Tag: God

The Little Soul Series

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

I picked up two children’s books at the library, having known nothing about them, which were fabulous.

The first, The Little Soul and the Sun, is a conversation with God and a child as the child (Little Soul) tries to figure out who he is.  This has a lot of imagery about being the Light and is a bit abstract, which for my little kids, I think went over their heads but they liked it anyways.

The best line in this book is God says, “Always remember:  I have sent you nothing but angels.”

A part that went over my kids’ heads but I liked was when the person sent to help Little Soul learn to forgive tells him, “Remember who I am in the moment I do the worst to you.”

I’m not for sure if we’re supposed to remember God in these moments or remember the better part of the person hurting you but I liked either one, especially as it applies to relatives because sometimes people hurt us in the heat of the moment and if we remember who they are, it is easier to forgive.

The better one in my opinion, the one not quite-so-theoretical, is The Little Soul and the Earth, which continues with God sending Little Soul to be born and experience forgiveness.

This book has great timeless messages such as:  God is always with you.  He sends a guardian angel to be by your side always.  Mommy and Daddy are love and to get more love you simply must give it away.  Giving away love can be as simple as smiling.

The guardian angel tells Little Soul only one thing is necessary:  faith in God.  “You’ve got to believe that you’ll always have everything you need.  You’ve got to believe that God is on your side.”

This was great for me to hear, not just my kids.

Both books are by Neale Donald Walsch.  These books are based on the Conversations with God series, which I have not read and am in no way endorsing.  I don’t know anything about the author.  I read the on-line reviews of the book, curious as to where these stories came from and some were scathing.  Since I have no idea, I’m remaining neutral.

Just to be clear:  I’m recommending the children’s books, not the adult books.

Prayer of the Day

by atozmom, posted in Faith, Life

Romans 5:3-5  “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

So, through our suffering we have hope that love will be poured into our hearts.

What Does it Mean to “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus?”

by atozmom, posted in Faith

I’m reading my Bible (part of my goals this year is to finish the Bible) and I’m in Mark.  My Bible is an NIV Study Bible so periodically, it offers explanations, insights, and questions.  One question is “For you, what does it mean to ‘take up your cross’ and follow Jesus?”

I have often heard this asked and wondered myself.  So, first thing I usually do it google whatever I’m curious about.  What a great tool–the Internet!

I found an awesome explanation about what it meant back in Jesus’s time and how it’s meant today:

http://www.gotquestions.org/take-up-your-cross.html

In sum, it means are you willing to lose everything to follow Jesus.  Not that you have to give up everything. Not that this will happen.  Just are you willing.

From our BSF study of Isaiah so far, we’ve learned it’s more about what’s in your heart rather than actions or deeds.  You can go through the motions of doing God’s work but if your heart is not in it, then it’s meaningless to God.

I just finished Matthew and half of Mark and the Pharisees figure prominently in these books.  They are the Biblical men who are always trying to trip up Jesus.  Jesus chastises them over and over again for their empty actions.  Their hearts aren’t in their work for they do not care about the people.

This is a great question that is often misunderstood.  People, some of whom are defined by their things, have a hard time with this one.  But it’s not about the doing of giving up your things.  You can give up all you have and still not have a heart for Jesus.

It’s about having the heart for Jesus and striving every day to be more and more like him. This is our calling and what God desires for each of us.

And it’s a challenge.  Usually every day I must repent for something or other.

Luke 9:23:  Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

We must deny ourself, die to self, and follow Jesus, His will for our life, every day.  His will not mine.

Today is a new day and as long as God is the one in front I can do better.  For my heart is with Him.

I Believe in You

by atozmom, posted in Faith, Life

This is the title of the new series at church.  I had to fight tears the whole time.

Our pastor may not be the most eloquent but he has one thing going for him:  he is authentic, God-centered, and heart-felt.  He often cries when he speaks about God and one can’t help but feel his passion for the Lord.

At some point or points, one person or persons believed in you. They told you, “Yes, you can” when others (including yourself) believed otherwise.  Our pastor related his personal story and gave credit to his wife who admittedly he said he wouldn’t be here without her.  She believed in him when he didn’t.  He founded our church 28 years ago with 7 people and now it’s in the thousands.

We need to believe in others.  We need to believe in our spouse. We need to invest in those nearest us–someone. We need an older mentor. We need an encourager.  We need to give of ourselves in order to live.

God wants us to quit settling.  God wants us to have all He has given to us; to seize it.  Satan will try to talk us out of everything God wants us to do.  He will lie to us.

Jesus commissioned his 11 disciples to spread his work.  Jesus believed in them.  He believed in Peter, who denied him 3 times.

God believes in us.  He wants us to follow His call on our life.  God believes in us when we don’t know if we want to go on.

Romans 8:31  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Several songs popped in my mind:  Our God by Chris Tomlin, The Words I Would Say by Sidewalk Prophets, and You Never Let Go by Matt Redman

We need to believe we can do whatever our calling/purpose is in this world.  This gets me through when I’m stuck.  I tell myself, “This is God’s work.  It’s for Him.  It will be all worth it when it’s done.”

When was the last time someone told you they believed in you? When was the last time you told someone you believed in them?

You might not remember.  But I bet you remember the last time you needed to hear it.

It’s Not About Me

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

I read Sarah Palin’s new book, America By Heart.  It was good.  It echoes a lot of what Glenn Beck and The 5000 Year Leap say about country, pride, faith, and America.

One book she quoted in her book that struck me was It’s Not About Me by Max Lucado.  Since my husband and I have both been accused of being selfish by his family recently, I thought this book apropos.  Plus, what better way to begin the New Year?

I like Max Lucado.  As creator of the Wemmicks, he’s a special guy in my kids’ eyes.  But I’ve only read one adult book of his until this one.

Here’s the best parts and quotes:

When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or a favor from God, but God himself, we cross a threshold.

Lucado then discusses Moses in the desert and while talking to God he asks him, “Show me your Glory.” (Exodus 33:18)  Lucado asks, “Don’t we all need to be asking the same thing?”  So we can be changed forever as Moses was?

We exist to reveal His glory but we must first see and know His glory and live it in our lives.

Holy is repeated 3 times in Isaiah 6:2.  What other adjective is repeated to describe God?

God’s mercy makes us holy.

We can endure any challenge for a moment when our reward is eternity.

If it’s all about you, then it’s all up to you.  God loves us too much to give us such a burden.  He loves us too much to give us too much.  He knows our limitations and weaknesses.  Because He loves us.

Side Note:  Lucado told a story about Queen Victoria’s daughter, Alice, and how she loved her sick son so much so kissed him even though he was in quarantine.  She died a few days later.  I immediately looked this up on the internet because I had never heard of this story.  Great stuff.  Be prepared to shed a tear.

As we behold His glory, we become it.  As we become it, we reflect it for all to see.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

Our body is interwoven with the soul.  “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?”  1 Corinthians 6:15  So whatever touches the body, impacts the soul.

Your body, God’s tool.  Maintain it.

Your body, God’s temple.  Respect it.

God does leave us to the consequences of our stupid decisions. But our pain has a purpose: problems, struggles, heartaches, and hassles cooperate toward one end–the glory of God.  Is there any change you have been selected to struggle for God’s glory?  “To suffer for Him.” Philippians 1:29

God will use whatever He wants to display His glory.  Nations.  People.  Problems.

God can be seen through your problems.

Your success is all about God.  God lets you excel so you can make Him known.  You are good at what you do for God’s sake.

We exist to give honor to his name.  If they know His child (us humans), then they know His heart.

There is a great section in here discussing Isaiah and when he saw the glory of God, was cleansed by the seraphs, and said, “Here am I!”  This was especially satisfying to me since I knew exactly what Lucado was getting at–all thanks to BSF!

This was a great reminder book.  Easy read and relatively short.  Great ideas and lessons from the Bible. Everything in our lives: our bodies, our struggles, our success, our salvation, and our messages are for God’s glory.  It’s all about God, not us.

Live for God.

Bible Study Fellowship–Isaiah

by atozmom, posted in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), Faith

Yesterday was our first day of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), studying the book of Isaiah.  I’m excited to begin.  This is my first year.

So, I began the questions this morning and I hope I get better as I go along.  I had to leave 4b blank because I am unsure how Isaiah 1:1-9 relates to dealing with a past hurt.  The passage is about how God is angry at his children because they have rebelled and speaks nothing of forgiveness or restoration.  It only mentions how his people are stupid and how there will be chosen survivors.

Maybe it’ll come to me in the coming days.

I loved the lecture, especially Principle #1: God uses committed people to impact culture today.  I’d like to think I’m one of these.

It’s also good to be reminded that you were born with a purpose in mind.  I know this instinctively but it’s good to bring it back up especially when someone else says so.

Why I DON’T Want a Writing “Job”

by atozmom, posted in Faith, Writing

My mother-in-law mentioned to me last night that Craigslist has tons of blog writer positions or copywriter or writer in general and I should look into those.  Immediately, without thinking, I said, “I don’t want to write for other people.  I want to write what I want to write, not what others tell me to write.”

I started mulling this over this morning.  I searched Craigslist and everything sounded about as exciting as a 8:00 AM Economics lecture.  Then I thought about my answer last night and seconded it.

I don’t want to write for others.  I write for myself and what my heart (and I believe God) tells me to write about.  I don’t want to have to do research on some mind-numbing topic and turn in a report about it.  Lord knows I did enough of that in college to last me a life time.  I don’t want to blog for others when I can blog about whatever I want to.

Call this selfish or whatever but to me, this is what makes writing fun and if writing is not fun for me, I won’t do it.  I’m old enough in life to realize I’m through doing monotonous stuff if I don’t have to.  Praise God I don’t have to write for a living.  My husband does all of that.

I also mentioned to my mother-in-law that I write books for me and I am going to try my hardest to get published.  But if I don’t succeed, if God doesn’t will it, I will still keep on doing it.

This is passion.  This is where I stand.

Seek God First…

by atozmom, posted in Faith

Everything else falls into place.

Jesus said, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [eat,drink, wear] will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

Remember God is with you.  You are not alone.  He’s there in your highs and in your lows.  He’s there always.

Do You Pause to Give God Credit?

by atozmom, posted in Faith, Life, Writing

How many times have you paused lately to give God credit for events in your life?

I know I try, especially on Sundays in church, but I’m bad at giving him credit for the little things:  like today for a perfect bike ride with my son where we saw frogs, pelicans, geese, birds, and squirrels–His creations all around us.

I’m bad at giving him credit for the big things too such as my new novel idea (I always say a prayer of thanks but continually giving him praise is hard for me) or for maybe getting us out of this apartment through a nice couple that may sublet from us or for my husband’s new job that is allowing us to go vacation for the first time in at least five years, for us to get our teeth cleaned, and for us to visit the doctor without worry of bills to come in the mail.

I’m reading Daniel in the Old Testament who continually gave God credit for everything despite being exiled in a foreign country his entire life (Babylon).  It’s amazing how far faith can get you.

I do know in my heart I will write the novel that will find the perfect literary agent and an audience as long as I keep following God’s word and his word in my life.

So I will endeavor to pause more to thank God for his little blessings (and his big ones) as I continue on my life’s journey.

Dwelling On Death

by atozmom, posted in Life

Lately, I’ve been thinking about death a lot lately.  What if my husband died what would I do?  What if one of my dogs died?  What about my grandparents?  This could be attributed to my very somber mood as of late or the fact I just finished reading Lamentations in the Bible which describes the death and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the Babylonians but as I was laying in bed this morning, thinking of death and checking to make sure my dogs were breathing, my writing surfaced again in my mind.  What if my novels are dead?

This I believe is what is driving my thoughts on death–the fact that my writings/novels may be dead and I’m just not prepared to deal with this or let them go.  A book by nature is a living document for every time it is read it comes alive in the mind of the reader or listener.  I want my novels to come alive repeatedly–not die a horrible death on my computer never being read.

Death is something we don’t have control over.  When your time is up, you are called.  Maybe this is what God is trying to teach me about my novels.  I want to have control over their life and death but I can’t really force a publisher to publish it, now can I?  I thought I’ve handed my novels over to God’s will but maybe I haven’t.  Recently, I have let the fact that my career is going no where get to me and maybe I shouldn’t have.  After all, if it was meant to be (it being my novels published or me have a writing career), it will be.  It has been predetermined and all I have to do is act on it.  God already knows.  I just wish I did.  It would definitely make the rejections a lot easier to handle knowing someone else will believe in me.