do you wear a "Power Suit"?

I am reading a new book…*gasp*! I had fallen behind on my reading because well…I don’t really know why. Normally I juggle a couple books and a Bible Study at the same time but this summer I only did the Bible study and daily Bible reading. But over the weekend we had our JBA WMU Training (in the hurricane with no participants showing up…only staff and guest speakers) and anyway bless our JBA WMU Director’s heart she brought the book store contents anyway in the wind and rain and BOY WAS I GLAD!!! I bought me a couple books for personal use and a couple for ministry. And I received the greatest blessing from sitting informally and hearing the testimonies of the guest speakers…it was truly priceless. And I am so glad I went even though I was showerless and looking thrown away!

Anyway about the book. I believe I may have mentioned that I felt satan had been attacking me every which way I turned…well guess what the book is. “Power Suit - The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame”. It is based on Eph 6 putting on the armor of God - get it power suit...armor of God...yes I am tired these days :) Eph 6 last week was the ONLY thing that kept me hanging on. I have read that section of scripture so many times the last few weeks that you would pure laugh at me. Well, on Saturday afternoon by candlelight I read 2 chapters of that book in less than an hour. Y'all it is great! And it is so timely. Granted I could have used it two weeks ago as well…lol! But God provided it…just when I thought I was at my rope’s end…the rope grew longer and God assured me to STAND FIRM…even when everyone else seems to be falling away…stand FIRM! I am learning to put on the "Power Suit" in lots of circumstances! I’ll share some quotes with you later this week…but here is a teaser…
”Not acknowledging God renders us foolish and destroys our moral judgment. God will allow us to slide away from Him of our own free will when we decide to change the truth of God into a lie.”

I reiterate Pastor Billie from Sunday morning…look at where you are today…God has not moved. (How is that for a timely message to go along with my new book??? coincidence...I don't think so...I don't believe in coincidence or luck for that matter...lol...only Divine intervention!)

God’s Word is and will always be the truth and it will never be moved or shaken. If you are not near Him...look at your footprints and trace them back to where you went astray!!! He was waiting for me when I returned with open arms….full of grace and mercy. Praise Him!

No transition for this but I am dying to tell you…it is time to start registering for the Pure Water Pure Love Mission 5K…here is a link: haha yes I need to work on my literary skills!

http://wmbc2011wmu5k.eventbrite.com/

Please register and encourage others to register as well! If you have your own blog, or facebook or tweet or any of those other fancy modern technology things…please pass the link along =) Missionaries are relying on our financial support for clean drinking water…and we could all use a challenge to get more exercise…so sign up to walk, run, jog, stroll, etc!

One other thing…sorry this post got really long…please continue to remember my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in your prayers. We buried their first child Friday. Born prematurely and received immediately into the loving arms of Jesus. This is one of the hardest things I have watched our family suffer and feel so helpless. Sickness and death are never easy, but something about a baby never getting a chance makes it very different. God has been present all the way...and their faith has grown through the process. But it still breaks my heart for them. Your prayers are not wasted on them.

Be a blessing this week! And thank you for the privilege to serve Christ with you at WMBC! It humbles me more than you can imagine...

In Him,
Kristy =)

Somewhere in El Paso...

Hope everyone has a great weekend…please come to church tomorrow night (Saturday 8/20) for the community Gospel Sing to benefit Backpack Buddies! Singing begins at 7pm cost to enter is either a can of Ravioli or a monetary donation if you prefer. I understand there are at least 5 local churches represented. I know it will be a blessing!

Also if you have a dirty car…bring it by the church tomorrow (Saturday 8/20) between 8am and 4pm and get it washed by the Youth for a fundraiser for the Humphries family!!! They are also selling BBQ sandwiches, pints of BBQ, and something about some shoulders…lol! The Humphries have a 16 year old diagnosed with bone cancer. The fundraiser is to help with expenses travelling back and forth to Chapel Hill for treatments. (And please pray for the family!!!)

On a side note…do you know how pathetic we are becoming as a society? Or maybe I am the only one…I have become so dependent on my smart phone that without it I am a mess. Y’all know I am borderline OCD…well maybe not borderline…ha! And little things grate on my nerves. Like data…I like data being displayed to be correct. Like 9am on my clock is in tune with Direct TV because 9am is different than 9:05am. I know…crazy. Just this week the Acteens and I discussed pet peeves and how to overcome them! And I am struggling!

So today my phone starting showing “El Paso” as the location…and I was so freaked out that I spent way too long trying to figure out how to fix it. When I fixed it finally…I realized how stupid the whole ordeal was…I mean really…how could I be so obsessed over something so insignificant? Six months ago I had no clue that Clayton was 88’ with intermittent clouds at 12:05pm….and I was surviving! But suddenly my world is crumbling because for a few hours I was in El Paso with mostly sunshine and 78’. I actually said “what if I need the navigator and it thinks I am in TX!”…Y’all I kid you not when I leave work I am going to church to set up chairs and then home…do you think I will need a navigation system to guide me?

So now that I am looking back I can’t help but shake my head and roll my eyes…can you imagine what Jesus thinks as we get so caught up in little things like smart phones? Do smart phones have eternal value? Will having a smart phone leave a legacy behind when I die? Granted they are nice and make life more convenient…but I don’t read any Bible stories about Jesus’ life being convenient. In fact I am ashamed. One of my memory verses a few years ago was James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the widows and orphans in their time of distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. Ouch. I think I am polluted in ways I never imagined!

Lord, help me remember to keep material things like smart phones in perspective. Give me your heart so that I can love others instead of things. Amen

Bless someone!
In Him,
Kristy

Ramblings...

Ok today I cannot believe that school starts back in a week. My kids are going to D-I-E when they have to get back in the routine. I on the other hand, cannot wait for the routine to return! I love to be busy and on schedule! I like to call my life “controlled chaos”…although it mostly resembles chaos these days!

I don’t know if it is currently having a kid on crutches or just my normal ADHD tendency kicking in overdrive but lately I don’t seem to sit down once I get home! And it is so frustrating. By the time it is time for my nightly Bible Study I can barely hold my head up and stay focused. I hear God saying “Be still and know that I am God”…but I just can’t be still until time to crash and then the focus is a lost cause! Anybody with me?

And this morning after I ran my week day 5k…I FELL ASLEEP!!! Hello…how many folks can run over 3 miles come in the house and lay across the bed and go back to sleep all sweaty with an exercise heart rate and not wake up in time to get ready? I normally read my Bible during that time of cool down early in the stillness of the morning but today I read my eyelids. Which means I skipped my morning quiet time!!! Which might explain why my day has TOTALLY tanked!

But I will not fear because it is Wed…and tonight is church night – Praise the LORD! And those Acteens will teach me something for sure!

Pray with me…Fill us up Lord so we can survive the remainder of the week! Amen!

See ya tonight!
In Him,
Kristy =)

SMC - August 15 2011

I cannot believe it is already August 15th! Where does the time go?

I finished my Summer Bible Study homework last night. I am so silly…it makes me so sad to finish a study and move on. And I know that is crazy…but it is me. We meet tomorrow night to discuss the last week…and let me tell you how TIMELY my God is! The study was about finding the delight in time with God rather than seeing it as a duty. And it was really good…the first 5 weeks did an excellent job laying out that topic. The material was nothing I didn’t know already but it was presented in a unique way and it was a nice reminder/encouragement!

Then week 6 was random…and y’all it made me cry. She starts out the homework by saying that she has no clue why she is including a week of homework on spiritual warfare when it wasn’t really related to the topic…well I will tell you why she included it…I NEEDED IT LAST WEEK!!! It brought tears of praise to my eyes! I have never felt more humbled at God’s perfect timing and perfect provision. He gave me exactly what I needed to hear on exactly the week I needed to hear it. It was scary crazy! We started the Bible study exactly one week later than the original schedule…so I know without a doubt it was God’s plan for her to write that week of homework JUST FOR ME! Because in a week where I felt spiritual warfare all around me and in almost every conversation I had…I needed to keep my face planted in Eph 6! And stand on His Word to get me through it! And last night all the pieces came together and satan was rebuked. Praise Jesus!

OK…so I am the random one today…back to the task at hand…Scripture Memory!!!! Woohooo!

This week I choose Joshua 3:5 NIV “Joshua told the people “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you”.

Ladies….He is amazing and He alone can and will do AMAZING things among you…IF you seek Him wholeheartedly and live by His Word.

Pray for me (and our other church leaders) this week if you have a spare minute…church leadership can wear on you this time of year…but I rest in knowing that the new year is coming…and God has BIG plans for our church!

2nd verse same as the first but with a little more determination...

Peyt came home from GA camp singing a song that we have laughed many times at this summer. It's called "you can't ride my little red wagon" and you repeat the same verse a ton of times but each time with a different tone, attitude, etc. And you always say "# verse same as the first but this time with a little ...." And then you make your voice match that thing...like opera, meanness, sadness, happiness, valley girlness, etc. You get the picture...if not...ask Peyt to sing it...LOL

Well...remember when I was back "on the plan and in the groove" a few weeks ago (click on it if you forgot)...it lasted about 3 days because no one was holding me accountable for my out of control eating habits! So today is a new day... and I need to find me an eating accountability partner. Because call me the Apostle Paul...I am human and I lack self control. Over the weekend I was catching up my Bible Study homework and it referenced the section in Romans 7:14-20 where Paul goes on and on about doing what he doesn't want to do and not doing what he knows he should do and how he is only rescued and delivered by Jesus...and it reminded me of my eating habits!

Read it as it relates in my life today...(changed the words in orange)
14 I know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I eat. For what I want to eat I do not eat, but what I hate I eat. 16 And if I eat what I do not want to eat, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who eat it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to eat what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not eat the good I want to eat, but the evil I do not want to eat—this I keep on eating 20 Now if I eat what I do not want to eat, it is no longer I who eat it, but it is sin living in me that eats it.

So today it is 2nd verse same as the first but with a little more determination...I am on a mission to find the perfect Weight Watchers accountability partner. Not that you care...but I imagine most women struggle with some kind of self control issue as well...and we can learn A LOT from the Apostle Paul.

Continuing in Romans 8 we learn that in order to overcome the slavery of sin (in my example - the sin of lack of self control)...by the grace and mercy of Jesus and living in the Spirit. Our Bible Study homework talked a lot about that concept this week, but I have a CD of Joyce Meyer on the subject that explains it best...I love the way she simplifies it into this...sowing to flesh reaps death, decay and destruction, sowing to the Spirit reaps everlasting life, joy and peace. (Not sure which translation she uses to say it this way but it is a little different than mine). I want everlasting life, joy and peace!!! So pray for me to make more Spirit filled choices! Because it is our choice whether we sow to flesh or spirit...no one can make the choice for us!

I am going to try a new tactic today. Every time I want to eat I am going to write a prayer out in my food journal and let God guide me if I am really truly hungry or if I am just eating to eat. If nothing else at least I will pray more today (because I eat A LOT)...and maybe just maybe I can practice some self-control today! Check in and I'll let you know how it goes!

Be a blessing today ladies!
And I will try to post more this week...last week was C-R-A-Z-Y busy at home and work and church for that matter! LOL

Your fellow Spirit sowing Sister,
Kristy =)

SMC - August 1 2011

My verse this time comes from the Charlotte LPL with Beth Moore.

Rev 3:11 (NIV)
"I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown."

I think this was in the section where she talked about "S" - satan wants what you have (but I might be wrong). At any rate I think it was the point I mostly related to because I fight satan daily to hold on to what I have. I am sure you fight daily as well. We all fight different fights but the enemy is probably the same. And our weapons should be the same (Eph 6:10-20). And one of those crucial weapons is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (vs 17b). When satan tempted Jesus in Matthew chapter 4...Jesus answered his every temptation by quoting scripture. It was one of the most powerful weapons that Jesus used to combat satan.

So if you are not actively memorizing or at least meditating God's Word...then you are short a weapon...a very crucial weapon and satan knows it! You are vulnerable to the enemy.

So....what's your verse this time? ;)

Hold on to what you have...ladies!

In Him,
Kristy =)