Moving Forward

Yesterday during our morning worship, we sang Moving Forward. The lyrics are written out below.

The chorus says “I’m not going back I’m moving ahead …”

That got me to thinking about where I am. Am I moving forward? Have I moved back? Am I standing still? Of course I want to always be moving forward. Am I moving forward today? I have a choice today whether I will move forward or whether I will stand still or even whether I will move back.

The chorus goes on to say “Here to declare to you My past is over in You All things are made new…”

Sometimes we get bogged down in our past that we cannot move forward. It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday, how you acted, what you said, what you were involved in. Your past is over in Christ! Declare today that your past is over, it is behind you, and all things are made new. Scripture says that we are a new creature in Christ! Indeed, Christ makes all things new!

Declare with me today that we will follow Christ Forward.


Moving Forward Lyrics - Israel Houghton

What a moment ● You have brought me to ● Such a freedom I have found in You. ● You're the healer ● Who makes all things new ● Yeah yeah

Chorus:
I'm not going back ● I'm moving ahead ● Here to declare to you ● My past is over in You ● All things are made new ● Surrendered my life to Christ ● I'm moving moving forward

You have risen ● With all power in Your hands ● You have given me ● A second chance

Hallelujah hallelujah ● Yeah, yeah, yeah ● yeah, yeah, yeah

Chorus:
I'm not going back ● I'm moving ahead ● Here to declare to you ● My past is over in You ● All things are made new ● Surrendered my life to Christ ● I'm moving moving forward

You make all things new ● Yes ● You make all things new ● And I will follow You ● Forward


Let’s pray. Father, I thank You for speaking to my heart yesterday about always moving forward in You. I choose today to move forward. I thank You Father that our past is over in You and that You make all things new. If anyone is struggling with getting over their past, I pray Father that You will help them be an over comer. If anyone is struggling with moving forward in their relationship with You, I pray that You will help them and be their strength when they are weak. Thank You Father for loving us. We choose today to follow You forward. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Blessings,

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 21st wedding anniversary. How time has gone by! The picture was taken after the reception before we left the church. 

I met my husband, Terry, at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. We started off as great friends, had classes together, and were in a ministry organization together. After about 2 ½ years we started dating.

We got married the summer before our Senior year. We had one car and worked two jobs while going to school full-time. Later that Fall, we drove to Alabama on the weekends to work in a church.

After graduation we were full-time evangelists for several years before taking our first church. We were at our first church for almost 11 years. We are now at our second church. Out of 21 years of marriage, we have been in full-time ministry for 19 ½ years.

Last year for our 20th anniversary, he took me to Europe. No, not that kind of Europe. Our whole family plus a dear friend went on a missions trip to Romania. We had an awesome time there and seen many people touched and ministered to by God. My husband has been going to Romania several times a year on mission trips. They love him there and I got to meet the people he has talked about so much.

The journey has not been a bed of roses, but I am so thankful to have Terry with me on this journey. He is the best! And he truly spoils me. He said the other Sunday morning while preaching that he first wants to please God, then me, then his family, then the church.

I am one lucky girl to have found such a wonderful guy!

I love you honey very much and I am so thankful to God for bringing you into my life!


Happy 21st Anniversary!

Blessings,

Light

Let God's Word be your Light and you will find your way. 

My daughter, Sarah, picked this out and stated the above.  I am thankful that she is a seeker and God's Word is a Light to her path.

Check out more Word Filled Wednesdays at Internet Café.

Blessings,

Jochebed

Today's devotion was written by Mary Davis, a woman in my church. 

Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."

Insight, instinct, wisdom, discretion, faith are just some of the attributes that clothed Jochebed.

Her story is a story of trust, courage and determination. Jochebed understood that she couldn’t “fix things.” Not only did she understand she couldn’t fix things, she also understood she had a part to play in preserving the life of her baby boy, Moses. Leaving the humanly unfixables to God, she concentrated on what God wanted her to do in order to keep Moses alive and well.

Certainly there are times when we can do nothing but trust God. Once Moses was placed in the Nile River, he was out of her hands. She literally put him in God’s hands and trusted God without reservation.

There comes a point in time in the life of every Christian when we have to relinquish all to God. Knowing when to take our hands off of a situation is vitally important if we expect God to intervene and bring the thing we’re seeking for to completion.

Heavenly Father, there are circumstances that arise that we have no control over. And situations that confront each lady that we have to take our hands off and place in your hands. Like Jochebed we have no choice but to trust You without reservation. Father, it’s during times like these that we need your wisdom. Your Word says “For the Lord gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” So lead us to seek Your wisdom and not rely on our own self-sufficiency. Thank You Father, Amen.

Blessings,

Seek the Lord

What a promise we have in this verse.  If we seek God, we will find Him.  There is a condition on that promise though.  We must seek God with all our heart and with all our soul.  We can't seek Him half-heartedly.  We must give our all.

I want to be known as a seeker.

How about you?  Do you long to be a seeker?  You can.  Just seek Him with all your heart and soul and you will find Him!

Check out more Word Filled Wednesdays at Internet Café.

Blessings,

A Seeker's Heart

Yesterday morning we had a great service in church. God’s Spirit moved in a mighty way and the church was filled with His presence. My husband talked about us being seekers of God. Just as we would seek for a missing ring, or missing keys, we must seek God with all our heart.


God’s promises to seekers:

 

1 Chronicles 28:9 (NKJV) “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.

2 Chronicles 15:2 (NKJV) And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Jeremiah 29:12-14 (NKJV) 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

 

In Luke 19:1-4 we read about a man name Zacchaeus who did whatever it took to see Jesus. I remember singing the song in kid’s church about Zacchaeus was a wee little man … Anyways, he was a short man who climbed a tree to see Jesus. He was not going to let his stature keep him from seeing Jesus. Jesus noticed him and went to his house to eat.

Mary, Martha’s sister, made a priority to seek Jesus. In Luke 10:38-42, Mary planted herself right at Jesus’ feet so she would not miss anything He said. Martha was running around trying to get everything ready for Jesus. Rather than help her sister, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet.

In 2 Samuel 6:14-16 we read how David did not worry about what other’s said as he sought after God. 2 Samuel 6:14 tells us David wore a linen ephod which a priest would have worn. David laid aside his kingly garments and put on the linen ephod. And he danced before the LORD with all his might. He didn’t care how he looked. He was worshipping God. Sometimes we have to lay aside some things and not worry what other’s may say as we worship God, as we dance before the LORD with all our might.

We must be seekers of God!

We must do whatever it takes, whether it is pushing the plate away, turning the television off, whatever it takes to seek God.

We must make a priority to seek God. We cannot let other things, whether it’s for the Kingdom of God or not, to take away from time spent sitting at His feet.

We must not worry what other people say as we seek for more of God. People may not understand what we do or why we do things. We must keep our focus on seeking more of God.

As we seek God, as our hunger for more of Him in our lives grow, we will be filled.

Let’s pray. Father, please help us do whatever it takes to have You working and moving in our lives. Let us not worry about the opinions of others, but let us seek You as the only one we please. Thank You Father for the opportunity to seek Your face and to abide in Your presen

  

Blessings,

Serving Others

Serving others. I have had some thoughts swirling around this week. It all started on Monday when I read Week 5 of “If We are the Body” Bible study. You can read about it here.

The other night my husband and I went to visit our oldest church member, Grandma Lampie, who is 96 years old and in a nursing home. She has been there about a week and we had a great visit. She made us laugh and we made her laugh. I watched my husband interact with her. He would say something and she would give him “the look” like what are you talking about. I can picture it now. She and I worked together to give him a hard time, which he did not mind at all. While we were there, her dinner arrived. I got everything situated and then my husband fed her. I would wipe her mouth and help him. When she said she was done (after only a few bites), he would tell her he had another bite all ready for her so she would eat it. He was able to do that a couple of times before she said she was completely done.

When we left, I thought about how my husband served Grandma Lampie, by making her laugh, showing her love as well as feeding her. Needless to say, I was so proud of him.

My husband is a great example of someone who serves. Even though he is the senior pastor, he gets in and gets dirty - if need be.

Today, our society seems to be more concerned with self than with serving others. They want to make sure they are taken care of first, that they get their stuff done first, that their needs are met first. As Christians, we are called to serve so we must fight our flesh in order to do so.

In the church, we rely on people to serve in various capacities. When that doesn’t happen, the church suffers. The nursery is an important area that needs a lot of people to serve in, but few who will commit. There are times when some will commit in word, however when their time comes, there is always something else to do. That creates a hole in the ministry of the church.

Some may ask if I serve others, who will serve me? When thinking about this, I felt the Lord say to me, if you serve others, I will take care of you.

Gina, in her post for Week 5 states

“Our mind set should be one that is “others oriented.” We should rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us throughout the day into acts of service: whether big or small, whether noticed or not noticed; through a word, or an action, or silence, anything that puts another before ourselves. It may mean meeting a need regardless of the time of day or night, and being content to have, as Richard Foster describes it, “the divine nod of approval,” or, as Ephesians 6:7 says, doing service “as unto the Lord and not unto men.”’

This week I have been more mindful of serving others on my job, especially in the little things. I have been more mindful of showing appreciation to others and affirming them. To be honest, my concern is that I will get walked on and taken advantage of. That all may happen, however, I cannot let it stop me from being led by the Spirit in acts of service. I do desire the “divine nod of approval” and serving “as unto the Lord and not unto men”.

Let’s determine within ourselves that we will gladly serve others in word, in action, in big ways, in small ways, in secret, in open, in daytime, in nighttime, all for the Glory of God. Let’s determine within ourselves that we will be the hands and feet of Jesus to serve those around us whether friends, family, co-workers or complete strangers. Let us give of ourselves. After all, Christ gave of Himself completely by dying on the Cross.

Let’s go out and serve others!

Let’s pray. Father, I thank You for reminding me this week of my need to serve others more. Help me to serve others sacrificially without thought to self. Give me grace when I don’t think I can go on. Help me to be led by You to bless others. I thank You for my wonderful husband who is an example of one who serves. Continue to use him and bless him. I pray for those reading this that You will help as they serve others. Thank You Father! We praise You and give You glory for all that You do! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Blessings,