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Saturday, December 31, 2011

A NEW Resolution

It's New Years Eve and I can't help but think about resolutions. I don't usually partake in them. I learned a long time ago that they just don't work for me.  Not the traditional ones that I have made in the past like, exercising more, getting up earlier so my devotion time could be at daybreak, losing more weight, learning to speak more Spanish and so and so on. This year however, the notion came back to me that there was MORE required for me by the LORD. I just finished a 3 week Daniel fast during which time the LORD continued to speak to me about my need to move into a NEW level of intimacy with HIM.

I love the LORD and have devoted the past 11 years to full time ministry both in a paid position and as a full time volunteer. I have worked hard for HIM serving the poor stateside and globally,worshiping HIM, and performing lots of administrative duties.  However, I have realized that the MORE HE is requiring is for me to have MORE of HIM.  My busyness for HIS Kingdom was taking time away from my spending time with HIM. For the past few months I have been making a deliberate effort to be with HIM MORE. I have slowed down my schedule and have mad MOE time for HIM in my EVERY day. I can honestly say that i do feel closer to HIM then ever but I know that it is still not enough.

This leads me back to the subject of this post, my NEW years resolution. This year I desire to know the LORD MORE, to love Jesus MORE!   Like the Psalmist, David, this year there is "one thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4 emphasis mine)

In 2012" Your face LORD I will seek." (Psalm 37:8b) for there is nothing MORE important then HIM,.SO expect to hear more about MORE prayer, MORE waiting on HIM, MORE time worshiping HIM, MORE ways of lavishing love on HIM and just MORE of Jesus!!!!! I am SO  excited about this new year and what it truly means to "gaze on the beauty of the LORD"  and I look forward to sharing it all here with you. So here's to NEW resolutions AND gazing!!!!

May you gaze on the beauty of the LORD in 2012 and all the days of your life,
ruthann


Sunday, December 25, 2011

A series of giving

Last night at the Christmas Eve service at my church my Pastor spoke about giving. You may be thinking "Oh i know what he said,. He talked about it's better to give then receive sermon. I have heard that before". Well that was not it all, he spoke about how God sent Jesus as a gift to us, a gift that keeps on giving as HE sits at the right hand of God interceding for us. He also spoke about the gift of the Holy Spirit and how we are given spiritual gifts and they are not just for us to have but for us to then give out to others. It was a very inspiring message.
 As my family was driving home I  pondered the message and reflected on our day.

God gave us the awesome privilege of being able to give to a family that HE chose to bless. To tell you the story I have to back up to last Sunday when my husband purchased a Christmas tree for a family that would not have had one if this one was not provided. He has been bringing them a tree for  the past few years. I went with him o deliver it and we had a nice visit with  the mother and her two young children.

On Monday I received an email that a neighbor's friend had some very gently used American Girl dolls to donate and she wanted to know if I knew of anyone in need of them and I said "YES". She and her friend were coming to help me serve at a soup kitchen on Wednesday so I asked her to bring them to me then.  They were in beautiful condition and I was thrilled because I had the little 7 year old girl who danced and sang as she put decorations on her new tree just days before in mind but my dilemma was  I also needed a gift for her 9 year old brother. I asked one of my sons if he had any video games or anything he would be willing to give this Christmas. I was ecstatic when He gave us his Wii system! The controls were broken so we bought new ones and packaged it up. My husband called the mother to tell her we had these gifts if she would like them and when he told her what the gifts were she was overcome. She told him that those were the gifts that the children had wanted but she was unable to get them  and could only provide one small gift each. With gratitude she accepted and  gave thanks to God for his provision and asked that we sign the gifts from Jesus!! "Every good ad perfect gift is from above ,coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,who does not change like the shifting shadows." (James 1:17 NIV)

It was one of the highlights of the weekend to deliver those gifts from God to these precious children( plus one for mom too) and to be used by HIM in this  series of giving and provision that  demonstrated  HIS amazing love.

"A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great." (Proverbs 18:16 NIV

Saturday, December 17, 2011

One Thing

What is the "one thing" that you want for Christmas this year? Is it a new phone or a new "Vera" handbag, a new piece of jewelry? What  about the "one thing" you want for the upcoming year? Do you want a raise or a new job? Do you want a cleaner house, less bickering among your children, more time for exercising? During this Holiday season we spend a great deal of time thinking about what we want for Christmas  and then we move right into what we want for our life in the new year ahead.

In Psalm 27:4 David writes " One thing I ask of the LORD, this only do I seek ; that I may dwell n the house of the LORD all the days of my life,to gaze on the beauty of the LORD  and to seek him in his temple. (emphasis mine) All through out the Psalms we read about the single mindedness of David.. ALL he wanted was the LORD, to be with the LORD!!! That was his greatest treasure. David didn't spend all his time seeking riches, he sought the LORD.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:19-21NIV ) Jesus is my greatest treasure and HE has my heart, I am head over heels in love with Jesus. And I would even go so far as to say that HE is the main focus of MOST of my days and out of all my life endeavours the LORD is who I MOST consistently and diligently seek after. However, when I compare my devotion to David I fall a little bit short. Can  honestly say that the distractions of the world, the things that can be stolen or eaten by moths do not often get in the way of the one thing I know I most want? No, I can't say that. There are days, sometimes weeks or seasons where I am distracted by other things in my life and God becomes one of many things that I seek after.

Like my dearly loved sisters in the bible, Martha and Mary, I get easily distracted by things of the world like Martha did when entertaining Jesus at her home. I let the worldly traditions of  even this very Christmas season take me away from the feet of Jesus. Martha's sister, Mary had the right idea when she refrained from the hubub and sat  at the feet of Jesus listening. In Luke10:42 Jesus tells Martha "but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her." (NIV)

We have a choice in what we deem important in our lives. We can choose the "one thing". We can choose Jesus. We can choose HIM this Christmas and we can choose HIM  for the new year and ever after. And if we do , it will not be taken from us.

As I reflect over my "wants" for Christmas and the upcoming year I know that I want MORE of Jesus. And I will pray daily and ask  "one thing of the LORD that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the LORD".

Choosing Jesus,
ruthann







Monday, December 12, 2011

Unending Pursuit

Despite the craziness of the season I am thoroughly engrossed in a most excellent book The Pursuit of God  by A.W. Tozier. Although the book is amazing and has given me much to ponder ( which I will talk about at another time) the very concept of pursuit is what is on my mind today.

I didn't become a Christian  until my adult life. I lived in the world with all of it's world views and was under the saturating power of the media.My concept of who I was had been formed and molded by the media and the people in my life. I praise God now for the parents that HE gave me, for without them I would not have had any counterbalance to this distorted self view. However, God,being the totally amazing God that HE is, pursued me over my life. When I look back over my life I can pinpoint multiple people in each decade that HE placed in my path to share the Gospel with me. I remember a compelling pull to HIM but unfortunately, each time in my earlier days, I rejected HIM and  HIS wonderful invitation to LIFE and went back to my life.

But The Lord is relentless in HIS pursuit of us. HE chased after me, dropping nuggets of HIS Truth, testimonies told about HIS Unfailing Love for me!!! Scripture reveals  in Hosea 2"14 "Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her".

 Oh HE did just that as I eventually was allured into a bible study where I met HIM and gave my life to HIM. From that point on I began to daily seek after HIM. The deepest desire of my heart is to know HIM better and to serve HIM  with my life. And so I have thought that since I entered into a relationship with God that now I was  the pursuer. The pursuee had become the pursuer and The Pursuer had become the Pursuee. WRONG!!!!

God never stops drawing us closer to HIMSELF. The more we pursue HIM the more He pursues us!!! From cover to cover the bible testifies to God's desire to have us do life with HIM. Since the beginning of time God has wanted  YOU!!!  I don't know if that statement overwhelms you as much as it does me but it is a life changer. Comprehending that God loves you so much that HE is in endless pursuit of YOU. Look for HIM. Listen for HIM.. Feel for HIM, HE is there alluring you to come ever closer.

I will still get up tomorrow and seek hard after God even though I know HE will spend the day reaching out to me. HE will be setting up divine appointments, painting marvelous sunsets, speaking to me through friends and songs and awakening me to new revelations in HIS Word. We will spend the day pursuing each other!!

"One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek him n his temple." (Psalm 27:4)

 Here's to Pursuing HIS Beauty!


Friday, December 9, 2011

Beauty Queens

Last Wednesday night I attended  a celebration for ladies as we concluded a Beth Moore bible study called "Breaking Free". The room was filled with more than 50  "Beauty Queens". No. I don't mean the kind that wear sparkly crystal tiaras I am talking about a different kind of beauty queen. This one wears a crown alright but not one that will ever break or rust or lose a crystal. These women wore crowns of beauty bestowed on them by the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:3b foretells of some of the things that Jesus will fulfill as it states that He will  come "to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes".

The high light of the evening  came when some of  these "beauty queens" (or should I say, beauty princess' since they are daughters of the King) shared their personal "make over" stories.. The"Before"stories were not  pretty in themselves as they were filled with messy situations, heartache, shame and guilt. They spoke with trembling lips, their emotions poured out in tears as they revealed the deepest hurts and weaknesses of their lives. They revealed their old wardrobes.

Although the beginnings of their testimonies were varied there was one common thread...the REDEEMING LOVE of Jesus Christ. All of  these women had been touched  and dramatically changed, made over, by their relationship with their Redeemer, Jesus. The crowns they wore although not tangible still glowed, shimmered and radiated  when they spoke of what God has done in their lives
Oprah's "before and after" programs had nothing on these God make overs.

God's Love and Forgiveness was the foundation for  transformation. HIS Love and the Truth of HIS Word allowed them to find freedom from the things that held them captive. The power of  God's Word, knowing TRUTH (hiding it in our hearts) , prayer, worship and friendships with other Christian women added color  texture, warmth and sparkle to their lives.They gave HIM their old, dirty rags and "clothed themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.( Romans 13:14)

Jesus is the Master Make Over Artist, HE is the Creator of all Beauty. We can not get a make over if we don't stand before the Master Make Over Artist! Unless we have submitted our lives to His Hand we will stay in our "Before" phase. Unless we give HIM our old wardrobes and put on the Kings clothes we will never have the beautiful "AFTERS" God so desires for us.

So Thank you to all the  ladies for sharing your new beaut full lives!

Joyfully,
ruthann



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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Back Story

Sometimes it takes me a long time to understand exactly what God wants me to do. Last winter I was working on a project with a friend at a coffee shop when a disheveled woman walked in. After she ordered her coffee she came and sat close to where I was working. And then I heard her quiet voice say "you are so pretty. I was pretty when I was younger but now my mother tells me I am ugly." These words were flowing from the mouth of a women in her middle 50's and they went through me like a knife. I quickly replies to her and told her that she was not at all ugly, I smiled and went back to  my task at hand. A few moments later I heard another voice, quietly urging me to tell her that "I think she is beautiful for she is one of my creations". I heard the message and said to myself "Ok God, as soon as I am finished with "my important work" I will tell her what YOU had to say". Ugh. By the time I was done she had left and I felt terrible for I knew I had failed to touch someone with the love of my God because I thought what I was doing was so important. I pleaded with HIM over the next days and weeks to please put that woman in my path and I promised HIM that I would stop my car and tell her. But HE didn't create that divine appointment for me a second time.

Months passed and still I remembered the words that I failed to share and more importantly the message that I failed to share. God has worked in me this year highlighting and contrasting what the world values as beautiful and what HE values as beautiful. He reminded me of how HE took my life and made me over, bestowing a crown of beauty instead of ashes (Isaiah 61:3b) . As I have followed Jesus and learned to make myself more like HIM, I have become increasing more beautiful. That may sound conceited to say I know I  am beautiful however, I say that looking from God's point of view not the world's view. I know this because it is Christ that lives within me that makes me beautiful.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 the apostle Paul tells us that when we live our life in the presence of God , when there is" Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face.  And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah,our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him" (The Message).  When I am worshiping or serving at the soup kitchen I feel more beautiful then ever, when I am intentional about being connected to my Jesus through His Word and in conversing with Him I feel the shine on my face from being in His Presence. I feel Beauty Full.

Here we are .almost a year later and God has allowed me  to begin to bring HIS message to women  to "Let the King be enthralled  by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." (Psalm 45:11 NIV) . I have confidence that God used another to share HIS message with the woman from the coffee shop and HE used that experience to prompt my heart to live and share this message. I will be sharing my thoughts, stories and encouragements here from my journey in seeking to honor HIM above all things and living  Beauty Full  for HIS Glory.

Shine On Beautiful!!!