I was reading a book called, The Hiding Place, a true story about a woman named Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie and her family hid Jewish people in their house during the reign of Hitler and ended up in concentration camps, with Corrie’s father and sister dying in the camps. This book is about Corrie’s story, what happened to her and her family during her lifetime. In the preface of the book, the authors were speaking with Corrie about her history, and this was what Corrie said about life: “Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.” When I read this, I was immediately impacted by the truthfulness of the statement.
I realized that no matter what I go through, good or bad, it is preparation for the future. Even in the times that I am in less than desirable situations, God can and does use it to prepare me for the future. As it says In Isaiah 44:7, God knows everything that has already happened, and is going to happen, He can already see my future because He is the One that created it. I don’t have to be perfect because God is in control and He’s not worried about my current or future situations, so why should I be? He allows me to go through all types of different circumstances because He knows that it will be the perfect preparation for the future. As long as I am seeking God everyday, He will be in control of my life.
I am so thankful that no matter what I do or say, God loves me just the way I am. He is not worried about any of my circumstances that I am going through or will go through in the future because He’s known about all of them, before I was even born.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
God Will Always Give Us a Second Chance
The other day I was talking with my husband Steve about our lives and how much everything has changed over the past few years. I began to tell him how different our lives are from five years ago and before I could get the words out, I realized that we are in the same situation we were five years ago. For example, we are living in the same place (Connecticut), attending the same church (Bethel Christian Church), we are even involved in the same ministries that we were five years ago. God has brought us through a lot in the past five years including moving to Iowa for two years to learn some lessons, but now He has brought us back.
I realized that God is giving us a second chance. The first time around we made a lot of mistakes. Granted, a lot of the mistakes needed to be made so that we could learn from them, but nonetheless we did make a lot of them. When I realized that we are in the same situation we were five years ago, it hit me that God is allowing us to have a fresh start with the situation, to do it right this time. Obviously, we won’t get everything correct, and there will be mistakes, but He is allowing us a second chance to do it right.
Wow! Who else would give you a second chance when you’ve already messed it up once? I am so excited to know that God isn’t only the God of second chances, but also of third, fourth, fifth, etc. chances. He will never give up on me no matter what I do. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in our lives!
I realized that God is giving us a second chance. The first time around we made a lot of mistakes. Granted, a lot of the mistakes needed to be made so that we could learn from them, but nonetheless we did make a lot of them. When I realized that we are in the same situation we were five years ago, it hit me that God is allowing us to have a fresh start with the situation, to do it right this time. Obviously, we won’t get everything correct, and there will be mistakes, but He is allowing us a second chance to do it right.
Wow! Who else would give you a second chance when you’ve already messed it up once? I am so excited to know that God isn’t only the God of second chances, but also of third, fourth, fifth, etc. chances. He will never give up on me no matter what I do. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in our lives!
Friday, August 24, 2007
How is your connection?
Today, while I was at work, the network connection on my computer stopped working. I was not able to access my folders or databases that I need to do my job. As I looked at the cord that connects me to the network, it appeared that everything was properly connected and I could not identify any problems.
Suddenly, I thought to ask God if He was trying to tell me something. God began to show me that often there are times when it appears that I have a perfect connection with God but something is wrong with the communication between His Network and me . I do everything right, I pray, read the Bible, and go to church, but I miss the part about actually seeking His face and what He is trying to tell me. The part that makes the connection work is the part of keeping Him first in everything I do.
Everyday He is showing me that He desires more of me than doing all the "right things." I also need to have the right heart. To have the right heart is a far deeper expression to God. It is no longer about my actions but about my inner man, the part of me that nobody can see.
There are times when one will hide his or her inner man because of the wrong thoughts and motives. God is challenging Christians to make sure that our inner man is righteous before Him, to not only have good actions but also to have a good and pure heart. I know that I don't want to be like the Pharisees who had outward appearances of holiness but their hearts were turned away from God; I do want to be like the disciples because, while they may have made mistakes, their hearts were turned to God.
What do you think?
Suddenly, I thought to ask God if He was trying to tell me something. God began to show me that often there are times when it appears that I have a perfect connection with God but something is wrong with the communication between His Network and me . I do everything right, I pray, read the Bible, and go to church, but I miss the part about actually seeking His face and what He is trying to tell me. The part that makes the connection work is the part of keeping Him first in everything I do.
Everyday He is showing me that He desires more of me than doing all the "right things." I also need to have the right heart. To have the right heart is a far deeper expression to God. It is no longer about my actions but about my inner man, the part of me that nobody can see.
There are times when one will hide his or her inner man because of the wrong thoughts and motives. God is challenging Christians to make sure that our inner man is righteous before Him, to not only have good actions but also to have a good and pure heart. I know that I don't want to be like the Pharisees who had outward appearances of holiness but their hearts were turned away from God; I do want to be like the disciples because, while they may have made mistakes, their hearts were turned to God.
What do you think?
Thursday, August 23, 2007
To be in God's Presence
Lately, God has been teaching me what it means to be in His presence. I was praying the other day, asking God for more of Him and he showed me that there are two different ways to be in His presence. As I was praying, God gave me a vision where at first, I was in the same place as God, and I could see Him several yards away from me. Then, I began to come close and I was in His midst, I was not only close to Him, but I was inside of Him; He was like a cloud that I could enter the way that a plane goes into clouds while it is flying high in the air. Then, I realized that there was a difference between when I saw Him and when I was in Him.
Last week my family went on a trip to Wisconsin from Connecticut. On the way home to Connecticut, I looked at the window and the plane had flown directly into a cloud. I was amazed at how the only thing that could be seen was the cloud, we were completely immersed in the cloud. This is what I am talking about, to be completely immersed in God the way that the plane was immersed in the cloud so that nothing else can be seen.
So often, I have been in a place where it was evident that God was there, and I was satisfied with the knowledge that He was there. I could hear what He said, see what He did, I could even see the emotion on His face; God would meet me right where I was and give me what I needed at the moment. There would be times that I would enter into His presence (be inside Him) but it was not often. Now, I realize that my entire life needs to be in His presence, that I must be so close to Him that I can hear His heartbeat.
I know now, that if I know His heart, not just His actions, or words, but His true heart, that I can live my life for Him as I know He desires me to do. When I pray or worship or read the Bible I must not only enter the temple, I must enter the Holy of Holies, the secret place where God dwells always.
It is not enough to say I will live my life for Christ, I must live completely in God. I must find out what is on His heart, so I can respond to it and live in His will. I must always be immersed in Him so that I know if He wants to pray, read the Bible, or just be still and know that He is there. No matter what He wants, I must be obedient to listen to His heartbeat and act on what He tells me.
Last week my family went on a trip to Wisconsin from Connecticut. On the way home to Connecticut, I looked at the window and the plane had flown directly into a cloud. I was amazed at how the only thing that could be seen was the cloud, we were completely immersed in the cloud. This is what I am talking about, to be completely immersed in God the way that the plane was immersed in the cloud so that nothing else can be seen.
So often, I have been in a place where it was evident that God was there, and I was satisfied with the knowledge that He was there. I could hear what He said, see what He did, I could even see the emotion on His face; God would meet me right where I was and give me what I needed at the moment. There would be times that I would enter into His presence (be inside Him) but it was not often. Now, I realize that my entire life needs to be in His presence, that I must be so close to Him that I can hear His heartbeat.
I know now, that if I know His heart, not just His actions, or words, but His true heart, that I can live my life for Him as I know He desires me to do. When I pray or worship or read the Bible I must not only enter the temple, I must enter the Holy of Holies, the secret place where God dwells always.
It is not enough to say I will live my life for Christ, I must live completely in God. I must find out what is on His heart, so I can respond to it and live in His will. I must always be immersed in Him so that I know if He wants to pray, read the Bible, or just be still and know that He is there. No matter what He wants, I must be obedient to listen to His heartbeat and act on what He tells me.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Hello,
Welcome to my new blog, http://moreshammah.blogspot.com. I chose this name because to have more Shammah, is the best thing possible. The word Shammah, comes from Jehovah-Shammah, which means "The Lord is There; The Lord is in This Place; The Lord is with Us". This is what I truly believe about God, He is always with us, regardless of where we may be. This truth, is my testimony because everyday He is always with me, He never leaves or forsakes me, and this is one of the few things that I know I can always count on in life.
Recently, God revealed to me that we are always in His midst. In Matthew 18:20 it states, "For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them". This passage of scripture has always meant to me, that if I pray then God will be "invited" in by me through my prayers. This is true, however, God showed me that He is always there, whether I know it or not. If I'm praying, reading, washing dishes, etc. it doesn't matter, He is there and I can call on Him in a moment, and He is there. He is able to be there so quickly because He is already there, all I had to do was acknowledge His presence.
I pray that this blog be a source of showing God's love for each of us. I am hoping that you will post responses to the site so we can all learn together about God.
God bless,
Karen
Welcome to my new blog, http://moreshammah.blogspot.com. I chose this name because to have more Shammah, is the best thing possible. The word Shammah, comes from Jehovah-Shammah, which means "The Lord is There; The Lord is in This Place; The Lord is with Us". This is what I truly believe about God, He is always with us, regardless of where we may be. This truth, is my testimony because everyday He is always with me, He never leaves or forsakes me, and this is one of the few things that I know I can always count on in life.
Recently, God revealed to me that we are always in His midst. In Matthew 18:20 it states, "For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them". This passage of scripture has always meant to me, that if I pray then God will be "invited" in by me through my prayers. This is true, however, God showed me that He is always there, whether I know it or not. If I'm praying, reading, washing dishes, etc. it doesn't matter, He is there and I can call on Him in a moment, and He is there. He is able to be there so quickly because He is already there, all I had to do was acknowledge His presence.
I pray that this blog be a source of showing God's love for each of us. I am hoping that you will post responses to the site so we can all learn together about God.
God bless,
Karen
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