Ephesians 4 MSG! Meditate on these things

In its entirety and that's all I have to say about that!

Little bit different from my normal style, but He that is in me is greater than my style.  He said it best, I'm just passing it along...Allowing an opportunity to mediate on his word.  Read it loud read it soft...Write it on your soul!  Instructions on how to do this thing!  Don't stop at 16!

 

 Ephesians 4:1-16  (The Message Translation)

To Be Mature

4 1-3 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

 4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. 

7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is, He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty, He handed it all out in gifts to the people.  Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

 14-16 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love. 

 

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Amen! Y'all

Amen Amen Amen

For every Mountain...

For Every Mountain

(From Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world - to Mount Wycheproof, the smallest.)

 

Jeremiah 29:11

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

This week has been a beautiful, amazingly wild week… 

You all know that the Echo was stolen (by the way she hasn't been recovered). However, two beautiful women that I love, brought three babies into the world - Twin boys and a princess...Known in my world respectively as Beta, Alpha and Red Velvet. - My church was under attack (Character attack) and - I got engaged to be married.   

Yes, all these events occurred over a seven-day period.

Well, I was sitting on the couch.  I would love to say I was in deep meditation, but the truth is, Sanford and Son was on and it had just struck me that it was Tuesday and something was incomplete.  I had fed the girl and my guys and already checked homework.  Ahhh yes my blog, (God's blog, my commitment) I had not started or thought about my blog! 

As always the Father was right on time, because in the background I was hearing Fred Sanford calling his son a “Big Dummy”, I heard ‘For Every Mountain’ coming from the radio.  This is a beautiful song and my Spirit directed me to look at the lyrics.  (No worries I will attach the link and a video below). 

The lyrics don't say, “For all the good times…. the new car….” But instead it says, “For every mountain you've brought me over, for every trial you've brought me through, I give you praise!”

Praising God through the ‘storm’, the ‘mountain moments’, the ‘I cannot get out of bed moments’, the moments when you ‘feel all alone’.  Praising God in the middle can bring about a peace so sweet and a joy so powerful that your heart will begin to sing, mine has and does. 

You may have heard it before, but let me say it one more time.  Praise him through it all, ‘cause his heart's desire is to bless you with a Hope and a Future.

 Here are the lyrics - Try saying them without singing them, which makes it real personal:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/kurtcarr/foreverymountain.html

Now get your sing on and let the words sink into your soul:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFt04naqxM

This one is for you (subtitled) I Get It Now

 

 Isaiah 38:2

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

 I get it now how God's time is different from ours.  HE has given me a glimpse into his style and how he does things.  He has allowed me to see that time is pointless and that love is everything.

I met you in a place that I have stood so many Sundays greeting smiling.  Then there was you and you came back.  Who knew that an earthly split second would be a life time of forever.  One hello would lead to a infinite number of I love yous.

I get how you just know.  I understand that in the blink of an eye time can grow sails and travel pass the past into the future and rest in now.

All that was before you is blank.  There are no names but yours.  There is no prayer as sweet as your eyes.  There are no eyes that reflect God like yours.

I struggle when you question my past because my past is irrelevant when I face my wall, I only see now and then.

All old things are made new.  I have never loved like this and every day that follows, I continue to be blessed in saying I have never loved like this because every moment of loving you is like know one before.

My errors are here for you to see.  My slate clean there is only you.  You are My Wall.  I turn to you for prayer, for love, for direction and you turn to our God.  Obediently I will follow. I love you My Wall. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thefts, Blessings, Echo and Friends - It's so hard to say Good Bye to Yesterday

It's so hard to say good bye to yesterday (And I will take with me the memories to be my sunshine ...)

 

James 1:2

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials

 

We met in 2001 and although I had my eye on something else, something a little fancier, faster, and stylish, I walked passed you, but you called out to me.  Your zippy spy car looks tickled me, your efficiency delighted me and so the investment in to our friendship began.  2001 Toyota Echo it was me and you.

 

You were small but powerful, I packed you up and we left our homeland and moved to Charlotte.  When I was homesick you were right there for me to get me safely thru the 400 miles, back home to my Mom.  Even though in the earlier years I got homesick every weekend, you never flinched, on one tank of gas and a prayer we made the back ‘n forth - those were the thousand-mile-weekend days.

 

Not only did you bond with me, you blessed others by giving them jumps, trekking out to the airport at all hours of the night, so I could get a friend home.  The air was always cool from the ac and the heat was always warm in the winter.

We had our moments, when you had a rattle and a shimmy - and don't even get me started on how you handle the miles of Kentucky mountains - brining both my daughter (your new charge) and I back from a nerve breaking drive that included motion sickness medicine.

 

And when I forgot to check the oil? You loved me anyway!

And on your last day, you showed me something greater than I could have ever expected.  When the strangers took you away, stolen from right under my nose, your spirit remained and I was blessed by those who loved you and truly love me.

Through the theft of my car my daughter and I were blessed by those loved ones and were taken care of quite well.  Happy Hazel my neighbor handed over the non-keys to me to make sure my daughter and I were off to work without missing a beat.(LOL I haven't had a new car in a minute yall imagine my shock when I learned some of the new cars have pushed button ignitions!  some cars don't even have keys what the what)   From offers of car sharing, to people who were even willing to sacrifice their own comfort, (I love you Kay and Tee) willing to drive the hundreds of miles here to bring me a car and then turn around and drive back to their home so that they can share a car.   Right now as I write this, another angel is on her way to loan me her vehicle. 

God I count it all joy! I miss my Echo, but I have an even greater love for those who stretched out there arms, their words, their gifts and blessed me. My prayer for you is – “May God surround you with the right people at the right time and in the right place,” - you also need to love on them like crazy.  You are a blessing so be a blessing.

 

A moment of reflection for the Echo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUDVj7qPqRE 

A moment of PRAISE Cause my God has blessed me with Angels  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vflf3wLZP4I