Times are looking grim these days / Holding on to everything It's hard to draw the line Shut the …., get up… I can't wait to rip my eyes out and look at you / Peace through pain is precious 'specially when it's done by you / Itching is a pulse inside creeping out to come alive / It's just doing what it's gonna do Times are looking grim these days holding on to everything / It's hard to draw the line / And I, I'm hiding in this empty space / Tortured by my memories of what I left behind…” Read more: Korn “Get Up” These lyrics describe so many today… “I am clearly broken and no one knows what to do” Followers of Jesus…I ask you, how deeply do we care about these ones? Many, we see them and feel sorry for them, the broken, the homeless, the abused, the forgotten... IF we are followers of Jesus THEN there must be a response in seeking HIM how to help them. How often do we pass by them with s slight smile, or words of encouragement…words of hope …they are clearly broken…and have no answers to their pain and no one to turn to for answers of hope and freedom…yet we do... Precious ones screaming in the silence of their rooms with their blades and dripping blood… “Peace through pain is precious 'specially when it's done by you, Itching is a pulse inside creeping out to come alive” Followers of Jesus…these are the broken…many who walk among you…hidden are their scars, both inside and outside of their skin. What are we doing to reach these ones, love these ones, save these ones…Jesus has called us to be His hands to hold them, His feet to go to them, His mouth piece to speak love and truth to them, hope and freedom to them, His ears to listen without hate or condemnation to them, His shoulders to them to cry on, His heart to love them… “Times are looking grim these days holding on to everything” Followers of Jesus, these precious ones are grabbing on to whatever they can to find a false comfort... Many of us meet in bible studies and churches and we do our church thing…we may even talk about the hurting…but what are we doing for the hurting…. Let me encourage you today…that even though you are not a trained “somebody” Jesus is their answer…and prayer is the beginning for these precious ones…Prayer for their freedom, healing, and prayer for us to be willing to step out of our comfortable lives and be willing to hurt alongside them…with them…and in the midst of this…see and experience the Power of God…move in theirs and your life.. Matt. 25: 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

So Lord, as you know I have been recently thinking about the Church. After having several conversations with Christians of other denominations and knowing much about their "doctrine" and having experienced much from being with and studying about all denominations, I continue to see the Hand of God in all Christian denominations Lord. As you know...this confuses me. They have your Hand in all of them, yet at the same time...I see all of them far off from you???? Like the Catholics take for example, their focus on sin and confession, I wish more Christian church's focused on sin and our need of confession and their focus on praying for the government and their passion for the saving the unborn, or the Missouri Synod who has this very protective spirit of their people, to guard the Church against anything unholy or unbiblical. The Baptist for their conservatism, the Evangelicals for their desire to go out and reach the lost. The Assemblies of God and their openness to the move of the Holy Spirit in their lives and the Power He can bring. I am frustrated that Godly churches have parts of You...but not as a whole...what have we done? Where have we gone wrong? How did we get here??? I want the real church of God! I want the real deal Father! I don't want just church...I want you...and I am frusting....So what do I do...and where are in our churches today.... I really don't see a lot of You...glimmers...yes....but You....do I really see You?? Do I really Hear You??? You know I am not saying You are not moving in the church today....I just don't know how? Or maybe better yet...How much?? Father...help me see and know what Your will is for myself, my family, and our church, and the Church in general... Something needs to change....I love you Lord....Thank you for listening....always...

Matt. 13:18-23 18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” So, who out there loves to garden? Or…who out there loves to farm? In the last couple of years gardening has become a bit more exciting for me…though I hate weeds and bugs…ha ha ha…but I love the harvest of fresh veggies n fruit! Don’t you?!? Let’s look at how God and gardening have similarities… In the spring we must till the soil, correct? Sometimes it is really hard, crusty, dry-almost rock-like soil correct? That tiller is just a digging and grindin and cutting through all that deeply packed soil to get down into the good, fertile moist soil down deep…right? There is something so beautiful about a freshly tilled garden…it’s so clean and fresh and just ready for those seeds to be planted!! So exciting!! This is what our spiritual journey is like with God…He desires to till up the sin in our lives to dig down deep into our being where He can begin to plant seeds into a fertile soul…but if there is a hardened heart towards Him, just like if you just started dropping seeds into a garden that was not tilled…it would not grow because it’s hard and dried up…and the seeds would not take root…they would just blow away. Tilling is not always very easy…it can be tough work at times…like us in our lives…sin has so hardened us, we build up these tough exteriors to keep God out and keep sin in, and when we do this…we dry up and God’s tilling gets tougher and tougher…Today…won’t you allow God to do some tilling in your life, so that the seeds of His truth can begin to take root and begin to grow and bring about fresh life into your walk with Jesus? I pray you will. “Father God, I know You are the living water and the Giver of Life, and that I need nourishment and life from You, and You alone…help me to hand over the control of the tiller in my life to You, so that You can begin to cut out the sin of selfishness and pride, etc… Lord, that You can begin to fertilize my soul with the Power and Love of Your Holy Spirit, so that I can begin to bear Your fruit. Amen.” May you all begin to find new life this Easter Season!

They will look on me, the one they have pierced

So, it has been some time since i have posted...time is limited, but that does not stop my mind from reeling with all the comes our way in this life... It is as if daily, God stops moments in time for me to capture the progression of time in this world and what is to come in accordance with scripture...moments when I feel He says, "you know that scripture that says, this...this is how this is going to happen, very subtly Tiffany, do you see the direction we are moving?" The apathy of our nation, the indifference to pain and suffering, our buying into the subtlies of this life...it is like slow motion in my mind at times...constant little yellow flags, becoming darker shades of oranges into deeper reds... I cannot put into words the heaviness of my heart and the constant motion of life in which I see in slow motion...snap shots of God's direction for my life and how He desires me to pray and disciple those around me...my precious little ones He has given to Troy n myself to love and raise...is a scary world for me to let them go into times...yet even though I have been walking with the Lord for many years...He grows ever bigger and ever more powerful to me daily...He must increase and I must decrease His word says...it is a hard lesson at times...but as I learn slowly...it is the greatest truth...the less of me...means the more of Him...and this is what the world needs...is Jesus... We fight, argue, bicker about many things...but He is Lord. And there is no other... Last night I was reading in scripture and the verse from Zacharia literally hit me in the chest and knocked the wind out of me...the verse is..."They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn" Zach. 12:10... One day...I will stand before this great and mighty God who so beautifully loved me, and I will have to stand before Him, He knowing all things, will gaze back at me, knowing all of me...oh how this shames me to think of who I am, and who I am not...for Him... This is only another verse that spurs me to run the race that the Lord has set before me...not slowing or ever quitting...because I have been bought by unexplainable sacrafice...oh that we would see Him...and run to Him in all we do and say...

Forgotten God---

"The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He’s great and deserves to be the center of our lives."
— Francis Chan

So what is our view God? I think this is a huge and defining moment to all mankind.
Our view of Him will ultimately define what we do with Him.
So how is my life defining Him? Again, we are called to be His embassadors, we are to be "Christlike." So, if that is the case, what does Jesus look like through the eyes of those around me who know I am a follower of Jesus Christ,

In essence we are moment by moment representing the very Creator of all things, a bit overwhelming I would say. So if I am to represent Him, I better understand Him, and to better understand Him, I need to dig deep into the mysteries of a 3 in 1 God Head.

Sadly as this book points out we (the church) either over exploit the Holy Spirit, or give little or no attention to Him. My life since I began my walk as a saved and redeemed child of God has always thought that I included the Spirit in my life, and maybe I have with the whatever level of maturity I was at. But now, I want so much more of Him, I realize that left to myself I cannot get to where God is leading without Him. I have always known this truth, but it has become my passion to know Him, love Him, and include Him more in my walk with the Lord.

So in this journey, I pray we all are passionately asking Him the tough questions we have...inviting Him into our daily lives and stopping first to seek His will before jumping into a decision in our lives so that we can in fact represent Jesus as He should be revealed to this world...

"The Spirit of God "moved" upon the face....

And The Spirit Of God Moved Upon The Face Of The Waters
I found this commentary while studying about the Holy Spirit...so great! I hope it will encourage you in your quest to know the Spirit of God more intimately...

"I have often said that learning to read the Bible in Hebrew is like being able to read in three dimensions when you could only read in two dimensions before. Nothing
illustrates that more than the material in this article. For years I read the second verse of the book of Genesis in English without ever understanding the most remarkable subtlety hidden there. Oh, I noticed the language and I thought it was a little odd to
say:
And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2)
How strange it seemed to say God moved. How did he move? Did He walk, or swim?
Did He sort of float in the air? In what way did He move, and why is that significant?
Now, this wasn't what you would call a burning question - only a curiosity. I would pause and think about the distinctive choice of words, but I would quickly move on to more pressing issues. Only after I learned to read in Hebrew did the marvelous meaning of that word moved come through. I actually stumbled across the meaning in a commentary once, where it was rendered as brooded. But, It still did not register because for me to brood usually meant to worry or fret. That made no sense at all. Why would the Creator worry over the face of the waters.
Later, when I delved into the meaning of the Hebrew word for moved, m'rahaphet, I
learned that it means to flutter or shake. I discovered the word is also used in Deuteronomy 32:11 where the context is very clear.
As the eagle stirs up her nest, flutters (m'rahaphet) over her young, spreads
abroad her wings...
Suddenly the meaning became clear for me. It was as if a 1000 watt light bulb was being turned on in my head. I knew I had witnessed that very thing many times.

Many years ago we had a flock of ducks in our back yard. There was a pond and
we enjoyed having the ducks around. They were relaxing and entertaining to watch.
It was especially interesting in the spring when the hens started to nest.
She had a proclivity for sitting absolutely motionless on the nest, settled in and flattened out, with their head withdrawn and lying flat into their breast feathers so as not to present a typical duck profile.
You could absolutely look directly at her and not see her unless you were really paying close attention. Though normally shy and skittish and unwilling to get too close, during nesting season she seemed to have nerves of steel. She wouldn't twitch or budge even when in danger, for fear of giving away the location of the nest. Only when the threat was sure and imminent, or when she was being harassed for her eggs would she abandon her nest.
You could tell when the hens began nesting because while they were normally with the flock, they simply vanished from sight. We knew then it was time to go nest hunting.

When a hen began to set it was remarkable to see her on the nest, keeping her silent
vigil for days and weeks, not moving a muscle. Only rarely would you notice her
leave for a few minutes to eat or drink. She would masterfully cover the nest with leaves and grass to make it virtually invisible and to keep it warm in her brief absence.
But soon she would be back for the next shift.
Finally after days on end something seemed different. As I made the morning rounds, she no longer was snuggled down quietly in the nest.
Something was changed about her posture. She now seemed to be sitting higher in the nest, almost hovering over it. Her head, no more hidden, was raised erect with pride, her wings slightly spread to cover more of the nest than before. As I look more closely, I could begin to see tiny pairs of inquisitive coal black eyes peering out curiously at me from beneath her wings, punctuated here and there by a small yellow and black bill. It was clear that the eggs were beginning to hatch.
She stayed in that posture for the next few hours or perhaps into the next day, until all the eggs hatched and the whole troop marched ceremoniously for the nearest water like so many tin soldiers. She would strut with pride having successfully accomplished the very purpose of her existence, obviously now aware of her changing role as teacher and protector.

But during the time she waited patiently over the nest, waiting for all the eggs to be hatched,a careful observer would notice something - something very subtle. As she held her slightly outstretched wings over the new brood, she would tremble or flutter ever so slightly (m'rahaphet), just like that eagle in Deuteronomy. Bird experts say this careful motion is intended to stir the air and keep the temperature just right for the new ducklings. Those precision movements reflect the meticulous focus and care that she now lavishes on the tiny downy creatures.
It was exactly this scene that is described in the very first verse of Genesis, when the Spirit of God brooded or fluttered over the face of the waters. What a magnificent metaphor this is for the meticulous planning, the tireless effort, the care, and the love that was exhibited at that moment. In taking that very first step to prepare the earth as a sort of nest for His own children, He made it into the ideal place for man to begin the adventure of life, to live out his collective
human existence, to learn the lessons of history, and to grow into maturity and wisdom, until finally a time comes when has taken on the character of his Parent, and the whole earth can be united in peace and harmony in the messianic kingdom.

We have cause for optimism about the destiny of man. God will not let us fail. Though we may have many bitter lessons to learn, He has great things in mind for man in the future. With that kind of resource behind us, how can we fail?
(C) Copyright 1999 by Wayne Simpson
Biblical Research Foundation
629 Lexington Road
Sapulpa, Ok 74066
Reproduction and distribution is permitted provided this copyright notice is left intact on all copies.
9/19/2010