THE DESIRES OF MY HEART

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It was a great week, a hard one, but GREAT! I was faced with a lot of issues this week, but with God and friends He has blessed me with I began the process of overcoming, which is EXCITING to me!

This morning as I made breakfast I heard the Lord say, "I am preparing your heart to receive its desires...you are not yet ready to receive them." Wow! Wow! Wow! As I shared this with my daughter she asked if it was a revelation and I said, "Absolutely!"

Psalm 34:7 says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Delight is 6026 in the Strong's Concordance and means soft or pliable. Pliable defined by Webster's dictionary means 1. Flexible 2. Yielding easily to others.

In the process of delighting myself in the Lord I am "yielding easily" to Him and opening myself to grace (5485 Strong's), the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life. Ultimately, delighting is yielding my heart to Him so He can influence it. In the process of influencing it He is teaching, molding, convicting and healing me, thus preparing me to receive the desires (requests) of my own heart, which He established to begin with. Whew! That is a lot to take in. He is not changing the desires of my heart He gave me free will to do so (it's a choice on my part). The desires of my heart are changing as I yield to Him and allow Him to heal me.

As I begin to live out this revelation I can more easily be patient in the waiting for my desires to be fulfilled because I am (Romans 12:2) being transformed by the renewing of my mind, that I may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God, which at this level have become my desires.

This revelation will also not allow me to accuse God in the waiting because as I yield to Him and allow Him to influence my heart I know that He is preparing me for my own desires (requests) to be fulfilled.

He's an amazing Daddy to give me such a precious gift this morning!

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day: Psalm 94:18-19

When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day: Psalm 94:18-19

PEACE

Early on when my husband left I was so concerned about the children, looking back – overly concerned. I had several people tell me they could see the peace in my children and I was sure they were “just saying that.” I remember thinking, “How could they have peace?” The bible says, “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” James 3:16 There was almost an immediate sense of peace when the strife was gone, but I still didn't believe it for my kids. I was interjecting and confusing my struggles as a child of divorce and was afraid for them (which meant I was NOT trusting God). It is a blessing for me as I realize that as I diligently seek the Lord I am overcoming and so are they, because of HIM they do not have to live out my generational iniquities.

As I was reading the bible the other day I read this again in Isaiah 54 verse 13, “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” I immediately thanked God for giving me confirmation about my children's peace. He is teaching them and GREAT is their peace. I had to hear it from Him before I would believe it, which is the way it I should be in every area of my life.

Who or what are you believing?

GREAT DEAL ON UNIFORMS

source

My kids are going to school this year for the first time (more on that later), so I have been looking for and purchasing uniforms. The best deal I have found is at Tuesday Morning online. I ordered six skirts and six shirts for $104, which I think is a great deal. The best thing about these uniforms in my opinion are 1) the length of the skirt (it is not a mini-skirt) and 2) the feel of the polos. Shipping is a little high, but if you get a lot of stuff it is worth it. To the best of my knowledge uniforms are not available in the Tuesday Morning stores, but contact your local store to be sure.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD...

I shall not want.

We know the verse and know it well, many of us have it memorized, but do we KNOW it? I had a first hand experience in Psalm 23 a couple of weeks ago.

My four kids and I were leaving church. The older two were walking next to me and I was holding the 2 year old and the 4 year old was clinging to my leg because there was a stray dog pestering us. I knew the dog had knocked down a couple of kids earlier in the week and my little ones were obviously afraid. I kept telling the dog to go, but he kept coming back. A man from the church came over to where we were and got the dog away from us. I was amazed,it was as if the Lord was giving me a picture of what He wants to do for me - in every area of my life. He is my Shepherd and will keep the enemy away as I trust in Him. I didn't even have to ask the man to get the dog away from us. He took charge and took care of the situation. It was a first for me. Having always had to look out for myself, it was a beautiful example of how the Father wants to take care of me.

Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

HOW MY BLOG GOT ITS NAME

This was my very first post almost three years ago (12/12/07). I recently stumbled upon it and it speaks to me now as much as it did then. I pray it blesses you:

Naming a blog is a big deal. It's kind of like naming a book, you want it to be catchy and unique. I don't know if this qualifies as either, but it spoke volumes to me above all the other names I considered.

During a time of great healing and rejoicing the enemy interjected a time of great stress and turmoil in relationships in my life, but before he had the opportunity to do that the Lord gave me these verses out of Psalm 18:16-19 to comfort me and prepare me for the battle. These verses continue to minister to me and bless me every time I recall or encounter them.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me OUT OF DEEP WATERS.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

The Message bible reads:
But me he caught—reached all the way
from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

For many years my motto was, "I'm just trying to keep my head above water" - hence, "out of deep waters." I remained there a long time not knowing there there was such an incredible life to be found in Christ.

Chaos was my enemy disguised as my friend, we went everywhere together. It took some getting used to peace, I had to confront the discomfort and press through to the other side. It truly was a great surprise to know how much I was loved by the one who created me and it makes me love Him all the more. I seek to know Him more everyday and the more I know the more I want to know. He continues to heal me, make me whole and minister to the deep recesses of my heart. My heart is completely His and I long to share His love, compassion and desire to heal with anyone who will listen.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE A COMPLIMENT?

In the last few months I’ve had many people encouraging me and exhorting me and a lot of it has come in the form of compliments. I remember the first time my friend said, “You are a great mom.” I could hear her, but I could also hear, “That’s because she doesn’t really know you. That’s because she didn’t see you yesterday…” Who do you think said that? My enemy, the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. I can be real with this friend, REALLY REAL, so I told her what was happening and that when she was going to compliment me she was going to have to speak to those things first and tell them to step aside because she had something to say to me. It continued to happen when her or others spoke words of praise to me.

As I mentioned in the last post God is teaching me about my identity and through that I am learning to love myself. Did you know the bible repeatedly says to love yourself? (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8)

A couple of weeks ago during lunch with friends one of them said, “You are funny.” And I said, “I know.” Then I stopped midsentence and said, “Did you hear that? I’m learning to love myself.” It was definitely an A-HA moment! I think I could hear the angels singing.

It has been a process of me learning who I really am and agreeing with what God says about me and what others who love Him and me have to say about me. It has been really important to pay attention to the things I hear when others are encouraging me and exhorting me because that is where the breakdown starts. When I listen to the voice of my enemy and begin to give ear to his words instead of my Father’s I begin to accuse my Daddy of being a liar. Sounds harsh, but it is true.

So, how do you handle compliments?