Don't let the devil have head space~~~

Wonder what that heading mean?? I truly believe that if you dwell on your problems, stay around things that are tempting, be around people who aren't good for you, listen or watch things you shouldn't be, your letting the devil take up residence in your head. 

Guess what that is all he needs is a little bit space inside of your head and he would love to expand the space as best as he can. Sometimes you know it and sometimes you don't know it. Sometimes it is fast, quick, and on the other hand it could be slow at a snails pace. 

Some people don't think you things you watch on tv, movies, read, or listen to has an effect on your life, thoughts or your relationship with Jesus. You may think it is harmless, but in reality sorry to say it is very harmful. It is the devil working in you. You may recall something you saw or read or even heard later on & wonder where that thought come from?? Why am I thinking this?? Well guess where it came from?? Something you saw, read or listened to that you should be staying away from. 

You need to surround yourself with good things, good people, watch things on tv that aren't sexual, being sarcastic, mean, hateful, or crude  ( yes I know good luck finding shows/movies like that). Yes you can do it, takes discipline,motivation and the want to do that. What would you do if Jesus himself walked into your house right now? Would you hide what your watching, reading or listening to?? Would you try to reason/justify it to God himself that it is okay because you think it doesn't make a difference. (but it does make a difference) 

Why do you think Children are acting, talking and behaving they way they are today?? It is because no one is taking their child to church, teaching them about Jesus, God's love, and showing others kindness. They are being babysitted by the TV ( who knows what they are seeing or hearing including trashy cartoons) and the internet via phone. Children are trying to be like what they see, wearing what they see and talking like what they hear, just to belong, so they aren't outcast-ed. I hate to say this but it has become a selfie, all about me, children growing to become the same in Adults. 

God has given you a gift of raising a child, so how do you think God would rate you on being a parent???

Well take back at being a landlord in your head & keep the devil out as much as you can. Fill your thoughts, your eyes and your ears with the Lord Jesus Christ, stay focused on HIM, the Lord Jesus Christ!!. 

Just keep asking yourself is this really glorifying Jesus? 

Would Jesus want to sit and watch the tv/movie with me or Would you invite Jesus too?

 

Would Jesus want me to be reading this book or would you recommend it to Jesus to read? 

Would Jesus want me to be listening to this music? Is it praising Jesus? Is it getting you closer to Jesus? Would you want to be singing this to a one person audience of God??

Would Jesus want me to be here with these people doing these things? 

Stay focused on Jesus and concentrate on your walk with God to make it Heaven. Be aware of whats around you and your children. 

Think about.... if it is time to change then do it... nothing on this earth is worth missing out an eternity in Heaven with Jesus Christ!!

So What is Keeping your From God???

This was brought up in conversation and preached on a while back at church. It really got me thinking about what does keep me from God. Is it a show on TV, friend(s), work, a hobby, family, someone you don't like attending the church, someone made you upset at church, you didn't like the sermon the preacher preached on, and so the excuses can continue. 

I wonder if we would be upset with God if he had excuses as to why he didn't' show up in our life when we needed him.  hhmmmm that is something to think of huh???  I mean we except God to show up when WE want him or need him, what about us?? I mean why do we come up with excuses as to not attending church, praying like we should, honoring God with our words & actions, being kind, showing God's love to another person, showing forgiveness and the list continues. 

So what excuse do you have today as to why your staying away from God? Is it a worthy excuse? If today was your judgement day in from of Jesus Christ, and he asked you why you didn't go to a Spirit filled church? 

Why didn't you testify as to my blessings? 

Why didn't you help that person asking for a couple of dollars, when I blessed you with a great job?  

Why didn't you forgive that person for his harsh words to you?

 Why didn't you pray to me, tell me thank you for your blessings, ask to help your loved ones, didn't you think I'd want to have a talk with you? 

What are you going to tell Jesus Christ that already knows your heart, thoughts, your entire life that Jesus Christ is willing to accept as a "good" excuse not to put him 1st in your life??

Don't let material things, people, and anything to come in between you and God, it is so not worth it. Imagine losing your home in Heaven, for some excuse that amounts to nothing. 

Make sure no one or anything stands in your way on your journey with God.  

How are YOU praising the Lord???

This is a question I ask myself a lot. I know some of us go to church and get our praise on there but are we praising our Lord Jesus Christ any other time??NO just not going to church, isn't the only time you should be praising God. We should be praising him daily, from the little things to the big things as well. I mean God let you wake up this morning didn't he?  I know I say "thank you lord"  for when things go right or we get a blessing but what about the other times. You don't have to just say the words you need to have an outward appearance as well. As the saying goes. " you can talk the talk but can you walk the walk???"

Are you praising the Lord by showing others thru honest and true Love?? telling the ones you love them? Are you telling the ones you love about how much God loves them? I know the second one is hard to do, but it is a form of praising God & showing his Love to others by talking about God to our love ones. WE can't truly love one another with out 1st having God's love in us. By not telling your loved ones about God & his love, do you truly love them?

Thru Kindness, your Praising God. Did you know God wants us to be kind not just to our loved ones or friends but to other people you meet. The word Kindness appears 48 times  and lovingkindnesses appears 4 times and lovingkindness appears 26 times. That is a lot of times. We should be kind to others it shows our love for Christ by doing so. Read Luke 6:35, Colossains 3:12  Be nice to one another, lend a helping hand, smile at the cashier, saying thank you & mean it, help by showing compassion, understanding, and love, Just give a hug to someone,which can go a long way to another person. Sometime showing kindness is all that person may need to get through their day, & who knows it may be contagious!!!

Letting your Light Shine!  Are you going thru your day frowning, looking like you just lost your pet, making snide remarks, being sarcastic, saying hateful things, putting someone down ( even to those you don't know) , telling or saying someone is stupid, always being negative, gossiping about another person & you are repeating things you don't know the full truth, trying to get a person in trouble, just plain being mean because you can be do it and the list goes on. You know that ISN'T letting God's light shine thru you. You are to let God's  love, compassion, understanding, mercy,being humble out thru your  words and your actions to others,not just the ones you love either. To everyone~~ if you proclaim to be a christian ( which is being Christ like, not just a religious  word ) then be one!!! Pray to God to take those bad actions away from you, make you aware of what your doing that brings God shame & disappointment, and fill you up with the good things so you can share with others. Let others see your light & it screams JESUS!!!

This world is so filled up with hate, being politically correctness ( not Jesus Correct), selfishness, who cares what that person is going thru, well I'm not helping them attitude, that we have lost our true love & compassion for one another. Human life has became expendable.

Show others Jesus's love and all the while your praising Godt. You will get a blessing just as much as the person you show it to, and who knows when your having a bad day, need a pick me up, someone in return will show Jesus's love back to you when you least expect it.

So what are you going to do today to Praise Jesus????

Spirital Weapons we all have

Did you know as Christians we have access to God's weapons to use against the devil when he attacks us? Yep we do as children of God. 

We have been given the armor to put on to get thru the battle. In Ephesians 6:10- 14 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  

Also read Isaiah Chapter 59:17 "For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke."

We have power in God's word that he has given in the bible. His Name carry's more power then any word we may every say out loud. Jesus's name is not just a name to call him when we need him but it carries immeasurable power. His name offers us comfort, love, faith, hope, and so much more.

Jesus's name represents everything about how powerful he is. Jesus's name is above any other name, by using the authority of his name we have been given power over satan. 

God's name and his word is sharper then any two edge sword could ever hope to be. You know when you feel awful, your kind of crabby but don't know why, guess what you can read about anything your struggling with in his word to get the answers you want, your putting on the armor of God! His word gives us strength, victory, feeling loved and so much more. I know when I'm in a funk I try to remember to get out my bible to find a scripture that I can find comfort in, put on some christian music, and start saying what I'm thankful for out loud.

The word of God is alive and very powerful! When we say God's word out loud, contains the power to accomplish what it says it will. But you have to make sure you believe wholeheartedly in those words you speak. You need to be a believer who is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. 

We can really defeat the whiles of Satan, using God's word he has given us. Satan will try to deceive us and steal anything from us thru his lies, deception, manipulation, and he will even try to use God's word to drive us away from God. That is why it is important for us to use the instruction ( bible) to defeat him at every turn. 

That is why we get our armor on, go into battle, and always remember we have God on our side so there is no chance we can be defeated. 

You can call upon his Name Jesus Christ at anytime, anyday, and anywhere. So keep your amour on to win every battle we face daily in life because we have the Power of God on our side. Have you read the back of the his book, he wins in the end & as a soldier in God's army we are winners also. 

The start of a new week and we are over 1/2 over already.  A few of my friends have been in the dump aka in a valley for awhile which got me praying for them. It is an awful situation to be in whether is a financial, emotional, spiritual, and so on. 

I know when I've been in a valley I have really concentrate on reading the bible, praying and trying to stay as positive as possible. Which sometimes is so hard to do. I think if we stay in that valley for too long the devil has where he wants you which is away from Jesus Christ. 

I know there are times when I've been so low I just feel give me a shovel and i'll just cover my self up while i'm in this deep dark hole. I could have cared less about what is going on around me. I've struggled with praying which i know back in my mind it is what will get me out situation. The thoughts of " nobody cares, God can't help me, Why would he want to bail me out again?", and so on. We've all been there, I've been there way more times then I want to count.

I truly believe the more you think about the good things, the blessings, in your own life even if it is the smallest thing of being able to get yourself out of bed in the morning, Celebrate it!!
 Tell God:
"Thanks God for waking me up and getting me out of this bed. "
"Thank you Lord for this awesome cup of coffee I've got & the money to purchase the coffee to make it " 
"Thank you Lord for my car that doesn't look the best but it gets me to work" 
"Thank you Lord for the friends I have in my life"
"Thank You Lord for the air conditioning I can enjoy when it is so hot outside."
"Thank you Lord for my job it may not be the one I want but it pays my bills"

 Well you get the picture.  The more you say out loud, yes, say it out loud,  it may seem a little bit crazy at first but trust me it validates it that your truly blessed even when you think your cursed. We all talk to ourselves every now and then, so why not use it to remind ourselves that we are blessed from God above.  You'll start pulling yourself out of that hole. You will feel so much better about your own life and things will start looking up. 

Get your bible out, and meditate on what God is trying to teach you. Pray a heartfelt prayer to God, poor out your soul, give him thanks, and as that song says "just have a little talk with Jesus" 
God wants you to talk to him, tell him your hopes/dreams,sorrows, fears, praises, worries, God wants to hear it all, God loves you that much. Prayer changes things. 

Need to grow with Jesus, it does make you stronger & life doesn't seem so bad. The closer we get to God, we grow, and as you grow you win your life back from satan. Not saying there won't be trials and valley but we have the ultimate fighter, plus we win in the end with God on our side. It says so on the last page of the bible, and I stand on his promise God gives us in his word that is written. Satan's job is to keep us distracted from God and he knows if he does long enough he will succeed. We must not let him. He will use anything, anybody, any situation, to keep our mind off the blessings God gives us daily and God himself. Trust God to take care of you and love you even when your not feeling so great about life in this world. Concentrate on following God & his word to make sure you get to heaven which is the ultimate goal in life, where there are no sorrows or pain. Focus on Jesus not Fears~~~

Hope you have a wonderful day~~~
Carolyn C.

Here I Go:

Well the title says it all, here I go. I've been really praying about God to lead me to do more for him, and God keeps whispering to me about writing. Soooo Here I go. Please be patient with me I'm no educated writer by any means whatsoever. :) 

Here is a little bit about me: I'm a Christian, follower of God almighty first an foremost. I'm a wife, mother, daughter, sister and a quilter. I also have a love of gardening ( mostly flowers), reading,finding & eating of great food, antique treasure finding, walking in woods, fishing, rug hooking and a few other fun life things. I'm married to one of the most wonderful God loving man I know named Clyde, we've been together going on 27 years. We have two grown boys Josh & Caleb. And we have a few fur babies to round us out. 

I live in southern Ohio, which is beautiful, love all of it's crazy seasons. 

The reason I feel God has lead me to do this is to mostly spend more time with him. I'm on the computer whether it is checking out facebook ( yep i love it), pinterest ( Lord help me there) , etsy ( did I mention I sell on there), reading, and lots more. So why not blog about what God means to me, What God is Revealing to Me,  how God is blessing me/my family ( We all need to read some Good news somewhere), how God is using me/my family and so on. So Here I go....

Lets start with this: What does God Mean to You?
God means a lot of things to me. God is the one true person that has given great peace in my heart, comfort, true love, and the feeling of being important to someone. I was a person who use to worry about everything, always has a plan B & C if plan A fell thru, never trusting anyone or anything in my life. Once I rededicated my life to God, I had such a feeling come over me I've never experienced before. You see I was saved as a little girl around 7-8 years old according to my mom's bible, always prayed but as I growing up, the world came into my life. I would lie about things to get people to like me, to feel like I belong, & to get out of trouble. I drank a lot, but I feel God didn't let me go down the path of drugs like some of my family members. I was doing things that I shouldn't have been doing, but that is in the past. Once I started going back to church, basically I started taking my kids to bible school one summer to a church down the road, I felt the need to go for Me. So after awhile I rededicated myself to God, and to follow him. I haven't regretted that decision I made. I have such sense of peace in my life. God is going to take care of me no matter what life throws at me. God has been the rock which life situations have pulled the rug out from under me. God has basicially kept me sane in this insane world. God has strengthened my marriage, my relationship with my children, has taught me tolerance and acceptance. God has truly filled my soul and given me a reason to put one foot in front of the other, to keep striving to make it to heaven. 

So What does God mean to you?? I'd love to hear from others in the answers to this question. I feel we all need to uplift one another.