oh my bring it siestas!

Seriously, you guys cracked me up on the last post. I promise you...BRING IT...you will go down! Pinkmommy I have heard that the CHI is great. A sista in my bible study told me to get it. I am going to have to try that. We still need a pic of you girlfriend! As far as the BIG HAIR goes (Beth had some Texas BIG HAIR going on in "A Heart Like His" Check it!) I can remember going in the bathroom at school to "tease my hair" the madness! Then Mario One...and the powerpad?!?! Did anyone have a powerpad? My twin and I would stay up till all hours of the morning tip-toeing on that thing or hitting it with our heals...I put the smack down on that. Then, we can't forget duck hunt! Bring it Shelly and Teri! ha ha! Me and my pocket-rocker (before i-Pods). The shirt clips need to stay in the past...what about the banana clips? Just check out Forever 21, Old Navy or wherever and you will see this junk trying to make a comeback! No but seriously, I am one mean machine with games...I get so worked up that I break out into a sweat even playing competitive sports with 5 and 6 year olds...it is just wrong!
I LOVE some air hockey. People who know me will make fun of this one. When I would go on singles retreats I (and I am so serious) would be like...get your quarters ready and get in line because you are about to get beat! I want an air hockey table at the house but rod is against it because i will hit the puck so hard in my seriousness that it could cut your head off when it flies. I need therapy! Then, if I miss a block I am talking you will hear some loud screaming (No foul words just screaming). This is part of why Jenny has Jesus!
I have some drafts saved about remaining in the Vine on John Ch 15 so after I get Morgan I hope to finish it! Check out some Jeremiah chapter 2 and 15...I have been under some major conviction as I see bits of Israel and Judah in me. Lord help us to not turn from you...help us not to fall prey to worthless idols and where we have fallen help us to come back and walk in truth. You are good help us to believe You. We need You Jesus...fill us.

80's child even though I was born in the 70's

I was doing my hair today and I was thinking about how perfect my hair would have been in the 80's. I have the BIG HAIR going on and how I PRAISE HIM for flat irons. My hair condition is part of the fall...not a gift (I am thankful for my hair...it just takes work). I spend a lot of time fixing it so I won't scare everyone under the bed. This made me think tonight about the 80's and some of my competitive games and how if any of you want to challenge me to Mario One, Twister, Connect Four, or Uno, or wait (drum roll please) TETRIS (I am the bomb at some Tetris)...I will have to BRING IT! I will beat everyone one by one! Just kidding! Seriously, what were we thinking with the dos back then? I mean tease that hair girls...it was almost like building a nest for birds to find a safe home...and all the hairspray?!??! What about the crimping irons...leave it alone...please leave the crimp iron where it belongs in the 80's. The 80's needs to be history. Is anyone with me? I mean, why in the world are people trying to bring it back with the clothes and the dos? We even used to "stone wash" our jeans in the bathtub. Get a grip!! Enough of that.

Attention Shoppers

I am really wanting the new Target to open near my home so I won't have to go to Walmart anymore. Around 8:30 me and Morgan went to Target on 280. Who knew they closed at 9? Well, we get in there and the lady comes on announcing that they were closing. If she said it once she said it 50 times in the next 25 minutes to the point that I was getting anxiety. I couldn't even think about what I was there for. She said everything but GET OUT TARGET CUSTOMERS!!! It still did me good to drive and hear my old Psalms cd by Shane and Shane. I have been listening to Shane and Shane when it was Shane and Caleb. This cd I got (I have bought it 3 times since the original) when I started dating Rod. It is funny how music triggers memories. Anyway, the weather was so nice so it did me good to throw open the sunroof and hear the Word through song. That is one thing I dig about their music!

Then, we stopped at Arby's I was so thirsty and I ordered some cheese sticks and a large water with lemon. The guy in the drive through sticks his head out and asks me what water with lemon tastes like?? Hmmmmm. I am like seriously...go make yourself a water with lemon if you need to know. That was really random.

Adding to the random things...at the dentist this week he tells me that I may want to replace a silver filling for clear since and I quote "I am an attractive lady." Oh my, is this a new selling technique or something? Who knew I couldn't escape advertisements even at the dentist.

About the nursery in my last post...I came in to 12 screaming babies and one that was about to throw up on herself she was so happy to be there. One thing I always do when things are getting out of control is to sing...really loud and they all stop crying and stare at the weird lady. It works like a charm EVERY TIME! Then, I try to bring in some real praise music from my cd collection and I dance with the toddlers. You should try this next time it gets out of hand. It makes the time pass. And if you don't want the baptist kids dancing...you may not want the super fun girl (Jenny) keeping the kiddos!!

Then, on another note: Why do so many dudes pick their nose while driving down the road...especially in broad daylight (I have noticed this a lot lately...nothing new under the sun right)?!?!? At least be discrete...just a little. That is why I don't like to shake peoples hand...you really just never know when someone has been digging and they have not had the courtesy to wash their hands. Gross!

Sunday afternoon

I can't believe it but I have not posted in a couple of days and i have some stuff that I am learning stored up so after a nap I will get back on and share. I have been busy loading up my iPod with all my praise groove! I just got back from the gym. I usually don't go on Sundays but I have been pigging out this weekend. Yesterday, I ate my fave Cozumel! Then chocolate pie from Johnny Rays. I stopped at Sams on Saturday and they had a 12 pack of Apple Coffee muffins (I am freezing most of them now...my thighs won't be able to handle them). They are divine with a little "d". Today I had fries (yuck)!
I was listening to Ginny Owens "If You Want Me To" as I was exercising and I was on the backside of the gym and had to have a moment of hand lifting in that place. The Lord didn't want me to scare everyone so I was not seen but I got to the part in the live version of this song where it talks about Crossing over Jordan...and looking into His eyes to see that He has never let me down. It gives me the chills. As for me and my iPod we will worship the Lord!!! I may have let Him down but He does not fail and WILL NEVER EVER be unfaithful. I have to know that!

2 Timothy 2:11-13
11Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

PS!!! I had to keep the nursery this morning. That is such a calling and I am so thankful for those who are called to it...because I am not. I love babies but I DO NOT stomach the poo diapers! Seriously, I threw up this morning before church so I knew this was not a good start having a weak stomach and having to keep 12 poopin toddlers. It was no small production as I changed one little stinker. I usually scream in my church voice across the room at rod at how he should be changing the diaper since he can gut a deer. He doesn't give in to that one, he just sits calmly in the rocker and pretends that he can't hear me. I am not sure why but my child's poo doesn't stink! J/K!! And give Him some praise only two babies did a number 2!! WHOOO HOOO!

David Jeremiah
Friday, July 13

Cultivated Heart

But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Matthew 13:23

Recommended Reading Mark 4:10-13

If you had to choose the most important of all the stories Jesus told, which would you choose? You should consider the one He said was most important: "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" Jesus seemed to indicate that the parable of the four soils was a key to understanding the rest of His parables.

Why was it so important? Because the parable of the soils (Matthew 13:1-23) has to do with what is required for the Word of God to bear fruit in the life of the one who receives it. When the Word is sown in the heart, the condition of the "soil" (the heart) makes all the difference. If the heart is hard, Satan can snatch the Word away. If the heart is troubled or enamored with the world, the Word can die before it bears fruit. But if the heart is tender and ready to receive the Word, it will spring up and bear fruit "thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold." The key to spiritual fruitfulness is a heart in which the Word of God can be sown and take root.

Spend time daily cultivating your heart so it will be ready to receive the Word.

Plato located the soul of man in the head; Christ located it in the heart.
St. Jerome

Read-Thru-the-Bible
Ecclesiastes 6:1 - 9:18

prayer

PLEASE pray for me. I really need some extra prayer in a BIG way. love Jenny

Hurrying

I have to hurry so I can get to the dentist. Before I go I am going to go pick up my new IPod from the post office. I have to be real honest with you for a second. If you ever come to my house unannounced I WILL NOT answer the door. Even if my car is home I will just pretend that I am not here. Unless, you want me to bring my Glock to the door (which I have done...poor Bellsouth guy...he didn't see it, I left it on the stairs...you just never know these days). I was raised with a Police Officer for my father so he used to scare the living daylights out of me regarding all of the worst case senarios that could happen. He even told me before the prom to watch out for gangs trying to block us in while we were in the car. I was scared to death the whole time...looking for the gangstas to block me in. Then, if you had the slightest bald tires he would tell you how you were going to hit a patch of water then bam off in the ditch and you could die. Talk about scaring me into some new tires! He would tell me how to shoot at someone through my purse in a parking deck. The Lord has delivered me a lot from all of that fear... I can remember when I worked at the mall I had mace in hand with my keys between each finger just in case I needed to stab someone that approaches me...I am laughing so much right now. I DO NOT DO THAT ANYMORE!!! I even had a whistle that I could blow if someone was approaching me! He taught me that someone could try to cut off your ankles as they hid under your car so as you approached your car to look underneath before you got there. I am lucky I didn't get killed with all of my technique. Yesterday the door bell rang and Morgan and I heard it in the den. She and I were laying on the floor and I said shhhhhhhh! Then she said shhhhhhhhh! The doorbell kept ringing and I heard some movement at the door. I tried to stay calm for Morgans sake...false evidence appearing real! I can not believe how good Morgan was and she was real quiet. What am I teaching this kid?!?!? Anyway, I went to the door to find some dresses that the mail LADY had dropped off for the girls for a wedding (she is so precious by the way). Then, to my dread I walked outside and there it was: The receipt to pick up my IPod that they were trying to drop off. Let me say in my defense I still had my PJ's on so I really couldn't make it to the door. But I was thinking about the doors that God often knocks on that we refuse to open out of fear. I missed my blessing yesterday!!! I am about to go pick it up!

The Dread!

I am not kidding when I tell you that I am getting really worked up about tomorrow morning! I have a shooting pain in my mouth that has to be dealt with! I had a root canal two years ago and the dentist dropped his drill bit in my mouth and couldn't get it out so he just filled around it. Whenever it rains it is like I have arthritis in my mouth. So, tomorrow at 10 I will be getting drilled on. NO!!!! I have the worlds most sensitive teeth!

time is flyin!

I was going through my pictures and found these. Where is the time going and why so fast? These of Morgan just get me all emotional. My sweetie is not a little baby anymore. Here is baby's daddy as well. When I first saw him (I met him in the Singles ministry at my church) I was like who is that? My friend Angela told me who he was and that she used to date him. Well, I figured he was off limits if she used to date him...but she actually made the love connection for us. I am sorry for the vanity...but I thought he was extremely fine and I knew I would have to go after him. He had actually asked about me before I ever saw him. Anyway, we dated a few times and I broke up with him. Then after the 4th sporadic time of us dating we got serious. The Lord had some major work to do on me before we were in a serious relationship...I was what you would call a playa' with some serious game. I wish all of that work He did then took...but I am still learning and changing and growing. Anyway, if you will notice the camo he is usually wearing you will take note that he is a SERIOUS hunter. I am not playing. When we dated the last time and talked about marriage I would try to break things off and he would talk me out of it. I told myself I would NEVER marry a hunter. He would be at the hunting club and I would call him and let him know that things just weren't going to work out. He said that he would talk me out of it to save me the embarrassment of begging him back. Such confidence!!




He looks happier above than he did on our wedding day! SERIOUSLY! I will put a pic in of the wedding so you can see his expression then. He was in a back brace from breaking his back when we got married so maybe that is not fair. He had just started walking the day before our wedding.


don't be confused about the above picture, she is a mommas girl through and through!

Morgan and her bud Jackson


Cutie Pie!!! the days of posing for pictures are OVER!

Unmet needs

My friend Tarra sent this to me in a email it is so good. I think we need to apply this to everyone not just the man in our life. I have really learned that all of my disappointments are opportunities for me to come to know Him more. He is the only one that does not fail. Even if our circumstances in life aren't what we think they should be...He is the Blessed Controller and He is good.

Unmet Needs

Many years ago I read a book by Walter Trobisch on marriage, and I think the title was something like I Loved a Girl. I remember very well a quote of his. It went something like this: "There is not a man on earth who can satisfy the heart of a woman." I reflected on that quite a bit, and I am pretty sure it is true, true, true. A mere man who is made of flesh and blood simply does not have the capacity to satisfy the heart of a woman. It is impossible. A woman's heart is created by God, and it is a mysterious thing (a real piece of work). So it makes sense that only He, the Creator God, can really fill, satisfy, complete, and meet the needs of a woman's heart. This is important for women in all stations of life to chew on.The unmarried woman must realize that even though a husband is a tremendous gift from God, she cannot expect a husband to meet her deepest needs (whatever they are). Only God can do that, and He does it whether she is married or not.

The engaged woman has to get a good hold on this idea before she is married, otherwise she is setting herself up to be bitterly disappointed as she makes unrealistic demands on her new husband.

And obviously the married woman must grip this important truth, or else she will find herself being critical and self-absorbed. Only God Himself can fill the needs that He created in a woman's heart.

I don't think women themselves can understand their own needs for affection, affirmation, security, and love. So how on earth can women expect a fallen man to satisfy those needs that she herself can't figure out? What a relief to get this straight.

This does not mean that a woman does not need a man. Oh no. Far from it. But she cannot look for a man to do what only the omnipotent One can do. A husband can do many things. But he cannot know all his wife's needs, he cannot be there every time she needs him, he cannot say the "right" things, do the "right" things, all at the "right" time, and be the perfect supplier of all her wants and desires. A husband is not the Holy Spirit. He cannot save. He cannot justify.

Women are famous for complaining that, "My husband just isn't meeting all my needs." Welcome to the universe! Of course your husband isn't doing that. I don't think he is supposed to. The problem comes from 1) thinking that he can in the first place 2) assuming that a limited creature can do what only the omnipotent God can do, and 3) being so very focused on your needs at all instead of on your calling as your husband's helper.

Here's a novel idea to consider: How in the world am I as a wife going to meet all my husband's needs? How many women really grapple with that one?

When we let go of how well we are being loved, and focus on our beloved, we are set free from many things that distract and disappoint us.

Holy Spirit

This weeks devotion from the Living Proof site.

Psalm 29

A Psalm of David.

1 Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones,

Give unto the LORD glory and strength.
2 Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name;

Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

The God of glory thunders;
The LORD is over many waters.

4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;
The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars,
Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire.

8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth,
And strips the forests bare;

And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”

10 The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood,

And the LORD sits as King forever.

11 The LORD will give strength to His people;
The LORD will bless His people with peace.

True Love

I can remember watching mothers and their children eat and drink after each other and think: oh nasty I would not do that! I am an extreme germ phobe and I will not drink after other people and that sort of thing(even family...I just think it is disgusting). Well, all of those rules flew out the window when I had Morgan (flesh of my flesh). I knew it was true love tonight when she sneezed in the chicken salad that we were eating (Mrs. Stratton's Gold) after Bible study...we just continued to eat it with our wheat thins in hand. Also, tonight she decided to plant one on her momma! GRACE...unmerited favor! I don't normally get a free kiss from her...I usually have to steal my sugars! She planted one on me and the Lord knew how I would love that sweet surprise!
The Lord is also working a word in me that I am going to share tomorrow...but for now I have had a long day!!

My girlie group for the Summer!!

Here is momma Beth!

Here are most of the girls from Bible study! Check Beth out in the tv!!! For those of you that couldn't make it...we missed you and you better be back! I hope I don't scare you...ha ha!



these girls below weren't paying me any attention...j/k!!

Are they into it or what?

Aren't they pretty! Jenny please quit with the pictures is what they were telling me!!!

My Big Girl going to Mothers Day Out

The Big Girl
mommy don't go. she was just starting to cry as I snapped this shot and left.




going to school



getting in the car



arriving with her new backpack!!!




I hate that she has to go to Mother's Day Out...daddy's orders...but here are some pics. She cries and cries when I leave her.

Nap Time

I am about to take a nap before Bible study...please don't be jealous. Also, I am going to dream about my dinner plans at the Olive Garden on Thurs. Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken on top. Amy better not cancel...but if she does, me and Jesus will be eating there. And no the Jesus I am talking about is not my Spanish friend...it is the Jesus!

Last night, around midnight, I went in Morgans room to check on her. She is one little dancing machine people and she was still going strong watching Curious George. When I walked in...I was thinking no she cant still be up...she was. Anyway, I put on Elmo for her and she starting getting her groove on to the intro. I saw those pig-tales flying and those cute little chubby cheeks just a grinning. I took such delight in seeing how precious she is. We have to have dance parties every day ( EVERY DAY ) to CeCe Winans...she has the right momma because I sure don't mind. Who do you think teaches her this stuff?? If you come to Ms. Jenny's you can count on a dance for Jesus party. I have been doing this for years! She really has some moves for a 2 year old and her dad will agree to that. She is so special to me and I thank Him for His tenderness, grace , and mercy in sharing her with me. I don't think we will ever understand the delight our Father takes in us...but I sure am thankful for the glimpse.

Sweet Shelly tagged me so here it is....

Here are the rules:

1. those tagged will share 5 things they dig about Jesus…
2. those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers…
3. those tagged will post a comment here with their name and a link to their “dig” Jesus list…

1. I love that He loves me no matter what i have done and that He comes chasing after me and will not let me stay where I am at....

2. I love that I have had to depend on Him to be my everything and He has not disappointed. I have truly known what it means for Him to say that His love is unfailing. PRAISE YOU!

3. I love that He gave us His word and that it is so enduring...and that He is so Holy yet HE would endure with me. I love that we can Know HIM!

4. I love Him for rescuing me from myself and darkness.

5. I love that He is so repetitious with me...constantly driving home the same points over and over. Also, Shelly stole my line because I am actually His favorite!! :) LOL!

Now I will try to tag five people!!!

Psalm 49

I read Psalm 49 last night and was so blessed by it. I hope you can drink it in like I did. It is amazing how you read something so many times and then it just jumps out to you! I read this and then jumped to Psalm 50 and I am talking got some Holy Fear going on!!!

David Jeremiah

I am so convicted over reading this. Just this morning I was so cold (because Rod keeps the air low at night) and I have gotten to where I can feel my bones while I sleep...anyway, I didn't want to get out of the bed this morning so I layed there for extra time and I felt the nudge of the Spirit to get up! So I did and I put on my wonderful pink robe! Then I read this!!

Tuesday, July 10
Look Up in the Morning
Dr. David Jeremiah
Turning Point

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.Psalm 5:3
Recommended ReadingPsalm 59:16-17
Bertha Smith served the Lord in a bitterly cold part of China. During the day she wore thirty pounds of clothing, and at night she slept under heavy bedding and with a hot water bottle. Her greatest challenge came in the early morning hours when she wanted to rise early so she could have her quiet time before the scores of interruptions that each day brought. She would struggle in the darkness to put on her layers of clothing, then break the ice to wash her face in the cold water; and she would slip out to a particular haystack where she would rake aside the frosted part of the hay, kneel down, and spend time with the Lord before the sun came up.
Shame on us when we neglect our morning devotions! Most of us live in heated and air-conditioned homes, with padded slippers, hot showers, and plentiful breakfasts.
There's no better way to launch a new day than with the Lord through Bible study and prayer. Even Jesus himself rose a great while before daylight to slip to a nearby mountainside for prayer before the day's work began (Mark 1:35).
Have you been looking up in the morning?
The morning is, as it were, the cream of the day; let the cream be taken off, and let God have it.Thomas Watson
Read-Thru-the-BibleProverbs 27:1 - 29:27

Worship Defined

From Walk in the Word by Pastor James MacDonald
Worship Defined
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind . . .” Luke 10:27
We were created and saved for the sole purpose of bringing glory to God. True worship recognizes that I am for Him. I breathe for Him. I live for Him. I spend my life for Him. The essence of worship is proclaiming God’s rightful worth and position. It’s one of the reasons why we go to church: to sweep out the peripherals that have crowded God out of His central place in our lives.
So much of what passes for worship these days misses that mark. Worship is not about me-what God does for me and how He benefits me. Worship is not singing, “Hold me close, let Your love surround me, bring me near . . .” An element of testimony is fine, but worship is singing to God. The joy of worship begins when we break the chains of self to be free to focus on God once and for all. God is not some exalted human being at the top of the mankind chain. God is ineffable glory. He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). He is not like us at all. He says of Himself in Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
God leads us to the place of worship because that is the place where we rightly belong. The word worship in the Old Testament means “to bow before.” It’s the picture of pressing your forehead to the ground in extreme humility and recognition of the infinite superiority of the one who is worshipped. That is our rightful place. The amazing thing is not that God invites our worship, it’s that He would care about what we as sinful people would say about Him at all and even more-that He would seek it (John 4:23).
Though I can’t explain it exactly, when the God of the universe is rightly worshipped, powerful things happen. When Jesus is passionately adored without shame or pretense, without entertainment or needless comedy, God shows up.

Holy Whoopin!

these are from my friend Donna and the Lord just spanked my rear end with these. I have been harboring offenses and nursing them feeling completely justified and I am wrong...no matter how hard or continual the trial or hurt.

Unoffendable

By Francis Frangipane

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek. 36:26).

God has a new heart for us that cannot be offended, an "unoffendable" heart. Beloved, possessing an unoffendable heart is not an option or a luxury; it?s not a little thing. Consider: Jesus warns that, as we near the end of the age, a majority of people will be offended to such a degree that they fall away from the faith. Listen carefully to His warning:

"Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another . . . and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Matt. 24:10-12 KJV).

?Many? will be offended; the love of ?many? will grow cold. My prayer is that we will hear His words with holy fear.

When we allow an offense to remain in our hearts, it causes serious spiritual consequences. In the above verse Jesus named three dangerous results: betrayal, hatred and cold love. When we are offended with someone, even someone we care for, we must go to them. Otherwise, we begin to betray that relationship, talking maliciously behind their back to others, exposing their weaknesses and sins. We may mask our betrayal by saying we are just looking for advice or counsel, but when we look back, we see we have spoken negatively to far too many people. Our real goal was not to get spiritual help for ourselves but to seek revenge toward the one who offended us. How is such action not a manifestation of hatred? For an offended soul, cold love, betrayal and hatred go hand-in-hand.

People don?t usually stumble over boulders; they stumble over stones, relatively small things. It may be that the personality of someone in authority bothers us and soon we are offended. Or, a friend or family member fails to meet our expectations, and we take an offense into our soul. Beloved, if we will ?endure to the end,? we will have to confront the things that bother us.

When Jesus warns that we need endurance, He is saying that it is easier to begin the race than finish it. Between now and the day you die, there will be major times of offense that you will need to overcome. You might be in such a time right now. Do not minimize the danger of harboring an offense.

No one plans on falling away; no one ever says, ?Today, I think I?ll try to develop a hardened, cold heart.? Such things enter our souls through stealth and it is only naiveté that assumes it couldn?t happen to us. I know many people who consistently become offended about one thing or another. Instead of dealing with the offenses, these people carry them until the weight disables their walk with God. You may be doing fine today, but I guarantee you, tomorrow something will happen that will inevitably disappoint or wound you; some injustice will strike you, demanding you retaliate in the flesh.

The Root Of Offense
An offense can strike at our virtues or sins, our values or our pride. It can penetrate and wound any dimension of the soul, both good and evil. I once brought a series of messages about gossip. Most people saw their sin and repented, but a core group of gossips were greatly offended and ultimately left the church. When the Holy Spirit exposes sin in someone?s soul, if we refuse the opportunity to repent, we often become offended at the person who brought the teaching. Instead of humbling our hearts, we are outraged at the pastor or teachers in the church. Truthfully, most of the time, I have no idea who specifically needs to hear what I?m teaching, but God knows.

Paul told Timothy to ?reprove, rebuke, exhort? (see 2 Tim. 4:2). He didn?t say, ?exhort, exhort, exhort,? but exhortation is what we receive in most churches. Certainly, we need to be encouraged, but there are also times, beloved, when we need to be reproved and rebuked. Today, there are preachers who are afraid to preach truth for fear people will react and leave the church. The end result is a church of easily offended people who cannot grow beyond their inability to accept correction.

People don?t change by exhortation alone. There are areas in all of us that need to be confronted and disciplined. The pastor who refuses to discipline and correct those in sin is in disobedience to God. He is unable to lead people into any truly transforming changes in their lives; they will not ?endure to the end? if they cannot be corrected (see Matt. 24).

We need to become a people who say, ?Lord, show me what needs to change in me.? I?m talking about growing up. A wise man will receive a rebuke and he will prosper. But a fool rejects his father?s discipline (see Prov. 15:5).

Personal Offense
An offense can wound our pride when we are not recognized for our good works or ministry. This happened to my wife and I long ago while in California. We were young pastors at a conference when the main leader decided to personally greet each minister and wife. He greeted the couple on our right and then turned to his staff to ask a question. A moment later he returned, but passed us by and went to the couple on our left. Everyone around us saw we were bypassed. We were embarrassed and offended. But my wife wisely observed that we could allow this thing to hurt us or we could see it as an investment in sensitivity toward other people?s feelings. The offense taught us how others feel when they are ignored. Do you see this? You must make that offense become an opportunity to become more Christlike.

The occasions for taking offense are practically endless. Indeed, we are daily given the opportunity to either be offended by something or to possess an unoffendable heart. The Lord?s promise is that He?s given us a new heart: a soft, entreatable heart that can be filled with His Spirit and abound with His love.

Lord, forgive me for being so easily offended and for carrying offenses. Father, my heart is foolish and weak. Grant me the unoffendable heart of Jesus Christ. Amen.

www.frangipane.org

Unoffendable
Part Two
Francis Frangipane

?Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another . . . and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold? (Matt. 24:10-12 KJV).

The Sequence That Leads To Apostasy
In our last teaching we looked at offenses and examined the lethal effect an offended spirit could have upon our lives. We discussed how the only way to not be permanently offended was to attain the unoffendable heart of Jesus Christ.

Attaining Christ?s heart is not a minor issue. Remember, Jesus warned that, in the last days, ?many? would be offended. A wounded spirit is not the same thing as an offended spirit - an offense occurs when we do not process our wounds in a Christlike manner. Indeed, an offended spirit, left unattended and brooding in our minds, will soon manifest as betrayal, hatred and cold love. Jesus said offenses would be the ultimate cause that leads many to fall from faith. Listen well: Jesus linked the real cause of apostasy not to wrong doctrines, but wrong reactions.

Aren?t right doctrines important? Of course, but we can have right information and still have a wrong response. Doctrinal information can be upgraded and refined, but Proverbs warns that someone ?offended is harder to be won than a strong city,? and ?contentions? between people ?are like the bars of a castle? (Prov. 18:19).

Yes, beware of false leaders, but more deceitful than false prophets or teachers is our own heart when it is offended (Jer. 17:9). Are you living with an offended heart? If so, you are gradually slipping away from true Christianity, which is known for its agape love.

Thus, dealing with an offended heart is vital in maintaining ongoing spiritual maturity. For this reason, we need to look again at the things that offend us.

False Expectations
Unrealistic or exaggerated expectations inevitably will cause others to fall short and offend us. Some desire their spouse or pastor or friends to meet their every need. However, at the deepest level, our soul was created to find its security in God, not man. When the Almighty truly becomes our security, our peace flows from our awareness of His love and unlimited capabilities. As people who put their confidence in God, we can live comfortably with imperfect people around us.

Still, the very power of our expectations can choke out the sweetness of a personal relationship. Suppose that, instead of burdening people with our expectations, we simply learned to appreciate them for themselves - no strings attached. What if we approach family and friends with gratitude for what they are doing rather than disappointment for what they failed to do?

Suppose that a husband, instead of expecting a full course dinner from his wife each night, learned to appreciate whatever she was able to offer him? Then, instead of his failed expectation degrading into an offense, there would be a living, sincere appreciation for the food his wife prepared. I know we have arrangements by common consent, but in reality, a wife is under no obligation to cook special meals or do housekeeping. You did not marry her to be your housekeeper, but to become one with her.

Or imagine a husband who works a long, tiring job. However, his wife expects that he will work another two hours at home or go shopping with her or listen attentively about her problems. What if, instead, she welcomed him at the door and sincerely thanked him for daily giving himself to support their family? What if she met him, not with demands, but with appreciation? Perhaps she might even massage his shoulders and, because of love, have his favorite meal prepared.

You see, expectations can seem like legitimate aspects of a relationship, but they can also cause us to be disappointed and offended when people fall short. I have known situations in the past where my expectations actually blinded me to the efforts being made by a loved one. They were trying to improve in an area I was unaware of because my focus was preset upon a different expectation. I should have been grateful and encouraging.

Of course, today I discuss issues and expectations with those close to me, but the weight of my expectation is not on others, but upon myself to be Christlike and sensitive to those around me. I put a premium upon enjoying the uniqueness of others, sincerely thanking God for their contribution to my life.

When God Himself Offends Us
The fact is, false expectations can become a source of many deep offenses. However, one of the worst offenses we can suffer is when God Himself purposely offends us.

In 2 Kings 5, we read the story of when Naaman, a Syrian general, sought to be healed of leprosy by Elisha, the prophet. When Naaman and his entourage arrived at Elisha?s house, Elisha didn?t greet him personally, but instead sent his servant with a word/cure for Naaman. It was a simple assignment for the military leader: wash seven times in the Jordan River. However, the cure offended Naaman. Why didn?t the prophet himself come out? Why this muddy Jordan? Scripture says that ?Naaman was furious.?

An offended spirit is an angry spirit. In this case, Naaman was beyond mad; he was furious. Do you find that you are always mad at a particular person? It?s because they have offended you and you haven?t forgiven them. Naaman was offended at Elisha, but what was the real cause of Naaman?s offense? Listen to his words. He said, ?Behold, I thought, ?He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper?? (v. 11).

Catch the phrase, ?Behold, I thought . . .? In truth, Naaman was not offended by Elisha, but by his own failed expectations. He probably spent many hours envisioning the moment of healing. He even pictured himself testifying of how the man of God healed him. When it didn?t happen according to his plan, he was offended.

Friends, before the Lord heals you or assigns you some new, elevated position of service, He will often offend you. Why? What is it that gets offended in us? Usually, it is our pride. We come to God desiring physical healing, but the Lord wants us not only to be healed, but to be humble. Yes, God heals us through our faith, but there our times when our own pride keeps us from receiving the method of God?s healing. The Lord offends us to humble us, so He can give us grace. Faith works through grace, but God only gives grace to the humble.

Look at how often Jesus offended people before He healed them. Once, He actually spit on the ground, made mud and put it on a blind man?s eyes, and then told him to walk across town that way! Imagine if you were next in the healing line and saw what the guy before you had to do. Admit it, we each would be looking for another healing ministry, one that is a little less offensive! On another occasion He told a woman who came seeking her daughter?s healing that she was an unclean dog; another time, He stuck His fingers in the ears of a man to heal his deafness. The Lord often offended people before He healed them.

If we would learn to humble ourselves in the offense, we would discover that the apparent offense was, in realty, a door that led into the manifest power of God. When Jesus called the Canaanite woman a ?dog,? instead of being offended, she said, ?Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs? (Matt. 15:27). When Jesus told the man to walk across town with mud in his eyes, the man didn?t argue or ask for a more dignified healing; he humbled himself and came back seeing. When Elisha told Naaman to dip in the Jordan seven times, the offense wounded him. Yet, when he humbled himself, his leprosy was replaced with the skin of a little child. His skin became as a child, because his heart, through humility, became as a child.

Maybe you haven?t received your healing or breakthrough yet because to walk the path set before you is beneath your dignity. Maybe you need to get rid of your dignity and go to that Pentecostal or Baptist church you?ve been making fun of, then ask them to pray for you. God wants to heal you, but He also wants to renew and transform you with His grace.

Overcome Offenses
When we study what Jesus taught, it is obvious that He came to make us ?unoffendable.? Consider: He says that if someone slaps you on one cheek, offer him the other. He said to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. What He?s really doing is showing us how an unoffendable heart of love overcomes all adversity.

We pray, ?Lord, I want to change.? To answer our prayer, He sometimes must put us in situations that perfectly offend us. The offense itself awakens our need of grace. Thus, the Lord precipitates change by first offending the area of our soul He desires to transform. He does not expect us to merely survive this adversity, but to become Christlike in it. Ask Joseph in the Old Testament: the ?land of offense? became the land of his anointing and power. Listen my friends: the destiny God has for man unfolds or dies at the junction of offense. How we handle offense is the key to our tomorrow.

?Those who love [God?s] law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble? (Ps. 119:165).

Lord, grant me that new creation heart that can walk as Jesus walked, through a world of offenses without stumbling. I want to see everything as an opportunity to pray, everything as an opportunity to become Christlike. Lord help me to interpret offenses as opportunities that lead to transformations. Grant me, Lord Jesus, the pulse and beat of Your unoffendable heart. Amen.


www.frangipane.org

To the Unknown Caller

I guess my info is pretty readily available so I just want to speak to the Unknown caller that keeps calling my cell:

If you block your number I WILL NEVER answer your call. If you don't leave a message I will not call you back. I screen!

Just had to get that off my chest...I am sick of the restricted calls every other hour!

bad knees

Just a brief word if you have kids:

DO NOT LET THEM run cross-country or track starting in the 7th grade. I started running year round in the 7th grade and up until recently. My knees are killing me from it. I decided while I was feeling better this morning to go to the gym and I am not sure what possessed me but I ran in spite of knowing that I would have to pop some ibuprofen later. No one has to force me to exercise because I love it but I just wanted to give some advice. The irony though is that I can bulk up by looking at a treadmill and I am actually smaller if I don't exercise...weird.

Ranting to the blog world

Life couldn't be more fun at the Williams house! I have been nauseous and I won't name the other thing....but let's just say I am experiencing my good friend number 4. AND NO I AM NOT PREGNANT either. After all the GI fun I am thinking of having my tubes tied since I have had so much fun puking.

I am not sure what is wrong with me but my body doesn't agree with food anymore. You know when you are sick and your sense of smell triggers things making it worse?? Well, I just almost divorced Rod for making hamburgers when I told him how sick I was. I mean have some respect for the sick girl! He said he has to eat and that I am always sick....then I had to pray for the Lord to have mercy on Him (since he is making lite of my trials j/k) so that he doesn't get sick like I have over the last couple of years. Anyway, Morgan just ate her own poop. Rod changed her and some got out (I really don't understand how she has escapee poops every time he changes her). She poured out the deluxe bag of skittles (all of the precious reds and purples...gone!) and somewhere along the way she made the mistake of picking up the tiny brown skittle...and what a horrible taste, this was no skittle it was poo. She quickly gave it to her dad. I am so glad it was him this time.

How will I tie all of this in to Jesus you ask? Well, Jesus was fully God and fully man and He...the Lord of glory...pooted (I don't do that), went to the bathroom and etc just like all of us! Don't you know He and His disciples set around pulling each other's finger...you know He had to be funny too like that...fully God and fully MAN!! Food for thought.

No more pizza for me. AS SOON as I got finished typing the last words from my entry yesterday I began to throw up. I was wondering why in the world I get sick almost every Friday night and I realized it is because I almost always have pizza on Fridays. I must have some sort of allergy to it and I am going to say farewell to pizza. So long...I will miss you...but I won't miss what you bring to me after I eat you!

Hey for real, I was reading again this morning about the Israelites and how God brought them up out of their bondage and provided for them. He tested them in raining down manna and giving them instructions as to what to gather to see whether they would obey Him.
Exodus 16:3-4
3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

I am just going to be really honest here. I have grumbled and complained after God had brought me out of my own personal land of slavery. It is easy, but dangerous, to look back on where God has delivered us from and to and then start to grumble and complain. We buy into the lie that things were better in slavery (if we come up against hard circumstances) and we have a propensity to want to return believing that things were better there. I have been the dog returning to her vomit. Have you ever seen a dog eat vomit? I have...they throw up and then maybe eat some grass or something and then eat their vomit. It is sick! I threw up last night and it is awful. I know some people have eating disorders and they throw up. I am sorry but I would starve myself before I would want to throw up. I hate it. With both pregnancies I threw up the whole time, all day. Not just in the morning...whoever called it morning sickness was a liar. Anyway, me returning to my folly, and the places God has said to leave, is like me throwing up the nastiness and then going back to eat it. Look at Numbers 11 the children of God are at it again:
5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-- also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.
6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"
Instead of being content with the manna from heaven they wanted what they had in their slavery. They forgot the backbreaking, laborious, slavery that they lived in and felt that it would have been better if God had left them to die in Egypt. Lord please help us to be content and more than satisfied in You. You are enough yet in our nearsightedness and wantonness we are prone to crave the lesser things. God help me to remember what a great deliverance You have brought me through. Lord give us more of You and help us not to take up friendship with this world. You are what we need Lord. Give us a Holy Hatred for what you hate!


1 Corinthians 10:21
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.

1 Corinthians 10