankfull for my freedom" posted in June (about young woman whose husband got sentenced in jail for 8 months, which was good, because he was facing up to 10 years!)..Well, God didn't stop there amazing us. Mike got permission to come to church on Sundays and Men's breakfast once a month as well! So he not only got to keep his job, he still could see his brothers and sisters in Christ on the regular basis! Which, let me tell you, shook the whole jail- they have never heard of such a thing, such a favor in their life time!
BUT THERE IS MORE!!!!
Last night at midnight my phone rang and his wife (my friend) was on the phone. My heart jumped, because that's what our hearts do when we get a late night call :) So I talk to her and we were talking and she said, "I have a huge praise report" and I asked what was it..and she said that Mike just got approved for the house arrest!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! When we thought that approval to come to church every week was the limit, God just pulled His sleeves up and said, "You have seen nothing yet, child! Watch your Daddy at work!" :):):) So this family will have their husband and father home this coming Tuesday instead of end of January :)
God will never cease to amaze me!

Nursing Home Expirience

Today we went to 2 Nursing Homes to have a church service for those who can't leave the building today... To be honest, that was my first time. I diligently thought through my devotion, picked couple hymns and there we went. I arrived a bit early, so I had time to pray more and plead the blood of Jesus on the places. The first place - "Mahoney House" wasn't that bad. I saw older people slowly walking into the dinning hall where the piano was and there they sat- so quiet and gentle. I have to tell you- there is something about the old voice that is so fragile and weak during singing hymns. I saw few sparks in the eyes as we started the songs they knew by heart. The last song we sang was "Blessed Assurance"..this is my story, this is my song........
.............I am sure all of them there had plenty of stories to tell; things that those people been through are untold. I sat and I studied their wrinkled faces and wondered what stories their hearts carry....
When we were done singing the last hymn, I told them that I love stories (that's why I blog!..they wouldn't know what blog is anyway...they care less that "blog "is in the Oxford dictionary by the way)...I asked them if they knew that God too loves stories! And He is currently in the process of writing one right now that involves Him and you, Him and me.....the story of the 2 hearts. I told them that God started writing their story long before they were born and He has been diligently working on this project ever since. Every page is showing His love and His faithfulness; every page of that story shows His great concern for us. But there is one thing that God can'tdo about that story- is to determine the end of it. Her has the ideal happy end in mind, but it is up to us to decide weatherwe want it that way or not. I told them that God is up to writing the best love story EVER. Romeo and Juliet is nothing compare to that one. You see, Romeo had Juliet's heart. Tristan has Isolda's heart, Mr.Darcy had Ms.Lizzie's heart ("Pride and Prejudice")...and Jesus wants to have our hearts- all of it, 100% of it so that we can make the most romantic love story EVER written. God is writing to us every day and tells us how crazy He is about us.
At this point I looked at the lady in the walker and I asked her quietly, "Did you know that God is absolutely crazily in love with YOU?"...she looked like a shy teenager, she smiled, looked down and looked back at me being shy of the fact that she liked what I said...so cute!
God IS in love with His people. We are the only one in the whole creation that make HIs heart go faster and slower at the same time, we are the desire of His heart and He misses us when we get too preoccupied with our daily activities.
..All of a sudden I thought of the song " And he walks with with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own"...that's all I knew about it and our pianist played it ....I told people -" THIS IS the love story He wants to have with us!!!!This song is telling it all!!"

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me

And He talks with me

And He tells me I am His own

And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing

I'd stay in the garden with Him'

Tho the night around me be falling

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling

Does He talk with you? Does He walk with you? Do you hear how He gently whispers to you"OH, BELOVED! You ARE MINE and NOBODY IN THIS WHOLE WIDE WORLD CAN HAVE YOU. COME AWAY WITH ME, BELOVED..RECEIVE MY LOVE..YOU ARE MINE AND I AM YOURS...YOU HAVE MY HEART AND I HAVE YOURS..MINE, MINE..YOU ARE MINE"....

Do you believe this? Do you live your life as you believe this?

The greatest love story of all times- Jesus and His beloved- you! He is crazy about you! Make haste, beloved. He is waiting to fill your cup till it overflows, He set the table for you - feast with Him.

p.s. the most amazing thing about today was probably one particular lady who was paralized almost completely, she stared at one direction, when I came closer to talk to her she didn't show any emotion, but when we sang the hymn, I saw her lips slightly moving and I saw her singing- silently, but I bet in her heart she had full orchestra. She walked with Jesus even inspite her paralized body and she talked with Him inspite her lack of ability and she heard Him saying to her "You are my own" and there she sat in the wheelchair totally satisfied with her Saviour.

http://synergy_2.tripod.com/lyrics/garden.html

HELOOO???????????

Does anyone blogs anymore??!?!?!

talk to me..I'm lonely :(

it's really OK to have a smart mouth :) read the Scripture

God has been on my case lately :)

I know where He was leading , but for a while I just took my time to obey and it effected my personal daily victory . I LOVE the Scripture, I am crazy about God's Word, and I memorized it once in a while, but most I just meditated on it and studied it. So God told me to start memorizing one Scripture a day. I obeyed this time. I went to Wal-Mart, got the index cards and every day now I'm asking Him to show me the Scripture He wants me to know by heart and He is so faithful to do that every single day. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be :) I am learning to love the WORD of God in a new, fresh, exciting way.
So this morning I wrote down Mark 14:38 (I am not cheating as I am writing it down :)) here we go ,"Watch and pray so you won't fall into teptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." yay! I am getting there....well, that was free, I haven't even began making my point :)
This morning in my time with God I read Isa. 50:4,5 " The Sovereign LORD has given me am instructed tongue, to KNOW THE WORD that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning , wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears and I have not rebelled, I have not drawn back". I felt fresh breath of God over this Scripture I've read before. I know all of us would like to have an instructed tongue, the smart mouth of sorts :):):)the key to get is to KNOW THE WORD. The key to know the Word is to allow GOD to wake you up in the morning and be teachable (Ps. 5:3 , "In the morning , O LORd, you hear my voice and in the morning I lay my requests before YOU and wait in expectation" ). I am absolutely grateful for His considirate care in this Scripture. Look, it says, "He wakens me and opens my ear" ...you can say that prophet Isaiah wasn't a morning person like many of us! Amen! So the LORD not only awaken him, He had to open his ears as well. If I were to write this Scripture, I would write, "The Sovereign LORD awakens me morning by morning with the coffee smell of His presence, He opens not only my ears, but my eyes and turns my brain on so I can learn from Him" (NLV- new Lenna's Version )....
God doesn't mind us to have a smart mouth, only if our mouth is full of HIS WORD. So, use your smart mouth with the enemy and do not give him rest. Make the enemy scared when you wake up every morning and make him say, "oh boy, he/she is up and together with GOD they mean busyness".

Sowing and Reaping

ok now...I haven't written for a while, my life got so busy....
I like to tell my friends that I need to escape captivity of activity, but so far it's only words on my part. :)
In all seriousness, God has been dealing with me about that. It broke my heart that the King of Kings and the the LORD of the Universe is missing His little girl and just wants to spend time with me...Isn't HE tender and good?
I challenged my ladies at the Bible Study a week ago to press in the WORD and prayer and worship. We decided to do 15/15/15 (minutes that is) (prayer, praise, press in the WORD) and some of us who already had that habbit, I challenged them to increase the time. C'mon now, give God a raise of what you're used to give HIM :)
Let me tell you about the amazing things the LORD started showing my home girls. I am probably the youngest among them all (what a privelge to be called their teacher , thank you darlings :))...anyways..the things that GOD spoke to them! When they shared I KNEW they heard HIM speaking to their hearts. Some of the callings got confirmed, some got delivered from fear, some recieved fresh promises to stand on! oh, GOD is so good.
So last night at the Bible study we were talking about sowing the seed of the WORD into our lives. We had an amazing time, they all were sharing and we all were learning! But the thing that spoke to me the most is that, "We can do all the Bible studies there are available, we can have a heavy-duty emotion over the Word of God, yet remain unchaged for years. Why? Because the seed of the Word that God gave us to plant we ended up eating, instead of sowing it into our lives"....sobering thought isn't it?
I challenged my girls to think back about the Word they recieved a week ago and asked them, "So what are you doing with the seed? Don't eat it, to feel full for a little while, SOW it to reap the HARVEST".
I shared with them a story about my friend from Chicago, whose grandma got very sick and they didn't have money for a doctor. Zach and I heard God leading us to bless them with $100, but my friend refused to take it! I almost had to fight her down! (have you ever seen 2 Russians fight? LOL)...but later I told her, "Do you realize what you're doing to me by not taking the money? Do you really believe you're blessing me by "saving it"in my pocket?" ...she looked at me confused..then I said, "by not recieving the seed from me now, you're actually robing me off my harvest. If you really want to bless me, please, take me seed of $100 and allow me to plant it , so that later I may recieve the harvest"...needless to say, she took it, her grandma is fine and I am blessed .
Genesis 8:22 says , " As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".
Anything we do today is the seed and we're sowing it. I can relate to it more than ever, because God has placed me in Nebraska for this season of my life and farming is popular here. I see fields here, I see farmers working, I see crops growing and I see harvest getting ready.
We can't plant pumpkins and expect cucumbers. The same way we can't plant sin or anything of the flesh and expect the harvest of the Spirit.
If I were to go out with you to Starbucks today and ask you a question , "what have you sown recently?"...what would your answer be? Would you be embarassed? Would you be full of hope and excited? Or would you not even have a qanswer....When we sow into the wind, we might reap a hurricane...when we sow into the Spirit, we reap the harvest of the Spirit.
It's never too late to start sowing the things of the Spirit in your life. Unlike farmers, we don't need to wait till spring to sow the good seed, we can start NOW. Get the seed of the Word into your hands and start sowing it. How? James 1:21,22 gives the perfect answer, "humbly accept the WORD planted in you, which can save you.Do not merely listen to the WORD and so deceive yourself. DO WHAT IT SAYS"....let's start excepting the WORD, using theWORD, believing the WORD, living the WORD out. Get your farmer's gear on, we've got some sowing to do, because with the harvest comes the GLORY.

Little by Little

Exodus 23:25-30

"Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
"I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. "..

Little by little I will take care of your enemies. I wonder if you too cry out to God and say , "take it ALL away from me! I am done!" and God might answer to us, " I can get rid of it all at once, but what would happen to you at the end? Would you still be a changed person, would you still be more than conquerer?"...Little by little is His plan sometimes. I don't doubt for a second He is able to wipe off all my troubles all at once. But I am convinced, that for God, the process is just as important as the end results. He told Israel, "even if people would no longer be a threat to you, wild animals will get you". If God took care of all the troubles for you today, there would be "wild animals" too numerous for you. "What animals ?"- you ask. I am glad you asked. Our wild animals are our emotions, our hurt feelings, our broken hearts, our open wounds, our minds......God wants us to gain strength and power LITTLE BY LITTLE so we can posses the Promised Land- in our ministry, our marriage, our relationships, our family...little by little.....

Now put v.25 and v.30 together , "As you worship Me...I will drive your enemy out before you"....Worship is all YOU need to do. You want to see more of God? Worship Him more! You want to receive fresh revelation? Worship Him in a fresh way!

The Simple Guy

Ok...This is funny now. I taught my Bible Study last night. The funny part about it, is that I wrote the whole lesson about this person whose name I could not pronounce for the life of mine. Only at the end of the lesson I finally said it right and considered it such a great victory.
His name is Bezalel. Have you heard of him before?
We meet him in Exodus 31: 1-5 "Then the LORD said to Moses,"See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.." (for the Tabernacle that is).
He really caught my attention. If it was my choice, I would choose Miriam , Moses' sister to do that kind of stuff, because #1 she's a woman and therefore, detail-oriented (no offense to some detail-oriented guys out there :)) and #2 - I thought that women back then were doing crafty things.
Another thing that amazed me is that God filled Bezalel with His Spirit. In those times there were only handful of people who had that chance , moreover, God's Spirit came upon people and also left them ( David prayed in Ps.51 - "do not take away Your Spirit from me"). And most of the people who were Spirit-filled were priests, prophets, kings or leaders. All of a sudden, we see this name Bezalel (the simple guy) who expirienced the touch of the Spirit.
I wonder how Moses reacted to the news when God announced it to him. I wonder if Moses asked, "Bezalel WHO? You did WHAT? "... and how would Bezalel react, "Who, ME? You did WHAT? You called ME to do something for YOUR purposes? I can't even draw a stick man!"....
Yet God, in His infinite wisdom,chose Bezalel- a man with potential. Because your potential is not based on what you did before, but what you will be able to do tomorrow.
Most of us can relate to Bezalel more than to Moses . We feel invisible and unworthy, we feel that "Moses" in our church needs to do all of it, because Moses has been on the mountain with God. So what? Our God is God mountains, but He is a God of the valley as well. Imagine Bezalel and God during one of the sleepless nights. Bezalel takes imaginery pencil and draws the scatches of the Tabernacle on his heart, "Did I get it this time, Adonai? Show me again". And the Lord touches his heart and draws His pattern of the new Dwelling Place- GLORY! The closer Bezalel grew to God's heart, the more details he saw and could resemble.
Who would've guessed that the simple guy with a hard to pronounce name was chosen to build the Dwelling Place on Earth for the God of the Universe?
God still does the same today! He picks the least likely (I am the living proof of it) and trusts our assignments. When God gives vision, He will give provision as well. Bezalel knew nothing about new skills he needed- God was his teacher.
I can say a lot more about Bezalel , but there is another moment I want to touch. Writing this lesson, I learned to respect Moses even more. He never underestimated Bezalel. Moses could have said, "no, YOU don't get it! I was the one on the mountain, I got proper education and expirience, who do you think you are?". No, Moses saw Bezalel though God's eyes- he saw potential! God sees potential in you and He will bless you with Moses who will confirm it. Paul saw potential in Timothy and confirmed it, Elizabeth saw potnial in Mary and confirmed it, a friend of mine saw potential in me when I was just 19 and confirmed it and trusted me ministry. God sees your potential. I challenge you to become a vessel willing to receive from God, like Bezalel was- just like a blank canvas, draw Your picture, Lord, I am ready to receive.

Scripture for you

"The LORD GOD is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hind's feet and will make me to walk (not to stand still in terror, but to walk) and make (spiritual) progress upon my high places (of trouble, suffering, or responsibility)! (Hab. 3:19 AMP).

I don't normally do Amplified, but this Scripture really blessed me. It made me think of the hymn "As the deer" and I thought, "how interesting, that very often we ARE acting like the deers (on the high way), we get paralized with fear and miss out on the huge blessing. When God gave us an ability to be like deers, He most likely meant to be as fast and be able to go high places BUT enemy , who always counterfits God ( as we all know) , somehow convinced us that when we give in to our fears and doubts and freeze, paralized with it (like deer and a headlight) that we are "deer enough". Look at this Scripture again, " He makes my feet like hind's feet to walk (not stand still in terror, but to walk) and make (spiritual) progress". I am tired of the enemy's lies and allowing him to rob me off my blessings! If I have to be compared to the animal with hooves, I want to make the best of it :)
So, dear one (or should I write "deer"one) God has given you a wonderful ability to be fast and capable of reaching the new heights! Let's run together! After all, as the Scripture promises, our God is our invincible army, so you and I are not alone. I pray that the sound of our "hooves" will scare the enemy and will paralize him with fear, let him taste some of his own medicine.
Our God is awesome!!! Be encouraged!

GOD still heals!

Hab. 3:2
"LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."

God IS renewing them in our day and time and making it known! There are several people that got healed in our church and I wouldn't believed them have I not witnessed it with my own eyes.
One of my friend's husband got healed during our prayer meetings- he tore a ligiment and came to church on crutches and as people were praying for him, he said that it felt like a warm oil flowing through his legs. In the middle if the prayer, he started bouncing and by the end of it- he was jumping! God totally healed him!Praise Jesus!
Another man in our church broke his arm during one of our outrich events (boy, did we feel guilty for asking him to participate:)), so he ended up with a cast on his arm. A month later, the x-ray showed that his bones did not grow right and there was a space between bones, so the doctor said that they might have to break his bones again and place them right. So, 1 day before his appointment he was in church and asked for prayer. As he described later, he felt a great pain in his arm during the prayer and it really alarmed him. Next day doctor took another x-ray and he could not believe his eyes- not only that bones were positioned perfectly and healed, the metal plate that they inserted earlier had calcium on it. Doctor said that medically it was impossible.
And last Sunday we had a great testimony at church. We have a new couple that started coming to our church, they gave their lives to Christ and trying to make it right . The guy used to be an alcoholic and in fact, his verdict was "incurable", but with God all things are possible. That young man stood and testified about God's "stubborn love"-as he called it. He has not had a drink in a long time, but that's not his main testimony. As a result of old alcoholism habbits, he had Hippotitus B (which is incurable, as I was told) and his liver was damaged, so he's on a waiting list for a new organ. Last week he had his blood test done and the test showed that THERE IS NO TRACE of Hippotitus B in his body what so ever!!!!
And I know all these things are possible only because of our God- Jehovah-Rapha, the Only One who heals us. If somebody told me these stories, I would suggest them not to watch those"healing services" on TV as much (because some of them preachers gave a bad reputation to God. "give me $50 dollars and you'll be healed"- kinda junk)...But these stories ARE real, I know all of these people and God is still in the healing business and I want to see more of God's glory in my family, in my life, in my church. I am not chasing after His works, but after Himself! I want to be a God chaser. My heart cries out with Habakkuk "LORD, I have heard of your fame;I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." AMEN!!!!
Beloved, God is looking for a reson to show up in your life and bless you- let Him!

P.S. I'll leave you with this thought expressed by Beth Moore in her study "Believing God"- "We believe little, because we've seen little. And we've seen little, because we believe llittle"

homesick...

I haven't been homesick for like EVER. But this song really made me homesick. Hey Carole, does it make you homesick for Russia too? and all of you who understands russian....if you don't just enjoy the music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTlmDzyQpJU

..Or..let me just add- what matters is how Christ sees you....that is important.

Reminds me of a Christmas song, "Do you hear what I hear?....do you see what I see?"....Now, do YOU see what HE sees in you?

Be glad, beloved, Christ is crazy about you!

smile

The Dentist's Hymn:.................. Crown Him with Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn:........ ........ There Shall Be Showers of
Blessings
The Contractor's Hymn:...............The Church's One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn:............... ...............Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn:.......................... There's a Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn:......... Standing on the Promises
The Optometrist's Hymn:......... Open My Eyes That I Might See
The IRS Agent's Hymn:............ I Surrender All
The Gossip's Hymn:.............. Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn:......... Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn:................ Sweet By and By
The Realtor's Hymn:.............. I've Got a Mansion, Just Over The
Hilltop
The Massage Therapists Hymn..... He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn:.............. The Great Physician

For those who speed on the highway - a few hymns: 45mph....................God Will Take Care of You
55mph....................Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah 65mph....................Nearer My God To Thee
75mph....................Nearer Still Nearer
85mph....................This World Is Not My Home 95mph....................Lord, I'm Coming Home
100mph.............. Precious Memories

think about it

It's not enough to have your knees bent, but rather, broken hearts.

encouragement

I am so glad that God has all the answers, because I don't even get all the questions!

Are you Mary?Are you Martha? Are you both?

Look at that picture! You know, I've always thought in my head that people always talk so poorly about Martha was being such a busy woman, meanwhile, Mary, who hardly got anything done was always a good one. Jesus said that Mary chose better thing, but still it doesn't mean she chose the best. They both are out of balance!
The "Hidden Life" book that I menationed earlier talks about it and I was sitting in my chair saying "AMEN, SISTER! Preach it!" Finally, I hear what I've always wondered about.
"....It is helpful to see that there was nothing wrong with Martha's work; it was good. The tragedy was that her focus was so limited. If she had been lovingly attentive to the awesome reality of the presence of God with her in her work, she would have been able to serve those around her in love and peace without resentment.
The gift that Mary, the contemplative person, offers to Martha, the active person, is the call to slow down and expirience the beauty that is present in each moment. "Please, Martha, stop long enough to listen, to pray, to make little space in your life for God. Go sit by the window for a minute, go take a quiet walk; go anywhere you can and sit quietly and listen". Mary had chose the better part, but it still wasn't the best. She had not yet learned to take her long attention into the work that needed to be done. If Mary had taken the love she was receiving from Jesus and graciously offered it to Martha through service,she would have stilled the conflict Martha was feeling and brought peace to the situation.
Mary and Martha represent the conflict we all live with. When we are out of balance in either of these two ways of living, our relationships and our spiritual life suffer. The Mary in us has to be redeemed through our willingness to become servants in places where we may be very uncomfortable, the world of our reality. If we don't take our spirituality into real work we are called to , nothing will ever get done. The question for Martha in us is, "Can I do this work without feeling put upon and resentful but in love and gratitude?" That happens when we finally realize that our transformation requires that we bring loving attention and a sense of the abiding Presence into our work.
It takes the work and energy of a redeemed Martha to do God's work in the world, and it take compassion flowing through the redeemed Mary to draw people into the community of love. Our prayer is coming to receive this love, and our action is going out to offer it to the hungry hearts of others. When this happens, all of our service becomes prayer and all of our prayer becomes service...... (p.84)
Amen!I see the body of Christ full of Marthas and Marys and we all struggle with life that is out of balance. Help me , Lord, to become your true servant that is in perfect communion with you!
Every Martha and every Mary can also tend to get angry with each other. Glance again, at that picture above. There is that woman behind Martha probably whispering to her ear, "look at you, you work so hard , while your sister is doing nothing....it's not fair....you surely can use some help...does anyone care..at all???? does Jesus care that you sweat in that kitchen....."....next thing you know , Martha is confronting Mary....yes, our churches are full Marthas, Marys and voices behind..let's tune our hearts to the One and Only voice that we need to hear and obey. Let's be aware of His Presence whatever we do- that way we won't loose that precious connection with His very heart.

NOW READING

I am half way through this book -it's amazing. Read this:
"In order to change and grow toward wholeness, I had to get comfortable with mystery. Mystery is that place beyond rational knowing and beyond our capacity to control; therefore, its acceptance felt like a fundamental assault on my way of protecting myself in the world. I had tried to force God into a nice, neat little box of my own construction in order to feel safe and in control of my life, but when I was clinging to my opinions and illusions, I wasn't able to see Who God really was or grow into fulness of Christ's love. I was afraid to let go, but I put down my emotional security blanket in order to movw back to open, childlike trust in god- however HE chose to reveal Himself" (p.81)
...wow....I can relate to every single word.
Carole(http://cjbate.blogspot.com/) blogged about putting God in a box, I couldn't agree more! "In our own way, I think we too, box him in ....picking up our big crayons and marking the places we will allow him to move. I do not want to be left with "Little concentration camps for Christ." I do not want to be in a "little concentration camp for Christ."
How is it that we have "found" a way to box in a God who can not be contained?
He broke out of the temple box and spread throughout the world for all mankind.....we catch his wind and try desperately to shove him back in a box again..
Sometimes the box is old and familiar and sometimes the box has new ribbons on it and is more attractive.... it's still a box.
Surprise us Lord! (by browneyed girl)

us

BITTER-SWEET EXPIRIENCE

Our Bible Study group have started the study of the Tabernacle. I was too excited to begin. When I sat down to write my first introduction lesson, I wanted to write about everything and I thought after that it will be clearer...not really...my second lesson was the same- I wanted to cover so much, but God really stopped me and birthed a different lesson through me. And let me tell you, THAT ONE was HARD on me! Mostly, because I could relate to every point God was teaching me. As I was preparing for the sutdy, I felt it was important for us to stick around in the desert before we begin building the Tabernacle. So we did. We "hung out" with Israel when they went through the sea and we sang along the "Freedom Song" in Exodus 15, many of us, who's been freed from spiritual Egypt knew exactly how Israel felt....
Then I told my ladies, "I begining to think that Israel was slightly "bypolar", because chapter 15 is not over yet and we see them complaining" :)
Read for yourself: Exodus 15:22-27
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.
There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."
Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.".............
Why would God in all His infinite wisdom chose to reaveal Himself as Jehovah-Rapha,the Healer, by the waters? Couldn't He wait till one of them got sick with some terrible disease? Why there?
I think He had a perfect plan. You see, Israel- the free people, had to learn something. They may be physically free, but in their minds- they remained to be slaves. And the first sign of slavery is - bitterness. Bitterness is a disease that is so common among us humans. Biterness is the cancer that eats us inside out. Marah was a strategic place for Israel to learn their freedom. Bitterness of the heart is something we all have suffered at some point of our life. I remember mine- it was so bad I could literally taste it in my mouth and I cryed out to God for healing. And He did exactly the same He did with Isral, He got the tree and dipped it in, the tree of Calvary that is. 1 Peter 2:24 says,"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
I was challnged by Israel's very first test in the wilderness.God saw their hearts and He knew that bitterness had root there (Hebr.12:15 "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.)
Among all the people, Israel had the most rights to be bitter- they were abused, mistreated, misunderstood,persecuted for their faith, their babies were killed, they were different from the people they lived around, they spoke a different language, they have been home-sick for over 400 years...you name it- they had it...yet God pointed out the issue of bitterness before He pointed out the "golden calf" problem. I guess He was trying to say, " Free child of God is the one with the sweet heart". OUCH! I want to be free. Healing of my bitter heart was the greatest freedom for me- I am free to tell you I'm delivered, I am free to tell you about my past pain, because I let it go....I am free. I AM FREE!!!!!
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Gal.5:1)
Bitterness is a trap for all us, dear one, be alert.
But wait, there is MORE!!! :)
My favourite part about these 5 verses is the end. After they've delt with bitterness, God leads them to Elim where they see 12 springs and 70 palm trees. Isn't God good???? I stoped and thought about those numbers-12 & 70. 12 disciples, 70 disciples that Jesus sent out....forgive 70 times 7......do you think what I think? Do you think that God's desire for us to deal with the our biterness so that He can use us to the fullest later? Isn't He GOOD??? We want to serve Him so bad, we want to be refreshed in His presence and you can get it at Elim. But to get there we all have to pass through Mara and allow that sweet Cross to be dipped in our hearts enough to make it sweet....c'mon beloved, you can do it! Dip that Cross in you heart as many times as you need, even if it's 100 times a day, God is Faithful to make your Mara sweet (notice, He promised to make YOUR MARA sweet, not the reason of biternness)....you're just one step away from Elim- a place of great spiritual effectivenss, fruitfulness, refreshment and freedom! Elim awaits for you, hurry!

Highly Recommend

I am almost done with this book and I LOVED every page of it. It is written so prophetically, it blew my mind away! Higly recommend this book to anyone. The author is 18th centure writer, but they updated her language :)
This is book is written in a "love letter" from God type of thing. REALLY GOOD!

Merylin Dey and I

hhmmmm

have you ever walked to work and thought to yourself, "what should I blog about???"....this was in my head this morning...I don't think i have anything smart to write. SO, I guess, I can just update you on things in my life.
Last weekend I helped with the VBS in my church and I was supposed to help in the kitchen , but I ended up in the nursery. How? Don't ask. I tell, you, I am still recovering :) last time I changed messy diaper, when Natasha .B. was 3, she's 8 now . I got really shaky and sweaty performing my nursery duty (or should I say "dudy" LOL ). But it was good training.....i guess...
On the serious note. We started the Tabernacle with my Bible study group!!! Yay! Oh, I love the Tabernacle! Last night was our first lesson- it went great. We had a new lady joining us. My home girls are awesome, I love them all!
and that's about it for today....hmmm...I want to write more...better go read my Bible and ask God for the thrill of the day, He does it all the time with me, gives my something I can't keep my mouth shut :):):):)

BIG DREAMS

Not too long ago I was sitting at home, feeling so sad. I was on a date with Jesus-just two of us- me and my God. And told Him how I felt at this particular season of my life and here is what I told Him:
"You know what Jesus? You have been so good with my dreams my whole life! I accepted you in my heart when I was 11 and that's when I started dreaming. When I was 12 I really wanted to be a part of the youth group and pretty soon I was. When I was 14 I REALLY wanted to be in the worship group- and there I was in a worship team shortly. When I received the calling on my life, all I wanted to do and go and preach the good news ...and there I was 19 years old at the airport of Tbilisi- my new home for a while. Then I wanted to learn English and you gave me people who taught me language so well. But now here I am in Nebraska and I don't even know what to dream about....it's not that I don't think you can do it, because I KNOW You can! It's just I don't even know what to dream about :( and it makes me sad. Because a dream can motivate you, it pomps you up and makes your heart go faster everytime you think about it..I want to be excited about something...put a dream in my heart , will you?"....then Jesus and I had more time to talk about other stuff and that was it.
The same day we had a prayer meeting at our church and I went there with my husband. At the end of the prayer meeting, a friend of mine came to me and said, "the whole time I was praying, I heard God telling me the same thing over and over again and it made no sense to me, but He told me to tell you, because you'll know". I asked him what it was and he said, "God spoke to me to tell you this, "Dream BIG! You're serving a BIG GOD, so if you want to dream again, start dreaming BIG"- that was his exact words! My chin droped down and my eyes were full of water. This guy looked at me and said, "does it make sense". I whispered back, "you have no idea!".....why didn't God tell me that in the morning Himself? Could it because I would think it was me and not Him and surely God wouldn't tell me such a silly thing?...I think that was a reason...but this I know, my daddy told me to dream BIG and this is what I want to do. I serve a BIG GOD and He can give me the desire of my heart (Ps.34) and He will catch a falling star for me if I ask Him. That is true romance.God's voice is whispering to my heart, "child, you were meant to have great dreams, because you're MINE and I have great dreams for you too!"...I guess my big dreams just show that I get it from my Dad, Heavenly Father that is. He has great imagination. I can almost see Him and Jesus sitting on their thrones talking great dreams over yours and mine lives and I can see them getting excited about it. God is crazy about me and I love every bit of it! I am just as crazy about Him! My faithful, loving and VERY Romantic God! I love you so much!
In Jeremiah 29:11 we all know this Scripture where God says, "for I know the plans for you.....", this word "know" in Hebrew is "machashabah" means "imagine"....God is imagining great things for you, your family, your ministry, your life....how far would you go to get it all??????????
Oh, I want to dream BIG and let GOD show up!

what would be your banner???

I am currently in the process of writing a new study on Tabernacle. For some of you who know me well, you know that Tabernacle had started my passion for God and His Word. I absolutely fell in love with Jesus through the Tabernacle. My first time even learning the word "tabernacle" was with a VERY DEAR friend of mine; we decided to do that study together and it was so much fun. We did it in 2 different languages- she read her Bible(in english) and read mine(in Russian)- both of us knew those 2 languages, but it was more comfortable doing it together this way....anyways....Tabernacle is my passion. I told my ladies last night, "if you don't like the Old Testament, give me a chance to make you fall in love with it, if you still don't like- find a different teacher, because it's not that O.T. is boring, it's someone not teaching it right".....so....this morning I was studying for it as part of my devotional time and I found something I never saw before:
In Numbers 2:1 God told all the tribes to position themselves around the Tabernacle and here what else He said, "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family."
A family banner? hmmm that's interesting...I wonder what they looked like...made me think "what would my family banner look like? it has to have something on it that represents your family, something that shows your uniquiness, your passions, your priorities"..........Mine probably would have some sort of a music sign for sure, because my husband loves worship and he hears God through music and a bookshelf that represents me :), ok may be just a Bible and a journal.....I don't know....just a thought....But if you were to draw your family banner- what picture would be on it? Better yet, if God was to draw your family banner, what do you think would He draw to represent your family as He sees it........just a thought.................

LONGING FOR SOMETHING NEW?

IF YOU WANT GOD TO DO SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE THAT HE HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE, THAN MAY BE IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR GOD YOU'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE......

A Profound Mystery

I love that show "Kids say funniest thing" . I once read a child's letter to God and it said, " Dear God, I went to a wedding today and they kissed IN THE CHURCH! are you OK with that?"
I believe God LOVES weddings. The Bible begins and ends with the weddings. On the first pages of the Genesis we see the very first walk down the aisle of a proud Father and His -Eve. And the end of Revelation we see the same proud Father presenting the Bride to His Son Jesus. God loves weddings! He takes marriage very seriously too. When it came to the Marriage covenant in the Bible you never see Him messing with it. WHY? I asked God and here is the answer He gave me: In Ephesians 5:31,32 Paul is repeating the very first, the most origional wedding sermon :"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." Adam and Eve didn't have earthly parent, so it was really for us. Oneness, unity is the key for the marriage. Then Paul gives the clue why: " This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church." For those of you who's married- you are a walking, breathing, talking profound mystery of God! that's HUGE! God chose YOU and YOUR SPOUSE to demonstrate the profound mystery of Christ and His Bride.
The world today takes marriage so lightly, it breaks my heart. I wonder, how many teenagers loved God, have they seen more of Christ in their Dads and how many kids would love Church more, have they seen Church not only on Sundays and Bible Studies, but 24/7 in their mama. Yours and mine marriage meant to show the profound mystery since the begining of time!
So I encourage you to be the living, walking, talking, breathing, life changing profound mystery with your spouse. It is not a coincidence you're married to this person! God had a plan!

the desert time

I was reading the book of Hosea the other day and God's tenderness overwhelmed me...read this for yourself: Hosea 2:14-19 (my comments are in light color)
"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. (some of us may go through the desert- the place where life is heating up, the place of thirst, the place of hunger and low energy,the place where you are tempted to give up the most, but this is the exact place where the LORD is going to speak to you tenderly. Take courage, beloved, His voice is going to heal you!)
There I will give her back her vineyards (all the things that the enemy stole from you, God is giving you back in the desert! who would've thought that the desert can be a place of treasures!?),and will make the Valley of Achor (which in Hebrew means "trouble") a door of hope (how many of us are going through trouble? Just think how God can turn your trouble into hope! oh, my God is so good!).
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,as in the day she came up out of Egypt.(the desert is the place where you take your vocal lessons ;) He will put a new song in your heart and make sure the vocal cords of your heart are capable of carying the tune ).
"In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.
I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;no longer will their names be invoked.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.
I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.
"In that day I will respond," declares the LORD........(He will respond to you! what is it that you're asking Him? does it feel like the wind and the sand and the dry heart are going to rob you of His voice? we have a sure promise- HE WILL RESPOND!)
but wait! there is more!!!! :):):)
If you read the rest of the chapter, the end result of the desert is the new wine and oil a.k.a. fresh anointing, fresh joy and strength and in v.23 God said "and I will plant her for Myself". May be some of us are in the process of transition- new place, new job, new situation- whatever it is that is NEW, I believe that God is in the process of planting you in the new soil so that you will bear much fruit for Him and while you're waiting, enjoy His tender voice! After all is done, you will have brand new spiritual diamond on your finger :) He said He will betroth you to Himself there! And let me tell you- 5,6,7 karat is nothing to Him! He is going to give you MORE than you expect!

learning new things

Last night I had my Women's Bible Study and there I shared my first expirience in America. My faithful friend Carole took me shopping for the first time. I just arrived to the states few days ago and on my first hour oo the U.S land I paid $90 for a cab ride. So, obvoiusly, I had no clue about prices here. So, here were are- Carole and I at the store. I look around and I'm loving everything. Then Carole looked at me and said, "Let me teach you something, dorogaya (which means "dear" in russian). Rule #1 in shopping is "clearance"- it's your best friend, you look for it". I never even knew the word "clearance" before that! Boy, did I discover treasures with my now TWO best friends- Carole and Clearance :)
I thought about it not too long ago and I realized that clearance is not the only treasure that Carole introduced me to.....
I grew up in the Communist Russia, I was about 10 when the whole Communism System fell apart. So I am a child of a new begining, but raised by the "old mentality" society. I became a Christian when I was 11 or 12. That was something so radical and new for all who knew about it. I became a Salvation Army Soldier and was so in love with Jesus!My pastors (S.A. officers) were awesome! But they, just like me, grew up around Communism mentality as well, it's not their fault at all. They showed me God the best they knew. They taught me that God was Just and that He was Fair and that He is also God of wrath- all of it is true and it was enough for me to fall head over heals in love with Christ. When I was 18 God called me into the mission field and I said "yes" right away. That's where I met Carole.Our hearts mending right away, we loved to sit at night and talk about the deep things of God, we prayed together, we laughed together. Carole showed me the best example of what mother is like, she inspired me with her sermons, her passion for God made me more thirsty for Him. But she had something that I couldn't understand. She knew something about God that I didn't know. My spiritual taste buds were reacting to that something I didn't know. One day I found out what it was! I tasted some of it and loved it. Carole showed me the God of mercy! God's mercy is not something I was familiar with. His mercy that is new every morning!
It felt like I've been having the same meal from God every day and it was the same all the time. Just some bread, occasionally some jam, some tea or coffee on certain days- it was good, but I didn't realize there was so much more. Carole was using the whole menue! She was trying something new from God every day! That is what I learned from that woman! It's like she gently took my hand and showed me that there are many more pages of the choicest foods of God beyond my toast and tea. My heart was overwhelmed with the riches of God's love. All these years I've been eating the same not knowing how much more I'm missing. Mercy is my regular now that I take every morning, but I recieve a variety of spiritual food every day and I would never go back to the toast and jam again!
Thank you, Carole, for introducing God of mercy to me- we have become good friends :) and thank you for showing more of God to me.

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (Ps.34:8)