I have been attempting to read the Bible, cover-to-cover in chronological order and so far I've done pretty good for the last month. So far I have reached the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament to the point that Ezekiel is prophesying Egypt's ruin. However; this is a guesstimation as my daughter managed to get a hold of my phone and changed a bunch of stuff, and apparently also removed the last bookmark I had on my e-Bible on my iPhone. Oh well, the word is worth reading over in certain parts or maybe I have missed a lesson somewhere.
I have considered the offerings by Dr. Charles Stanley after running across him while flipping through the TV looking for something to watch. Now, I don't normally sit and watch religious channels all day, but I had heard about this guy from a close friend of mine and I thought I would just sit down, hear him out, and give him a chance. So, I just prayed 'Lord, You know as well as I that this isn't what I normally watch, but if You will have me to watch this, please open my mind and my heart to hear what You have to say through Dr. Stanley.' So I was watching his preaching on Daystar TV and it was on Patience in Prayer. I actually learned a lot more than I thought I would.
Here's what I noted in my mind that was said:
1. God answers prayer in 3 ways - 'Yes', 'Wait', or 'Prepare yourself by removing things in your life so that I can answer your prayer.' That's a good way of putting it, so if your prayer isn't answered - you might have gotten the last two answers so it should be a time of self-examination rather than self-desperation. I wish I had taken the time to jot down the scripture references but perhaps a look on his ministry web site might reveal this.
2. Prayer doesn't just have to be full of prayer requests to be effective. I usually pray to God during my mid-day work at the chicken house when I am alone with just 12,000 chickens and the Lord. Yes, this sounds crazy, and no I don't pray out loud for all of you inquiring minds. Well, the other day, I did my prayer and I could not think of a single request so I literally spent the entire 30 minutes just praising and thanking the Lord for who He is and what He has done. I just felt like He needed to be praised more than sending Him 10,000 request right after the standard prayer opening. I felt better and renewed in a different kind of way. Dr. Stanley pointed out during his presentation that prayer needs to also be a time of fellowship with the Lord. When he said this it was just like 'Wham! You're on the right path here." So many times when I hear people pray it literally starts out with:
"Lord, I/We come humbly before You now. We praise You and thank You for all of Your blessings and all that You have done on the cross...." then they immediately go into the five million requests they have. I am just as guilty of this as the next person, but prayer isn't just about requests and confession of sin, but it is also a time of fellowship with the Lord. I wonder if my prayer life would be deeper and more effective if I spent more QUALITY time thanking and praising the Lord rather than spending the large chunk of it for requests. This isn't to say that these requests aren't important because they are and we are called to pray for each other and to pray for any situation we find ourselves in. I just wonder if the praise has become all too routine or redundant for most of us (maybe even myself?). I just wonder if God would be made more joyful if we praised Him with as much urgency and meaning as we bring our requests to Him. Just a thought and I'm glad that it was brought up in the Dr. Stanley program.
3. Fellowship and daily confession and repentance of sin. I have had this explained to me time and time again by Sunday School teachers, friends, and so forth but Dr. Stanley just explained it in a way that I totally understand and I am able to actually apply to my life in a practical daily basis. Salvation cannot be lost - once saved, always saved. Signed, sealed, delivered, He's ours and we to Him. Nothing breaks this bond. Daily confession and repentance of sin brings us into fellowship with Him so that we can get to know Him on a deeper level. The best layman analogy I can come up with is this:
Your father never stops being your father just because you have done wrong. Nothing can change the fact that you do have a father (whether he was actually there or just a sperm donor). To be out of fellowship with Him is like not being on speaking terms with your earthly father until you have come to some sort of reconciliation and admitting you have wronged your father by not obeying him (this is just an analogy, not a real case scenario for those with deadbeat daddies) or your father has wronged you. By admitting and confessing your wrongdoing, you are confessing, apologizing and making a promise to obey by repenting. This isn't how you get into Heaven, but this is an act of daily obedience to God because God commands this to us. By daily confessing and repenting we are being obedient to Him and His calling and therefore are remaining in fellowship with Him on a daily basis.
With those three points I was just like OK God, I am willing to give this man a chance, I am ready to listen to what You have to say through Him. That led me to my iTunes iBook store searching for his books. I was surprised - there are 77 total available books by Dr. Charles Stanley on the iBooks store. With so many, my head nearly spun as to which to start with. I may contact my friend and ask her if I can borrow one of her Dr. Charles Stanley books to start with and go from there. I plan to eventually start complimenting my Bible reading with works from noted Christian authors so that I can begin to have a deeper understanding rather than just a head knowledge and the basics. Eventually I would like to have a devotional that could steer me on the right path in my journey with Christ.
Staying the course,
Cheyenne
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Don't Jump The Gun
Well, we all have these moments where we get so excited to finally get what we think we want that we 'jump the gun' so to speak. We act before thinking of the consequences, we say things without carefully considering our words, and send messages and emails to friends only to suggest something far out there even though we mean well.
Today was one of those days where I caught myself jumping the gun instead of just sitting back and carefully examining my thoughts and actions before saying or doing them. Sometimes it would be better if I would just keep my mouth shut and let the Lord work things out on His time so that the result would be much better and more accomplished rather than thinking 'Ah, it will be OK if I just wing it' or 'I think I can handle it until later' or whatever other excuse I can come up with. Some are so out there, they would be considered irrational, illogical, or in layman's terma 'just plain stupid'.
Today, I did just that. I have been yearning to get my truck out of the shop. It's not that my truck is any better than the vehicle I was borrowing, it's just that I prefer the comforts of my own vehicle. Well, I was just nearly ecstatic when I went to check on the truck today expecting NOT to bring it home only to hear the mechanic say 'Well, darlin' I've got you all fixed up!". He mentioned a steering issue, but I thought it would be just from needing an alignment (which is what I had planned to do for my truck prior to the rear-end going out on me on the side of the road). Yes, the steering was shaky, but as I thought - it needs an alignment and that might solve the problem. I also noticed it was riding 'rougher' than usual. Again, I just thought to myself - "I have been driving a minivan and now I've gone back to the truck, I just need to get re-adjusted to it." I was right, right up until I rounded the sharp curve next to a cemetery about half a mile from my house and my steering shook violently, and kept shaking violently until I just came to a near complete stop in the middle of the highway (this is not recommended as this highway is heavily used by fully loaded Tyson 18-wheelers carrying anything from feed, to finished product, to live birds on fully loaded trailers - in short; they ain't stopping on a dime!) When I stopped - the shaking stopped. I continued on to the house and I was disgusted with my own stupidity. I failed to listen to the mechanic and now I am having to reap the consequences of it. Getting a loaner vehicle may be more difficult this go around because:
1. My aunt's truck has gone out on her - I have literally JUST GIVEN HER VAN BACK TO HER.
2. She don't like driving the big truck - it's just too much truck for her she says.
3. My parents will need their vehicles for work
4. I can't drive my dad's '78 standard and the engine isn't reliable as it has difficulty starting - yet he claims it's still a good vehicle. (insert rolling eyes emoticon here)
Right now, I'm just praying that my stupidity doesn't leave me stranded on the side of the road like it did the last time. Tomorrow I'll be limping my truck around, tomorrow I'll be praying long and hard each time I get in my truck, tomorrow I may be IN the cemetery - but I hope not on that last thought.
But, so often we 'jump the gun' on God's commands. We know He will solve our problems in due time, but so often when we think we've solved it ourselves and try to go on our merry little way - we end up not much better than before. We get fickle and antsy about any given situation and boom we go only to end up realizing we have gone too soon. Either we find ourselves not prepared - or in my recent case - not completely repaired. More often we should allow God to help us fully prepare and repair us before trying to move forward. If we go forward too soon, we leave things broken that still need fixing thinking we can still accomplish our goals. It's hard to drive a vehicle with an iffy steering. It's hard to walk the straight path if your reeling and jerking in 4 different directions simultaneously and you think you're fine because you've gone too soon. To get prepared, you might first need to get repaired. Only Jesus can repair us, and make us usable again for His glory. We just have to let him finish working on us first even though God says He may be done with us in one area, but directs us to another area that also needs healing. He must be allowed to finish us completely, if we don't, we may find ourselves hoping for best while expecting the worst and in the middle of it all, we end up stranded on the side of the road.
Don't jump the gun, stay around a bit longer and let God fix you completely if you would just let Him.
Today was one of those days where I caught myself jumping the gun instead of just sitting back and carefully examining my thoughts and actions before saying or doing them. Sometimes it would be better if I would just keep my mouth shut and let the Lord work things out on His time so that the result would be much better and more accomplished rather than thinking 'Ah, it will be OK if I just wing it' or 'I think I can handle it until later' or whatever other excuse I can come up with. Some are so out there, they would be considered irrational, illogical, or in layman's terma 'just plain stupid'.
Today, I did just that. I have been yearning to get my truck out of the shop. It's not that my truck is any better than the vehicle I was borrowing, it's just that I prefer the comforts of my own vehicle. Well, I was just nearly ecstatic when I went to check on the truck today expecting NOT to bring it home only to hear the mechanic say 'Well, darlin' I've got you all fixed up!". He mentioned a steering issue, but I thought it would be just from needing an alignment (which is what I had planned to do for my truck prior to the rear-end going out on me on the side of the road). Yes, the steering was shaky, but as I thought - it needs an alignment and that might solve the problem. I also noticed it was riding 'rougher' than usual. Again, I just thought to myself - "I have been driving a minivan and now I've gone back to the truck, I just need to get re-adjusted to it." I was right, right up until I rounded the sharp curve next to a cemetery about half a mile from my house and my steering shook violently, and kept shaking violently until I just came to a near complete stop in the middle of the highway (this is not recommended as this highway is heavily used by fully loaded Tyson 18-wheelers carrying anything from feed, to finished product, to live birds on fully loaded trailers - in short; they ain't stopping on a dime!) When I stopped - the shaking stopped. I continued on to the house and I was disgusted with my own stupidity. I failed to listen to the mechanic and now I am having to reap the consequences of it. Getting a loaner vehicle may be more difficult this go around because:
1. My aunt's truck has gone out on her - I have literally JUST GIVEN HER VAN BACK TO HER.
2. She don't like driving the big truck - it's just too much truck for her she says.
3. My parents will need their vehicles for work
4. I can't drive my dad's '78 standard and the engine isn't reliable as it has difficulty starting - yet he claims it's still a good vehicle. (insert rolling eyes emoticon here)
Right now, I'm just praying that my stupidity doesn't leave me stranded on the side of the road like it did the last time. Tomorrow I'll be limping my truck around, tomorrow I'll be praying long and hard each time I get in my truck, tomorrow I may be IN the cemetery - but I hope not on that last thought.
But, so often we 'jump the gun' on God's commands. We know He will solve our problems in due time, but so often when we think we've solved it ourselves and try to go on our merry little way - we end up not much better than before. We get fickle and antsy about any given situation and boom we go only to end up realizing we have gone too soon. Either we find ourselves not prepared - or in my recent case - not completely repaired. More often we should allow God to help us fully prepare and repair us before trying to move forward. If we go forward too soon, we leave things broken that still need fixing thinking we can still accomplish our goals. It's hard to drive a vehicle with an iffy steering. It's hard to walk the straight path if your reeling and jerking in 4 different directions simultaneously and you think you're fine because you've gone too soon. To get prepared, you might first need to get repaired. Only Jesus can repair us, and make us usable again for His glory. We just have to let him finish working on us first even though God says He may be done with us in one area, but directs us to another area that also needs healing. He must be allowed to finish us completely, if we don't, we may find ourselves hoping for best while expecting the worst and in the middle of it all, we end up stranded on the side of the road.
Don't jump the gun, stay around a bit longer and let God fix you completely if you would just let Him.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Hello, this is the first post.
This blog is first and foremost dedicated to God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I feel led to be here to share my story and my testimony for His glory. This is not an easy journey but I am willing to stay the course and to place my faith in Him to get me through the hurdles and milestones that I need to get through so that I may better serve Him.
With that done, perhaps I should tell you a bit about myself. I don't intent to share my life story here, but you will catch tidbits here and there as things move along. First, I am 27 years old and I live in the United States. The reasons for not being more specific is that you will learn more later, I promise. I am an educated farmhand. I have two years of a post-secondary Bachelor's Degree in English Education completed at Arkansas Tech University. Go figure. I had to 'stop-out' for financial reasons, but I have every hope of returning to finish what I started regardless of what others may say. May God bless me enough to allow me to return to my studies full time so that I may finish and be in a better position to serve Him financially.
I have no talents to speak of other than art. It's something that has always come fairly easily to me wither it is freehand or is computer generated. I just have this ability to produce art. I have done graphics for churches and the like, but I have never gotten serious about it. It is a hobby I enjoy doing when I'm not working, which is rare for me.
Unlike what you are probably thinking, I am just a new believer. The reason for this is because for little over 10 years, I believed I had been saved, I believed I had it figured out until recently God had been working in my life in odd ways. On May 23rd, in the late hours of the night, I was led to Christ in which I gave my life and my heart over to Him so that I may have an everlasting life. I now know that without a shadow of a doubt that I am going to Heaven to sing praises to my King and worship Him on a scale not imaginable on Earth. I will elaborate on this journey in a later but soon-to-come post that may or may not be lengthy.
I pray that God would bless this blog and use it as a tool for His purposes, not mine. Check back soon for new postings.
-x Cheyenne
With that done, perhaps I should tell you a bit about myself. I don't intent to share my life story here, but you will catch tidbits here and there as things move along. First, I am 27 years old and I live in the United States. The reasons for not being more specific is that you will learn more later, I promise. I am an educated farmhand. I have two years of a post-secondary Bachelor's Degree in English Education completed at Arkansas Tech University. Go figure. I had to 'stop-out' for financial reasons, but I have every hope of returning to finish what I started regardless of what others may say. May God bless me enough to allow me to return to my studies full time so that I may finish and be in a better position to serve Him financially.
I have no talents to speak of other than art. It's something that has always come fairly easily to me wither it is freehand or is computer generated. I just have this ability to produce art. I have done graphics for churches and the like, but I have never gotten serious about it. It is a hobby I enjoy doing when I'm not working, which is rare for me.
Unlike what you are probably thinking, I am just a new believer. The reason for this is because for little over 10 years, I believed I had been saved, I believed I had it figured out until recently God had been working in my life in odd ways. On May 23rd, in the late hours of the night, I was led to Christ in which I gave my life and my heart over to Him so that I may have an everlasting life. I now know that without a shadow of a doubt that I am going to Heaven to sing praises to my King and worship Him on a scale not imaginable on Earth. I will elaborate on this journey in a later but soon-to-come post that may or may not be lengthy.
I pray that God would bless this blog and use it as a tool for His purposes, not mine. Check back soon for new postings.
-x Cheyenne
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