Whatever!!!

8"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable~ if anything is exellent or praiseworthy~ think about such things. 9 What you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me~ put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."        Philippians 4:8-9
Why is is so hard to do this kind of "Whatever"? Most of the time I get to the point where I just want to throw my hands up in the air and shout out "WHATEVER!!!" but in my heart it is far from the whatever that is talked about in Philippians 4:8. I struggle with the 'giving up TO GOD' and the 'giving up'. Why? Flesh... maybe? Oh... I just wish I could somehow throw my sinful desires of the flesh right out the window!!... Thing is I know when I truly start to think of the 'whatever' of Christ Jesus my Lord and Savior I immediately come to the peace He brings... why do I choose to hang on to the 'whatever' of the flesh so long?... And the longer I hang on it the worse it gets... I just get deeper and deeper into my own self... selfishness... self-pity... puffing myself up with the pride of my own self-righteousness... I might as well just make myself up a big sign to wear that says "ME UGLY!!" Because that is exactly what I am being!! Yep... I can see it now... in big letters "ME UGLY TODAY!"... fine print saying "Shelly has choosen to be untrue, unnoble, wrong, unpure, unlovely, unadmirable, and far from exellent or worthy of any praise. She has choosen to take everything she has learned, received, or heard about how to behave and tossed it to the wind. And decided to continue to practice the old behaviors she was once accustom to."
Not pretty... But that is the truth... Ouch!!!
Father God I need You! Please give me the desire to be Your kind of 'Whatever' and give me the strength and courage I need to put it into practice... Father God please do this for all Your children... Do 'Whatever' it takes to draw us closer to You!!! All praise and Glory be to You!!! Amen!!

One Day Closer!

There are some days that just seem to have no end... and I am tempted to wonder what might happen next... and in my old life I thought I pretty much planned on the day getting worse... But this is my new life... I have a beautiful relationship with my Heavenly Father, my Creator... Creator of EVERTHING!!! And when I think of that fact it becomes very clear to me that He has promised us that He will take care of our enemies... He brought them in and He will take them out... And today is just one day... One day closer to going home... One day closer to my enemies demise... Think about that... I mean today is just one day... One day closer our begining... and one day closer to the devil and his followers ending... no wonder he works so hard at causing us strife...
So today I am putting on the full armor of God!! And I am Standing firm!! Because my struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authories, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6) And I am a child of the One and Only God... whose Son suffered and died for my sins... so I have Victory over these things... (1 John 5:4-5)
To God be the Glory for ever and ever!!!! I Praise Him!!!! I am on my way home!!!

It's Happening... It's Really Happening...

I don't know how much I will be writtting in my blog over the next month or 2. I am goingt to be very busy packing and moving... Over the weekend I helped my best friend move into her first "Home". I haven't moved in 6 years... believe it or not I forgot what it was like to move... I so bad have to get organized!... And I had a lot of stuff when I moved in 6 years ago... do you know how much stuff you can collect in 6 years?!... I need to have a yard sale!... And I think I will be spending the next 3 weeks sorting/packing...
But really I truly have nothing to complain... GOD IS WITH US!!! There is just so much peace with all of this... Have you ever felt that way?... I sure hope you have... It is so awsome... there is really no words to discribe it... maybe... 'a peace that passes all understanding'... now where have I heard that before?... And you know that feeling that a 'bomb' may drop that I was feeling... boy did God ever so lovingly 'slap' me up side the head and say "Am I not giving you what you asked for?"... Then it hit me, like it most always does... DUH!! Yep, He is giving me everything I have asked for... and as always, even more!... A very dear friend said to me today... obedience is faith worked out... I know this but you know how you sometimes forget?... And then it hit me again... obedience is faith worked out = things work out with obedience... OBEY!!!... AND WATCH GOD WORK!!!... PRAISE GOD!!! With His help I am doing that!!!
I have very fine THIN hair... and I often say 'God is so busy working on me that He doesn't have the time to count to many hairs on my head... I have come to a new thought about the matter... I keep obeying Him... He may have more time for a few more hairs on my head... OH WOULD THAT JUST BE SO AWSOME!!!... In fact I think I even feel a few poping through my scalp now!!!
And now it is time for me to put that faith into action and get to packing!!! Thank-you PaPa for all you do... continue to bless us... give us the wisdom & discernment we need... the strength & courage to carry it out!... Praise be to You!!!!