FORGETTING THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND, AND REACHING FORTH TO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE BEFORE,  I PRESS  TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING IN CHRIST  JESUS. PHILIPPIANS 3:13

 

HOLY FATHER;

WE ARE BEGINNING– AGAIN.

WE ARE SEEKING YOUR WILL FOR OUR LIVES– AGAIN.

WE ARE APPROACHING  A NEW YEAR  WITH EXPECTANCY AND ANXIETY– AGAIN.

YOU ARE THE SAME GOD   WHO CARRIED US THROUGH 2011. PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME!

YOU WERE PRESENT WITH US THROUGH THE SEASONS OF SOWING AND REAPING, RECEIVING AND REPENTING.

HOW WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR STEADFAST, IMMOVABLE LOVE TO US THROUGH JESUS.

THE CROSS BECKONS US — AGAIN.

FORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND — WE PRESS ON INTO 2012 SEEKING YOUR FACE AS THIS YEAR  UNFOLDS.

CHART OUR DESTINY.

OPEN AND CLOSE DOORS FOR US.

STRETCH OUR FAITH.

GIVE US NEW HORIZONS.

KEEP US FIT TO SERVE.

ESTABLISH SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE IN OUR LIVES.

BREATHE YOUR LIFE OVER US AND GROW US INTO  INTO  A PRAYING PEOPLE.

WHEN SIN GRABS OUR JOY, GRAB OUR CONSCIENCE.

WHEN WE STUMBLE, PICK US UP.

WHEN WE CATCH A GLIMPSE OF YOUR GLORY, IMPRINT IT UPON  OUR SOULS SO WE CAN SING IT, SPEAK IT, WRITE IT AND REMEMBER IT FOREVER.

OUR NATION NEEDS A MIGHTY SPIRITUAL  AWAKENING.

SEND THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BEGIN WITH ME AND THEN MOVE ACROSS OUR LAND TO THE NORTH, SOUTH , EAST AND WEST MOVING THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE TO A HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS!

OH GOD, COME INTO THE DAYS AND MONTHS AHEAD AND STIR YOUR PEOPLE TO REACH , MEET, ENCOUNTER AND SHOW YOUR LOVE TO  ONE ANOTHER.

ORCHESTRATE  OUR SCHEDULES.

ADD OR DELETE.

KEEP US AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE FOR WE WANT TO PLEASE ONLY YOU.

COME BACK INTO OUR CULTURE HOLY GOD WE CRY!

BRING REDEMPTION,FORGIVENESS, PARDON, MERCY –HOPE– AGAIN.

WE BOW DOWN AND PROMISE TO SOW OUR SEED BESIDE ALL WATERS– ” BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SOW SEED BY ALL WATERS.” ISAIAH 32:20.

WE PROMISE TO FOLLOW YOU.

WE SERVE A MIGJTY GOD!

WE LOVE YOU SUPREMELY.

HALLELUJAH!

YOU PROMISE US– ” THE WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS PEACE, AND THE EFFECT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, QUIETNESS AND ASSURANCE FOREVER.” ISAIAH 32:17

WE WILL HAVE PEACE AND ASSURANCE AS WE PRESS ON TO THE HIGH CALLING IN CHRIST JESUS.

HEAR THE PRAYERS OF YOUR PEOPLE AS  WE JOIN  OUR VOICES  AS ONE VOICE UNTO  YOU FOR  THE YEAR 2012,A CROSSROADS YEAR  IN THE HISTORY OF OUR LAND.

CHOOSE OUR LEADERS.

CHOOSE OUR WAY.

WE CHOOSE YOU– AGAIN AND AGAIN.

IN JESUS’ NAME WE PRAY

GOD BLESS EACH ONE WHO PRAYS IN AGREEMENT.

HAPPY NEW YEAR,

BILLIE

 

For with YOU is the fountain of Life; In  YOUR LIGHT WE SEE LIGHT. Psalm 38:10

LIGHT ILLUMINES, REFLECTS, POINTS THE WAY, GUIDES, AND GUARDS FROM DANGER.

WE NEED LIGHT…PRACTICALLY, EMOTIONALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.

DARKNESS HIDES, HINDERS AND  HOLDS US HOSTAGE .

JESUS CAME TO BRING AN ETERNAL  LIGHT FOR ALL PEOPLE.

HIS BIRTH WAS PLANNED, BY A GOD OF LIGHT, ATTENDED BY ANGELS WHO SANG OF HIS LIGHT AND SHEPHERDS AND WISE MEN FOLLOWED A STAR TO DIRECT THEM TO TO THE MANAGER.

HOW DID MARY BIRTH A CHILD IN SUCH A PLACE?

THERE WAS WARMTH FROM THE ANIMALS, AN  EARTHLY HELP MEET NAMED JOSEPH AND THE ENTOURAGE  OF THOSE COMING TO PAY HOMAGE.

BUT, IT ALL BEGAN WITH MARY AND JOSEPH WHO TRUSTED THE LIGHT OF TRUTH.

MARY ACCEPTED THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN ANGEL  THAT SHE HAD BEEN CHOSEN  TO BE THE MOTHER OF THE CHRIST, CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT….” MAY IT BE TO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID.” LUKE 1:38

JOSEPH WAS ALERTED IN A DREAM ALSO BY AN ANGEL WHO CONFIRMED TO HIM THAT” MARY HAD CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT– A SON –” THEY WOULD  CALL HIM  “IMMANUEL”– WHICH MEANS GOD WITH US–

“WHEN JOSPEH WOKE UP HE DID WHAT THE ANGEL OF THE LORD HAD COMMANDED HIM AND TOOK MARY HOME  AS HIS WIFE.”  MATTHEW1:24

THESE CHOSEN ONES LIVED IN THE LIGHT OF DEVOTION , FAITH AND OBEDIENCE TO THE GOD THEY SERVED.

THEY HEARD AND OBEYED.

OBEDIENCE REQUIRES ACTION NOT JUST ASSENT.

IT IS AN AMAZING ACCOUNT OF TRANSPARENT LIVES , OPEN TO THE LEADING OF GOD’S DIVINE LIGHT.

THEY HAD HANDS ON  INFLUENCE, LOVE AND WATCH CARE OVER THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.

STARS IN THE HEAVENS WERE USED TO GUIDE THOSE COMING TO CELEBRATE  THIS EVENT WHICH WOULD FOREVER PIERCE THE DARKNESS OF OUR WORLD– GENERATIONS, RACES, AGES WOULD KNOW HOW JESUS’ BIRTH WOULD CHANGE LIFE.

PARDON, FORGIVENESS. MERCY, GRACE RESTORATION WOULD ADORN HEARTS WHO RECEIVED HIM.

THE  JOURNEY OF THE MANGER, CHILDHOOD, MANHOOD WOULD UNFOLD THE MISSION OF A LOVING GOD  WHO WOULD RECONCILE A LOST WORLD UNTO HIMSELF THOUGH JESUS.

THE CROSS WOULD BE THE SYMBOL OF SACRIFICE AS JESUS’ BLOOD WAS POURED OUT FOR OUR SIN, ALL SIN, ALL MEN.

NOW THE CHRIST OF SCRIPTURES CAN LIVE WITHIN US BY HIS SPIRIT.  HALLELUJAH!

” BUT TO AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD.”JOHN 1:12

WE CAN HEAR, RECEIVE , BELIEVE AND THEN BELONG.

WILL YOU?

ONLY YOU CAN CHOOSE.

HOW?

BY OPENING UP YOUR HEART  IN PRAYER– INVITING HIM TO COME INTO YOUR LIFE, TO CLEANSE YOU OF ALL THE SIN THAT HAS BEEN WEIGHTING YOU DOWN BURYING  ALL HOPE. CONFESSION OF SIN IS THE DOOR TO OPEN .

HE WILL COME.

IF YOU DO THIS– HIS LIGHT WILL BECOME COMPELLING– IN THE WORD OF GOD, THROUGH PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW HIM, IN CIRCUMSTANCES, IN DECISIONS, IN ILLNESS, IN TRIUMPHS AND FAILURES, IN LOSS AND DOUBT, THROUGH IT ALL YOU WILL KNOW YOU BELONG TO HIM AND THEREFORE HIS LIGHT WILL OPEN THE WAY MOMENT TO MOMENT , DAY BY DAY…YES NIGHT TO NIGHT.

WILL YOU?

COME TO THE MANGER AND SEE.

A BABE WHO WILL BE KING.

KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS, YOUR KING, YOUR SAVIOR AND FOREVER HE WILL POINT THE WAY FOR YOU THROUGH ALL THE SEASONS OF LIFE.

THEN AS MEMBER OF THE FAMILY OF GOD YOU WILL MEET FOLKS  WHO LOOK DIFFERENT FROM YOU BUT YOU WILL KNOW THEM AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS  IN FAITH!

WHAT A CHRISTMAS GIFT, ETERNAL, EVERLASTING.

COME!

MERRY CHRISTMAS. FOLLOW HIS LIGHT!

BILLIE

 

 

“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the sun…

 A time to plant and a time to uproot…

 A time to weep and a time to laugh…

 A time to embrace and a time to refrain…

A time to keep and and a time to throw away…. ” Ecclesiastes 1:1,2b,4,5,6b

As I approach Autumn a  reflective stirring begins within my soul.

It was a change I feared  in my young Navy wife years  for usually my husband went on deployments  aboard aircraft carriers in the Fall… so I felt  loss.  There was a void  to be filled. Anxiety and loneliness would settle upon me like the  falling leaves of a tree shedding her excess.

My heart felt stripped of joy, exposed, abandoned.

Many military families back home live with these  feelings.

But I was not alone.

I was in a season of change.

My Heavenly Father was present  and ready to take me through but I had to reach out for His Love, His Comfort, His Presence.

I found comfort in His Word.

” Yet You are near , O Lord. and all Your commands are true.” Psalm119:151

I found confidence in prayer.

” Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself. he will answer when I call.” Psalm 4:3

I found a way to live with expectancy and hope.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  Isiah 40:31

Really? Yes, really.

Asking God to guide your  steps  each day in every decision is establishing  a rooted faith that will grow and flourish like a mighty oak  tree as the seasons come.

Now that I am a grandmother I look at the Autumn with a deep satisfaction in the Sufficiency of a God who is able  to sustain because HE remains.

How?

Because HE has proven His faithfulness day by day, night by night, moment to moment to me.

” The Lord  is faithful to all his promises.”Psalm 145:13

And now in the falling Autumn leaves I see God’s beauty in the weathering shades of  crushed crimson, muted gold, burnt umber and vintage yellow.

They are in transformation…

The tree remains rooted though denuded.

And so do we.

The momentary trail of leaves draws us to follow where change has brought us.

In war or peace, God is with us.

In planting or  uprooting, God has purpose.

In weeping or laughing, God reveals His love.

In embracing or refraining ,God steadies our faith.

In keeping or throwing away, God sculpts our character.

Seasons of faith must have pruning, nurturing and then blossoming.

Where will His Trail of Autumn Leaves lead you this year?

Will it be a move, a financial set back, a rite of passage with a child, an illness  of a parent, a job loss?

Will  it be a wedding, a graduation, the birth of a child,  a  bright creativity you discover?

Will  you decide to see God’s beauty in the midst of less or more?

You can.

Pray for the troops. Send them care packages. Be thankful that  you can sleep in cushioned beds  at night and awaken to enjoy this Autumn because  they are on watch in distant lands.  Adopt one and his or her family.Make a difference for a man or woman serving in the Armed Forces this Autumn.

If you do you will visit Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Germany– all around the world!

God will bless your life  as you bless others and  a Trail of loving concern will be visible to those who follow.

Someone is always watching and waiting .

” He makes everything beautiful in His time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” Ecclesiastes 1:11a

As we act in faith , God will intervene, heal , strengthen, mend, rescue, and  provide.

God Bless our troops!

God Bless  America!

God Bless you for responding!

 

WEB SITES FOR TROOPS:

http://:troopssupport.com — This will direct you to several places.

www.hickoryfarms.co/military (baskets for military under $30– no shipping costs)  special foods

www.foxsox.com — a site to buy socks for troops which they need. Winter is coming.

PLEASE MAKE THE EFFORT! :0)

 

How precious are your thoughts ,O God! How vast is the sum of them.

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of  sand… Psalm 139: 17-18a

 

Time at the beach in the summer is a truly an  experience of  release and renewal.

The constancy of the ocean roar punctuates the ever present wave movements every day whether sunny or stormy.

The voices of children remind us that we are like them — looking for a break …for some daydreaming time.

Riding the waves is exhilarating but also exhausting for  the ocean is a force that demands our constant attention.

The picnic  lunch is always  delicious  for no matter what  it is –the salt air makes us hungry.

An umbrella at high noon is a welcomed respite.

A good book  to read as  the afternoon  unfolds  provides an inner sanctuary to  somewhere untraveled.

BUT….IT IS THE SAND under your feet between your toes, a cushioned freedom that draws out the weary tension from your body and invites your mind to open the door to fresh perspective.

Countless  grains of sand  pillow our feet  restoring  to us a new rhythm  as we walk .

Liberated  from  our daily ritual  we breathe in fresh creativity.

SAND is amazing… tiny particles with shapes representing something that was broken.

Castles can be sculpted from it, forts, holes can be dug and one can be buried in it.

It is a warm, pleasurable  summertime phenomenon.

And   YET..the scripture tells us that God’s thoughts to us are as numerous as the grains of sand!!!!

What a concept!

Take time to think upon this  personal word to you from the Word of God!

HE  vigilantly, purposely  thinks about you and me  MORE profusely than the grains of sand!

Be reminded  of His love for you as you walk upon the sand this summer.

Take in His Love as you ” take in” the beach.

Love Him back with gratitude and thanksgiving as you live your life… aware that HE is present, watching and waiting to give  you More.

Ask for His Dreams.

They are bigger than yours.

Grow your faith.

” I led them with chords of human kindness with ties of love.”  Hosea 11:4b

Have a “Sandsational” Summer in Him!

Billie

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth; you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.  Psalm 70:20-21

 

Holy Father;

Another place in our nation has been broken.

Our hearts are so  moved at the images of faces stricken with disbelief and shock  at the devastation found in Joplin.

Property has been swept away, battered,  destroyed, leveled …and so have lives.

The enormity of this storm’s unrelenting  path of peril  evokes  prevailing prayer…a  deep cry to YOU!

So we we are here once more.

We cry out  for HELP to arrive from every corner of America.

We cry out for people to provide  monies, food, clothing, shelter in abundance.

We cry out for rescue of the perishing and on going care for the living.

Praise YOU for many hands that will come.

Praise YOU for the comfort YOU will bring to grieving families through YOUR people.

Praise  YOU that with every ending there is the promise of a new beginning.

OH FATHER raise up HOPE in the hearts of the people.

YOUR WORD admonishes  …” put their hope in God who richly provides… everything….” 2 Timothy 6:17b

YOU RENEW.

YOU RESTORE.

YOU RAISE UP.

Gather them together  and bond them to one another as they seek ways  to cope–as they walk through this season of disaster..

YOUR WORD declares  The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

We cry out  for healing.

Let every church that is surrounding this city become a place of refuge, resource, rest–  drawing others to enter.

Let groups assemble and begin to call out to YOU in prayer as they sort through their lives acknowledging what WAS and now IS.

Let the music of worship be heard from the lips of those who follow YOU and trust in YOU in all situations… for then YOUR PRESENCE WILL COME!

HEAR OUR CRIES for JOPLIN!

COME HOLY SPIRIT,  WITH COMFORT AND  HONOR REBUILD LIVES!

Almighty God we bow down and intercede with faith and anticipation for the people of Joplin MO.

They will rise up again.

In Jesus’ Name, we pray