I’m just a hack but I am having a lot of fun with the photo posts! I love this window idea!
Brenda Looking Out the window of the Hermitage in Amsterdam
“Every face, every shop, bedroom window, public-house, and dark square is a picture feverishly turned–in search of what? It is the same with books. What do we seek through millions of pages?”
― Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room
The Bible teaches us that bitterness is a root that brings forth all kinds of evil. David’s son Absalom gave himself fully to a bitter root. He took up his sister’s offense and turned it into unforgiveness not just for his sister’s rapist but also for the father who did nothing to punish it. The results were disastrous for an entire nation.
Here is what I see in today’s chapters:
II Samuel chapter 14 sermon topics/titles:
1. When Soldiers Try To Play Prophet: II Sam. 14:1-22
2. Burning For Attention: II Sam. 14:23-32
3. Absalom’s Kiss: II Sam. 14: 33
II Samuel chapter 15 sermon topics/ titles:
1. Building a Following: II Sam. 15:1-12
2. God Grants a Following: II Sam. 15: 13-20
3. God’s Plants In the Enemies Camp: II Sam. 15:23-37
Now tell me what you see. 🙂
So here I am at the end of this road and ready to turn onto the next one. This 21 day journey has taught me much. Let’s review some of these lessons:
Day 1- The greatest tragedy in life is that our prayers go unanswered because they went unasked. -Mark Batterson
Day 2-These are the days when we will all be called to rise up not in fear but in faith.
Day 3-I am realizing I haven’t given up on my dreams. I am just afraid to pay the price and wind up failing anyway.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: The fear of failure.” -Paul Coelho
Day 4- The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. Tony Blair
Day 5-“If we seek answers we may never find them but if we seek God the answers will find us.” Pastor Brad Hackett
Day 6-I’m beginning to think God’s as much in these distractions as HE is in the devotion. Somehow I am being challenged to walk in contentment and peace even in the place of constant disturbance.
Day 7-I am coming to see that problems become possibilities in the light of God’s promises. My Jerichos are not issues they are opportunities God is going to use to fulfill the passions of my heart!
Day 8- be praying for more divine interruptions and the heart to recognize them when they come.
Day 9- every opportunity opens one door and closes another.
Day 10-My take away from the day is that the work which lies ahead is going to take careful preparation in order to execute. I am not going to be able to waltz into God’s next level of ministry by accident. I am back to the words God gave me a year ago….SLOW- CONSTANT- INTENTIONAL
Day 11-I will need to call forth help and entrust myself to godly men and women to help me accomplish much of my call
Day 12- I believe that God gave the dreams to be fulfilled at exactly this time and any future events in the world are not hindrances to my dreams they are only contexts in which they are to be fulfilled. My dreams and all future events in my life and the world will work together for good!
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein
Day 13-“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.”
― T.F. Hodge
Day 14-It’s interesting that sometimes seeing your dreams realized means letting them go.
Day 15-As I take this spiritual journey I am seeing that prayer is the crossroads where my weakness meets with God’s ability. It is at this place called prayer where I can get off the road of failure and join the way of success.
Day 16-Part of praying in faith is behaving in belief…that is acting like I expect God to answer to my prayers.
Day 17-Prayers don’t always come to pass over night and while they are supernatural in scope they aren’t magic.
Day 19-“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
Day 20-If God’s people cannot dream into the days ahead who can?
Which of these lessons spoke most to you?
Oh a publisher called me last night….:)
When things go wrong we often point the finger at God and ask “why”. The old adage usually holds though “when you point at someone remember there are four fingers pointing directly back at you.” I can’t speak for you but I know some of my life’s biggest issues have more to do with how I am than with how God is.
David understood this from the lessons he learned in II Samuel chapter 12 and 13
Here’s what I see:
II Samuel chapter 12 sermon topics/ titles:
1. The Lesson of the Little Lamb: II Sam. 12:1-6
2. What Will You Do When God Calls You Out? II Sam. 12:7-13
3. Knowing When To Grieve: II Sam. 12:15-24
II Samuel chapter 13 sermon topics/ titles:
1. The Trouble With Crafty Cousins: II Sam. 13: 1-11
2. When We Arrange Our Own Temptations: II Sam. 13: 6-14
3. The Wait Of Revenge: II Sam. 13: 13-29
Have you ever blamed God for a hurt only to later realize you had brought about your own pain? What do you see in these chapters?
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
― C.S. Lewis
I am realizing this, my first spiritual journey of 2013, has been about restoring dreams to my life. It’s odd that God should be rebuilding my dreams in these times of gathering gloom; But then again maybe that’s not so odd. If God’s people cannot dream into the days ahead who can? Further, while this old world order may be passing away, we are about to enter into our time…the reign of Jesus. Perhaps now is the time for us to fill our virgin lamps with the oil of Spirit-inspired dreams (MA 25)!
Here are things I am dreaming and praying about:
1. For my son, Joe, to be excepted into the Masters program he has applied to and to received an assistantship.
2. For my daughter, Melanie, to be led to the right Masters program and for her to obtain a job as children’s pastor or as a school teacher.
3. For my daughter, Amanda, to see her dream clarified by the Spirit and for her to be given the fortitude to stand in the dream no matter what comes.
4. For God to lead me in the best path through a complicated issue in my life.
5. For my mother’s salvation.
6. For the supernatural healing of my eyes.
7. For financial provision and increase to help provide for my children’s college expenses, for a new car and for finances to keep the old car running until the increase.
8. For supernatural direction in my travels and opportunities to preach when I travel.
9. For” RTW” to receive 500,000 hits this year (I have been afraid to even state this dream as it seems so far out there but sometimes that is faith)
9a. For direction in joining a certain life-changing blog contest.
10. To publish the book and sell 125,000 copies (again…wicked out there to use the New England vernacular).
11. For direction to get to the next level in our compassion ministries at Cornerstone church.
12. For a team of 30 healing prayer ministers 15 of whom are equipped to lead healing prayer sessions.
13. For God’s 2013 vision for our worship teams (I have said to our congregation it is raining guitar players and song writers). God never provides things we have no use for. So I am asking God to reveal what our next step is as a worship ministry.
14. For God to give me His 2013 vision for C.cada artists community. How does he want us to impact the artistic community for Jesus? How does He want me to promote our Christian artists and help them to attain the next level?
15. To lose 40 lbs.
16. To restore my family home and property to tip-top shape.
It is a little daunting to write these visions down for everyone to see because it makes them real. It means my success or failure can now be measured; But I have realized for about a week now that telling you all my dreams was one of my steps of faith.
What dream is God building inside of you? What dreams would you like to see restored?
Today’s quotes:
Keep this man and all the church in Iran in your prayers!
This looks like fun!
Dragon Theme Writing Contest – Judges Chosen
5 Judges Have been Selected to Judge “Legends Undying“‘s Up and Coming Dragon Theme Writing Contest, and a 6th may, or may not be joining us.
The Official Rules will be Posted on February 7th, the Official Starting Date of the Contest… Preliminary Rules can be Found at the Link above.
Our 5 Judges;
Quill Wielder @ Laura Catherine The Quill Wielder – Quill is not only an Excellent Fantasy Writer, she actually came in 2nd Place in our “Create A World” Writing Contest, back when our Site was Called “The Dark Globe“. Not only that, but she was one of three Assistant Editors for The Dark Globe. Quill has been a Judge for us in the past as well.
Lorna @ Lorna’s Voice – Lorna too was an Award…
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Some fun questions from Cee this week.
I tend to be more of a midday person myself. The dogs get me up at 5:30 A.M. but I am seldom happy about it. Conversely, when I try to stay up until midnight my head usually goes numb by 10 P.M. and my speech is slurring once I get past 11.
Oh, coffee is my drink of choice no doubt. The stronger the better. My sister sent me some yummy Dutch coffee. Can’t wait to get back to drinking that.
my personal office Keurig
I loved those little plastic dinosaurs. I had a whole set that I would play pretend prehistory with. Other than that I didn’t play too much with toys. My sister had a lot of toys. I got mad at her once and went around the neighborhood selling them to the neighbors for candy money. It was a great plan until I got caught.
I personally love the idea of a hot tub at the beach. It goes along well with my bucket list item of riding a horse in the surf.
🙂
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
“The saddest prayers are not the ones that go unanswered but the prayers that go unasked.” Mark Batterson
I have used this month to set a host of prayer goals and to seek vision regarding the things I think God wants me to work on. I started with about 10 items on my prayer list but God grew my list as I sought Him these last three weeks. Some of the goals have been met and some have gone through changes. Here I’ll show you:
1. I started out praying for direction and provision for my son as he heads toward graduation. I asked God to help him quickly pay off his college loans because he was called to the mission field not to loans.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
My son unbeknownst to me has begun applying for a Masters program in PA. He has also applied for an assistedship which would pay for his schooling and leave him with a small stipend to meet expenses! So my prayer for him has changed. MAy God grant him entrance into the Masters program and the assistedship. God has clarified my prayer.
2. I have been praying for my daughter Melanie direction and provision as she heads toward graduation. I asked God to help her quickly pay off her college loans because she was called to the mission field not to loans.
Since I started praying Melanie has been suggested for a position as a children’s minister at an inner city church and possibly for a teaching position at the elementray level in a private school near Boston. She could then pursue her Masters in counselling through one of two schools she is looking into. Again God has clarified how I should pray.
3. For my daughter Amanda who is two years from graduation I have been praying the God dream. One of Amanda’s professors just happened to give her an assignment this semester to present her vision to a class of fellow students. She has found an accountability partner who is helping her to clarify and follow the dream.
4. I started out praying for a new car. God told me to fix my old one. So now I am praying for money to refurbish what I have. The first $300.00 was provided this week.
Has God turned any of your prayer directions lately? How?
Reinventing the We'll 
