Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun;
all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed these exact words; What DO you want from me Lord?

I truly love the Lord with all of my strength and all of my heart and all of my soul…but now what? For me, there is this constant, strengthening magnetic pull from within to serve, the only problem is that I have no idea what it is I am suppose to do. Most people that have witnessed me, and my behavior, this past year are probably convinced that I have some rare form of adult spiritual attention deficit. I hop from one mission to another in a heartbeat, continually waiting for that special one that is going to fill this great need of servitude in my heart. There have been times that I, myself, have thought there was something seriously wrong with my brain.

All I can say is that it hasn’t been for lack of trying on my part. Although none of my missions have filled the need in my soul, they have each nourished it in some way. The greatest thing I have achieved is a true love for people. In the past, I have always shied away from interacting with others. Maybe out of fear, maybe distrust, but more than likely just plain old lack of self-esteem. Other people seemed to have it all together and here I was still trying to figure out how to just be a decent wife and mother.

I have to admit that I started losing faith in my purpose. I gave everything I was doing 100% and yet nothing was bearing fruit as far as I could see. So I quit. Maybe the Lord didn’t have a purpose for me, so I might as well just do the dishes and be done with all my hopes and dreams of being a true servant. It wasn’t until I quit that I started to hear the Lord’s answer and it was nothing near what I imagined. In the quiet of my heart, He asked what I wanted. Of course this started another argument in my mind, surely He missed a prayer or something because I wanted to serve HIM. But no, He doesn’t miss prayers; He knows my heart even when I don’t, so why was He asking ME what I wanted? This definitely sent me into a tailspin for a while. Sometimes we get to thinking so much, that we forget how important it is to listen.

When I finally shut my mind up long enough to listen, the message was clear, God wants me to be happy. Whoever said that there is beauty in simplicity, knew how to listen when the Lord speaks. God doesn’t need you to change the world. That’s not saying that the world doesn’t need help, but seriously…He’s got it under control. Sometimes we get so full of our own knowledge and influence that we forget where it comes from. You alone cannot cure world hunger, you alone cannot shelter the homeless, and you alone cannot remove hypocrisy, hate and evil. What you alone CAN do is trust that all of the little things you do every day make a difference to God and HE ALONE can change the world. It’s an amazing concept I know, but definitely one worth experiencing.

Psalm 13:5
But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.

You weren’t there
the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
when he wrapped
his love all around me
and you don’t know the cost
of the oil in my alabaster box

- Alabaster Box, CeCe Wynans -

My husband and I were reading Genesis tonight, more specifically – the story of Joseph and how his own brothers sold him out because of jealousy. I got to thinking about character again … more specifically, attacks on your character.

If it wasn’t bad enough that Joseph’s brothers sold him out as a slave, his lot got much worse. Joseph found favor with Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh, and according to the bible “…his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand” (Gen. 39: 3). In view of the excellent character of Joseph, Potiphar placed great confidence in Joseph and he excelled — even as a slave.

Then enters Potiphar’s wife. She wanted Joseph — and tempted him, but loyal not only to Potiphar – but to God Almighty, he showed amazing strength and character above approach, but what did he get for his efforts? He was accused of assaulting his master’s wife and thrown into prison.

I’m sure many of you have experienced this, I know I have. You do everything you know in your heart that is right, and yet the weight of the world slaps you in the face and you wonder….why God? Where did I go wrong this time? I wonder if Joseph thought the same, or if he was 100% confident in the decisions he made.

I have to admit…many people have called me different in the course of my life. I use to take offense at that in the beginning, but the longer I live – the more I appreciate that I am different. I don’t want to be a cookie-cutter image of somebody else, I just want to be me. I get weary of people trying to pour me into the mold of what they think I should be, or what society deems ‘acceptable’, because I know that it does not reflect who I truly am.

According to the World English Dictionary, character is the set of qualities that make somebody or something distinctive, especially somebodies qualities of mind and feeling. Going by that definition, when people attack your character – I think it implies that that they don’t want you to be distinctive, they want you to fit the mold and go with what society deems acceptable. Isn’t this the sand-pit of youth? Peer pressure? Is there ever an age where we outgrow the need to be one of the crowd? To be accepted as who we are?

Sometimes I feel I’ve kept my mouth shut for long enough. Yes world…I do have a backbone! I don’t want to be like you, and although I’m sorry you don’t understand that, I’m tired of wasting time on the trivial matters that you find so important – - because as far as I’m concerned, they aren’t really that big of a deal.

Where is your money now?
Where is your power?
Where is your freedom?

I have faith, extraordinary faith. God works all things toward good and I believe that, no matter how many fingers you want to point at my mistakes. I never claimed to be perfect – just basically good, and I believe that this is the humbleness that God desires.

Call me lofty, egotistical – whatever word you want to plug in there

- but as the world fails you,
- and judges you,
- and condemns you
- – you remember these words:

God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

May God Bless CeCe Winans for this song! I just want to be me and love the Lord, I just want to be happy – and that’s okay – - so look in the mirror before you want to judge who I really am – because you don’t know the cost of my alabaster box!

I am no better than the woman at the well, but I know the power behind the throne – - worship whatever God you want, but I know for a fact that I am saved! Can you confidently say the same? Time is growing short, let the Lord fill your cup from a well that never will run dry!

According to the celestial calculations of a Talmudic sage named Shmuel, at the outset of spring every 28 years, the sun moves into the same place in the sky at the same time and on the same day of the week as it did when God made it. This charged moment provides the occasion for reciting a one-line blessing of God, who makes the work of creation.

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Deuteronomy 4:29

But if from there you seek the LORD your God,
you will find him if you look for him
with all your heart and with all your soul.

You are the single most distracting obstacle between your own failure and success. Each day you make a series of immediate decisions that ultimately shape the course of your life. Failure and success are not immediate procurements; they are slow fades evolving from the good and bad decisions you make each and every moment of your life.

Don’t ever believe that God does not have a will and purpose for your life. Even if you feel lost in the gray area between black and white – remember that your position in life today, has been your choice and yours alone.

Nothing can stand between you and God’s will, except you.

Right now, simply by reading this – you are reaching to find that will. You are seeking.

Matthew 6:31-34

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:24 KJV 

Those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
Psalm 37:9 NIV 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 KJV 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2 KJV 

For we are saved by hope….
Romans 8:24 KJV 

Happy is he…whose hope is in the Lord his God.
Psalm 146:5 KJV 

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick….
Proverbs 13:12 KJV 

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer….
Romans 12:10-12 KJV 

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:24 KJV 

Trust the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV 

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Matthew 8:26 NIV 

…Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mark 9:24 KJV 

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
Psalm 71:14 NIV 

For we are saved by hope….
Romans 8:24 KJV 

I can do everything through him that gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 NIV

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So my question is – - What happened to the sheep?
These shepherds are sitting in a wide, remote area,
tending their flocks, when
-BOOM-
they tear up the road on their way to Bethlehem.

Did they take the sheep with them, or leave them behind?

I am guessing that during this busy new ‘tax’ season in Bethlehem; large herds were not so welcome inside the city gates. After the awesomeness that the shepherds witnessed, I believe they must have had complete faith that their flocks would be okay, leaving them confidently behind in the shelter of the angels who had delivered the Good News. The shepherds left everything behind in order to see the newly born Christ.

This passage made me stop and wonder how much our own personal “flocks” might be distracting us from the word of God?

How focused are we when it comes to putting Christ first, before everything else?

Do we have the faith to hand over our flocks as the shepherds did?

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Can you even begin to imagine what this must have been like for Mary?

She was so young,
in the blink of an eye
she became the womb of the earth’s salvation.

She was pregnant and unmarried;
bearing a child in a lowly stable…

…but Mary “treasured up” all these things and pondered them in her heart.

How many times do we judge the circumstances, and condemn the journey, before we even know the Creator’s plan?

On this very day that we celebrate Christ’s birth,
we give endless trinkets to those we love,
but how many heavenly gifts do we truly “treasure up”?

Or are we lost in our own self-portraits of despair?

The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.

The angel had told the truth
– but don’t you think the shepherds already knew that before they left?
Did they ever really doubt like we do?

Or like Mary,
did they face that wind of uncertainty
leaving all they knew completely behind
in order to see and experience
the supernatural?

That’s where I want to be
– forget the sheep,
give them to the angels to tend…at least for tonight,

Christ the Savior is Born!

GOD REST YOU MERRY, GENTLEMEN

God rest you merry, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay.

For Jesus Christ our Savior, Was born on Christmas Day;

To save us all from Satan’s power, When we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

In Bethlehem, in Jewry, This blessed Babe was born,

And laid within a manger, Upon this blessed morn;

The which His mother Mary did nothing take in scorn.

O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.

From God our heavenly Father, A blessed angel came.

And unto certain shepherds, Brought tidings of the same,

How that in Bethlehem was born, The Son of God by name.

O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.

Fear not, then said the Angel, Let nothing you affright,

This day is born a Savior, Of virtue, power, and might;

So frequently to vanquish all, The friends of Satan quite;

O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.

The shepherds at those tidings, Rejoiced much in mind,

And left their flocks a feeding, In tempest, storm, and wind,

And went to Bethlehem straightway, This blessed babe to find

O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy.

The eagle soars because it’s not afraid. Born with nothing but the sky to look at, its aspirations could be no higher. From a hatchling the eagle strives to grow, craving nourishment, attacking its own kind to survive, pushing itself and others to make way for the world it wishes to see. The eagle doesn’t fail because of high expectations. The drop from the nest is a long one, but the longer the fall – the more time the eagle has to learn how to fly. The young eagle has no direction, only the wide open blue sky. Where there is no sky, they learn not to fly. When eagles tire, they return to the shelter of the wings and rest. They won’t ever get discouraged of leaving the comfort of the nest because they know what lies beyond is much greater and more fulfilling. How could they not jump from the safety of their cliffs when they know the freedom that lies outside? Nobody told them they could fly; they simply tried and realized they could. Eagles deserve to soar because they believe they can fly before they can.

Amid all of the controversy that surrounds Halloween every year it is amazing to note all of the many cultures across the world that celebrate the Day of the Dead. To me it seems completely egotistical for Americans to get on the same band-wagon, year after year, dismissing and disrespecting every ancient culture known since the beginning of human existence. News flash America – you are not that old.

Nobody can really confirm the exact date that the Day of the Dead originated. The earliest recognized celebration most probably came from the Olmecs. The Olmec were an ancient pre-Columbia indigenous people, covering the land of Central America and Mexico. Studies of ancient artifacts conclude that the Olmecs flourished during the Pre-classic era, dating from 1200 BCE to about 400 BCE. Some scholars date the Olmecs, Día de Los Muertos, as far back as possibly 3000 years ago.

The more common known, Día de los Difuntos of the Mayans and Aztecs, was a joyous occasion stemming from the Olmec tradition. This festival was held to honor the lives of the deceased and to celebrate the continuation of life. It was a very spiritual and symbolic festival that did not recognize death as an end, but rejoiced that departed loved ones were beginning a new eternal life beyond the earthly realm. The Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. In most current Mexican cultures, The Day of the Dead is now widely celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. The dead are acknowledged in many different and sometimes gruesome ways. Skulls and skeletons are displayed for remembrance, burial grounds are visited and cleaned, graves are decorated with flowers, and food and gifts are left for cherished loved ones on the other side.

The most controversial line of thought tracks the Day of the Dead back to 1000 BC, and the Celtic tradition of ‘samhuinn‘ (the Scots Gaelic spelling) which simply means ’summer’s end’. Most legend supports that this was celebrated as the Celtic New Year. The Celts used a lunar calendar that consisted of 13 months, each 28 days in length called the Calendar of Trees. In this calendar the Celts recognized two seasons, one for light, and one for darkness based on the summer and winter solstices. They held month-long festivals counting back 45.6 days before the coming of each solstice. On modern calendars, these celebrations are now Beltane, held on May 1st, and Samhain held on November 1st.

As a Christian I find it very interesting to note that again, the festival of Samhain marked the end of life and the promise of a new resurrection. It was not only a spiritual belief for the Celts, but also a time to cull and move livestock, harvest the fields and prepare for the coming ‘dead’ season. As the families reaped the bounty of their seasons hard work, they threw offerings of thanksgiving for the harvest into a huge bonfire and celebrated as a community, lamenting over those that had passed before the great harvest and praying that they would all be sustained through the coming cold and barren months. It is easy for the imagination to conclude how this came to be known as a festival for the dead.

In the early roman church, “All Martyrs” began to be celebrated as early as the year 270. Some Christian scholars have attributed the first celebration even earlier to the city of Antioch on the first Sunday after Pentecost, although this was not widely accepted because it occurred before the Romans had accepted Christianity. The feast of the dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Martyres has been celebrated since 609, when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs. Historians claim that this was an effort to de-paganize Rome and blend the clashing cultures of the pagans and the ever-growing Christian community. This was accomplished by Pope Gregory III in 835 when all of the festivals and celebrations were compounded and moved to November 1^st, forever after to be known as All Saints Day.

The Asian version of the Day of the Dead has been so nicely meshed within the culture that it’s hard to pinpoint an exact origin of their annual festivals. On the Chinese calendar, the entire 7th month is called Ghost Month. The Ghost Festival may possibly date back to The Tang Dynasty of China (618–907). During that period, Ullambana (Sanskrit for “hanging upside down in hell and suffering”) and other traditional festivities were blended into one day of celebration. Ullambama is the festival of deliverance, and translates into “deliverance from suffering”, and specifically refers to the salvation that is granted to tormented souls in hell. Along the same lines of tradition, Buddhists instituted a day on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar ( mid-to-late August) as a day of prayer and offering in which monks pray and make sacrifices on behalf of dead ancestors or hungry ghosts. Family members of the deceased pay for this service, and so their patronage is considered a form of charity. In Japan, O-bon also stems from the ancient Ullambana, and is celebrated to honor departed ancestors. This festival has evolved into a very family oriented holiday where people return to their ancestor’s home towns and visit and clean their graves.

There is no possible way I could cover each and every cultural celebration of the dead, but I must of course end this night with the American celebration of Halloween. As the melting pot of all dying cultures we have once again succeeded in stripping culture to meaningless propagated marketing.

Children are dressed up to coo over
Single women dressed to drool over
Christians prepare to fuss over
pagans prepare to offend over
and the cycle continues – each time worse than the year before.

There is absolutely nothing sacred or religious left in this candy-loot, media-manic, over-marketed laughable holiday.  We have simply raped all cultures and called them our own in order to annihilate each and every root of our own heritage.  It’s a downright shame if you ask me.

Acts 2:20-21

The sun will be turned darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the end of the world lately. Not the normal doomsday variety, I’m not pre-trib, post-trib or anything complicated. I heard someone once say, we’ll all get it straight on the way up and that philosophy works fine with me. I’ve been thinking more about ‘Am I ready?’. Kind of like the packing check list before a big trip. I know I’m saved so I can cross that one off the list but I’m starting to think that there is more preparation necessary.

I guess it really struck me the other day when my son called me to see the pretty sunset. I was busy, doing something important I’m sure. By the time I made it outside, it was gone. I sat there for a while playing the what-if game. What if the sun didn’t rise tomorrow? What if that was the last sunset I ever had the opportunity to see? Okay, maybe that does seem a bit doomsday but the truth is, that for many people that day it was the last. Of all the promises God has made us, tomorrow isn’t one of them.

My husband works with 345 kilovolts of electricity every day. My children are in public schools. I have four close family relatives with heart disease. I have a sister with MS, a sister with depression and a 20-year old sister that drives in Austin. Am I ready spiritually for the sun to set on these relationships? Did I do all I could to show them my love? Christ’s love? The eternal love of God?

It’s a knuckle-brained world out there and the truth is, I’m not ready. There is so much more to do, so much more to say than just good-bye. Thankfully, for me the sun did rise the next day. God gave me another opportunity and I will be eternally grateful for that. Maybe I didn’t get as much laundry done, or finish the rest of that all-important to-do list but it just didn’t seem so important anymore. I lost one sunset; I don’t intend to lose another.

Galatians 6:10

Therefore, as we have opportunity let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world.
A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

I constantly tell my 9 year old to FOCUS. He’s a smart boy, but sometimes his head is so far into his dreams that he can’t see reality. I have a tendency to try and recognize traits in my children that I possess and ‘head in the clouds’ is definitely one of them. Sometimes I focus so intently on the ultimate goal that I lose sight of all the little things that are necessary to accomplish it. On the flip side of this fault, some people focus so much on the little things that they can’t even begin to comprehend the ultimate goal. Neither of these traits is really wrong, they are simply unbalanced and ineffective.

I would almost guarantee that no matter who you are, you have more iron’s in the fire than you can count. I can’t really say there’s anything wrong with that, but if you go to bed each night frustrated with what you were unable to accomplish, focus might be just what you need.

Just an example of what focus can accomplish, let’s examine the concept of light. Light by itself illuminates, which is a wonderful thing BUT light focused can cut steel. In each person there are lights within that we label as gifts. Most people have many different gifts, little lights that illuminate the air around them in various ways. When all the lights are on at the same time, the true power is diminished and eventually, some if not all of these lights burn out.

Jesus was the most focused person that ever walked the earth. He had divine wisdom of all the things that needed to be accomplished and yet he rushed nothing. How in the world did he not wake up every morning and say how am I going to do all that needs to be done today? He did it by focusing on the only thing that could accomplish what He alone could not, His Father, Our Father, God Almighty. 2000 years later the impact that Jesus made still resounds across the nations. He was rejected, ridiculed, beaten and crucified and yet with His dying breath, his focus was still on God. That focused Light of the World will continue to cut steel long after we are gone.

I pray that each of you evaluate all that you are doing and come to the core of what it is you want to accomplish. Analyze your gifts, refine them and dedicate them to the Glory of God. The Lord has a specific purpose for your life and you are perfect for the position He has created for you. Unless you truly focus on His Will, the world may lose the light you were intended to give.

May God bless you as you discover the Light within.

John 1:3-5

Through Him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not overcome it.