Recently God has allowed me some insight into my heart, in the economy of times things have gotten a bit tight, you know life happens and you wonder where all the vacation money has gone and suddenly you are grateful to be able to pay for the groceries. We hear again and again that no matter how much money we have we are a rich people, we are a rich nation yet I don't know if we really believe that?! As I paid the bills last month I just thanked the Lord that we had the money once again to pay them, I rarely do this I am usually wondering where all our money has gone, but in that moment I knew that this was obedience to praise him. The other day I was talking with a coworker and she tells me that she is once again facing chemo for Lupus and has 3 year old twins, (after praying for her) I just stood there forgetting about my small aches and pains and just said thank you God for my health, knowing that these words were obedience to him.
Why as Christians or maybe I am the only one, do complaints or negative thoughts come before praise and thankfulness???? As I have been focused this month on praise and thankfulness I have begun to understand that complaining and fussing is just sin, it does not reflect God's love to those around me or those watching me. I am striving to take in every moment not to take one word, one thought, one gesture for granted but to understand that my life and my heart of gratitude for my Jesus is my testimony to who he is in this world. I love him so!
Colossians 3: 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
New Season
Spring has sprung!!!!! It is suppose to be 84 degrees here today and warmer this weekend, Yeah Spring! I look out my backyard and the trees are blooming the grass is growing, the windows are open I love spring! Baseball and soccer games round out the weekend schedule along with a camping trip withOUT mom and dad so maybe Kirk and I will get a movie in tonight after the soccer game???? Spring feels good, the new pastels, the bright sandals but we will leave out the swimsuit talk, even though the boys are already asking to go swimming. As I sit and listen to the birds, watch the flowers come alive and the clouds blow through the sky I marvel at our creator, how God must love design and color and how he made this world so beautiful out of his love for us.
Isaiah 40: 22-26 sums up my thoughts of my Lord today, how I love him and marvel at his wonder.
God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength not a single one is missing.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Isaiah 40: 22-26 sums up my thoughts of my Lord today, how I love him and marvel at his wonder.
God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength not a single one is missing.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Worldview
I have just started a Worldview Religion class and we are studying the different religions, what they believe, how they were founded and why they disagree with Christianity. This subject has been so interesting. Every week it pushes you to understand why you believe what you believe and how to reach out to other religions. One of the realizations that I have had is that everyone
is looking for the same thing; we want guidance, fulfillment, and answers to eternity. As I sit through class and read the books I am so grateful that I have a God that loves me and that Jesus has paid the price for my sins. Most other religions have this good deed vs bad deed thing going with no security of what the scale says until it is all said and done. Then there is the thought that this is all there is, how lonely, how sad. In studying Marxism, it is said "God was simply the creation of people, who projected their own qualities onto an imaginary deity in whom they could find security. He shared the notion that only when people give up their belief in God will they be truly free" (The Compact Guide to World Religions, Halverson pg 152) How the enemy has blinded the eyes of those that are searching for what we have found. I know that my freedom began the day I gave my life to Jesus, he set me free from my fears, my anxiety, my pride, my insecurities and set my heart on what is to come to help me have the strength for today. My prayer is that my life and your life as believers will reveal the one true God, one that loves, hears, sees and forgives our sins to fulfill that which every human searches for, answers to how to live this life.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. That whosoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
is looking for the same thing; we want guidance, fulfillment, and answers to eternity. As I sit through class and read the books I am so grateful that I have a God that loves me and that Jesus has paid the price for my sins. Most other religions have this good deed vs bad deed thing going with no security of what the scale says until it is all said and done. Then there is the thought that this is all there is, how lonely, how sad. In studying Marxism, it is said "God was simply the creation of people, who projected their own qualities onto an imaginary deity in whom they could find security. He shared the notion that only when people give up their belief in God will they be truly free" (The Compact Guide to World Religions, Halverson pg 152) How the enemy has blinded the eyes of those that are searching for what we have found. I know that my freedom began the day I gave my life to Jesus, he set me free from my fears, my anxiety, my pride, my insecurities and set my heart on what is to come to help me have the strength for today. My prayer is that my life and your life as believers will reveal the one true God, one that loves, hears, sees and forgives our sins to fulfill that which every human searches for, answers to how to live this life.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. That whosoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Conversations
As I have returned to school and have gone back to work I am getting a fresh glimpse at the hearts of ordinary people and what I hear makes my heart hurt. One of the most pronounce subjects that come up in conversations are the hurt feelings that people have experienced in church. Many families have stopped going to church because they can worship God on their own and don't want to be with a bunch of hypocrites. These conversations are very sincere and you can feel the hurt that has not healed. In one instance I was just talking about the church that I go to and the anger that arose out of the conversation totally took me by surprise. The unfortuate event surrounded a pastor not marrying this couple because they lived together, only to find out he was addicted to pornography and released from the church right after that situation. I sat there and had no words. Unfortunately this is not the only conversation that I have had over the past few weeks that follows the same hurt and removal from church.
Let's be honest Church can be a very difficult place to go and love Jesus in the midst of all our sin. Satan has done a great job of making Church about ourselves and not about worshipping God. There has been times that I have come home crying from Church wondering why I go, but my love for the heart of Jesus and his church has always won out. I love Church I love the people even imperfect as we are, I love the building, I love what it represents in my life and I know that the last thing God wants for our lives is to abandon our family no matter how disfuctional we are.
My challenge has become to be like Jesus, to welcome everyone in so as they come into his house they know the love that he has for them. I will never be perfect but after these past few conversations I realize that just going to church on Sunday is life and death to some that are just looking for a reason to come back and stay. I am reminded that I am Jesus to someone that is trying to discover his love and a home to come and worship him in. My prayer is for the church to be reminded of the role that they play in the kingdom and to examine their purposes in the community and to love the world the way Jesus does.
Ephesians 1: 22-23
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Let's be honest Church can be a very difficult place to go and love Jesus in the midst of all our sin. Satan has done a great job of making Church about ourselves and not about worshipping God. There has been times that I have come home crying from Church wondering why I go, but my love for the heart of Jesus and his church has always won out. I love Church I love the people even imperfect as we are, I love the building, I love what it represents in my life and I know that the last thing God wants for our lives is to abandon our family no matter how disfuctional we are.
My challenge has become to be like Jesus, to welcome everyone in so as they come into his house they know the love that he has for them. I will never be perfect but after these past few conversations I realize that just going to church on Sunday is life and death to some that are just looking for a reason to come back and stay. I am reminded that I am Jesus to someone that is trying to discover his love and a home to come and worship him in. My prayer is for the church to be reminded of the role that they play in the kingdom and to examine their purposes in the community and to love the world the way Jesus does.
Ephesians 1: 22-23
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Friday, April 17, 2009
Yet I will praise!
Habbakkuk 3: 17-19
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
Yes I am still carrying this index card around on good days I even have it memorized. As I went to Walgreens the other day and my debit card was declined I thought of this verse. As I ran a red light to make it to the bank by 6pm to find out that I had messed up the check book and was getting ready to bounce a lot of checks YEKS, I thought of this verse!!!!!!!!!!! As I worry, and am overwhelmed with life, I think of this verse, yet I will praise you God. I am so blessed! So blessed to have the ability to pay bills and to feed my family. So blessed to have a God that loves me, that knows me and who I can trust. But there are times in our souls, in our hearts and minds that we are just empty. This emptiness may be financial, it maybe dreams that have been squished or it may be heart break. Whatever it may be, we find that our stalls are empty and we need to be inspired to not give up because YAHWEH is our Lord, we will still triumph no matter the circumstance because He is our God and our Salvation! And it motivates us to keep on climbing the mountains of life that are insurmountable to us but with him all things are possible. As I read this verse it reminds me to praise him that in my praise and in him there is always hope and that is where I must remain! Yet I will praise HIM!
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
Yes I am still carrying this index card around on good days I even have it memorized. As I went to Walgreens the other day and my debit card was declined I thought of this verse. As I ran a red light to make it to the bank by 6pm to find out that I had messed up the check book and was getting ready to bounce a lot of checks YEKS, I thought of this verse!!!!!!!!!!! As I worry, and am overwhelmed with life, I think of this verse, yet I will praise you God. I am so blessed! So blessed to have the ability to pay bills and to feed my family. So blessed to have a God that loves me, that knows me and who I can trust. But there are times in our souls, in our hearts and minds that we are just empty. This emptiness may be financial, it maybe dreams that have been squished or it may be heart break. Whatever it may be, we find that our stalls are empty and we need to be inspired to not give up because YAHWEH is our Lord, we will still triumph no matter the circumstance because He is our God and our Salvation! And it motivates us to keep on climbing the mountains of life that are insurmountable to us but with him all things are possible. As I read this verse it reminds me to praise him that in my praise and in him there is always hope and that is where I must remain! Yet I will praise HIM!
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Journey
Okay it has been awhile I have been adjusting to going back to school and working full time, in the midst of all these changes I am wondering God what are you doing???? I really had this all figured out and this is not it. I am suppose to be home with the boys, speaking and serving others in church events and school. I have struggled this week! Is this a lack of faith that I have gone back to work or is it God's plan? (tough call) As I look around at how the arrow is pointing I am praying that I am right where God wants me and this morning as I read my scripture I thought of so many men in the Word that maybe wondered the same thing. You have David to be king and ends up in a field tending sheep, you have Joseph that ends up in a pit and then in jail and Paul who rarely was out of jail. All these men saw the calling but the journey there was different than maybe one would think it should be. So as I leave for work today wondering how am I going to do all of this, I go knowing that God has a plan and even though it is not by the Lisa Book, it is good and the journey will end in a victory that I could never imagine. Have faith my sisters God is good.
My index card verse this week:
Habakkuk 3: 17-19
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
My index card verse this week:
Habakkuk 3: 17-19
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
I would love to hear from you:
www.lisapricewarrior@yahoo.com
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