Changing my Life - I am Hungry!

What if my first response was to worship Him?
What if? my very first response/reaction. was to worship Him!?

Ever thought about it?
What if my soul responded/reacted first instead of my flesh?

Hm. I think my life would change. I want it to change.
Maybe it is changing.

I am enjoying participating in the Daniel Bible Study on Wednesday nights and also in the Living Worship study on Sunday nights. Each unique and different, yet each, so very similar. Living Worship by John Randall Dennis is said to be "A Biblical Guide to making Worship real in your life." Hm...sounds interesting. I mean, who doesn't want to be real in their worship? What? You mean there are some people that aren't real in their worship? Oh my...
The Minister of Music is leading this class and will be out of town this weekend and has asked me to lead the class. I am honored and completely relying on the Lord to guide me through it. It's an incredible book. This week we study David and Jehoshaphat, last week we studied Job and Isaiah. It's been a roller coaster ride and I am enjoying all the Lord is saying to me.
He is using much of the Daniel Bible Study to speak to me just as equally in part with this Living Worship book. My mind is completely expanding...and so that brings me to my questions above.

Last week as we were going through the lesson Sunday night about worship, one of the questions asked was what do we do when a "circumstance" comes our way...we freak out, we lash out at God, we say 'Why ME?', we question Him on His way, His purpose, Him in general. Some times it takes a while to get over it. Some times people never do. I answered that I would like to think that my lashing out gets shorter and shorter each time. I honestly meant that. I came home that night with the question of "What if my first response was not to lash out, but to worship?"
As I was going along in the Daniel study, Beth Moore wrote something in Day 3 or 4 that struck me..."God is no less on His throne just because chaos happens in the world" (my paraphrase). Oh. Wow. It occured to me that God is no less on His throne right now than He was two days ago when one of my very good friends told me that someone else had entered their marriage and as much as it pains the two of them right now, they are going to seek counseling and move forward...TOGETHER. God is no less on His throne right now than He was on September 11, 2001. Does that strike a cord in you? God will be no less on His throne five days from now should tragedy strike you, your family, your friends, whomever.
He's GOD.
He is GOD.

God is changing my life. I believe it's impossible to read the Bible and it NOT change your life. I am absorbing all I can about my LORD because I am hungry. I am truly hungry for Him.
Oh Lord, you have shown me Your glory and at times I have been unwilling to accept it or to take and eat of it. But Lord, I am hungry now. It's not too late to be hungry or to be filled by Him.

In Jesus-
Karen

Do Something Now!

While at Passion 2007, we were able to be small participants in doing something now to change the world. I was one small participant, but combined with over 22,000 others, we made a huge impact for the Kingdom. If you haven't heard or checked it out recently, you should go and read and give glory to the Most High God. He is moving...He is blowing...

Are you on the boat??

268 Generation Blog

In Him-

Karen

Tags: Passion 2007, Do Something Now

Shine! Passion 2007

I am just now getting around to telling you all about the incredible four days that Jeremy and I spent with 22,000 of our closest friends in downtown Atlanta. Passion 2007 was...well...as they said on the 268 blog, God. It was GOD. The post-passion dilema they they describe on there is so true...I will never in all my days be able to describe and share all the incredible things God did.The main point that you need to know is He showed up. HE. God. HE SHOWED UP! Now anything is going to be cool when God shows up, but this, well, it took my breath away several times.
I must give props to our small group of Katelyn, Sarah, Trey, Ben and Mark, because they were just an incredible group of college students. They are extremely good kids, but more than that, they get IT. They get God, and I couldn't ask for much more than that.
The speakers. They were AWESOME. God spoke through each of them and they completely poured out all God had for them to say. They spoke of sexual sin and humility and kept our attention with laughter and truth. Beth Moore did a breakout session for just girls and we (me, Sarah and Katelyn) all had a good time laughing it up during that. Sarah and I attended a session with Christy Nockels and Rachel Hughes in which we found equal enjoyment discussing life, boundaries, and juggling all that with career and raising kids.
The music. If you know me, you know I love worship. The songs bring you in and force you to deal with the glory and majesty of our Lord. He is awesome and beautiful and He is just. He is incredible and the reason for my joy and He is also calling me. He knows my name. He calls me friend. It was an awesome experience to worship for those four days. I came home saying every year should be spent opening in four days of worship.
The result. I absolutely went expecting and praying for the Lord to move and speak mightily. I know we were there with college students and I want them so badly to change their campuses for Christ...to change their lives for HIM. And I absolutely knew He would speak to me and Jeremy during it...but, oh, I was not expecting all that. My life is continuing to be burned in the fire and re-molded as I seek to follow His heart, His way, His purpose for my life. Jeremy and I stayed up late several nights sharing about all God was speaking to us about. Changing lives. Changing hearts. This is our heart's cry.
My thoughts. For the past several months I have read Jim Cymbala's books, Fresh Faith and just finished reading Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. My thoughts and life have been moved by the scripture and realizing all that God can do if we call on Him. Attending Passion 2007 just made it more real and gave confirmation of all that God can do through the lives of those who will call upon His name. Putting truth into action and relying on God's power instead of our own...well, it can change your life. :)

May the power of His word be alive in your heart and in your life today.
In Christ-
Karen

Tags: Passion 2007

Because He's God!

"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God
whose ways you may not understand at the time."
~Oswald Chambers~

Can I get an AMEN? Deliberate - a synonym for PURPOSEFUL! That word deliberate is filled with purpose and my all time favorite word...intentional! I must be intentional in my faith, not just saying 'I have faith', but actually stepping out and trusting the Lord.

In my Sunday school class a few months back, we were discussing some deep issues about suffering and pain and loss, and my answer to all of that was this...Because God is God! He can do whatever He pleases. That is an answer many do not like to hear. It's hard to swallow that God is Love, yet children suffer through illness and death; that God is peace, and we battle in war over land; that God is Hope, and people die every day that don't know Him personally. The Lord says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him..." Hebrews 11:6a, NASB The fact that having faith pleases the Lord blows my mind. People say it's not that simple...I have learned only recently that it is THAT simple. I have been reading Fresh Faith by Jim Cymbala and I was confronted by the lack of my faith. I agreed with people that having faith was simply "easier said than done." I don't agree with that any longer.

I have shared many times about the past year and I also have shared a story about a friend of mine who lost her baby earlier this year. Her statement to many was this... "If the Lord allowed all this to happen if for nothing else than for us to draw closer to Him, then wasn't it worth it?" In my book? Absolutely. I think a great deal of time is spent asking the Why? questions instead of having the faith to trust the Lord. I trust that when something happens that isn't in my plan (ha! my plan...as if I ever had a plan!), okay, let's say, in the realm of my thinking...and it seems to derail me, I know must cling to what I know...the scriptures :

Jeremiah 29:11b "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, but to give you hope and a future." NIV

2 Corinthians 13:11 "be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you." NASB

I Chronicles 28:20 "Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished." NASB

My purposeful faith is not based on the circumstance that the Lord brings into my life, it's based on trusting that the Lord is who He says He is in His Word. Be found faith filled today...

In Christ-

Karen

Tags: In Other Words, CWO

Where's Jesus?

I think I mentioned in the last post that I like to sing "like I don't need the money." And it's incredibly true. I love to sing...even though I don't think I am all that great at it...more importantly though, I love to worship! The Lord created us to worship! I can't think of a more cool thing at this time than that! To raise my hands to Him is an incredible privilege. To praise Him and thank Him and love Him...there are no words to describe it. It's amazing! I have this one CD by a lady who sang at FBA one time. The song is called "When I think about the Lord"...now doesn't that just create a good beginning to any sentence? When I sing it, tears come to my eyes and I love to raise my hand and praise Him. Especially when she says "Hallelujah, Thank you Jesus - Lord, You are Worthy, of ALL the glory and ALL the honor and ALL the praise (emphasis added)." David learned the word Hallelujah a few weeks ago and raises his little hands to God when he says it...I guess he watches mommy do it. :) Oh yes Lord, what a beautiful picture that is...we as parents want to be like you Jesus, and our children mimmick us, because they want to be like us. Until he figures out in later years to mimmick Jesus, may David see how to be a follower of Christ through my actions.
Majesty-Passion CD 2005, LOVE IT! When I ask David if he wants to sing to a CD, he says yes, majesty. I love that song and if you have heard it, then you will know where I got my title of my blog from. The song says those words, changed by Your Love, and I knew I could say that whole-heartedly, so that's just some background info regarding that.
Last night David and I were home together and he wanted to read/look at my Bible. He was in a snuggly mood, so of course I let him. We flipped through the New Testament and then to the Old Testament and then he wanted to start at the beginning...no problem. I taught him the first verse about God creating the "heavens and the earf." That's how he says it...and it's adorable. When we were done I asked if he wanted to get "his" bible. He went to his bookshelf and studied it...I imagine he was thinking 'where is my Bible. There is not one book in here that looks like mommy's'. I was mistaken as the book that I was thinking of is not really a Bible, but a collection of Bible stories and we can write what he thinks of the story and how he feels about it, or questions he may have, etc. I thought we would start it in a year from now when he might be able to respond to a feeling question, but letting him flip through that book was so cool. He saw the Ark and flood. He saw Daniel and the Lion and he saw the Widow opening her hands to the Lord. He put the book down to show me the way that woman lifted her hands to God. (All the while, I am sitting in awe of my little man...) I explained to him that she was giving an offering to God and that's what we should do when we want to praise Him and offer up our life to Him. With that same book in hand this morning on the way to school, he asked me for Jesus. Yeah, I was thinking, what? David asked me "Where's Jesus?" Flipping through his book, he couldn't find Jesus. WOW I began to prod him more for answers and what he wanted was to see Jesus' picture. When we got to school this morning, in the parking lot, I talked to David about how he sees Jesus. He will see Jesus portrayed in story books for kids and in some pictures, but ultimately Jesus is everywhere. His beauty can be seen in the flowers, trees, mountains...all the things we thank Him for on a daily basis. His power can be seen in the storms. We talked all the way to his room about Jesus...

I can't think of a better way to start my day.