Tuesday, November 23, 2010

365-43,44,45,46,47,48,49







Pride again?


Sorry, I know I said I would blog post every week, but this time of year is busy…

I’ve probably talked about pride before…But since the LORD has shown me AGAIN about pride and how much HE hates it, I thought I would share…I’ve been reading about the prophet Habbakuk…I like saying his name, like how a Hebrew would talk…Habakkuk…Ha!   Well, in my bible study it talks about how Habbakuk had the job of being the prophet that wrote from a “low place” in the history of Israel…I don’t know much about the history of Israel, but I am learning...It mentioned that Habakkuk struggled with what GOD was preparing to do to the Israelites for their disobedience…Again!  Gosh, I can’t imagine how many times GOD has  prepared  and will prepare to show me my disobedience…OH, praise GOD for HIS grace, He’s so gentle with me!!  Habakkuk struggled with how GOD was going to discipline HIS people…The study was also stating that the hardest part of our walk with GOD, is failing to understand what HE is doing, much less why HE is doing it…

Habakkuk complained to the LORD in chapter 1 knowing how Sovereign GOD is, but still asked him when HE would do something about HIS people…The LORD replied saying, Look around at the nations; look and be amazed!! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.” Habakkuk 1:5
After I read that, I was so in awe thinking about how and what GOD is preparing to do in my life… Even when I am in the midst of my busy life GOD is at work for me…Yay!  Habakkuk complained again to the LORD, AFTER HEARING FROM THE LORD!!! He complained to the Holy GOD, and referred to GOD as the “HOLY ONE” and who is eternal… Is Habakkuk a nut job or what for complaining? (Oh, wait I do that too…Ha! ) GOD graciously replied again…You can read it for yourself in Habakkuk...The study was showing me even though I  know GOD is Sovereign, Holy, Righteous, Perfect, and more, I still question HIS motives, reasons, and intentions for my life…Why?  Because I don’t trust HIM with every part of my life…I say I do, I want to, I try to, I convince myself to, but really I don’t trust IN HIM enough because I am prideful!! Yipes!!

I hate being prideful…Every single thing revolves itself around pride…Think about it…No matter what situation your in it’s always PRIDE that messes things up!! I looked "pride" in the dictionary and you know what it said?  Pride:  A high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. Ugh, I’ll vomit…Especially the underlined part, “cherished in the mind”…Try looking up the different words for pride in the thesaurus…
That’s just as bad, and I see why GOD hates it so much…Well, I wanted to share all of that with you because as I evaluate myself I see how prideful I really am…And a lot!! When I “think” I had a moment of humility, it’s still my pride…“Pllllease save me from this body of death!!!” And thank you JESUS for pouring your grace over and over and over…Every day, every day, every day…Please don’t stop!!
The LORD detests all the proud of heart….Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished… Proverbs 16:5 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Busy, busy, busy


I just can’t help it sometimes…It’s rather annoying if you ask me…I can’t even keep up with my blogging…So I’m here to tell you that it has to be once a week to write my blog post…Gosh, I so wanted to write everyday but life is way too busy for me…I sometimes have to check myself as to who am I busy for…Is it for JESUS?  Is it for HIS KINGDOM? And does it bring HIM glory…Off-aah, I hate checking myself!!  I praise the LORD though, that HE’S on my mind, because when I get busy I do ask myself , is this bringing JESUS any glory?  Am I sharing the Gospel in any way with this activity that I am doing?? As I sit here now, and think about it, it does start out that way…JESUS is mostly on my mind because of the relationship I have with HIM, but the problem for me is, it doesn’t seem to stay that way…My busyness tends to become about me, and not about JESUS…I hate when that happens…I can pretty much say everything I do starts out to bring HIM glory, but the end result is another story… I’m sure you can relate to what I am talking about, well those of you who are believers in JESUS…
I get so excited to do what I am doing for JESUS…I’m on fire, I’m motivated, I’m dying to myself, I’m letting the SPIRIT of GOD inside me take over, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going,  BAM!!! I just fell… Again!! Now it’s about me, and me perfecting it, making it better in my own way, trying to make a situation better, stepping out of SPIRIT and fleshing out!!  
Lately, I have felt very overwhelmed…I have not been able to keep up with the things in my home…You know, my 1st ministry…The one GOD appointed me to…I was telling my friend Rachel the other day I felt this way, and with a bit of a chuckle in her voice, I knew she understood where I was coming from…We both shared our struggles of the busyness and try to encourage each other that there just has to be another way…And there ALWAYS is…What is the other way? Maybe changing the dynamics of our homes, if need be, or making some simple changes…I also have noticed that if I don’t give myself some down time to THINK, then I’m all over the place and nothing gets done…So what do we do? 
Well, have to something, anything, whatever it takes…

I was in my quiet time the other day, (so precious) reading about the prophet Jeremiah… Dang, he was young…He was called for a hopeless situation…When I say hopeless, I obviously mean hopeless in Jeremiah’s eyes, and ours for that matter...If it’s from the LORD, it’s never hopeless…When GOD calls us to be a wife to our husband and a mother to our children I know HE didn’t intend for us to feel hopeless…We all know that scripture verse very well...No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted  beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it….1 Corinthians 10:13  I think and embrace that verse because it’s so true…HE didn’t give me too much to handle…I can do all of it…HE has to get in there AGAIN to shape and mold and shape and mold, me so that I can handle it…That's what I have to do...Seek HIM..
Anyway, back to Jeremiah…GOD used him is such a mighty way but he didn’t see it right away…In my bible study on Jeremiah it said this…
“GOD created each of us with a purpose, and we will not find fulfillment nor satisfaction apart from walking in that purpose HE has for us.  Success is not based on the results of our obedience, but on the fact that we have done what GOD intended for us to do…If we have been obedient to HIS leading and calling, it doesn’t matter what the results are, or how hopeless our task looks-we are a success!!“

There is hope…Hope in knowing I can do all the tasks GOD has appointed me to…That my priority should be CHRIST, my family’s needs, and then everything else…Priority in what CHRIST has appointed me to do, not priority in what I  have for CHRIST!!
But seek first the kingdom of GOD and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you…Matthew 6:33

Friday, November 5, 2010

8 miles is a longgg way

So we did it…Earlier today Kim and I ran 8 miles straight…I drove to her house and we ran from her house to mine…The only time we stopped was to take our energy goo, and at the crosswalks…Praise GOD for crosswalks!! Still at times we shuffled in place…In one month we have to be able to run 13.1 miles for the ½ marathon we signed up for…It’s such a bittersweet experience, and I think that is why we are doing it…I still ask myself why we are doing it…Ha! I’ve never ran before in my life…I smoked cigarettes for 25 years, drank, smoked other stuff, took drugs, etc. in my BC days of course (before Christ)…When I got saved in 2005 is when everything really stopped, even the cigarettes, actually (2006 for the smokes) I’m in awe of when we put our trust, hope and faith in the LORD JESUS, nothing is impossible… Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

Gosh it’s so true...

We prayed before the run, during the run, and praised GOD for finishing the run…As we were coming into our last mile and a ½ we stopped our music and started to pray out loud for each other while running…We were tired and it was hard…Even though we DO feel good to accomplish these runs, all our praises are unto HIM…It is ONLY through HIM that this is even possible for me, and I’m sure for Kim…Never in my life did I ever  think I could accomplish the things that I have since CHRIST saved me…I could list sooo many things…The blessing is that there are still so many things to come! Oh, how sweet it is..
Thank you JESUS…

The biggest excitement for me is the day of the race…We will definitely be having something on our shirts about JESUS…I want people to know that we are running for JESUS, this is only possible because of JESUS, that we can’t accomplish anything without JESUS...Most of all, that the glory goes to JESUS...I know, I know, some of you are saying, “There are thousands of people that run these marathons, and don’t know JESUS.”  
So my answer to that is this…
  
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24 
 
Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete, does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 2 Timothy 2:5 

Monday, November 1, 2010

Was there anymore I could do?

For the past several weeks I’ve been directing a skit at my church for our Harvest 2010 Festival…I don’t know exactly how I got into this “directing” thing, but it seems to be a trend for me…I’ve so far directed 3 skits and I must say, it’s a blessing…Being able to watch GODS Word come alive in a skit is really intense…Plus, me being so dramatic makes it exciting, you know, being from New York and everything…

I’m the typical New York, Italian, Christian, Director yelling demands at my crew in my New York accent with my hands going all over the place…It’s very comical…So, the song we used for the skit is “Revelation Song” by Kari Jobe…One of my favorite worship songs… The way it goes is, the song is playing and the teens do a drama that goes along with it…We did the skit at both of the Sunday services,  and what a blessing it was to see people in tears…That right there friends, is the work of the Holy Spirit tugging on people’s hearts…We also performed it 5x during Harvest Festival , and I was told by several people it really touched them…Thanks be to the LORD for giving me all, I mean all, the ideas for this skit…The 2 skits before this one were copies that the crew and I have seen on youtube.com…These skits are not from our church, but have performed it at our church… 

Here are the links if you want to check it out…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w39vErgIMM

My pastor told me while directing last years skit (2009) he wants me to direct an “original” skit for the year coming (2010), and not to copy a skit…I remember thinking “Uh, yea, I don’t do that..." I copy, and then direct it…That’s all I know how to do…Welp, little do I know that the LORD had other plans…While we were still performing the 2009 skit, the LORD showed me what the 2010 skit would be, and all the scenes along with it…It was so, so good…I praise the LORD for working all the details out, picking out the cast & crew, getting the timing down perfect and bringing all the people to see it…

Last year during the harvest we did the “Set me free” skit…After the skit was over I would make my way over to the door and ask people what they thought of it…This one guy I asked “Johnny” said, “I’m an atheist, I don’t believe in GOD”….WHAT?!?! Of course, I want to find out why, so I start to talk to him…In a nutshell, he just doesn’t want to believe and doesn't see a reason for it…I told him I would pray he would come to know JESUS…He said, “Oh OK.” I did just that, for a week…When I am done witnessing to an unbeliever I will pray for them for a week, sometimes on my knees…I always wish I could see what they are doing in the time I’m praying for them…Anyway, I thought that would be the last time I see “Johnny”…You guessed it, I SEEN HIM AGAIN AT THE HARVEST LAST NIGHT!!!! I almost jumped him…Here we are again, in the same situation…Harvest, skit, me, Johnny, JESUS…I walked up to him, and he has those crazy satanic contacts in his eyes for his costume…It was like talking to one of satan’s partners or maybe satan, who knows…I didn’t care, I was on fire! I wanted to know if he remembered me…He did! I told him I have another skit for him to see and he said, "OK, I’ll come and see it, but I have to get my kids their candy." I told the crew to hold off because I wanted to wait till he came in to see it…"He’s taking to long!!!"  Dang it!! The skit had to start…I couldn’t have 40 people waiting… I told him there’s one more performance left before Harvest ends,  and he said he would come to it…I asked him if he has given his life to JESUS CHRIST yet and he said “No”…I asked him what he was waiting for, and he told me that he’s been thinking about doing it…I almost fainted right there…The atheist is THINKING about JESUS…Oh, my gosh!!! I’m dying “ova hare…” I said that’s so awesome, and told him what JESUS did for him, and what JESUS can continue to do for him…I asked him if he was to die today where he would go…Johnny told me “hell”…”Does that concern you, I say”…“No”, says Johnny (Take a knife and stab me right now my heart is breaking) “Johnny, you don’t know what your saying”, if you haven’t read the bible then you don’t know what the bible says about hell, because if you did, you would not want to go there…" He proceeded to tell me he drinks 2 bottles of whiskey a day, and that he kind of feels like he’s dying inside… "YOU ARE", I said…That poison from satan, physically & spiritually…Well, long story longer, he let me give him a bible, he let me pray over him, and he saw the last skit of the night…I turned around after the skit was over, and he was gone…Oh, how I long for "Johnny" to put his trust in JESUS...
Again, I will pray for Johnny, please do the same…


For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.     1 Corinthians 1:17