Hello all my Dahhlings!!
I've sure missed my bloggin' time lately.
See, this is usually after a long hot shower (aka- God Time), and all my kiddos have been tucked into a warm cozy bed, prayed over, and kissed goodnight! This is my time to gather my thoughts and communicate with people other than WhoBob? SpongeWhat? It's reflection..absorption...release!
So get ready...I got a lot to say tonight....
"My God shall supply all my needs, according to His riches and glories. He shall give His Angels charge over me...Jehovah Jireh careth for me, for me, for me...Jehovah Jireh careth for me."
This is a song my family sang sometimes during our Sunday morning meetings. It is based upon Philippians 4:19. It is a song I continue to sing to this day. The powerful words remind me of God's abilities to keep me...no matter what may arise...
My husband will be joining the ranks of the Unemployed here in North Carolina.
By all rights, we should be worried, confused, and hunting someone/something to blame...right? I mean after all, we don't deserve this...no one deserves to loose their main source of income! Never mind the fact that we homeschool our kids, I only work part-time, and we just got our heads-above-water financially. We are by no means "set", but we haven't gone without the occasional McDonald's hamburger either.
Mikey (said husband) has been pursuing his GED on-line for the past two months. It is something he has tried to complete nearly a dozen times. He would simply quit. When the problems got hard...he quit. Not this time, though! God fueled him with a desire I've never seen him have before. He has a goal, a mission so-to-say. He desires that I not work at all. That I simply be wife, mother, caregiver, and free to spend my time studying God's word in order to teach others. His desire and mine are EXACTLY THE SAME! Wow! That almost NEVER happens to us. We are night & day...oil & water...mud & soap! This is totally a God thang!
Mikey wants his GED so he can go to college and take Welding classes. He would eventually like to become and Underwater Welder! I am sooo excited for him! A goal...A desire...something attainable...
But....the work is hard. He hasn't quit or given up. The work continues to get harder, yet he pushes on.
When we heard the news about his job, it was amazing how quickly we agreed upon what should happen...Mikey will go to school! He'll even be able to get it all paid for...in full! Oh, Lord, how Amazing you truly are! We probably wouldn't have been able to afford college for Mikey on our own. But through God's graciousness, He is providing a way! It may not be the way WE would have gone about it...but He has his reasons...and we have lessons to learn....
His word says He will PROVIDE our needs......He loves to GIVE us the desires of our hearts...
He blessed me this past weekend as well....I was invited to speak at our women's retreat and I gladly accepted. One of my spiritual gifts is teaching and over the past few years, God has developed it into a passion! I especially love speaking to women, young women, & girls.
I cannot possibly share with you EVERYTHING that happened during our time together, but I can assure that lives were touched, and some were changed forever! How amazing it was to watch God show up over and over and over....but yet be different each time.
I was given three sessions with about 10 women in each session. There was a rotation of three different session: J. Rowland, S. LaPradd, & myself. Each of us were asked to speak on a different "Name" of God. I had El Shaddi. The "theme" was husband and why God would refer to himself as such. It lead me to the "love" he has for us and the desire of an intimate relationship. The session was awesome!!
I'm sure my siesta's session's were awesome as well, I could hear the women discussing them as they would enter my room! I was so jealous! One of them spoke on God the "creator" and the other one spoke on God, the "provider".
It turned out to be a well-rounded weekend for all the women! God was huge...bigger than I had ever seen him at such and event. And the Holy Spirit came upon each one who was open to receive! It was fantastic and my "God Bumps" were at their peak!!
It was all so exciting and I was so honored and blessed by the women who shared their testimonies or stories. Getting to know each of them was better than anything else we did!! I just love my Sistas!!
I love all of you too! I am so humbled that you would actually want to read my blog! God is so good! I love him more than words could ever express!
I hope to write more frequently than I've been able to do lately...Live has gotten really busy.
We started our Homeschool year, Mike's getting laid off, I went to work full-time (after 7 long years!), and Mike's finally getting the education he always wanted! God, my provider!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Love Is A Many Splendid...Meaning
Love...just the sound of the word conjures memories and emotions from "mile" markers in my life..
My first kiss.
My first dance.
My first boyfriend. (not that he was worth mentioning)
The first proposal. (didn't end as well as I thought it would)
The divorce. (yes, there was love involved)
Re-learning to love again.
The birth of my children.
The death of my loved ones.
These are just a few things that come to my mind when I think of love. There are lots and lots of "little" things that are special in their own rights, but these cover most of the basics.
It took me 30 years to understand what "true" love could be like. It took a man who was willing to make me "feel" like I was the best thing in his life, an unexpected arrival, and a call on our lives that was too strong to ignore. It was passion...ignited...enflamed...roaring for Jesus. Our thirst for understanding and knowledge was nearly all we could stand.
Now, we are both avid Bible "studiers" and fairly familiar with the word. I am more the scholar of our unit, and he is more the "life-applicator". We make a great team!
Recently God has put a great desire in my spirit to teach. This means my favorite thing will happen more frequently....study the Bible...yeah God!
My topic of lately has been love. I have delved into this totally complex word to find some answers to questions I am sure we have all asked at some point in our walk.
Is it really possible to love like God/Jesus?
How do I do that? (love like Jesus?)
Where do I find this kind of love?
What if I have been hurt by love?
So, I am being lead to share with you some things I have learned about love.
Let's begin with a look at some Lexicons - NT Greek for now...
All these are meanings for love found in the NT scriptures:
Agapao - (of things) - to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
(of persons) - to love dearly, to be fond of
Agape - love, beloved (more intimate love)
Prosphiles - lovely, acceptable, pleasing
Philadelphia - brotherly love
Philandros - loving her husband
Philarguria - love of money
Philautos - lover of one's own self, selfish
Phileo - to love, to approve of, to like, to kiss, treat affectionately
Philedonos - loving pleasure
Philotheos - Lover of God
Philoteknos - loving one's own offspring or children
WOW! That's 11 different applications of one word: L_O_V_E
It would seem to me that this word love is difficult to define. It must be applied differently in different situations, right? For instance, many people may "love" their pets, "love" their spouse, "love" their kids, "love" their jobs, "love" a favorite restaurant, get my point? What value is each type of love? Is each application equal to the other? I certainly don't think so...
Let's look at scripture...
1 John 4:7 (KJV)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
What exactly is John saying here? I believe he is saying that if we are "IN" God (born of, salvation) and we know God (intimately in a personal relationship) we must have love in us...because God is love and love would manifest (reveal itself - make known) through us to others because we cannot be "IN" God if God is not first "IN" us....right?
And according to John, God "IS" love. So if God is Love, and God is in us(truly in us), we must be love, too!
Let's examine the uses of the word love from our verse.
Both the red-highlighted love and loveth come from the Lexicon - Agapao (to love dearly, to be fond of - referring to persons). Agapao love is a verb. A verb is action. It can be past, present, or future, but it is action!
The blue-highlighted love is from Agape (benevolence, brotherly love, good will - more intimate love). Agape love is a noun. A noun by definition must be a person, place, or thing. It just is....exists so to say.
So, let's read our verse again and interject our meanings...
Beloved, let us love (actively, on purpose, be fond of, love dearly) one another: for love (brotherly love, good will, benevolence, intimate love - that just exsists) is of God (because God IS love); and every one that loveth (actively, on purpose, is fond of or loves dearly) is born of God(God is "IN" you - salvation), and knoweth God (has intimate knowledge through relationship).
Even John used different applications of the word love to express exactly what type of "love" he meant. No wonder we stuggle with understanding ourselves! No wonder there is so much confusion in the world when it comes to understanding "love". Love is a many splendid...meaning!
Th point is we must let God "consume" us inside. We must give over every thing inside oursleves to Him. We must let Him love us...from the inside....out. This is how we find our answers to "love" questions. This is how we are able to truly love others like Jesus. Because we are not yet "perfected", but because we are FLESH, we must work at loving others. It doesn't come natural to us. Naturally we are Philautos - lover's of one's own self. But when we allow God to come into us and we join in Him, the "love" we find there is beyond our wildest dreams! When we are filled with this "complete" love...we cannot help but overflow and spread our love to those around us.
My first kiss.
My first dance.
My first boyfriend. (not that he was worth mentioning)
The first proposal. (didn't end as well as I thought it would)
The divorce. (yes, there was love involved)
Re-learning to love again.
The birth of my children.
The death of my loved ones.
These are just a few things that come to my mind when I think of love. There are lots and lots of "little" things that are special in their own rights, but these cover most of the basics.
It took me 30 years to understand what "true" love could be like. It took a man who was willing to make me "feel" like I was the best thing in his life, an unexpected arrival, and a call on our lives that was too strong to ignore. It was passion...ignited...enflamed...roaring for Jesus. Our thirst for understanding and knowledge was nearly all we could stand.
Now, we are both avid Bible "studiers" and fairly familiar with the word. I am more the scholar of our unit, and he is more the "life-applicator". We make a great team!
Recently God has put a great desire in my spirit to teach. This means my favorite thing will happen more frequently....study the Bible...yeah God!
My topic of lately has been love. I have delved into this totally complex word to find some answers to questions I am sure we have all asked at some point in our walk.
Is it really possible to love like God/Jesus?
How do I do that? (love like Jesus?)
Where do I find this kind of love?
What if I have been hurt by love?
So, I am being lead to share with you some things I have learned about love.
Let's begin with a look at some Lexicons - NT Greek for now...
All these are meanings for love found in the NT scriptures:
Agapao - (of things) - to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
(of persons) - to love dearly, to be fond of
Agape - love, beloved (more intimate love)
Prosphiles - lovely, acceptable, pleasing
Philadelphia - brotherly love
Philandros - loving her husband
Philarguria - love of money
Philautos - lover of one's own self, selfish
Phileo - to love, to approve of, to like, to kiss, treat affectionately
Philedonos - loving pleasure
Philotheos - Lover of God
Philoteknos - loving one's own offspring or children
WOW! That's 11 different applications of one word: L_O_V_E
It would seem to me that this word love is difficult to define. It must be applied differently in different situations, right? For instance, many people may "love" their pets, "love" their spouse, "love" their kids, "love" their jobs, "love" a favorite restaurant, get my point? What value is each type of love? Is each application equal to the other? I certainly don't think so...
Let's look at scripture...
1 John 4:7 (KJV)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
What exactly is John saying here? I believe he is saying that if we are "IN" God (born of, salvation) and we know God (intimately in a personal relationship) we must have love in us...because God is love and love would manifest (reveal itself - make known) through us to others because we cannot be "IN" God if God is not first "IN" us....right?
And according to John, God "IS" love. So if God is Love, and God is in us(truly in us), we must be love, too!
Let's examine the uses of the word love from our verse.
Both the red-highlighted love and loveth come from the Lexicon - Agapao (to love dearly, to be fond of - referring to persons). Agapao love is a verb. A verb is action. It can be past, present, or future, but it is action!
The blue-highlighted love is from Agape (benevolence, brotherly love, good will - more intimate love). Agape love is a noun. A noun by definition must be a person, place, or thing. It just is....exists so to say.
So, let's read our verse again and interject our meanings...
Beloved, let us love (actively, on purpose, be fond of, love dearly) one another: for love (brotherly love, good will, benevolence, intimate love - that just exsists) is of God (because God IS love); and every one that loveth (actively, on purpose, is fond of or loves dearly) is born of God(God is "IN" you - salvation), and knoweth God (has intimate knowledge through relationship).
Even John used different applications of the word love to express exactly what type of "love" he meant. No wonder we stuggle with understanding ourselves! No wonder there is so much confusion in the world when it comes to understanding "love". Love is a many splendid...meaning!
Th point is we must let God "consume" us inside. We must give over every thing inside oursleves to Him. We must let Him love us...from the inside....out. This is how we find our answers to "love" questions. This is how we are able to truly love others like Jesus. Because we are not yet "perfected", but because we are FLESH, we must work at loving others. It doesn't come natural to us. Naturally we are Philautos - lover's of one's own self. But when we allow God to come into us and we join in Him, the "love" we find there is beyond our wildest dreams! When we are filled with this "complete" love...we cannot help but overflow and spread our love to those around us.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Your Thoughts On Love
Good Morning! What a beautiful day, huh? Makes me want to sing..."This is the day the Lord has made, we will be glad and rejoice in it..."
Today begins with a question for y'all:
What is the very first thing you think of when you hear the word LOVE? Give an example.
Comments: For those of you who have never left comments, today it is important that you do so...you will see why later. Leaving a comment is very easy.. Click on the tiny little word, comment at the end of this post (look for the pencil). A comment box will pop-up and prompt you to type in your comment. When you are finished with your comment, scroll down and choose to leave your comment under Name. You may also use anonymous, but please sign your name at the end of your comment in the comment box. Then click on the submit button!
It may all sound intimidating, but it's very simple!
I'll return in just a little while to continue this post...off to take the kiddos to Art Class.
Today begins with a question for y'all:
What is the very first thing you think of when you hear the word LOVE? Give an example.
Comments: For those of you who have never left comments, today it is important that you do so...you will see why later. Leaving a comment is very easy.. Click on the tiny little word, comment at the end of this post (look for the pencil). A comment box will pop-up and prompt you to type in your comment. When you are finished with your comment, scroll down and choose to leave your comment under Name. You may also use anonymous, but please sign your name at the end of your comment in the comment box. Then click on the submit button!
It may all sound intimidating, but it's very simple!
I'll return in just a little while to continue this post...off to take the kiddos to Art Class.
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