I want to be a wise woman. So what is wisdom? The bible says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. So I have to first have a holy Fear of the Lord then I can get wisdom. So what is the fear of the lord and do I personally fear the lord?
I thought I did but then this thought hit me "Do I fear the Lord, or do I just fear what could happen if godly men in my life found out what I am doing wrong?" What a question! I have always compared the Fear of the Lord to the Fear of Chuck (that's my daddy). Fear means "being afraid" right? I think growing up I became fearful of my Dad because of what happened when I messed up. He trained me to know that when I went against his word that there was a price to pay. It usually meant pain (especially in the rear area). There were consequences to my actions. As I learned this I began to realize that no matter what I did, daddy still loved me. Then I began to truly fear him because I was in awe of his grace. I understood that as his daughter I either brought him glory and honor or disgrace and dishonor. I wanted to honor my father. I wanted teachers, friends, and family to look at him and honor him simply because that is what he deserved. I began to fear bringing him dishonor, shame, and anything besides honor. I believe that this is where I began to fear him in the best way. I stood in awe of him. He had the right to shun me and disown me when I messed up, but he didn't. He still loved me.
Because he still loved me when I went wrong I began to love him more. I wanted to please him. Let's talk literally. He and mom have a meeting to go to and leave me at home I can either wait until he gets home and tells me to do the dishes before I go to bed or I can do them before he gets home. Both make him happy but the second pleases him. When he gets home and the dishes are already done then we can sit down together and love on each other before bed. This brings him honor. His daughter knew him enough to perform a simple act before he asked. What if someone came home with him? Then that person was witness to my love for dad. Why did washing the dishes show my daddy that I loved him? Because, my daddy liked a clean house and I wanted to make him happy.
How does that translate into the Fear of the Lord? I think fear comes in steps. First you have to understand what happens when go against the word of the authority. Second, you realize that the consequences you receive or not because the authority wants to hurt but to teach you a lesson because they love you. Third, you want to return your love to that authority and bring them honor. You still fear what could happen but you know that the consequences of your actions come from love.
So the Fear of the Lord means that I simply love what He loves and I hate what He hates. It means that I want to learn what to do to bring him honor and what to stay away from that brings him dishonor. It means that I love my king and will stand for his honor. The fear of the lord is not something that makes me tremble and shake and cower, but something that makes me stand up straight and bow before my king who loves me so! Literally, the fear of the lord in my life means that I want to have a clean house, I want my children to behave, I want my words to be words of healing not of death, I want to worship him every chance that I get, and ultimately that nothing is about me it is all about Him.
How does this connect to grace? Let me explain.
What is grace? Grace is not the right to do what ever the want. Grace is a manifestation of favor, favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity, an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied, or the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. Grace is given freely, for no reason at all. Grace was given to us at the cross. I like the one about the debt. As humans we have a sin debt, but that debt was paid long ago on a wooden cross drenched with blood. And it was done BEFORE Satan could bring suit against us demanding our life. WOW! That is grace!
But people don't understand this all the time. As humans sometimes we think, "Well, I am walking under grace so I can do whatever I want." The fear of the lord is the counterbalance to this belief. Standing in the fear of Lord I answer to that thought, "I could do what I wanted to but I remember the cross, I remember the debt that I owed and I want to make the person that paid that debt happy because I love Him." Grace does allow us freedom but when we are walking in the Fear of the Lord it becomes freedom to do what is right, freedom to worship, freedom from lies and deception of Satan.
Lord, I want wisdom. I want to walk in the Fear of You and Your grace. Help me see where I do not fear You. I want to bring YOU honor. For no one else deserves my love more than you. You are number one in my life. Thank you for paying the debt that I owed before I even knew the debt. Thank you for loving me even when I bring you dishonor and shame. I can not say enough that I love you! Help seek knowledge and gain wisdom. I ask for your wisdom even now. I call wisdom my sister. Let me ears be ready to hear your words and may my heart be soft enough for you to write your words upon it. I love you and may my day bring you honor and glory. In Jesus name! Amen!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Jennifer The Sparkplug
Okay so God spoke into my life that I am to be a spark plug. I have no idea what a sparkplug does or how it works. So I googled it. This is what I found and how it applies to me:
"The spark plug's location exposes it to extreme temperature variations, chemicals, fuels and oils. It is also attacked by cylinder pressures produced by the piston as well as cam timing, then it is also assaulted by high-output ignition units. As a result of all of this, one can effectively learn what the engine is doing by reading the firing end of the spark plugs."
So God has put me in a place of exposure. (thanks?) So does exposure translate into vulnerable or influence? Lets see: exposure also means contact, revelation, or uncovering. So I think this is a place of influence. This also says that I am in a place where I am going to have to constantly fight "extreme temperature variations". This just confirms what God has been speaking to me about struggling with two extremes in my life – prde and depression. (These are so opposite ends of the spectrum). I am also going to have to fight pressure and timing. So I see now that I can't give into the pressure of people around me and that I have to rely on God's timing. I want people to be able to "learn what the engine is doing by reading the firing end of the spark plugs" My engine being God.
" The basics of a spark plug is that it must perform two primary functions. 1. To Ignite the Air/Fuel mixture 2. To REMOVE the heat out of the combustion chamber "
So I am supposed to mix two thing that normally don't mix and I am supposed to remove heat. Both of these remind me of a word I got at a dance conference. The couple told me that God had created me to bring together opposites. Like tradition and new things; old generations with new ones. The women had heard me talk about how I would take a dress and cut it up the sides and wear them with pants so that I was fully covered yet able to move and look good. This was bringing tradition and new together. They also spoke about how God was going to use my creativity to do this. That I was going to have creative solutions to problems.
"Spark plugs transmit electrical energy that turns fuel into working energy. A sufficient amount of voltage must be supplied by the ignition system to cause the spark to jump the across the spark plug gap, thus creating what is called Electrical Performance."
So I am supposed to transmit the joy that God has given me to other people. I also have to be close enough to whoever I am supposed to touch so that the spark can jump across the gap.
"Additionally, the temperature of the spark plug's firing end must be kept low enough to prevent pre-ignition, but high enough to prevent fouling. This is called Thermal Performance and is determined by the heat range of the spark plug."
Okay WOW WOW WOW. God has been speaking into my life about pride and depression. This just shows that the heat of pride is too high and the low of depression is too low. I have to rely on the heat of GOD to be just right for what ever he has planned for me to do.
It is important to understand that spark plugs CANNOT create heat, only remove it! The spark plug works as a heat exchanger, pulling unwanted thermal energy away from the combustion chamber and transferring the heat to the engine's cooling system. The heat range is defined as a plug's ability to dissipate heat.
I am not supposed to bring problems into the situation, I am supposed to remove the problem and bring a solution. I am not a problem I am an answer. I am supposed to pull away the heat and give it to god to cool it back down.
So this is just the first part of the page I was looking at. I am going to return to the page another day and finish going through it. Right now I have to go eat lunch with my wonderful amazing husband.
One more quick thought: Sparkplugs don't create a continual bridge. They "fire" that means that God has created me to bring solutions or sparks in people at certain times. To encourage at certain times.
Lord, thank you for speaking into my life so much right now. I am so very thankful that you are near to be to be able to speak thses things. Thank you for creating me to be a women that is a sparkplug. Thank you for restoring my destiny and not letting the enemy steal it away from me. Help me take what you have shown me to heart and use it in a practical way for others to see. Helo me to see your timing and how I am supposed to touch those around me.
"The spark plug's location exposes it to extreme temperature variations, chemicals, fuels and oils. It is also attacked by cylinder pressures produced by the piston as well as cam timing, then it is also assaulted by high-output ignition units. As a result of all of this, one can effectively learn what the engine is doing by reading the firing end of the spark plugs."
So God has put me in a place of exposure. (thanks?) So does exposure translate into vulnerable or influence? Lets see: exposure also means contact, revelation, or uncovering. So I think this is a place of influence. This also says that I am in a place where I am going to have to constantly fight "extreme temperature variations". This just confirms what God has been speaking to me about struggling with two extremes in my life – prde and depression. (These are so opposite ends of the spectrum). I am also going to have to fight pressure and timing. So I see now that I can't give into the pressure of people around me and that I have to rely on God's timing. I want people to be able to "learn what the engine is doing by reading the firing end of the spark plugs" My engine being God.
" The basics of a spark plug is that it must perform two primary functions. 1. To Ignite the Air/Fuel mixture 2. To REMOVE the heat out of the combustion chamber "
So I am supposed to mix two thing that normally don't mix and I am supposed to remove heat. Both of these remind me of a word I got at a dance conference. The couple told me that God had created me to bring together opposites. Like tradition and new things; old generations with new ones. The women had heard me talk about how I would take a dress and cut it up the sides and wear them with pants so that I was fully covered yet able to move and look good. This was bringing tradition and new together. They also spoke about how God was going to use my creativity to do this. That I was going to have creative solutions to problems.
"Spark plugs transmit electrical energy that turns fuel into working energy. A sufficient amount of voltage must be supplied by the ignition system to cause the spark to jump the across the spark plug gap, thus creating what is called Electrical Performance."
So I am supposed to transmit the joy that God has given me to other people. I also have to be close enough to whoever I am supposed to touch so that the spark can jump across the gap.
"Additionally, the temperature of the spark plug's firing end must be kept low enough to prevent pre-ignition, but high enough to prevent fouling. This is called Thermal Performance and is determined by the heat range of the spark plug."
Okay WOW WOW WOW. God has been speaking into my life about pride and depression. This just shows that the heat of pride is too high and the low of depression is too low. I have to rely on the heat of GOD to be just right for what ever he has planned for me to do.
It is important to understand that spark plugs CANNOT create heat, only remove it! The spark plug works as a heat exchanger, pulling unwanted thermal energy away from the combustion chamber and transferring the heat to the engine's cooling system. The heat range is defined as a plug's ability to dissipate heat.
I am not supposed to bring problems into the situation, I am supposed to remove the problem and bring a solution. I am not a problem I am an answer. I am supposed to pull away the heat and give it to god to cool it back down.
So this is just the first part of the page I was looking at. I am going to return to the page another day and finish going through it. Right now I have to go eat lunch with my wonderful amazing husband.
One more quick thought: Sparkplugs don't create a continual bridge. They "fire" that means that God has created me to bring solutions or sparks in people at certain times. To encourage at certain times.
Lord, thank you for speaking into my life so much right now. I am so very thankful that you are near to be to be able to speak thses things. Thank you for creating me to be a women that is a sparkplug. Thank you for restoring my destiny and not letting the enemy steal it away from me. Help me take what you have shown me to heart and use it in a practical way for others to see. Helo me to see your timing and how I am supposed to touch those around me.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Just me
Lord, you have created me to be a noble daughter of the most high God. I have things in my life that arent perfect. I have been thinking about a few of these lately. I feel like there is so much building up inside me and there is no release for it. Today you told me to be faithful in the small things that you have given me and you will provide the increase. SO that is what I want ot do. I am a woman of strategy. Help me see your strategies, becuase if I try to do them within myself they are going to fail.
One area I want to see changed is the level of my voice when I talk to the boys. I want to know the power of a whisper. Help me learn to speak to them in a language that they will understand. I don't like hollering at them. Show me how to train them to hear my soft whisper. I want to teach them to respond the quietest of my tone so that later they always be able to hear you when you speak no matter the noise around them. Yet give me the balance to know between influence and discipline. Help me see my children as gifts. help me steward these gifts well and with excellence.
Also, at home help me train myself to keep a clean house. I want Dusty to be proud of the home he has provided me. Help me speak his lanugage of love so that he may be honored. I want to see my children and my husband honored before the gates of the city. Show me how to bring them that honor. Help me be a guardian for my home.
I also ask for you to show me the balance of worker, mommy, and wife. In all honesty it is easy to be worker, but mommy and wife are a little harder for me. Bring balance into my life in these areas. shoe me the strategies I need for these things to compliment each other and not fight against each other. I can do all of these together and be blessed.
Lord, shoe me how to bring balance in my life. Show me the strategies I need to put into action so that I may live anexcelling life. Help me train up my children to respond to the quieteness of a whisper. Lord, bring honor to husband at the city gates. May I always remember that Jesus Christ freely gave his life so that I may become a noble daughter of God entitled to living an excelling life. In Jesus name, for your glory and honor, amen.
One area I want to see changed is the level of my voice when I talk to the boys. I want to know the power of a whisper. Help me learn to speak to them in a language that they will understand. I don't like hollering at them. Show me how to train them to hear my soft whisper. I want to teach them to respond the quietest of my tone so that later they always be able to hear you when you speak no matter the noise around them. Yet give me the balance to know between influence and discipline. Help me see my children as gifts. help me steward these gifts well and with excellence.
Also, at home help me train myself to keep a clean house. I want Dusty to be proud of the home he has provided me. Help me speak his lanugage of love so that he may be honored. I want to see my children and my husband honored before the gates of the city. Show me how to bring them that honor. Help me be a guardian for my home.
I also ask for you to show me the balance of worker, mommy, and wife. In all honesty it is easy to be worker, but mommy and wife are a little harder for me. Bring balance into my life in these areas. shoe me the strategies I need for these things to compliment each other and not fight against each other. I can do all of these together and be blessed.
Lord, shoe me how to bring balance in my life. Show me the strategies I need to put into action so that I may live anexcelling life. Help me train up my children to respond to the quieteness of a whisper. Lord, bring honor to husband at the city gates. May I always remember that Jesus Christ freely gave his life so that I may become a noble daughter of God entitled to living an excelling life. In Jesus name, for your glory and honor, amen.
Thoughts on Excellence
Okay - so I was thinking today - as a daughter of the most high God I am royality. I am called to excellence. But what is excellance. I came to a conclusion. Excellence is not perfection, so what is it really. By definition it is (1)the fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence (2) an excellent quality or feature. There is also excellency (1) a title of honor given to certain high officials (2) a person so entitled. So what does this really mean to me?
I am a person entitled to living in a state of excelling. (Okay wow, that was so not planned but really awesome.) Really that sums it up right there. As a daughter of God I am entitled; it is my right; to live a blessed life, an excelling life. I like that term excelling - it gives a feeling of countiuation. I am not just blessed - there is a finality around that word. I am excelling - everyday is getting better and even in the bad times I am moving forward. excelling also doesn't speak of "good getting better" it whispers of "wherever I am at right now, I am not stopping I am moving forward". I hope that make sense on paper. It does in my heart.
So how do become excellence. I believe that being excellent means being forgiving but also accountable. being excellence means there is a set pattern of procedures to help make sure that mistakes don't happen, but when mistakes do happen (becuase they do happen, we are human) looking at the pattern of procedures and constantly revewing them and changing them for the better. You have to be flexible but firm. You have to be flexible enough to work around the unforseen things that happen in life, yet firm in your beliefs and your standards.
It is easy to look the things we produce in life (like bulletins or artwork) and hold it to a level of excellence. You can look at something on paper and say okay this image lines up with this text, this graphic is large enough. It is harder to apply these statements to life. There is no printout for you to look at and ask yourself "Do these standards I live by at home line up with the words I preach to those around me?" "Is the image of Christ that I am portraying to my friends large enough?".
So how do we live with excellence? How do I sum up my thoughts? Here is my new life motto:
Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, freely gave his life so that through his blood I may become a noble daughter of the most high God, entitled to living an excelling life.
Lord, help me live a life of excellence. Help me stay humble. You gave your life so that I can be a queen. I am an answer. Lord, help me look at my life everyday and refine it to be the an example of love, joy, truth, honor and all of the things you have called me to be. Help me apply the ways of excellence I have learned to my own life. Only you see the picture of my destiny, let me be a good steward of the snapshots I see.
I am a person entitled to living in a state of excelling. (Okay wow, that was so not planned but really awesome.) Really that sums it up right there. As a daughter of God I am entitled; it is my right; to live a blessed life, an excelling life. I like that term excelling - it gives a feeling of countiuation. I am not just blessed - there is a finality around that word. I am excelling - everyday is getting better and even in the bad times I am moving forward. excelling also doesn't speak of "good getting better" it whispers of "wherever I am at right now, I am not stopping I am moving forward". I hope that make sense on paper. It does in my heart.
So how do become excellence. I believe that being excellent means being forgiving but also accountable. being excellence means there is a set pattern of procedures to help make sure that mistakes don't happen, but when mistakes do happen (becuase they do happen, we are human) looking at the pattern of procedures and constantly revewing them and changing them for the better. You have to be flexible but firm. You have to be flexible enough to work around the unforseen things that happen in life, yet firm in your beliefs and your standards.
It is easy to look the things we produce in life (like bulletins or artwork) and hold it to a level of excellence. You can look at something on paper and say okay this image lines up with this text, this graphic is large enough. It is harder to apply these statements to life. There is no printout for you to look at and ask yourself "Do these standards I live by at home line up with the words I preach to those around me?" "Is the image of Christ that I am portraying to my friends large enough?".
So how do we live with excellence? How do I sum up my thoughts? Here is my new life motto:
Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, freely gave his life so that through his blood I may become a noble daughter of the most high God, entitled to living an excelling life.
Lord, help me live a life of excellence. Help me stay humble. You gave your life so that I can be a queen. I am an answer. Lord, help me look at my life everyday and refine it to be the an example of love, joy, truth, honor and all of the things you have called me to be. Help me apply the ways of excellence I have learned to my own life. Only you see the picture of my destiny, let me be a good steward of the snapshots I see.
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