HERE "I AM"

And Moses Cried out
from the desert...
"Whom shall I say sent me, God?
What is Your name?
These thousands of Jews
who are waiting for their
grand exit, their deliverance,
they will want to know...
Who are You?"

And very interestingly,
God answered...

Moses,
tell them...

"I AM" sent you.

I AM????

What kind of name is that??

I can picture the Father saying...

I'll tell you what kind of name that is, dear one.
The name of One who is very very close.
Take off your sandals...
you are on holy ground...
now I will tell you.

First of all,

I AM your Creator.
I AM your God.
I AM the Lover of your Soul.





















Then, by necessity

I AM your Saviour.
I AM your Redeemer.
I AM your Sin Bearer.













Also, delightedly,
I AM your Heavenly Father.

























And,
I AM your Friend.
I AM also your Peace.
I AM the Joy you need.
I AM ALL that you need...
Truly need...


I AM not only "I AM",
but "I AM HERE" as well.
I AM HERE for you...
not as servant,
though I am servant...
but as Father,
Helper,
Purifier,
Sanctifier,
Redeemer,
and your Lord.

I AM all these for you...
Here and now...

in whatever situation you find yourself.





















"the adulteress, protected"

PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES

"There are no promises, you know..."

We say there are no promises in this life...
promises that all things would go just as we wish.

Things do not always go
the way we want them to
and there are no promises that
guarantee 100% success...

But there are promises,
another Kind of "promises"...
as a matter of fact,

A whole storehouse of them...

a wharehouse of them...

waiting for the taking.

























Would that I would take them
for myself more often!

Here are some examples:

Heaven-anchored Thoughts:

"Commit thy works unto the LORD,
and thy thoughts shall be established. "
Prov 16:3

Peace of Mind:

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee
for he trusteth in Thee." Isaiah 26:3

Internal Fortitude:

"Cast thy burden upon the LORD,
and He shall sustain thee..."
Psalm 55:2

Providence for Needs:

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and all these things shall be
added unto you... Matt 6: 25-33

Direction in Life:

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths." Prov. 3:5,6


This is only the tip of the storehouse.
The Bible is Big on Promises...and God does not lie.

So I say...

Yes! ... there ARE promises...


























And I Will Help Myself!




Grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things
that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge
of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:
that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:2-4


________________________________________________________

GOD IDENTIFIED

I have a God who has made
Himself known, Who has clearly
identified Himself.  At the perfect time,
and at the perfect place.
































There is no question
that He has
reached out
to touch every
single one of us.

In this account (Luke 14:16-21),
He makes Himself fully known
and goes about His minstry
in deliberate and great fashion...
though many whisper and wonder.

Nevertheless, he continues
to touch and heal
and love and redeem lives.





















I wonder... why is there such confusion
as to whether there is a God or not,
and Who He is?

A Loving Father is not anonymous.

A Loving Father does not say...

"OK, dear ones, I could be any one of
the many gods out there... and you
know, there are many ways to get to me.
I'm sure you can figure it out. 
Just keep trying... "

If we don't know God,
it is not because
He hasn't identified Himself,
it is because we don't want Him.

They didn't want Him back then either.










Love must be wanted.

"For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish,
but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

POWERFUL WORD

by Jocelyne Sade


Oh to know the full impact of words,
to see the damage they can wield.
As fear stricken cattle, wild running herds,
Battering down souls without shield.

Consider the blood, brutally strewn
When words are shot without thought.
Consider the lives meeting ruin
By a man's tongue when bridled not.

Consider the child rendered weak...
Or the spouse with heart now broken
By the words we choose to speak,
Laced with poison, hastily spoken.

Tongue untamed, charged with fire,
Like a flame doth quickly destroy
All sign of life, and then retires,
Soul now smoldering, devoid of joy.

There was One who took the blows
Of tongues lashing, wishing death.
He looked upon them not as foes,
for did He not give them breath?

Sneers of men, taunts, stabs and jeers,
blasphemies and false verdicts...
Thou didst absorb them all, and with tears
Embraced the assaults of derelicts.

"Forgive them!" Thou didst cry,
For all men are cursed with guilt.
"It is finished!" Thou didst cry,
then died as thy blood was spilt.

Thy bruised, battered and disfigured face...
A Derision no other man has known.
Yea, thy Soul and body were disgraced...
And death Thy Love did not shun.

But Thou hast risen... true and bold
for Truth and Life cannot be stilled
And the story is forever told
That God, as man, for man was killed.

Yet hast resurrected as predicted;
Death destroyeth not This Life.
Death, though to men's souls addicted,
could not extinguish This Life.

May our tongues give Thee praise,
May our words reflect Thy Grace,
dispensing mercy and gracious ways
granted us from Thy Holy place.

These are the words that heal...
These are words that reveal...
to man the very heart of God.
Use them, I shall, and to men appeal,
for Thy words are words that heal...
Selah, Thou art The Word of God.



But these (Words) are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing
ye might have life through his name.
John 20:31

FAMILY AFFAIR

Christianity is Exclusive.
So is my family, by the way.

I come from the Morency family.
There is no other family like my family.
I mean, Dad is Claude, Mom is Rolande,
and Serge, Danielle and Christian are my siblings.
You cannot be a part of my family
unless you were born into it.

That's just the way it is.

__________________________________

Now, about another family.


Jesus explains to Nicodemus:

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old?
can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb,
and be born? Jesus answered,

Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. "

John 3:3-7

__________________________________________

And to the woman at the well...

Again, He speaks explicitly...

"But an hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers
will worship the Father
in spirit and in truth;
for such people the Father seeks
to be His worshipers.

"God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him
must worship Him in Spirit and truth."
-John 4:23, 24

__________________________________________

That's just how it is.

You must be born INTO God's family.
Then and only then can you call Him Father...

All are born of the water of the womb. (physical)

All are called to be born of the spirit of God. (spiritual)

But not all respond. They just don't want to.

So, a Father is an exclusive Thing -
He does not impose Himself on anyone.
He's looking for those who will Love Him...
He is not interested in pre-programmed,
cold, heartless, and mindless children.

So there is a choice to be made -
all for the sake of true love.

It's a family affair...
And it's totally,
lovingly,
fair.

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying,
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."

Jeremiah 31:3


.

YES LORD?

"Do not worry about

your ability to hear God,

trust in God's ability

to speak to you."

Prayer is two-way conversation, after all.

And if I think Him too small to talk to me...

and His ability to make Himself heard too weak,

than I am of all men most miserable.

I've had enough one-way conversations in my

lifetime. This is one place, one conversation,

where I cannot settle for tid bits.

If I need take an hour to quiet my soul,

then that is what I must do.

God help me not settle for crumbs.

For it is not You Who is not able to speak,

but I who will not settle down

and be spoken to.

"Samuel... Samuel..."

"Yes, Lord, here I am..."

-1 Samuel 3:10

FROM NO LIMBS TO NO LIMITS

Would you like to witness someone who loves God
in the midst of most excruciating circumstances?

Ugh... excuse me.

No - from what I gather from his testimony,
excruciating would not be the right description.
This gentlemanly soul has learned to live life
trusting God through it all.

Would that I could do as well.

After 3 minutes of preliminary video snippets,
he gives a combined interview/message that will
inspire anyone. Well, hopefully... anyone...

Enjoy...

FRESH CONNECTIONS

James Olds, a professor of neuroscience
who directs the Krasnow Institute for
Advanced Study at George Mason University,
says that even the adult mind “is very plastic.”

Nerve cells routinely break old connections and form new ones.

“The brain,” according to Olds, “has the ability
to reprogram itself on the fly,
altering the way it functions.”













So, after all,

"... be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2)

...is not too much to ask of anyone,
of any age,
of any culture,
of any background,
of any history,
or of any dysfunction.

Ready for some changes?

Go Ahead...









Put it to the test ...
ask God to open your eyes...
and watch what happens.




"...For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword..."

Hebrews 4:12

"And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God. "

Romans 12:2




.

Cool Gospel Tool

'You don't truly understand something
until you can explain it to your grandmother'
-Albert Einstein













So..... how well do you know the gospel?

This last Sunday, I was given the tool of a Lifetime!
Our pastor... in our Sunday School Class, said that
if we were to go to Ephesians 2:1-10, there we
would find the gospel message, all laid out in one
section of scripture.

No need to flip here and there, and lose pace or
focus as we attempt to share our faith.

Here it is: Ephesians 2:1-10


BEFORE CHRIST:

Eph 2:1	And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2	in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Eph 2:3	Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. CHRIST ENTERS:
Eph 2:4	But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph 2:5	even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Eph 2:6	and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7	so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. BY GRACE
Eph 2:8	For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9	not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. WITH DIVINE PURPOSE
Eph 2:10	For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

I do plan to make notes in the margin of my Bible if I would
like to emphasize certain points... but essentially, everything
is there in this passage to bring an unbeliever to an understanding
of the Gospel.

So cool!

Thank you, Pastor Lonnie...



.

Forsaken to Taken

When Father and Mother Forsake,
Alas! Me... God shall take.



















When Husband or Children
dish out heartbreak,
Alas! Me... God shall take.

When fears hover...
I shall take cover...
In the bosom of Savior,

For no man can ease
Heart's yearning pleas.
Alas! Only man's Creator.


.

WATCHWORDS THREE

1. Anxiety
2. Abba
3. See

As simple as...











A. Anxiety comes.
B. Abba Father! help!
C. See, child, what I can do...


Is there any other way to live?
















As the Jovial Ladies Three
To mind comes another Three;
"Anxiety", "Abba", and "See"!
Watchwords, come to rescue me.

Father continually waits upon me
To relinquish all anxiety.
And in return secures for me
A heart and mind of tranquility.

Come, rest, favored one thou art,
And sit upon the Lady's knee...
Beckon JOY... "Come to my heart!
Abba Father heareth me!"

Only, child, be thou beholden
Unto Him who loveth thee.
With courage, thy life emboldened,
Love Him! and cheerful be!

Casting all your care upon Him;
for He careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7

He or Me?

I have come to see two
opposing forces
operating in my life.
I am either striving towards self-realization
or I'm striving towards Christ-realization.

So, what am I seeking?
To understand more and more about myself?
How I came to be who I am?
What has shaped my personality to be as it is?
And why I behave as I do rather than as I would like?
Or what forces in early childhood have affected me
and created the being that I am today?

Is that what I am seeking?

Is that what truly matters in the great scheme of things?

If that is what I'm seeking,
I'm afraid I'm wasting a lot
of precious time.

I'm stunting my growth.
I'm stuck in the wrong place.
And here is why I think this way.

If I am priviledged to have become a child of God,
and If I am honored to be so called,
I have a responsibility to become all that my
Father has called me to be.

And what has He called me to be?

A better me?

No. Not a better me.

A Brand New me.

I am to be Christ-like.

That means I need not "fix" my self.
That means I need not go back and "heal" my self.
That means I need not worry about my self.

I am now to be conformed into His Image and Likeness.

Like in the beginning, when everything was just fine.

Before Satan introduced the idea
that I could really be like God
if I wanted to be...

by doing my own thing
and ignoring God...


























What a liar he was.
What a liar he is.
And what a mess he made.

And what a mess we make...
when we seek to take
care of our selves
apart from our Creator.

God help me become this New Person
you intend on making me.
God help me get out of the way
and help me to cooperate with You.

I LOVE MY ID

After watching Ben Stein's movie,
"Expelled" this week,
I came away with great comfort,
AND confirmation...

...my personal ID is firm,
settled, and very comfortable.















There is no question as to who I am.
Where I'm from.
Where I'm going.
And it's a wonderful feeling.

God is my source.
God is my Creator.

That is refreshing.

Imagine thinking you come from a monkey!
Or worse yet, from the bosom of a mud swamp.
There's something unsettling, uncomfortable,
illogical and hopeless about that.

I grew up sitting at the dinner table
where mom served us healthy meals,
and Dad served us evolution.
My dad is a very smart, loving man,
and I love him immensely, but...















evolution never sat well
with me (2nd from left).
All those years, it never did.
Wouldn't digest properly.
The very fibers of my body
thought it rather odd.

It was like getting in your car
and hearing a noise you don't
normally hear. Hmmmm, you
wonder... something's wrong...

That's how it's always been.
Big bang?
Swamp origin?
Evolution?
No... too much evidence
that there is a God.



"... I am fearfully and wonderfully made...

and that my soul knoweth right well"

Psalms 139:14


Yes, my soul knew all along.


On February 25, 1973,
at age 20, I discovered Him,
and along with Him, my true ID.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

I wish you the same knowledge.
The same discovery.
The same Truth.
I wish you to discover your
Intelligent Designer...

The Heavenly Father, Who wishes
to be your Father as well.

This awesome Intelligent Designer
intelligently designed ...

me.

What a great ID!

















"Blessed are those who have not seen,
and yet believe."

~Jesus, to doubting Thomas.

TENACIOUS LOVER

Thank you, Father, that I,
your daughter,
can never run away from you.

Though I may try.
Though I may wish I could.

But it's Your love that stays me.
Your merciful, boundless, compassionate love.

Honestly, I don't know why...





















I'm just thankful that You
are the Lover of my soul.

Thankful for THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

When once you become born again,
born into the Kingdom not of this world,
you inherit an incredible gift... right away.

You become a member of the Body of Christ,
never to be alone again.





















God, your Creator, Jesus, your Lord and Savior
And the Holy Spirit... the Triune God,
is in you the moment you believe...
that alone is enough.

Morover, while your feet are upon this earth,
while your hands touch this world,
and your eyes see His creation before you...

You have with you a comraderie of sisters
and brothers you did not enjoy before.

I am thankful for the Body of Christ,
for the brother who escorted me to
church.

I am safe and sound today because he,
a member of Christ's body,
made sure I was well enmeshed
and involved in the one body of people
who's God is the Lord.

Thank you Harris Kalb.

IF ONLY YOU KNEW...

Mom and Dad...














Please take a moment to view this video...

It's only two minutes long.
That's all.

It's one exquisite look into
the expression of family-time
and what it boils down to for
our children...











Please, just click here.
Enjoy!




(The place I found this video is a meal-planning website...
and they ask at the end if you need help making family meals
easier... I do not benefit from that offer at all. I just loved the
video...)

Loved Me to Death

Once upon a time,

He Loved me. Yes,

He Loved me to death.

His own death, that is.













But now, He says to me...

Let me Love you...
Love you to Life.

It's not enough that
I am saved from
eternal separation
from God, though
I'm eternally grateful.

I want to also not be
separated from Him
here and now.

Oh, I know He is with me...
Closer than a brother...
I know He knows the number
of hairs on my head...
and that nothing is hid from
Him with whom I have to do.

But there is yet more.
An "abiding" more.

When I'm misbehavin',
He steps back...
Withdraws a bit...
As if asking me, "Am I
leading you there?"














I know what's wrong,
His Spirit tells me so.

Now - what am I to do?

He reminds me... there is...
no condemnation,
but...
let me love you,
right now,
to Life.
Follow me,
right now,
into Life.

"I am come
that ye might have life,
and that you might have it
more abundantly."
John 10:10





















Lazarus, resurrected from the dead.

From Bad Apple to Good Apple

"The purpose of Christ's redeeming work
was to make it possible for bad men to
become good - deeply, radically and finally."
-A.Tozer












Another nugget for my soul.
I can become good.
Not on my own,
but through Him, I can.

And yet, I am not experiencing
enough of the good.
I am in a quandry.

What is the problem here?
I say one thing, and am another.

I see my life... I see the works
of my hands... I see my home...
and I wonder... what am I missing?

There's goodness here, yes.
If it weren't for Christ,
I wouldn't be alive today.
But that's not enough.

Am I being hard on myself?
Yes. I am.
I want more Goodness in my life.
I want more God-ness in my life.
Way more.
I am promised Life Abundant.

It is also written that I
can count on going
from glory to glory.

So what is the hindrance?






















I'm finding it out.
It's taking a long time...
I'm stubborn,
I'm proud,
I'm interested in me,
Not God's will for me...

and so...
I have...
holy discontent.

Well I should.

"Being confident of this very thing,
He who has begun a good work
in me will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. " Phil. 1:6

BRIDAL JOY

There is something about a wedding
that is unmatched by any other event.

The mix of Love, Anticipation, Celebration...
Beauty everywhere... and all in one day!

A sort of Holy Blend...


And then...

the bride.

Nothing is more beautiful than

the bride.




















She can take your breath away.
She does take your breath away.


If perchance a wedding is
a rushed affair, you will find
many willing to loan,
give,
beg,
borrow,
steal...
in order that the occasion
be a beautiful one.

It is understood.

____________________________


But have you heard?

Have you heard
of the grandest
wedding of all?

A King is soon
to be married!

Have you read the news?








 

He is coming for his Bride.
Do you know her?

Oh How He Loves Her.
Fusses over her.
Would even die for her.

OH Blessed Church...

Beautiful Bride of the Son...

Are there whispers of joy
in your house...
things being done
and prepared...
beauty being thought of
in every possible way...
Is there love in the air...
and great anticipation
motivating all to be ready?

Are YOU ready?

Oh Please Be ready!

Your Groom is at the door!

_________________________



Biblical references:

"Jesus, Who testifies to these things says,
'Yes! I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. "

Revelation 22:20

___________