Wait for the Rain

I want to be steeped in Jesus to the point that I react to situations like He would.

I want to spend so much time with Him that I begin to take on His characteristics.

Can you imagine how awesome it would be to always think like Him? behave like Him? resemble Him?

If I saturate myself in His Word on a daily basis and earnestly seek to grow in Him and continue to fill myself up with Him, then He will just naturally overflow out of me!

Spending time in the scriptures and spending time in prayer is the key to equipping ourselves with the things we need to become like Christ.

There is such a desire in my heart to be so much more for Jesus than I am now. I want to always be climbing the next step. Seeking more knowledge. Searching for more of Him. Filling up with more of His Word. Overflowing with His grace and mercy.

I want more. More Jesus. I want Jesus to rain down on me from heaven with a flood!

I want to study more.. glean more.. reach out more.. find more.. worship more..love more... pray more..

I know that as I humble myself and genuinely seek these things in my life - God will open the windows of heaven and pour out to me when He is ready. When I am ready. Then I will wade in the puddles of the overflow.

For now I seek His presence. I remain faithful. I lift my face toward heaven.

I wait for the rain.

"Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain...." I Kings 18:45

In His Grip,
Beth

It's a Crazy World

Do you ever dread looking at the morning paper or turning on the news? It seems like lately there is NO good news abounding. Everything is negative. Everything is depressing. Everything seems to be going just the way that satan has planned. It is enough to get anybody a little down.

It seems like the world has just gone crazy! Some of the things that are happening, just absolutely floor me. I can't believe that there are people that actually think that some of these things are good things. Don't people see what is really going on here? It's like they have blinders on to what is REALLY happening. It is a little scary.

I read something though that I am going to hold onto and focus on. There are bad things going on in this world - that is a fact. But there are also a lot of GOOD things going on behind the scenes in the spiritual kingdom. We don't always see it and we can't always feel it, but we know it is there. We can rest assured that God is working 24 hours a day and we can rest assured that He has everything under control. His control. None of this surprises Him.

We just have to hold on to our faith and beliefs and know that our God is still present in our lives. He has not left us. He is always there to guide us and protect us.

We have to keep our faith and trust in Him. We have to keep spreading the gospel. We have to keep doing His work.

It is hard sometimes to disregard what seems like the world's total disobedience and rebellion to God. The world lives by a set of values that are completely opposite of what God's values are. We just have to stay strong and keep ourselves in His Word. God's Word is where we we will find the things that He values. When we focus on those things, we can't go wrong. We will be on the winning team. We will finish strong.

I get so much strength from all of my sweet bloggy friends! I just love the way we can encourage one another. It has been such a blessing to me and I am so thankful for all of you!

"We do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Feasting on His Word

I am joining my friend Kim for her collecting recipes over coffee. I also wanted to give us a recipe for studying the Word.

Matthew 4:4 (NLT) says “Jesus said, ‘People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.’”
In order for us to get fed from the Word of God there are 2 things that must happen.

*We must accept the bible as our authority.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 tells us, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”

God’s Word is TRUTH. Plain and simple. His Word tells us that we are sanctified by the truth and that His word is Truth.

*We must study God’s Word

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

There is a big difference between reading the bible and studying the bible. When you study - you take notes. When you study - you ask questions. There are a few steps you can take when you study the bible to help you glean the most out of the scriptures.

Step 1: PRAY that God will open your eyes and show you wonderful things out of His Word.

Step 2: MEDITATE on the scripture. Reflect on what it says and let it digest in your soul. Visualize it, say it, rewrite it, and personalize it.

Step 3: APPLY it to our lives. John 13:17 tells us that if we know these things we will be blessed if we do them.

Step 4: MEMORIZE the Word of God. If we are going to be used of God and we are going to be a witness to others, we have to KNOW the scripture. We need to hide it in our hearts.

We need to feed our souls daily with the Word. When we begin our day feasting on God’s Word, we set the bar high. We arm ourselves and prepare ourselves for the onslaught of the world. We are fed and we are full of the truth.

Feasting on Him,
Beth

TACO SOUP
2 lbs. ground chuck
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 pkg. original hidden valley ranch dressing mix
2 ½ cups water (more if needed)

Brown meat in large pan and drain off fat. Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour or so. Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.