9-11-01....A Day We Will Never Forget

9-11-12,  Atlanta, Georgia, 4:00 p.m.

So here I sit at the busiest airport in the world on the day that marks the greatest tragedy in our country's history. I'm waiting to board a plane to go home and my mind goes back to that day 11 years ago. Where I was, the pain we all felt, our questions to our God. Walking through the airport today, you can definitely feel a sense of reverence even though the crowds are thick, it is eerily quiet. We waited in line 45 minutes to get checked through the extremely heightened security and bomb sniffing dogs but no one complained. Everyone has a sense of unity today. I watch as people walk by and many have concerned looks on their faces and others just go on as normal as possible...the new normal. 

My heart breaks for all the loss on that dreadful day. Not just loss of life, but also loss of security in a country that seemed to be invincible. So today, our country hurts a deep, deep wound that will live on for centuries.  We will relive it all and remember the fallen and honor the heroes. 

I'm grateful to still live in this great country! She's not perfect but she's ours! I praise my God that he is in control and it is through his Son's blood on Calvary that I am eternally free. Free from the hurt, free from the pain & sin, and free from eternity separated from my Savior! He paid it ALL! And today, I live my life to honor him and share with others that are hurting that it is available to them as well! 

Well, its time to board and I go with great faith and trust in the One who holds the world in his hands and I praise him only!

~ Praising My Lord ~

"Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."

Psalm 146:1-2

Waking up extremely early is not on my "favorite things" list but sitting at the feet of my Jesus in the quietness of the house definitely tops the chart! This morning my time was sweet as I praised him for who He is! Looking back where I was one year ago brings tear to me eyes of his love and faithfulness to me. It has been a beautiful year with my Lord and I cannot help but give him praise. 

"The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down."

Psalm 145:14

Today, I will board a plane to go and tell other women what an AMAZING God I serve and how his promises are true! My heart is humbled by this opportunity and great honor to speak about my Lord! My life is to give him praise! Dear friends, there is no greater honor than to tell others about this magnificent God we have! He is everything we need and so much more! He is Life, Joy, Peace, Comfort, Protector, Provider, Sustainer, Healer, Redeemer......HE IS GOD! 

Today, find a way to share with someone what God is to you and give him praise!

~ Prepare for Worship ~

"I love the house where you live, O Lord, the place where your glory dwells."

Psalm 26:8 

Oh, a beautiful Sunday morning! It is very early right  now and though the sun hasn't come up yet, the SON is up and ready to be worshipped!

What a privilege we have to go to our places of worship each Sunday and sing praises to the ONE who died for us! Don't take this honor for granted! Grab your Bible and head out to worship and grow to feed your soul! Soak in the Word and prepare for the week ahead to spread the good news to all you encounter! Our God is worthy to be praised today and evermore! 

~ Call, Pray, & Seek ~

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.” 

Jeremiah 29:12-14a

These verses follow a very popular passage of scripture. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

This is a verse that you see and hear quite often.  It is a favorite of mine as I see the beautiful hope that I have in my God. But if you continue reading you will find this treasure that should not be missed. God had just promised his people that he had great plans for them. He had hope and a future for them!  What they needed to do was to seek him and pray with all their heart. He promised to listen and be found and to bring them out of their captivity. That was not a possibility that was a promise!

So many times, when we are suffering through troubles, we feel as though God doesn't care, that we have no way out. But God has not forgotten you. He may be preparing you for a new beginning with a new purpose just as he did for the people of Judah! His desire is not for you to be in captivity forever. His desire is for you to have a new beginning with him at the center of your life! A life full of purpose and hope! All you need to do is call, pray, seek, and be prepared to exit captivity!

Make a commitment today to seek him with ALL your heart and prepare for that abundant life with God front and center!

~ Waiting ~

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope." 

Psalm 130:5

Wait......not a word many of us are comfortable with.  We are in a "right now" society. If we need a quick answer, we just "google" it. If we need to talk to someone, we text, call or email them right then. If we want something, we just break out the old credit card and buy it.

We have become very accustomed to getting things exactly when we want them.  But we've all heard the saying, "Good things come to those who wait." What I have come to learn in my 39 years of life (and not very easily I might add) is that the most precious of things that I have been given, I have had to wait on God for.  The times I spent praying and seeking his face as I waited for him to answer, were the most precious times and his answer was so worth the wait! It may not have always been exactly what I'd hoped it would be, but it sure was the absolute best thing for me. But,  only in complete trust in him could I see that!

So, today, as you wait on the Lord, read his Word, seek his face and spend that  time waiting in HIS glory! Beautiful hope we have in HIM!

~ Just Do It ~

We are busy people! In an age where smartphones are actually the things that keep us together is a bit frightening! Lol! But, I confess, my smartphone does keep me together as well.  I keep my calendar on there, my grocery list, my to-do list, and even reminders so I won't forget to change my air filters out every month.  Yes, yes, it is smarter than me, I admit it! We are surrounded by checklists. 

But where does God fit in your day? He is just another item on your to-do list? An item to be checked off to make yourself feel more accomplished? We put "go to church, read my Bible, pray" on our "list" and feel very religious that we can mark those off but, my dear friends, God is not an item that can be checked off. His Word is not any book that can be read and marked completed in our day. HE should be the absolute, purpose and meaning of our day! His Word should be the very substance of how we go forth in our day!

We can sit in the church service and shout "Amen" as the pastor preaches and highlight our Bibles with a beautiful rainbow of colors but if our Bibles are not marking our very souls then there is a problem! 

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does." 

James 1:22-25

James was a man that "tells it like it is". That may be why I like him so much. Now, I didn't care for him too much when I first started studying this part of scripture well, because, he stepped on my beautifully polished toes and that hurt! Haha! But when I really began to meditate and pray over this passage, I faced what this dear apostle was saying.  We can hear the Word all day long but until we start doing what it says, there is no depth to it.  

I love the analogy about the mirror that James uses here.  The purpose of a mirror is to check and make sure we are presentable. To fix any issues we see and make ourselves neat and clean.  If we just glanced, we might miss things, but when we gaze at ourselves, thats when we find the mistakes and can correct them.  Well, when we look with intention into God's mirror, we can see the conditions of our heart and allow for healing.  

This precious Book is not just any book! This Book gives freedom! If we know that, why don't we do what it says? 

I don't want to just be a hearer of the Word.  I don't want to just read my Bible, go to church, pray and then check those things off my to-do list. I want to DO what this Book says.  I want to examine my heart, as painful as that may be, and allow God to infiltrate every part of me. I want to do more than pray. I want to engage in a one-on-one conversation with the Savior of the world! Hallelujah! 

It's time for the people of God to step up and be doers! Its time to stop sugar coating everything and just be obedient to the Word! Make a commitment to stop putting God on your daily check list. Commit to make Him THE integral part of your day, of your life! Find freedom by heeding his Word! Blessings abound!

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

Blessings~

Allison 

~ Whatever Is Pleasing To You, Lord ~

It's been a few weeks since I have posted anything here on my blog and I realized that many scriptures and teachings that the Lord was showing me, I was posting on my Facebook status and not on here.  I decided this morning to post those here since many of you that read my blog are not on Facebook. These postings may be short as many are stemmed from my morning study time or things throughout my day that God has laid on my heart.  But these are all part of my "teachable moments" so I will share them here with you.

 

For several months, I have been so burdened by the lack of attention that goes into many of the books, movies, games, etc. that Chrisitans are allowing themselves to focus their thoughts on.  Things that are thought to be "just entertainment" but carry with them lasting results that, unfortunately, give Satan an open door to use for his own evil gain.

I woke up this morning with this verse going through my mind so loudly that I had to just sit and pray and focus on it for a while.

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

 (Philippians 4:8 NASB)

When we realize just how real Satan is and that he is a liar, then maybe we will realize that the things we put into our minds really does make a difference.  Ask God for discernment before reading that next book, watching that next movie or joining in that next "conversation".  The Holy Spirit will guide your heart where it needs to focus.  When we dwell on things that please our Lord then we stop Satan in his lies. When we put our attention on things that are "questionable" we give Satan an open door to plant lies.  Meditate daily on God's Word and fill your heart and mind with things that are holy and pleasing to God Almighty!

Blessings~

Allison