Our Little Friend!

We have an interesting new friend at our place.  He or she is a little swallow, and there may actually be more than one, it's hard to tell them apart you know.. LOL  Anyway, our little friend is some kind of swallow and I really wish I knew what kind it was exactly.  If you know, please let me know! ;)

Anyway, probably about two weeks ago I was in my kitchen getting my things together to meet my daughter outside so we could get her to school.  I was in a hurry as I gathered my things and as I looked towards the kitchen window I could see through the blinds (which were barely open) that there was a swallow flying in front of the window.  It was just kind of hovering there.  I stood there watching him, as if in a trance because I couldn't believe my eyes.  He just kept tapping at the window as he was flying and looking directly at me.  

I gathered myself together and went outside and closed the door so that I could grab my girl and go, but I couldn't resist peeking around the corner to see if the bird was still there.  It was!  It suddenly saw us and flew directly towards us and kept flying in front of us for a couple minutes until we needed to leave.  As we were going I asked my daughter what she thought the bird meant and she said, "I think it is Jesus telling us that He is always with us and always will be!"  I could say nothing but wow.

I told my husband about it and he "kind of" believed me.  This is a hard story to believe, you know, the fish was "THIS BIG!" kind of story... lol  Well, a couple days later on Mother's day it happened again.  I got up and went out on the sofa and Mark was already sitting there.  Our daughter was talking to us so Mark and I had our backs to the window.  All the sudden in the middle of our daughters story she stops and is staring at the window wide eyed.  We turn to see what she is looking at and there is another swallow, hovering in front of the window.  For the next 45 minutes or so it kept coming to the window.  He would peck at it or tweet, but it did not seem fearful at all.  My husband was now in awe with us.

A couple days after that Mark was mowing the lawn and I was working on bills.  When I was done I got up to go outside to help him and when I was walking through the living room I saw that both my cats were perched on the edge of the sofa looking eagerly at something.  I look up a bit and what do I see?  That swallow perched on the front of our window right in front of the cats, un-afraid of what might happen to him.  He stayed there for a few minutes and I was able to catch him on my phone.  See how tiny he is? That latch on the window seal is shorter than my thumb!

This has happened several times now and he has not left yet.  It has been a total blessing and I love this little bird (or birds) and hope they never leave.  They remind me that God is in control and that if He provides even for these little birds, how much more will he provide for me.

God Bless!

The Changing of Isreals Boarders

It was made clear this week that President Obama believes that borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps.  This not only makes me sad for Isreal, it causes some fear to rise up in me.  It also makes me wonder how he would respond if the same was done to us.  Let me explain.

The sadness is for the people of Israel.  No matter how hard they try to defend themselves the whole world seems to be against them, yet because they are favored by God they continue to stand strong.  That is where the fear comes in.  The Lord clearly says that cursed are those who do not stand with Israel.  This move by our president would surely show the world that we have chosen for the first time NOT to stand with Israel.  That puts us in a scary place.  Our country is already in a difficult place, we don't need to also stop receiving God's blessings and grace because we choose to not stand with Israel anymore.

My last point is this.  America is a country that is pretty young.  We took our lands from Mexico and the Native Americans.  How would we feel if another country came along and told us that we had to give back Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California to Mexico because that is the way it used to be?  Didn't matter that we won it through war and have established our boundaries.  What if they said we had to give the majority of our country back to the Native Americans because they were here first?  How would we react to such stipulations from another powerhouse country that "had been" our ally?  How would you feel as a citizen of the USA?

These are very serious questions and if we are not willing to allow those things to happen to us as a country, why do we expect them to allow it to happen to theirs?  Why would we force this on someone else?  I think that we need to think clearly and ask God to lead us in this because we do not want to be the ones to come against the Israeli people.  We just need to view the past to see the possible ramifications for our future.  I pray for our president and his future decisions regarding Israel.

May 21, 2011 ~ The End of the World

Have you been following all the hype that has been stirred up by the followers of Harold Camping?  Today is the day that they would call the "End of the World."  There are many people who have become fearful because of his teaching and many more who have decided that because of them this is a day to mock.  

The sad thing is that Camping's followers are not trying to lead people astray, they truly believe what they believe, but they are the ones led astray.  And because they truly believe in their date and are vocal about it, those who do not believe in Christ and that He will return just look at all Christians with even more disbelief and even hatred.  It even causes other Christians to disbelieve because of the rhetoric. 

I believe a couple things though.  The followers of Harold Camping are going to need love and forgiveness for leading others astray and for spreading false doctrine.  As a Christian I believe that if we do not give these simple things to those people how can we expect love and forgiveness for ourselves?  What would happen if we showed love to those people who are believing wrong?  Would their hearts be softened towards the truth?  I believe so.

I also believe that Christ is coming soon.  I believe that the hour is near and that we are to be prepared for His arrival.  The only way we can truly do that is to live a life devoted to the Lord, knowing that we have surrendered our hearts to Jesus because He is the only one that can forgive our sins, save us from our damnation, and seat us at His side unblemished before the one true God!  As Christians we should be excited for His return, not fearful.

If you want to have the assurance that you will be with Him in eternity, it is simple.  Ask him into your heart as the leader of your life, ask His forgiveness of your sins, turn from your ways and follow Him.  He will save you, forgive you, and lead you into a life of amazing dreams fulfilled, dreams you didn't even believe could be yours.  Be bold, ask him now!

The Lord loves you, and so do I.  Have a blessed day!

"I Want You With Me" by Julie Meyer

There is a beautiful album out by Julie Meyer that I have been listening to for a few months now.  It is Paint Your Picture and it has some amazing music that is truly from her heart and the heart of God.  One of the songs is "I Want You With Me" and it is the cry of Jesus to us.. longing for us... searching for us.  His desire for us and love for us, His bride. 

The beginning of the song starts with these short phrases:

    I want you with me
    I want you shining in purity
    I want you with me
    I want you shining in righteousness

The part that grabs my heart every time I hear this song is the, I want, part of the phrases.  I want, I want, I want.... Jesus wants me??  Why would He want me?  What in the world is He thinking?  He could never WANT me??? could He?  I have always wondered why would someone ever want me, especially the God of the universe.  I am dirty, ugly, filthy and unlovable.  I am not pure!  I am not righteous!  I certainly do not measure up.  Those worldly self-loathing tapes of the enemy start to scream in my head.

Then comes a verse that brings you closer to His heart and what He is looking for:

     Oh and I, I'm after a bride
     I'm after a prize
     One I can possess
     One I can refine
     Oh and I, I want you to shine
     Like the strength of the Sun
     I want your soul
     I want your all
     Every beat of your heart

The part that sticks out to me here is the phrase, One I can refine. He is looking to refine us into what He wants, into the pure, righteous one that He created us to truly be.  He is looking for His bride, and He is looking to us... the broken, fallen, dirty and defiled.  He wants to take all the bad that is there and He wants to refine it, change it and purify it!

He wants us with Him!  He wants us as His bride!  Not just the good parts, but all of us!  He is what will make us pure and whole and when we have given ourselves over to Him, letting Him refine us, then we can walk with assurance that we are pure and righteous in our Lord's eyes. 

Jesus is the cure to the virus of sin and with that life saving realization, I fell to my knees and wept.  I wept with pain with a sense of knowing that it was all my sins and filth that put Jesus on that cross and caused His great suffering.  But I also wept with gratefulness and peace because I knew that without a doubt that His time on that cross was followed by His resurrection and that He is now alive... and after His bride!  I am His bride and I am refined more every day by the Holy Spirit who was given to us by Jesus when He departed this world so that I and we can shine like the strength of the Sun! 

I thank you Jesus for all of your suffering and all of your sacrifices that you have been faithful to fulfill.  I thank you Jesus for wanting me, for refining me and loving me enough to continue to want me.  And I am thankful that you sent your Holy Spirit to dwell within me so that I can truly be purified and made righteous to stand for for my amazing Father in heaven.  You are amazing and I never want to forget that.

Thank you Julie Meyer for making such inspiring beautiful music that touches the heart and soul.  To find out more about Julie and her music you can find her at the following sites:

Julie Meyer (her website) ~ http://www.juliemeyer.com/

Facebook page ~ http://tinyurl.com/69xo62b

Twitter ~ http://twitter.com/#!/juliemeyerihop

Youtube ~ http://tinyurl.com/66e66f5 

I pray you are as blessed by her music and the Lord's love as I have been!