He who conceals his sins does not prosper

Proverbs 28:13
¹³ He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

I am learning so much through my parent/child relationship. Morgan ran downstairs a while ago and said, "mommy, I spilled water on the bed. Come see it." The thing was it was on her dad's side of the bed. Well daddy freaks if there are crumbs or etc in the bed and she knows that.
She said, "mommy we need to hide it." I told her that it was better to tell the truth. Then, I got the hairdryer and dried it all up. It amazes me at how much sin affects us, all because of the fall. Our human inclination is to conceal things (the word for conceal here is "Kasah meaning to cover, conceal, hide, keep secret"), to hide, to feel shame. But this verse clearly says that we will not prosper in that way. We have to confess and renounce the sin that so easily entangles us and we will find mercy.

The word for confess means to say the same thing. God already knows our sins even before we commit them. We have to agree with God that we have sinned and expose our darkness to the light. The word for renounce in that verse is "Azab and it means to forsake, abandon, leave behind, desert. This word is used to signify that man can forsake sin." We can dump our trash and expose it and find forgiveness and mercy (Psalm 130). Praise God. Praise Him that we have a God that doesn't weigh things on scales and balances. We can find restoration and forgiveness, which we don't deserve, for anything when we confess and renounce. If we conceal our sins WE WILL not prosper. The word for prosper basically means that we will not be victorious, or prevail, we won't succeed or avail. Um I sure don't want my life to be about that. So let us go before the Lord and ask Him to change the ugly desires of our hearts. I am telling you that is a prayer He honors. I can not tell you how He has changed my distorted desires through praying that prayer. He is for us.

Remember confess+renounce=mercy

Child of God: NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE OR HOW UGLY YOUR PAST IS. He will wash you clean and remove your transgressions as far as the east is to the west.

Praise Him!


ps I am CRACKING UP. Morgan wanted me to read to her and I said ROD please read to her!! So, he has been sitting here reading outloud about bullet reloading to Morgan. I have been laughing outloud when I listen to it. She is just sitting here listening to him read.

Update on James MacDonald

GO HERE to see an update on Dr. James MacDonald from his wife Kathy. They are so precious and he has discipled me over the last 9 years. He is the male version of Beth Moore to me =). Seriously, if you can get the Moody Broadcasting network he is on it and I have been so encouraged to change, trust in God, repent, love God, and bring glory due to His name. He is a teacher if there ever was one. My heart aches as they are battling cancer.

Pleasing Aroma

^{Galatians 1:10}Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I have just a few minutes to spare and I wanted to get this posted before I get my punkin' from school. I got up this morning and read my one year bible, then got Morgan ready for school. Our routine in the car is praise music and then we pray. Last night she rushed down stairs (no lie) and said mommy you have got to get upstairs and hold hands with me and daddy and pray. Long winded as I am, she got tired of holding hands and Rod fell asleep. This has nothing to do with my post...

I sat in our church parking lot and cracked open my bible and Esther. I am so aware of my poverty apart from Christ. I do not know where I would be without Him. And when I have strayed I have realized that I am truly miserable apart from dwelling in the shadow of His wings (ps 91). In the dead silence (which is not often) I was listening for that still small voice. Then, after I finished bible study I began to voice some things to the Lord. Some things so personal to me and that says a lot from someone like me who likes to SHARE EVERYTHING.

I talked with the Lord about my calling in life. I assume most of you who read this care about the calling God has put on your life. We all have a calling during this brief tenure on earth and I don't want to miss it. As we seek God I believe we will fulfill our callings. I so desire to make His name famous, not mine. Anyway, I have been wrestling with the whole calling thing and it occurred to me that part of my problem is trying to walk by site and not faith. Morgan was asking me the other day where God was and what does He look like. When I was explaining to her she said, "momma I can't see Him." Then she said, "I know where God is. He is in my bible." I loved it. Another deterance of mine is people. I will look at certain situations, feel defeated, and think God have you forgotten about me here. The Lord has given me a passion to teach and it is like a fire in my bones. We are told to fan into the flames of our spiritual gifts. I so long to do that...but there seems to be no open doors. When I see that doors are shut I have to trust and rest in God's plan and not what I think man thinks of me. That is why I put the verse in Galatians at the top. You will find over and over in the new testement where it says "Paul, a servant of Christ." That was his identity. That needs to be ours until we finish this race ____ (name) a servant of Christ. I struggle so much with discouragement and it is just plain frustrating. But if I stay focused on His word and who He is and the fact that I am just a servant of Christ mans opinion seems to fade. (I have 5 minutes...gotta hurry...sorry for errors)

Paul was speaking in context about proclaiming the gospel and sticking to truth and not any other gospel. Christ and Christ alone is the only way to God. So if we are going to serve God we have got to quit worrying about what everyone else thinks. I want to be like David where he says this in 2 Samuel 6: ²¹ David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

No one knows my shortcomings better than me and the Lord. Yet I truly want us all to press on with God regardless. He made us, he knows how we are formed of mere dust. We are weak in ourselves. I know some things are on my heart for ministry but I began to tell Him in the car all of my "I can'ts. Then, of course I was like duh...in my weakness He is made strong. His power is made perfect in our weakness.

Ok. Out of time but I wanted to close with these verses that the Lord has literally gone out of His way to bombard me with and then still I am like Lord do you have a plan for me? O Ye of Little Faith I am sure He has said.



“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

Prayer

I went to the hospital today to visit my Aunt Judy. She has stage 4 bladder cancer and it has spread to her lymphnodes. PLEASE pray for her, my uncle Robert, and cousin Caitlin. I am still asking God to heal her. She is in a great amount of pain. I was able to visit with her today and pray with her and hug her sweet neck. I am reminded once again of the fragility of life and what really matters.

Love

Teenage Abstinence Blog by Dr. Al Mohler

The Palin Parable -- Bristol Says Abstinence "Not Realistic At All"
Posted: Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 3:03 am ET



Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, made headlines last summer when it was revealed that she was about to become an unwed mother. On December 27, she gave birth to a baby boy named Tripp. Now, Bristol Palin is back in the news again -- and this time by her own choice. She granted an interview to Fox News Channel's "On the Record."
At the same time the pregnancy was made public last summer, Bristol's mom had just been announced as Sen. John McCain's choice to be his running mate. This put the pregnant teenager into the glare of national publicity. Many were impressed and thankful as Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson, her fiance' and the baby's father, made a commitment not to have an abortion but to welcome the baby. They lived up to that pledge, and baby Tripp seems to be doing quite well.
Bristol's parents also affirmed the sanctity of human life when they made a similar commitment during Gov. Palin's pregnancy with a child with Down syndrome. The vast majority of unborn babies identified as carrying the marker for Down syndrome are now aborted, but the Palins said they never even considered aborting their baby. Little Trig Palin, soon to be a year old, was seen by millions of Americans during the course of the campaign. That one baby became a testimony to the worth of every single human life.
Bristol Palin is back in the headlines, and some Americans may be shocked. Bristol told Fox News that teenagers should not have sex. However, she also said that sexual abstinence for teens is "not realistic at all."
These comments seem contradictory, but the national media immediately leapt upon Bristol's apparent rejection of sexual abstinence as an expectation for teenagers. To her credit, she maintained a clear pro-life perspective, even as she admitted the difficulty of being a teenage mother. But the rejection of sexual abstinence as "not realistic at all" caught many off guard.
As reported in the press, Bristol's statement lacked context. But, many in the media simply reduced the story to her statement about abstinence. Consider this headline from the Associated Press: "Palin's Daughter Says Abstinence 'Not Realistic.'"
Many people who admired the way that the Palin family handled their family crisis last summer will be rightly disappointed with this new word from Bristol. But, leaving Bristol's personal situation aside for now, her comment deserves a closer look.
Is sexual abstinence realistic for teenagers and young adults? Well, abstinence is certainly not realistic when teenagers put themselves - or they are put there by others - into a situation where sexual activity is likely. At some point, sexual abstinence becomes very unrealistic indeed.
The real issue for Christian teenagers and their parents is not to debate whether sexual abstinence before marriage is realistic or not. The larger and more important issue is that sexual abstinence until marriage is the biblical expectation and command. Once this is realized, the responsibility for everyone concerned is to ensure that expectations and structures are in place so that abstinence is realistic.
The debate over whether abstinence is realistic or not misses the more important issue -- abstinence must be made realistic.
Parents and teenagers must make certain that adequate protections and expectations are in place so that sexual abstinence is very realistic indeed. Far too many Christian parents allow their teenagers to be part of the "hooking up" scene of teenage culture. In that highly sexualized context, sexual abstinence would appear unrealistic in the extreme.
Premature pair dating and unsupervised liaisons, set within the supercharged culture of teenage sexuality, can put teenagers into very vulnerable situations. Asking whether sexual abstinence in those contexts is realistic can appear almost irrational.
Those who reject the norm of sexual abstinence for teenagers will leap on Bristol Palin's statement as evidence for their cause. But the real issue here is our responsibility to ensure that abstinence is made realistic and stays realistic. Anything short of this is truly "not realistic at all."

Truth, Lord

For years I have carried around "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore and I love this quote I have read it over and over. It is by Charles H. Spurgeon whom I love. If you don't have a copy of Prayer and Spiritual Warfare by him it is so worth it.

"Our Lord Jesus does not flatter us. He lets us see our cases as they are. His searching eye perceives the bare truth of things. He is "the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14) who deals with us according to the rule of uprightness. Oh, seeking soul, Jesus loves you too much to flatter you. Therefore, I ask you to have such confidence in Him that, however much He may rebuke...you by His Word and Spirit, you may without hesitation reply, "Truth, Lord."' Charles Spurgeon

How I pray for you and for me that we would cry out "Truth, Lord." No matter the cost, truth Lord. In a world that is dominated by the prince of the air, who has been a liar from the beginning, and has no truth in him...may we cry out from the depths truth Lord!


May we walk in His truth:
Psalm 26:3 for your love is ever before me,
and I walk continually in your truth.

Find redemption in truth:

5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Be protected by His truth:

Psalm 40:11

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.

Lord give us undivided hearts that fear Your Name.

Psalm 86:11
11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.

Knowing that He is the Truth and the Truth shall set our weary, burdened down souls free.

Psalm 68:19
19Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

Blessed be Your Name Lord, and please Lord Truth.

Club Mom/ Preschool/ Rods hunting club/ The Snuggle

man!!

I have not kept up with my blog like I want to lately but I am back!! I have been learning so much and it just seems I have had no time to write it out! I really want to get time to share about some stuff I am gleaning from the plagues in Exodus. Morgan is sick with pneumonia again and that sinus infection had me down for about a week but I am good to go!! =)
This is so good from Pastor Greg Laurie:


Homesick for Heaven

He has planted eternity in the human heart . . .

— Ecclesiastes 3:11

Have you ever really been homesick? Even in a beautiful place, surrounded by people you really like, you want to return home as quickly as possible. As they say, there is no place like home.

No matter what your actual home on earth is like, there is one home that all of us should be very homesick for. That place is called heaven. Deep inside of us, there is a homesickness for heaven, almost as though we have a homing instinct guiding us there.

It's amazing how God has built the homing instinct into animals. Against all odds, salmon come home from the sea to spawn in the rivers of their birth. In San Juan Capistrano, year after year, the swallows return to their nests at the mission. There is something built into those fish, those birds, that brings them home.

God has built that into each of us, too: an instinct, a desire, a homesickness for heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has planted eternity in the human heart." And because of that, we will never be fully satisfied with this life. Nothing will ever measure up to heaven.

You were created to know God. You were created to go to heaven.

God has put this homing instinct in you, and it will only be satisfied when you see Him face to face. Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to go home?

It really is a long day when you don't do anything.

I know I have a sinus infection by the way I feel and the way my teeth hurt so I am going to the dr. tomorrow but it has made for a long day being in the bed all day.

Please pray

Please pray for a family at my church that just lost their 3 month old son. My heart just breaks for them.

Bryant Cornell Sheppard
SHEPPARD, BRYANT CORNELL, Son of Marci and Brandon Sheppard, Brother of Brady Sheppard November 4, 2008 - January 31, 2009 Bryant Cornell Sheppard went to be with the Lord on Saturday, January 31, 2009. He touched the lives of so many in his short 3 months on this earth. From his tiny feet all the way up to his precious smile, he will never be forgotten in the hearts of his family and friends. Bryant is deeply loved by his mommy, Marci, his daddy, Brandon, his big brother, Brady, Granny Sue and Papa Richard Sheppard, Nana Kathleen and Grandpa Wayne Fox, Grandpa John and his wife Kris Robinson, along with Uncle Stephen and Aunt Beth Sheppard, cousins Blake and Drew, Aunt Ree Ree (Marie) and Uncle Dave Abell, cousins Ty and Kenna, and Uncle John Robinson, Jr. Bryant is also loved by Great Grandmother Helen Sheppard, along with many other family and friends. Bryant will always remain his parents' precious angel and Brady's baby brother, and they will hold him again in Heaven one day. They will be celebrating his life at a visitation at 10:30 am and a Memorial Service at 12:30 pm on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, at Hunter Street Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, Bryant's parents and big brother would like donations be sent to Children's Hospital or St. Vincent's Hospital in memory of Bryant Cornell Sheppard.