Musical Monday

I want to take this opportunity to ask all of you to remember me in your prayers this week.  Nothing is wrong, I just have so much on my plate, and I find myself getting easily overwhelmed and frustrated.

Keeping that in mind, I draw much comfort from reading His Word, from prayer, and from Christian music.  So today, I wanted to share two songs with you that bring me comfort.  I hope they bring you comfort as well!  

Please... if you have prayer requests as well, please add it to the prayer wall... I want to pray for you!

Calling ALL Christians

In light of the news I have seen plastered all over my Facebook and Twitter walls today, I have had a heavy heart all afternoon.  "Pentagon: Religious Proselytizing Is Not Permitted"

I have previously written about my own struggles as a Christian while I was serving on Active Duty.  One simply did not share their faith.  I had been asked on numerous occasions how I was able to work through one struggle or another, or if I was simply cheerful, I would be asked why I had such a sunny outlook.  In real life... LOL... I hate saying that... I would share exactly how I get through struggles, or why I am joyful- because of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.   However, when those questions were asked of me while I was on duty, I knew I could not simply answer that way.  I would always have to couch my answer in some vague "Oh... Well..." hem and haw... "a lot of it has to do with my Faith..." 

Walking on egg shells...  We all know we are not allowed to "evangelize" in the Military.  Duh.  That is common sense.  However, if someone asks me about my faith, or WHY I am the way I am, I should NOT live in fear of sharing the TRUTHFUL answer to those questions.

Walking on egg shells...  Since 1999....  That is when I went through Basic where I was told I could not pray with others outside of Chapel, where I was told that if my Bible offended someone, I would not be allowed to read it again except at Chapel.

Now... walking on egg shells is facing the potential of walking through a land mine for Christians serving in the Armed Forces as Pentagon leadership sits down with a well-known anti-Christian group leader, Mikey Weinstein and entertains his plethora of anti-Christian rhetoric concerning new regulations for our men and women in the Military.

I am no longer serving.  However, my husband is.  I have hundreds of military friends all around the world serving their country, and serve our Lord.  They already walk on egg shells.  They already bite their tongues when an opportunity to share His Word, His Love presents itself. 

I have prayed and prayed today about how handle this news.  I know His will is going to be done ultimately.  I am praying for peace.  I am praying that the sense of foreboding deep in the center of my chest is replaced with the HOPE I know He has given me.  Finally, I have come to this conclusion.

Let us all get on our knees.  Pass this on.  Share with your friends.  Share it at church.  Post it on your Facebook page, on Twitter, whatever your social outlet is to get prayers out.

Let us all pray... Not just that this piece of military regulation falters, if it is His will, but more importantly, pray for Mr. Weinstein.   Let us start a prayer chain that lifts this man up to our Lord, to soften his heart, to wash away his hate or his anger or his bitterness, to offer him true hope and peace and truth.

Will you pray with me for Mr. Weinstein?

Military Women of God: Calling ALL Christians militarywomenofgod.blogspot.com/2013/05/callin…#prayformikeyweinstein #militaryfaith
— Christina (@cbands) May 1, 2013

Fortress of Faith- Study Two: Pillars of Faith

God our Creator

As we move forward in science and technology, it appears on one hand that we are discovering the secrets to the universe, but just as quickly as we learn the way something in nature works, we also discover that we have no idea why finding instead that a million other questions are left unanswered.

In modern-day Christianity, we now see more and more science spilling into explanations of the miraculous.  Sometimes that science allows us to see just how miraculous the miracle of creation is, but more often then not, the science is a poorly veiled attempt to draw our focus away from our Creator, to demean His abilities and ultimately His love for us.

Genesis chapters one and two clearly lay out the narration of God creating not just our world, but all that we comprehend to be real in this universe.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..."  According to Scripture, God spent several days creating all we know, not millenia, there are no gaps in time.  If there were gaps in time as some insist, when God inspired Moses to write Genesis, he would have directed him to say "-the first period."  No, over and over the time of creation spanned "-the first day," "-the second day," and so on.  Still, science, and those even among the Christian community cannot fathom such a monumental task occurring, so our Creator is put into a neat little box with a label on it saying He can't literally create a universe, a planet, ecosystems complete with plants and animals, and people in one week.  Yet, He did.   Scripture clearly states God created all that we see around us in a miraculous manner, to include us.  (Job 38 goes in depth on His handiwork versus our arrogance in thinking we can understand creation.)

Romans 1 v 20 says "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

As Christians, we should be able to see Him in the world around us.  We should be able to see the divine architect's plan as we learn about the amazingly perfect balance nature has.  We should be able to see the miraculous when we learn about the human body with its incredible cells, chemical makeup, and inter-working systems that work together in perfect harmony so that we  not just live, but we also reason.  We should be able to see all that science has learned as proof of His existence, not as a reason to doubt.  We should see Him in creation, but even more so, when we look at ourselves, we should see He is OUR Creator.

Genesis 1:26 says that God created us in His image.  Now, we will not know until we meet Him in Heaven exactly what that means.  Does that mean our bodily appearance reflects the physical build of our Creator?  Does it really matter?  What does matter is that He thought as an artist.  He hand-crafted us in a manner pleasing to Him, and He breathed life into us, and He thought we (according to verse 31) that we were pretty cool.

Psalm 139, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, speaks of His relationship with us as our Creator.  According to David, who wrote this Psalm, our Creator has an intimate relationship with us.  He knows us inside and out, knowing what we wish to say before we do. 

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139 v 13-16

I encourage you, as you go about the rest of your week, take a moment to wonder at creation.  Take a minute to truly consider the balance of our ecosystems.  Take a minute to truly look at the veins in a leaf, and consider how it moves nutrients that are absorbed by the sun and changed in the fiber of the leaf.  The look at yourself in the mirror.  Try to count the hairs on your head.  Try to fathom how your body's systems work together, automatically.   Try to really line that up with the "scientific" explanation of a big bang versus the well-planned execution of a divine plan.

You, my friend, are a miracle living among the miraculous! 

God bless!

Musical Monday

This song by Matthew West was a reminder to me when this time last year, I found myself struggling.  The weight of the world seemed to be on my shoulders.  Even in my relationship with our Lord, I felt weak and helpless. 

We have all been through times in our lives, whether it was a single situation that was over in a day, or a period in our lives where each day seemed to last a year and the journey seemed too much to bear, where the struggles we face seem too big for us to get through.

What a blessing to be reminded- we are not alone.  He is with us.  He is carrying us.  We can rest in His embrace and know that His will is being done, even if we cannot see it or understand it.

Sacred Sunday

This passage speaks for itself!  I hope and pray each of you has a fantastic week!

^"4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."  ~Philippians 4 v 4-9

Fortress of Faith- Study One: Pillars of Faith

This "Fortress of Faith" Series is meant to take us back to the roots of our Christian faith, and apply that basis to our lives as women who play a part in our modern Military.  In "Fortress of Faith: Foundation of Love," we were reminded that everything we believe, the essence of our Faith, the truth that surrounds our God is all based on this concept of love- the love He has for us, and the love He encourages us to have for each other.

In the next ten weeks, "Fortress of Faith: Pillars of Faith," we will look more deeply at what our Christian Faith is built upon.  We will spend several weeks on the following rough outline (forgive me, I am writing this study as we go):

Week one- Introduction (today)

Week two- Pillar One: God the Creator

Week three- Pillar One: God the Father

Week four-  Pillar Two: God the Son

Week five- Pillar Two: God the Savior

Week six- Pillar three: God the Spirit

Week seven- Pillar three: God the Intercessor

Week eight- Pillar four:  the Word of God

Week nine- Pillar four:  the Holy Bible

Week ten- Conclusion

Ladies, we are standing on the firm foundation of His love.  We know deep in our hearts that our God, our Savior, and our Holy Spirit guide us from an aspect of love.  We know deep in our hearts that our faith is built on a love so deep and so genuine we cannot fully comprehend its value.  We know deep in our hearts that our faith in rooted deeply in love.

However, love without God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God has no strength, has no power, has no direction, and cannot stand or be built upon.

My prayer is to take this journey with you as we rediscover the pillars upon which our faith takes shape.  My prayer is that we rediscover the many facets of our Lord and His Word, and that we reawaken a passion to gather our faith closer to us as well as a desire to share our faith with those we come into contact with us as we move from place to place.

I hope you will join me next week.  In the meantime, please think on the following:

Do you have a relationship with our God?

What does that relationship mean to you?

Do you regard the Son of God as your Savior?

Do you have conversations with the Spirit?

Do you dwell in the Word of God and accept it as the His true guidance for us?

Finally, I ask that you pray this week.  Please pray for me as I work on this study, and please pray for the readers who might follow this study.  Please pray for yourself, that He opens your hearts and minds to whatever He might wish to teach you through this study.

God bless you!

Musical Monday

 

 For all the boys and girls part of our Armed Forces.

 

You are worth more than gold!!!