A Place for Me

Sunday night our church had the priviledge of having Jason Upton come and do a free concert.  Actually it was more of a worship experience and it was awesome.  TONS of young people just worshiping with hands raised and eyes closed were down at the altar. People of all ages were there worshiping the Lord.  Rayna danced around to the music imitating the people around her by raising her hands and swaying to the music.  It made my smile to watch her.  Xander after awhile went to sleep in the midst of the loud music and dancing people and then Rayna conked out later herself on an empty pew. 

He took a short break from playing the keyboard and singing to share some of what was on his heart and this is one of the things he said that really spoke to me:  "The worst thing that could happen to you is for you to be successful in something that you weren't created to do."  Think about that. 

We all have a purpose which is something that I have posted about before.  We should strive to do what God has called us to do and not try to go our own way. 

I just bought a new book tonight called Know What You Believe by Paul Little. So far it's been good so we'll see how the rest goes...

I am just now in a point in my life where I want more.  I have felt unfufilled because I have not been intimate with Christ in the last few years.  There is a song by Plumb that I love called God Shaped Hole.  I'll post the lyrics at the end of this post.

My daily devotional this morning talked about encounters with God.  God knew his plans for us even before we were born.  However he doesn't reveal them until we seek him.  Each of us are made for a SPECIFIC PURPOSE!  It said that God doesn't wish to just give us a nice devotional thought for the day, he wants to use us for that specific purpose.  To touch someone, to lead someone to Christ.  Did you know that the average Christian in a year leads no one to Christ?  What are we doing?  Why are we not sharing Him?  If we truly believe that Hell is a reality why do we not speak up?  Because we're scared.  We're afraid we'll appear too pushy or "over-religious" ;.  We're scared someone will reject us.  But this is life or death for eternity we're talking about.  We HAVE to get out of our comfort zone and start sharing Jesus with others.  That was His command to us to spread the good news.

Thank God there is a revival going on with the young people in our city.  They are so hungry for more of the Lord and that is so great.  There is a guy that started a worship ministry in his basement with like less than 10 people (from what I heard) to now between 200-300 people!  That is awesome!  This guy used to be into all kinds of bad stuff and he allowed God to touch him and change him.  He's done a complete 180.  It's amazing. 

My husband went this past Tuesday and he said it was "unbelieveable" .  Next Tuesday we plan on going together since our bible study was cancelled.  I am just so hungry for the Lord.  Only He can satisfy.

My prayer this morning was that I would get past my fear of what Christ is leading me to do and just do it.  Because the fact is He will empower me and guide me through whatever He calls me to do.  I don't have to do it on my own and neither do you.

Artist: Plumb
Song: God-Shaped Hole Lyrics

Every point of view has another angle

And every angle has its merit

But it all comes down to faith

Thats the way I see it

You can say that love is not divine and

You can say that life is not eternal

"All we have is now"

But I don't believe it

There's a God-shaped hole in all of us

And the restless soul is searching

There's a God-shaped hole in all of us

And it's a void only he can fill

Does the world seem gray with empty longing

Wearing every shade of cynical

And do you ever feel that

There is something missing?

That's my point of view...

I am trying to tweak this thing so if you are visiting in the middle of it....sorry.

Be patient!

Our text from bible study last night was Revelation 9.

I knew that Revelation talked about the Abyss and the Lake of Fire but I didn't really think about that Hell is just a holding place.  Hell is not the last stop for those that don't accept Jesus as Savior.  They will be thrown into the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and then into the Lake of Fire where the Antichrist and False Prophet will be thrown.  Can you even imagine!?!?!  These places are like none we can imagine or comphrehend.  Even the demons don't like visiting there.  I forget the text, maybe in Matthew or Luke, when Jesus is casting the demons out of a man and the demons beg Jesus not to send them to the bottomless pit but plead to be cast into the pigs instead.  If they don't even want to go there, I sure don't even wanna think how horrible it must be.  This is a reality and it will happen.  It breaks my heart to think of friends and family that have gone their own way choosing not to follow Jesus and if they don't change they will be in the Lake of Fire one day.  How heart wrenching!

Rev 9:1-6 says:

1The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

These "locusts" aren't what we think.  The rest of the chapter goes on to describe them and they must be just awful creatures..  Anyway, these creatures are allowed to torture those that do not have the seal of God on their foreheads and they will beg to die, but they can't.  For 5 months they will be tortured!  But the most amazing thing is, even through this they will still reject God.  Their hearts will be so hardened they will not cry out to him, instead they will curse him.  Wow.  (Note:  I believe in a Pre-Tribulation rapture so I believe these things are happening while we (present believers that will be raptured) are in heaven with Jesus and those left behind that have accepted Christ are protected.)

Our leader, Donna, loves God's word and loves teaching it.  She is the sweetest woman I know.  I have learned so much from her.  We got so caught up in last night's study we went over 30 minutes past our usual stop time.  We didn't care, we just wanted to soak it up.

I am just amazed by God and the things I am learning.

Why do people choose to be in invisible mode?  I mean why would you care if I saw that you visited my blog?  I always visit people's blog that visit mine and I can't see that you have visited me if you are in invisible mode.....

Wikipedia states this as the definition of BELIEF:

Belief in the psychological sense, is a representational mental state 

that takes the form of a propositional attitude. In the religious sense, 

"belief" refers to a part of a wider spiritual or moral foundation, generally 

called faith.

 I believe in miracles.  I know they happen everyday.

 I believe Mary conceived Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit.

 I believe Jesus is the Son of God.

 I believe He lead a sinless life.

 I believe Jesus died for my sins.

 I believe that by accepting His sacrifice, we are saved 

 and only then can enter the Kingdom  of Heaven upon death (or the rapture).

 I believe in a pre-Tribulation rapture.

 I believe in angels and demons.

 I believe in spiritual warfare.

 I believe that if America as a nation ever turns her back on 

 Israel that will be her downfall.

 I believe in the power of prayer.

 I believe we were all created for a purpose.  God doesn’t 

 make mistakes.

 I believe the rapture will occur before I die.

 I believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in 

 tongues, or what I like to call prayer language.

 I believe giving worship to our Savior is vital to our 
 
 relationship with him.

 I believe in soulmates.

 I believe that we go thru hard times to draw us closer 

 to the Lord.

 I believe I have entertained angels unaware.

Wednesday night church was good.  As usual.  Our pastor is back from having surgery and he was rarin' to go. 

Wednesday nights he teaches on Proverbs (I think I have mentioned that before...anyway) and he spoke alot about backsliding; our text started in Proverbs 14:11. 

I knew these things but it was nice to have my memory refreshed so that I can keep myself in check.  This is what he said:

There is no standing still with God.  You are either moving forward (growing) or moving back (backsliding).  That doesn't have to mean that you go out and adopt your old lifestyle habits like drinking or drugs or whatever.  Not necessarily the big stuff.  But it starts with the little things.  As soon as we start trusting our own lying heart and not listening to and obeying God then we fall away from him.  Our heart lies to us daily.  The only person we can truly trust is God.

I picture me climbing a hill and at the top is God holding a rope.  I have to climb the hill and hold on to the rope.  As soon as I let go of that rope (putting other things before God), I'm sliding back down the hill, back to where I started and then I have to get up and start over.  Some people don't ever get back up.  They choose to stay at the bottom, all the while God is calling them from the top of the hill.