MY WILL, OR HIS WAY?

Usually, the question to ponder would be, "My will, or his will?' Well, I've been realizing how considering his WAY can be more helpful to me... Even JESUS had to do this... Just what do I consider to be 'his WAY,?' you are asking yourselves.. HE is showing me at least two components to it.. OBEDIENCE, and ASKING IN HUMILITY coming to the forefront in importance! Moment by moment, I must choose to trust and obey, for there's no other way to be 'happy' in JESUS...For me, this obedience means 'having no other god before HIM!' Also, I must constantly be willing to ask for, and receive HIS POWER for overcoming, and being set free from the 'chains that seek to bind me!' In fact, I have been recruiting some prayer power from two sets of saints I fellowship with this week. The constant battle with 'my' flesh can lead me to discouragement at times but I am learning to 'ward it off' by humbly 'upping the amps' on prayer support for this matter...  I was reading 2 blogs yesterday when I noted how we all MUST humbly call on our LORD for even the most seemingly 'insignificant' matters... HE is always ready, willing, and certainly, ABLE to do all we ask, to HIS GLORY!!  Finally, I am reminded of Satan's garage sale where all of his 'goods' were for sale at the same price except for DISCOURAGEMENT.. It was priced higher because, "It's my most valuable tool since most don't recognize it as mine!" he says!                       I also realize I should be thankful for my battle being with an internal foe that I have seen defeated often, and not with the dilemma of a long-term illness threatening a loved one, etc.. I can testify though, to the way HE CAN, and DOES, carry us throughout similar times.. It's HIS WAY! (if we LET Him!)

Women of Fate or, Women of Faith?

Recently, I was with a group of ladies when something was said to the effect of us not being subject to 'fate.' I wholeheartedly agreed while saying something to the effect of, 'That's because we are women of faith!' Needless to say, I like to play with words so I couldn't resist turning these phrases into a blog title.. So, here you have it!! One key thought I've been 'sitting on' for awhile, is about how it bothers me when people say their faith saved(s) them, thus seeming to give the act of believing/receiving the actual power of saving them when, in reality, it is/was the redemptive act of Christ's shedding of his blood, thus sacrificing his life as atonement for my sins, that SAVES us. FAITH should not be personified. I've always comprehended FAITH as Forsaking All, I Trust Him. This states that it is an act of my will.. a determination to, and commitment to, trusting HIM, no matter what! I like an older chorus which says, "To hear with my heart, to see with my soul... to be guided by a hand I cannot hold.. To trust in a way that I cannot see... That's what faith must be!!" (In fact, I recall singing this as I drove a bus of campers around a tight horseshoe turn on a one-way mountain road!!!) Well, that's about all for now!! Join me each and every day as I count my blessings while TRUSTING HIM as entirely as I know how at this point in my walk with our Savior!! 

HE Did It AGAIN!

Being a blogger is SO MUCH FUN because it gives me somewhere to share some of the most interesting moments in, or aspects of my walk with my LORD JESUS CHRIST.. So, just what DID HE do for me (us) again? Well, these past 2 evenings we have needed to be a ferry-ride across Puget Sound in Edmonds, WA for our daughter's wedding rehearsal and the wedding itself! When the festivities ended, we exhausted ones headed down to the ferry dock in Edmonds. BOTH NIGHTS, we were the last car to get onto a ferry just as it was ready to depart.. ABSOLUTELY NO WAITING was needed!! Some of you 'out there' may not be able to identify with the life of ferry travelers, so let it suffice to say that we were truly DELIGHTED as we counted our blessings of having made it onto those 2 ferries with the obvious 'I'M GOING TO POUR OUT A BLESSING ON YOU,' coming from our wondrous LORD! I am becoming accustomed to watching HIM as HE 'pours out blessing upon blessing out of the fullness of his grace!' as is stated in JOHN 1:16. Many of us know JOHN 3:16 but way before that verse, JOHN recorded the LORD'S intention to give us reasons to 'COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! NAME THEM ONE BY ONE!'   Finally, for now, I'd like to record one of the other expression of his love for us related to the wedding... More than a week or two prior to the wedding, the weather was looking like it would not be nice for an outdoor ceremony.. So, many dear ones began praying fervently, so you know HE answered! We has gloriously clear skies, warm (almost HOT!) temperatures, and a breeze to keep us from being TOO hot!! Isn't God great and good?! (ALL THE TIME!) BFN