The God Who Lives Inside Me and Balance

Lately God has been showing me a lot of things. Some through scripture, through a book, my mom, and my pastor. I don't really know how to express these things, but I have a desire to share what God has been teaching me, so I'll just try to summarize everything the best way I can.

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Tonight's scripture that jumped out at me, while my pastor was preaching, was Romans 8:6. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." So many times I dwell on selfish, worldly thoughts because I think that those are the thoughts that make me happy. But this verse clearly says that spiritual thoughts bring life and peace, something that I look for just like most other Christians.

Last night I was reading a book called "The Pursuit of God" by A. W. Tozer. He talked about the temple and more specifically, the place called The Presence of God that was separated by a veil. A. W. Tozer elaborated on how great an experience it was for the priest to go into that place once a year. That very veil that separated us from the Presence of God was rent the day of Christ' crucifixion. Now I  have the privilege to spend time in the presence of God every day. Even more, He lives inside of me! The greatest, most powerful, all knowing, prince of peace, maker of all that ever was and ever will be, the wonderful savior, the beginning and the end, lives inside of me!

He wrote, "Love and mercy and righteousness are His, and holiness so ineffable that no comparison or figures will avail to express it. Only fire can give even a remote conception of it." Think about it. God appeared unto Moses as a burning bush, he lead them through the wilderness as a pillar of fire, "the fire between the wings of the cherubim in the holy place was called the 'shekinah' the Presence," in the New Testament God filled the place at Pentecost as a fiery flame, and in Revelation John says "his eyes were as a flame of fire." I had never heard those illustrations put together in such a way. I thought that was really amazing!

Lastly, I'm trying to learn how to balance my family life and church life with my work life. I know that I've been putting too much emphasis on my job because I truly feel like they need me so I want to be there. But I need to learn to do everything that is required of me to the best of my ability AND NO MORE. God did not call me to be the best medical coder in all of Georgia or the employee of the year. He called me to be a happy sister who is there for her brothers and sisters, a loving daughter who is there to help and spend time with her parents, and a faithful church member who is not too busy to cook for church dinners and sing for the sick and dying. I know easing up on my "career" is the right thing to do, which will not be easy. But with God's guidance I will learn how to balance it all in a way that is pleasing to God and still satisfactory to my employers as well. The main goal is to please God because when this life on earth is over, it will not matter how many awards I receive for being a great medical coder. God wants to see me live a life that will glorify Himself. And that's what I want to strive towards.

Unfinished Work

After I posted that I was going to stop blogging I started praying about it again. The fact is, I don't have peace about closing my blog. Even thought I may think that I have better things to spend my time on than writing a post here and there for just a handfull of people to read, God obviously thinks otherwise. I realized that if I don't have a firm place to publish my articals and occasional poems and fiction, I wouldn't write as much.

So I am going to leave my blog up, but with a different format. I have added a page where I have my articals indexed by topic. This way when someone comes to my blog they will be able to read on things they are interested in and not have to weed through all my blog posts. Along with this I won't be posting as often, only as the Lord leads.

I might make more changes so that it is more organized and more of what I want. I guess I'm leaning more towards a website feel with the blog being a bonus. So come back to see what's changing. And please comment and let me know what you think!

Amazing Song

The other day while I was looking for a new way to play "Come Thou Fount" I came across this really amazing you tube video. While I listened and watched it I could feel the holy spirit moving in their praise. The whole video seems so holy and genuine. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it! This one is worth passing along.

"Come Thou Fount"

Something Else to Do

It was Chirstmas time and I felt overwhelmed. I had so many people to buy for, gifts to make, gifts to wrap, parties to go to and food to cook for those parties, along with everything else that goes on in life. I was ready for things to slow down.

Shortly after Christmas it was time to get Relay for Life fundraisers going. That meant brownies to bake for the bakesales, flyers to print for advertisement, carnivals to help organize, more baking to do, and lot of meetings to attend.

While in the middle of raising money for the Cancer Society a lady I work with was about to retire and I was volunteered to compile a scrapbook for her, a service that I hated to turn down. So things got even busier.

Now all of those activities are over and my life has calmed down to a slower pace . . . but not for long. The garden is already requiring some attention and before long we will be picking green beans, freezing corn, and canning tomatoes. A revival in our area is coming  up, I'm going on a 4 day trip out of town, and there is always studying to do.

I'm starting to see that life never slows down, really. Once it gets going it doesn't like to stop. I realize I'm not even close to being as busy as some people are, but for the place and time I am in life right now, this is busy.

I'm also starting to see that it's good to stay busy. When I'm busy I get more everyday things done and I'm more likely to be content with my life. When I don't have much to do I dread doing chores and I have more time to think about the negative things in my life. I also become a little selfish since I have more time to do things for myself.

So that is why I am looking forward to the projects that lie ahead and finding things to do now.

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." Proverbs 6:6-8

Desires Fulfilled

This week I've learned the difference between having my desires fulfilled and having my prayers answered. God gave me something I really wanted, (concerning work and education) but I never thought it was within my reach, so I didn't expect it. I didn't pray for it, but God knew I wanted it and he, in His infinite power, made a way. He gave me something very special to me even though I didn't ask for it.

Then God made a perfect situation seem even more wonderful. His blessings kept coming until I knew beyond a shadow of a dout that this is from God. Everything is too amazing to be coincidence. God has opened this door for me and all I have to do is walk through it. I feel loved!

"Delight thyself also in the LORD and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy ways unto the LORD; trust in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalms 37:4-5

"The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips." Psalms 21: 1-2

Psalms 29

I'm thankful for Psalms 29. The past two days I've been slowly reading it, meditating on the meaning of the verses. "Give unto the LORD the glory due to his name;" How often do we do that? I don't think it counts when we say in prayer, "may all we do be o the glory of God." and I don't think it counts when we sing Glory to His Name writen by Elisha A. Hoffman.

When we look at a beautiful sunset do we simply praise it's beauty, or do we take the opportunity to praise the maker. When we have an answered prayer, do we go to work and tell our friends of the great thing that happend as if it was by chance, or do we tell them that we've been praying about this for a long time and our God brought it to pass? Doesn't the glory belong to God? Isn't the scripture telling us to give that glory to Him?

"Give unto the LORD, O ye mgihty, give unto the LORD glory and strenth." vs 1.

Another Picture Shoot

While we were on vacation over the weekend my sisters and I couldn't resist the chance to have a photo shoot in a very pretty setting. The grass was a rich green, the cobblestone streets so quaint, the fountain so refreshing, and the houses full of southern beauty and elogence. We were so happy with the way the pictures turned out. With the help of Behtnay, Daddy made a pretty good photographer! Here's just a few we took. . .