Thursday, December 15, 2005
Doing what I am called
So, the semester is winding down and we are all about to go our merry way back home. Sometimes to me home is dreadful. I love my family, but I feel there is a wall between me and God. Why is there a wall? I don't think it has anything at all do with being at home. There may be more strongholds there, but I am a daughter of the King. Strongholds in a simple little town should not touch me if I have received the true inheritance of my Savior. Perhaps I have built the wall myself. Perhaps I am out of my comfort zone when I go home, so I bubble up. Sounds odd...because home once was my comfort zone until I came to Auburn. It is so easy to lean on the Lord when I am down here. I have friends down here to support me. But for some reason when I go home, I feel I have to be a different person. A person that is just content to where she is in her relationship with the Lord. Well, I am not going to hold myself back anymore.
The Lord has given me an annointing for a reason. It wasn't just for Auburn...it's for everywhere I am...even if it is Albertville, AL. So, it is my prayer that I live my life in Albertville like I do in Auburn...using the full annointing that Christ Jesus has given me. When I pray, "May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," it holds true for when I go home. I don't want a revival just to explode in Auburn. I want it to explode everywhere! I have this dream about Snead State Community College having a revival. I want to claim this as a promise from God. Snead's mascot is a parson, let's allow the mascot be Jesus...better yet, let's allow Jesus to be the Savior of Snead. He already is anyway...I think I have this calling to go back home once I am done in Auburn. As much as I have fought it ever since I did not get that job with Snead, I believe He is calling me back home. You know, he has brought all of us to Auburn to be a part of this revival that is coming. Well, I don't think all of us are going to stay here in this town called Auburn. Our job will not be finished, for we will spread the good news in other places too, whether it be our hometowns or another country. The buck doesn't stop here, so the cliche goes. Mark 16:15-20 says:
15And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
This is the life I want to live, no matter where I am located.
The Lord has given me an annointing for a reason. It wasn't just for Auburn...it's for everywhere I am...even if it is Albertville, AL. So, it is my prayer that I live my life in Albertville like I do in Auburn...using the full annointing that Christ Jesus has given me. When I pray, "May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," it holds true for when I go home. I don't want a revival just to explode in Auburn. I want it to explode everywhere! I have this dream about Snead State Community College having a revival. I want to claim this as a promise from God. Snead's mascot is a parson, let's allow the mascot be Jesus...better yet, let's allow Jesus to be the Savior of Snead. He already is anyway...I think I have this calling to go back home once I am done in Auburn. As much as I have fought it ever since I did not get that job with Snead, I believe He is calling me back home. You know, he has brought all of us to Auburn to be a part of this revival that is coming. Well, I don't think all of us are going to stay here in this town called Auburn. Our job will not be finished, for we will spread the good news in other places too, whether it be our hometowns or another country. The buck doesn't stop here, so the cliche goes. Mark 16:15-20 says:
15And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
This is the life I want to live, no matter where I am located.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Auburn is going up to Zion
Jeremiah 31 says:
1"At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people."
2Thus says the LORD:"The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3the LORD appeared to him from far away.I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim:'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"
7For thus says the LORD:"Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.' 8Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away;say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.' 11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd;their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. 13Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry.I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD."
15Thus says the LORD:"A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."
16Thus says the LORD:"Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears,for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. 18I have heard Ephraim grieving,'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf;bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. 19For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh;I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' 20Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child?For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still.Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.
21"Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts;consider well the highway, the road by which you went.Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. 22How long will you waver, O faithless daughter?For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man."
23Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: "'The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!'
24And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish."
26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29In those days they shall no longer say: "'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
35Thus says the LORD,who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name: 36"If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD,then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever."
37Thus says the LORD:"If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD."
38"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown anymore forever."
Please chew on this for a while...I can almost apply every verse to Auburn. I do not know what else to say. I think the Word speaks for Himself. This Word is what my heart has been yearning for for a while now. To actually read what my heart says in the Word of God is so comforting to me. What a wonderful Lord we have! May all these things come to pass in the name of Jesus! Thank you Lord, my God, my King!
1"At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people."
2Thus says the LORD:"The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3the LORD appeared to him from far away.I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel!Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim:'Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'"
7For thus says the LORD:"Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;proclaim, give praise, and say, 'O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.' 8Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away;say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.' 11For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd;their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. 13Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry.I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD."
15Thus says the LORD:"A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."
16Thus says the LORD:"Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears,for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 17There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. 18I have heard Ephraim grieving,'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf;bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. 19For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh;I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' 20Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child?For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still.Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD.
21"Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts;consider well the highway, the road by which you went.Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. 22How long will you waver, O faithless daughter?For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man."
23Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: "'The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness, O holy hill!'
24And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish."
26At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.
27"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. 29In those days they shall no longer say: "'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30But everyone shall die for his own sin. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
35Thus says the LORD,who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name: 36"If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD,then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever."
37Thus says the LORD:"If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD."
38"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be uprooted or overthrown anymore forever."
Please chew on this for a while...I can almost apply every verse to Auburn. I do not know what else to say. I think the Word speaks for Himself. This Word is what my heart has been yearning for for a while now. To actually read what my heart says in the Word of God is so comforting to me. What a wonderful Lord we have! May all these things come to pass in the name of Jesus! Thank you Lord, my God, my King!
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Worship
So, I thought I would share what I wrote down at the Jason Upton concert last night...
There is just something about worship. It is liquid in a sense. It flows. It comes natural. I am sitting here at the Jason Upton concert and all I can do is just watch different people worhsip, in particularly, two ladies with flags. I can see the freedom they have in Christ as they dance and twirl their flags. One of the women has this unexplainable glow on her face and her eyes are gazed like she is actually looking at Jesus himself. She has this goofy smile on her face like she is with her crush. Wow! What worship!
Watching people worship has recently become one of my favorite things to do. I suppose this is my new way of worship, but of course I have always enjoyed watching people in general. As most of you know me, I am usually the hand-rais'n, danc'n, kind of girl when I worship, but for some reason it has been equally enjoyable to watch others. Some have their eyes closed. Some smile every once in a while. I was watching Patio, and he definitely had one of those goofly smiles I described earlier. Even Jason Upton had his eyes closed so intensely that you could almost think he was right there in heaven holding God's hand. The some that keep their eyes closed, I wonder what they are thinking or I wonder what they see in their mind. What visions are they seeing? Some of the worshippers are bowing down or bowing their heads out of reverence for their Father. Some have their arms raised as they wave to the Lord and others are reaching up to the skies as if they could touch our God. Others are rocking as if they are rocking to the beat of His heart.
Worship. It's so beautiful. It is so peaceful. When it is true worhsip, it is true freedom. When I came to this concert, I didn't know what to expect, so I decided not have any expectations. Well, the concert started late and at first it was hard to get into the worship, that's when I prayed and sought after the Lord. I suppose now I know it is not about getting into the worship. It's about getting into my God, getting into His heart, getting into His mind. Being one with Him. That is what it is all about. I thank Jesus! Worship is beautiful because of Him and His love and His sacrifice. He is my true worship.
Worship is so fluid. It is something that should keep on flowing. It is a way of life. It is constant. This is how I want to live. I want that forever walk of worship. I want to talk in worship. I want to walk in worship. All I want is a life of worship no matter the cost of my pride because it is not about me anyway. It has always been about Him, but have I always lived my life that way? Lord, help me to live my life in worship. You are worthy oh Lord! Thank you Jesus for revealing all this to me! You are wonderful! I love you Jesus! You are my praise! Thank you Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Hallelujah!!
There is just something about worship. It is liquid in a sense. It flows. It comes natural. I am sitting here at the Jason Upton concert and all I can do is just watch different people worhsip, in particularly, two ladies with flags. I can see the freedom they have in Christ as they dance and twirl their flags. One of the women has this unexplainable glow on her face and her eyes are gazed like she is actually looking at Jesus himself. She has this goofy smile on her face like she is with her crush. Wow! What worship!
Watching people worship has recently become one of my favorite things to do. I suppose this is my new way of worship, but of course I have always enjoyed watching people in general. As most of you know me, I am usually the hand-rais'n, danc'n, kind of girl when I worship, but for some reason it has been equally enjoyable to watch others. Some have their eyes closed. Some smile every once in a while. I was watching Patio, and he definitely had one of those goofly smiles I described earlier. Even Jason Upton had his eyes closed so intensely that you could almost think he was right there in heaven holding God's hand. The some that keep their eyes closed, I wonder what they are thinking or I wonder what they see in their mind. What visions are they seeing? Some of the worshippers are bowing down or bowing their heads out of reverence for their Father. Some have their arms raised as they wave to the Lord and others are reaching up to the skies as if they could touch our God. Others are rocking as if they are rocking to the beat of His heart.
Worship. It's so beautiful. It is so peaceful. When it is true worhsip, it is true freedom. When I came to this concert, I didn't know what to expect, so I decided not have any expectations. Well, the concert started late and at first it was hard to get into the worship, that's when I prayed and sought after the Lord. I suppose now I know it is not about getting into the worship. It's about getting into my God, getting into His heart, getting into His mind. Being one with Him. That is what it is all about. I thank Jesus! Worship is beautiful because of Him and His love and His sacrifice. He is my true worship.
Worship is so fluid. It is something that should keep on flowing. It is a way of life. It is constant. This is how I want to live. I want that forever walk of worship. I want to talk in worship. I want to walk in worship. All I want is a life of worship no matter the cost of my pride because it is not about me anyway. It has always been about Him, but have I always lived my life that way? Lord, help me to live my life in worship. You are worthy oh Lord! Thank you Jesus for revealing all this to me! You are wonderful! I love you Jesus! You are my praise! Thank you Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Hallelujah!!
