Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts

THROUGH THE FIRE
It is through the fire that we are closest to Jesus...

THOUGHTS
We have all been there, lost in a sea of trials and tribulations, sunken deep in the heart of the valleys in our life. We try our best to take steps forward wondering when God will bring us out, when the lesson will be learned, and when we will see the sun again. We are sometimes so quick to want the trial to be over that we forget just how close Jesus is when we are IN the fire.

THROUGH THE FIRE
There is something really special about going through situations when we are in Christ VS when we were of the world. Something truly different, not only because we know that God has already worked it out for us, but the way we handle it has to show that we believe He will see us through. So, next time you are in the FIRE, remember these four points:

The FIRE tests your FAITH
If everything in life were easy and simple, how would we ever see just how strong our faith is? Faith remember, moves the hand of God, and it is the times within the fire that God has an opportunity to move in our lives in ways we could not even imagine! When we are in the fire and our life is truly dependent on God coming through for us, He has an obligation to move on our behalf. It is HIS name on the line, not ours, and those whom trust in Him, He will not forsake.

The FIRE leads you to INTERCESSION
So wait, I'm telling you that when you are deep in the valley that you should be putting your effort into praying and interceding for others? That is exactly what I'm saying! When you pray for others it causes a healing to fall back on you! Taking the time to fight other people's spiritual battles leaves you free to allow God to work out your battles. You aren't getting in the way of your own blessings because your focus is constantly on others. This also helps your faith, because you have to truly give your worries, cares and situations to Jesus before you can focus your energy on praying for others.

The FIRE makes you REPENT
Ah yes, that old faithful word...Repentance. It is times when you are in the fire that you MUST look over your life and your heart to make sure there isn't any sins lurking about. Many times our trials become a cleansing of the things in our lives that we don't want anyone else to know about but don't necessarily want to get rid of. The problem is God can't move you to where He wants you to be with those sinful weights on you! So you end up in a valley in a time of cleansing, giving you the opportunity to finally release all the sin in your life. Take the time to really examine everything in your life, even those in your personal circle. Who do you hang around? Where are they leading you? Are there outside forces that you are letting a little too close to your heart?

And finally, the FIRE brings your EVOLUTION
This is the wonderful thing about going through trials when you are in Christ! The main goal is to bring about your EVOLUTION! Its all about molding and shaping you so that He can take you to the next level! The one step closer to your destiny: His perfect plan for your life. Isn't that awesome? He brings you through things to make you stronger, preparing you for the future He has so wonderfully laid out for you.

Faith - Intercession - Repentance - Evolution.... F-I-R-E
When you think about it...what a wonderful cycle!

PRAYER
Lord we pray that you will see us though our storms and that it builds our faith to know that You have already worked so much out for us, we just need to follow your guidance. Lord let us not be hasty in trying to rush out of the storm, but be engulfed in your teachings, your lessons, and your presence. Allow us to learn all we can from you, letting you do as much molding and shaping as you want to so that we can see our evolution in the end. AMEN.

___
Till Next Time
God Bless
Amanda of AstriaLegends
11:12 AM | Category: , , , , | 8 comments

Having Enough Patience to WAIT
"We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
Hebrews 6: 12-14.

THOUGHTS
Why is it we are so quick to pray for so many of the fruits of the spirit but when it comes to praying for patience, we tend to shy away. Patience is one of the hardest virtues to overcome. Why? Because we are in a 'Get it Right Away' world, a world that is sometimes so fast paced that we need God to stop us dead in our tracks and say "Just wait."
Remember when you were little and you would try to steal from the cooking area before dinner was done and your mom would smack the back of your hand and say 'wait until its done'. The consequences of eating undercooked food could be anywhere from a stomach ache to full blown food poisoning.

Patience to WAIT

It is the same thing with God and the things that we pray for. Getting them prematurely would cause us spiritual illness. This is why patience is such an important thing when it comes to God and his Will for our lives. We must be WILLING to let go and 'let God handle it'. Resisting the urge to take matters in our own hands, because all we do is make a mess of it!

We must remember that the greatest blessings are not always the doors that God opens for us... but the many doors he closes. A closed door can mean protection against something we couldn’t handle, a wall to keep us from steering the wrong way, a barrier to keep us from danger and harm, or even a tree to keep us moving in line with His will. Its a learning experience to help us grow and mature into what He really wants us to become and know that true love comes only through Him.

God is always working on our behalf, even when we don't realize it. We don't know that the whole time He is telling us to "Wait here..." He is moving the mountains down the road, touching the hearts of those who will bless us, removing the devil's traps, covering the potholes and making all those crooked paths straight.

While faith is believing what is unseen, patience is "totally surrendering the control of your life" so that God can move anyway He wants, in the time frame that He decides. You are willing to let God take as long as He wants to because you have the FAITH that He will not let you down. Faith and Patience go hand in hand. You cannot say you have one and not the other. And often the measure of your Faith will be in proportion with the level of patience that you have. Because the moment you stop being patient and take matters into your own hands without God's approval, the amount of Faith you have that God will move, diminishes.

How many times do we jump into decision making without praying and receiving God's 'Yay' or 'Nay'? God's word says that we are to pray about ALL things! So many times we may have had a better turn out with a decision if we first waited for God to get on the bandwagon and spread favor over us. Or if we only prayed and heard His 'No', we wouldn't have ended up in a bad situation, crying out for God to get us out of it. It pays to be Pray and be Patient...with the Faith to know that He will answer us.

PRAYER

Dear Lord we pray for greater patience when it comes to waiting for you to move on our behalf. Let us not be quick to run and make our own decisions without first getting your approval. Allow us to have the faith to know that you will come through right on time and Your way is better than our way. Your Will is best for us. Let us be patient enough to wait for Your perfect destiny for us to unfold. We ask these things in Your son Jesus name. Amen.

________________
Till Next Time
God Bless
Amanda of Astria Legends



9:00 AM | Category: , , , , | 13 comments

Featured Artist LeeAnn Gorman of Designs by LeeAnn!
article by Melanie Arntsen of SqueakyBug Specialties
Introducing LeeAnn Gorman of Designs by LeeAnn
This week we are welcoming LeeAnn Gorman (and her adorable baby, Sophie). She is offering a giveaway which is a lovely canvas doorhanger (to be chosen by the winner). To be eligible for the prize, please go to her shop and look around. Pick your favorite item and come back here and leave a note telling us which is your favorite. Be sure to leave us your email address too so that we can contact you if you are a winner. The winners will be chosen via random.org.

Intro: My passion is designing rooms! However, my career is in education. I got my start in art in high school where I took four years of art classes. When I reached college, I was afraid to take the art or design route in fear that I would not find a stable career. I always planned to open up a store or go back to school for design once I was able to save up money from teaching. I decided to go into education where I could still use my creativity helping children learn and have stability so I could pursue my passion in the future! I have been married for five years and we just had our first baby, a girl, in June! We also have two small, hyper, but sweet dogs! My husband is a huge supporter of my etsy shop and actually started making the letters that I sell for me to paint! He also handles all of the business end of things since his career is in accounting!
My start: A few years ago I started making art pieces and designs to give to family and friends who were having babies. Based on the compliments and encouragement from them, I decided to open up and etsy shop.
Choosing a name: I brainstormed a lot of ideas, but decided to keep it simple using Designs By LeeAnn. Little did I know that many people on etsy have designs by and their name! If I were to go back and do it again, I probably would have gone with something a little different.
A typical day: Lately my days consist of feeding and changing diapers! Normally if an order is in, I take time while my daughter is sleeping to work on it. Fortunately, my husband works from home two days a week and can offer some help with the baby while I work on orders as well. Once I start back to work, I will work an eight hour day and come home to work on orders after putting the baby to bed.
If you could be anywhere for a day, you would be: in Europe! I love the richness and beauty of it that I've seen in magazines and on TV.
Favorite Bible verse: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13
Favorite item in my shop: I love the Pink Toile Painting. I did this for my daughter's room!
Where else can we find you on the web?  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Designs-By-LeeAnn/158511584165950

And the winner of last week's giveaway is... Lorrie of Wits End Design. Lorrie has won a small angel suncatcher from Nancy of Designs Stained Glass  I will be sending you both a convo today!
5:08 PM | Category: , , , , , , | 6 comments

How Deep are you?
"Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over." ~Ezekiel 47



THOUGHTS
Have you ever really asked God where you stand? Ever took a good look at your life and really evaluated just how deep you are in God? The deeper you go into the water the less flesh is shown and the less control you have. The further away from the shore you are the less the pull of the world has for you. So why not go out into the a deeper relationship with God and truly let let yourself into the deep waters of His influence and Will. Remember that God has invested too much into your life to let you drown.

HOW DEEP ARE YOU?
So lets take a look at what the stages of water Ezekiel saw says about our spiritual life.

1st Level: The river was ankle deep
This level means the end of the old way of life but yet nothing new happening. You are saved but still living in sin. You are in the water but YOU are still in control. you may even have one foot in the water [God] and the other on land [World].
You can tell people who are only ankle deep because they are always stirring things up...murmuring and complaining but never wants to sacrifice to make the change.

2nd Level: The river was knee deep
This level is when your focus begins to change from yourself to God. You focus on Worship, prayer and humility. Remember that you will never be greater than your prayer life and you wont grow beyond your knowledge of God's Word.

3rd Level: The river was waist deep
This is the level where you begin to reproduce yourselves. That means discipleship! [Hebrews 6:1] This is when you are truly doing God's calling, leading others to Jesus and aiding God's Kingdom in its growth! (Note that it was a man that showed Ezekiel the river...a man that had been through it before...) Leading others and teaching them what we have learned, so that they are equipped to help others.

What level are you?

PRAYER
We pray that we take the time to truly evaluate just how deep we are in you and how dead to the flesh we really are. We pray for a deeper relationship with you, a larger prayer life and a greater understanding of your Word so that we may progress to the next level, taking that next step of faith. AMEN

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Till Next Time
GOD BLESS
Amanda of Astria Legends
8:00 PM | Category: , , | 6 comments

ARE YOU SALTY OR SALTLESS?


"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" Matthew 5:13

THOUGHTS

"We are the Salt of the Earth" ever heard that phrase? Do you know what it means? What is meant by the fact that Christians are the Salt of the Earth? and are you a Salty Christian or a Saltless one?

Well first realize what salt is... it is a preservative, which means that it keeps other items from decaying, rotting and going bad. So if the world is decaying, rotting and heading for hell... whose fault is it? Are we Christians not being the 'preservatives' of the world we live in? Have we really stopped being in the world and not of it...or have we settled for just being in the world?

SALTY OR SALTLESS

To be "Salty" is doing what is right ALL the time. No matter what. Saltless Christians are the ones who compromise. Don't compromise your Godly beliefs for anyone or anything. The SPIRIT will wait. God designed it that way! It is the FLESH that CANNOT wait. And as a Christian you must remember that we are to DENY the FLESH daily. Your ACTIONS dictate your HEART. A Godly Heart will NOT do things that God would NOT do.

In other words God's standards are much higher than our own. Remember that anyone can do what is right by the world's standards. The world's standards change with time (remember that there was a point in time that sex was not allowed on TV. That was a worldly standard. It’s greatly changed now...) Godly standards never change. They are absolute and to compromise in them is to loose your spiritual power. You become saltless and you can't please God when you are saltless (in the flesh).

Remember if you are a Christian then you represent Christ. Make sure that whatever you do, you would be comfortable signing God's name to it. No christian is better than the example he or she sets. Be bold and stand for your Godly ethics. If others are Godly then they will back you up, if not then they do not need to be in your life.

"Then God said 'Let us make human beings in out image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.'"
~Genesis 1:26

God made US the ruler of the world and He will not go back on His word. But we have to be able to claim that Authority...and the only way we can do that is to truly walk with Him and be Salty.

PRAYER

Dear Lord we pray for the boldness and strength to keep ourselves within Your standards. That we keep our saltiness so that together we can be the Salt this world truly needs. We pray that you allow us to touch the lives of those we meet and that they will truly see YOU in us and the Light that You so brightly shine.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Till Next Time
God Bless
Amanda of Astria Legends


12:00 AM | Category: , , , | 3 comments