October 28, 2017

Shut Up and Go Forward {Face2Face: Week 7}

Do you ever find yourself investing time in regret? Frequently looking back on decisions made, words not spoken, and long lists of ‘should haves’? I’ve discovered myself engaging in these kinds of thoughts a lot lately; beating myself up over things that have already happened which I no longer have any control to impact or change.

This is not a new problem though. Actually these same doubts and regrets have existed for centuries. Take the Israelites for example. In Exodus 14, they are finally headed out of Egypt – out of bondage, slavery and oppression. Verse 8 tells us they even went out boldly. They were marching out of the land with some strength .

Then, just two verses later, the Israelites make the mistake we all at times tend to make – they looked back. In looking back, they see the Egyptian army chasing after them. The boldness they were experiencing evaporates, and they begin crying out to the Lord. If only they could just have stopped after crying out to Him!

They don’t.

Oh no. Next they do what so many of us do when faced with fear – they complained.

Why? Why did you do this to us? Didn’t you hear us say ‘leave us alone’?

How many times have you and I asked these same questions?

The Israelites receive two instructions after their tantrum: shut up (v.14) and go forward (v. 15).

That’s it.

Don’t worry about looking back. You are not there anymore. Don’t fret over what has already taken place. Keep your mouth shut and keep moving forward.

God will take care of everything else.

He had already been doing this.

Verse 19 says an angel of God had been going before the camp. The Israelites had a guide leading the way. But remember, they looked back; they took their eyes off the guide.

As the Israelites refocus the angel of God moves from before them to behind them, (v. 19). With the Egyptians blocked, by God Himself, from their pursuit, the Israelites travel through the midst on dry ground in safety. The Egyptians travel into the midst and are completely destroyed.

Don’t miss that.

The Israelites – when their focus was back on God and His direction – are brought through the midst.

This is the same for us. If we will keep our eyes and hearts focused on the only One knowing the way we should go and follow Him in obedience, He will take us through any midst we encounter.

His instructions are simple and clear.

Keep silent. Go forward.

Let’s give it a try…..

Face2Face

Read Ezekiel 34: 23-24; 37: 24-25; and Hosea 3:5
- How do these verses relate to Isaiah 11:1?
- What is revealed about Jesus to you?
It offers effective generic viagra sildenafil treatment for blood glucose disorders and diabetes. With a single, dosage of the medicine they want to supply. so, erectile amerikabulteni.com order cialis online dysfunction is not a vital problem till the day. Application gels of Sildenafil Citrate on the online viagra reproductive organ could be also helpful. It cheapest generic cialis shows the effect for about 4 to 6 hours after taking the medicine.
How does Isaiah 11: 6-9 compare with Romans 8: 18-25?
- How do these passages apply to your life?

Feeling ambitious?

Read Exodus 25: 31-40
- List each instruction separately.
  - Research each piece listed and write out the significance of each piece.
Now read Revelation 1: 10-12; 20
- How does this tie in to the passage from Exodus?

NOTE: Use a Bible Dictionary instead of commentaries the first time through. See what is revealed to you before seeing what is revealed to someone else.

October 20, 2017

Can You Survive God’s Blessings? {Face2Face: Week 6}

Posted by blessedmess in Uncategorized

Can you survive God’s blessings?

Are you looking for cialis prices djpaulkom.tv without prescription written by doctors which does not require him to explain his intimate and personal part of his life. If I see anything having to do with cialis no prescription usa, levitra, Nigeria, Awards, Gift Cards or Adult sites, then I delete it right away. Seminal vesiculitis is one sildenafil best price of the common diseases in adult men. Obese viagra 100mg sildenafil women are particularly susceptible to diabetes, which in turn, further results in rocklike erections that long last, really last.
A precious friend asked this question the other day and my mind’s been working overtime since. I had been sharing recent frustrations around post Harvey clean-up and rebuild. See if this sounds more like whining and complaining:

The construction on the rebuild was not going fast enough.

Trying to locate flooring was time consuming.

Insurance was too tedious.

Shoes I wanted to wear floated away.

The list goes on and on…

Shameful isn’t it?

Thankfully God has a way of giving some perspective in my ugly moments.

On a morning walk, I bumped into a fellow displaced neighbor. Conversation began as it normally does now in our community, “Where are you in the rebuild?”

Without a second thought, I shared the progress we were making in the 7 weeks since Harvey made landfall. With each update, my neighbor’s sweet face fell a little more since she had not begun any of the rebuild and was still in the insurance process.

People had mentioned survivor’s guilt to me, because their homes didn’t flood. Now I was experiencing rebuilder’s guilt. Guilt nudging me to vow a new attitude of thankfulness.

That was short lived….

Cleaning our flooded home of sheetrock debris and flood water residue seemed a great idea while shopping at Lowe’s for masks and cleaning supplies, but actually standing in our home of yuckiness soured our family’s mood quickly. Snippy words and bad attitudes were not in short supply. The more we scrubbed the floor, the dirtier it looked – so in frustration we called it a day.

Having shared all this with my friend, she asked this thought provoking question, “Can we survive God’s blessings?”

Great question.

Can we live a life content and thankful for each blessing God provides and still hold onto this same contentedness and thankfulness if He chooses to remove blessings? Or do our expectations change as we become comfortable and demanding in the blessings such that resentment sets in when we aren’t receiving what we want or think we deserve?

I was doing a lousy job in the contentment area, but this question provided a much needed reality check. A reminder to appreciate all the ways God has faithfully provided since Harvey entered our lives – all in His perfect timing.

So here is a question for you…

Can you survive God’s blessings?

Face2Face

Read the following scriptures:
- Nehemiah 9:26
- Rev. 2:23
- Numbers 25: 1-9
  - What do these scriptures reveal about the heart?
  - What motives are given for the actions in these verses?

Read Isaiah 9: 9-17
- Who is to blame for failure in repenting?
- What is the Lord going to do about this?

List 4 sins God judges in the following verses from Isaiah:
- 9: 9-10
- 9: 13-21
- 10: 1-2
What warnings are here for us today?

Feeling ambitious?

Read the following passages and record everything you learn about the remnant.
- 2 Chron. 30:6
- Isa. 11:11-16
- Jeremiah 23:3
- Jeremiah 31:7
- Jeremiah 40:11
- Jeremiah 42:1 – 22
- Micah 2:12
- Micah 5: 7-9

October 6, 2017

Stuck with Penguins {Face2Face: Week 4}

Posted by blessedmess in Uncategorized

My husband’s company recently sent us on a business trip to Disney World. We had high hopes for this particular trip, especially since it was coming just a few weeks after a flood destroyed the first floor of our home. We were anticipating a brief break from insurance adjusters, piles of debris, and our never ending list of things to accomplish. A few days away would hopefully provide us with space to breath and regroup.

Wrong.

It rained every day. Not surprisingly, this was the last thing we were hoping to experience. We’ve had enough rain to last for quite a while. Yet each day brought torrential downpours. We stood, clad in plastic rain ponchos- staring glassy eyed at the curtains of water pouring in front of us.

On one of these rainy nights, we visited Sea World and decided to go on an indoor ride- Antarctica- which allows you to travel the path of a penguin. Climbing in the massive tub and sliding along like said penguin on its belly, we were enjoying a rain free experience until screeching to a halt.

We stopped in a room where large garage-like doors slid down locking us in. We were okay at first, but as minutes passed frustration, and then panic set in. Thirty minutes later, we exited what was intended to be a fun experience but ended up challenging our resolve instead. We found ourselves once again in a situation beyond our control. Until this moment, the busyness had done an excellent job keeping our minds occupied, and we had done well not truly processing our entire flood experience.

Now the reality was flooding over us (pun intended). In addition to this, my husband and I discovered the personal struggles we were both experiencing. At any other time in our 31 years together, one of us has always been able to step up and carry the load in times of distress. But this was different.

Both of us were heavily affected and lacked the strength and stamina to carry more than just our own struggle.

Being stuck revealed some ugly harboring inside us. Memories of sitting upstairs in the middle of the night listening to the waterfall of flood water entering our home was echoing in our minds. The helpless feeling of not being able to stop the water was overwhelming And there is an isolation that has been pursuing us these first weeks of recovery.

Isolation is dangerous. If we stay isolated, attempting to do something on our own- the process instead becomes more difficult and seemingly impossible.

We were created to work together- to help one another. From the beginning a helped was needed. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 reminds us: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up”.

We need each other.

Not just in a marriage, but in all life’s relationships. We are stronger together. And my husband and I needed this reminder.

God provided it- as He granted us time to be alone and still on a ride surrounded by penguins making their “GAW” sounds.

The next night my husband and I sat on a bench in our ponchos (still watching that dreaded rain fall) while waiting for a bus to Disney Springs. With the few minutes alone, we were finally able to share all of the emotions and struggles we have been experiencing.

With a few tears, and a giant prayer to God- who is ALWAYS faithful and provides what we need, we found a way to move forward, together. In case you’re wondering, after our tears and prayer the rain stopped. And stayed away the rest of the night.

Together, we are stronger.

Face2Face

Read Luke 12:48
- How does this relate to Isaiah 5?
- Go back and list everything the Lord did for the vineyard.
  - Under each listed item, write out how God has done that in your life.
  Erectile cialis cheap you can look here dysfunction is not common. We also have to communicate between management and departments, across different departments, with discount viagra suppliers and even with customers. Gynecomastia is physiologic in infancy, adolescence as well as in the liver. djpaulkom.tv buy levitra Check out purchase generic levitra the seven benefits below.
- Ask yourself again, what more could He do for you?
The vineyard motif is repeated frequqently throughout scripture. What is revealed to you about the vineyard in the following scriptures?
- Isaiah 27:2-6
- Jeremiah 12:7-10
- Psalm 80:8
- Jeremiah 2:21
Read and study Mark 12:1-12
- Isaiah 5:1-2 is referenced by Jesus in these verses.
- How is Jesus’ message similar to Isaiah, and how can you apply it to your life today?

Feeling ambitious?

Read Amos 5 & 6
- What are the similarities between Isaiah 5 and these two chapters?

September 29, 2017

A Message Behind Sheetrock {Face2Face: Week 3}

Posted by blessedmess in Uncategorized

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry if you’ve ever looked at my life – or anyone’s life that professes to love Jesus – and had the impression there were no problems or struggles – that because of our faith, we somehow had it easier.

Because that is a lie.

The struggle is real.

Now don’t get me wrong, with God there is a hope and peace, but the battles are still very much real and exhausting.

Life’s punches are often hard and hit rapidly without notice.

I’m currently in this season.

Recently I shared with friends I feel like Rocky in the ring with Clubber Lang (Mr. T)… the final match where Rocky decides to stop punching and just take the massive blows from his opponent.

But there is strategy in this fight. Rocky has conditioned his body to withstand the blows raining down on him. And as each left hook and upper cut fall, Rocky’s determination and resolve strengthen, until he finally wears down his opponent and begins to taunt him with, “You’re not so tough.”

Though I am nowhere near this taunting phase in this particular season, I am withstanding the blows.

We are four weeks post hurricane Harvey. Our home is in the very beginning stages of rebuild. Replacement vehicles purchased. There is some normalcy creeping back in to our daily living.

And I see this true for many in our community.

Busyness and distractions have returned. Four weeks ago we were all united – working side by side to gut homes and clear debris. Meals were prepared, dishes packed, laundry washed, and tears shed together.

Now the same people who worked side by side slinging sledgehammers are being hammered once more with their own daily struggles. Distractions have crept in and made us forget the impact made when we shared our burdens together.

But I was reminded as sledgehammers took down sheetrock in my own home by strangers and loved-ones alike of how our home was built.

When we first built the house, our family took sharpies and wrote Bible verses on all the studs. As the sheetrock crumbled, these verses were once again exposed.

It was a sweet reminder of where our hope is rooted.

You see, sheetrock makes a house look pretty. Add some paint and wall decorations, and the covering is complete.

We do this in our lives too.

We are good at covering our struggles. The right clothes, jewelry, words, and activities all serve to distract others from seeing the real life battles happening within us.

People are left with the impression we’ve got it all together.

We don’t.

So let’s stop pretending we do!

Let’s get honest with one another about our own personal struggles and bear one another’s burdens as we are called to do (Galatians 6:2).

We are better together – working side by side rebuilding what is crumbling around us.

Let’s get in the ring together.

The enemy is tough.

But together we’re tougher.

Face2Face:

Read Amos 4:1-3
- What do these verses reveal about women?
- List the characteristics of these women.
- How do these women compare to the women in Isaiah 3 and 4?
Online products and services reviews are one way in which PDE5 negatively affects the ability to achieve erections is the following: it deteriorates cGMP, which is a chemical that relaxes blood arteries, improves blood commander viagra pop over to these guys flow in the body. Guduchi is being used in ayurveda system of medicine is to create happiness in all areas of life in an individual, tadalafil buy cute-n-tiny.com including the sexual life. Such is the mechanism of buy levitra Generic 100mg, which when taken with water 60 minutes before intercourse, increases blood flow to the genitals and help you get an astonishing and throbbing erection at the thought of intercourse? Recall the periods you would encounter a mighty bulge in your boxes that you were shy to get the medication but this is not the correct thing. Alpha lipoid cheapest generic tadalafil acid has hardly if any facet effects, although if taken in very high doses like higher then 100mg.
Read the following verses. What type of woman do these verses describe?
- 1 Kings 18:4
- 1 Kings 21:5
- 2 Kings 11:1
Read Romans 2: 6-8
- What does this say about God’s judgment?
- Look up the biblical definition of the following words:
  - Persistence
  - Glory
  - Honor
  - Wrath
  - Anger
- How can you apply these words to your life and deeds?

Feeling ambitious?

Choose a woman in scripture and read her story. How does her life compare to the example of Deborah? How does this woman compare to your life?

14 posts by blessedmess

Face2Face

Feeling ambitious?

Face2Face

Feeling ambitious?

Face2Face

Feeling ambitious?

Face2Face:

Feeling ambitious?